Morning and everyone was eating breakfast. As usual, the dining room curtains were closed so the sun wouldn't come in and the lights were dimmed. Mrs. Boonchuy came to the table with a pan of scrambled eggs. "Would anyone like eggs?" she asked.

"Yes, please," said Polly.

"Why, yes. Thank you," said Hop Pop. He tried some and hummed. "Mmm... These are egg-cellent, Mrs. Boonchuy."

"Yes. Thank you for the delicious food," said Polly.

"He-Heeey!" Sprig entered the room by swinging in with his tongue and landing in front of Mrs. Boonchuy. "Good morning, fam-fam! Ooh, eggs!" He used his tongue to lick the pan clean. Mrs. Boonchuy's eye twitched. "Mmm... These could use a little something. Got any hot sauce?"

"Don't worry, Mrs. B. I got it." Sprig hopped to the fridge and began throwing everything out. Mrs. Boonchuy's patience was wearing thin.

Giorgio quickly got up. grabbed all the food before they could them the floor, balanced them on his head and arms, and placed them on the counter. "Phew. That time in the restaurant really paid off."

Sprig found the hot sauce, guzzled it down and let out a flaming burp. Mrs. Boonchuy glared at Anne, nonverbally telling her to do something. Anne giggled nervously. As soon as Mrs. Boonchuy left, Anne grabbed Sprig and set him down at the table. "Rametto, we need to have a talk," said Giorgio. "Your manners are atrocious."

"What do you mean," asked Sprig.

"He's right," said Hop Pop sternly. "Sprig Plantar, you're a guest in the Boonchuy's home. For frog's sake, behave like one!"

Sprig licked his lips clean of hot sauce and laughed. "Ha! Silly Hop Pop. We aren't guests, we're family. Like JoJo says, we're familia."

"I don't mean it literally," said Giorgio. "We're not even distant cousins, let alone come from the same species."

"Exactly," said Hop Pop. "Just because Anne is a Plantar..."

"An honorary Plantar," reminded Giorgio.

"...doesn't automatically make you a Boonchuy." Polly nodded in agreement with Hop Pop.

"Doesn't it though," asked Sprig. "I mean, the math checks out. If anything, JoJo's the guest!"

"And what logic do you base that on," asked Giorgio.

"Well, because you've got your own family back in Italy. If anything, you should be back there!"

Giorgio exhaled. "You know, people like you are the reason why I'm glad I'm an only child."

"Get it through your thick head, Sprig," said Polly, stomping her foot on the table. "You're NOT a part of Anne's family!"

Sprig looked up at Anne sadly and asked, "Oh... Anne, is that true?"

"Don't worry about it, man. Being a guest around here is so much better. Being family just means chores, responsibilities and getting yelled at when you mess up."

"Not really," said Giorgio. "Family means having someone to love and trust, someone to play games with, someone to shoot target practice with, someone to mess around with your Stand, and someone who'll be there to cover for you." He paused, and added, "Okay, and chores, responsibilities, and getting yelled at for goofing up badly. Like getting caught pulling harmful pranks on relatives you don't like." He whispered to himself, "Ti sta bene, Nonna."

"I, for one, like being waited on hand and foot, and I should know," Polly said as she put her feet on the table. "I have feet now."

Sprig said sadly, "Sorry, guys. I just always wanted a bigger family and I guess I got a little carried away." Everyone expressed their agreements.

"Anne, come on," said Mrs. Boonchuy. "We had a lot of work to do in the restaurant."

"Well, that's me. See you guys when I get back." Anne was just about to leave when Sprig hopped in front of her and said, "Oh, wait! Can I come with you? I'd like to make up for how rude I was this morning."

"I guess that'd be fine," said Anne, much to Sprig's delight. "Hop Pop, Polly, try to research some portals and junk while we're going."

Giorgio said, "I'd like to come, I have experience in restaurants..." Then he pouted and said, "But instead, I've got to meet up with Gabby and figure out what kind of Stand she has. And in the daytime after, no less."

"Good luck with that, JoJo," said Anne.

After Anne, Sprig, and Giorgio left, Polly then asked Hop Pop, "So, are we watching? Stargate or Quantum Leap?"

"QUANTUM LEAP! QUANTUM LEAP!" chanted Hop Pop.

Giorgio was not looking forward to this as he approached Gabby's house, umbrella in hand. He did not want to be bothered by this chatterbox's gossip and just wanted to get it over with. He knocked on the door and Gabby opened it. She almost gasped when she saw Johan and she blushed. "H-Hey, JoJo. Do you, wanna, you know, come inside?"

"Are your parents home?" he asked.

"They're at work and won't be home for an hour. That'll give us enough time to...I don't know, get to know each other? Maybe, hang out sometime?"

Giorgio backed away a little. Is she asking me for a date, he thought. "Actually, I want to cut to the chase," he said as he summoned DARE, making her gasp. "So Anne was right. You're a Stand user."

"A Stand? Is that what you call it? I've read about stuff like this on social media, but, I've never seen one up close."

"Have you always had one, or did you acquire it recently," Giorgio asked her as the two of them sat at the small table on the front porch.

"Actually, it all started five months ago," she said. "I was talking with my friends on the phone, you know, about the latest gossip, when I got this weird app on my phone I don't remember downloading. So, I decided to check it out." Giorgio had a feeling of uneasiness when she said that. "But when I touched it, I froze. I couldn't move my body. Then..." Gabby got chills from recalling the event. "...this arrow came out of the phone and slowly made it's way towards me. I couldn't move, I couldn't scream, I couldn't get it to stop!"

Giorgio put a comforting hand in hers and she stopped shuddering. "JoJo...your hands feel rough. You've done a lot of hard work, haven't you?"

"Focus, Gabby. The arrow pierced you, didn't it? And that's how you got your Stand." Gabby nodded her head. "Did you tell anyone about this? Your parents?"

"I didn't say anything. But a lot of people I talked to online have claimed the same thing happened to them. JoJo, did the same thing happen to you?"

Giorgio shook his head. "No. I was born with my ability. I've had it since I was a baby."

"You can be born a Stand user? Where do Stands even come from?" And so, Giorgio gave a brief explanation of the origins of Stands. "An asteroid contaminated with alien virus that either gives you a strange power or kills you?" Giorgio nodded. "And someone made arrows, like the one I saw in my phone, from the asteroid? Where is the arrow now?"

"Taken care of. It won't trouble you again. The remaining arrows have already been found and sealed away."

"What does your Stand do? Does it make you super strong, or give you x-ray vision? Do you have a weakness?"

Giorgio pinched Gabby's lips shut. "If you give me the chance to speak, I'll tell you." She nodded. He let go of her lips and said, "My Stand gives me the power over the five senses. That may not seem much, but the senses are the only way a creature interacts with the world and they can be a either blessing or a curse. For example, I can use it to enhance your sight to the point where you can see life forms you can only see under a microscope, or dull your hearing until you are completely deaf. My personal favorite is enhancing your sense of touch and send your pain receptors into overdrive, making something as insignificant as a paper cut feel like a knife wound."

Gabby gulped. "Good thing I'm on your good side."

"What does yours do," Giorgio asked. "What does it look like?"

"Uh...I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"I've never actually see it. But I know it's around. Every time I go to sleep, I see everything through its eyes. It goes into people's houses, reaches into their heads, takes out their secrets and gives them to me. How do you think I know so much gossip? And when I wake up, I'm back in my bed."

Giorgio rubbed his chin in thought. "I see. Gabby, I'd like to try an experiment. Can you trust me?" Gabby nodded. "Okay. Here we go." He activated his vampiric hypnosis, and her head slumped forward as she fell asleep. "Now, let's see what your Stand looks like." He didn't have to wait long as the Stand materialized behind Gabby's body. It looked like some kind of robot. It was silver in color, about five feet tall, and was shaped like an upside-down obelisk. Its head was shaped like a top with red triangular eyes, instead of feet, there was a sphere at the base of the body, and it had no arms at all.

"Whoa," said Giorgio. "Gabby, are you in there?" The Stand did not respond. Instead, it turned and, using the sphere at its base for mobility, started to move down the street. "Hey! Get back here!" Grabbing the umbrella, Giorgio gave pursuit.

He followed the Stand to a street full of people. The Stand, still moving, suddenly spouted a series of metal tentacles from its sides. Giorgio watched as the tentacles shot out and dug them into the people's heads before pulling out white spheres from them and placing them in a slot in front of the Stand's body.

Giorgio swore he heard voices coming from the spheres.

"...don't tell anyone this, but I heard..."

"...so, she was like, 'Duh!' and I was like, 'Uh-huh!'..."

"...I snuck in Mom's medicine cabinet and put on her lipstick..."

"...if I put it back, no one will notice..."

Giorgio looked at the people the Stand attacked. They did not look harmed, but seemed dazed and confused. "Well, at least there's no permanent damage." He looked up at the Stand as it continued to steal secrets. "If Gabby has no control over it, it must be a long-ranged automatic Stand. Let's see if I can't put a stop to it." He summoned DARE, who grabbed Gabby's Stand by the base and tried to get it to stop. One of the tentacles flicked DARE away, causing both it and Giorgio to fly and crash into a garbage dumpster. Thank goodness it was in the shade of an alley.

Slowly, he got out and grumbled, "Okay, brute force isn't going to cut it." He sniffed himself and grumbled as he picked the umbrella up. "I could try to fight it, but I don't want to run the risk of exposing myself to sunlight. Let's see. Gabby says this thing only comes out whenever she's asleep. So...I just gotta wake her up!"

"Wake up," Giorgio said with a snap of his fingers. Gabby awoke with a start. At the same time, the Stand disappeared. She looked around, confused, then her eyes fell upon Giorgio who asked, "How are you feeling?"

Gabby gave him a hug, startling him as she cried, "JoJo! I saw everything, but I couldn't control it! I'm sorry I hurt you!"

He gave her a comforting shoulder pat and said, "It's alright. It'll take more than that to kill me." After freeing himself from her, he said, "So, here's the thing. Your Stand is an automatic type. Automatic Stands do not follow their users' command, but rather, act automatically through preset instructions. Most automatic Stands are, in a way, separated from their users, and thus harming the Stand will leave the user unscathed and sometimes unaware of their Stand's status."

"But why is it going around taking people's secrets," asked Gabby.

"You always wanted the best juicy gossip, right," replied Giorgio. "That thought must have unconsciously given it the preset command to go around and look for it."

"How can I stop it? I mean, I like gossip as much as the next guy, but this is borderline invasion of personal privacy!"

"Well, maybe you could get it to give a new pre-set command. Get it to only materialize when you need it."

"I'll try."

"By the way, we have to give your Stand a name."

"Give it a name?" Gabby asked, confused.

Giorgio nodded. "Stands have been named after Tarot cards, gods, songs and bands."

Gabby thought it over, then decided, "I shall call it Talking In Your Sleep. It's my parents' favorite song."

Giorgio nodded. "Sounds appropriate. Listen, I gotta go check up on Anne. Give me a call if Talking In Your Sleep is giving you trouble.

Stand: Talking In Your Sleep

User: Gabby

Power: E

Speed: E

Range: A

Durability: D

Precision: A

Potential: E

Ability: A long-ranged automatic Stand that only activates when its user falls asleep. Once activated, it seeks out people's greatest secrets and give them to its user. However, the amount of secrets the Stand contains is limited, so when it reaches its fill, it will dump its contents into the user's brain.

After leaving Gabby's house before she could go on another round of gossip, Giorgio headed straight for the Thai Go restaurant. It was a small brick building, featuring a neon sign on the roof, a small red front door, and a red striped cover. Parked in front of the building was a red food truck with a Thai Go sign on the roof. "Hmm. Must be expanding the business," he thought.

The man running the truck was wearing a purple t-shirt, a flaming black jacket, khaki pants, red and white sneakers, and a name tag that read "Ned". When he saw Giorgio he said, "I never saw you before. Are you new in town?"

"Uh...kinda," said Giorgio. "I'm here on vacation."

"Well, you can't leave until you try some Thai Go! Can I take your order?"

Giorgio shook his head. "Sorry, I stay away from food trucks. I once bought pasta al pomodoro from one, and I ended up praying to the porcelain gods for three days." And Dad made sure that particular vendor did not get his license back until he learned the true meaning of sanitation and food safety the hard way, he thought.

"Let me assure you, the food is clean and safe to eat," said Ned. "So, what can I get you?"

Giorgio was about to decline when he saw a picture of Ned with the Boonchuys hanging next to the stove. "You're a friend of Anne's family?"

Ned said, "Of course! I'm their number one customer! I've been coming to Thai Go for years! Wait, are you a friend of Anne's too? What's your name?"

"My name is Giorgio Giovanna, but my friends call me JoJo. As for how Anne and I know each other, we met a couple months ago."

"Any friend of the Boonchuys is a friend of mine," said Ned. "Wait. Anne disappeared a couple months ago. Did you...?"

Giorgio cleared his throat loudly. "I don't want to talk about what happened. So, are you expanding the business?"

Ned scratched the back of his head. "Unofficially. I want to take the Thai Go restaurant out on the road, but Mrs. Boonchuy doesn't want to share the recipes, says they're for family only. So, I make my food using recipes I read online." He leaned in and said, "Truth be told, I'm not really supposed to be parked here, it's confusing the customers. But I make sure the half profits go to the Boonchuys, that way they don't think I'm stealing their business."

"Why don't you move?"

"I don't have a choice! My breaks are shot."

"Have you tried calling a tow truck?"

Ned said sarcastically, "Oh, my gosh! A tow truck! Why didn't I think of that before?"

"Okay, no need to get snarky with me," said Giorgio.

"I put so much investment in this truck that I can't afford one."

Giorgio thought it over, then said, "Well, I don't want to see a friend of the Boonchuys in trouble. How about I buy one of everything? That way you'll be able to afford to call a tow company."

Ned nearly fell backwards. "One of everything?! How can you afford that?!"

Giorgio sniggered as he took out his credit card. "When you're in my family, you can afford just about anything."

Suddenly, the door to Thai Go burst open and Sprig pointed at Giorgio and shouted, "TRAITOR!"

Giorgio nearly dropped his card in surprise. "What the- Sprig? What are you doing here?"

"What are YOU doing?! Siding with the enemy! You turned your back on the familia!"

Anne came running out and dragged Sprig back inside. "Sprig, I'm in enough trouble because of you, don't add more!" She slammed the door shut.

Giorgio exhaled in exasperation. "Cos'hai fatto adesso, Rametto?" He entered the building as Ned called out, "Wait! What about your order?"

Inside the restaurant, Giorgio found Anne mopping the floor, and Sprig sitting in a corner, both of them grumbling to themselves. "Would somebody tell me what's going on?"

"It's Sprig," said Anne. "He thought he could be in the family by getting rid of Ned, and because of his antics, my mother's punished me!"

"It's not fair," shouted Sprig as he stomped his foot. "I don't want to be a guest! I want to be part of this family!"

"Well, you're not!"

Sprig made teary eyes. "Ouch, Anne. Thanks for rubbing it in."

Anne, while angry with him, sympathized with him. "Look, Sprig, I know what you're doing here and I get why, but please stop or I'll be cleaning the bathroom with a toothbrush for the rest of my life. Just knock it off, OK?" Then she went into the kitchen.

Sprig had a wicked idea. "Heh... Knock it off or knock it ON?"

"I HEARD THAT!" shouted Anne.

"NO, YOU DIDN'T!" Sprig shouted as he hopped away.

Giorgio sighed. "Santo cielo." He really wanted to sympathize with Sprig, but he agreed with Anne; the young frog was trying too hard. Instead, he followed Anne into the kitchen, where he found her helping her mother wash some dishes. He cleared his throat and asked, "Can I help? I do have experience in the restaurant business myself."

Mrs. Boonchuy gave him a suspicious look. "Really?"

"I know to always wash my hands before entering a kitchen, always roll up your sleeves to prevent them from getting burned over the stove, and..."

"Alright, enough. You want to help?" Mrs. Boonchuy handed Giorgio a stack of papers. "I need you to take stock. Every last potato and onion must be accounted for."

"Very well." He said to himself, "It's the tea shoppe all over again." As he left for the stock room, he texted Anne a message. What she read made her eyes widen. "You were right about Gabby. She's a Stand user."

Anne glanced around, making sure her parents weren't looking. She texted back, "We'll discuss this later after my shift is done."

Giorgio nodded. He then walked over to Mrs. Boonchuy, who was busy chopping lettuce. "Mrs. Boonchuy, do you think you could cut Anne some slack? I agree that Sprig is overstepping boundaries, but I think you need to understand why he doesn't want to be treated as just a guest and wants to be punished just like any other family member."

"Whatever it is, it doesn't matter," she said, not taking her eyes off her work. "And you have no right to tell me how to raise my child."

"Sprig's parents died when he was very young." Mrs. Boonchuy stopped mid chop. Giorgio continued, "Sure, he's got his sister and grandfather, but it's not really the same. That's why he's so clingy to Anne. He sees her as the older sister he's always wanted. He's always wanted a bigger family, someone to call 'Mom and Dad'." Mrs. Boonchuy did not respond to him. "But, you're right. It's not my place to decide what goes on in your house. You're the boss. Just...think about what I said." And with that, he returned to work and so did Mrs. Boonchuy.

Night had fallen, much to Giorgio's relief. He could finally lower the umbrella; stocking is not easy when you have only one free hand. But that didn't matter to Sprig. He had a mission to complete. Swapping his human disguise for his normal clothes, he snuck into the food truck still parked in front of the restaurant. Ned was busy cleaning while listening to music on his headphones, so he didn't see him.

While clinging to the truck's ceiling, Sprig dropped a letter on the stove and tapped Ned's shoulder. Ned turned around, but saw no one. Then he saw the letter sitting on the stove. He read it and his eyes widened with excitement. "Oh, yes! YES! YES! FINALLY! NED'S GONNA GET AHEAD, BABY!" He ran out of the truck and into the restaurant to tell Mrs. Boonchuy the good news.

Sprig dropped from the ceiling and put a toothpick in his mouth. "And now to destroy an earth man's livelihood." He put a whole bunch more toothpicks in his mouth, only to realize his mistake and he spat them out.

Meanwhile, Giorgio was helping Anne take the trash out, when they both saw Sprig in the truck. "Oh-no," they both said at once.

"Sprig Boonchuy in 3, 2, 1..." He was about to touch the drive shift when Giorgio ran up to him and grabbed him, shouting, "DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING, YOU STUPID FROG!"

"Stupid?! Is it stupid to worm my way into your mom's heart by making this food truck disappear," Sprig asked Anne.

"Yes! Yes, it is!"

Sprig then got angry and shouted, "Well, then I guess it was stupid of Hop Pop to take you in! You always did take up too much space!"

"We're not having this argument," said Giorgio. "Now get out of the truck now!"

"NEVER!" Sprig shouted as he grabbed a packet of wasabi and sprayed it in Giorgio's face. He screamed and let Sprig go. "MY EYES!"

Anne jumped through the window and grabbed Sprig with all her strength, but he tried to free himself. But inadvertently, he flipped the drive lever and the food truck began to move forward. Giorgio recovered from the wasabi attack and was about to hypnotize Sprig to get him to stop...only to see the food truck was gone. "Uh-oh."

Inside the restaurant, Ned told Mrs. Boonchuy the good news, but she was not hearing it. "Ned, I don't have time for this nonsense."

"But your note said..."

"Note?" Mrs. Boonchuy asked, just as legitimately confused as he was. He took the note from him. It read, "Neddy, come to my restaurant right away. Let's discuss my recipes. Mrs. B." This was not her handwriting and when she saw the signature, she knew right away who had tricked the both of them. "PIIIIIIINK FROOOOOOOOOG!"

They both looked out the window, only to see that Ned's livelihood was missing.

Anne and Sprig continued fighting, but when they turned the tipper by mistake and felt a little jump, they noticed that the food truck was moving forward in a hurry. "HOLY CRABAPPLES," screamed Anne.

"When did we start moving," exclaimed Sprig.

Anne quickly buckled herself and Sprig's seatbelts and took control of the steering wheel. "OK. I've never driven a car but but I have driven Bessie and and played 900 hours of Super Mario Kart."

"ANNE, LOOK OUT!"

Anne turned left to avoid hitting a tree. "Uh, uh- Brakes! Gotta mash the brakes!" She slammed on the breaks, but to her horror, they did not work. To make matters worse, the truck was going down a hill. "The brakes aren't working!" She soon got the answer why when she saw a note taped to the windshield that read, "Ned, You rascal, don't forget to fix the breaks. Ned." She let out a yell of anger, "NEEEEEEEED!"

"It's OK, Anne. I've got this," said Sprig as he pulled on the truck's radio. "Whoa, girl. Whoa!"

"DUDE, THAT ONLY WORKS ON SNAILS!"

Anne saw a pile of garbage and along with Sprig, they screamed. Fortunately, she was able to crash through that pile and they were relieved, but then she saw another obstacle. "OHHHH NOOOO!" The obstacle turned out to be a turtle hiding in its shell upon seeing them. Anne swerved the truck out of the way but spun out of control.

Meanwhile up on the rooftops, Giorgio followed the truck by leaping across the rooftops, performing parkour feats even he never knew he could do. Must be one of the perks of being a vampire, he thought. Up ahead, he saw two men are shown passing a giant TV while they met outside on their balconies.

"Thanks for letting me borrow your TV," one of them said.

"Just be careful," said the second. "This thing is like a son for me." Giorgio leaped through the TV, smashing it in the process. "JUNIOR!"

Giorgio leaped onto another rooftop and saw Anne heading straight for a skatepark. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" He leaped at a great bound and landed in front of the truck before it could enter the park.

"JOJO, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" shouted Anne.

"I got an idea," shouted Giorgio. "Brace yourselves!"

"Brace for what?!" shouted Sprig.

Giorgio ran toward the truck and gave it a punch, leaving a huge dent in it and activating the airbags which slammed into Anne and Sprig's faces. Well, at least the truck stopped. In the skatepark, a group of skaters saw the whole thing and took pictures of it.

Giorgio exhaled in relief and collapsed onto his back. "Everyone okay," he asked. Anne and Sprig groaned as the airbags deflated. "Good. Because I'm GONNA KILL YOU SPRIG! WRRRYYY!" he shouted before he jumped through the windshield and put his hands around Sprig's throat. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU, DRAIN YOU OF BLOOD, TURN YOUR CORPSE INTO A ZOMBIE, AND THEN KILL YOUR ZOMBIE!"

"Help me, Anne," choked Sprig.

"Hmm...let me think about it," said Anne.

"ANNE!"

"Okay, okay. I think he's had enough," said Anne as he tapped Giorgio's shoulder.

"Dude, he sprayed me in the face with wasabi," he shouted. It was only when Anne activated her Ripple did he finally let go. "You know how to take the fun out of everything," he grumbled. "I wasn't really going to kill him."

"AHEM!" The kids looked outside to see Ned and Mrs. Boonchuy, and they did not look happy. Quickly, Sprig put on his human disguise before Ned could see him.

"I don't believe this," said Mrs. Boonchuy.

"Me either," said Ned. "You sent your daughter to destroy my truck? What are you people, insane?"

"Anne had NOTHING to do with this, it was ALL me," said Sprig. "I was just-" Mrs. Boonchuy frowned at him and he gave her the sorriest look ever as he took off his hat. "I just wanted to be a part of the family but I should've respected your boundaries instead of pestering you into something you didn't want."

Mrs. Boonchuy sighed and got down on her knees and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's OK, pink frog... I mean, Sprig. I know how much you mean to my daughter and how much she means to you." Hearing this, Anne smiled. Giorgio smiled too. "I probably shouldn't have treated you like such an outsider," Mrs. Boonchuy said.

Ned suddenly began bawling like a baby and said, "I feel like and outsider too. I love your restaurant so much. I just wanted to be a part of it but- but I was wrong." He fell to the ground and bawled some more. " I'm so sorry... I'm done trying to get your recipes... I just realized this is a gross appropriation of your culture and I should just show myself out."

He started to crawl away like an inchworm, but Giorgio grabbed him, pulled him onto his feet, and said"Would you stop doing that? You're embarrassing yourself even more."

"I don't wanna," he blubbered.

Mrs. Boonchuy exhaled as she got up and said, "Ned, look. I can't give you the recipes because they are for family only but... we could use some help with deliveries."

Ned's eyes brightened. "D...Deliver? Me?"

"I mean, it won't pay much but you will be part of the restaurant."

"And I'll help pay off the damages done to Ned's truck," said Giorgio as he gestured to the huge dent in the food truck. "It's the least I can." He took out his credit card and sighed. "I'm going to get quite quite the earful from Mom and Dad when they find out about the repair bill."

Mrs. Boonchuy stared wide-eyed. "YOU did that? How did you...?!"

"Dude, how rich are you," exclaimed Anne.

"Hey, don't even think about asking to borrow money from me, Boonchuy," growled Giorgio.

"Oh, thank you," said Ned as he gave Giorgio a hug, then gave the Boonchuys a hug. "Oh, you will not regret it, Mrs. Boonchuy. Not for a second. Whoo-hoo! Yay! I'll make you guys proud!" Since his truck was totaled, he had to take a taxi home, but he didn't care. He was just so happy to be part of Thai Pad.

Sprig took off his face mask and patted his hands. "Welp, I guess we're all done here." He was just about to leave when Mrs. Boonchuy grabbed him by the hood of his jacket and lifted him up to eye level. "Not so fast," she said sternly. "If you think you're getting ot of here without an earful, you've got another thing coming. Firstly, how dare you disobey me? Secondly, how dare you put Anne and yourself in danger? Thirdly, why are you smiling?" she asked, confused.

Sprig could not have been more happier. "You're... You're scolding me. Which means..."

Anne said after giving him a friendly punch in the arm, "Yep. You're family now, bud."

Sprig hugged Mrs. Boonchuy tight. "YAAAAY!"

"Already having second thoughts about this," she said.

After calling a tow truck for Ned's truck, the Boonchuy family closed up shop and returned home. Once they did, Giorgio gathered the Plantars in the attic to tell them his discovery with Gabby. "So I was right," said Anne in disbelief. "Gabby is a Stand user?"

"Yeah. She was pierced by the arrow app and gained an automatic long-ranged Stand. One that activates every time she falls asleep. It gets worse. It has the power to steal people's secrets all over the city and give them to Gabby. It's how she knows so much gossip."

"Oh, this is bad, this is really, really bad," said Anne as she paced back and forth.

"How is it bad," asked Sprig.

"Because I have the biggest secret of all! I have a family of alien frogs and a vampire living in my house! If she finds out about that, we'll be on the elven o'clock news!"

"I don't think you have to worry about that," said Giorgio. "Gabby may be a gossiper, but she does respect people's privacy to an extent."

"Can't she control this Stand," asked Hop Pop.

"No. Automatic Stands like Talking In Your Sleep, that's the name of Gabby's Stand by the way, don't follow their users command and instead follow preset instructions."

"Can't she give it a new set of instructions," asked Polly.

"Yes, but there's always the chance it will activate when she falls asleep. The Speedwagon Foundation have to keep a close eye on her."

Suddenly, Mr. Boonchuy's voice rang out, "JoJo! There's someone at the door for you! Said he's looking for you!" Giorgio's heart raced when he heard that.

"Who could be looking for JoJo," asked Polly. "An assassin?"

"Probably another tax collector," said Hop Pop. "I'll get the crowbar."

"No," said Giorgio with trepidation. "My father."

Anne's eyes widened. "No...way..."

Anne, the Plantars, and Giorgio went downstairs to the front door. There, standing at the door with Anne's parents, was a man with golden hair of moderate length tied back in a short, braided tail, with three distinctive oversized curls arranged in a row over his forehead. He was wearing a two-piece suit with a checkered coat tail and several ornate features, including wing-shaped emblems on the collars and a heart-shaped opening in the chest area. The most distinctive features on his suit were the three ladybug emblems located on either side of his chest and directly below his zipper. On his loafers were the same ladybug emblems.

The moment the man's blue eyes fell upon Giorgio, he made a frown. "D...Dad..." stammered Giorgio.

The Plantars and Anne stared wide mouthed.

"Oh..." said Polly.

"My..." said Hop Pop.

"Frog..." said Sprig.

"Th-This is JoJo's dad," exclaimed Anne. "OMG, it's the Boss!"

"Dad," said Giorgio. "Look, I know you have a lot of questions, and I know I made you worried, but..."

Giorno Giovanna ran up to his son and pulled him into a hug. "Idiota," he said in a tone that would soothe even the most feral of beasts. "Hai idea di quanto ci hai fatto preoccupare?"

Giorgio stood still for a moment, then his tears started to form as he hugged his father back. "Mi dispiace, Papà."

⬅ To be continued...