Opening Notes: Originally, the first scene of this chapter involved Diego experiencing a traumatic memory, but I opted to delete it as he is not, in SBR canon, prone to such mindsets.
In an office, away from the stadium, two men sat on opposite sides of a desk.
The owner of said desk poured both himself and his guest a drink. "I'm sure you did not come all this way just to exchange chit chat, Messere Yaoyorozu."
"No, I did not, Doctor Zeppeli." Momo's father took a sip of the chilled water. The sensation of it going down his gullet was most welcome on that warm day. He set the glass back down on the provided coaster. "This is about the future of both our families. My daughter is quite taken with your eldest son."
"This is true for Gyro as well. She consumes every third thought he has." Gregorio helped himself to his own portion of cold liquid.
"I see. This relationship of theirs..."
Lowering his glass, Gregorio looked at him with a minimal hint of curiosity. "Do you disapprove of it?"
"Not at all. In fact, I'm in favor of it. Tell me, good doctor, have you ever heard of Quirk Marriages?"
"Yes, I have. I should tell you that the Zeppeli family's Spin is not a Quirk."
"I'm aware. But it is a talent, and an immeasurably useful one at that..."
"Holy fuck, did you see that, Setsuna?! He wiped the ground with her like she was nothing! Yare yare dawa, now I'm a little glad I didn't make it past the Obstacle Race."
The other girl of 1-B who gained her spot at UA through recommendations responded with a nod and grin. "I certainly did."
"I guess that means I'm up next!" Uraraka stood up and shimmied her way out of the seats. "Wish me luck!"
"Godspeed, Uraraka!" Iida declared, chopping at the air.
"You're gonna need it," Johnny muttered.
Gyro breathed heavily, rooted to his seat. DIO's words from earlier still held water. They were all foes in this tournament, but it still stung him something fierce, watching his best friend's nemesis clobber his girlfriend. To say he was angry would have been the understatement of the year.
"While I do feel sorry that she lost, I really didn't expect any different outcome." Johnny snapped him out of his seething.
"Wha'd'ya mean?" He half asked, half demanded.
"Dio has this... hunger about him. He has no limits. He will do anything to win."
"Indeed I will," spoke the man of the minute. Diego, hand on one hip, strutted past his classmates and invited himself into Uraraka's now vacant seat. It made sense that he would make straight for their area without paying a visit to Recovery Girl. After all, Yaoyorozu had not managed to even scratch him.
Gyro decided to make himself scarce before the sight of Diego made him lose his already frayed temper. He quickly shot Brando a glare before standing up. "Well, I've got some time to kill before me and Motormouth trade blows. See ya!" Quickly putting one foot in front of the other, he was gone within but a moment.
"He seems ruffled," Diego said without much emotion. He may as well have been discussing the weather.
"I can guess why," Johnny replied with the same flatness. "That was all just to show her up for besting you at Aizawa-Sensei's apprehension tests, wasn't it?"
"Johnny Joestar, I am shocked you would ask such a thing. You know me better than anybody here. You should know the answer to that."
Gyro's shoulders were taut and his arms stiffer than petrified wood as he made his way to UA's resident healer's temporary clinic. "Maledetto rettile. Non doveva trascinarla attraverso lo sporco..." He continued to grumble under his throat as he lumbered along. "Mark my words, Dio. You're mine now. I'll make everybody, and you, see you're just like the rest of us, maybe even lower." He rounded the corners and made his way down the halls until coming to the door he sought. To his surprise, it was wide open. He took that as permission to enter freely. Stepping in, he instantly saw Momo sitting on one of the beds looking down at either her shoes, or where Brando had slashed her. "You okay?"
Recovery Girl answered with her usual bedside tone before Yaoyorozu could even register his question. "She's fine, Zeppeli. A little woozy but nothing permanent."
Gyro sat down next to his lover, looking at her gaze at the floor. "... Hey."
She finally reacted to his presence. Her head rotated until they locked eyes. She had an expression Gyro could not read for the life of himself. "Oh. Hello, Gyro-kun."
"I'm not much of a psychiatrist, but I can see you're really down."
The prodigy sighed. "He trounced me, Gyro-kun. I don't think he was even trying."
An uncomfortable noise escaped the Neapolitan's lips as he scratched the back of his head. "Well... I don't know Dio like Johnny does... but I do know that you made it to the final event, further than the vast majority of the rest of them." He forced himself to grin. "If you want, I'll hit him twice as hard."
Mandom sat in his chair as Present Mic's introductions went underway. He waited until the booming words died away before leaning over to address Uraraka. "From what I've read and been informed of, you have a limit of roughly three tons of objects you can make weightless at a time."
Ochako was aghast. Not because of what her substitute homeroom teacher had said, but rather because he had spoken loud enough for her opponent to hear it. Was he playing favorites?
Roadagain turned his torso to face Bakugo, his face unchanging. "And you rely on sweat to make your explosions. Ergo, movement plays to your favor?"
"Yeah, what's your damn point?" Katsuki growled.
"Fair play."
"So, he's about to kill her, isn't he." Johnny looked down to the cement square, upon which were the next two competitors. Uraraka with a look similar to the one she had when she declared that she would give her all some days ago. And across from her, Bakugo had his default prickly veneer.
"I'd say yes," Gyro chirped as he and Yaoyorozu sat down next to him.
Two seats away from the young American, Midoriya scanned the page of his notebook dedicated to Uraraka and her abilities. "Don't sell her short, guys. While Kacchan is dangerous, especially at short range, Uraraka is too. All she has to do is touch him. If she can do that, Kacchan will lose all his weight, and she could just push him out of bounds."
"A sound strategy, Midoriya," Iida praised.
With the match about to begin, Izuku noticed something. Or rather, the lack of something. Gyro never turned down the opportunity to provide scathing words towards those he was less than fond of. And Kacchan was like a thorn buried deep in his forehead. The lack of insults caused the greenette to glance over to the seat next to him, with Iida doing the same.
"Okay, so wait." Gyro had his arms half-stretched, holding a phone in front of him sideways with Johnny leaning in to gaze at the small screen as well. "So she left the hospital, ran like Hell to the concert, or whatever they call it, and it's full of smoke machines?"
Johnny gave his rebuttal. "No, I think that's her ghost."
"Don't be stupid, Johnny," scoffed Gregorio's eldest son. "Ghosts can't play instruments."
Their Class Rep became slightly indignant, hacking at the air with his forearms. "You two should pay more attention! Those are two of our classmates down there, one of whom all of us could potentially be facing against! Should you not be coming up with ideas and plans to further yourselves to first place?!"
Gyro's mouth flexed as if he were chewing for a moment before he tapped the screen twice, pausing his and Johnny's program. "Pretty sure we both got it covered, Rep. Both are short-range fighters. Ergo, me and JoJo here got that covered."
"Please don't call me that," Johnny murmured.
Gyro, having not heard him, opened his mouth to continue, only for Present Mic's thunderous voice to scream "START!"
Waiting for the rumbling to subside, the quartet looked down and watch Uraraka charge towards Bakugo, who simply stood there, waiting for her to get in blasting range.
"He always starts with a right hook, correct?" Diego inquired.
"Without fail," confirmed Izuku.
"What, you planning on humiliating him too?" sneered Gyro, rolling his eyes.
"Him or Uraraka. I don't care who stands in my way, so long as they get out of it, one way or another."
The Spin user groaned and ended the situation then and there, not wanting to lose his cool before he even had a chance to compete in the tournament. "So, back to where we were. Ghosts can't play Instruments, Johnny. They can't even pick them up."
"But they can move pots and pans, and switch lights on and off," Johnny pointed out.
With a dismissive wave, Gyro argued, "sure, but so can any toddler or bored, lonely nutcase. Making music requires finesse and skill." He would have gone on, but the booming of a detonation caught his ears. He looked down to the current fight, seeing only a cloud of smoke. "Huh. Guess we missed something. Did he nail her?"
"Can't tell..." Johnny leaned forward, squinting. Bakugo was easy enough to spot, as the smokescreen was directly in front of him. Nothing seemed to happen for a second. Even the dust stuck around. Then, the far section of the could whirled like a sheet in the wind. Sprinting out of the darkness came Uraraka wearing a look of sheer willpower.
Risotto Nero sat in the seat Polpo had so graciously purchased for him beforehand. Mount Lady was, thankfully, not next to him. Once she had diverted any unwanted attention towards him as they entered the stands, a simple use of Metallica had rendered him effectively invisible. The crowd had made it all to easy to ditch her. Melone had taken his sweet time claiming the chair next to him.
His black and red eyes stared at the fight. The capo had 'suggested' he attend the Festival and scope out potential recruits for Passione. None of the participants seemed suitable... except the perpetually angry blonde.
He watched wordlessly as his potential bounty unleashed another explosion, forcing the girl away from him.
Interesting. He seems to be going for the kill...
"Ah-are you sure you should let this keep going?" The Pro Hero next to him loudly asked Mandom, whom was below them in his seat. The American Hero gave no response; he did not even acknowledge the question.
Being surrounded by so many Heroes had no affect on the homicidal gang hitman. After all, he was untraceable, unknown in this country, and he had certainly never slain an innocent person. At least not in the country he was currently in. Having never left a single trace of evidence back in Italy, as well as most police being on the payroll, he and all his men were ghosts to law enforcement.
He and Melone watched entranced as more more detonations went off, making the fight a little hard to watch.
He'd be good for intimidation... collecting protection money.
Once more, the Pro next to him spoke up, his trepidation replaced with disgust. "I can't bear to just watch this!" He pointed towards the contestant. "How can you claim to want to be a Hero acting like that?! Toying with her! Just blast her out of bounds if you've got so much power!"
"Tienitelo per te," grumbled Melone.
The others around them reacted much differently. If anything, his disdain caught on like a sickness and spread to the seats surrounding them. More and more Pro Heroes stood up, shouting out how they agreed with the instigators.
With more and more standing up, Risotto did the same, with his teammate copying him. Not because they agreed with the alleged horrible treatment being dished out to the young girl also currently sparring, but rather for the sake of blending in.
"Looks like the crowd is standing up to boo Bakugo." Present Mic's words were void of their usual optimistic energy. "Can't say I- ah! You elbowed me!"
"You, in the stands," a new voice took over the speakers, one that did not sound like it belonged on the air. "Are you a Pro? How long have you been at it?"
The inquiry made the man who started the jeering, as well as those who had followed his example, freeze like they had made eye contact with Medusa.
On the other side of the arena, nearly all of class 1-A looked towards the press box.
"Aizawa-Sensei?" Midoriya was dumbfounded. He was used to their homeroom teacher being mostly silent, aside from berating them.
"Nyo ho ho! They could be a comedy duo!"
"If you can't take this, do us all favor and leave. Maybe even find this to be sign for a career change. He isn't 'toying' with her. He's just aware of how strong his opponent is for making it this far. There's no room for error or a lowered guard."
Melone stared at the press box, nonplussed. "How did he hear that from all the way up there?"
"Good question." Risotto made to refocus on the fight, but a shadow fell across his face. He forced his neck back, looking towards the sky. "Clever."
A city block worth of concrete shrapnel was suspended in the air, as if reality had pressed pause on all of it. Then, it fell.
Down in the ring, the girl made her declaration. "I win!"
Risotto kept his eyes on the collapsing debris. The amount of it, and how spread out it was made dodging nigh impossible. His vision followed it downward towards the ground. He fully expected the boy to be crushed beneath.
Then, an other deafening boom. A fire that brought images of his occasional colleague Oyecomova's car bombs to his mind erupted. Like a volcano, it rose like an upside down pyramid, engulfing the concrete. It got to be so bright, every spectator had to avert their eyes.
Risotto felt Metallica squirm around in him along with the light making his skin toasty. "Merda..." Feeling the warmth die away, he opened his eyes. Smoke was billowing upwards. And Bakugo was still standing. "Intrigante."
Gyro blinked. "I haven't seen anything go up like that since that rollercoaster exploded."
"That was a fun weekend we had," Johnny sarcastically added. "Looks like her best shot fell short." He watched on as Bakugo said something that failed to reach his ears. Uraraka limped slightly, her face burning with the desire to win. It was an expression Johnny knew all too well. He had it practically plastered on his face during his races. But he could also tell what was about to happen. She steadied herself... and fell over onto her face and chest. As Midnight ran over to check on her, Johnny stood up. "My turn."
Gyro grinned at him, flashing the gold on his teeth. "Give 'em Hell, Johnny!"
He gave no indication that he had heard the encouraging words as he walked out of the section of seats.
"Ah, there he goes to seize the day. Izzy, I give you my sympathies beforehand."
Midoriya looked him with an utterly confused expression. "For what?"
"Y'know, when Todoroki clobbers you."
"You... you don't think I can beat him?" Izuku sounded, and felt, like Gyro had shoved a knife into his gut.
"Don't take offense to it, Izzy. It's just... we got a guy who made a ship-sinking glacier by stomping on the ground. And his opponent, who cripples himself with every punch. I believe in Miracles, and here it'll take Divine Intervention here. Again, no offense. At least not intentional."
DIO looked up at the gigantic screen as Ochako's name vanished, and Bakugo's rose to the second bracket. Seeing that his grandson was to fight the explosive teenager in the next round, he pondered. "Perhaps slitting the wrists..." His eyes wandered slightly to see who was battling next. "A Joestar..." He subconsciously rubbed the scar on his neck.
"Thanks everybody, for waiting for Cementoss to repair the ring!" Present Mic's words were again infectious. "And now for our next match! From the Hero Course, he's the man who can turn any situation sticky! Sero Hanta!"
The tape dispensing student rolled his shoulders, warming up, as the crowd erupted After the spectacle Bakugo put on, they all were completely entranced by the fights.
"And his opponent! Coming at you all the way from America, the Hero Course's resident sharpshooter, Jonathan "Johnny" Joestar!"
By the mere mention of the family name, the air practically exploded with noise. The audience screamed with ecstacy. Slowly but surely, a chant spread amongst them like a disease.
"JOE-STAR! JOE-STAR! JOE-STAR!"
While Johnny was no stranger to attention, and basked in it, this time he felt nothing. They aren't cheering for me. They're just remembering Hermit Purple.
"I guess the crowd's on your side here," Sero said as he cracked his fingers. "But that doesn't mean I'm just going to roll over for you." With his limbs nice and loose, he could have sworn he saw flames in Joestar's eyes.
"I'm prepared to shoot you." His words held almost no emotion. It was not a threat. It was a promise. Tusk popped up behind him.
Roadagain once more leaned in his seat, talking to Johnny first. "Those nails of yours. They grow back slowly, correct? And naturally, you only have ten shots initially. And those... holes of yours. They only stick around for a few seconds, but they're damn fast. Not to mention impossible to get rid of. From what I have seen, your range is roughly ten meters." He shifted to look at Sero. "I'd estimate your range to be about the same. I admit I haven't quite deducted what your limit for dispensing is, though I'd estimate it to be a few dozen meters worth."
He forgot my toenails. Johnny's nails started spinning right as Present Mic gave the word for them to commence with hurting one another.
Sero proved to be the quicker draw. He only had to flex his elbows, while Johnny had to raise his entire arm to properly aim. Not that he needed to at the moment. Sero was close enough, spewing out cellophane and seemingly willing it to wrap around his foe. His arms were instantly bound to his sides, and his legs were no better off. The tape tightened itself over his knees, making him begin to over balance. But Sero was about to be worse off.
The nails of his left pinky, ring, and middle finger were missing. As Sero had began to bind him, he had fired three of his nails into the ground. Obeying his will, one of the black holes scooted along the concrete, leaving trails behind them as they made for Sero, who was too focused on subduing Johnny. The others, having formed close to its User's boot, climbed up Johnny's leg.
Just as the American was nicely bound, Sero prepared to pull and swing him out of bounds. But before he could do so much as tighten his sinew, he spotted it. He had seen many during the two weeks Roadagain had filled Aizawa-Sensei's spot. That black spot, swirling towards him like a remote controlled car. He quickly raised his foot, but was too late. Joestar's miniature vortex slid onto his shoe and climbed up it, quickly vanishing behind the leggings of his PE uniform.
While he was dealing with a portion of his body about to be consumed, Johnny was busy freeing himself. The two holes made their way onto his shoes before ascending up his legs. They continued to climb, splitting off at his right hip, going up on either side of his torso. They quickly found the spots their User wanted gone: the joints of his elbow. Specifically, the tape over the front and back of it, keeping him bound. Moving over the organic cellophane, the holes made it vanish. His arm was freed, albeit with the fabric still stuck to his skin. With his nails still spinning, he reached over himself and carefully moved his fingers over the other portion of tape, making sure not to cut himself open.
With his arms freed at last, he heard a scream. He knew that a chunk of Sero's left thigh was now gone, as that was where he had willed the vortexes to go. He heard his opponent hiss out a breath as he moved both hands to the tape around his legs. Just as he was about to free himself completely, more tape wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him forward onto his face. Adjusting his cranium, he brought his face up and saw Sero, on one knee and a leg bleeding deeply, his plasma pooling around him. A strand of tape bridged from his left elbow to Johnny's shoulder blades.
"Like a said," Hanta spoke through the pain. "I'm not just gonna roll over."
Johnny brought his arms forward and rapidly fired. Two shots met their mark on Sero's chest. If he had wanted, they could have gone through him like a bullet through paper, but instead, two more small vortexes formed and skidded in opposite directions, one each going up to and then down along his arms. All Sero could do was watch one of them trailed down his bicep... and slid into the slot that held his tape.
"I don't know what exactly is in there," Johnny said, fires in his eyes. "But I'm sure it's important." He kept his remaining nails primed and aimed, even as the ones in use did their duty. He did not flinch as Sero bled like a fountain from his tape dispensers.
"Damn. Joestar can be scary when he wants to be." Kaminari shivered. He'd rather face Todoroki again instead of getting shot by Johnny at that moment.
Gyro grinned. "No question."
Despite the assurance she had been given earlier, Tooru still let out a deeply relieved sigh. Now I'm really happy he wasn't aiming for me.
Meanwhile, Midoriya was on a mission to write down the newest details of Johnny's Stand ability. "I knew they could move, but only to where he was aiming. I thought it was a sort of fail safe. But not, it looks like he can will them to move wherever, regardless of where he was shooting. Could he increase how long they stick around with training?"
"Good questions, Izzy!" Gyro patted him on the back. "Maybe you could, oh I don't know, ask him yourself?"
Getting on his own knees, Johnny continued to aim at his adversary, who was clearly losing too much blood to be called healthy.
"I... I give." Sero panted. Pain was overtaking him like a weighted blanket. Nobody. "I give. You win, Joestar."
Midnight raised a hand. "Sero has surrendered! Joestar moves on to the next round!"
Like before the match had started, the crowd made the ground shake with their cheering.
"JOE-STAR! JOE-STAR! JOE-STAR!"
Johnny picked himself up and glanced at a pair of robots, carrying a stretcher, came and gathered Sero, obviously about to whisk him away to Recovery Girl. The noise quickly grabbed his attention. He looked around, seeing an ocean of open mouths and clapping hands. Maybe they were mostly applauding him because of the fact that Hermit Purple's blood flowed through his veins... but the attention.
Nicholas was gone. Mother always kept to the sidelines. And Father...
Maybe the attention was not so bad.
He raised his fists into the air.
Closing Notes: Kudos if you guess/know what Gyro and Johnny were watching on that phone. Their banter about ghosts was originally a lot longer.