While William had arranged transport to the growing settlement of Jordan, where that pair of vampires they were hunting had settled themselves, Straizo found himself reflecting upon the tales that Jonathan Joestar had been telling him. Of his siblings, Dio and Alice Brando, and their reaction to being transformed into vampires by the stone mask that he, William, Dire, and all of their fellow Hamon-users had been attempting to destroy for so long as any of them had known about the cursed object. And, he'd found himself interested in just how those two had managed to maintain the logic and reason that were seemingly lost to most when the spines of the stone mask pierced their brains and transformed them.

Jonathan Joestar, however, had seemed to be more acutely focused on reassuring any and all who would hear him that his siblings had retained the kindness that he thought marked humanity as a whole; Straizo was far less interested in such a thing.

The very reason he had undertaken the study of Hamon in the first place had been so that he could refine his body, purging the flaws and weakness that led inevitably to aging. However, even with his finely-developed skill in the practice, he could still feel the slow decay of his mortal form. He would have to speak with those vampires, somehow; perhaps to Alice, since she seemed to be the more sensible of the pair.

Either way, he would need to find a way to work under the very sight of William Zeppeli, a man who had come to know him well over the course of the twenty years that the pair of them had trained together under Master Tonpetty. It would not be a simple thing, but for all that, Straizo was determined to seek out what information he could on the subject of vampirism and its potential benefits.

Turning his attention toward Jonathan Joestar, as the young man gathered himself for what was clearly to be yet another of his ultimately futile attempts to convince William to rethink his position on the vampires Dio and Alice Brando – an impossible task, given the tale Straizo had heard his fellow Hamon-user tell of his own first encounter with vampire-kind – Straizo wondered just what kind of perverse sentimentality drove the young Joestar to keep so resolutely at a task that any sensible person would have given up as hopeless long ago. It was not a thing that he himself would have done, and even if he had been so stubborn as to try, he would have dismissed all such notions after having been rebuffed so many times.

To say nothing of how thoroughly William chose to rebuff the young Joestar's attempts to persuade him.

=PB=

As it turned out, finding where Dio and Alice were staying was more simple than he would have wished it to be, under the circumstances. Theirs was, in fact, the largest and most well-known estate within the borders of the new state they lived in. Steeling himself against what Mr. Zeppeli might very well do to him, Jonathan broke off from Mr. Zeppeli and Straizo, dashing through the gates and onto the main grounds of Dio and Alice's growing estate.

Whoever it was that had been opening the gates for the morning – little more than a colorful blur out of the left edge of his left eye – called out to him with some surprise, but Jonathan couldn't find it in himself to stop for what was ultimately such a minor thing. He needed to find his siblings, so that the three of them could stand united against Mr. Zeppeli. And also, so that they might be able to persuade Straizo to side with them when they were forced into a confrontation with the man.

Breathing slowly and evenly, in the way that was almost reflexive to him after having spent so many months training under the watchful eyes of Mr. Zeppeli, Jonathan forced himself to hold his breath for a handful of moments; to break his rhythm and remind himself not to channel any more Hamon.

"Jojo!"

Spinning at the sound of his brother's cheerful voice, Jonathan sighed in contentment and relief. "It's good to see you again, Dio."

His and Alice's brother was carrying a white umbrella, and Jonathan was pleased to note that his dear siblings were indeed searching out new and different ways of protecting themselves from the sunlight that would otherwise harm them.

"Welcome to our estate," his and Alice's brother said cordially, making his way over to where Jonathan was standing. "I'd offer you a tour of our new holdings, but you seem rather flustered. Is something wrong, Jojo?"

"Mr. Zeppeli is at the gates of your home," he said, having to make a conscious effort not to restart the deep, rhythmic breathing that would lead inevitably to him channeling Hamon when he'd no wish to do such.

Dio sighed, an expression of annoyance settling firmly upon his features. "Well, I suppose I, Dio, can at least thank you for bringing this new information to us, Jojo."

"Whatever help you want of me, Dio, you have my word I will give it," he said.

Dio grinned brightly. "Always a pleasure to hear, Jojo. I'll just see to fetching my sister, and then the three of us will deal with these troublesome monks that continue to plague us."

"Of course, Dio," he said, nodding as his and Alice's brother went to fetch their sister.

Calling over one of the servants attending to the upkeep of the house, Jonathan swiftly informed her of the danger swiftly approaching the place where she lived and worked. After making sure that she truly understood the severity of their developing situation, Jonathan turned his attention back to the front of the room. Between the space of one blink and the next, Jonathan found Dio and Alice standing to either side of him, but as he'd long since become accustomed to their preternatural speed, such only brought a smile to his face.

He'd glimpsed something long and dark hanging from both of their waists, but it was only when they had come to a complete stop that Jonathan was able to discern the fact that both of his dear siblings had swords strapped to their waists. He was pleased to note that Dio and Alice would have a way of defending themselves from Mr. Zeppeli without putting themselves in danger of being harmed by the Hamon Mr. Zeppeli was so adept at using. Taking his accustomed battle stance, Jonathan smiled as he saw his dear siblings taking their own stances just beside him.

Truly, they were as prepared as they could be for what might come upon them.

=PB=

/

When that oaf Zeppeli and his partner – truly, the other man was rather fetching; time would tell if he, Dio, was given the chance to come to know him more personally – burst in through the front-entrance of their large room that functioned at times as a salon and at others as a studio or a planning room, Dio grinned as Zeppeli seemed to almost physically restrain himself from faltering back a step when he beheld the three of them standing against his mere two.

"So, I suppose you've made your choice, Jojo," the oaf said, and Dio reveled in the undertone of defeat he could hear in the troublesome monk's voice.

"No matter what you say to me, I will not betray my family!"

Grinning wide enough to show his fangs he, Dio, gently caressed Jojo's right arm with his left, softening his grin into a smile when Jojo's adorable face turned to meet his own. The two of them nodded to one another, Jojo's adorable resolve bringing a wider smile to his face as the pair of them turned their attention back to that oaf Zeppeli and his rather fetching partner.

Jojo's Hamon-filled punches – launched from fists that could extend nearly as far as he and his sweet sister had been able to since they had truly begun exploring the many and varied abilities that their glorious vampire bodies granted them – did not seem to do very much good against the behatted charlatan attacking them, but the swords his sweet sister had designed and commissioned from a local blacksmith that had then been taken into her employ some weeks ago did perform quite a good deal more admirably in that regard.

And, all to the better, when that behatted charlatan struck the blade, the ingenious layer of rubber, combined with heat-resistant ceramics and reinforced air vents, neatly dispersed the heat and energy imparted.

"Was that a shock to you, charlatan?" he mocked, grinning wide enough to reveal his fangs once more. "These swords of ours are far from-" yelping as something small and while clipped his left ear he, Dio, spun to face his sweet sister; it seemed as though she had just hurled their low, hardwood table at that nameless partner of the charlatan. "Truly, Alice, a coffee cup?"

"You're lucky I couldn't find a full one," his sweet sister riposted, an expression of deadpanned amusement on her face. "And, what have I told you about revealing proprietary technology to our competitors, brother dear?"

Laughing at the sheer incongruity of the statement – as though the charlatan and his troublesome compatriots would ever be able to build anything even approaching the magnificent ingenuity of his dear Alice's swords – Dio grinned. "Very well, sister dear. My lips are sealed."

With a short, sharp nod – seemingly to dismiss the matter from her agile mind – his dear Alice returned her attention to the long-haired fool accosting her. And he, Dio, returned his own attention to the behatted charlatan who had made such of a nuisance of himself before this day.

=PB=

Watching the way the vampire Alice Brando conducted herself in combat provided a greater insight into the female vampire's character than any one week of conversations on matters esoteric and mundane could have been: all of this vampire's moves were, while calculated in the extreme, fluid enough to take advantage of any openings that he might leave in his defenses. However, while the vampire was swift to capitalize on any opening he showed her, she was also far too canny to over-commit. It seemed that she, too, was fully aware of the dangers inherent in underestimating one's enemies.

It was fascinating; she was fascinating, and the fact that she was willing to use anything in the large room she could lay her hands to as a projectile weapon only made her all the more interesting. Such resolve and cleverness was not something he'd seen in many humans, to say nothing of those changed by the stone mask. Such resolve only added fuel to his own; truly, this was what he had striven for when he had first endeavored to learn Hamon.

To possess a glorious, immortal body, such as the pair of vampires that stood against him and William possessed… yes, that was worth any number of things; anything, truly.

The feel of his solar plexus all but collapsing under the crushing force of Alice Brando's powerful uppercut drove painfully home just how much Straizo had allowed his attention to wander from the battle still taking place. Still, such a thing could easily be turned to his own advantage; no one but a fool would expect a user of Hamon to fight without breath. Letting himself fall to the floor, Straizo spread his arms wide in a gesture of submission, just as the vampire Alice Brando's elegant, ingeniously designed sword bore down upon him.

That sword was a marvel in itself: able to withstand Hamon by some unknown process, and without being destroyed or even damaged by the energies.

Smiling in response to the subdued expression of curiosity he could see on the vampire's fair face, Straizo nodded in respect and gratitude as she pulled back from the downward lunge that would have otherwise imbedded her sword in his face. He could see that William, too, was being driven back by the combined efforts of Jonathan Joestar and the vampire Dio Brando. Soon enough, he would be able to leave alongside the man without arousing suspicion.

Soon enough, he would be able to return to this place on his own terms.

=PB=

Once Straizo and Zeppeli had been driven out – though Alice suspected Straizo hadn't quite been so eager as the man himself – Alice quickly joined Jonathan and Dio in setting their huge living room back to rights. Hearing the subtle chime that signaled someone hitting the staff-recall button, she looked up to see Dio making his way back over to where she and Jonathan were manhandling the coffee table back into place.

"Good thing neither of us had to fling the Davenport at them," she said, smirking amusedly at her brother as he made his way back over to where she and Jonathan had just finished setting the coffee table back upright and were just getting all of the books and papers settled down just so.

"Indeed," Dio said, laughing. "That would have been a terrible waste of perfectly good furniture."

"I'm glad to see the pair of you are doing so well for yourselves," Jonathan said, his soft voice precluding any further discussion of the merits of projectile furniture.

"That's kind of you to say, Jonathan," she said, turning her attention back to her and Dio's brother; he was wearing his habitual expression of gentleness, prompting Alice to smile gently in return.

"Come, Jojo," Dio said, grinning as the three of them made their way over to the couch to sit down. "We can discus this over tea and cocoa."

Smiling a bit wider – it'd been fairly interesting, personally meeting the founder of the Hershey Company, when she and Dio had started to become more capital "F" Famous rather than just locally famous; she'd had a brief, not-particularly-charitable thought about mentioning that she'd enjoyed proportionally more Nestlé's products than Hershey's, but in the end she'd just had a chuckle over the thought itself – Alice settled down neatly beside Jonathan, thanking their butler David Gray for his services as he bowed in return.

It seemed that Jonathan, while nowhere near as busy as the pair of them had been during the course of their stay in Montana, had still been kept busy by his attempts to pry Zeppeli's underused head out of his overused ass. And sure, their latest confrontation with the man indicated that that idea had ultimately been about as useful as a chocolate fire poker, it'd at least been a useful learning experience. It seemed like William A. Zeppeli, whatever his mental malfunction, wasn't going to stop coming after them until they killed him.

It was kind of annoying, but that was the way things clearly were; no use crying over spilt milk, or blood, as the case may be.

"I… Don't mistake me, I have greatly enjoyed your hospitality, but I really should return home," Jonathan said. "All other considerations aside, I truly should tell Father of the name you're both making for yourselves," their sweet, sometimes-muttonheaded brother continued, smiling brightly at them.

"Of course, Jojo," Dio said, as the three of them stood in order to bid Jonathan farewell.

"You will come visit Father and your mother back home sometime, won't you?" their brother asked, an adorable expression of hope settling on his face.

Alice smiled, speaking before her twin could think up something else to say. "Once things here have settled down a bit, we'll start making preparations."

She couldn't say anything definitive, since with Zeppeli and Straizo skulking around things were bound to be getting a bit more interesting, if only in the Chinese sense of the word.

The three of them said their farewells, standing up so that they could hug each other – she shot an unimpressed look at Dio when he sensually caressed the curve of her right hip – and she sent for their coachman, Brian Setzer, to take Jonathan back to the train station so he could start making his way back to New York. David, after insisting on being the one to pack the provisions she had suggested that Jonathan carry with him, had made up a pack for him to take on the carriage ride back to the station. After saying a final farewell to their visiting brother, she and Dio made their way back into the large main house of their steadily-expanding estate.

Dio yelped as she flicked him directly on the nose, and Alice continued on her way toward the back of the house – her laboratory in particular – with a smirk.

"Sister dear, whatever would drive you to do such a thing?"

Shooting him a half-lidded "we both know you're not that stupid" look, Alice turned on her heel, continuing on her way to the laboratory she'd established once the plans for their estate had begun to be laid down. Since they were going to have to deal with Zeppeli, though possibly not Straizo considering the way he'd acted when the five of them had been fighting, she'd have to start expanding their arsenal. Because, while Dio might have been perfectly satisfied with zombie dinosaurs, she knew that the most potent weapon she had against those Hamon-using nuisances was something they hadn't ever dealt with.

It was a simple truth that people who operated under such rigid worldviews – like "all vampires are evil" for example – did not deal remotely well with out of context problems.

Having a phone installed in the outbuilding that housed her laboratory – even if it was one of the original, bulky wall-mounted boxes rather than the Smartphone that she'd still had occasion to miss in this new life of hers – had been a great help in the past, and continued to be so at present.

"Operator, would you kindly connect me to the Green Day Industrial Works?" she paused for a moment, returning the usual pleasantries that she, as one of the most famous people in Montana, was accorded pretty much every time she called out for something she couldn't have easily manufactured in one of the industrial offshoots that'd sprung up around their estate to service the needs of both the dig sites and the day-to-day running of the estate itself; really, the place was starting to seem more like a small city within the larger city of Jordan rather than just a house where she and Dio were staying. "Hello? Yes, I'd like to place an order for two one-gallon canisters of wet-stored nitrocellulose rope," she paused a moment. "Yes, that. Delivered as quickly as you can safely manage; I can pay extra if you'd prefer," she paused again, nodding reflexively. "Thank you. Pleasure doing business with you, as always."

Hanging up the phone, Alice turned her attention to another matter that would soon need attending to; after all, if they were going to have to deal with Zeppeli, and it was looking more and more like the man wasn't going to be stopped until he was either stone dead or incinerated, the pair of them were going to need more than just swords and spark-nets to protect themselves. And for that, she'd need something far better than iron or steel. Time to see just how I can manage to make titanium alloy back in this day and age, she mused.

It was, of course, entirely possible that she would need to use the tools she had to create the tools she would need, or some recursion thereof.

=PB=

Smiling as he returned to his richly-appointed room, after seeing Jojo to the train station and watching their adorable puppy depart down the Great Northern Railway so that he could find his way back to New York, he, Dio, turned his thoughts to just what his sweet sister was about. It was utterly fascinating, watching the way she managed their pets in this area; even becoming quite the budding businesswoman in this burgeoning little town of theirs.

Their pets comprised far more than simply the humans who had been drawn to this place for the promise of becoming famous by way of uncovering some previously undiscovered fossil beast or creature, but the zombies that he and his sweet sister had created – his own Tyrannosaurus Rex, and her Quetzalcoatlus and the small flock of Deinonychus that his dear Alice had raised later – and the foxes and bobcats that had been attracted once they had begun storing grain in large quantities to make the breads and other sundry foodstuffs that their human pets required to remain healthy. The domestication of those useful little beasts was proceeding apace. Grinning as he recalled another, smaller group of beasts that were steadily undergoing domestication, Dio turned his path to one of the outbuildings that had been solely designated for his and his dear Alice's personal use.

Stepping inside he, Dio, found himself greeted by the sharp, earthy scent wafting out of the mouth of the tunnel network that his sweet sister was steadily expanding. The soft sounds of awakening mountain lion cubs greeted him next, and he grinned widely. He, Dio, hadn't seen the point of such a thing when his dear Alice had first brought the cubs – thin and clearly undernourished as they were; their mother like as not having been shot for some offence or other against one of the many cattle ranchers endemic to the state – but when one of the adults of the species had accosted them during a nightly exploration of their expanding territory, he'd truly seen the merits of raising the small litter his sweet sister had taken in.

Even as the five of them scampered over to where he, Dio, was standing, he could see that they had grown all the larger and stronger since the last time he'd laid eyes upon them; soon enough, they would possess jaws strong enough to crush human skulls, and claws to rend the very flesh from their bones. Truly a thing to anticipate. Grinning as he opened the icebox and took out one of the pre-prepared tubs of raw beef he, Dio sat back, tossing the scraps to the five growing cubs and watching in amusement as they leaped up to catch them in their mouths.

Truly, of all their pets, the humans – while even he, Dio, could hardly deny their utility – remained the most unremarkable.

=PB=

While she waited for her order to arrive, Alice Brando was far from idle. She'd gone back down into the tunnel-system she'd begun working on once their network of dig sites had been definitively established aboveground. Knowing where their people were going to be working on the surface made it much simpler to avoid the places where there might be a risk of people breaking through the roof of a tunnel when they were looking for fossils, skeletons, and fossil skeletons.

As she laid down the tracks for the miniature, steam-powered train she had built to service this network of tunnels she was digging out, Alice also turned over the preparations that she was going to need to make in the coming days – and, perhaps weeks – to deal with the threat Zeppeli and Straizo still posed to her and Dio at present.

Yes, the spark-nets she was going to be creating once the shipment of nitrocellulose ropes she'd put in an order for arrived would most likely prove to be a better than average deterrent for either of the two Hamon-users in their area – provided Straizo still wanted to fight, given the way she'd seen him acting in combat that last time he and Zeppeli had forced a confrontation between their two groups – but Alice wasn't about to rely on a single means of defense that, while powerful, could still be circumvented under the proper circumstances.

After all, while some people said the best defense was a good offense, and others said that the reverse was true, Alice herself preferred to have a healthy balance of both.