AN: As is the norm for these fics let me start by saying that I do not in any way own these characters. The only thing I do own is the content of this story. This is something I have been thinking about for a long time and after being inspired by friend StxDii and the great Coeur Al'Aran I decided to give it a shot too. StxDii has helped me with this extensively including with chapters and the like. You should go check out his JoJo fanfic 'New Dawn' on AO3. It is only five or six chapters in length but is undergoing a revamp that I'm involved with and excited for! Anyway, here is Arc 1: The Weakest Ranker.
Prologue
The cold north wind flowed through the air as the sun broke the horizon, signalling the dawn of a new day. People starting their morning early, shivered as the wind cut through their coats and made them thankful for the morning brew flowing through their veins. The wind snaked through the trees and the tall Valean buildings enveloping them in a frosty coil and abducting the lone leaves unlucky enough to have fallen off the branches. In particular, the eternal red leaves of the Forever Fall forest betrayed the direction of the wind and rode the air to the beautiful Vale Central Park.
The leaves invaded the vast green expanse scattering themselves haphazardly for the early morning joggers to gaze at. The sun, meanwhile, had finally shown signs of movement and had begun its journey across the sky, prompting more and more people to start their day. Like a benevolent deity, the sun extended its hand and subdued the harsh wind from the early morning and in particular offered the more productive of the populace ample place to relax. However, a few stragglers from the earlier winds had finally arrived and fruitlessly assaulted the people, blowing across their laptops and their picnic blankets and for one such individual falling into his carefully prepared cup of coffee.
While sitting on the bench, a grey-haired man was staring into the clear skies none the wiser to the intruder in his hot beverage. The old man was dressed smartly, following the green theme of the park religiously. From the green heritage coloured three-piece suit to the burgundy knitted tie complementing it. His black oxfords swallowed the light around it but shone brightly in the morning sun. Matching his shoes, an obsidian cane with a sterling silver handle rested beside him leaning on the bench with nary a care in the world. Finally, the man started to take a sip from his mug but was attacked by the cleverly camouflaged agent within his coffee. Spitting out the perpetrator, the man decided that his rest had come to an end. Picking up his cane and utilising it to stand up he continued his morning walk at a comfortable pace.
The sun had travelled a significant distance across the sky and most of the world was up and ready for the day. However, this had increased the temperature just above bearable for many people and the wind from the morning was back to pick up its quarry deposited in the park. While people who were cursing it in the morning were glad for its timely return, the leaves of this morning were hard at work looking for their next victim.
Many easy pickings were shortlisted and discarded on account of being locked up behind pesky glass windows hundreds of metres in the sky. Just as the mission was in danger of failing a worthy target appeared. The wind picked up and deposited the leaves just shy of their mark, momentum doing the final work of carrying them towards the quaint cafe situated within the heart of the city.
As luck would have it, they had singled out two targets this time. One was a nimble, emerald green-haired man with a pair of round-rimmed glasses resting on his nose slightly off-kilter. His white shirt was slightly untucked at the bottom and one of the buttons on his shirt was incorrectly buttoned, while the top button was left open. His right hand waved about animatedly, talking to his companion at the table while his left held a medium-sized thermos halting any thought of repeating the previous episode. However, the man's companion had a rather large build and even while sitting down had a full head on the other. In front of him sat a Croque monsieur on a porcelain plate, while a white and gold teapot stood guard in front with a still-hot cup of tea to the left of the plate.
The red leaves chose to attack the other man instead, coming from behind his silver hair and almost managing it had not two large middle and index fingers opened out to intercept its assault. The older man had an amused look on his face as his large moustache twitched in the wind. Putting the assailant down he picked up his knife and fork and bisected his sandwich cutting the half into a more manageable cube he proceeded to put the piece in his mouth.
While the men were talking the leaf discreetly escaped and rode the wind across the city away from all the buzz and activity surrounding the café. It twisted and turned around streets and alleys, finally finding another target. The sun was now high in the sky nearing the halfway point of its journey across the blue sea. Having one failure and one loss would not do. That was a fifty percent success rate, a D grade performance for what was supposed to be a conquest.
The wind had carried the leaves to a little shop secluded from the streets of Vale called 'Guns & Roses' and in the front window laid a plethora of ranged weapons from firearms to crossbows. The door to the shop swung open and seeing their opportunity the leaves stormed in. A short dark-haired girl sat on top of the counter while her legs dangled off the edge. Behind her were several different mecha shift weapons with many different variations. The one that caught the eye was a scythe that was mounted on the wall. This particular one had a few iterations of itself on the wall alongside the final version. Curiously there was no price tag on this one indicating that even though it was finished it was not for sale. The girl seemed to be waiting for something interesting to happen but alas it was a slow day and instead, she resorted to playing on her scroll.
Engrossed in a game of whack-a-grimm she didn't notice the leaf that had flown around the store and landed on her head. After a few hours, the girl decided to close the store and leapt off the counter. Her black combat boots impacting the floor dislodged her red hood from her head bringing along the little red leaf with it. It revealed that her hair was not all black and her neck-length hair had blood-red tips that at first glance looked dyed. The offending leaf fluttered onto her scroll screen alerting the girl to its presence. With a curious glance, the girl swept the leaf off the screen and started locking the doors and priming the alarm.
Catching a stray draft from the backdoor the leaf was dragged out into a dingy alleyway and caught another stream of air and started its ascent into the atmosphere. The sparse river of leaves fluttered through the high buildings, this time using the aid of the sun to camouflage their real destination. The sun had now completed most of its journey across the sky and had bathed the sky in a faded red, almost brown colour, not unlike the leaves.
Continuing their descent the wind had started to die down and their means of transport would disappear as quickly as it came. However, their last stroke of luck for the day had arrived in the form of a metal box on wheels moving at high speeds through the main highway. The leaf sequestered itself within the black windscreen wipers. The metal box had a neon yellow and green colour scheme and a blue siren that was alerting the adjacent vehicles to make way.
The grey-haired man was taking a relaxing stroll in the evening near the Vale General hospital. The hospital boasted a wide array of greenery rivalled only by Central Park. This was only one branch of the hospital, however, it was also the largest, therefore the majority of emergencies were always directed to this branch. The man continued to enjoy his stroll aided by his cane when the periodic melody of the siren pierced his ears. As the ambulance drove past him, it blew air and other dust and debris into his face. More importantly, it had once again blown a small brown leaf into his cup of coffee. Taking a moment to assess the situation he decided to ignore the offending article and carry on with his coffee.
His stroll had taken him to the front of the hospital and the aforementioned ambulance was parked right in front of the ER doors. The automatic double doors opened and two nurses and a doctor ran out in scrubs, while two paramedics relayed the situation. Leisurely walking towards the main entrance, the grey-haired man watched as the young doctor directed the nurses. He stood out amongst the staff not just because of his young looks but because of his almost golden hair and cerulean blue eyes. Taking an unusual interest in the doctor the man failed to notice his coffee cup was empty and decided to take another sip. The stealthy leaf that had infiltrated the beverage sprung its attack and entered the grey-haired man's mouth. Immediately his eyes widened and he spat out the perpetrator.
Using this opening the leaf fluttered away twisting and turning as it found itself stuck to the bottom of the young doctor's converses. Curiously, the leaf had ended up on the converse named 'Left'. Just before entering the building the young man noticed something off and paused to look down. Wiping his shoes on the pavement he rushed into the building and started issuing orders.
Not much happened but sit tight I have a lot planned for this fic and hopefully, I will see it through. Thanks for reading!
TheRedTower
