- A/N -

It has been about five months since I last posted, and I apologize for that. To give context and to reiterate on my review explaining why I took so long, my second semester began as soon as my winter break had ended; plenty of work has been given and due on a weekly basis, which even now I still struggle with. Then, early February is when I got Covid. I have already recovered, so don't worry.

You might notice that this chapter says "part 1," which is something I regret doing, because that means I went against my word on making this a one episode chapter. The reason for this is that five months is a long time to wait, and looking at my schedule for the next few weeks, it's only going to get longer. But don't worry, I already planned out the episode, I just need to finalize the cast comments on the second half. Episode 6 will only be two parts; not three, and definitely not any more than that.

Another thing, I'm experimenting with the idea for another RWBY story. Unrelated to Jojo, however, but it's an idea that I could actually see myself working on. Though, I have thought about writing a story for this crossover hub.

Because of how long I took to post this chapter, I will not be following through my planned hiatus, as chances of this long wait in between chapters (possibly two to three months) are going to be a semi-regular thing. If there's one thing school has effectively taught me, it's that work never gets easier, and if you take a single day to relax, it immediately piles up.

- Reviews -

Loveless: I remember your review, I approved your review in the moderation settings just after having posted the last chapter. As for any major changes you asked such as not letting main characters die, I don't think so. Because, I generally plan to keep the Jojo material closer to canon than make any major changes outside of location and some characters being faunus. Also, I saw that video, Fugo could've totally saved them. I'd say maybe for Salem in that alleyway in Part 4, but only because she wouldn't have a reason to go to Morioh herself.

Nemonobody001: I hope you refer to 2022, because I certainly didn't for 2021. Also, I hope me answering your private message alleviated any worry that I abandoned this story.

LukeSky001: Lol, I'm sorry. Though, I'm sure you might be happy that I just decided against doing a hiatus.

awesomenessomar5: Thank you.

STUPIDHORMONE: When I first watched Part 5, how I interpreted King Crimson's ability is like the video timeline of a Youtube video; I could tell what would happen next, so I pressed the arrow key to skip ten seconds forward. But, thank you for the help.

NJMR IV: Moody Blues replays everything, so yeah. If it replayed a huntsman, their aura would be showcased. As for the maidens, if Amber floated, it would be played too, but I don't think the magic would be copied.

X3runner: Honestly yeah, a lot of Part 5 Stands are just freaky. I had someone else in mind for that, by the way. And that final thing you mention is something I find sweet.

desand: Thank you. It's a big 'if' knowing myself and my schedule, but if I do get to that point, I'll try to do that. It'll be something small and short, though, but I'll still try.

AshenOne: Reading that sentence after having taken five months to post hurt me. Also about your last point, Raven isn't in the cast. So, I'm not sure if you were referring to someone else.

Noel IV: I think you are right, as the only real reactions most of the time are from the students and not from the adults who are experienced huntsmen or are people who already know how dark and messy things can get in the criminal underworld. Thank you for your critiques.

Yugo Akiba Tokusatsu: That'd be a cool idea. In-universe, Blake's book is fiction using that idea as a main concept.

Wickerstein: For the first review, I agree. That was kind of what I was going for in the early chapters of the story; the user's aura separates from its user to become a Stand. For the second review, the cast members don't know that, so for now, they're just thinking of the arrow as being important.

UnlawfulGentleman: Thank you very much for the review. Sometimes I have worries that I may have written a character OOC in the past, but your analysis of my portrayal of the characters reminds me that I haven't strayed too far away. Also yes, Stands are absolutely terrifying even to someone who's capable and strong. I'd compare it to showing a gun to someone from the very far past that doesn't have a concept of it; the other person did something, and suddenly I'm now in pain.

WLL: I'll be truthful here. Long before I even considered doing this project, I shared the same views. Probably the only reason why I decided to go with combining RWBY and Jojo universes together was because other RWBY reactions to Jojo part stories did that. For your critiques that I should explain more about the Jojo side of this, I've taken to heart; in the future, I'll add more exposition to better explain things.

THE TOWER OF PIMPS: As with most bullies, as I've heard from most people. Not sure how true that is, but Cardin sure seems to fit the picture.

yourGodlyleader: But the thing is, Pyrrha would use her ability if it meant that she could save someone. In RWBY canon, when Jaune was fighting off the Ursa, she used her ability to help him right in front of Weiss and Ruby. She keeps her ability a secret, but she's not hesitant to use it.

CrazyHeartAttack: Here it is, I hope you're not dead by now.

Dingussaurus: I'm very glad to hear that from you, and I hope you're doing well too! To be completely honest, I cringe when I think about that chapter. Thinking about it now, it just feels out of touch with the previous chapters of that same episode. But seriously, thank you for your review.

Guest on chapter 13 . Feb 16: Sorry for that.

XualAvia: Also sorry for that.

schwarzhayasaka: Thank you. Somehow, I imagine Ironwood just bringing in the entirety of Atlas' air fleet to politely ask for the arrow. And either Cinder's going to piss or wet herself at the prospect of what a Requiem Stand could accomplish.

Guest on chapter 13 . Mar 6: Thank you. It makes sense, though; GER is the most broken Stand in Jojo. But I want to give a spotlight to the other Stands to better give context of how powerful they are, and how much more powerful they can get.

Loveless: That'd be funny, but I'll have to decline that. Sorry.

Guest on chapter 1 . Mar 22: Maybe teasers for the next episode, because I don't see myself showing mid to final part episodes too early.

"Indeed," Ironwood responded to his Specialist.

Ozpin, Ironwood, and their respective number-two's were facing towards each other. Port and Oobleck were discussing something unrelated, and Qrow was kicking back with a sip of his flask, as always.

"I've overheard some of the ideas from the students," Glynda told them. "Some are a bit out there, but I don't think we could rule anything out."

Whatever Abbacchio's Stand ability was, it had to be something good.

Cinder was glad that her two followers kept quiet; the silence allowed her to think fully and uninterrupted. From what she saw, his Stand looked strange, which was quite the normal when it came to these. On the topic of the ability itself, she told herself that she wasn't expecting much, but admitted she was curious enough to want to know what it could be.

Some more time passed as members of the audience either chatted some more, or enjoyed a light meal and drink. Or, a smoke in Roman's case.

The speakers crackled to life. "Is everyone ready?" that monotone voice said. When he received plenty of agreements, the lights dimmed once more.

A young man was presented on screen. He wore a neatly-pressed, dark-blue uniform, and his cap was firmly held over his heart. His eyes were starry as he stood proud of his position. This, of course, was a stark contrast to his older and weathered expression.

"Leone Abbacchio became a police officer after graduating from high school.This was due to his strong sense of justice."

"He was a police officer?" Neptune said with a slight raise in his eyebrows. "I'd never guessed that." Teams RWBY and NPR were practically struck with the same feeling as he.

"Yeah, that's a surprise there," Sun agreed.

Ruby stared into the eyes of Abbachio's younger self and she noted how bright they were. "He looks a lot happier."

Yang hummed in response. "This is going to be a tragic backstory, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

Weiss shook her head. "Ruby, if he was a cop back then and he's a criminal now, then something must have happened."

"He could just be undercover!" Ruby quickly said, sounding urgent and her high-pitched voice almost breaking. "It might not mean something bad happened!"

"Do you believe that, Ruby?"

The young huntress didn't respond back.

A flashback—the younger Abbacchio fastened his cap onto his head as he overlooked the airport by his car.

"But soon after he became a police officer, a lifelong dream, Abbacchio realized there were many contradictions that came with this job. The police were supposed to risk their lives to save others, while those very people they were risking their lives to protect–" two rocks collided against the front windshield of Abbachio's car, startling him "–were the ones who were stealing, injuring others in hit-and-runs, and throwing rocks at police cars, breaking their windshields."

Glynda's eyebrows flinched slightly which morphed into a scowl, while Ozpin kept a neutral stare towards the screen.

"It's disappointing to know that Vacuo needs to have better control over its citizens," Ironwood said with Winter humming in response.

Qrow didn't even bother with turning around. "Of course you'd say that," he muttered into his flask.

Meanwhile, some of the students' eyes went wide when they saw the rocks thrown into his car window and at Abbacchio, even more when they heard the narration about how little appreciation they were given.

"Oh my…!" Pyrrha said as her hand went up to cover her mouth. She turned to Sun and Neptune. "Is this how normally they're treated?"

The two Vacuans did not look as surprised as the students from Beacon, but nonetheless still affected by it. Neptune was the first to speak.

"Uh… Yeah, I guess," he said slowly. "The police are formally a part of the Vacuan government, and no one really respects the government. That means they aren't either."

Meanwhile, Sun looked embarrassed and shook his head slightly. "I didn't think it was this bad. I always threw banana peels at them, but I'd never seen anyone throw rocks at them." The monkey faunus turned away from the screen. He remembered that it was some harmless fun, but now he could guess what his actions look like from their perspective.

But if anyone's eyes were wider, Ruby's would be the widest. "But– that's–!" She struggled. "How? Police uphold the law, how can they be treated like this?"

"Not every cop is good; some are corrupt." Blake told her. Her tone was neutral, but Ruby missed the tensity in her eyes. "Even if they aren't, the system definitely is."

"But… that doesn't mean all of the police are bad, right?"

In the far back corner, away from everyone, Roman sat in a lax position with one leg over the other. "Now, if this isn't a prime example why you should always look after yourself, then I don't know what is," he said to the only person he could trust beside him. Neo simply nodded along.

Another threw a rock aimed for Abbacchio, who soon began to chase after the two hooligans. But, a cry for help from behind stopped him.

When he turned around, he saw two men on a scooter; the one behind the driver held firmly onto a woman's purse. The struggle quickly ended when the two drove off, leaving both her and her husband behind in the dust as he called out to her.

"Why is no one else stopping them?" Yang asked with a hint of anger in her voice. The few people that were around just watched impassively.

"It's a huntsman's job to get involved to keep the peace. They are just civilians," Nicolas told the students, "Not many people want to get involved with something that has nothing to do with them."

Nora looked distressed. "They could at least try to help…"

"They're civilians," the experienced huntsman repeated. "If those thugs had a knife or a gun, it's going to be fatal for anyone who isn't trained to help."

"Are you all right?" Abbacchio called out for the two.

The man stood up to address him. "Hey, you! You're a cop, aren't you?!" He pushes Abbacchio back, making him stumble.

"The masses were unappreciative, demanding, and irresponsibly discredited and insulted the police, asking, 'What are the police even doing?!'"

The older man continued to berate the officer for how unhelpful he was. But around him, Abbacchio could see the ungrateful stares from the crowd. Their hate and contempt towards the institution that he worked so hard to join was apparent.

"Even if the police risked their lives to arrest criminals who were lower than scum, the law for the masses was rather lenient as long as they had money, and they would be released."

As to prove the point, major headlines of newspapers showed up.

'Serial Burglar Isacco Finally Arrested!'

'A Whole Group Wiped Out'

'Isacco Released on 70 Million Lire, Victims Furious'

Roman smiles in an amusing way. "What do you know? Money always wins!"

"Oh, shut up already!" Yang shouted back. If having to witness a robbery which no one could stop and someone be treated poorly because of their occupation was bad, having the self-proclaimed 'king of crime' rub it in made it worse.

Despite aggravated looks from the students and teachers, Roman was not at all discouraged—quite the opposite. He said with a cocky smile, "What? It's true. Get arrested for something? Just pay the bail, and it'll be like nothing ever happened."

General Ironwood didn't make a move. He kept still in his seat as he glanced to the side towards Vale's most wanted. "It won't be when I have you under my custody," he said, calm, but sternly like it was an inevitability.

Cinder also glanced to the side, more annoyed than anything towards Roman and his loud ramblings.

Her green-haired subordinate leaned towards her. "Should we do something about him, or…?"

"Let him make a fool of himself." Cinder plainly spoke with a low voice to Emerald. "He's benefitting us by taking away any unwanted attention. Besides, it isn't like we can do anything to him."

Ruby saw those hateful looks the citizens had given Abbacchio and she wondered, 'Would that happen to me? I want to help people too, but…' She could see the parallels between the younger Abbacchio and herself. A strong sense of justice, pursuing their lifelong dream, and a willingness to risk their lives for others.

She clenched her eyes shut, then opened them, several times to bring herself back into the present. 'No! Huntsmen and huntresses are liked by everyone. It won't be like this.'

Another flashback—Abbacchio stood guard by the gate as someone walked out of the gates to two people and their scooter.

"Quit causing us so much trouble," one of them says. The one leaving the police station simply brushes it off.

"It doesn't matter now. We just have to find more people to rip off."

"How disgusting." Saphron scowled to herself.

Pyrrha seemed to agree. "How confident does he have to be to say that in front of an officer?"

The students recognized that these were the kinds of people they wouldn't want to be around—unrepentant towards those who they have robbed.

Nonetheless, they all watched and listened.

"Eventually, Abbacchio started to learn from these contradictions."

An indeterminate amount of time passed by. It was nighttime in the poor parts of Naples, where the only source of light came from the city street lamps along the sidewalk.

"Come on, Officer. Cut us some slack." A snivelly voice spoke. "That girl's father is swimming in debt, so she needs the cash. It's not like we're hurting anyone."

Sun shook his head. Already, red flags were signaling off in his head. "This man is completely sketchy."

Before Abbacchio stood a particular man. His lips seem to naturally be curled like a Cheshire cat, with a red bandana wrapped around his hair, and a light-green, long coat buttoned up which covers his bare chest. Just beyond him was a well-endowed, young woman leaning against a lamp post. She wore a short, pristine dress underneath a purple fur coat.

"Hey, are you done yet?" Her tone was without a care, as she twiddled her purple lipstick in her hands. "I've got a client waiting."

The man straightened his hunched-over posture and whipped around to her. "I know, I know." He tapped Abbacchio's knuckles with his left hand's knuckles.

The officer looked down and saw the roll of lire in the man's hand.

"No…" Ruby muttered. "Please, don't take it."

"The fact that he's trying to bribe him should mean he's up to something," Weiss stated.

For some of the younger audience, they hoped he wouldn't. While for others, such as Qrow and other members of Ozpin's group, and Cinder's lackeys, they could guess what would likely happen next.

It was pitch-black late into the night, and Abbacchio's tired mind tried to find reason.

'Even if I were to arrest them, they'd just post bail and be released.' Hungrily, he stared at the roll of lire. 'The only difference is they pay either me or the court and their lawyers.' His palm opened up and money soon filled in.

"You're a very passionate man," he told Abbacchio as he circled around him, "and a very passionate police officer."

Abbacchio's eyes were obscured by his visor. His head shifted up, and a single eye devoid of life watched the two leave.

"This must be his turning point, then," Ozpin stated. "It's understandable to feel defeated when you see your actions have little impact. But the most important thing is to keep going despite that."

Saphron's eyebrows angled upwards. "Sheesh. I can see how he became so… bitter." She found the word she was looking for. As someone who lives a civilian lifestyle, it all felt so horrible for her. "Is this how it normally is?"

Nicolas realized she was asking him. "I focus on fending off the Grimm, only occasionally bandits. But I'm sure it's like that because of how Naples is."

It was left unspoken, but a system like this—where anyone with money can wash their hands of the crimes they commit—is terrible for anyone to live in.

Some time after Abbacchio took the money, it was night, and the rain seemed to make it darker than it was. Flashing blue lights filled the area of the street corner.

"One night, they received a report that a shop was being robbed." The narrator spoke.

Abbacchio's partner instructed him to go around the back, to which he did. In one motion, the door leading to the alleyway was kicked in and Abbacchio searched the area. He aimed the gun and flashlight around until he caught a figure.

"Freeze! You're under arrest!" The skinny figure backed away from the window sill with hands up.

"H-Hey, it's you," the same, snivelly voice spoke. A drop of sweat poured down from his cheek. "Looks like I messed up."

"You're..."

"The person from before…" Pyrrha thought aloud.

Nora could feel sweat beading at her palms, with many others in her group feeling the same—that swelling urge that nothing good can come from this.

"So that's where this is going." The master thief seemed to ease into his seat. "Cop is found to be taking bribes; seems like this is cut and dry already."

Meanwhile, at the front of the store, a light beam shined on an empty cash register, before moving over to the body in the corner, blood pooling by his legs.

"He's been shot in the head," Abbacchio's partner noted.

For once, in a brief moment, he was caught off guard. The small, easy-going smile on Roman's face faltered as he'd assume that he was just some petty criminal incapable of killing. The kind that always talked big but never backed up their words.

A shiver crept up the spine of the students as they realized just how bad this person Abbacchio met is. Nora grabbed Ren's sleeve cuff for reassurance. Saphron found herself looking away from the brief shock.

Instinctively, Yang glanced towards her sister who was just as shocked as everyone else. Her arms twitched towards her, but Ruby was faster in stopping her.

"Yang… I'm fine." Her fingers trembled, but she tried her best to keep her composure.

Yang closed her mouth as she kept her eye on her. She could see Ruby's chest rise and fall with the deep breaths she was taking. It felt wrong for her to let her younger sister see this kind of thing.

On the other hand, Mercury's breathing stayed level, already used to seeing this kind of thing. While Emerald's eyes narrowed uncomfortably. She remembered what she said about the other students being squeamish about blood, and tried her best to not show it.

"Hey, couldn't you just pretend that you didn't see me?" Abbacchio's partner overheard. "Come on, let me go. I won't cause you any more trouble," the man said.

He pleaded with Abbacchio while held at gunpoint. Behind him and loosely tucked in his pants was a snubby revolver—the murder weapon. He lowered his hands outward in a disarming way.

Abbacchio shifted his aim. "No! You're under arrest!"

"Come on, think this through…" he begged in a relaxed posture and his signature curled smile. "If I get arrested, the fact that you took a bribe from me will get out, too."

Abbacchio flinched. Stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"That gun's really dangerous… Could you point it somewhere else?"

"Don't," Ironwood said. "He should be taken in, not let out freely to kill again." A statement that the students and huntsmen agreed with.

Mercury leaned his head into his hand. 'Honestly, he should just shoot him. Leave no loose ends.' Even though this was a flashback and Abbacchio couldn't have known this, that scenario would have worked out since he had a gun and killed a clerk.

Suspense ate at them. The younger audience members watched with bated breaths at what Abbacchio would do next. Even Cardin found himself holding in a breath he didn't know.

Ruby clutched the edges of her cloak. Mentally, she urged him not to do so; to stick to his justice and arrest him regardless of his situation.

Abbacchio weighed the options. Either bring the culprit in and lose his job, or let him go and get a small slap on the wrist for being unable to 'catch' him. Despite his better judgement and his sense of justice, he chose the one that could get him into the least amount of trouble.

Abbacchio lowered his gun and looked away.

Ironwood closed his eyes. He had a suspicion he would do that, but surprisingly hoped against it.

The students felt a deepening pit in their stomachs the moment he took his gun off him. Ruby, on the other hand, felt her heart sink.

The thief smiled as though he were an animal about to pounce on its prey. He gripped the revolver's handle with clear intent and aimed it directly at him.

"Abbacchio! He has a gun!" His partner came screaming out, pushing him out of the way with his own gun aimed at the culprit.

Two guns fire. A hat falls.

The thief screamed. "OW! It hurts, God damn it! I'm gonna die…" He held his left side like his life depended on it. "I'm gonna die… I'm really gonna die…" Pathetically, he repeated while Abbacchio looked down, stiff.

Before him laid the body of his partner. His blood spilled outwards and his eyes filled with fear as his final moments.

Abbacchio cried a pained scream.

Ironwood lowered his head. As a General, and a former soldier, for Atlas, there were a good number of men who had risked their lives in a way not so different from Abbacchio's partner.

Despite having a low opinion of Abbacchio, Saphron felt remorseful for him.

Qrow was quiet, mumbling something to himself about how he's been there or that he knows how it feels, before withdrawing his flask to take another drink. Not like before where he would down his drink in glee, but in a way of solemn acknowledgement.

Ruby had tried her best to keep watching, but she folded. She didn't like seeing someone—someone who upheld justice—be killed in action. It was something she never really wanted to think about.

Her eyes shut, and she felt her sister hold her close.

The two teams were speechless. Not one of them made any move to speak. Instead, they felt sorry for his loss, this tragedy.

Roman's muted companion seemed cheery, while the man himself resumed back to a neutral expression. It wasn't the first time, or even that surprising, for him to see a do-gooder get what was coming.

Emerald gasped, and despite her best to conceal it, she knew that Cinder and Mercury heard her. She turned towards the two—Cinder didn't even bat an eye towards her, and Mercury was silently snickering hearing her squirm; much to her discontent.

"That moment was the end of Abbacchio's future. Not only was he charged for being a dirty cop, but he allowed his partner to die because of his actions. And that was a cross he'd have to bear for the rest of his life. It was then that his body and soul plunged into darkness."

Cold eyes stared forward, similar to how a dead body would. Years without proper self-care had left his hair longer and messy. His clothes were dark-blue, but not in the sense of a uniform; it was loose and barely hung onto his form.

"No matter who died, or even if he lost a limb or two, his heart would probably never be moved again."

Among many of the students, Pyrrha covered her mouth with her palm and Nora was being comforted by Ren, as was Ruby with Yang.

Sun was the one who broke the silence in their area. "Shit, man…"

Blake kept a neutral face, but her ribbon was lowered. "He couldn't have known that this would have happened."

Ren nodded. "He made a small mistake and it cost him."

"All the more reason to do your best to not make them, students." They turned to see Doctor Oobleck, who had a sympathetic gaze to them.

Time moved on, but Abbacchio never did. He drank from a bottle at the very place his life fell apart on a night very much similar. He stumbled out into the rain towards the main street where he saw a man walk up with an umbrella.

"Abbacchio, wasn't it?" he said. He donned a white jacket with golden zippers, with an opening revealing his chest and lingerie underneath. The umbrella tilted upwards to reveal his face.

Abbacchio's tired eyes struggled to look at him. The two stood off from across the street.

Ren's expression barely changed, his tone of voice the only sign of his slight surprise. "Bruno's there?"

Nobody in the room expected to see the mafioso there in the flashback. Even strange was that it almost felt like Bucciarati knew Abbacchio would be there.

Blake had a questioning look before she said, "Bucciarati must've been there to invite him into Passione."

Cinder acknowledged this, humming quietly to herself as she listened to the others.

Seagulls squawk, soaring high in the sky, while down below, Bruno's yacht was slowly making its way to the port.

"You can solve this mystery, right?" Giorno called out as he ran forwards toward the enemy. "I'm counting on you!"

"Giorno! What the hell are you doing!" Bucciarati called out hopelessly. He watched as a thin rapier pierced Giorno in the spine, his skin losing its volume.

Even though Nicolas has already seen this before previously, it still only felt worse. It felt more like he was being stabbed, too.

"Giorno's in trouble." Bucciarati would've stepped up to defend the new recruit if it wasn't for Abbacchio stepping in front of him, teal aura emanating from him.

"Giorno Giovanna… You're one crazy bastard," he said stiffly. "All this to prove yourself… What the hell is wrong with you?" His eyes fiercely stared at the blond's slowly deflating, impaled body.

"Y-You bastard…" Giorno rasped, as the last of his air ran out. "Th-This Stand…"

Surprised, but not at all hesitating, Bucciarati called out to him. "Use your Gold Experience to defend yourself!"

But it had been too late, the blond's body was dragged down below the deck. Bucciarati ran up to see the opening where he had been dragged off to. But to his utter shock, it was an enclosed space. Not a single opening for anything, let alone a full body, to be moved through.

"Wait, what?" Nora said. "But, there was a hole. There had to be!"

Pyrrha added, "Yeah, there was definitely a square opening. We all saw it, right?" She looked around, and others nodded. "So, how could it…?"

"I-Impossible! Giorno… Where are you?!"

A hand grasped around his shoulder, holding him back. Bruno turned to see Abbacchio stare at him seriously.

"Don't go down there, Bucciarati," he told him. "Actually, stay back. It's not that I trust Giorno Giovanna as one of us, but Giorno seems to believe that you won't abandon him. He does some pretty crazy shit. Giorno Giovanna…" Abbacchio said with distaste. His stern expression looked more rigid. "What if that had actually killed you?" There was a small pause before he continued, "So, again, Bucciarati, don't go down there."

Nicholas' head lightly snapped up towards the screen. "I see now…" he said. Saphron turned toward him. "He hated Jaune because he reminded him of his younger self."

She thought about it for a moment, and her eyes lit up. She thought about her idea of who Abbacchio was—how cold and rude he is. Yet, she started to feel sympathetic towards him.

Nora quietly cooed. "That's a little endearing… I think?"

"Yeah," Pyrrha told her. "He doesn't want him to make the same mistake he did."

Weiss turned to face the two. "Well, he's right. That was incredibly reckless of him to do that, if not outright stupid." Pyrrha did her best to hide her wince.

Abbacchio points with his wrist twisted, worthy of a mini-pose, toward where Giorno had been taken, the fly not too far away.

"Th-That fly… Narancia's shoe…" Bucciarati realized. His mind quickly worked. "Giorno's powers haven't disappeared yet. Does that mean Giorno's alive?"

Before the ex-cop could answer him, movement caught his eye. "They're here, Bucciarati! Narancia and the enemy are below deck!"

Bucciarati sent out his Stand to unleash a barrage of punches toward the deck, while calling out, "[STICKY FINGERS]!"

A trail of bright blue lights made a perimeter on the deck, revealing the cabin below to be empty.

Bucciarati peered inside. "Narancia, Fugo, Mista, and Giorno aren't here!"

Abbacchio looked up from the hole, staring right at the fly moving away from them. "Maybe they're right under where the fly is," he offered.

"It's just like Giorno said. The enemy's not just hiding in some locker or behind something to attack..."

Despite her view of the ex-cop under a different light, Saphron still couldn't help but look annoyed with him. She muttered, "...Should've listened to his reasoning."

Movement caught the corner of Abbacchio's eye. "Hey. The fly's coming around now," he warned him.

"That's strange… Where is the enemy going? How and where is the enemy hiding?"

"Regarding this enemy's abilities…" Abbacchio paused to think for a moment. "I hate to admit it, but it looks like I'll have to accept what Giorno was saying. I'll use my Stand to solve this mystery! But…"

'Finally,' Cinder thought. In her mind, while power could be discreet, it was always meant to be shown to prove who's on top. While Abbacchio was very hesitant to bring it out, Bucciarati says that it's perfect. 'I'll get to see if he's worth all of that build up.'

Abbacchio jumped back into the hole, knocking his leader down with him. "This spot's bad news, Bucciarati!"

Quickly, the zippers closed again, sealing them both in the cabin below. The two walked through the hallway of the cabin, Abbacchio's teal aura surrounding him.

"[MOODY BLUES]!"

Like frames of an artist's animation, images of himself trailed behind him, forming into a singular being. Chromatic rubber-like skin, eyes like speakers and a dial along its forehead, and a sound reminiscent of a call being dropped. This is Abbacchio's Stand.

"It looks cool!" Nora gushed.

Blake stared carefully at the screen. "Uh, is the screen glitching?" The others, who had been looking at the Stand, took notice of those small details.

The screen, or what was being shown, seemed to be distorted in small, blue specks; not much different to early holograms using light dust when they were being developed years ago.

"Is his Stand doing that?" Ruby asked.

"It appears so." Weiss responded. She went silent before saying, "With everything—the dial, the speakers, the sound it makes, even the screen—it feels like this Stand is very technology-based."

The two continued to make their way through the yacht. "Does Narancia from five minutes ago work?"

"Yeah. That should be fine." Bruno gave a quick confirmation.

Pyrrha's eyebrows raised briefly. "Narancia… five minutes?" she muttered. "What does that mean?"

Ren said, "Looks like we're going to find out soon."

The Headmaster and General, and the rest of Ozpin's group focused on the big screen. Cinder didn't bother hiding her curiosity.

The dial on Moody Blues rapidly increased. They watched as Abbacchio's Stand seemed to have a mind of its own, running off onto the top deck with the two following soon after.

Abbacchio turned towards him. "Is the fly all right?"

"It's heading toward the bow. Now's our chance. Do it quickly." Bucciarati went on lookout while Abbacchio gave a quick nod.

Directly at the scene where Giorno had gone missing, Moody Blues' form shifted shape and color, matching that of Narancia—from the shape of his clothing down to the individual strands of his messy hair. The imitation-Narancia sat down as the timer began.

The room was in uproar. Some, such as the students, exclaimed their astonishment; others were silent, their astonished faces telling of what they felt as they watched. But everyone was in awe and surprise at Moody Blues' ability.

Roman whistled through his teeth, a fine line of smoke exhaled from it. Neo remained indifferent as she watched.

Emerald didn't believe what she saw. "Did it just–" Cinder simply remained tight-lipped, eyes staring ahead, and that got her to stop talking quickly.

Oobleck readjusted his glasses. Even from behind his opaque lenses, his coworkers could see that his eyes were glued onto the screen.

Narancia rhythmically tapped his knee as he danced to soft, rhythmic beats playing in the background.

"What's that noise?" Bruno asked.

"His headphones," he pointed to his own ears. "Five minutes ago, Narancia was listening to his boombox."

Around twelve seconds later, if the timer was anything to go by, Narancia's eyes shot open in anger. "Huh? What's wrong with this thing? It just stopped working! Why'd it stop?" Narancia checked a non-existent boombox in front of him.

"This isn't it," Bucciarati said to him. "Narancia was attacked a little after this."

"I'll try fast forwarding and searching." The timer paused before speeding up significantly, Narancia's movements matching the speed. He continued to rant before walking up to the bow of the ship where the gang had their meeting.

"Remarkable…" Doctor Oobleck leaned forward as far as he could from his seat. "Absolutely remarkable…!"

"What is it, Bart?" Port asked him. But, Oobleck didn't answer him directly.

"Hold on now, I need to see what happens next!" He said, as fast as he normally does during his lectures.

Cinder felt a slight discomfort. She had a feeling she should be worried.

At three minutes and forty-two seconds, the recording continued at normal speed.

"That ten billion now belongs to us!" Past-Bruno's voice echoed. "With that money, we can claim the rank of capo!"

"A-Awesome!" A starry-eyed Narancia said the same line Narancia from before had said already.

Bruno looked over the recording of Narancia. "That was my voice. It was right after this conversation that Narancia was attacked! We'd better be able to see how he was attacked, Abbacchio."

"My Stand replays everything," he told him calmly. "We'll be able to see everything, from Narancia's sweat to his pulse, down to his aura, if he had any. And it'll follow him everywhere."

It seems that she was right. 'This ability is… very troubling,' Cinder internalized. With one glance towards Ozpin's group on her right, she could tell that they were already planning to hire his services to find who attacked the maiden. Cinder mentally cursed herself and her subordinates when she thought about how they didn't wear anything to conceal their identities. 'He needs to be killed, and I need to be more careful with how I plan my attacks.'

"My word! If his Stand can reenact the actions of someone in the past to every specific detail, and replay the surrounding audio, then this would be a marvelous way to rediscover the past!" Oobleck rambled on excitedly. "Think about it—learning about the decisions historical figures made at the moment that shaped history, or finding out the identities of murderers who evaded being caught!"

Ozpin chuckled at his enthusiasm before noticing the General turning towards him.

"Yes, I think finding out the identities would be very useful," Ironwood said. Ozpin knew he was referring to Amber's attackers. While Qrow generally knew what they looked like, having a detailed image of their faces and being able to see what they could do would help in learning more about the enemy. The same would go for anyone who would side with her.

Neptune turned towards the group. "We were way off, weren't we?" The others agreed. Plenty of ideas were passed around, but none ever came close to the truth.

"Well, Weiss-cream here came the closest." Yang nodded her head towards the girl.

Weiss rolled her eyes, but a small smile formed on her as she took the praise. "Don't be silly, Yang, I didn't even come up with an idea for what he could do. And don't call me that."

"It wasn't x-ray vision…" Nora pouted slightly.

"Well," Blake said, "they'll be able to find their answers with his ability."

"It's about time." The two walked around the recording. "Let's get behind Narancia. He's about to be attacked!"

Just as Bucciarati said, a small hole appeared on Narancia's left shoulder. It twisted inward he was impaled, yet no blood came out.

"L-Look! It's the same wound Giorno had!" Immediately after, Narancia was launched backwards towards the drain. "It's coming!" Gaseous, visible air expelled out of Narancia's wound.

Bucciarati was stunned. "Th-This is… He's deflating like a balloon losing air!"

Narancia's recording continued to lose more and more air, leaving his skin more crumbled and his eyes bulging outwards.

–

Much like before, a golden coin spun around to reveal information about a Stand.

[Stand Master] Leone Abbacchio

[Stand Name] Moody Blues

Power: C

Speed: C

Range: A

Durability: A

Precision: C

Growth Potential: C

Ruby was deeply disturbed with how Narancia's eyes looked just peeking out of his flattened head, but found something else to focus on. "Oh, his first name is Leone," she said. "I actually thought it was Abbacchio."

Weiss spoke up beside her. "In business and other formal relations, it's expected to refer to someone by their last name." Ruby lightly nodded with no other reaction.

Everyone in the room had their own discussions regarding Abbacchio's Stand. But one question would silence them as Glynda quietly read out the letter grades for Moody Blues. "Excuse me, Entertainer. Could you explain the statistics of Stands?"

The speakers, different from the ones that they had been listening to, began to crackle. "Which one?" he asked in an expressionless tone.

"All of it," Glynda bluntly stated. "The last time we saw this was with Polpo's Stand, and you said that it was data that you compiled. We would like to better understand how that was measured, please."

Surprisingly for everyone in the room, they heard papers being shuffled around through the speakers. Then he spoke, "Statistics of Stands are rated from letters A to E, from excellent to very weak."

"C usually denotes the average in grading scales. What would the average for Stands be?"

"It would be comparable to a human's skill."

"With or without aura?"

"Without," the speakers echoed. There was a pause before he continued. "Power indicates how much damage a Stand can do within a set period of time, whether through its ability or through physical attacks. Speed is how fast the Stand can perform at its top speed. Range is how far away from the user it can be effectively used. A Stand can be farther than its indicated range, but its power and speed will be highly reduced."

"And durability is how much damage a Stand can take before the user gets injured?" Port asked.

"Not quite," he said. "I know it says durability here, but more accurately it would be called persistence, as it measures how long the Stand can use its primary ability and how long it has to wait in order to use it again. I'll fix it in future sessions."

Members made a mental note about it, and acknowledged that Abbacchio's Stand ability could be used for a long period of time and had a long range.

"Precision is how accurate a Stand is."

Ironwood was the one to ask, "Can you give us an example?"

"…An example would be one's Stand being able to catch a bullet mere milliseconds before even touching the user." He added, "Even at point-blank range."

That caught their attention. The room hummed to life with hushed whispers of such speed.

'Point-blank range?' Cinder thought. When she played around with the idea of potentially finding a way to get a Stand, the prospect of losing the safety of aura was risky. To be rendered so fragile that something like a small pistol bullet in her leg would cause her to bleed to death was clearly undesirable. 'If my supposed Stand could protect me just as well as aura, then that's one downside taken care of.'

The sound in the room started to die down, allowing the Entertainer to add, "Though, that example was also reliant on that Stand's excellent speed." Everyone was curious about who he was referring to.

"Could you tell us what Stand that was?" Winter asked.

"Unnecessary," he immediately said to her disappointment. "Growth Potential indicates how much room there is for the Stand to evolve."

"Evolve?" Qrow asked. "As in, grow stronger?"

"Yes. A Stand may be able to gain a new ability depending on its growth potential. An interpretation of Stands, that I've heard, is that they are a representation of the user's will to fight." He paused, possibly trying to think of something before speaking, "I'm sure everyone here remembers Koichi from before, correct?"

The Headmaster hummed. "His Stand was Echoes Act III, if I recall."

The Entertainer made no sound to indicate acknowledgement, but he continued. "Koichi was an average civilian before being thrown into the world of Stands. Due to those events, he has grown—his Stand alongside him. Echoes' ability to weigh down an object was not its first." With that explained, the speakers cut out, filling the room with an even emptier silence.

"Interesting," Oobleck said. "Well, that interpretation does seem to be true."

Ironwood contemplated the information. "So, even if someone gets an ineffective Stand, there's still the chance to improve it."

Cinder regarded this as well. The idea of having a Stand for her had started to seem plausible. Although she wasn't fully convinced, the thought of it gave her a slight smile, if only briefly.

- A/N -

I originally wanted it to be a one chapter episode for two main reasons.

For one, it keeps things cohesive in terms of tone, something I was not satisfied with in the last chapter. While I'm happy that I was able to improve how I write regarding the last chapter in comparison with my earlier work, I wasn't too happy with the tone. If you were to connect the last part with the other parts of that episode, there would be a noticeable disconnect.

The second was that Jure Rollo was right, splitting the chapter makes the pacing between chapters tedious and would just give me a lot more work to do. But I admit that I took a very long time to finish this one.

Besides that, some self-criticisms that I can point out are that some of the dialogue doesn't feel fleshed out enough; again, with the one-line dialogue some of the characters say without any interaction between them. Even though I feel like I've hit a roadstop, I hope some of the longer cast comment sections make up for it.

I can't say with certainty, but if I were to give an estimate of when the second part of this episode comes out, it would be somewhere in the middle of Summer. Because, I am really wanting to enjoy that break from constant assignments.

Please let me know if there's anything I can do to improve my writing or if there are any grammatical errors.

- Log -

Episode Transcript started on December 6, 2021

Episode Transcript finished on December 10, 2021

Cast Comments outline started on December 14, 2021

[Progress halted from January 3 - February 9]

Cast Comments outline finished on February 18, 2022

Cast Comments final started on February 22, 2022

[Half of the chapter reached on March 25, 2022]

[Chapter was split on April 5, 2022]

[Revisions on April 7-10, 2022]

Published on April 10, 2022