Jojo's Bizarre Adventures: Golden Wind is the creation of Hirohiko Araki and the names of most OC stands and characters are the creation of vanillaprinces. Check their account on Tumblr today!
Vento Aureo SBR AU: Golden Blood
Chapter 5: Battle of Softworks Pt 1
How much damage can your ability to hear cause in the greater scheme of things?
To some, this question is incredibly confusing, equally cryptic. A question that is not generally thought about by many people ever, but it is a question that ABBA has far too much experience in answering. ABBA was not always the bitter, yet (although buried in a massive layer of ruggedness) caring gangster. ABBA was born Loreta Abbacchio in Tuscany in 1885, making them the oldest member of the group when it comes to age (they are 22!).
ABBA's mother died of tuberculosis in 1889, and the Italian Wars that erupted in 1891 forced ABBA's father to send his 2 children away from Italy to the Big Apple, while ABBA was just 6. ABBA was taken care of by their older sister, Dolore Abbacchio as they settled in New York. ABBA looked up to Dolore for everything. Dolore didn't speak a word of English when she arrived at New York, but she was the one who taught ABBA how to speak English, she was the one who got a job to provide for ABBA despite all the Italian discrimination in the workforce, she was the one to raise ABBA like a mother, despite her barely being 10 years older than ABBA.
One night in 1904, ABBA was walking down the streets of Little Italy when they accidentally overheard the details of a massive drug exchange. Loreta didn't know why they stayed there, but when they decided to leave, ABBA accidentally drew attention to themself by tripping over a trashcan. Gunfire was shot their way, and ABBA ran back home to wait out the storm for accidentally getting into Mafioso Affairs.
But little did ABBA know; the storm would come to them instead.
The Night after ABBA barely escaped with their life. ABBA's and Dolore's house was raided by "Police," but ABBA knew, it wasn't the actual police, but instead the Gangsters whom ABBA escaped from the previous night. Dolore hid ABBA under her own bed in an attempt to protect her younger sibling, but at the cost to her own life. While trying to fend off the "police," she was repeatedly stabbed, beaten, and ultimately shot to death in a firing squad fashion. ABBA didn't witness Dolore's death with their two eyes, but instead, they were helpless, and could do nothing but listen to each punch, each drop of blood, each bullet entering her body, in horrifically gruesome detail.
In 1904, at the age of 30, Dolore Abbachio, had died.
ABBA was soon found by the "Police," and hauled off to the police station, where they would be held for an entire week. That Week of Hell was a chapter of ABBA's life where they fell into a deep depression, sinking deeper and deeper as the days dragged by. Each passing second, ABBA blamed themselves for Dolore's death, if they didn't stop and listen to the entire Drug Exchange, maybe, just maybe, Dolore would still be alive.
Loreta was trying to get some sleep in their cell, losing track of the days that seem to crawl by, monotonously, only left with their thoughts. Each passing night they would cry themself to sleep, to the constant harassment and belittlement to the guards. However, a sudden banging at the steel bars woke them up from their slumber with an anemia triggering jolt. They stood up quickly, nearly collapsing due to the blood draining out of their head. ABBA looked up to see a guard with a particularly round face and protruding eyes banging on the steel bars using on a baton.
"Get up Miss Abbachio, you have someone that want to see you…" The Guard said with an excessively, rude, and sarcastic tone.
It was the first time ABBA exited their cell for the first time in the whole Week of Hell… It was… A Tuesday they think… Because Dolore definitely died on a Tuesday. They think. ABBA entered a small, confined, soundproof room. It was really bright in the room, a glistening lightbulb added with brilliant white walls, it was… nauseating for ABBA, being stuck in a grey room with the only source of light being the sun really threw them off their equilibrium. In the middle of the obnoxiously bright room sat a man by a bolted table wearing a suit jacket, one half black, and the other half white like walls. He had a bowl cut, but he looked up at ABBA with tender, soft eyes. Almost like how Dolore would look at ABBA every time they cried or was distress.
He looked at them in their overtly disheveled state. ABBA's (then) short lavender hair could be less messy, maybe they could've eaten more, but due to their depression, ABBA couldn't muster the strength to eat more than a few bites from each meal, causing them to lose a horrifying amount of mass in the process. However, this man didn't seem to be at all disgusted by ABBA's appearance.
"You must be Loreta Abbachio…" The Man said in a deep, husky voice. ABBA didn't respond, not even an attempt, they were too drained to speak, or care, to psychologically destroyed to even function as a human. The Man noticed this and decided to continue. "The name is Bruno Bucciarati, and I read your file… It's horrific what happened to you and your sister. And it is something that nobody should endure."
ABBA only stared at the man with their dead fisheyes, completely drained of the will to live, not caring about anything that Bucciarati said, they just wanted to go back to their cell, so they can curl up and die, so that ABBA can be with Dolore one more time.
"You know I am willing to bet that at least… Oh I don't know… 95 percent of the police officers in this station alone are under the influence of the Mafia that has taken control of Manhattan ever since the beginning of the Italian Wars…" Now Bucciarati had ABBA's attention.
ABBA slowly sat down in front of Bucciarati, placing their hands on the table, leaning into Bucciarati, attentively listening now, for what the bowl cut man had to say. Bucciarati tilted his head down a bit, knowing that ABBA was listening now, continued to speak. "You were caught accidentally overhearing the exchange of approximately 90 pounds of drugs. And now you are here, in a Passione controlled jail, waiting… 'transfer…'"
Bucciarati's voiced dipped at the end of the sentence, glancing to the side to look at something before returning his gaze to ABBA, a dark shadow loomed over his eyes, with his cyanic blue eyes the only thing truly visible through the shadow.
"When they transfer you… you will go neither a courthouse, nor to a prison. They will sell you off as human cattle, to do all sorts of horrific things that I thankfully don't have the time to give you the details. Just know that if you go back to that cell without hearing me out, you will never see the light of day again…" Bucciarati warned ABBA with no wavering or deceit in his tone. He wants to help ABBA, genuinely.
"And how would you know what will happen to me?" ABBA asked. They didn't realize how strained their voice was until they started talking, all that crying did a number on their vocal cords.
"Because I am a member of Passione. I know the innerworkings of the entire organization. But I can help you, and I can save you from a fate billions of times crueler than death." He extended his hand out, causing ABBA to recoil, there was nothing in his palm. ABBA looked back into Bucciarati's eyes, they were once again soft and sincere. "All I ask is for your trust…"
It was hard for ABBA to trust Bucciarati after revealing that he was part of an organization that took everything from them… But something drew ABBA to trust Bucciarati. After a bit of hesitation, they put their hand onto Bucciarati's giving it a sharp squeeze.
A few hours, night began to fall, and ABBA began to lose hope in Bucciarati. They spent the last few hours thinking about what horrifying thinks that the bowl cut man was implying, and they were beginning to believe that Bucciarati honestly forgot about them. As ABBA sat on their stiff, wooden "bed" that they had been sleeping on for the past week, they suddenly felt the cold, grey brick wall behind them suddenly disappears, causing ABBA to flop backwards to the… outside of the prison?
ABBA looked around to find themself sitting on a grass field, flanked by a… blonde haired man with a green coat with big holes in its sleeves. The majority of the man's face was hidden under a purple silk scarf.
"Fugo! Get Loreta back to the house, I need to take care of something." A familiar voice said.
ABBA turned around to see a familiar bowl cut and black and white suit jacket walk into a perfectly cut circular hole in the wall that once consisted of their jail cell. Entered the cell with a pair of hand cuffs and an ugly sneer.
"Oh Miss Loreta! It's time for your transfer!" The creepy officer said with a sneer, only to open his eyes to realize that there was someone else in the cell, someone other than ABBA. "Huh? Bucciarati?"
The officer was about to smile due to him recognizing Bucciarati, only for a gunshot to ring out, a single bullet going through the officer's brain, slumping over, dead. The "officer" was one of the gangsters that arrested ABBA, one of the gangsters that executed Dolore, one of the gangsters who was involved in the drug trade that ABBA overheard.
Soon enough ABBA lived with Bucciarati and Fugo for a while, but soon they began to grow fond of Bucciarati, very fond. Soon enough they joined the organization that took everything away from them, being the only subordinate to do so. Soon they adopted the name of "ABBA" to shed their scared shell of themself and leave it in the past. Ironic seeing how [Ring-Ring] works.
Present Day
Bucciarati and ABBA walked along the old, rusted assembly line of the Old Shoe Factory. To be completely honest, Bucciarati knew the amount of danger that he, ABBA, and the four other boys are in by just facing the Zuccheros. [Softworks] is a horrifically complex and powerful stand. [Ring-Ring] and [Between Buttons] are pathetically simple compared to the shared stand, but the group has one thing that the Zuccheros lack. Intelligence.
You see, Bucciarati's team consists of a well-balanced combination of calm cool and collected detectives thinking of their next move like a game of chess (Bucciarati himself, ABBA, and Fugo) and the bat-shit crazies that aren't afraid to jump dick-first into combat without thinking and still pull out a victory from thin air (Narancia, Guido, and… also Fugo). This balances out strength with dexterity.
"Stay away from cracks, anything with a gap less than an inch…" Bucciarati whispered into ABBA's ear, earning a nod from ABBA.
"You know, Bruno. If you just agree to leave now, we won't hurt the two kids that we took…" a female voice rang out, the voice of Peppa Zucchero.
"Knowing your reputation of deceit, I'm not betting that you would keep that promise. Remember the Boom-Boom Brothers Job?" Bucciarati spoke out old, is deep voice reverberating off the solid concrete walls of the rusted-out factory.
"Ugh, how can I forget being chased by 12 knives for an hour before Luca beat Andre Boom-Boom to death?"
Peppa completely ignored the implication that Bucciarati called her a shit faced liar.
During that job, Peppa claimed that the group would let them go if the brothers stopped meddling with Passione affairs, which the brothers believed. Until L. A. Boom-Boom was shot in the back of the head by Peppa, which resulted in a half-a-day long standoff with Andre Boom-Boom.
"Bruno, ABBA? Do you really think you deserve the money when you couldn't even capture Luca's killer?" Peppa taunted the pair, brining up the dead member of Polpo's group.
"If you knew the truth about Luca, Peppa, you'd understand why I didn't." Bucciarati then summoned [Between Buttons], which unleashed a plethora of blows on an unsuspecting corner of the Factory, revealing a green arm, firing out and attempting to grab the button using stand, however, [Between Buttons] was faster, grabbing the green arm.
[Softworks]'s humanoid form, which Peppa controls. Mostly green body with various spikes purple spikes trailing down its head like a mohawk, with two, beady yellow eyes and what seemed to be a muzzle over its mouth. If it were to direct impact [Between Buttons], it would make both it and Bucciarati paper thin.
Merda, that was close. Bucciarati thought to himself.
[Between Buttons] threw [Softworks]'s arm up before throwing a wild haymaker to its solar plexus, throwing it back a few feet into a wall. Undeterred, [Softworks] continued its assault on [Between Buttons]. Sending punch after punch, [Between Buttons] tried to dodge the tirade of blows, trying not to even graze the green stand's fist, to not turn into a Flat Stanly.
Deep breath Bucciarati. The Bowl Cut gangster thought to himself as he controlled his stand's evasive maneuvers. You will find an opening in a moment. Hold off…
Bucciarati dodges and weaves, and notices that there is a mechanical notch on [Softworks]'s arm, that attaches the upper arm to the shoulder.
Hold off…
Peppa's weak spot is her weakened clavicles. She is a very tough individual, able of walking off gunshot wounds and stab wounds on the rest of her body, however each time she injured or breaks something in her shoulders, she would be in excruciating pain, and be put out of commission for weeks at a time, despite the semi advanced healing that is given to all stand users. It appears since she was born with this weakness, her stand would reflect this as well.
Hold off…
Suddenly, [Softworks] seemed to slow down just a bit. It was at least a half a second pause of the punches, but it was the perfect opportunity for Bucciarati to turn the tables on Peppa.
NOW, BUCCARATI!
Punching up with both hands, [Between Buttons] seemed to throw [Softworks] off balance, finally reeling up for a calculating punch to the shoulder. [Between Buttons] finally has [Softworks] where it wants it-
BANG, BANG, BANG the sound of three gunshots echo through the factory assembly line, not similar to ABBA's revolver, but someone else's!
"[BETWEEN BUTTONS]" Whipping his head around, Bucciarati pointed to the general direction of the gunshot blasts, causing [Between Buttons] to phase through him and punch the air.
One, two, three. [Between Buttons] miraculously made all three bullets intangible in midair, passing through him without any damage. However, this would be deadly assault on Bucciarati only served as a distraction, as in the next instance he felt an immense amount of pressure building up in his jaw. Turning to his left, he noticed [Between Buttons] was in the process of getting punched in its jaw by [Softworks]'s humanoid form. The skeletal bottom half of Bucciarati's stand began to crack, the mandible opening up from the impact as many of its golden teeth flew off.
Pain exploded in his face, and he felt his body begin to get light, and airy, beginning to cave in on himself, Bruno's eyes went wide. Oh no! I was hit directly by Peppa's ability! I'm… turning paper thin!
It got harder to breath, his vision began to darken in his peripherals, blurring, distorting. Losing… consciousness.
"Ugh, what a pain…" Peppa said, turning herself 3D as she stood over Bucciarati's flat, unconscious body. "Now I just have to take this to Sale for disposal…"
The Greenette then perked her head up, knitting her eyebrows before looking around the strangely empty factory floor. Where did ABBA go?
"ABBA? My dear, where have you run off to?" Peppa asked, looking around for the Purple Haired Gangster, only to receive nothing but strange amounts of silence.
Has ABBA run off? Peppa looked down at her old superior, Bucciarati, who is still on the floor. No, no, no, no, no. Of course not! They're far too loyal to abandon Bruno like this. They're up to something and I just know it.
"You know… Ms… Zucchero…" A familiar voice spoke out loud. "You look… like… hammered shit…"
LUCA? Peppa internally screamed in shock. Whipping her head around to look for the source of the dead gangster's voice. Impossible. He's dead! Why- how is he…
"You were… always weak…" Luca groaned out, causing Peppa to shift uncomfortably in her own shoes.
Luca, despite being in the same team as her and Sale always seemed to look down on them. The tongue lashing she received from Luca after the Boom-Boom Brothers standoff was enough to bring the usually cocky greenette to tear up, and when Sale confronted Luca about his hate fueled rant about their incompetence, things got physical, and before she knew it, Sale was also sitting in the of the room, utterly dejected.
That is what led to Sale and Peppa leaving Polpo's group, Luca's unnecessary controlling of everyone under him in the chain of command. Despite Peppa's complaints to Polpo, she was always ignored due to Luca's effectiveness as a non-stand user. Despite the power difference between her and Luca, he always seemed to have an edge over her, always knew what to say to break her down. Bucciarati rarely helped her, always seeming more interested in ABBA, in taking care of the runts he picked up off the streets.
"You… were al… ways… a mamone…" But something of Luca's speech patterns were off. Too low, too choppy to be that of an actual human.
Clever, ABBA, using [Ring-Ring] like that to try and make me freeze up, but it is not going to work. Peppa smirked to herself. I have you all figured out…
Step, step, step.
With [Softworks] behind her, to keep her rear safe from a sudden ambush by the purple haired gangster. Each step echoed off the walls, carefully inspecting each piece of rusted machinery to see if ABBA were smart, or stupid enough to hide in it. Peppa can't tell if she is giving ABBA too much or too little credit, ABBA is incredibly calculating, especially when their or Bucciarati's life is in danger.
"Luca was always right, Peppa… You were always weak…" ABBA's voice echoed from all around, its origins unknown. "How can someone who could go toe-to-toe against Bucciarati, but ball up and shake when Luca even raises his voice… He. Was. stand-less!"
"SHUT UP!" [Softworks] turned and slammed its fists on a piece of machinery, causing it to fold over like a piece of paper. Turning around she redirected her rage to an assembly line conveyer belt, the entire 40-foot contraption flopped over before Peppa calmed down, huffing and puffing, red in the face from anger.
Shit. ABBA is not here… But here are they? Peppa looked around.
"Ptsss! Over here…" ABBA's voice whispered into Peppa's ear like a demon coming from the ground just to mess with her.
"Ptsss! Over here…" ABBA's voice repeated at a different point in the factory, causing much confusion to Peppa and [Softworks].
"Ptsss! Over here…" From somewhere else.
"Ptsss! Over here…" Again. "Ptsss! Over here…" And again… "Ptsss! Over here…" And again.
Eventually ABBA's voice began to amplify, blurring itself into itself, as it repeats. And repeats. Ascending in volume into a deafening breaking point for Peppa, a sensory overload. Peppa quickly covers her ears and clenches her teeth in an attempt to drown out the sound. Beads of sweat roll down her face as she curls up into a ball, trying to ignore the overbearing sounds of ABBA's most likely recorded and repeated voice, trying to listen in between the hands covering her ears to try and identify ABBA's real voice.
"Ptsss! Over here…" One voice came out that didn't sound distorted unlike the rest of ABBA's "voices" she heard.
"I FOUND YOU!" Peppa screamed once more as [Softworks] behind her, not only breaking a steel barrel, but flattening it as well.
Behind the barrel was a familiar purple telephone and… nothing else. No one was manning [Ring-Ring].
"W- where is ABBA-"
BANG!
A sudden searing, white hot burning pain sudden spurred up on Peppa's left shoulder, causing every single cell in her body to scream in agony. Peppa then realized that her shirt is being soaked in a crimson hue, blood. She has been shot.
"Told you that you're weak." ABBA coldly aid with venom in her words, before letting out another shot that struck Peppa in the other shoulder, destroying her clavicle.
"ACK!" Peppa couldn't even scream from the pain, the only thing she could do was dry heave.
ABBA gave the downed Peppa a sharp kick to the ribs, sharp enough for some to crack, and stomping on her back with their very pointy heel just for good measure, although, they doubt this will hurt half as much as her shoulder blades leaking out. ABBA watched as Peppa's breathing slowed down to a stuttered melancholy, as [Softworks] flickers out.
ABBA let out a relieved sigh. Bruno may be out, but they have just taken out only half of the problem, all that is left is to take out Sale, and get the money…
.
.
.
Wait, Narancia and Fugo are still missing. WHERE THE FUCK IS MISTA AND GIORNO?
Peppa Zucchero's [Softworks] Status: KO'ed as a result of pain inflicted by ABBA, RETIRED!
End of Episode 5
Jesus Christ I am pumping out these Chapters like crazy, hm? I have been so hyperfixated on this that I feel like I am neglecting my other works. Oh well… I hope you liked this chapter, this is so far the longest. I'll see you next time as I try to figure out a way to explain [Softworks]'s ability. *opens a Trans-Dimensional Theory Book*
Title: Based on the 2004 Green Day Album, "American Idiot"
Stands and Music References seen in this chapter (the following are creations of vanillaprinces):
Lady Madonna: Named after the 1968 Beatles song by the same name.
(The following are my ideas, and not previously mentioned by vanillaprinces)
[Softworks]: Named after an alternative name that the band "Soft Machine" used between 2002 and 2004
For more information about this AU, follow vanillaprinces on Tumblr.