'And that's all the information we were able to find so far,' Rusty 'Shining' Dashell said over the phone.
He and Anubis were talking over the phone. They were talking about a certain incident that happened seven years prior. After the Second Impact incident in Rusty's universe, a great restructuring of Europe occurred. This resulted in the rise of three new nations, the Canopy Kingdom of New Meridian, the Chess Kingdom of Novoselic, and the Gigan Kingdom of Subterra. Seven years ago these three nations went to war, but stopped when a creature called the Skullgirl appeared and threatened everyone. Now, the Speedwagon Foundation had information as to where that Skullgirl could have come from.
"This will have to be a large operation," Anubis noted, "But the problem is New Meridian is largely controlled by the Medici Mafia, and they know all of our agents."
'Can't send in our best men,' Shining said, 'Can't call on the Joestars since there's not enough for an operation like this.'
Anubis got an idea.
"Maybe we can get a Joestar's help. And all the unknown agents we need with Kakyoin's assistance. Plus, I do know some folks in Section 8 that are perfect for the job."
It was a risky assignment, but this was the sort of thing he set the new Hope's Peak Academy system up for.
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Koichi Zenigata finished his daily work out routine. In spite of him hitting his sixties, he still only looked a decade younger. However, after Lupin's death at the hands of an unknown assassin, he felt that he had hit a brick wall in terms of his police career, and had decided to retire. No other criminal gave Zenigata the thrill Lupin did at doing his job. In hindsight, that might have been Lupin's intention. He still had a framed copy of Lupin's wanted poster in his house, along with a picture of himself and a former partner of his, a blonde-haired teen who could easily be mistaken for a girl in the right context. Sitting down with his usual oden meal, he turned on the TV.
'And in other news, rumors spread of Lupin the Third somehow being alive again, despite coroners having confirmed his death a decade prior.'
"Wha…?" Zenigata said in shock, nearly spilling his oden.
'Early last week a cargo plane was heard flying over Fuyuki City, dropping numerous fliers that turned out to be calling cards from the infamous gentleman thief, declaring he would steal some treasure referred to as the "Skull Heart". While experts are baffled as the identity of this object, they all agree the event matches Lupin's MO perfectly.'
Zenigata felt a smile creep over his face. He didn't know if it was real or just another copycat, but if it was real, he finally had a chance to properly settle things with his long time rival. He had been upset when Lupin died before he could properly arrest him, but now he had a second chance.
"LUPIN! You'd better be really alive, you asshole, or I'll exhume your corpse and arrest it instead!"
He quickly finished his oden, then grabbed his overcoat and hat. It was time to return to Interpol. It seemed that ace Inspector Koichi Zenigata was ready to come out of retirement.
Seiko, Ruruka, Sonosuke and Miaya were starting to get excited as they chatted with the X-Squad, with the X-Squad deciding to add the three of them to the X-Squad. The class would be getting their first real assignment from Speedwagon. Even Ridley was excited, despite having been to New Meridian before.
"So, who's up for some plundering? I've been meaning to make some magic."
Sonosuke looked at the cockpit, surprised as to what he saw.
"I'd be more concerned about the fact that our pilots are a nurse who is surfing on the internet while flying and a demon who apparently can't steer."
Yasuho smiled.
"There's no need to worry. This is a special autopilot plane I'm directing using my Stand. It's also helping me get information we'll need concerning New Meridian."
"What are you talking about, pinky?" Roman asked. "The hell kinda shit you on, and where can I buy it? Cause now I'm seeing roadmaps on a ghost girl."
Yasuho's Stand was Paisley Park, a shadowy pink female covered in road map signs. One of its hands was phased into the plane's autopilot while the other was phased into Yasuho's laptop.
"Paisley Park is a Stand, which is basically a psychic vision beneficial virus amalgamation, of guidance," Josefumi explained, "It can shift its form and control electronic devices to help Yasuho and those important to her find whatever they need. It's a useful Stand for locating where I need to operate on a patient during a major surgery, or looking up their medical history."
"Right now I'm using it to find all relevant data that could lead to the Skull Heart," Yasuho clarified.
"Basically Stands are what happens if Corona gives superpowers instead of a cough." Voidlon summarized, before looking behind him to see that the four students and Josefumi also had Stands.
Along with the four were Chisa, Kyosuke, and Juzo. When Kyosuke heard his old friends were off on an adventure, he decided he had to join in. Chisa felt obligated since it was her class, and Juzo decided to join since most of his old friends were going, Seiko, Ruruka and Sonosuke went along because Voidlon thought the group needed all the firepower they could grab. Josefumi, for his part, began to think to himself.
'Is it my turn for destiny? Is this the start of my own bizarre adventure? I guess we'll wait and see.'
"Hey, there's a circus arriving in town," Roman noted. "Must be us, considering the shit we pull."
"There's always a circus in town," Seiko pointed out, "New Meridian is famous for the Cirque de Cartes."
"Wrong circus," Yasuho said as she revealed her laptop.
It was an advert for something called the Noah's Ark Circus, currently touring into New Meridian.
"The Noah's Ark Circus has been around since the time of my ancestor, Jonathan Joestar," Josefumi explained, "It's changed hands ever since the retirement of its first ringmaster, a man known only as Joker. Its current owner and ringmaster is an old friend of ours, Joshu Higashikata, the Former Ultimate Showman."
Joshu was a cousin of Josefumi's uncle Josuke, Joshu's dad Norisuke being the older brother of Tomoko, Josuke's mom. He attended the 74th Class alongside Josefumi and the others.
"I wonder if he and Trixie finally tied the knot," Juzo mused, "And if Rai is still with them."
Trixie Lulamoon was the Former Ultimate Magician and had been Joshu's girlfriend since before they attended Hope's Peak Academy, their talents complimenting each other perfectly. Rai Mamezuku was the Former Ultimate Businessman, who agreed to be the primary patron for the Noah's Ark Circus while Joshu was running things.
"It looks like we have a chance to reunite the whole gang," Kyosuke noted, only to see that the plane was out of fuel, and paled in shock.
"Hey, everyone, might want to hang on. I think we're about to lose control." Everyone looked at Roman, concerned. Roman just flashed the biggest shit-eating grin he could muster. "Hey, crashes aren't rare with the X-Squad."
The first stop on the group's tour of the city (well, after everyone got patched up and checked to see if everyone was ok) was the MadMans Cafe. Members of the local Medici family were known to hang out there. The Kuzuryu family was infamous even out in this part of the world, so Ruruka, being a friend of Fuyuhiko, figured she could get some intel from the local outfit. Most of the group was sitting at booths, but Ruruka, Voidlon, Taeko, Julie, Zap, Neo, Roman, Hibiki, Kanade, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Ruler, Mystle, Sora, Lune, Sonosuke, Seiko, and Miaya were at the bar.
"Think anyone will recognize you?" Mystle asked.
"I'm not sure," Seiko admitted.
Next to her was a black-haired school girl around their age enjoying a milkshake. Sonia noted the white mushroom hat.
"She looks familiar..." Miaya noted.
Just then an older man came up to the girl.
"Hey there, doll face. What's say I buy you a real drink?"
The three classmates and the squad members grimaced as the man fondled the girl in a way that was clearly making her uncomfortable.
Roman frowned, flicking his cigar away. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find any sort of informant in any world?" Roman snarked, before aiming his cane at the offender along with the squad.
"Lay off her, Riccardo!" Ruruka called out.
Candy Shop, a pink female humanoid wearing a dress seemingly made from spun sugar and a wig that resembled an ice cream swirl that was capable of making a mist of sugar mixed with any other ingredient for confectionery to produce a wide variety of effects, had a knife (strangely looking like a candy cane) ready (not even Ruruka knew how that happened), itching for a kill.
"Yeah, lay off her, Riccardo!" came a deeper voice out of nowhere.
Everyone except the girl looked around in confusion.
"What manner of demon dares to intervene in our affairs?" Miaya asked.
"Hopefully not Yen Lo Wang, cause the last thing we need is China's god of death on our ass." Lune said.
The girl sighed.
"This manner."
She took her hat off, and the group was shocked to see a face hidden inside her hair, with glowing yellow eyes and a mouthful of fangs.
"A Parasite!?" Riccardo said in shock.
"Yeah," the Parasite said. "And I don't appreciate you groping my host when she doesn't like it."
And with that, the girl's hair spread out and attacked in the form of several blunt spears, knocking Riccardo to the ground.
"Why you..." he said as he got up, only to get decked again, this time by a large hammer that hit him right in the chin before the squad took turns beating up Riccardo till he died from the assault, as Lupin decided to try out the food.
"Whoa," the girl said, "Samson, did you see that?"
The Parasite, now known as Samson, grimaced.
"Most of the other customers looked shocked. That must be one of those Stands you hear about online."
"Yes, mine in fact," Sonosuke said, the hammer melted back into a solid mass of molten metal, "It's called Iron Head. I can draw from the infinite mass of metal and shape it into whatever tools I need to do a certain job. The more precise the idea of the tool, the more effective it will be."
"Might be useful if making an explosive sword." Voidlon said, already planning on how he can use his own Stand to copy Stand powers, having tapped into the minds of Seiko, Ruruka, Miaya, Sonosuke, Chisa, Juzo, Kyosuke, Josefumi and Yasuho, and studying their powers.
"But how on earth could you see it?" Seiko asked, "You're clearly not a Stand user."
"It's because of me," Samson explained, "We Parasites see the world on a different wavelength. And anyone who becomes our host shares that wavelength, meaning they can also see Stands."
Miaya then got a look at the girl and gasped.
"I wasn't sure before, but your face is definitely one I recognize. Filia, is that you?"
The girl blinked.
"You know my name? It is Filia, but I don't think we've met before. Then again, ever since I got bonded with Samson, I've lost most of my memories. Whatever education I've had is still there, but everything about my life is gone except for my first name."
"So you don't even remember your own parents?," Miaya asked, "I remember seeing you with them during the last Medici family reunion."
"Hey, hair bangs." Roman said, looking at Samson. "Did you have something to do with that?"
"Heck if I know!" Samson replied indignantly. "When I first met her I had a different host, a dog I simply called Dog. Never was good with coming up with names. But some of Filia's other relatives came in and attacked her and her family, killing both her parents and shooting her. She nearly died. Dog wound up dead in the struggle. I can live without a host, so it didn't inconvenience me. But Filia was dying from the gunshot, so I made her my new host to save her life. But when she woke up, she didn't remember a damn thing."
"Samson's told me this story before," Filia said, "It's the only clue I have to my missing memories."
"This explains why you look a little different," Miaya noted, "You used to have blonde, wavy hair with duller green eyes."
She looked at Filia.
"It also seems you put on some pounds."
Filia chuckled nervously.
"Well I do have two mouths to feed."
"Excuse me for being a glutton!" Samson called out.
"Agreed, she does pull off her outfit though." Voidlon said, as he saw that her school girl outfit matched well with Samson.
"Hey, guys," Seiko said. "Josefumi says he wanted to check out the circus area. Apparently there's a rivalry going on between the members of the Noah's Ark Circus and the Cirque de Cartes."
As the group walked off. Filia started thinking and walking with Voidlon.
"That girl seems to know me. Maybe she can help us get back my memories."
"Couldn't hurt to try," Samson admitted, "We might as well follow them. Besides, the Cirque de Cartes is backed by the Medicis. I never really understood why your own relatives would attack you out of nowhere. We may both get some answers out of this if we play our cards right."
"And who knows, you might be able to get revenge on them." Voidlon said. "Like how Gramps put great-grandpappy in his place during the 2nd Heaven war."
Filia nodded. She wasn't sure what sort of powerful beings these Stand users were. But something about Miaya was definitely familiar. Like a long lost friend.
Zenigata couldn't help but hate the higher-ups in Interpol. He appreciated rules and regulations as much as any honest cop. They were there to make sure the police were not above the population they served, after all. But there was a difference between rules and red tape. Zenigata had managed to get his hands on one of the fliers that were dropped on Fuyuki City. Now he has spent years studying Lupin's handwriting. A thief as popular as Lupin naturally had admirers who wanted to be like him. It would have been admirable if they were actually competent about it.
But too many of them did things the real Lupin would never do, crossed lines he never would. For example, while Lupin was not above knocking police and guards out, he'd never kill them since he only saw them as doing their job. Mobsters were another story, since many of them were worse than Lupin and would likely kill him first given half a chance, so he never gave them that chance. But this was really the reason why Zenigata made sure it was really Lupin every time. Not that he wouldn't catch any other crook, they were dangerous in their own right and he'd have lost his job years ago if he didn't prove he was still a competent inspector.
Not that he didn't have his off days. Sometimes he was so determined to catch Lupin that if any crime seemed like something he'd do, he'd assume it was Lupin unless proven wrong. Luckily those days were few and far between. Anyway, he was rambling in his own mind. The point was, he had shown the ICPO his proof that it was indeed Lupin's handwriting. While this baffled the higher-ups, they still weren't willing to believe it really was Lupin. After all, he was supposed to be dead, all the forensic evidence proved as much. Regardless, they still allowed Zenigata to be reinstated.
After all, whether this Lupin was real or not, the fact of the matter was someone was using Lupin's name in Fuyuki City. If it was Lupin, perhaps they would have a chance to finally catch him for real. If it wasn't, he'd most definitely be dangerous enough to warrant Zenigata's concerns.
"With all this in mind, Zenigata," the ICPO president said, "Do you have a plan in mind for capturing this individual?"
Zenigata nodded.
"I know exactly how to flush him out. To catch a rat…"
He grinned.
"You just need to lay out the right bait."
Outside, there was a definite spat going on between the circus folk, along with Deadlight. Regina, the animal tamer of the Cirque de Cartes, was sending a large chimera monster against the opposing ringmaster as Kronos fired a bullet made of blue flames from Pirate's Plunder to supercharge the chimera. Said ringmaster was, of course, Joshu, who casually used his cane to tip up his top hat.
"Nut King Call!"
He snapped his fingers. The 77th Class and X-Squad, who had shown up, gasped when a robotic humanoid covered in gear nuts appeared, launching some of those nuts into the chimera, causing it to wince in pain. Josefumi also winced as Voidlon started getting into Joshu's mind to learn his power.
"So, Joshu has a nasty sort of power. The nuts can be embedded into anything. Not only can they attach things..." Voidlon muttered.
Joshu gave another snap, and the nuts unscrewed, dismembering the chimera.
"They can also separate them," Josefumi said at the same time as Voidlon. "Luckily Joshu has full control over his Stand. The chimera will live. But only Joshu's power can put it back together."
Regina growled at the sight of her dismembered chimera.
"Beatrix! Birch! Teach this man a lesson!"
The female knife-thrower pulled a few daggers out of her skin and threw them as Birch backed up with some shots from White-Out. Joshu looked alarmed, but Kyosuke jumped in at the last minute.
"Shiroyama!"
He drew out his katana, and all at once at least a dozen sword swings sliced through the air, knocking the daggers and dust shots down. Birch looked shocked.
"Damn! What sorta technique did you use to be that good with a sword?"
"Not a technique, but a Stand," Kyosuke said as he sheathed his katana, "I only swung once."
This was the power of Kyosuke's Stand, Shiroyama, which passively improved his swordsmanship and allowed him to make multiple attacks with a single sword swing. Joshu chuckled.
"Good to see you, Kyosuke. Still working on that overseas Hope's Peak?"
Kyosuke turned to Joshu.
"Yes, but it's being put on hold for an important assignment."
He looked around.
"By the way, where's Trixie?"
Joshu pointed over to the nearby street. Trixie had her cloak wrapped up in a spear shape, clashing against a large fist. Said fist was attached to the hat of a young female acrobat with a diamond pattern on her outfit as Megafin battled alongside her. Filia showed up in time to see the action.
"Isn't that the acrobat Cerebella?"
Cerebella, Megafin and Trixie broke off and Megafin went to attack with Hydrosus, only for Trixie to slip into her top hat and seemingly disappear, only to pop back up when Cerebella and Megafin went to look back at the hat, clocking both of them with her magic wand. Fireworks spewed out of the wand as it hit, causing more damage.
"Whoa!" Mera said. "It's like a real magic show!"
"That's Trixie for ya," Chisa said, "The power of her Stand, Tricks Up My Sleeve, grants her control over spatial perception. That means she can reach out to a random location and grab an item from it, letting her transport things instantly. It gives her the illusion of real magic. Her cape was likely lined with steel wires to turn it into a spear, then removed so that it continued to seem like a regular cape."
The fight was suddenly stopped when a man in a business suit approached. Fuyuhiko narrowed his eyes.
"That's Vitale Medici, son of the family head Lorenzo. Though according to Pop, Lorenzo has been bed-ridden for a long time now, meaning Vitale mostly runs the family these days."
Vitale led Cerebella off, Megafin, Birch and Kronos teleported away, and Trixie went to join her old friends.
"Chisa! It's been far too long!"
She and Chisa hugged.
"It's great to see you again, Trixie!," Chisa said cheerfully, "We all saw your little fight."
"Yeah," Trixie said, "That cap of hers is a Living Weapon called Vice Versa while the Cane's called Hydrosus. Vice Versa packs a punch, assuming it can actually hit you, while Hydrosus seems to be a pinpoint type o' weapon."
The last member of the old gang, Rai, also showed up.
"Hey there. I heard all the hubbub and now I see what's up. Good to see you guys again."
"So, Rai," Joshu said, "Did you find out why the local circus didn't respect the schedule we set up with parliament, or what those three are?"
"Seems Cerebella, the top member of the Cirque de Cartes, needed some practice for something," Rai explained, "Apparently, someone stole something called a Life Gem from the Medicis. As for the other three, didn't find any records outside a photo of a wall covered in blood, with the blood spelling, 'Watch out for The Deadlight', whatever that means."
Josefumi rubbed his chin.
"If we can find this Life Gem first, we might have a bargaining chip against the Medicis. Yasuho, can you find some information on it?"
"I'll see what I can dig up," Yasuho said.
"Who was the person who stole the Life Gem?," Sonia asked.
"Some of the other family members were talking about a Feral named Nadia Fortune," Rai noted, "She might have some connection to the Life Gem theft, since she happens to be a skilled cat burglar. We find her, we may find information on the Life Gem."
The group was now being driven in the circus truck as Joshu recounted the story of how he came to own the Noah's Ark Circus.
"My destiny came about during our class's first practical exam. Me and Trixie had already decided to showcase our talents together, but we knew we needed more. And that's when I met a fortune teller named Choko Mifune. Her entire bloodline, including her daughter, are talented clairvoyants, and her visions led her to me in order to help my own talent shine. With her help, I was able to gather together my own personal circus to use for the practical exam."
He walked around the tents set aside for the circus folk's personal use.
"My goal was to make a show just like PT Barnum. One where the oddities of my friends would draw people in, but their other skills would keep people entertained. And it worked! From all across the world I found the best entertainers, and when I graduated, I sought out the best circus to showcase their talents. It was ultimately the Noah's Ark Circus that drew my attention. Of course, getting Rai to sponsor the show was no easy task..."
He grinned at Rai, who just rolled his eyes.
"I had hoped to find a more respectable business than a circus patron, but it brings in the money."
"I found some information," Yasuho suddenly called out.
"What's the skinny?" Chiaki asked.
"Life Gems are rare gem stones that were somehow infused with life force during the Second Impact incident," Yasuho said as she read the info from the internet search, "Apparently, being in near proximity to one can drastically improve one's health and slow down their aging. The effect isn't too different from Hamon. Even crazier, the gems have been rendered biodegradable. Ingesting one will cause whoever did so to become something like a revenant, undying no matter what lethal actions happen to them."
Joshu was speaking in low tones with his top clown, Adam MacIntyre as Voidlon suggested more stylish outfits for the circus performers. Joshu then turned to the others.
"Choko's just seen a vision in her crystal. We'll find our Miss Fortune somewhere in the town of Little Innsmouth, an area populated by fish people called the Dagonians."
"Our world sure has become bizarre since Second Impact," Nagito noted, "But that just means there's greater opportunities for hope to shine."
Nata and Voidlon looked at him.
"Is he okay?" Voidlon asked, not wanting to know what the hell's wrong with him.
"We really need to settle in for a session one of these days...And if you're asking, he's kinda nutty about hope."
None of them noticed that Filia had hitched a ride on the back of the truck, kept in place using Samson.
Meanwhile, Cerebella, Megafin, Birch, Kronos, Calamity, Ink Blotch, Circe, Zora, Yoomtah, Killia, Nabnab, Light, Ryuk, Noxmar, Xone, Thorkell, Lützow, Atar, Gilgamesh, Delphi and Jack the Flipper were getting briefed on the situation by Vitale.
"I'm sure you can understand how insulting it is for my family to be stolen from. That Life Gem is a very valuable artifact of my father."
"Of course," Cerebella said, "Any ideas on where we should start the search?"
"I would recommend starting at the Dak'kull Dubu restaurant in Little Innsmouth," Vitale replied, "The Fishbone Gang made their home there, and Nadia Fortune with them. She may still frequent the joint. Oh, and Cerebella... I know it's difficult for a woman as strong as you, but try to use discretion. I suspect that the rival circus may have overheard about the Life Gem, and may try to locate it for their own reasons."
Cerebella nodded.
"You can count on us."
Noxmar grinned. "Sure, bud, we'll get it, but you better pay up once we do."
As she headed out, she held Vice Versa in her hands.
'What sort of reason could they have for needing the Life Gem? Yes, it's supposed to be valuable, but it can't be worth that much money or Vitale and Lorenzo would have sold it long ago. And the folks from Noah's Ark seemed nice. The only reason I fought that magician girl was because their strong man accidentally bumped into Feng, knocking her down. I tried to punch him, and that girl Trixie got in the way, and those three joined in because of the ruckus to stir up chaos. Seeing her fight made me want to test my skills against her.'
She shook her head, put on Vice Versa and headed out.
The circus truck pulled up to the Dak'kull Dubu. Inside was another member of the Medicis, Lawrence. Ruruka noticed Lawrence hitting on the young Dagonian waitress.
"You're pretty cute, for a stinking gill-girl."
Ruruka narrowed her eyes. Ridley pulled out what he affectionately calls 'Smoker', a short-range pistol that fired blasts of concentrated fire as the X-Squad pulled out their weapons.
"Heyz Ruka, can we...?"
Sonosuke raised a hand.
"No, I got this. Iron Head."
He plucked out a grabber hand, grabbed Lawrence's undies, and yanked.
"YEOW!"
"Serves you right!" said a young woman with dark skin, scars across her body, and cat ears and a tail, "Are you okay, Minette?"
Minette, the waitress, nodded.
"Uh-huh. I have no idea how that happened."
The woman pointed her thumb at Sonosuke.
"He made a little grabber hand. No idea how it went unseen."
Minette blinked.
"What hand? He's just standing there with what I assume is his girlfriend and a local freakshow."
Ruruka, Sonosuke and the squad facepalmed, knowing Ruruka and Seiko were dating. Just then, Lawrence got up and pulled out a short blade, instantly cutting the woman's head off.
"Teach you to butt into other people's affairs."
Ridley grinned.
"I don't think you know who you're messing with. She saw Sonosuke's Stand, meaning she obviously has some sort of supernatural power."
Lawrence looked confused, until the woman's head sprang to life and leapt onto Lawrence's arm, biting at it.
"Om nom nom nom nom!"
Meanwhile, her headless body sprang up and socked Lawrence, who had been trying to grab Minette, right in the jaw, her arm extending to reveal the tendon and muscle underneath. The goon quickly ran off, not noticing Filia as Spaulding shot the gangster in the skull when he got to the door.
"Scumbags got all they deserved," Samson noted.
"Got that right," Filia agreed.
Seiko looked at the woman, who was holding her own head like a dullahan.
"So, I'm guessing you're Nadia Fortune."
"In the flesh," Miss Fortune admitted, "Thanks for helping Minette. That guy really should have quit while he was a-head."
She grinned as she replaced her head. She sat down with the group and explained her story.
"Yeah, my old gang lost their lives in that disastrous job. The only reason I'm still alive is because I swallowed the Life Gem hoping to get at least some victory. Next thing I know I'm lying in pieces on the bottom of the river with my old gang in pieces around me. Except I'm still alive while they're not."
"That explains the scars," Seiko noted, "That must have been where you were dismembered."
"Now I'm chasing rumors of the Skull Heart," Miss Fortune said, "They say it can grant any wish, but at a price. If the wish isn't considered pure, the girl who made the wish becomes a Skullgirl. For me, I'd want to wish my gang back to life. Not just for me, but for all of Little Innsmouth. They weren't just thieves, they were the guardians of this village. And without them, the Medici family has been able to pillage this place at their leisure. I'm just surprised it hasn't happened yet."
She grinned.
"But I do have a big lead. Turns out the current Skullgirl has been attacking the Medicis."
"Found you!" came the familiar voice of Noxmar.
Miss Fortune looked at the newcomer.
"Well, well. Judging from your attire, you're a leg breaker hired by Vitale himself."
"Nadia Fortune, yes?" Cerebella said, "We're here for the Life Gem. Just give it up and there's no need to get hurt."
"And just to clarify, we're not with Cerebella's group, we're part of Deadlight." Birch said.
Miss Fortune shrugged.
"A bit more on the patient side than most of Vitale's hired muscle. Look, I hate to break it to you, but the Life Gem is fused to me. I wound up swallowing it during the incident and once it got digested it became a part of me."
Cerebella freaked out.
"You ate it!? Damn...we can't go back to Vitale empty-handed. Guess I'll have to capture you and bring you back to him. I'm sure he'll figure something out."
Miss Fortune sighed as she got up.
"Look if we're gonna do this, let's do it outside, okay? Yu-Wan takes great pride in this place and I'd hate to be responsible for trashing it."
Noxmar shrugged.
"Fine by me."
To Miss Fortune's surprise, Seiko and Voidlon decided to help out.
"You really think you're up to this?"
"Girl, I live for this!" Voidlon said. "Also, the whole get-up you got going on, it needs work, preferably some clothes that can bend and stretch with you."
"Sonosuke's not the only one among us with a Stand," Seiko said with a grin, "Sister Morphine!"
A backpack manifested on Seiko's back, which was soon joined by a gas mask and clawed gloves, as well as a black hood and silver cape.
Cerebella got shocked by the sudden surge of air that came from Seiko. While she couldn't see his Stand forming, Miss Fortune could, as Voidlon looked at the stand that appeared.
"Okay, this could work. Seiko, was it? Alright, don't go getting common cold feet now. We have work to do."
Cerebella blinked.
'What about this kid screams disease?'
She got her answer when Seiko rushed at her with blinding speed, the claws on her Stand knocking the wind out of her. She quickly followed up with a jab into her gut, which prompted Cerebella to get out of the way.
"Heads up!" Miss Fortune called out, her head knocking right into Cerebella's back as Noxmar tried to hit her with Clockwork Orange.
Birch quickly turned around and managed to nail Miss Fortune with White-Out. She tried the same with Seiko, but she seemed to only slide back.
"What was that?!" Birch asked in shock, "It was like hitting solid steel..."
She then found herself putting her guard up and Voidlon launched a veritable inferno from BlueBlaze as Seiko continued to slash the competition with Sister Morphine.
"Scratch and burn!" Miss Fortune quipped, "Cat Scratch Fever!"
She struck at Kronos with a barrage of claw slashes, before whirling her hand around on its wrist to turn it into a drill. Kronos was sent flying right into Miss Fortune's still severed head, which started gnawing at him. He got up, a little dazed. Then he realized Miss Fortune's head was still at his feet, and was rising.
"Remember, remember..."
Miss Fortune's body came apart and rushed towards the Shadow Hunters and Cerebella.
"The 5th of Dismember!"
Miss Fortune's body parts attacked them all at once, stitching together as they did. Cerebella was knocked out from the blow as Megafin picked her up as they teleported away. The group looked at her.
"Think she's okay?," Miaya asked.
"If she wasn't taken away, we could've pulled down her dress to check her heart rate," Ridley said.
"NO!" Seiko, Ruruka , Miaya, Sonosuke, the 74th group, the X-Squad, Miss Fortune, Minette, Yu-Wan, and Filia all called out.
Even over her own voice, Miss Fortune picked out Filia's voice.
"You're a new face. You been here the whole time?"
Seiko looked surprised.
"Filia, what are you doing here?"
Filia chuckled nervously, but Samson was more vocal.
"Since you guys are looking for the Skull Heart too, Filia thought it'd be a good idea to follow you. We've just been spinning our wheels, but you look like you have your heads on straight."
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to team up," Miss Fortune admitted, "Like I said earlier, the Skullgirl seems to be focusing on the Medicis. We find them, we might be able to lure the Skullgirl out."
She grimaced.
"Although, I think they may also have been after Minette for some reason."
"I met with a local private detective named Irvin earlier," Trixie noted, "He said the Medicis have been kidnapping young girls around Little Innsmouth for quite some time. In fact, the River King had hired Irvin to try and find his missing daughters."
"Maybe Lorenzo seeks the Skull Heart as well," Miaya suggested, "But knowing it will only answer to girls, he wants as many as possible, hoping one can to give him his own wish without disastrous consequences."
Miss Fortune grimaced.
"I know I need to find the Skull Heart, but if I just leave, those goons could come back and abduct Minette."
Josefumi grinned.
"We kinda draw attention with how big our group is anyway. Maybe it's time we start splitting up. Some of us can stay here and make sure the Medicis don't try anything else, while the rest of us continue the search."
"Or, we do the smart thing and put Minette under the Witness Protection Program." Voidlon suggested, as some raptors and Watchdogs wearing bodyguard suits came in to help the village.
The group wouldn't have long to wait for trouble, since Noxmar, Xone, Birch, Kronos, Calamity, Ink Blotch, Circe, Megafin, Zora, Yoomtah, Killia and Gilgamesh soon returned, this time with a strange woman wearing a black veil and having a large tommy gun affixed to her arm.
"You jokers again?" Ruruka said, "How many times do you have to get beat before you learn a lesson?"
Noxmar sighed.
"You don't wanna know..."
Megafin turned back to the group.
"Well, no matter. We got someone here even stronger. One of Lorenzo's personal hitmen. Black Dahlia, do what you do best!"
"Very well," Black Dahlia said.
However as she pointed her gun at the group, it suddenly came apart.
"What...?"
Miaya snickered.
"Stronger is pretty nifty at taking things apart. And it can put them back together too."
Stronger actually turned Miaya's normal body into data and replaced it with a mechanical doll that sat on the chair, which could hack into any electronic system, as well as taking things apart and putting them back together. She could revert back by having the doll stand up. Stronger gathered the broken pieces and started putting them back together, much to the group's shock as Voidlon started taking notes. Juzo then walked over to Lawrence.
"Tell your boss there's some powerful guards here at the village. Back to Rise!"
Giant gauntlets that looked to be rocket-powered appeared on his hands, the rockets firing as he threw his punch. The blow sent Xone rolling into Delphi. Rai came out of the bathroom with a plunger. Behind him was a small blue creature with wiry legs.
"Doggy Style!"
Instantly his arm seemed to disassemble and then reassemble into a make-shift crossbow. Doggy Style helped him load the plunger onto it and fire it, sending the projectile right into Gilgamesh's face. Of course, instead of the expected effect of getting stuck there, the plunger just knocked the King of Heroes out. By now, Miaya had finished reassembling the tommy gun. She tossed a part to Black Dahlia.
"That little gizmo was stopping me from properly using it."
Dahlia gasped. It was the genetic trigger, which normally prevented smart people from just tearing her arm off and using her own weapon against her. However, the next thing that struck her wasn't the gun, but a whole slew of other guns from right behind her. As she collapsed, a young red-haired woman carrying a large umbrella and leading a group of soldiers approached.
"So the Medici Mafia is now interfering with the outlying villages?" the woman said, "They're as bad as the Skullgirl... If it weren't for the danger she poses, I could almost agree with her actions."
"So who are you?" Roman asked.
"My name is Parasoul Renoir," the woman replied, "First Princess of the Canopy Kingdom. With me are my Black Egrets."
She sat down with the group and explained her story.
"So it was your mother who was the previous Skullgirl?" Sonosuke noted, "Seems like bad luck."
"She only wanted to stop the war," Parasoul clarified, "She never imagined the Skull Heart would twist her wish around like that. What's worse is... I think my sister, Umbrella, may have been born during the time Mother was changing."
Just then, a call came in on her communicator.
'Parasoul, it's Adam. I have bad news, Commander. Umbrella has run off!'
Parasoul looked shocked.
"What!? No... Not now..."
"This just gets better and better," Hajime grumbled.
"We can leave and help Parasoul find her sister," Miata said, "I doubt any good can come from Umbrella, or Deadlight, encountering the Skull Heart at this point. But we can't just leave our post. Once the Medicis get wind that someone is trying to stop their operations here, they'll be back in full force."
"As much as the Skullgirl and this Deadlight group need dealing with," Parasoul noted, "I wouldn't be doing my duties as protector of New Meridian if I just let the Medicis have their way. I can leave a few soldiers behind to protect this village."
"Some of us should also join you," Joshu decided, "Taking care of the Skullgirl is part of the reason we're here."
Staying was Josefumi, Yasuho, Joshua, Trixie, Juzo, Rai, Chisa and Kyosuke. The rest joined Parasoul as she and her Egrets hurried off to search for Umbrella.
Meanwhile, Vitale was making a report to his father Lorenzo.
"Cerebella, Megafin, Birch, Kronos, Calamity, Ink Blotch, Circe, Zora, Yoomtah, Killia, Nabnab, Gilgamesh, Noxmar, Xone, Thorkell, Lützow, Atar, Felix, Light and Ryuk located Nadia Fortune, but unfortunately the Feral had powerful friends."
"We can't call this a failure unless they've been killed," Lorenzo permitted, "This is merely a setback. Still, this means they will need some backup of their own. Call Eliza. She'll be able to handle things."
Vitale nodded.
"Very well. What about our boys who got chased outta Little Innsmouth? These people were strong enough to deal with Black Dahlia."
"We have enough young girls for our operations," Lorenzo said dismissively, "The only agents we have that are stronger than Black Dahlia are on more important assignments. If these people can beat her, it's not worth the losses throwing more bodies at them. Right now we need to be focused on two things, the problems with the Skullgirl, and retrieving the Life Gem. Such things are rare, and Miss Fortune has the only one we know about."
Vitale nodded.
"Very well, Father."
The only thing he was concerned about was Eliza getting involved. Cerebella, good-natured though she was, was a loyal enforcer. Eliza, on the other hand, was a dangerous wild card.
"So where should we start looking?" Miss Fortune asked, "If the Skullgirl really is targeting the Medicis, we could probably find her by staking out any large-scale operations of theirs."
Voidlon held up his phone.
"Okay Google, what's the nearest location?"
His phone glitched with images of the OVDF symbol before returning to normal, albeit cycling through web pages at an alarming rate. Finally, he landed on something.
"Our best bet seems to be the River King Casino. It's right in the heart of New Meridian, and seems to be a major hangout for the Medicis."
"Come to think of it, I've heard of that place," Ridley noted, "from what I've learned, Josefumi's Grandpa and his old band played a gig there, and were so inspired by the rising kingdom they wrote a whole slew of new tunes, enough for an entire album."
"Damn, the only time my Gramps was here was because this was where he fell from Heaven, so to speak." Voidlon said.
"Looks like someone's walking the same beat I am," came a deep, almost synthetic voice.
The group turned to see a rather large African-American. He was wearing a large overcoat, but the sleeves were empty. He was wearing some kind of breather mask, and there was a large saxophone coming out of his back.
"Who's the sour note?" Miss Fortune asked.
"Sour note, huh?" the man replied, "That's an apt name for my life. But monologues are meant to be internal unless they're on the silver screen, so I'll give you the short version. I'm Ben Birdland, a former cop who got beat down and left for dead by his old squad, who as it turned out was on the take from the Medici Mafia. But I was saved by the Anti-Skullgirl Labs, who remade me as a cyborg. It feels nice to breathe again, even if it is through a series of pneumatic machines. The musical instrument theme was my idea. I always loved Jazz. These days I go by the codename... Big Band."
"Old pneumatic systems?" Josefumi noted, "Effective but old-fashioned."
"That's the thing," Big Band said, "The Medicis, the Skullgirl, and the Anti-Skullgirl Labs all predate the rising of the Canopy Kingdom. These days, the Ant-Skullgirl Labs have been going through some controversies."
"I'd imagine," Seiko said, "I heard they used to be a smaller-scale project for the Speedwagon Foundation, but got cut off due to suspicions from the project's head doctor, Benjamin Drown. So what brings you to the River King Casino?"
"Same reason as you, I suspect," Big Band replied, "I overheard you talking about tracking down the Skullgirl. It's no secret she's been specifically targeting the Medicis ever since her appearance. Clearly she's got a grudge to settle. It just so happens a major Theonite reaction is centered around the casino."
"The heck is Theonite?" Ruruka asked.
"Oh crud, guess we're in for some long talking." Mystle said.
"It's a recently discovered mineral," Sonosuke explained, "Vast ore veins full of the substance have been hidden in the ground for centuries, but they only recently became available due to their presence lighting up in the wake of Second Impact."
"Though there's evidence its unique properties were known as far back as Ancient Egypt," Filia pointed out, "Samson is also made from Theonite, as are all Parasites."
"And I've been around since the pyramids at Giza were built," Samson chimed in, "It's also used in Living Weapons. Remember that Cerebella chick's hat? It was such a weapon."
"Most important of all," Big Band said, "The Skull Heart seems to be made of the stuff. As such the Skullgirl gives off intense readings."
'And in other news,' a TV said, 'New Meridian is being blessed by a visit from a prominent Egyptian artifact, the Laughing Peacock.'
Lupin's ears perked up as he whirled his head around. There was a very familiar name.
'The treasure is a priceless statue made from Alexandrite, a gemstone that changes colors in different waves of light. The Laughing Peacock is confirmed to be made from solid Alexandrite, and is larger than a similar statue displayed in the Smithsonian, which is estimated to be worth sixty karats. Some have wondered if this new Lupin copycat might try to steal the statue, but local police assure us--'
Lupin turned off the TV and grinned. He had once tried to steal the Laughing Peacock, but had to give it up in order to escape with his life. Now he had a second chance.
"Well then, I think it's about time I shake the rust off," he said.
Louise couldn't help but smile.
"I see. But a job like this would take more than one person, yeah? Even if one of us is a Heroic Spirit."
Lupin chuckled.
"Glad to see we're on the same page."
"I just so happen to have a plan." Snatcher added. "I'll need some sort of paint – actual rouge would be best – something that can act as hair, and…" His eyes fell upon the cloth that was draped over a stone bench. "That."
"You want it?" Big Band balled up the cloth, and handed it over. "You can have it."
Snatcher took off his coat, tied the cloth around his chest, then shrugged his jacket back on to be able to carry it hands-free. "I'm hoping we'll find the rest of what we're looking for here," he grunted.
"And that would be?" Samson asked.
Snatcher began to spell it out, interrupted at one point by an enthusiastic "NO WAY!" from Voidlon and Roman.
Lupin looked at the paper Ridley found during the scuffle with Black Dahlia, studying all the guests.
"A list of everyone who RSVP'd for the event," Zap explained, "A few familiar names come up. Irisviel von Einzbern, along with her bodyguard Johnathan Pendleton."
"Subtle, JoJo," Lupin said with a grin, "If I'm not mistaken, Pendleton was the maiden name of Jonathan's wife Erina Joestar. But people who don't know Jonathan wouldn't catch it."
"They're not the only familiar names," Louise said, "While someone named Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald received an invitation, he declined and sent his fiancee Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri in his place, along with her so-called nephew, Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum."
"Of course he would use his real name," Lupin noted, "It's not like anyone in this reality knows who he is."
He then gave a wide smile at one name.
"Oh man, Pops showed up after all! I knew he wouldn't let me down!"
He pointed to the name Koichi Zenigata.
"He's a major inspector for Interpol," Lupin explained, "And my only true rival. After thirty years of playing cat and mouse, we've developed a deep respect for one another."
He chuckled.
"Man, I'll bet he flipped his lid once rumors that I'm still alive started spreading!"
As they found a nearby fashion boutique. Units of rouge, lipstick, and eyeshadow were immediately confiscated along with a silver wig.
"Come now, everyone." The voice that commanded this was high and lilting, touched with an accent that seemed to encompass most of Europe. One almost couldn't believe that this voice was coming from Archibald Snatcher. When he emerged into view, he was sporting a makeshift long-sleeve gown thrown together from the cloth from the bench and boutique. His face was elaborately painted, and his thinning dark hair was hidden by a makeshift wig of thick silver locks. "We've a peacock to find," he continued, giving a sly smirk.
The squad stared in awe before Voidlon, Mystle, Sora, Lune, Weiss, Robin, Zap and Roman gave low whistles of approval.
"Once we make our getaway," Snatcher told his associates, "the law shall come running, only to see us make off with our prize."
"You realize the place is likely crawling with police," Neo signed.
"Oh, definitely," Lupin said with a grin, "After all, Interpol at least suspects another copycat has risen to claim my name. I'd be disappointed if this wasn't a trap."
Zenigata hadn't expected to run into company on the way to New Meridian. He knew Jotaro Kujo by reputation. The man was a former delinquent, but the fact that he sought a major in marine biology showed he valued hard work nonetheless. It was likely a distant father that caused his earlier trouble, but talking with Jotaro, Zenigata got the impression that he was a good man. Getting off the train, he was met by an officer in his mid-thirties with messy brown hair and a clean-cut face.
"Inspector Zenigata?" the man asked, "Detective Daisuke Akimi. I'm here on behalf of the OVDF."
He flashed his badge, which matched his face and name.
"Yeah, I was told about you," Zenigata said.
He joined Akimi in his Toyota Corolla and drove through the city.
"The Laughing Peacock was transported successfully?" Zenigata asked.
"Yes, Inspector," Akimi replied, "Everything's set up according to plan. And it looks like Lupin's already taken the bait."
He got out a file and handed it to Zenigata. Inside was a calling card.
"'The Laughing Peacock will be mine!'" Zenigata read, "Signed Lupin the Third. This is his handwriting all right. No mistakes either."
"I know, it's baffling," Akimi admitted, "Our best forensic analysts can't figure it out, since Lupin is supposed to have been dead for ten years. Even practicing for hours on end, there should be some discrepancies."
Zenigata looked at the young detective.
"You made sure this wasn't leaked, correct?"
Akimi nodded.
"Chief kept a tight lid on it. Any sort of media circus would just give Lupin a chance to slip away."
Right now there were two types of people at the department, those who believed Lupin was somehow alive, and those who thought this was just a copycat. For now, Akimi chose to believe that this Lupin was the real deal.
"What do we have for the guest list?," Zenigata asked.
"It's in the file," Akimi said.
Zenigata started reading it.
"A few known public figures in Fuyuki," Akimi said, "Some foreign tourists as well."
"Irisviel von Einzbern," Zenigata read, "Sola-Ui Sophia-Ri, Jotaro Kujo… Huh. That's the guy I met on the train."
"Some of these people seem too big or too small for Lupin to disguise himself as," Akimi noted, "But I remember from your previous reports that he's capable of disguises that can fool anyone, so we're not taking any chances."
Zenigata nodded. Things seemed to be going well, but he still had a bad feeling.
Inside the casino things looked pretty peaceful.
"Y'know," Miss Fortune said, "Even though this casino would be a thief's dream, I've never once set foot in here until now. There's typically nothing but cash and chips for the taking. Good for a quick payday, but my gang's always been more about the rare treasures."
"You again?" came a familiar voice, "So, it wasn't enough that you stole from the bosses. But now you just waltz right into one of their major establishments?"
The group turned their heads in the direction of the voice. Sure enough, Cerebella was walking up to them, looking ticked off.
"Oh meowvelous..." Miss Fortune muttered, "We're not here for anything this casino has. In fact it doesn't look like our prey is here at all, so we were just about to leave. So head on to your precious Vitale or it's hats off to you all over again!"
"You really think you can take me without morphine breath helping you?" Cerebella boasted.
"I dunno," Julie said, "I think I can rock that jam."
She jammed on her keytar, creating a great symphony that had Cerebella stumbling from the shockwaves.
"Where did that keytar come from...?" she muttered.
"I'd like to know that myself," Big Band said with a grin, "A rougher tune than I'm used to, but everyone has their own beat."
"There's the statue," Lupin noted.
Sure enough, several officers were overseeing the enormous glass case as it was being transported into the loading dock in the back of the museum.
"You say you saw this statue before," Mystle noted, "But wasn't it discovered three years ago?"
"Officially," Lupin clarified, "But old tales of grave robbers and the request of a mighty fine woman led me to discover the treasure years before then. But that's in the past. Anyway, we remember the plan?"
Louise nodded. The squad only had to stay and wait at this very table, but that was to be expected. As with anything their talents might be useful for, Lupin could probably handle more efficiently and with less collateral damage.
Just then, something came in over Big Band's receiver.
'Big Band! Quickly! Lab 8 is under attack!'
"Who is that?" Miaya asked.
"Doctor Avian!" Big Band said, "The guy responsible for saving my life! Looks like this whole thing was a setup."
"What should we do?" Seiko asked, "We could potentially lose the Skullgirl's trail, but at the same time it wouldn't feel right leaving these people to their fate."
"Maybe we don't," Voidlon said, "Maybe this could be a trick to lure us somewhere we can't fight back."
Miss Fortune went with Big Band to defend Lab 8, since finding the Skullgirl was her top priority. Once the squad immediately rushed to steal the Laughing Peacock, Cerebella sighed.
"I almost feel like an afterthought to them. Hope Vitale's new backup gets here soon."
Just then, they found something strange beside the statue. A second Seiko was standing there, but her eyes were pure white.
"So we got ourselves a copycat," Mera noted.
"Your existence is a symbol of humanity's arrogance," the copy said, in a voice that sounded both male and female, "The parts of you that are still organic are living on borrowed time."
"Are you saying the jobs of doctors are meaningless?" Seiko said angrily, "Seems humanity's not the only arrogant one."
"Okay, faker, let's see you measure up to the real thing! Wrong Side Of Heaven!"
The copy's eyes widened when it saw the obsidian dragon monster.
"A Stand? But I was so careful to avoid them... Have they grown so numerous? It appears my sense of time is starting to fade."
"So you can see it," Voidlon noted, "Not that it'll help."
The flames from Wrong Side of Heaven's right hand hit the copy, causing it to fade into a pile of eldritch flesh.
"What the hell did you do to it?" Seiko asked.
"I used my Stand's power of copying other stands to utilize Soft and Wet's power to steal the disguise's cohesion," Voidlon explained, "Looks like our friend is a shapeshifter. And here I thought this was some sort of illusion."
The eldritch creature rose up.
"This power you wield is too strong for me. Perhaps I will leave for now. Know that my name is Double, and that we will meet again."
And with that, the creature slithered off.
"Double, huh?" Seiko said, "A fitting name for a copycat. Now, let's see what happened around here..."
"Hold it right there, Lupin!" came a new voice.
Lupin and the squad turned to spot a young boy with cat ears in royal garb and his Master Sola-Ui in the door.
"Guess you suspected us, huh?" Lupin asked.
"Just how did you find out?!" Voidlon asked. "And I'll admit, you make the royal drip look pristine!"
"Some of my ministers and generals were hidden among the guests," Evan explained, "Bracken's technology was able to pick you out from your bone structure."
Lupin had to admit, he'd never heard of such technology.
"Your world must be far superior to this one. Too bad you're too late…"
He hit a button, and all the lights in the room suddenly went out.
"Evan!" Sola-Ui called out.
"I'm okay!" Evan said as he used a kindle spell to light up the room.
But Lupin and the squad were already gone.
"He's going for the statue!" Evan realized.
Mera saw Seiko overlooking the body of Doctor Avian, who was dropped off here.
"Guess it was the doc they were after," Big Band said sadly as he and Miss Fortune got back, "Hope Peacock and the others got out okay."
"Is Peacock important?" Mystle asked.
"She used to be just a normal girl named Patricia," Big Band said, "But she was sold into slavery. She's a feisty one though, and wouldn't give in. Her captors decided to make an example out of her by cutting off her limbs and gouging her eyes out. I eventually found her and brought her to Lab 8, where the doc remade her using artificial Parasites, Theonite injections, and the experimental Argus system, which now acts as her eyes. She was also found to be the perfect candidate for the Avery unit, a device that has limited reality warping capabilities."
Taeko took a picture of the lab.
"Since we're investigating what happened, the time checker on the OVDF website should give us a clear picture."
The picture showed what Big Band already suspected. It was a nurse fighting a girl dressed like a cartoon character.
"Looks like Peacock found the place first. And she caught up with the perp. That nurse is Valentine. She used to work for the labs, but it looks like she's thrown her lot in with the Skullgirl. If we hurry, we can find Peacock and the rest of the crew here before anyone else does."
Seiko, however, noticed something about Doctor Avian.
"He's not actually dead... Just comatose..."
Zenigata yelled at a figure in the smoke that seeped into the room, the figure's wrist caught in the handcuffs.
"Stop, you! You're under arrest!"
A familiar chuckle came to Zenigata's ears.
"Sorry, Pops, but you'll have to do better than that."
A popping sound was heard, and Zenigata stumbled back, a fake hand attached to his handcuffs.
'Pops…? So it really is…'
There was only one person who ever called him "Pops". The gas started to dissipate, and Iris gasped.
"The Peacock!"
All eyes turned to the display, the glass case having been discarded. The Peacock had been replaced with an identical copy, only with two important differences. One, it was maintaining a blue hue in spite of the changing lights beneath it. And two, the head of the peacock was carved to resemble Lupin's face.
Under it was a card reading, "Lupin the Third was here!"
Zenigata growled.
"LUPIN!"
He whirled to the other officers.
"He's making his escape! Half of you to the front of the museum! The other half, follow me to the roof!"
Nearby, the four Grail War participants were making their own plans.
Lupin panted as the group tried to rush the Peacock up the stairs.
"Really wish I could have had a better rank in Strength," he muttered.
Still, his heart was pounding more from the excitement. Especially since if the police actually caught him, he'd wind up endangering the entire war because Zenigata would likely discover just how Lupin came back to life. Still, even with his low strength, the squad got the bird up the stairs in a matter of seconds. He made his way to the edge of the roof and looked down. It was a two story drop, very risky. But then again he never did jobs that were easy.
"Freeze," came Zenigata's voice as he and several officers burst out of the door, "Drop the statue and put your hands on your head! You're completely surrounded!"
Lupin chuckled.
"Come on, Pops, I've been in worse scraps than this…"
He gave a knowing smirk.
"And I've always found a way out."
Zenigata gasped.
"Good God, it is you…"
Lupin gave his usual cheesy grin before waving.
"Well, bye bye!"
And with that, he leapt off the roof near the front of the museum, his fall being cushioned when his foot connected to an officer's face, causing the poor man to grunt in pain.
"Sorry!" Lupin said as he kept walking over people's heads before landing behind the crowd, "And he sticks it!"
Luckily, the group was able to find Big Band's friends as they drove off, Zenigata and the police rushing after them, spotting Peacock and a few other characters under a local bridge. And Peacock did not seem to be in a good mood. She and Big Band soon got into an argument about going after the Skullgirl and got into a fight, which Big Band won.
"Those cartoon antics," Voidlon said. "It's like watching some Doctor Carnage."
"That's the power of the Avery unit," Big Band explained, "It was just supposed to link with Lab 8's arsenal, but Peacock is able to do so much more with it."
"You can't keep this toon down," Peacock said, "Oh, Tommy!"
A giant weight with limbs and face came swinging in. But the swing got interrupted when Ridley literally leapt in.
"Hell no!"
The massive kick, increased by Ridley being juiced up by Sister Morphine, sent Tommy flying and spinning, causing Peacock's jaw to literally drop as she pointed to Tommy's flying form.
"Seriously, Peacock," Big Band said, "If stuff like this can overwhelm you, you don't stand a chance against the Skullgirl."
Peacock sighed.
"Fine, fine. Every cartoon needs a straight man in the end. But this is a heck of a lot of extra characters. And that energy Scale-Boy had. What was up with that?"
"Oh, right," Seiko said, "People with Parasites can see Stands. They can be artificial, but it's the same thing."
"Stand users, huh?" Peacock said, "I've read about those in the doc's notes when looking up info on the Skullgirl. Gotta know the enemy before you can beat them."
"Maybe," Big Band said, "But you've also gotta know yourself. And I don't think you understand what you're fully capable of. Now let's go see if we can't find the Skullgirl."
The group soon found something happening back in New Meridian. A white-haired girl dressed as a maid (which, Voidlon admits, suits her) was holding up a tower with what looked to be a combination of inhuman strength and supernatural energy. Before the group a hologram appeared, some sort of mechanical entity with a very human brain on display in its head.
'The Skullgirl has revealed herself.'
Peacock gasped.
"Is that... Marie?"
"Someone you know?" Lune asked.
"Big Band's told you my story, right?," Peacock replied, "Marie was my best friend in those days. I guess she used the Skull Heart to try and take revenge on the Medici Mafia. They were behind the slavers who kidnapped the two of us."
"And what does that make that admittedly hot cyborg?" Voidlon asked.
"I am Doctor Brain Drain," the man said, "Director of Anti-Skullgirl Lab Zero. And what we have here is the perfect opportunity to eliminate the Skullgirl while her attention is focused elsewhere."
"And have that tower crash on people in the way?" Seiko noted, "You're clearly as crazy as your form would suggest."
Brain Drain scoffed.
"Those fools at Speedwagon were equally soft-hearted."
Sonosuke raised an eyebrow.
"Hold on... Are you... Dr. Ben Drown?"
"I guess his parents were big creepypasta fans." Mystle said.
"I used to be," Brain Drain admitted, "But I have become much more. Now operating on my brain alone I can perceive things logically. As for my name referencing Ben Drowned."
Brain Drain facepalmed, embarrassed.
"You are unfortunately correct."
"Just because something is logical doesn't mean it's smart," Big Band pointed out, "Nor is it the right thing to do."
"I'd rather not waste words on deaf ears," Brain Drain said dismissively, "Painwheel! Eliminate these pests, then target the Skullgirl!"
A young girl dressed in a smock and mask with a giant steel pinwheel on her back came out of the shadows. Instead of immediately following the order, she looked at Filia.
"Filia!" she said, her tone being rather guttural, "Filia, it's you, right? It's me... Carol!"
"Carol?" Filia asked.
Then something flashed through her mind.
"Carol! You're alright!"
"Finally starting to remember something?" Samson said with a smile, "At least that's progress."
Brain Drain didn't seem so sympathetic.
'I'll need to take more direct control.'
Voidlon, quickly understanding the situation, simply called forth his Stand and struck Painwheel with a few flames. Painwheel gasped.
"The connection... It's... It's..."
"Broken!" Brain Drain finished in complete shock, "But how!?"
"The power of my Stand," Voidlon explained, "Soft And Wet's bubbles can steal things from any solid object they touch, and it just so happens Wrong Side of Heaven can copy Stand powers. Like the remote signal you implanted in your former puppet."
Brain Drain scoffed.
"Well, I have another project ready for testing regardless. So long as Painwheel is able to perform her function, I shouldn't have to pull the strings. But make no mistake, I will find a way to repay you for this insult."
Filia started trying to get Painwheel's mask off, but Josefumi's bubbles did the job easier. Filia gasped when she saw the cross scar on Painwheel's face.
"Carol, what happened to you?"
"After I got kidnapped by those Medici goons," Painwheel explained, "I was rescued by a group called Lost Hope. They brought me to the Anti-Skullgirl Labs. There I was infused with artificial Parasites and some Skullgirl blood. It...wasn't a pleasant experience, and it might've awakened me to some really freaky shit."
"I'm so sorry..." Filia said.
Painwheel was confused.
"Why would you need to be sorry?"
"I..." Filia said, "I did something horrible to you, didn't I?"
"It's not as bad as your making it out to be, kid," Samson said, "You were just concerned that you couldn't keep Carol from getting kidnapped, despite the fact that it was supposed to be your family."
Painwheel nodded.
"That's right. I nearly forgot your last name's Medici. Well, you and your folks were always better than those mafia goons."
She gave a hilariously creepy smile, which got Filia laughing.
"Oh my gosh! I just remembered that face you like to make!"
Painwheel looked indignant.
"Don't tell me you forgot about me."
"I forgot a lot of things," Filia explained, "But I think I'm starting to remember."
"So what now?" Sora said.
The Skullgirl had just thrown the tower right into the nearby river.
"That tower housed the higher ups of the Medici Mafia," Big Band noted.
"Didn't realize Marie had enough strength to try out for the Olympics." Voidlon snarked.
"Good riddance to bad rubbish," Peacock said dismissively, "Still, I'm a little shocked to find out Marie is the Skullgirl. Not that it'll stop me from stopping her. I mean, once she's done with the Medicis, who's next on the chopping block?"
"Now that's music to my ears," Big Band said, "Good to hear you talking sense."
Meanwhile, Double was meeting with her masters, Venus and Aeon.
"Stand users have been growing more and more numerous," Venus noted, "I suppose after centuries of failure, they would start to crop up around our business."
"Perhaps our mother, Lamia, is trying to tell us something," Aeon said, "Maybe it is finally time to put an end to our plan."
"If that is the idea," Double said, "Perhaps we could finish this cycle before choosing that route. Though Marie is strong in heart. I find it near impossible to direct her away from the Medicis."
"Oh, let her wish play out," Venus assured Double, "Once she's done venting, I'm sure she'll listen to everything you have to say."
Double nodded.
"Very well."
Big Band, Peacock, and Painwheel decided to take the Lab 8 crew back to their base, since it was still possible to salvage it. Along the way, Painwheel had a talk with Filia about her wish. After it was over, Filia had a lot to think about.
"I guess my wish is too selfish," she noted, "We'd just be trading one Skullgirl for another. And I seem to be regaining memories without the Skull Heart's help."
"Even if it's not complete," Voidlon noted, "You can see this as a new beginning. I mean, now that you've found your best friend again, is it really so bad? Anything you need to remember, you can just ask her."
Just then, Josefumi's phone went off. Yasuho was on the other end.
'We've got a serious problem! The Skullgirl's presence is starting to raise the dead! Good news is they're easily put back down, but there are hundreds of them!'
"Damn," Big Band said, "It's like Selene Contiello all over again. Although, there will be one zombie who will be fighting for us."
"Who?" Sonia asked.
"Selene's daughter, Sienna," Big Band explained, "Her friends and family call her Squigly. She resists the Skull Heart's influence with the help of a family Parasite named Leviathan."
"Now there's a name I remember," Samson noted, "It's been centuries since I've seen him. The last time we met was when a previous host of mine named Delilah was killed."
The next person to call was Joshu's group.
'We've just spotted a major site where the Skullgirl is. But several zombies are rising from their graves.'
"Looks like Joshu needs some help," Voidlon noted.
"Be careful out there, Filia," Painwheel said, "I'd rather not lose you after we got back together."
Filia smiled.
"I'll be fine. I've got Samson to help me, after all."
Voidlon and his group found Josefumi's group in a state of confusion. Parasoul was on her knees facing a blue-skinned girl in an opera gown with her mouth sewn shut and a dragon-like serpent growing through her head. Nearby it looked like Joshu had used Nut King Call to nail several Egrets to the sides of the buildings while Rai was delegating some sort of argument. From the sounds of it he was being rather successful.
"What happened exactly?" Voidlon asked.
"Earlier we saw the Skullgirl toss a large portion of the Medici Tower into the nearby river," Joshu explained.
"At first we thought mayhem was the goal," Rai said, "But it seems she had a target in mind. There was a zeppelin with Lorenzo Medici, or at least we think so from the Skullgirl's screaming. She aimed specifically for when the zeppelin was closest to the water, then launched the tower with the strength of at least 12 Gigans. The zeppelin was hit and fell into the depths. We got no clue if anyone on board survived."
"Not that anyone would shed a tear if Lorenzo died in the crash," Parasoul said as she got up.
"So the Skullgirl seems to be focusing on the Medicis," the snake dragon said, "At least her rampage is focused for the time being."
"But if it keeps going the chances of innocent people dying will increase," the girl said, "We cannot let that happen."
Voidlon then realized something.
"I take it you two are Squigly and Leviathan. Band-boy told us about you."
"So the old brass is still among the living," Leviathan said cheerfully, "That's good news to hear."
Kanade was blinking rapidly.
"Am I going crazier, or is there an echo to Squigly's voice?"
Squigly looked confused.
"I take it you didn't notice your mouth was sewn shut," Kyosuke noted.
Squigly gasped as she felt her mouth and realized Kyosuke was right.
"Who would do something like this!?"
"No doubt Lorenzo's idea of a cruel joke," Leviathan said sadly, "If not for the rising power of the Skullgirl I doubt I could even hear your voice."
He turned to the others.
"You see, the Contiellos have a long tradition as opera singers, and growing up Squigly was more than happy to take up that tradition. She's quite the expert diva as well."
"So what happened?" Kanade asked, "We were told your mom was a former Skullgirl."
"The Contiellos used to be allies with the Medicis," Squigly explained, "Both of them were looking for the Skull Heart. But somehow the Skull Heart was hand-delivered to my mother on the night of her birthday celebration, and the Medicis found out. Thinking we betrayed them, they had my entire family executed. Mother, in her despair, wished upon the Skull Heart that we would be revived. And we were... As an undead horde. But Father was able to spare me the fate of being another puppet by having Leviathan bond with me."
She looked around.
"Everything's so much more different. How long was I asleep? And what year is it?"
"I think it's 2016," Samson chimed in, getting Leviathan's attention.
"Well, well. And so an old rival returns."
"Good to see you, too," Samson said, "So you've been hanging with the Contiellos for a while, huh?"
"Unlike you, I'm not the sort to wander," Leviathan pointed out.
He then looked over Filia.
"And it seems you've gotten a new host. I do hope you don't lead this one to her doom like so many others."
"What is that supposed to mean?," Filia asked.
"Only that Samson's recklessness and aggression has gotten more than one host killed," Leviathan clarified, "Don't get me wrong, his heart is usually in the right place. In fact, back in the time before the Skull Heart appeared, he and I were good friends. So what is your agenda right now?"
"We were trying to find the Skull Heart to get Filia's memories back," Samson admitted, "Even I'm confused as to how that happened. I've never had a fresh host lose their memories on me."
Filia closed her eyes.
"But after finding an old friend of mine who understands the pain caused by the Skull Heart... I learned that I can't rely on wishes to get my life back."
"That's wise," Leviathan said, "No wish made on the Skull Heart hasn't ever resulted in not making a new Skullgirl. Wishes tend to be inherently selfish, no matter what the reasons for them may be. And while it is possible to resist the Skull Heart's influence for a time, as seems to be the case with our new Skullgirl here, it will not remain so for long."
He looked sad.
"Such was the case for poor Selene..."
"Looks like I'm not the only one who misses a former host," Samson said, "Or was her husband your host at the time?"
"Roberto was my host at the time," Leviathan clarified, "But he lost his life during the incident. His last act was sending me to aid Squigly."
Meanwhile, Parasoul was speaking with Josefumi.
"My sister was spotted heading for an old cathedral. I need to go and retrieve her. I don't want to risk what would happen if she got near the Skull Heart."
Josefumi nodded.
"I understand. We have our own path to follow. Be careful. If what we saw is any indication, the Skullgirl's power exceeds anything my family has ever fought before."
Parasoul nodded, and she and her Egrets were off. Josefumi was left thinking to himself.
'Thus far the most dangerous enemy my family has fought was Kars. But this Skullgirl could be even more deadly... I hope this team is up to it.'
While the operation in New Meridian was going on, the committee was handling its own project back in Japan.
"We have word that 4 students of the 76th Class left the academy on some sort of assignment," an agent said to the committee heads.
The heads' names were Ichigo, Niito, Sanfodo, and Yonejirou.
"It's not unusual for one or two students to travel depending on their talents," Ichigo admitted, "But 4? And during a time when the Canopy Kingdom should have closed borders due to being in a state of crisis? Kakyoin is up to something."
"One of our other agents who was sequestered in the academy is unable to continue his duties due to being wanted by the police," Niito noted, "Kakyoin suspects us of trying to regain control of the academy. Controlling that school was what allowed us to gain the resources needed to fund our ultimate project. That's not to say the funding provided by DIO didn't make it easier. In fact, it's only because of that fortune that we were able to complete the project. But now we don't have a staging area to test the first prototype."
Ichigo waved his hand dismissively.
"There we have a chance to kill two birds with one stone. I've kept the completed Ultimate Hope busy by trying to find ways to take control of Hope's Peak Academy as efficiently as possible. Ironically our project is more successful by taking Kakyoin's warnings to heart. Allowing a twenty percent retention of personality and complete retention of memory has made our new Kamukura more productive than our original concept. He was right about one thing, without motivation, our Ultimate Hope is useless."
Ichigo made his way down to the project room and opened the door, only to be met with an icicle to the skull.
"Kamukura, huh? Seems that little committee's gonna be found once I leak this whole thing to the fuzz."
"I'd prefer you call me Azumi," came a new voice.
The voice belonged to one Azumi Sato, now sporting a female business suit. Her eyes were a bright crimson red, and she was busily writing across a white board.
"Is this all you've made?" Kiko asked.
"Even for me taking control of Hope's Peak Academy is no easy task," Azumi pointed out, "Especially if you want a long term victory, which removes the avenues of anything illegal."
"Fair," Kiko admitted, "Those types of stuff have spelled the end for a lot of people, and trying to cover them up is a pain."
She looked at Azumi.
"Why don't you like the name these stiffs gave you?"
"Why do they insist on calling me Kamukura?" Azumi rebutted, "I was born as Azumi Sato, and for the most part I still am Azumi Sato. So I see no reason why I shouldn't still use my birth name. I take it you didn't come here just for a progress report?"
"Nope," Kiko replied, "I was hoping to get your opinion, both as an expert in a variety of subjects and as someone who's interacted with the main course of the academy."
She sat down in one of the nearby chairs.
"See, I've studied this world, and learned that some 76th Class schmucks along with the X-Squad, are on a trip to New Meridian. The initial reaction is that this is the work of Anubis, but I'm not sure why."
Azumi looked concerned.
"Are any of Mahiru's friends alright?"
"No deaths happened, at least none that I know of," Kiko said.
Azumi thought for a moment.
"Right now the Speedwagon Foundation is looking into various supernatural phenomenon. There's news in New Meridian of an eldritch entity called the Skullgirl rampaging in the city. However, the city is run largely by the Medici Mafia, who hates outsiders."
"And wouldn't exactly vibe with any Speedwagon Foundation agents trying to investigate," Kiko realized.
"So they need aid," Azumi continued, "After my attempt at murdering Natsumi Kuzuryu, I learned the Classes of Hope's Peak were being recruited to investigate unexplained mysteries. Murders, strange phenomena, anything that a Stand could investigate more easily than a normal person. Mahiru, for instance. When she took a picture of Natsumi's comatose self, the picture showed my perspective as I bashed her head in."
Kiko rubbed her chin.
"So, Anubis thinks Stand users can investigate easier, especially if they're unknown to the Medicis."
"So," Azumi said, "What do you plan to do about it?"
Kiko shrugged.
"I don't think there's anything that needs to be done. I doubt this mission of theirs will cause any serious detriments to the funding of Deadlight. And most likely Kakyoin will keep the mission a secret unless something goes wrong, so he won't gain any fame from it."
She turned to Azumi.
"That reminds me. How about a job with us, these stiffs are potentially scrambling to try and rebuild after the OVDF inevitably bumrush this place."
"I don't exactly have much attachment," Azumi pointed out, "They literally turned me into an artificial Ultimate. I didn't master my talents, they mastered them for me. So, you're willing to take me along?"
Kiko nodded and left the room, Azumi in tow.
"By now they should have encountered the undead opera singer," Boingo said as he continued to read from Thoth, "Luckily she's not under the Skullgirl's control. The next pages have started to develop."
He began to read.
"Meanwhile, the X-Squad made their way to a wrestling arena where a retired champion was planning a comeback. Even took the champ up on his offer for a fight, since he thought he looked strong. It was a close bout, but ultimately the champion won. He heard about the group's quest and offered to help them, since he intended to travel through New Meridian anyway as part of his comeback."
Anubis looked at the comic.
"The image depicts the famous former wrestler Beowulf. At the height of his career, he defeated the nearly unstoppable Gigan Grendel. But Grendel died during the match, in which his arm wound up ripped off. His mother freaked out at that and went into a frenzy, forcing Beowulf to put her down too in order to keep innocent people from getting killed."
"I've been meaning to ask," Hol Horse said, "What the heck is a Gigan?"
"Back in the 30s, they went by another name," Kakyoin explained, "They used to be called... Pillar Men."
Mystle was the first to find the poster.
"There's Skullgirl magic in this arena. Apparently tonight is the hyped comeback for the famous wrestler Beowulf."
"Isn't he the one who was able to beat Grendel?" Taeko asked.
"That's him," Seiko noted, "But he retired after the fight, just as the war was coming to a close. Grendel was known to be a powerhouse and though he never ate a single human, he would only consume the strongest of beasts to increase his strength."
She spotted the looks on the others' faces.
"I should mention," she clarified, "Gigan is the official race of a group of beings once known as Pillar Men. Like those ancient warriors, Grendel was able to unleash a special 'mode', Earth in his case. He could harden his flesh and bone to make himself as immovable as a mountain. And apparently, it's not the first time he and Beowulf have fought. Beowulf had more than his fair share of victories against the mighty Gigan, but this one was the most unusual."
"How so?" Even asked.
"Reports from the spectators noted that Grendel wasn't fighting to his full potential," Seiko explained, "And while Beowulf was smiling after his victory, immediately afterward he had Grendel's body turned over to the Speedwagon Foundation. He also felt something off."
"Did they figure out what happened?" Roman asked.
Seiko shrugged.
"I don't know. I was still in elementary school at the time."
Inside the arena the group spotted Beowulf standing in the center of the arena.
"Alright, all you wrestling fans! I have an important announcement to make! This comeback isn't to pick up from where I left off... But to start from scratch! You all remember my victory over Grendel seven years ago! Well during the match, something was off about his game! You've noticed it, I've noticed it! And I was concerned about what had gotten into him! And what I saw broke my heart about the entire sport that has been my passion for the better part of a decade!"
The crowd looked confused.
"I had both Grendel and his mother turned over to the Speedwagon Foundation hoping to learn what was wrong!," Beowulf explained, "And what they found shocked me to my very core! It turns out... Grendel had been doped up on anesthetics prior to the fight! And, much to my shock, his mother was one of the oldest living Gigans at more than one-hundred and fifty thousand years old! Now that match was meant as an exhibition to boost the morale of our proud nation going up against the Gigans! Me and Grendel have had our fair share of fights before that night, and I've won quite a number of those fights!"
He shook his head.
"But did that matter to the promoters!? Apparently not! They didn't understand that me and Grendel, being long-time rivals of each other, gave it our all in every! Single! Fight! They didn't believe that a human really could defeat a Gigan! Nevermind all the times I beat Grendel! Nevermind all the stories from the Gigan warrior sage Wamuu about his loss to Joseph Joestar! They wanted assurance that the human race would have the morale boost it needed to win! So what it all boils down to is that I was set up to kill a half-comatose fighter and an old woman! Now you can blame me, you can blame the promoters, you can blame whoever! But I'm not about to hide what really happened that day!"
He pointed to the crowd.
"And that is why, instead of picking up my career from where it left off, I'll start over! I'll earn back everyone's trust! One fight at a time if I have to!"
He then spotted Even in front of the crowd, and noticed a glowing aura around him.
'That must be a Stand user. Never could see the phantoms that accompany them, but with my dedicated training, spotting the familiar energy aura is easy.'
"Now that's a powerful aura you've got there, little lady. You must be someone very strong. Care for a quick exhibition match?"
Even smirked.
"Why not? Let's see if you really are the wolf you say you are."
The fight was quite a spectacle to see, the crowd roaring in amazement as Even tangled with Beowulf using a variety of Ice magic attacks. Up above in the stands, the nurse Valentine was watching. Nearby was Beowulf's promoter, Zane. Or rather, Double pretending to be Zane.
"I had no idea he went to the Speedwagon Foundation," Double admitted, "This puts a serious damper on our plans."
"How is Beowulf this strong?" Valentine asked, confused, "There's no way he could possibly be able to beat a Gigan, right?"
"You may have lost to Gigans yourself," Double pointed out, "But that's because your normal tactics are ineffective against them. Their regeneration is far too strong for your weapons to be effective. Meanwhile Beowulf is all about raw power. That is quite effective. Consider that Beowulf was strong enough to rip off Grendel's arm. Even under the influence of drugs, a Gigan's flesh is not easily torn."
She looked back at the fight.
"And now he's holding his own against a Stand user. Even beating her from the looks of it. Not an easy task. The last time I remember it happening was just over a hundred years ago in what is now Great Britain."
Even was finally down for a pin when he got knocked aside by Beowulf's indestructible chair, The Hurting, in spite of using Frozen Pride. After the three count, he got back up and dusted himself off.
"Guess now I know what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. Eventually, something has to give."
After the match, once Beowulf was done signing autographs, he spoke with the group.
"Yeah, I heard the news reports about the Skullgirl. Not to mention Grendel's still-severed arm slapping me in the back of the head."
"So you're planning on going after the Skullgirl?" Cyclonis asked.
"My whole career was built around protecting the Canopy Kingdom," Beowulf pointed out, "I don't know how strong the Skullgirl really is, but a true hero never lets such things stop them. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. If anything, the idea that her very presence can bring things to life terrifies me. But I live by the creed that true courage is about accepting fear and making it your own, instead of living your life without fear."
Miss Fortune chuckled.
"Sounds like this guy would be handy to hang around with. What do you say, big guy? Care to join us?"
Beowulf grinned.
"You can count on the Wulf!"
After the X-Squad got back to them with Beowulf in tow, Joshu and Josefumi had spotted a rather large Theonite reading coming from the local bar, Bastet's Den.
"Nothing good ever came from something called Bastet," Josefumi noted, remembering his great-grandfather's story about his encounter with Mariah.
And so, the two friends left the group in Kyosuke's hands as they went to investigate, Mystle, Voidlon, Julie, Zap, Neo, Roman, Hibiki, Kanade, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Ruler, Lune, Sora, Filia and Squigly joining them.
Inside, the stage was taken by a beautiful lounge singer who looked Egyptian in appearance. Joshu noted the large Theonite reading coming off of her. Both Samson and Leviathan growled at the sight of her.
"Someone we know?" Mystle asked.
"You've never met her," Samson clarified, "But me and Levi have. She's the one who killed Delilah centuries ago."
"She's also the reason why we are called Parasites," Leviathan chimed in, "In the past, we were known as Theons, after the mineral we were spawned from. But Eliza's cruelty caused people to fear us, and thus we became known as Parasites."
After her last song, she was seen talking to a pair of Ferals, one that resembled a jackal and the other a falcon.
"She doesn't look happy," Sora noted.
They followed her limo discreetly using Lupin's Fiat, not knowing that Zenigata's trailing behind them.
"There's something off about her," Mera noted. "And no, Voidlon, it isn't that she's wearing socks with sandals."
The group was surprised to see the limo pull up in front of the Medicis' headquarters.
"Is she actually working with the Medicis?" Filia wondered.
"Not unless they were giving her a really good reason," Samson said, "She doesn't trust anyone other than her two henchmen. You saw those two Ferals? Those are just the latest models, but she only trades up when they kick the bucket."
Josefumi made a call to Yasuho.
"We need some intel on the lounge singer known as Eliza."
'One second,' Yasuho replied, 'Here we are. Wow, she's somehow been singing for the better part of two decades without changing her appearance. Her two bodyguards are known as Albus and Horace, a jackal and falcon Feral respectively. Ooh... Says here she runs a charity blood drive, but skims off the top, and I'm not talking money. Speedwagon has her tagged as a Stand user with the power to drain and manipulate blood.'
"Do you think the Medicis know about her stealing from her own charity?" Squigly asked.
"I wouldn't put it past them," Leviathan agreed, "After all, they more or less run this city. Which means they're probably blackmailing Eliza to do their bidding. Not a wise move. They clearly don't understand what it is they're dealing with."
"Hold on," Filia said, "She's coming back out... With Cerebella?"
Indeed, Cerebella was walking alongside Eliza as she came out of the building. They seemed to be getting into an argument about the power of Vice Versa.
"Ignorant as always," Samson noted, "She hasn't gotten it through that thick skull of hers that Living Weapons only obey certain people. In that regard, Vice Versa's strength really can be considered Cerebella's."
The limo started driving off again.
"If they're looking for the Life Gem..." Ridley muttered, "Miss Fortune is still with Yasuho and her group, and they're over at NMO Arena. But Cerebella doesn't know that. As far as she knows, she saw Nadia back at Little Innsmouth, and would likely return there."
He called up Juzo to warn the group there, then sped off after the limo.
As it happened, Eliza's hubris had gotten the better of her. She had picked out Ridley as the strongest of the group and wanted to get him out of the way so the others could be tortured for information. Ridley chuckled.
"I see. Looks like you weren't informed. Voidlon's not the only one of us with Stand power. One Too Many!"
Eliza looked interested as Ridley glowed with energy, his skin getting encased in organic steel.
"I see," Eliza said, "A simple Stand that provides a power and defense boost. Amusing."
"Wait, you know about these powers?" Cerebella asked.
"I happen to have a Stand of my own in addition to my Parasite," Eliza explained, "Do you really think Sekhmet alone could maintain my beauty? She's strong but she can't keep blood fresh, nor can she give me the fine control needed to maintain a human shape. After all, absorbing so much blood has left most of my body as blood. That's where my own Stand, Blood Teller, comes in. Now if you'll excuse me..."
She quickly rushed in, her microphone scythe clashing against Ridley's skin. After a few seconds, she managed to jam her fingers into his gut and chuckled.
"An admirable attempt. But don't feel too disappointed. For now, you shall be a part of me..."
She then realized she wasn't drawing anything out of Ridley.
"Of me...!"
She tried again, but nothing.
"OF ME!"
She grunted as she tried a third time, but it was like trying to get water from a dry well.
"Oof, what are you made of, pure metal?"
"Indubitably," Ridley said as he grabbed Eliza's arm, "My Stand makes me a living steel beam."
"Oh..." Eliza said in realization, "Errors have been made..."
"It's also good for shocking people," Ridley noted, "And you just admitted you're mostly blood."
"And that has to do with shocking people how?" Eliza asked.
Ridley grinned.
"Speaking from personal experience... Blood's an excellent electrical conductor..."
Eliza screamed in agony as several hundred volts coursed through her body.
"One Too Many turns my nervous system into one giant Tesla Coil!" Ridley explained, "Letting me launch electricity through any opening on my body! Even the pores!"
He swung Eliza around slamming her onto the floor, her arm still in his hand. Eliza nervously looked between Ridley and her arm.
"Now I know what you're thinking. 'Should I rip off her arm?' And the answer may surprise you."
She was ultimately ignored, screaming as Ridley pulled her arm clean off and burnt off half her body. As she got up, she growled.
"Do you...have any idea...how long it is gonna take...to regrow that much...?"
Ridley raised an eyebrow. Eliza immediately calmed down.
"About twelve seconds."
Sure enough, the severed arm and scorched half of her body turned into blood and reattached to Eliza.
"Thanks to Sekhmet and Blood Teller, an ultimately fruitless effort. But if it's any conciliation...it felt like Hell..."
Cerebella just looked dumbfounded. She'd been told that Eliza was the best Vitale could find, yet this lizard was making a total chump out of her. She sighed.
"Why don't we save what's left of your dignity and try looking elsewhere? It's clear Miss Fortune's already long gone."
Eliza considered it. There was a good chance the others had similar powers that were easy to underestimate.
"Yes, I believe that would be a good idea. If this fight drags on too long, we'd draw attention we really don't want."
The attention she was speaking of was the one behind the Skull Heart. Years ago she had killed two young girls that were part of a Trinity of sorts. Their mother was horrified and tried to take revenge, only to fall as well. Ever since, people have hated and feared the Theons, calling them Parasites. It was bizarre to Eliza. She was only trying to free people from enslavement. She supposed she would never understand mortals.
'Well, they seem to have learned a little since that day. There's no need for gods when man is capable of grasping his own destiny.'
In spite of Ridley's victory over Eliza, Josefumi didn't want to leave anything to chance. He had the group converge on Little Innsmouth to do some team shuffling. In addition to trying to find the Skull Heart, they had to keep an eye out for Eliza, and it seemed Doctor Brain Drain was trying to reassert control over Painwheel. There was also the continued issue of the Medicis. They hadn't made a move on Little Innsmouth yet, and the eight classmates were starting to suspect Lorenzo also wanted the Skull Heart.
"Could a guy even become a Skullgirl?" Mystle pointed out.
"Frankly, the Skull Heart won't even react to a man's presence," Big Band noted, "For some reason, only girls can activate it."
"So," Kyosuke asked, "How are we splitting up?"
"First off," Josefumi said, "I'll be going after Brain Drain. No doctor should go so far as to psychologically torment a patient. Unorthodox surgeries are one thing. Morally questionable, yes. But similar experiments have led to the development of open-heart surgery, which has been key to saving many lives. But as the Hippocratic Oath states, 'Above all, do no harm.' There's a fine line between healing and harm, and Brain Drain crossed it long ago."
"I'll join you," Joshu said, "I'd like to take Brain Drain apart personally."
"I think I should go as well," Voidlon noted, "Wrong Side of Heaven could lock out Brain Drain from Painwheel's mind."
"In that case," Sonosuke said, "I'll join. Iron Head works well for defense."
"I'll go with JoJo," Seiko said, "Who knows what's in Lab 0? And we might need some patching up."
Dr. Doom also stepped up.
"If bringing low delusional fools is the name of the game, count me in as well."
"Let the rest of us, well, the ones that can fight, in on that action," Hiraldo said, "I haven't yet had the chance to show what I can really do."
"I'd also like the means to get the Medicis off my back," Miss Fortune chimed in, "Cerebella's a nice girl, and deserves a boss much better than Vitale. But so long as she owes him, she'll do whatever he wants, and that means she'll do whatever it takes to get the Life Gem."
Yasuho had an idea.
"You mean a Life Gem. There's more than one, after all, they're just really rare. Maybe I can find another one using Paisley Park. Though it might take a while."
"Finding a rare treasure that can let me keep all nine lives?," Miss Fortune said, "Sounds pawsitively delightful."
Brain Drain turned his head from his latest project when he heard the general alert.
"Oh, brilliant. What now?"
He looked on the security monitors and groaned when he saw numerous smashed robots that looked iced over, as well as exploded, slashed apart, burnt to dust, shot at with paintballs and beaten with bats and...chanclas?
"I knew I should have worked on the icing problem. But noooooooooo, my logic sensors said it was impractical in a temperate climate where the units wouldn't be flying higher than regulation cruising altitude. Sometimes I think I forgot to take supernatural powers or interdimensional war criminals into account when designing the algorithm for the sensors."
He then noticed the group coming inside and narrowed his eyes when he saw Filia.
"Hello... It's that Medici girl from Painwheel's memories. How interesting. Prior to her defection Valentine took note of the Parasite she wields. And it so happens..." He said, as he pressed a few buttons.
"I came up with the perfect copy. Slightly weaker but much faster, and with a few new moves that will really catch them off-guard."
From a nearby tank, a dark-skinned version of Filia with green hair emerged.
"Deal with our guests, Fukua," Brain Drain commanded, "I have some final adjustments to make on our other project."
Fukua grinned before rushing off.
As Fukua ran to look for the group, she suddenly found herself getting extremely cold, to the point where she could only shiver.
"Well, well," came Hiraldo's voice, "Looks like we have a copy fighter on our hands. But that Parasite of yours seems like a pale comparison to Samson."
Fukua just narrowed her eyes.
"Not much for talking, huh?" Hiraldo asked, "That's fine. I'm not for people who spit out cliches for no reason anyway."
Hiraldo rushed forward, grinning as he swatted Fukua back with his shotgun.
"I'm proud of having Ol' Reliable..." he said with a chuckle.
He blocked an attack from Fukua with his shotgun, countering with a quick burst from his gun that left Fukua up against the wall, getting back up shortly afterward.
"You have no idea how much I've enjoyed actually being with these guys," Hiraldo said. "Let me show you some techniques!"
He swung his arm like a windmill, catching Fukua under the chin with his shotgun and sending her into the air, catching her on the way down with a quick shot.
"It's outta the park!" He quipped as Fukua was sent sailing across the room as Mystle swatted it towards Weiss, who gored Fukua in the neck.
Fukua tried to move, only to suddenly have her eyes go listless, and a round red orb dropped out of her body.
"Not what I was expecting," Mystle noted, "I thought she was a herald of the apocalypse."
Mera picked up the orb.
"Hello... Looks like the look-alike was powered by a Life Gem. How convenient for us. Now we have something to stop Cerebella's search. But there's still Benny himself."
Brain Drain sighed in exasperation as the security lock on his door suddenly failed, causing it to open wide.
"Come on in... The door's open..."
He turned around to see the group.
"So, which of your powers did you use to break in here?"
"We didn't," Hime clarified, "Painwheel knew the passcode."
"36E-25-40," Painwheel recited, "I figured that was it since Valentine mentioned those are her measurements, which she's very proud of."
In spite of his annoyance, Brain Drain had to chuckle.
"She always bragged about being blessed by the genetics lottery."
Voidlon then noticed a couple of discarded pieces of paper.
"A memo from Valentine indicating the Skull Heart's location?"
"I wouldn't buy into it," Brain Drain noted, "Especially since she turned traitor."
"How unprofessional," Josefumi reprimanded, "Even if she did straight-up change sides without extenuating circumstances, that doesn't automatically discredit her findings. What else have you been ignoring on such a flimsy premise?"
He looked at the other paper, and fought to keep from laughing.
"Wow... Seems like Valentine might have a schoolgirl crush on Miss Fortune. But seriously... 'I can haz cheezburger?' Nadia would call that racist."
"Her childish admiration is a bit annoying," Brain Drain admitted, "But her idea of using the concept to make bio-weapons is solid. However, until the process can be understood, I decided to perfect the concept using robotics."
A nearby pair of mechanical eyes lit up in the nearby darkness.
"Allow me to introduce RF-MODELR003," Brain Drain announced, "Affectionately called... Robo-Fortune."
The mechanical version of Miss Fortune stepped forward.
"Prime directives. One, defeat the Skullgirl. Two, capture the Skull Heart. Three, apprehend all traitors to Lab 0. Four, incapacitate other subjects seeking the Skull Heart. Five, master comedic timing."
"She came up with that last one on her own," Brain Drain pointed out, "I was able to reverse engineer the Strong AI developed by Doctor Mirai Idabashi so Robo-Fortune could copy Miss Fortune's snark. Unfortunately, I'm not as skilled at computer programming as I am bio-engineering. As such the result is..."
"Can I have been acquired a cheezburger?," Robo-Fortune interrupted.
Brain Drain sighed.
"Dubious at best."
Robo-Fortune pulled on her tail.
"Bite my shiny metal tail."
Brain Drain shrugged.
"Though there are some gems hidden in the dirt. Anyway... Robo-Fortune, get them.
"Paws for effect...," Robo-Fortune said, "Reject First Law compliance! Return to Battle Mode!"
But as she made an attack, she suddenly got rushed by Painwheel, who looked even angrier than normal and was literally ripping into Robo-Fortune with spikes from her own body. Brain Drain looked surprised.
"I mean, I know I developed Painwheel to be the ultimate weapon. But I thought her power would be too unwieldy without my control."
"Guess you thought wrong," Whiplash said as he grabbed Brain Drain and unleashed full power voltage.
The next thing Brain Drain knew, he was getting overloaded with electrical energy. As both he and Robo-Fortune collapsed, Filia hurried over to her friend in concern.
"Are you okay? All those spikes looked painful. And that anger... I didn't think you had such violence in you."
"I've been living with severe pain ever since the procedure happened," Painwheel clarified, "I couldn't possibly hurt anymore than I already do. Also, I've always been capable of this level of fury. It's just, my friendship with you, and the love of my parents... It always kept it in check. But Brain Drain thought that unbridled anger would be useful against the Skullgirl."
Hearing what her friend had gone through, Filia gave Painwheel a much needed hug.
"Thanks, Filia..." Painwheel said softly.
Just then, Josefumi's phone went off.
'We found the Skullgirl!' came Yasuho's voice, 'And Umbrella! She's been following the Skull Heart's signature thinking it's her late mother! We've already met up with Parasoul and are making our way there! It turns out the Skull Heart is under the Trinity Grand Cathedral!'
"We're on our way," Josefumi said, "Get in contact with the others. It's time for all hands on deck with this one."
With everyone convening at the Grand Cathedral, it was clear the Skullgirl had been going to work. There was an entire horde of undead around the cathedral grounds.
"Okay, how many zombies does New Meridian have?" Hajime asked.
"My guess is enough to rival the Bubonic Gang." Mystle snarked.
Yasuho's group was already there, watching as Beowulf fought and defeated a newly revived Grendel, which Roman tied up and dragged over.
"Sorry it had to come to this, old friend..." Beowulf said.
"The past is past," Grendel assured him as his arm fell off, "We fought today as true warriors. Only we can understand a warrior's path. My arm is yours to use now..."
He held out his hand as Beowulf took it. The rest of the undead didn't seem to be so easy to talk to.
"Nothing for it but to mow the lawn," Beowulf decided.
Filia was already rushing in, Samson changing into a variety of spikes, weapons and other implements while Filia pitched in with some amazingly strong kicks. Samson opened his mouth wide to snap a large zombie in his jaws as Filia leapt into the air.
"Fenrir Drive!"
Samson dove back down in the form of a wolf's head, Filia trying to keep her panties beneath her skirt.
"Still more of them," Samson noted.
"Then let's do something that can clear a whole path!," Filia said, "Henshin!"
Samson took the hint and changed into a beetle form, allowing Filia to fly in a straight line, a technique they called Gregor Samson. The attack was effective, easily smashing through several zombies. Nearing a large group, Samson grew to immense size, the sheer volume of hair obliterating the entire group.
"The ol' Tricobezoar," Filia said as she did a quick hip pose, "It's a classic."
Beowulf had just finished smashing through several undead with his new Gigantic Arm move, the flesh from Grendel's arm having been hardened with his Earth Mode as Grendel fought alongside him. Beowulf followed it up with three consecutive uppercuts to knock a few zombies into the air.
"Glowing in the dark!"
Beowulf launched into a moonsault that caused him to land on the airborne zombies, the shockwave from landing taking out several more. A nearby explosion went off, caused by Peacock summoning her pal Lonesome Lenny, a giant bomb with limbs. She then proceeded to create a large peacock head from her hat.
"Argus Agony!"
The head fired a large laser beam, followed by several more blasts being fired from the multitude of eyes from her arms. One unlucky zombie even got crushed by Avery using a road roller.
"Huh..." Peacock said, "I have no idea where that came from."
Nearby, Squigly kicked up a large plot of dirt before knocking another zombie into it.
"Pardon me."
As a giant tombstone came in out of nowhere, Leviathan announced, "Here lies you!"
The sudden crash destroyed the zombie inside. Parasoul directed one group of Egrets to run over the undead horde with a motor brigade, while leading another in blasting the undead with a barrage of firepower. Painwheel put on her mask as she confronted another large group.
Charging up, she called out, "Hatred Install!"
The giant pinwheel on her back spun at intense speed as several spikes emerged from her limbs. Flipping onto her back, she walked over the zombies like a crab or spider.
"Death Crawl!"
Big Band played a large sax as a giant zombie approached.
Turning around, he quipped, "You will be prosecuted to the full extent... Of the jam."
He reconfigured his systems into a giant French horn.
"Horn Crush!"
He slammed into the zombie, before changing right into a set of rocket-powered tympani drums.
"You're gonna get beat!"
He jammed out on the drums, causing the rockets to burst against the zombie, before trapping it in a giant church bell.
"The best is yet to come!"
Twin mallets hit the bell, knocking the zombie down before Big Band landed and started unleashing his giant fists.
"TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA TUBA! TU-BA!"
As the zombie was sent flying, Big Band stomped on the ground.
"Strike up the band!"
Several rows of trumpets in an orchestra line appeared, doubling as mortars as they fired on the zombie, causing it to crumble when it hit the ground. He then saw a wide path made by the gang's efforts.
"JoJo! X-Squad! You guys wanna deal with the Skullgirl, now's your chance! We'll keep things covered out here!"
Josefumi nodded.
"Everyone! Follow my lead! Soft And Wet!"
He launched a few bubbles into the ground to steal the friction on the path, letting him, slide over to the cathedral entrance and get inside.
Inside Zap saw something fly towards them.
"Get down!"
The squad ducked just in time to evade the objects, which turned out to be flying scalpels.
"Valentine! Come on out!"
"Brain Drain always joked that I wasn't much of a real ninja," Valentine said as she stepped out of the shadows, "But I was always more about combat."
Double was also there, appearing to be a nun.
"You see what I speak of, Valentine. From your perspective your blades seemingly bounced off the dragon's skin, correct?"
"Yes," Valentine admitted, "But it's actually some sort of suit that only certain people can see, right?"
"Like if the naked emperor truly did have special clothes," Double noted, "But this is not the time for pontificating. You seek the Skull Heart, yes?"
"Answer me one thing," Josefumi said, "Why can the Skull Heart only grant the wishes of women? Why are men excluded?"
"The Skull Heart was formed from the remnants of the Trinity," Double explained, "They identified as female, and thus only those that also identify as female are compatible with the Skull Heart."
"You had to have known no wish on the Skull Heart was ever pure," Zap noted, "Did you make it that way on purpose, or was it because of circumstances?"
"Human hands caused the death of my masters," Double noted, "When Neferu single-handedly killed Aeon and Venus--"
"Wait, wait, time out!" Voidlon said, "So you're telling me that y'all basing all this hate for humanity on the actions of one person!? One individual out of billions and you decided humanity's not worth the effort to let live!? Do you know how dumb that sounds from our perspective!?"
Valentine shrugged.
"You know, it does seem foolish, considering you're supposed to be the avatar of a god."
Double was taken aback.
"She said her will represented thousands..."
"I'm sure many sociopaths would think the same," Miaya noted, "She likely thought she was justified in killing your masters by thinking nobody wanted to be under a god's thumb."
"Truly this is the folly of the gods," came a young female voice.
Up from the catacombs came the familiar form of the Skullgirl Marie.
"So we meet at last," Josefumi said, "Peacock's told us a great deal about you, and why you might have wanted the Skull Heart."
"Eliza, Neferu's current identity, is certainly at the heart of everything," Marie noted, "After all, prior to Lorenzo blackmailing her, the Medicis were just a small-time gang who were booted from Naples by Passione."
"So that's how it all started, huh?," Peacock said as she came in, "Long time no see, Marie. You're looking well. Love the new ensemble. I kinda agree with Voidy, you're rocking that maid look."
Marie chuckled.
"Just a symbol of how I intended to 'clean up' the Medicis."
Peacock laughed.
"Still with the quirky jokes! You haven't changed a bit!"
"But you have, Patricia," Marie said sadly, "Just look at what happened to you..."
"Hey, I'm doing alright," Peacock assured her, "After all, Doctor Avian's a great guy. Not only did he replace all my limbs, he made it so that I can't be blind even without real eyes. Plus, I needed to let off some steam after everything that happened."
Mystle crossed her arms.
"Sounds like Eliza is the real trouble in this situation. I'm guessing that's a name she picked up after getting tired of being called Neferu."
She then realized something.
"Oh fuck, Cerebella's with her!"
"Cerebella is a pure-hearted soul," Double noted, "She thinks the best of almost anyone, regardless of their alignment. But even she would understand how evil Eliza is."
"She could be in danger," Josefumi noted, "Where would she be located?"
Double considered it.
"Even in these modern times Neferu loves Ancient Egyptian culture. The best place to find references to it in New Meridian is the Bath of Tefnut."
She remained quiet for a time.
"The reason for the Skull Heart's existence is so that my masters can be avenged. At first we thought that required destroying all of mankind, but perhaps it will suffice to only eliminate Eliza... Once and for all."
"And what will happen then?," Valentine asked.
"That I do not know," Double admitted, "But I do know this. Eliza has been allowed to live for far too long."
Lupin lit up a cigarette as he heard Pops called out his signature, "LUPIN!"
He and Louise shared a laugh, not noticing the foreign black car slowly rolling past the street that was supposedly blocked, nor the silver dragon flying overhead. Lupin's tricks might have been enough for human police, but Jonathan and Evan were just a bit beyond human at this point.
"We're coming up to them right now," Jonathan said, "And I see Evan up above us."
Finding a way past the roadblocks and the giant balloon was easy thanks to his high ranked Riding skill. Lupin obviously was thinking more of escaping from the police, since he clearly forgot Servants could track each other through the prana in their bodies. The squad must have realized who was behind them, because Voidlon turned around, prompting Jonathan to hit the brakes. Evan landed not far from them.
"I'll admit," Mera said, "In all the excitement, none of us knew we were in the middle of a spirit fight."
Lupin chuckled.
"Yeah, that was my bad. I knew these guys would be there, even ran into Evan in the casino. But jeez, I had no idea you guys would actually chase us."
"You do realize Zenigata recognized you," Sola-Ui noted, "You're very lucky he didn't capture you."
"Sweetheart, luck is my bread and butter," Lupin pointed out.
The three Servants stared each other down. Before anyone could make a move, a tall blonde man dressed like a superhero leapt down into the clearing they were in.
"I am here! Sorry, you four! But so long as my Master has need of Lupin's talents, I cannot allow you to defeat him!"
"Okay, now can we go after Eliza, please?!" Marie said, exasperated by this turn of events.
Cerebella sighed along with Megafin, Birch, Kronos, Calamity, Ink Blotch, Circe, Frollo, Zora, Yoomtah, Killia, Felix, Noxmar, Xone, Thorkell, Lützow, Atar and Gilgamesh as they soaked in the baths (apparently Frollo's robes were waterproof). The baths Eliza had invited them to were nice, but she couldn't help but feel uneasy. The Bath of Tefnut was apparently Eliza's home, and she had snuck off through a secret chamber. Cerebella had been around the Medicis long enough to know it was never a good idea to know too much, so she decided not to follow and instead took the time to have a bath herself. Albus and Horace were sociable enough to treat them as guests, but she got the impression that they could turn at any time on their boss's orders.
Speaking of the two, they were in the other room talking.
"I can't believe that jerk just up and ripped the boss's arm off!," Albus said, "If it weren't for that annoying Stand of his, I'd have torn his head off!"
"He seemed normal enough at first," Horace noted, "But obviously Miss Eliza saw his real power. She has the same power, after all. Well, almost the same power. Same source at least. How long do you think she'll need in the Bath of Sekhmet to fully heal?"
The Bath of Sekhmet was the area behind the door Cerebella had noticed.
"She said she wouldn't be more than an hour," Albus said, "After which she was gonna tie up loose ends. Guess she's tired of wild goose chases. Personally, I say it's about time we stick it to those Medicis."
"All in good time, Albus," Eliza assured him as she emerged from the door, "First we have to deal with their precious little diamond. After all, she won't take us killing off her precious Vitale lying down."
She headed out to the bath, intent on ambushing Cerebella, only to find that she was no longer in the baths. She then spotted Cerebella and the Shadow Hunters, fully clothed, and carrying a familiar red gem. Eliza narrowed her eyes.
"I don't remember having a spare Life Gem around the baths, Cerebella. Where did you get that?"
Cerebella shrugged.
"Some weird things happened. All of a sudden, the bath felt too cold, so we decided it was a good time to get out. But as we got dressed, I heard someone calling my name. It was a familiar voice, so I decided to investigate. And wouldn't you know it..."
Cerebella had spotted a familiar head running on its pointed ears. The head ran to a very familiar Feral woman and hopped onto its severed neck, turning around to look at her. Sure enough, it was Miss Fortune.
"And here I thought I was supposed to be chasing you," Cerebella noted.
"Just thought I'd pass along a bit of good fortune," Miss Fortune said, "Did your bosses ever tell you there was more than one Life Gem?"
"Well, yeah," Cerebella admitted, "But they also said they didn't know where to find another one. It seemed very important to Vitale."
"Then he'll be happy to know I'm willing to propose a compromise," Miss Fortune said, producing the red gem.
Cerebella gasped.
"Where did you get that?"
"From the Anti-Skullgirl Labs," Miss Fortune explained, "Turns out they had one and were using it to create bio-weapons. Now like I said, the Life Gem I swallowed is part of me, so I can't exactly give it up. Of course, it could be possible to fully compress me into a new Life Gem. But doing that would kill me, and I'm pretty sure you would hate to be a murderer."
Cerebella had to admit Miss Fortune was right.
"But luckily," Miss Fortune continued, "JoJo and the others were able to obtain this trinket."
She tossed it to Atar, who caught it easily.
"Better let Vitale know that Nadia will still kick any of his goons he sends out to Little Innsmouth. Oh, and he shouldn't be so trusting of Eliza."
"I doubt she'll try anything," Cerebella pointed out, "Vitale and Lorenzo apparently have something on her."
Miss Fortune chuckled.
"Yeah, you know that little charity blood drive she works? Turns out she's been skimming off the top."
"But a charity blood drive doesn't make cash," Cerebella pointed out.
The Feral grinned.
"Who said anything about money? You saw it for yourself when Eliza fought Ridley. Blood is her source of power, and she needs more of it to stay young and beautiful. But attacking random people on the street would only get her persecuted. So where else do you think she gets it from?"
Cerebella gasped.
"So that's how it is. But if everyone else knows this..."
She grimaced.
"I think I need to have a talk with Eliza."
"Be careful, kid," Miss Fortune said, "Eliza is not one to mess around. Oh, and Void and JoJo say sorry for ruining your bath."
"And I noted something from hearing about your power," Voidlon said as he dropped into the bath area, "Your current form relies on keeping your body in a semi-stable state. It's almost entirely blood after all, save for your skeleton which has been replaced by the Parasite Sekhmet. So Ol' JoJo used Soft Wet to remove that blood's primary hemostasis source. Without it, the only thing keeping you from becoming an Egyptian the Wicked Witch of the West is your Stand!"
Eliza was shocked.
"How could you possibly know all of that?"
Voidlon chuckled as he wagged his finger at her.
"Tsk tsk. Don't underestimate the medical knowledge of Hope's Peak Academy's Former Ultimate Surgeon. And before you sic your goons on me, you should know I didn't come alone."
Sure enough, Albus and Horace were being attacked by Filia and Squigly. Albus managed to knock Filia into a glass case.
"You okay, kid!?" Samson called out in concern.
Filia picked herself up.
"I'll be fine. Hey, what are these?"
Twin swords that looked like hairpins had fallen out of the case.
"Those are..." Samson said, "Delilah once had those weapons. So Eliza kept them as trophies."
Filia picked them up and checked the weight. She seemed to be able to handle them.
"It almost feels like they were made for me."
"There are a lot of similarities between you and Delilah," Samson noted, "Try 'em out, kid! Let's see if they're still as sharp as ever!"
Just holding the weapons made Filia feel more confident, letting her make quick work of Albus.
"Mother, is that you...?" Albus said after he got knocked for a loop, "I'm sorry... I didn't know they were yours..."
Squigly and Horace stopped their fight long enough to stare at Albus, and then each other.
"The less said about that the better," Horace noted
"Agreed," Squigly said, before having Leviathan grab him.
"This might sting for a moment," he said, before blasting Horace with a stream of flames, knocking him out.
Horace muttered, "My name is Yon Yonson, I live in Wisconsin, I work in the lumberyard there..."
"So much for the goon squad," Filia said.
"But there goes their horrible boss," Leviathan said, spotting Eliza ducking into the secret door.
The inside of the Bath of Sekhmet was overflowing with blood, kept fresh by the power of Eliza's Stand. With the blood making up her body compromised by Josefumi, she would have to replace it all. Once she had fully replenished her supply, she stepped out again.
"Perhaps it's time to leave the kingdom," she decided, "If I try to attack them, I'll just get the same treatment."
"You won't be going anywhere," came another voice.
Seiko stepped out of the shadows, decked out in Sister Morphine, along with the X-Squad, Johnathan, Evan and All Might.
"And the bad news just keeps coming," Eliza said, "If so many people are here, I can only assume you already dealt with the Skullgirl."
"Not quite," Marie said as she joined the squad, "Actually, we came to an understanding. For now our goal is taking you out first. After all, you're the one at the center of everything bad that's happened. To Filia, Squigly, Painwheel, Big Band... All of us really. I'm honestly more surprised you weren't dealt with centuries ago."
"I like a quiet life," Eliza clarified, "And unlike a certain serial killer from the late 1990s, I don't have a killer instinct to mess it all up."
"How do you know about Yoshikage Kira?" All Might asked.
Eliza chuckled.
"I was the one who led the original crafter of the Stand arrows to the location of the remnants of the Cape York meteorite. I had several of them, in fact, all of which I've given to others to craft into artifacts brimming with the power to give people Stands. And of course I've had agents keeping track of their locations for centuries. You never know when that information might come in handy. So of course I knew when Diavolo found six of the seven arrows and sold five of them off. I even knew where DIO sent each of them."
Johnathan realized something.
"You're the one who told DIO about the arrows in the first place."
"Enya Geil was an old friend of mine," Eliza explained, "Back then I was known as Tanya and we worked in the same bar. I admit I was happy for her when she found a man to fall in love with. I also suggested to DIO that he have Enya ingest his blood to remain forever young without becoming a vampire. When Enya learned about Lydia Twilight and her Stand, and how she asked about where Enya had gotten her Stand, I knew instantly that Twilight had to have been scratched by one of the arrows. I already knew the arrow had at one point been in her father's possession, so it wasn't hard to put the pieces together."
"So that's how you know," Marie noted, "You knew about DIO giving one of the arrows to Kira."
"His father actually," Eliza clarified, "But the result is the same either way. Both of the arrows that wound up in Morioh caused quite the interesting play to unfold."
"I'll give you this much," Evan said, "You're meticulous. You even planned out the Medici family's rise to power without them noticing. But now you have no choice but to step out of the shadows and face us head-on!"
"Ooh, changing up the hero spiel," Eliza noted, "I gotta admit, those words have more weight to them than the cliches. 'You'll never get away with this.' 'Here is where your plans end.' I've heard those on occasion, and they're terribly dull."
She immediately rushed into attack, only to feel extreme heat. Ridley had unleashed a veritable inferno from his mouth, causing Eliza's body to boil.
"This heat... It's too much..."
"There's no need for cliche hero lines," Voidlon clarified, "Besides, that shit gets way too old anyway."
He unleashed his claws, battering Eliza with a combination of slashes and smashes using his fists. He then plowed his fist through Eliza's skull, grabbing Sekhmet.
"Samson mentioned something," he noted, "about when a Parasite is so ingrained into its host that when it leaves, the host dies. I guess the same happens if the Parasite gets turned into a statistic."
He started to crush Sekhmet's skull, the cracks also showing up on Eliza. She grunted.
"Even if you kill me, what's to stop Marie from turning on you? And the Medicis still have some power left."
"But without you they can never return to what they had before I became the Skullgirl," Marie noted, "And I already agreed to let them destroy me to prevent anyone else from suffering. I only ever wanted to kill the Medicis, no one else."
"And if you're gone," Seiko noted, "That might appease the Trinity. They might just remove the Skull Heart forever. After all, the source of their anger would be gone."
Eliza gasped. Marie brought out a large vacuum cleaner.
"This is the end, Eliza! Even if the world at large can't be peaceful, we can at least bring a small light to darkness!"
She swung right at Sekhmet, shattering its head. She then turned on the vacuum, sucking up the shattered remains. The rest of the Parasite's body collapsed.
Eliza's last thought was, 'Could I really have done the world so much wrong... That so many would want me dead...?'
She then collapsed into a large pool of blood, no longer able to properly exist. Marie checked herself afterwards.
"Huh. I can no longer feel my connection to the dead. But my other powers as the Skullgirl remain."
"I saw something pink and gray getting dragged into your vacuum," Mystle noted, "What was that?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Marie replied, "It was Eliza's nervous system, which was housed inside Sekhmet. It's the reason why she was able to maintain a blood-based body. The most important part of her body was contained in a more solid form. Without her brain, Eliza could not maintain herself, and she died. Now let's go check on everyone else."
Valentine had been with Double, who had slowly started disappearing.
"It is done," Double noted, "My masters are appeased. Though it seems they are willing to provide a few parting gifts as an apology for their misdeeds. Marie will be keeping her powers, and Grendel, as well as Squigly, will be keeping their lives."
"That's possible?," Valentine noted.
Double smiled.
"These are gods we are talking about. They are capable of great miracles. But as the avatar of Queen Lamia... I will be leaving, along with the Skull Heart."
Valentine smirked.
"Probably for the best. But who knows, maybe someone out there has a wish-granting Stand or something."
"You never know," Double admitted, "Stands have many strange and wondrous powers."
And with that, she disappeared.
Nearby, Painwheel met with Filia and Squigly.
"My blood seems to be settling down," Painwheel said, "I'm feeling calmer than I have in months."
She then noted the hairpin swords Filia had.
"Oh, wow! Where did you get those?"
"I found them while fighting Eliza's goons," Filia explained, "They used to belong to one of Samson's former hosts, named Delilah. How are you feeling, Squigly?"
"More alive than I felt in years," Squigly noted in surprise, "I'm still a zombie, but I no longer feel the connection to the Skull Heart."
"Guess you'll be sticking around for a while, huh, Levi?" Samson said.
Leviathan chuckled.
"It would appear so."
Painwheel removed her mask.
"That reminds me, Filia. Did you take on some weight? You've got more curves since the last time I saw you."
"Playing host to a Parasite gave me an increased appetite," Filia admitted, "Speaking of which, how are we gonna explain all this to your parents? I'm betting they're worried sick right about now."
Painwheel looked at herself in a mirror. There was a large X-shaped scar along her face and her eyes were red with black sclera. She sighed at the sight of herself.
"I don't know if my parents will really recognize me anymore. At the very least I can inform them I'm all right, but for now it would be best if I stayed with Lab 8. I can guarantee no one there will judge me."
"Will it be the same without Doctor Avian?" Filia wondered.
"No need to worry about that," Big Band said, "I got the word from Seiko. Turns out Valentine faked Doctor Avian's death to trick her unwanted bosses. She'd been coerced into helping Marie after the death of the Last Hope. Avian will need some patching up, but he's as alive as ever."
Beowulf spotted his promoter Zane running up to the bath house.
"There you are, Beowulf, seems Grendel's back too" Zane said, "I heard all about how you spilled the beans. I gotta say, I was surprised that the people still believe in you."
"Really?" Beowulf said, "I should have known I can count on the Wulfpack. I was sure I'd have to start from scratch after everything."
Grendel shrugged.
"I guess your words assured your fans of your sincerity. The point is it looks like Wulfamania's back in full force, best to get set up in the gym, seems Zane could have a full line of new wrestlers ready to take on the old champs."
Beowulf gave a good natured victory howl, ready to take on all challengers.
Back in the cathedral, Parasoul found her sister sleeping peacefully.
"Thank goodness. Her Theonite reading has dropped considerably."
Umbrella stirred in her sleep before waking up.
"Oh, Sis. I was dreaming about Mama. She was telling me she had to see Papa in Heaven, but that I couldn't join her. We spent some final moments together before she left, though."
Parasoul giggled.
"It seems Mother wanted to make up for lost time. But she also wanted to be with Father again. They did love each other very much."
"Kinda like you and Juju!" Umbrella blurted out, causing Parasoul to blush.
"I can't help it that Juju's the perfect gal! You don't have to tease me about it!"
She hid her eyes as Umbrella laughed.
Cerebella couldn't help but notice the somber atmosphere as she returned to the Medici household. Vitale was sitting by his father's bed, a sheet placed over Lorenzo's head. Vitale soon noticed Cerebella's presence.
"Oh... Hey, doll..."
"Sorry if I'm too late to save your father," Cerebella said sadly.
"There's nothing you could have done," Vitale assured her, "Pop was killed when his zeppelin crashed after it got taken out in the Skullgirl's attack. But I see you were successful regardless."
"It was a bit of a bumpy road," Cerebella admitted, "But eventually Nadia got tired of getting chased and decided to find a different Life Gem instead. Seems she swallowed the old one. And also, Deadlight fled after Eliza died, promising to get some revenge."
Vitale scoffed.
"So that's how she survived... Well, not that it matters anymore. After the Skullgirl's rampage, we're in no position to do much of anything besides maintaining what few holdings we have left."
He gave a warm smile.
"Which means I need to start considering my own legacy. If you're willing of course..."
Cerebella smiled.
"Absolutely. Nothing would make me happier."
The Life Gem remained as just another treasure of the family, but Cerebella would soon trade out her normal circus dress for a black cocktail dress.
On the plane ride back home, the group reflected on the journey they had made. Joshu and Trixie were also joining on a permanent basis, having the Noah's Ark Circus move to Japan for the time being, and Ruruka, Miaya, Sonosuke and Seiko agreed to do some distance learning. Josefumi had taken the time to contact his dad, Jotaro.
'So it was Eliza who told DIO about the arrows,' he noted, 'Guess that's a major mystery solved. What of the Skull Heart?'
"Gone," Josefumi said, "Apparently the Trinity had it retrieved from our physical plain, having been appeased with the death of Eliza. But Marie still has some of her powers. Apparently, she and Peacock have taken to joining the X-Squad. The Medicis may no longer be a problem, but that just leaves a vacuum in the underworld."
'I'm sure those two can be counted on to keep people safe,' Jotaro noted, 'So you'll be returning to Hope's Peak then? Just in time for the new semester.'
Josefumi nodded.
"Yes, and the 77th Class has some promising Ultimates. The class only consists of eighteen students, but they have very high quality talent, or so Kizakura says."
He smirked.
"I guess we'll see before long."
'There's something else you should know,' Jotaro said, 'Azumi Sato disappeared from her cell some months ago. Officials at the prison say there's no evidence she broke out, meaning someone arranged for her to be released.'
Josefumi narrowed his eyes.
"I see... Thanks for letting me know, Dad. I'll be sure to inform Kakyoin."
He hung up, having a good idea who was responsible for this incident.
Since the breakout of Cronus the T-Rex a month ago, the park has settled down, but for the first time, one of the residents have seen their enclosure.
A giant bear emerged from its cave and reared onto its hind legs to sniff the air. The bear instantly walked to a tree trunk, which Bob, the park keeper, had filled full of meat and fish for the bear to feast on.
The cave bear was rescued by Nigel from Poland 10,000 years ago and has been in hibernation since.
"Finally to build up the health of the bear," Bob laughed. "Hold on I didn't see you there."
Maya had just stepped out of a jeep before the driver drove off in the direction of the Dromeosaurus pen. She had just spent the week at her parents' house in Japan.
"Just got back. My parents though could have killed Brandon and Hammond." She pointed at a little scar on her hand. The claw of a stowaway raptor had sliced it a month back. "I just said it was a badge of honour for naturalists. Although I was ticked off that they dragged me down to London though instead of just staying in Yorkshire. The Natural History Museum was interesting; I saw fossilised versions of some of our residents."
Bob has just finished building a multi-acre enclosure for the next mission so he has to visit him to see what the new resident will be.
Brandon's office overlooked a sea of leaves. The microraptors below glided from tree to tree and chirped below as one of Brandon's macaws squawked in irritation at them. On the desk were files showing skeletons of different sauropods. Maya instantly recognised one: the Diplodocus from the entrance of the London Natural History Museum.
"Sauropods," Voidlon said. "The most famous dinosaurs along with Triceratops and T-Rex. Hammond has tasked me with rescuing the three most famous: Apatosaurus, Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus. They were all found together around 150million years ago in Colorado."
"Okay, this time, please don't bring back anything unexpected," Bob sighed. "We have safety inspectors coming in today to evaluate the park's safety and I don't want to handle anything we don't know anything about."
"Don't worry Bobby, I've left you files on all the animals found at that time, but any herbivores can go into the big exhibit with the sauropods."
150 million years ago the dinosaurs had full control over the world. It was the Jurassic period, and the sauropods were the largest things on the land. However, large carnivores evolved to hunt these large herbivores.
They emerged from the time portal on a barren plain next to a forest with giant red wood trees that reached the blue sky. The ground was dry and cracked with a few dying ferns struggling for life among the cracks of the parched ground. It was the exact antithesis of what came to mind when someone thought of Jurassic plain.
"Dry season," Ridley explained. "Every dry season parched the land, many died because of it, especially sauropods. We can start searching in the forest because juvenile and young sauropods used to live there to avoid the stomping feet of adults."
The forest was refreshing compared to the dry plain. With the leaves blocking the relentless sun and the trees acting as funnels for the wind they were instantly cooled. Nigel spotted something among the ferns. A footprint. They found more and followed the direction of the tracks. They came out into a small section of forest with a large pool with giant ferns and horsetails growing around the edge. The owner of the footprints stood there but they were not sauropods. Three dinosaurs stood there, the third was a juvenile. They were nine metres long and four metre high with a tiny head, parallel rows of diamond shaped plates on the back and four large spikes on the tail.
"Stegosaurus stenops," Brandon said. "They're Bob's favourite dinosaur. Look they have beaks used to crop ferns and those massive spikes were a formidable deterrence for a predator."
"Hey, they're warm blooded, right? So could those plates be used for chatting?" Peacock asked.
"Yes. They would pump blood into those plates." He decided to demonstrate this by making a loud sound making the male pump blood into his plates turning them red. Another large herbivore arrived then attracted by the small water bed, droughts made animals all migrate to any water source. There were two sauropods that had long necks that could crop tree tops 9m off the ground.
"Brachiosaurus!" Maya laughed. "Both of these species were discovered by palaeontologist Othniel Marsh. Just look at the length of the femur, at least two and a half metres long." She then took one of the bags he had brought and opened it. Inside were small pebbles. "Fossil evidence showed that dinosaurs such as the sauropods and stegosaurus would eat them to help aid digestion." Maya explained. It seems that both animals wanted the pebbles and started ambling towards them. Using the gastroliths as bait, Maya lured the two dinosaurs through the portal into the park.
It doesn't take long for the sauropods and stegosaurs to be settled into their enclosure.
"My my they are a beauty," Bob remarked as the baby stegosaur tore at the ferns in his hands. In the distance the Brachiosauruses were drinking from a manmade lake while the stegosaurs were browsing some ferns. However he had to leave urgently. The inspectors had arrived.
The park staff arranged themselves at the helipad and saw three inspectors in suits step out from a helicopter before it flew off to the Costa Rican mainland. As the staff introduced themselves they found out that one of the inspectors was Hammond's lawyer Donald Gennaro.
"Hello, Mr Marven," Gennaro said shaking his hand. "I understand you are still on a mission."
"Yes I am, Mr Gennaro. I've rescued one of the animals I just have to rescue the other two. If I leave you with our PR Ed Regis I must get back."
Fossil evidence has shown that the sauropods would often migrate during the dry season so Nigel is using this to his advantage.
The jeep emerged from the portal onto a salt flat where a train of giant sauropods was migrating. They were dark magenta with a length of 23m. Their long necks ended with a small head which made a deep rumbling sound for communication.
"Apatosaurus," Maya said. "Diplodocus had a thinner tail."
"You're right," Brandon said. "Weighed about 25 tonnes. Judging by their size I would say that they were the excelsus species. The dinosaur Brontosaurus turned out to be a young Apatosaurus but just look how massive they are."
The biggest Apatosaurus looked as if it could crush their jeep instantly just with one foot. Luckily their giant mass hindered the speed that they could amble along at so the jeep could easily drive faster than they could walk which fit into Nigel's quickly formulated plan. Quite a few Apatosaurs were lagging behind thanks to dehydration giving him ample room to fit the jeep in to open the time portal. They stopped behind the hind legs of one of the healthier sauropods so Chiyo could quickly count the amount they were going to rescue. Nine: four male, four female and a young female. Nigel opened the portal and the first Apatosaurs head breached the shimmering blue portal and quickly the entire neck had gone through. As the body was disappearing the second Apatosaurus breached the portal. Soon all nine had gone through the portal.
"Brandon, look over there," Maya said. In the distance there was a speck of green. That was where the Apatosaurs were heading. An oasis.
In the park, after Bob has put the Apatosaurs in their giant enclosure, he has to assist Ed Regis with the tour.
"You work in a park full of animals, how can you not know their names?" Bob whispered furiously as the inspectors checked the security of the Dromeosaurus pen. When one of them was checking the length of the moat between the Dromeosaurus fence and the railing one of the feathered dinosaurs snarled making him jump back a few feet in shock.
"I've never needed to go into the park," Regis replied "We never planned to open to the public so I didn't need to market any of them."
"It still doesn't excuse calling an Ankylosaurus as Tankosaurus."
Gennaro then went up to Bob. "This was the dinosaur species which caused the break out."
"Yes but only through a onetime error. The Dromeosaurus in question was immediately caught and no one was hurt. In fact the one that escaped was the one who snarled at your colleague."
"Mr Arthur, how many species does the park currently have?"
"Including the species caught today, 28 extinct species, 12 modern day species."
"Mr Arthur, I need you to answer honestly. What problems have you had in the park?"
"Just teething ones. Well you know the breakout with the T-Rex and the raptor. We had one with feeding the young Rex, the Terror Bird taking dust baths by the fence to escape, a stowaway Didelphodon, and an issue with building a part of the Deinosuchus fence with the crocodile trying to attack the JCBs."
"Thank you. Now, please show us the Mammoths."
Back in Jurassic Colorado, the crew arrived at the oasis.
The herd of Apatosaurus were drinking out of a lake with horsetails and ferns growing around it for a mile radius. A few trees grew nearby with the animals that Brandon wanted. They were only juveniles and were slightly taller than a human. Their whip-like tails hadn't properly formed yet.
"There Diplodocus ," Brandon laughed with happiness. "About four juveniles, maybe five years old. They have a lot of growing to do before they grow to their full size and weight. Look what's next to them." Two silver bipedal herbivores around human height and two metres in length were pecking at the ground next to them. "Dryosaurus. They would stay next to giant dinosaurs for protection and would act as look outs with those beady eyes."
They pulled out some gastroliths and attracted the young Diplodocus towards them. As Neo opened the portal there was a roar and the dinosaurs stampeded towards the portal with the Dryosaurus following with fear. Behind them three giant theropods were roaring at the Apatosaurs. They hadn't evolved feathers yet and had long arms with bony ridges on the eyes which were red in colour.
"Allosaurus," Nigel said "Named 'Lion of the Jurassic'. They were pack hunters and were early versions of Tyrannosaurus. They had weak jaws so they would only eat soft parts of their prey like the throat and gut."
"Brandon, they're coming this way!" Marie gasped. The Allosaurs had given up on a sauropod meal and decided to feast on mammals. They ran through the portal, and Bob had to act quickly to divert the three hungry predators who had ran through the portal after them.
"Allosaurus," Bob explained to the inspectors "Found in America, Portugal and North Africa. I know the perfect place for them."
With the Allosaurs later settled in their exhibit, the inspectors decide to give their verdict with the backdrop of a Jurassic scene behind them.
The stegosaurs and diplodocus grazed in the ferns with the Dryosaurus bouncing around them. A herd of Brachiosaurus and Apatosaurus waded through the lake to quench their thirst.
"Well I have your verdict," Gennaro said. "You've passed with flying colours. No faults at all. Congratulations!"
