As usual, Disclaimer, Jojo's bizarre adventure is property of Hirohiko Araki, Shueisha and Viz Media. As far as I know all these Stands are original and haven't appeared else where. Also, if anyone has any feedback, it'd be useful as I'm thinking where the direction of this is going to go in a few chapters. Thanks!
It had been some days since he'd joined Mission X, but Jojo was still feeling slightly detached from everyone around him. His room was nice enough, he'd decorated it with what he'd had in his suitcase, a few posters of the ocean and other things that reminded him of home. He was still feeling dissatisfied though, sitting on his bed he was beginning to feel like he hadn't done enough. After defeating Duane, he'd done next to nothing. He'd seen Hildie and David off when they left to follow another mission and left him at the main base. Which would be fine except things were still kind of awkward with Molly; she'd see him and vanish into the nearest room, blushing furiously. He kind of wanted to talk to her just so he could ease the tension… or ask her out, it was normally one of those two. Finally, he resolved to go and do something, be pro-active, strolling purposefully to his door as he opened it…
And saw Molly standing outside with a basket of cookies and a folded piece of paper. She seemed as surprised as he was and there was a long, awkward, silence. Finally, Molly broke it by thrusting both things forwards, rushing off and shouting
"I-I didn't make them for you or anything!" Jojo stared at the items in his hands and placed them on his bed, deeply confused.
"I don't get her some days" Jojo sighed to himself
"I think she's a Tsundere"
"AHHH!!" Jojo recoiled and looked behind him, it was Havoc, munching on one of his cookies. Jojo scowled at him but the look was unregistered as Havoc continued eating.
"She's a good cook, y'know. What does your note say?"
"Huh? I don't know… what's a Tsundere?"
"Skip it" Havoc finished off his cookie and put his hands on his hips "Congratulations"
"Oh, thanks… what for?"
"We have a mission, get your stuff" Havoc turned on his heel and started leaving, a flustered Jojo following him as he pulled on his beanie.
"Wait, we're going somewhere? Where are we going?"
"Wisconsin, I think. According to Vicious, the team we dispatched might be outmatched so their sending me"
"Oh. Then why am I coming?"
"Because I'll get bored on the flight" Havoc grinned, provoking the obviously un-amused reaction "Seriously, you'll be helpful, we don't know what their abilities are in detail. In fact, we only know the identity of one target, so stay sharp." Jojo nodded at this, slipping the note from Molly into his pocket and, after a moment's thought, grabbing a handful of cookies. He locked his door and ran to catch up with Havoc, catching up with him just as he left the restaurant and looking around expectantly
"So, how are we getting there then?"
"What do you mean?" Havoc asked, looking quizzically at his new partner as he got his phone out of his pocket and began thumbing through numbers
"I mean, do we have another Stand User who can teleport? Or one who's Stand is a plane?"
"Hah, yeah right, as if anyone could have a Stand that's a Plane" Havoc shook his head "No, we're going a slightly different way. Hi! New York Cabs? We're heading to JFK International please…"
The lush Wisconsin countryside was sorely under-appreciated by Jojo as he and Havoc finally rolled into the small town they were meant to be investigating. He was still stretching as he got out of the car, looking around and feeling the wash of fresh air with a slightly detached and confused enjoyment. Havoc seemed genuinely at peace as he paid the taxi and started walking towards the town, followed by a reluctant Jojo. He didn't mind trees, but there was something about the forest around them that bothered him, he couldn't tell what. As they passed through a thick cloud of bracken, Jojo tried starting conversation again
"So, who are we after?"
"His name's Moonchild Mandrake, we don't know his Stand ability but the name was something obvious… I can't remember it right now. Anyway, we lost contact with the team around here"
"Lost contact? That sounds bad"
"Probably because it is" Havoc sighed, pulling his phone out "Not much signal, which might be why we haven't heard from them." But even he sounded unconvinced, no-one in Mission X was so haphazard they wouldn't check in. Jojo thought about this for a moment before grabbing Havoc's phone from him and staring at it for a while. He closed his eyes, silencing Havoc's protests and questions as the mechanical body of Radiohead slowly appeared around him and began spinning it's head rapidly, a series of high pitched beeps firing out as it went. Finally, it stopped and a green sonar map appeared in place of the blank screen of it's face, three dots were present on it. Breathing a sigh of relaxation, Jojo tapped the image and grinned at his friend
"Right! This is your phone, and these two are the other Mission X members, except I don't know why they're so far about" Jojo admitted, shrugging.
"See?" Havoc nudged him "I knew you'd be useful for this" Jojo did his best to hide his proud smile as they began moving towards the closer of the two signals they'd found.
It was inside an old building, huge and desolate, the small crowd of commuters around them obviously ignoring it as they went about their business. It was a cream colour with obviously blacked out windows and a series of mould and weeds sprouting out from around it. Jojo looked decidedly unimpressed as Radiohead vanished inside him, his ability completed.
"Well, this is it… It doesn't look like much"
"Yeah, I can't work out why they would be staying here" Havoc conceded, chewing on his knuckle as he looked at the building. Subconsciously, he summoned Rage against the Machine, his crimson Stand floating a few inches behind him as he approached the door and gently twisted the handle, pulling the door open suddenly. A blast of purple gas shot at him, catching him by surprise. Rage's hands flew out grabbing the door it had pulled open and slamming it nearly shut suddenly to keep the gas away from Havoc even as it's user retreated back a few steps. Sharing a glance with Jojo, the two of them approached the building again and, Stands at the ready, the two of them jumped inside.
The hallway wasn't anything like the inside of a building should be, the floorboards were covered in thick green foliage, the banister of the stairs covered in vines and blossoming flowers covered certain areas, spread with vines. It was one of these that had sprayed out pollen when Havoc had opened the door, the vine broken like a trip-wire. The only area not obvious covered were some bare patches of the walls and the door-handles. Jojo gingerly took a step onto the floor and looked back to Havoc, this was the kind of detail that they really needed. Havoc pinched his nose and groaned under his breath
"Of course… Moonchild Mandrake's Stand, it's name was Screaming Trees. The ability to create plant-life makes sense. Although, it looks like he can only do it through wood. No good to us, the whole place is made of the stuff. Any chance you could look up the name of that flower?" Havoc asked as Jojo very carefully took a step away from anything that resembled a flower
"I don't think so, there isn't a Wi-Fi signal here. In fact, I can't get any signals… I think he's blocked us of from the cell-phone network" Jojo was looking decidedly panicked now but Havoc quickly clapped a hand to his shoulder and held a finger to his lips
"Jojo, think about it logically. We only found here because you could follow the cell signals from those other phones. One of our Mission X comrades should be around here." Havoc's calm voice soothed Jojo down to normal again, breathing easier, he began to think about the situation as logically as he could.
"Well, if we can't receive any down here, it's because there's foliage upstairs"
"Right, so?"
"We need to go up!" Jojo nodded, encouraged by what Havoc had said. Carefully, the two of them made their up the stairs, avoiding the vines that lay in their path. It was two flights of stairs until Jojo managed to regain signal with Radiohead and, very carefully, he tried to locate the phone. His eyes suddenly widening at what he saw he shouted
"Havoc! Get down, the signals coming towards us!" Immediately, the two hit the deck as a body sailed over them, wrapped in a plant-like cocoon, crashing into the far-wall with a sickening splat before sliding down, a pink trail of gore following it. Jojo bit back the urge to throw up as he carefully looked up the stairs to see a series of vines swinging in front of them, a figure sitting in the chair
"Ehhh? What's this? You saw it coming? What good eyes you must have, excellent vision…" The man in the vines wore white trousers, dotted with bells and an ostentatious blue shirt, flared collars over his neck and sleeves. His lips and eyelids were painted orange and his long tangled hair dyed an obvious green shade. Jojo tried his best not to form any snap judgements but he somehow doubted they could reason with this one
"Hey, you! Are you Moonchild Mandrake?"
"That is the name my human parents gave me… before I transcended"
"Ehh?" Jojo looked to Havoc, who simply rolled his eyes before explaining
"Sorry, I forgot to tell you. Mandrake thinks he and his Stand are one and the same. But I got some good news,"
"Can it wait?!" Jojo was not feeling that any good news Havoc had right now could help as he hastily tried to think of a plan that could get them close enough to Mandrake to hurt him. The dangling vines were not helping him think, if Mandrake could move them as fast as he thought, then there was absolutely no way he could get close enough to hit him. He could spot some flowers dotted around as well, if Mandrake could manoeuvre them at will he'd get a face full of that purple stuff whatever he did
"Jojo, seriously, you'll like it"
"Havoc! We're pretty screwed right here, how are we going to get past Mandrake?"
"Hiihii, you really think you can get past me?" Mandrake giggled from his position sitting amongst the vines. "Where do you think all the residents of this building went? Screaming Trees killed them all! By using an enhanced version of the plant Catopsis berteroniana, I can even consume the flesh of the corpses to increase my Stand's power. I even took out your precious comrade!" Mandrake threw his head back and laughed wildly, cackling to the ceiling as his Stand vibrated in sync with his laughter in a terrifying effect.
"Heh" Havoc chuckled from his spot below Jojo "Hey, Jojo, you don't know this but the guy we're looking for is called Kinks."
"Yeah, and Mandrake's already killed him" Jojo finished for him, but Havoc was undeterred
"See, thing about Kinks, he has three ear-piercings, one for every girl that's dumped him. Have you looked at the guy Mandrake fired at us?" Jojo gave him a look, hoping the answer was obvious but with a sigh, he glanced over to the body and did a double take. Both ears were clear, no piercings at all. He looked back to Havoc and finally understood that smile on his lips.
"Hiihiiiii", Mandrake finished "Now then, those eyes of yours Mr Stand-User, I think I'd like them for myself, Screaming Trees! Tear his Ey-" This command was interrupted by the dull click and thunk noise that most kids (including Jojo) would associate with a B.B Gun. There was a loud sound of impact as a tiny metal ball hit Mandrake in the arm but bounced off, only causing a light bruise. Mandrake seemed as bemused by this as Jojo as he saw the gunman tumble down the staircase, flaming red hair styled directly up and a pink v-neck sweater being his uniform of choice
"Heh, got you, son of a bitch" Kinks choked out, clutching at his chest, a strange hand-gun shaped object in his hand."
"You think a tiny metal ball can stop me you…" Mandrake's face suddenly dropped as he looked over towards Kinks. He tried to hide it by acting confident, "I'll take you out, just like the rest!" Mandrake pointed at Kinks and seemed to be waiting for a reply, but Kinks was grinning broadly and, with exaggerated care, took his wallet out of his pocket and tossed it a few feet in front of him. As if on cue, Mandrake shouted
"Vines! Stab!" lances of vines stabbed it and dropped to the floor as Mandrake started laughing again. Jojo was in awe, the attack had somehow rendered Mandrake unable to see! Kinks looked smug for a moment until he realised what he'd done to his wallet and instantly scrunched his face up and tried very hard not to swear. Havoc was likewise trying not to sigh as Kinks lined up a second shot, but they wouldn't have the luxury of time. There was a loud slurping noise from the corpse behind them as it slid down the stairs further but Jojo, on instinct recoiled and took a step. Mandrake whipped around, his face grinning at this chance and pointed his hand.
'Shit' Havoc thought 'He's found Jojo, can we get him down without alerting Mandrake?' Ahead of him, Kinks fired again, a second steel ball launching itself at Mandrake
"Vines! Sta-" Mandrake's voice stopped suddenly as the second ball connected. Mutely gagging at the open air, he was suddenly unable to command the Stand. That was all the cue Havoc needed, bounding up the stairs he shouted out
"RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE!" His Stand appearing as he did, Mandrake clearly hearing this, he moved to defend himself but it was too little too late.
"Gogogogogogogogogogo To HELL!" Havoc's Stand pulverised the unfortunate tree lover before finally striking him back into the wall, splintering it but not doing anywhere near as much damage as it had to Mr Marlon, Jojo noted. It looked like Rage against the Machine really was tied to Havoc's emotional state. The relief of finding Kinks had weakened his Stand, but not enough to prevent him finishing off the twisted B.O.C member. He was unconscious, Jojo found, whilst he heard Kinks wailing in the background
"Arrrrgh, my wallet and my phone!? This is horrible! How am I going to take Jennifer on a date now?"
"I'm sure Speedwagon will cover buying you a new one… hey Kinks, is that a new earring?"
"Huh? Oh, uhh yeah…" Jojo listened with a raised eyebrow as he checked Kinks' phone. Still working. And no missed calls. Maybe he should get fitted up for a fifth, Jojo thought to himself as he heaved Mandrake up as best he could
"Hey, what do we do with Mandrake?" He asked, puffing under the strain.
"We can call the cops, they'll take him into custody, his power won't work in a cell." Havoc watched as Jojo summoned Radiohead to make the call, turning back to Kinks and folding his arms
"You didn't check in for two days"
"Yeah, sorry, I've been trapped here. How about Endo?"
"Him neither, that's why we got sent out, the kid's Jojo"
"I see, pretty useful Stand he's got there" Kinks grinned "More than mine at any rate"
"Hey, you beat Mandrake, didn't you? Anyway, let's go find Endo" Havoc's calm aura washed over to Kinks too as the now Trio left to pursue the next signal.
The hotel where Endo was staying was the Hotel Ornya, the hotel was quite well designed, its structure was a rough horse-shore shape and Endo's room over-looked the court-yard beneath it and the well kept bushes that lined the edges. Sitting in his room were two men, neither of them Endo, and on the floor in front of them was a small pile of ashes in the shape of a man. One of the men had a pipe in his mouth and wore a thick hunting jacket, cream coloured trousers and knee high black boots. The other was shadowed in the corner, only one arm visible, a highly technologically advanced gauntlet hanging off of it, a green bar on the side beeping at intervals
"Do you think Mandrake did as ordered?" the smoking man asked
"Hmmm, dunno. We were meant to all wipe out the red haired one" the shadowed man replied, his voice sounding warped and synthetic "If we messed up the boss'll be pissed"
"Heh, nothing to get concerned about." Clicking his fingers, a thick plume of blue fire began to circle the sitting man's hand "My Propane Nightmares can deal with anything that comes our way" snapping his hand shut with a snort the two men returned to waiting…
Stand Database
Stand Name: Screaming Trees
User: Moonchild Mandrake
Power: B
Speed: D
Range: B
Staying: A
Precision: C
Learning: E
Ability: Screaming Trees works by altering the structure of wood and causing it to multiply out of control to form plant-like substances. It's main usage is to create the booby-trapped vine and flower arrangement that Jojo and Havoc saw but can create nearly any plant existing on earth, however they grow at a normal rate. By devouring humans, it can increase the growing speed of the plants and this is how it covered the entire building in a relatively short time. It can only be commanded vocally as the plants are not connected to Mandrake's mind, and the result of this is that they are difficult to control despite the range he can cover (hence the booby-traps)
Stand Name: Pinball Wizard
User: Kinks
Power: D
Speed: A
Range: C
Staying: C
Precision: A
Learning: E
Ability: Pinball Wizard is regarded as one of Mission X's most powerful Stands, not due to the user, but due to it's ability having great potential in the fight against B.O.C. Pinball Wizard takes the form of a small hand-gun with a detail design of three monkeys covering their eyes, ears and mouth. It's firing mechanism is a spring-loaded pull slot similar to a pinball machine, that fires the small silver spheres that Kinks can conjure up as bullets. While the impact is quite low, the spheres have the ability to remove one of the target's bodily functions. Be it sight, hearing or speech, which ranges in effectiveness as he cannot control which bullet he fires. If he is defeated the ability fades and he can only apply a handicap once, meaning if he shoots three times, all three afflictions will occur. It has slow reloading time, however, and he can't choose which affliction he gives. For some reason, he is one of the B.O.C's main targets.