- A/N -
Hello, it's been a long while. My only excuse is that college, despite it being slow and unassuming, actually hit like a train in terms of how much free time I would get to have to do what I want. And I guess because of that, I put this story on the backburner because I wanted to relax rather than work on this project.
Initially, I planned for Episodio 5 to end with only two parts, but because I took over an actual month since the last update, I decided it's better to go against my word and upload it into three parts if it meant that I could upload this. But don't worry, before I split up the chapter into two, I was pretty much about 80% completed with the episode.
Aside from that, I found out that there's a Spanish translation of this story over on Wattpad by FakerDarkSouls. I know some of my readers speak Spanish so feel free to check that out.
- Reviews -
silverking77: I always felt that Giorno lowering the cup would've been a great place to put 'to be continued' with Roundabout playing in the background as well.
X3runner: This. Thank you for this wonderful idea. As for Melone being a dog faunus, I can consider this, though I've always thought rabbits were the most horniest animal.
PhantomKnightPercival: I'm not sure what you mean by "clip show episodes," but I'm assuming you mean the episodes where it's just a recap. If so, I plan to replace the recap episodes with some scenes from previous Jojo parts, if I do get to that.
aguirresulises469: Yes, we the readers know this, but some of the cast (Pyrrha) doesn't.
E. Paradox: Thank you. I also enjoy a bit of alternate history I think because the possibilities of what-if are endless.
Nobody: Thank you! I've thought about getting a co-writer, but I'm such a hermit when it comes to my hobbies that I thought otherwise. Sorry to say. As for wishing for my situation to calm down, if school has taught me anything it's that: If things are bad enough, it's probably going to get a lot worse. But I still appreciate the sentiment.
Jure Rollo: I've given a lot of time to consider the idea and I'm very leaning toward it, especially with the point you made at the end of your review. I'll stick to your suggestion of the cast emphasizing how impressive the people of Jojo are as it's the easiest to implement during the reactions. As for trying to explain how a Stand just cuts through an aura like butter, that's going to take a while, as Stands affecting random civilians happen later in the story.
Guest chapter 11 . Jul 19: I will in a later chapter. My current goal is to make it past Episode 5 before I start giving the cast glimpses of previous parts.
WOKELAND: Thank you. That is one thing I feel like I can pride myself on. As for reading other's stories, I do that mostly but I don't really make reviews.
Dingussaurus: Thank you very much. I'm also a big fan of your story Blazing Chains.
PlayingRascal: The Torture Dance happens in Episode 6, I could almost taste the bizarreness of it! I will say, the Torture Dance is something I'm going to try to put a lot more effort into, because I want to do it justice.
Mustafa jawad badr: I missed you too, don't worry.
anon44575173: And during the finale of Part 5, Ozpin will realize that he needs to get to Giorno to enlist him.
Anonymous Guest chapter 1 . Aug 19: Thank you.
Guest chapter 11 . Aug 20: I agree with your thoughts on how the cast would react to Abbacchio's Stand, especially since Bruno seemed to hype up his Stand saying, "Your Stand might be the only one to defeat the enemy." As for Moody Blues replicating Ozpin, I think it would be Ozpin the body, and not Ozma. Because going off what Oscar went through, he was just a normal, average person who got a voice who knew things. If Moody Blues were to replicate Oscar, it would just be Oscar. At least, that's what I think.
IB: Thank you for the warning that Fanfiction is deleting reaction fics. I do have backups of this story in my drive, it's just that I've been putting off uploading to AO3 since it's not that high on priority. But in the event that this story does get taken down, I'll reupload it there.
To say that the theater was calm would be a lie. From the terrified screaming of a red-hooded girl to the concerned looks of the teachers, none were more fearful for the blond on screen other than Saphron.
"Saphron?" Nicolas noticed his daughter looking more pale than usual. "Are you okay?"
"How can I? I just watched Jaune drink a cup of-" She clutched her mouth before she could even finish that line of thought.
Meanwhile, the redhead of Team NPR sat still as she watched; Catatonic to her surroundings, Pyrrha did not want to believe what she just saw.
"Gross! He actually drank it!"
Mista heartily chuckled. "D-Dude, you're hilarious! Did you seriously drink it?"
"No, there's no way he could have!" Fugo looked at and around the new recruit. "Hey, how'd you do it? Where'd you hide it?"
While Abbacchio looked disappointed, Mista looked at the blond with great interest. "Hey, come on. Just tell me! Okay?"
"Who knows?" A sly smile crept onto his face. "You're all keeping your abilities secret, too, aren't you?"
The gang gave widened eyes towards the recruit.
"W-Wait! He didn't drink it?" Pyrrha broke out of her daze.
Mercury was smirking. "Or he's just trying to play off drinking a cup of piss."
"Oh, please," Emerald said. "As if anyone in the right mind would actually do it."
The blond lightly smiles at the gang's bewilderment. Seeing how the tables have turned on them.
'So he's a Stand user?' Abbacchio thought to himself.
As the view slowly gets a closer look at Giorno's smile, a single tooth seems to be more yellow than the others.
'What I did with the liquid in the cup is...' A small organism lay in between Giorno's teeth and upper lip. 'I used my ability to change one of my teeth into a jellyfish, which is 98 percent liquid, to suck it up.'
"I have to commend Jaune for his quick thinking and inventive solutions." Ozpin commented, earning nods from the teachers.
"Even if it was a questionable solution to witness," Glynda added. Still mildly put off by the situation.
In the back corner of the room, Roman smiles to himself.
"That's a good one, kid." He turns to Neo, as she does to him. "With a lie that good, even I fell for it." She gave an exaggerated look of surprise and a few quiet claps in return.
The students of Beacon took the moment to relax a bit. The scene before them had been a rollercoaster of emotions.
"-Phew- For a moment, I thought he really did it." Ruby took deep breaths.
"Yeah," said Yang as she looked at the others. "I'm still going to call him Urine-Boy, though."
Saphron's eye twitched at that. "Uh… please don't." Yang simply waved off while giving an apologetic smile to Urine-Boy's family.
Meanwhile, a certain redhead began to chuckle to herself. Unfocused on the concerned looks toward her.
"Heh, heh..." Pyrrha looked as though she had lost her mind. "Jaune really had me scared for a moment there."
"Oh! That's what you're laughing about!" Nora glowed. "I just thought you were laughing because you wanted to know where the other two percent went."
"NORA!" The body of students erupted at her sentence, causing her to recoil a bit.
"W-What? If the jellyfish only takes in ninety-eight percent liquid, then where does the other two percent go?"
"Nora," Ren flatly said. "Please don't continue that thought." The students, and some of the teachers who had overheard, were ever so grateful for Ren keeping Nora under control.
X
"Is it, like, some ability to move things?"
"Open your mouth. There's no hole in there, is there?"
"You actually drank it for real. Was that your favorite or something?"
Mista, Fugo, and Narancia each questioned him, trying to figure out Giorno.
Pyrrha's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly by what she just heard from Narancia. She couldn't help but whisper, "Oh, she has the nerve to-"
She stopped herself before she could finish.
Behind the one in the spotlight, Bucciarati contemplated the scenario.
'I'm not sure what it is,' He looked at Giorno. 'but there is something about Giorno Giovanna that makes him hard to dislike.'
"And that's why Jaune will be irreplaceable as Team JNPR's leader!" Nora beamed, along with Pyrrha.
The eldest Arc gave a small smile after hearing words of praise towards his son, both from his team and the mafioso.
Giorno seemed amused by their wonder. "If you guys tell me about your powers, I might tell you mine." He calmly said to the group.
Both Fugo and Narancia sat down in their seats. The former compliments, "You're cautious. I respect that."
"Smart, kid. You're making all the right moves, and not showing your cards just yet," Roman respected him as well. The scoop of ice cream beside him gave a thumbs up.
"Does Bucciarati know?" The gunman of the group asked him, while the one who urinated into a teapot offered a side glare to Giorno, who responded in a simple 'yeah.'
'They're not exactly a team yet, but we don't have any time to wait.' Bucciarati shut his eyes, making his decision. 'This has to be decided now.' With a commanding voice, he got the attention of the five.
"Quit screwing around. We're going out."
"Huh? Where?"
"Follow me and you'll find out. Hurry it up."
Bucciarati curtly answers Narancia and turns to exit the room, signalling for the others to do the same.
Each member of his gang looked to each other in confusion about where they're heading on such short notice. Giorno, on the other hand, had a knowing look of what this could be about. He was the first to leave the table.
Out on the street, several citizens had noticed the gang.
"Bucciarati! How are you?"
"Oh? Mr. Bucciarati!"
"Hey, Bucciarati."
They had greeted Bucciarati while the group made their way. The baker continued to talk with the man.
"Come by my shop again sometime!"
"I will!" He responded.
"I get that Bruno is actually a nice person, but don't they know he works for Passione?" Ruby seemed confused at the friendliness of the civilians.
"I think they do," Neptune answered the red-cloaked student. "It's not uncommon for people to go to the one behind-it-all, or at least someone who works for them, for help with their problems."
The blue-headed student was quick to add, "I wouldn't suggest going to them for help; they'll always ask you for something to pay them back as a favor for a long time. Though, Bruno doesn't seem like the type to actually do that."
The gunslinger of the group asked him something. "Hey, what are we going to do about a car?"
"We got a loaner." Fugo replied, "Since a certain someone destroyed our last one."
"Hey, I told you that wasn't my fault!" Mista hastily defended himself.
Blake deadpanned as she asked the group, "Did he crash because there were four tires?"
"It does sound like something he would say," Weiss answered back.
As those two had their discussion, Giorno glanced at Bucciarati.
'As I suspected, the citizens trust him,' he mentally told himself. The leader caught something in his peripheral view and saw the two elderly women who had gone to ask him for something.
He gave a knowing nod to both Ms. Menini and her friend. The scene from before playing through his mind.
"Bucciarati, this is my friend, and she's in a bit of trouble because her son is beating her. Right?" The person in question looked like she could break down any second.
For those in the room who care about their parents, they were shocked to say the least. But out of all of them, the ones most affected were Ruby and Yang. The youngest one even more so.
Having no maternal figure in their lives, they couldn't help but think the boy was taking her for granted.
"I see. That's rough. I'll give him a talking-to." He knelt down to meet her at eye level, and spoke to her in a calming, reassuring tone. "What's your son's name?"
"Thank you. He's usually such a sweet boy. But lately, he's been getting into drugs..." The bit of information he got was unexpected to Bruno.
He thought it might've been a simple rebellious-phase from a rather physically-violent adolescent. He would have never thought it was from the boy using drugs. The gang he works for's drugs.
"Bucciarati, I've been living in this neighborhood for fifty years." Ms. Menini began. "But lately, I've been so anxious. Who's making them sell those drugs? I'm so scared. Hey, you're going to protect us, aren't you, Bucciarati? You're on our side, right?"
A single drop of sweat rolled down the side of his head. Bruno looked conflicted as he gave them his answer.
"Yeah… I'll take care of it. I'll figure it out."
A detailed pictogram of a large marble building, representing the power structure of Passione, was presented on screen.
At the bottom base of the building, the many gangs make up the columns that support the capos, judging by the small large-silhouette of the late Polpo. Above them was the consigliere. Off to the side was a group of five individuals named La Unita Speciale.
And at the top of it all, stood the illusive boss of Passione.
Everyone takes in the intricately designed building, along with studying the hierarchy of the gang.
"Is that how Passione is ranked?" Saphron questioned.
Her father nodded beside her. "I believe so. From what I can tell, the gangs such as Bucciarati's all work for a capo; all the capos are under a… consi- gleer?"
"Consigliere, Mr. Arc." Neptune informed him, "It's a Vacuan title for the one who reports to the boss."
"Wait, he reports to the boss? Then he might know his identity!" Ruby was optimistic. Neptune shook his head.
"Bucciarati said that no one knows his identity, so I don't think so."
Weiss sided with Ruby for a different reason.
"There's no way that the boss wouldn't have a trusted individual in the organization that doesn't know about his identity." The likelihood of absolutely no one in the organization knowing who the boss is seemed unlikely for the heiress.
Saphron waited for them to finish before asking, "Hey, what does la unita speciale mean?"
"Oh, that one's simple; it means special unit. That's the boss's personal squad."
Seeing how the entire system is structured, Roman couldn't help but feel jealous. Telling himself, 'What a position to be in...'
He dreamed about the life of having everything at his fingertips, if it wasn't for a certain employer bossing him around.
Speaking of whom, Cinder admired the position the boss must have as well for having control of Vacuo.
'But power like that, is a positional power; one that can easily be dethroned by your own subordinates. It's nothing compared to individual power such as the maidens.' She mused. 'The boss must have a Stand, but it must be weak if the boss is so desperate to hide his identity.'
"We're going on a yacht? That's awesome!" Narancia gushed.
Panning from right to left, a picturesque view of the city by the seaside revealed a boat yard.
"When did you get a yacht?"
"We're going to rent one." Bucciarati answered Mista. Much to the disappointment of Narancia.
"Huh? Aw, it's just a rental." He sighed.
"Say, Bucciarati..." Mista called for his attention. His finger pointed out at something. "Whatever you do, please don't rent that one with the number 4. It'll sink. I know it."
The gangster said with venom while the leader listened to him.
Fugo tried to reason with him. "Oh, come on… If that were the case, it wouldn't be floating there now."
"Shut up! Then you can ride on that one!"
"One moment, Fugo seems reasonable and mature for his age, the next, he could be easily hot-headed." Glynda felt puzzled by the criminal blond.
The two teachers of Beacon nodded at her observation. Fugo did seem to be a walking contradiction. For the most part, they reasoned that if it wasn't for his temper, he could easily be a student at Shade Academy or any other huntsman academy.
"As for Mista, his fear of four might attract grimm," added Port. "Seafaring grimm are far more dangerous than ones on land."
A bag of potato chips sitting along an aisle gets picked up by Narancia as the rest of the group are at the desk with the owner.
"We'd like to rent a yacht." Bruno was straight to the point.
"Of course! You can use whichever one you like." Bruno looked out the windows to see the yachts all lined up.
"Other than 4!" Mista held his hand up, reminding Bruno of what he said.
"All right," he told him, realizing that Mista might panic on their trip. He decided that it might be better to humor the gunslinger. "Sir, I'd like the one on the far left." He pointed to the yacht.
The shop owner turned to the board behind him, "All right. Let me get you the key."
"For now, I'd like to rent it for three days. How much will that cost?"
"Oh, I could never ask you for money, Mr. Bucciarati!" He handed the key for number one to him. "Use it as long as you'd like."
"Really? Just like that?" Ruby couldn't believe it.
Yang chimed, "Bruno must be a man-of-the-people then, huh?"
Weiss gave a slight hmph, before offering, "Well-associated is a more fitting term."
"Thanks." He replied back.
"Ring me up, pops!" Narancia ran up to the counter with an arm full of snacks and drinks with a wide grin.
"Heh, she's got the right idea." Though Cardin was more-so talking to himself. What he said had not fallen on deaf ears.
"Wait, say that again?" Sun turned to Jaune's bully, looking as though he just heard things.
Unsure of why he's being bothered, he decided to bite back. "What's it matter to you? All I said was that she had the right idea."
"You do realize that Narancia's a guy, right?"
"Don't lie to me, you-"
"Wait, you actually think Narancia is a girl?"
Sun's statement allowed the other students to take notice about what's going on. As for the leader of CRDL, he focused on the one on screen, particularly the upper chest, and realized that it was a little too muscular.
"What th-" The realization hit like a bag of bricks. "Look at the way he's dressed! What kind of guy dresses like a girl!"
"That's a Vacuo thing, dude. Look at how the other gang members are dressed; Look how I'm dressed!" Sun indicated to his exposed chest, abs and all.
"You can tell from his voice; it's an octave lower to be a girl's," Weiss said, trying to enlighten Cardin.
"Unless he's never talked to a girl before." Saphron smiled, content for personally paying back her little brother's bully.
Feeling attacked from all of the students, plus the Arcs, he relented.
"Screw. You."
Soft giggles escaped from Sun, which devolved into an uncontrollable laughter which grabbed the attention of the students around him.
"Yeah. I bet you want to screw Narancia, too~"
"Pfft-!"
"Haha! Oh Brothers!"
Howling laughter filled the room at the bully's expense. Cardin, ever regretful for having opened his mouth, clenched his fists.
Cardin seethed, "Oh, I 'ought to-"
One half of Mercury wants to laugh at the expense of another, the other trying desperately to hold back, unless he wants to deal with Cinder's reprimands.
"... weird kids, I swear." Roman just blankly stared forward, trying to forget what he just heard.
Meanwhile, Neo places her palm over her mouth, as though it were the 'most scandalous' thing she has ever heard.
"All right, students, settle down now," Glynda announced. "Mr. Wukong, no inappropriate speech."
Sun, who couldn't give a proper answer from the pain in his stomach, simply gave her a thumbs up.
As the laughter slowly died down, Pyrrha quietly said, "I also thought he was a girl..."
"Aah, Pyrrha, if that was the case, then Jaune would've already been stolen away." Yang gave her a soft punch to the shoulder.
Pyrrha played along, chuckling nervously. "Heh, yeah..." She felt silly for being jealous over nothing.
The sails catch a gust of wind as the gang's yacht exits the harbor. Each of Bucciarati's men kept a lookout. Meanwhile, Abbacchio looks at Giorno before simply giving him a side glare.
The yacht sailed further away from the harbor accompanied by a tune of wind instruments. A deep blue ocean with clear blue skies all around.
"I don't like this," Neptune abruptly says.
Sun knew what he meant. "Come on, man! I know you have a fear of water, but-"
"-It is very rational." Neptune stressed before his team leader could continue.
Nora dramatically placed her hands on the sides of her cheeks and gasped. "It's just like Mista's fear of four!"
"What? No…" Neptune almost looked annoyed at Nora's statement. "There's a very big difference in that one of them you could drown from!"
The ship, LAGOON 2, coasts along water heading to its destination. Bucciarati and Giorno stood closer to the bow, Fugo and Abbaccio along the portside, and Narancia and Mista relaxing near the stern of the ship.
Narancia sat with his music player plugged into his headphones. With the bass of the song reverberating in the air, Mista decided that enough was enough.
"Hey, Narancia… Hey!" He waved to get his attention.
Looking slightly bothered for being interrupted, Narancia took off his headphones. "Huh?"
"Well, uh, you know..." Mista hesitated for a moment. "You brought drinks, didn't you? Would you sell me one?"
"What? You always say that, but you never pay!"
"Oh, who cares? Gimme one! Come on, hurry! Gimme!" Mista childishly motions his hand for Narancia to pass a drink.
"You're so helpless." Narancia brushed off his antics and began searching through the cooler. "You want a cola or Sparite"
"I'll take a co- Actually, a Sparite, since it's clear."
"Yeah, it is a clear day." Saphron brightened.
Perhaps it was the way the scene was presented, but she and the rest of the students took in the calmness of the scene.
"They're just outside of Naples' protected territorial sea, yet it feels like you could forget Grimm are even there."
"While that is true, please, students, keep focus on your surroundings. You never know when something might happen."
In a monotone voice, the students affirmed the teacher that they would.
Narancia seemed a bit confused at his statement, but chalked it up to nothing important.
"Here you go."
"Thanks. Could you hold this magazine for me?" Narancia peeked at the magazine while Mista popped the can open. "Thanks, and thanks again..."
Mista held the magazine up while his other hand poured the soda onto the radio. Narancia being none the wiser.
Some gawked at what the member was doing to his teammate's radio.
"That was uncalled for!" Nora looked hurt on behalf of Narancia.
A small, content smirk found its way onto Mercury's face. "Heh, I would've done it."
As per tradition, Emerald sends an elbow to the grey-haired assassin.
The music resumed playing until the music player shortens out. Narancia looked devastatingly angry.
"Huh? What's wrong with this thing? It just stopped working!" He urgently started pressing the buttons to check if it would start up again. "Why'd it stop? I just bought it!"
Sipping from his Sparite, Mista silently watched from the side of Narancia's reaction.
"Damn it! How dare he sell me something like this?! That stupid old guy from the electronics store is gonna regret this!"
Mista sighed, whether or not he regretted doing what he did or if he got tired of the entertainment was left unknown.
"Come on, Bucciarati! Hurry up and tell us where this boat's headed!"
Each of the members looked to their leader for his input.
"Fine. We're far enough away from the shore now. We're headed to Capri." Bruno briefed them into their mission.
"Capri?"
"We're not going there as tourists, are we?"
Abbacchio and Fugo questioned for more information. Before Bruno gave an affirmative, "Correct."
"Then why are we going there?" Mista asked the questions that filled the member's minds that they wanted answered.
"This morning, the capo Polpo committed suicide." He gave them each the answer with a serious look.
Mostly everyone had different reactions to this, yet all sharing the same feelings of disbelief. All but one, Giorno Giovanna, kept his head low, seemingly with no reaction toward the news.
"What? Suicide? Polpo did?"
"No way!"
"But why?"
Though they cried out for answers, Bruno curtly replied.
"It doesn't matter why he died." He told them, glancing off into Giorno's direction. "Polpo was a capo who did things that'd get him killed."
If one could look directly into the eyes of Giorno and Bruno, they might be able to tell that they both knew the nature of Polpo's suicide.
"He definitely knows what he did." Blake spoke up.
"I mean, didn't he already know?" Nora asked.
It was Ren who answered her. "I don't think so; Bruno seemed pretty surprised about hearing the news of Polpo's death."
Hearing his leader's reasoning, Fugo asked, "But what does he have to do with why we're going to Capri?"
"Polpo actually has a secret fortune. It's worth..." With a slight lean back, a left hand near his chin and a serious pose, Bruno Bucciarati claimed:
"Ten billion lire!"
- A/N -
A majority of this chapter is unchanged, I simply just split the chapter into two and did a look over this just to make sure everything is fine.
There's not a lot for me to explain with my choices of how characters reacted besides one or two things.
Cardin getting railed for thinking Narancia's a girl was a suggestion from the previous chapter that I wanted to roll with. Despite it being written for comedy, a part of me thinks that someone will find it a bit tactless(?) But then I remember almost a lot of people got confused about Narancia as well and that it's an inside joke within the Jojo fandom, so hopefully it'll be fine.
Cinder musing about how the position of being boss can easily be taken away and that the boss might have a weak Stand is from the fact that she desires power for herself (the Maiden powers) and that she always underestimates others.
After about a week since the release of the last chapter, I remembered that I promised to change the type of school Araki went to (which I haven't changed because I didn't want people to think that a new chapter was released.) And after having watched Episode 5 of Part 5, I retconned the previous amount of Lien that Polpo's supposed fortune was worth, from about 5 million Lien to 1 million.
Oh, and one last thing before I forget; I meant to post another update review to say how I was 80% completed with the other half, but I found out that users could only post one review per chapter, and I thought that that seemed a bit of a terrible way of updating the readers on progress. So I thought about maybe just making a twitter account just to inform people about progress on chapters. Should I do it?
Let me know in the reviews. As always, tell me if there's anything I can do to improve or if there's any issues or mistakes made.
- Log -
Transcript started on July 21, 2021
Transcript finished on August 6, 2021
Cast Comments started on August 9, 2021
Ever since August 18, progress on this chapter had been heavily halted.
Chapter split into two separate chapters on September 19, 2021
Cast Comments finished on September 20, 2021
Published on September 21, 2021