Episode five: The Young Borgia


"Brother stop!" Giselle's shrill cries caused her brother to dismount the other boy.

Luigi drew a handkerchief from his pocket, he wiped the blood from his knuckles and stood over Kirby. Giselle ran over and hugged her brother's waist as tight as she could. Kirby propped himself up on an elbow and placed his sleeve under his bloody nose. Daria watched the events unfold looking amused, she figured Kirby would've dodged the punch but she was wrong. Luigi was just as much as a fighting machine as he was when they split, which wasn't surprising. It was amazing how one good belt to the nose could take someone out of a fight, she just hoped that his nose wasn't broken. Then she'd be even more disappointed.

"Borgia bastard." Kirby muttered under his breath.

Luigi coughed into his sleeve and took a moment to straighten out his jacket, "Where's Anthony?" Luigi calmly asked, Kirby snarled from the ground and pushed himself off the ground.

"You're not finding him here, shit dick!" Blue hues rose from his being like smoke, Daria planted a hand on Kirby's shoulder.

"Stand down puppy." Luigi smirked, he gave Giselle a pat on the back and she stepped forward.

"We really need to find Anthony, do you know where he is?" Even though she was a Borgia, her charmed worked on him, but Daria was too wise to fall for her tricks. That, and Daria hated kids anyway. She glanced over to her lieutenant, Kirby felt nervous, he was get caught up in a lie.

"He's with Ricky, yes?" Daria asked, almost as if she wanted him to confirm his lie. Kirby instinctively shook his head yes, however Giselle raised a brow, knowing something wasn't right. Which made not only Luigi cautious, but Daria as well. Giselle narrowed her her eyes at the lieutenant, something was definitely off with him, he was anxious and was hiding something. Luigi looked down at Giselle and gave her a small nod, she returned the gesture to him.

"You're lying." Those words cut into Kirby like a knife, Giselle's gaze was cold and long, the childlike wonder was now drained from her features.

"He's not, we're going to go and get Anthony, you two stay here." Before Kirby could protest, he was dragged away by Daria. She knew, she definitely knew that he lied about Anthony's location. He'd surely pay dearly for this.


An hour later

Anthony had finally arrived back to Kirby's house, only for the house to be seemingly empty. The house was filled width a silence that was somewhat unnerving, he knew that he wasn't alone. Inside the guest room, he heard faint whispers from inside. He clenched his fist, his stand's spectral arm over lapped his own. As he approached the door he peeked through the crack, someone was laying in the bed. Taking careful steps, he looked down at the sleeping figure and observed their features. A young girl who didn't look a day over thirteen or fourteen, from her round and chubby cheeks to her small and delicate frame. The girl was no danger to him, but how did she get into the house? As he thought to himself, the girl's eyes began to open up and a soft yawn passed her lip. The sudden noise startled him, but the girl didn't seem to mind his presence. It was as if she expected him.

When Giselle locked eyes with Anthony, it felt like her world stopped around her. Here he was, right there in front of her. Her and Luigi had been searching Brooklyn up and down, and just when they were starting to get desperate. He appeared at her bedside, like out of a fairy tale, she'd be like the waking princess. But would he be the Prince Charming or Noble Knight.

"You're...you're Anthony Silverson!" Giselle shot forward taking a fistful of his jacket, she had to make sure he was real. And her head buried itself into his chest, he looked down at her hair. Noticing she was sporting a pair of Princess Leia buns, at least they had something in common.

"Yeah I-"

"Me and my brother have been looking all over for you! He's going to lose it when he meets you, just give him a few min-" Before she could finish her sentence, Luigi flipped the light switch and stumbled upon the scene. He was speechless, his sister was pressed up against Anthony in the dark, which definitely raised questions. Anthony looked just as surprised as Luigi was, he tried to form the right words to diffuse the situation but Giselle detached herself from him. "Brother!" Giselle jumped up from the bed and squeezed Luigi tightly. Luigi cleared his throat, and looked up from Giselle to meet Anthony's gaze.

"So I see you've met Giselle, a bundle of joy isn't she?" Luigi asked.

"She sure is something, I didn't think she'd be sleeping here. I was using this bed." Anthony had confirmed their suspicions about Daria and Kirby, they lied about his whereabouts. Fortuneately Giselle was able to see through Kirby's bluff, which paid off, since Kirby wasn't expecting Anthony to leave work early. Luigi moved from the doorway and gestured for him to follow, Anthony obliged and walked out of the house with Luigi and Giselle.

"Lets go for a walk, I feel like we could use some fresh air." Anthony didn't mind walking, he hated staying one place too long.

As they walked down the side walk, Giselle caught herself staring intensely at the boy. Luigi and Anthony made small talk, it was about things that she didn't entirely understand. Things about Niccolo, her family, and even Kirby. She had only known Daria and Kirby five or ten minutes, yet they talked about them like years. She knew that Luigi and Daria had history, but not to the extent he talked about with Anthony.

"So that's how I lost my virginity and finished my bowl of spaghetti." Anthony's brain went under a system error, he couldn't form the words to respond to what he just heard. Luigi's story was essentially the modern day Odessy, but with more Italian dishes. They approached a gas stations, Anthony took a seat on the bench while Luigi went in. Giselle plopped herself down beside him.

"You're going to kill Niccolo."

"Excuse me?"

"You're going to kill him, yes?" She wanted him to confirm it, Anthony had completely forgotten about dealing with Niccolo. He didn't want to say yes, to be honest, he didn't really want to kill him. He hated Niccolo, he hated Niccolo with everything he had. But he couldn't bring himself to kill, of course if they were to fight he'd defend himself. But killing Niccolo? That's blood he doesn't want on his hands.

"I wouldn't say I am, I don't wanna kill." He somberly state.

"I understand, I'm sorry about seeming so pushy, but I just really wanna know."

"It's okay, just don't focus on it too much. How about we get to know each other?" Giselle's eyes widened a bit, she hadn't expected him to want to speak to her, she didn't expect him to speak to her in the first place. She didn't know where to start, as a matter of she didn't know what to say, all she could to end stumble over her own words. Anthony Silverson was right in front of her, and she had now been reduced to a stammering fool. She'd never be cool if she acted like this.

"You okay?" He asked about her, it was awfully generous of him to do so. She didn't expect it of him, he knew nothing of her and probably thought of her as just some dumb kid, like everyone else does.

"Yeah, it's just...I've been waiting to meet you for so long, and now that we're here...I just...don't know what to say." Expecting him to go off on her she lowered her head in shame, but instead he raised a brow questioningly.

"What do you mean by waiting for me? I only met you and Luigi today." The girl continued to hang her head low, but his question definitely caused an odd reaction. Almost as if it weren't something he should've asked.

"I...I get these weird dreams, you appeared in a lot of them." He was taken aback by this but didn't show it, the girl was having a horrible time interacting already, last thing she needed is to be made out as some sort of stalker.

"I see, how'd you know about Daria?" He asked.

"My brother and Ms. Daria were friends for a while, I don't know why they stopped being friends. But I just met Kirby, I don't like him since he's a liar." At the sound of his former friends name, Anthony let out a pained groan, the mere mention of Kirby made him angry.

"Kirby isn't too cool with me either." She looked up at him with a bewildered expression.

"I thought you two were best friends, why is there bad blood?"

"It's something I shouldn't tell you about." She frowned at his response, he could tell she's very tired of hearing that. Part of him wanted to tell her, but he didn't want to include someone who had nothing to do with him and Kirby. Even though he just met the girl, he trusted that she wouldn't make things worse. But he couldn't risk it. "Why don't we talk about something else? How's school?"

"I don't go to school...I'm home schooled."

"And what's that like?"

"Really boring, I wish I went to school with other kids. Do you like school?"

"Not really...not my cup of tea, I'd rather go to work."

"Work?"

"Yeah, I work at this comic shop. Mick's Comics, not too far from here."

"Wow, I really like comic books! Can we go sometime?"

"We can stop by there tomorrow, that and next time I go home I'll bring a few for you."

She couldn't help but smile when he offered to give her something.

"I'd love that!"

"Who's your favorite superhero?"

"Wonderwoman, because she's really strong and cool. And has that gold whip!"

"Nice pick, I like Teen Titans, especially Cyborg, he has really cool abilities."

"I've heard of him...does he turn into the cat?"

"No that's Beast Boy."

"I thought Beast Boy ran really fast."

"No that's Kid Flash, I'll bring you one of their comics. We'll read it together."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it'll be our little thing."

Her entire face was flushed a bright beet red and she turned away to hide herself, Anthony was confused by this action greatly.


Somewhere in the Bronx

Upon entering the safe house, they were met with four armed women wielding AK47s. One of the women spoke up and in a language Kirby didn't understand. To his surprise, Daria responded fluently and let them pass. Two men opened a door in front of them leading into the main area, it was dining room, and at the very end of the table was a very well dressed man. His head was down and all they could see was the stylish flat top that the man sported.

"Is...is that..."

"Kirby...there's a lot I've been hiding as well. Anthony isn't the only one here." Daria walked over and to the seat next to him, before Kirby could take a step multiple slides were pulled back on rifles. Daria spoke in the language once again and the women lowered their rifles, she leaned in and whispered something to the man.

Kirby was dropped to his knees, blood leaked from in between his lips.

"Now Kirby...you've lied to me, and I don't take kindly to being decieved. Now here's how this is going to go, you're going to tell me where Anthony is." Not once during that demand she look at Kirby, however she did look at the man again. "Now Kirby, spit it."

"I don't kn-" Kirby was cut off by an invisible force striking him dead center in the chest. He spat blood onto the floor as he doubled over, his arms began to shake, they could barely hold himself up.

"Don't make have to hurt you Kirby, you know I don't tolerate liars." She leaned in and whisper to the man once again. "You have one more chance."

Kirby thought to himself, does he really want to risk telling the truth? He didn't.

"I don't know where he's at, I'm telling the truth!"

"He's lying, your little lieutenant can't stop lying." The man spoke, his voice was so similar to Anthony's, so much that it was creepy in a way. He looked up, giving the boy a clear look at his face. He and Anthony were related without a doubt. He got up from his seat and placed a hand on Daria's shoulder, giving her a reassuring rub, that action gave Kirby the energy he needed to stand. The man stopped mere inches away from Kirby's body, in an attempt to intimidate him, he began shoving Kirby. "Do something...I dare you."

Kirby summoned his stand, Robot Rock shot out of Kirby's body and cocked his arm back, Robot Rock was thrown into the ground and retracted back inside of Kirby.

"Hmph, you're even predictable when I'm not using my stand's ability." Kirby's eyes just about popped out his sockets, then kicked Kirby right in his nose, crunching the bridge with the front of his shoe. Kirby rolled onto his side and covered his now broken nose, the man standing over him rolled Kirby onto his back using his foot. He could finish Kirby here if he really wanted to, Daria didn't seem to care, he only left Kirby alive because he didn't want to demean his lieutenants by having them clean up Kirby's brains. "Get him patched up, after that take him to the green room for further questioning." Two young men wielding rifles lifted Kirby up and walked him out of the dining room, the man turned back to Daria, both shared looks of concern.

"I don't understand why he didn't want to tell the truth. It's a lot less painful." Daria chuckled and approached the man, she locked herself onto one of his arms and leaned into his ear. His brows perked in interest and Daria began to giggle. "Can we find my cousin first?"

"Maybe, I have to say he's pretty cute."

"We share the same genes so I'm not surprised."

"Antoine."

"Yeah?"

"I need to be sure, that when the time comes...you'll be there when things get rough."

Antoine grinned and leaned against the wall behind him, Daria mimicked his action and placed a dellicste hand on his thigh.

"I don't know Daria, maybe you need to convince me a little more."

"Maybe I can."

"Come, I can think of a million more appropriate places for you to persuade me."


Later that night, at Kirby's house

Anthony couldn't help but just stare into the ceiling, he had a lot on his mind. As he thought to himself, Space Oddity was fiddling around with the boy's Walkman. If one good thing came out of it, at least a Oddity learned how to change songs. Oddity's new favorite song was Africa, at least his stand had good taste, though Oddity did get agitated whenever Rick Astley came on. Though he liked the song, an annoying trend was starting.

"Hey Oddity."

The stand whipped his head towards the young master and quickly wrote a response.

'What?'

"Before we met, where were you?"

'What do you mean?'

"Well...that night when I awakened you, where were you before then?"

'I was always with you, just because you summoned me that night didn't me I never existed before hand.'

"You have a point. Do you really think we can be Niccolo? Daria has been saying that I'm the only one who can defeat him."

'I don't know, I'm just a stand. I'm only as good as my master. And that Daria lady isn't trust worthy.'

"I have no choice but to trust her, she's the only one that's offering a way to stop Niccolo. I can't do this alone."

'I'm not with you by choice, but regardless you're not alone. But on the topic of Daria, when I was looking at her when you were at school. She had these two petrusions on her chest...what were those?'

"We'll talk about that in the morning."

'Don't avoid the question Silverson!'

Anthony turned his back to Oddity and began to ignore the angry stand. It worked up until the stand chucked the Walkman at his head, the boy exclaimed in a fit of pain, he shot up from the bed and threw it back but the stand disappeared and the Walkman hit the floor He heard footsteps coming down the hall and then the door flew open.

It was Giselle.

"I heard noises, are you okay?" She asked. "You're not hurt, right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He hissed out a response, he was still in much pain and he felt the cold blood rush down the back of his head.

"I knew it."

Giselle knew something was wrong and turned on the lights, that's when she saw the blood drip onto the pillow underneath him. She let out a sharp gasp and rushed over to his side, Anthony tried to reassure her that he was fine but she knocked his hand away.

"Anthony let me look at it." He gave up on trying to push her off and parted some of his hair to let her see. She took a peak at the wound, a sizeable gash had been placed on his scalp, she didn't know what hit him, but whatever did hit him it was hard. It was nothing she couldn't fix, she's fixed worse before, after all she did have an older brother.

"Can you do me a favor?" It was as if she asked extra softly, he already didn't have the courage in him to say no.

"What is it?"

"C-Can you close your eyes for me? It's apart of the procedure."

Anthony decided to play along and shut his eyes, that's when Giselle cracked her knuckles and got ready to work her magic. She focused hard and began to channel all of her ability.

"You're a stand user aren't you?" It came out more a statement but she knew she was being asked.

"How'd you know?"

"You didn't bring any medical equipment."

She felt kind of dumb, but something about his expression reassured her it was okay.

"But how'd you know I was hurt though?" He asked.

"Well it's not my stand nesscesarily, it's sorta like a...sub stand for lack of better words." Anthony cocked a brow, he scratched the back unknowingly digging into the gash. He bit into his lip trying to muffle the scream he almost let out. "I think it's easier to show you."

A large heart passed through her chest, it was big and red with thick vines wrapping around it. The heart vains that pulsates as if they actually pumped blood through it. The vines extended and slowly crept towards Anthony, he attempted to move back but a hand wrapped itself around his. He trusted Giselle, she wouldn't intentionally put him in harm's way, right? A vine wrapped itself around his forearm, he was surprised when he didn't feel the vine at all.

"What does it do?" He asked.

"I can tell what you're feeling, physically, mentally, and emotionally. It's also a good tool to spy on people, as long as its latched onto someone it can hear what they hear. It also has one more very useful ability, it can sense if someone's telling the truth, it's how I knew Kirby was lying." Anthony couldn't front, he was impressed with the girl's "sub-stand" but this brought up an interesting question.

"The Walkman didn't hit the floor that hard, so how'd you know something was up? Were you attached to me?"

"Uhhh...so about my sub-stand!"

"Do you name sub-stands? They're still stands so you name them, right?"

"Yeah...I've been using my stands for a long time. But I never thought of a name, I decided on them earlier, but I really want to know if you think they're cool?"

"Shoot."

"I want to call this one, No Ordinary Love. Because it's like...a heart and stuff."

"Hmm, it's...nice, I couldn't do any better."

"Now onto the main event, I'll patch you up real good. Ladybug!"

A small humanoid figure grew as it phased through her body, it was a lot taller than her, probably about six feet tall. The stand was long limbed and skinny, it was completely crimson colored with thick black dots placed around its body. On its back were two large and very sharp looking wings that occasionally fluttered. On its wrist were small blades coated in green fluids, its head resembled that of a ladybug's, and the center of its chest was a thick black heart.

"Just relax and let Ladybug do her job." Before he could even close his eyes the stand began punching at him, it was so fast that Oddity didn't react until the Ladybug threw its sixteenth punch. Oddity raised an arm to block, Ladybug leaned back to dodge, Oddity narrowly missed the faster stand's jaw.

"Space Oddity stand down!" Oddity retracted back into the boy, he glanced back down at the girl who was a mix of awestruck and afraid. He felt a sudden rush of adrenaline flood his veins, an amazing feeling of vigor cause him to shoot right up. "I feel great, I'm so energized."

"Ladybug's toxins can heal wounds and restore stamina. So if you ever get hurt, just come and find me okay?"

"I'll take you up on that offer." Anthony noticed that Giselle was a little shaken up by Oddity, and in an awkward attempt to smooth things over he apologized. "Hey...sorry about that, I guess he's a little overprotective."

"No it's fine, I think Space Oddity is pretty cool to be honest. He's really fast, and I really felt the power from that punch. If Ladybug wasn't so fast, he would've knocked my head off." He found it odd how she thought something that almost killed her was cool, maybe it was just a girl thing.

"Thanks, I think Ladybug is really cool too. Stands that can heal people? Never would've thought about that."

"You really think she's cool? She's not really a fighting stand."

"It's cool, she apparently has other uses." Giselle hid her cheeks underneath her hands as blood rushed into her cheeks.

He cocked a brow, not sure why Giselle was blushing so hard, he chalked it up to her being tired.

"I think you should go get some rest, aren't you tired Giselle?"

"No, I'm fi-" She was cut off by her yawn and her eyelids grew heavy. "Okay maybe I'm a little sleepy, can I please stay here?"

"Why do you want to stay in here?"

"Because...I don't wanna walk all the way back to my room. I'm really tired y'know?"

"I thought you were a little tired?"

"T-That's not important, can I please stay in here?"

Anthony thought long and hard about this, it was a bad decision, especially if someone were to find out. He got out of the bed and began fishing through the closet, he dragged out a blow up mattress.

"You can take the bed."

Without another word, she climbed into the bed and threw the covers over herself. She watched tentatively from the safety of her covers, she watched as he set up the mattress, each move he made was so majestic to her. Though to everyone else it was completely mundane, but to her, he was so cool. When he finished he threw the blankets on himself and turned over on his side, for a second, she thought he instantly fell asleep.

"Hey uhh...Giselle."

"Yeah."

"Goodnight or whatever."

"Goodnight Anthony."

Anthony responded with a sleepy groan, Giselle couldn't explain why, but she was happy. Anthony was far more than what she hoped for, he was so cool and nice as well. He seems kind of distant, but that only added to the cool factor. She was so happy to have met him, if only all boys were like Anthony, then maybe the world would be more peaceful. To most they'd think this was some schoolgirl crush, but to Giselle, this is what true love felt like.