Grateful Dead - Coco Jumbo
Fiamma wondered how Giorno would handle this mission. It wasn't the mission per se she wondered about but rather Giorno interacting with the other two, more so Abbacchio than Fuga.
She kept up her perimeter shifts, every so often walking around the property to check for incoming threats. Other than that she was rather bored, but that wasn't a bad thing. Although she wished she had a book to read.
Since she had to keep her senses alert and ready for any enemies that entered the area, taking a nap was out of the question, so Fiamma decided to turn into a cat and started messing with the other three guys who were there.
Narancia had a piece of cloth dangling off his outfit and Fiamma took to batting at it. It was kind of unexpected when Narancia pulled the string off and started dangling it in front of her. When she went after Mista Sex Pistols came out and Fiamma chased them around it was quite the sight to see but the fun ended when Number 3 bodychecked Number 6, and the little Stand started crying. When Fiamma went to Bucciarati she weaved around his legs, he didn't pay her much mind keeping on high alert, but he did take a moment to reach down and pet her head.
The tense air of the safe house dissipated a bit with Cat Fiamma running about. They say interacting with animals causes stress to decrease and has calming effects, it seems Fiamma's presence as a feline was doing just that.
Fiamma was making her third-round outside when Giorno, Fuga, and Abbacchio came back. Just like when Narancia returned these three were injured. Abbacchio being the worst as his hand had been cut off at the wrist. Fiamma was intrigued as she watched Bucciarati use Zipperman to essentially reattach the severed hand.
The trio had claimed the key but during the retrieval they hit a snag in the road as another member of the hitman team had attacked them. With all three of them working together they were able to take out the hitman but not without a few injuries of their own.
The key they had gone all that trouble for was rather old looking, resembling more of an antique rather than a functioning key. It was gold with an octagon-shaped head with a red jewel embedded in the center.
The group quickly collected themselves gathering what they needed and piled in a van going to their next destination. Fiamma sat in the very back of the van with Fuga, Mista, and Trish.
"Let me see the key we obtained again, Narancia."
"Huh? Here."
Narancia tossed the key to the front of the van where Abbacchio was sitting.
"Wait! Don't throw it!"
Abbacchio put his hand out unfortunately it was the hand that had previously been severed and was still healing. The key hit his hand causing him to yell out in pain.
"You little shit!"
"Dang, talk about overreacting. Isn't the fact that your feeling pain a good sign?" Narancia said
"I just had it reattached thirty minutes ago. It still hurts, damn it!" Abbacchio cursed
He grabbed the key examing it, as he held it closer he could see the jewel of the key had a message inscribed in it which.
"'I thank you for protecting my daughter, Bucciarati. Go to the drinking fountain with a turtle on the sixth platform at Naples Station, and use this key. Then take my daughter to Venice by train. P.S. My missions for you will end once you get to Venice.' What's supposed to be by the drinking fountain at the station?"
"Turtle."
"What?"
Several eyes looked to Fiamma.
"You just read there was a turtle in a water fountain," Fiamma said
"Dumbass what could a turtle do," Abbacchio said
Fiamma narrowed her eyes. "You've fallen so far down my list."
"The boss mentioned a way for us to travel without being found by the enemy. The station is dangerous, but we'll just have to trust him and go," Bucciarati said
"D-Do you think the boss is actually in Venice? Sure its mentioned in that note," Narancia said
"We don't need to think about that. We're just going to do as were ordered. There's a super express leaving for Florence in ten minutes. We'll take that. Fiamma is anyone following us?" Bucciarati asked
Fiamma shook her head. "No."
"The same can't be said for the station though." Mista threw in. "There'll be plenty of paid guys who'll report information about us."
As Fiamma kept watch from the back windows she heard Mista whisper something to Fuga.
"Yeah, I get it, Fuga," Mista gave a small chuckle, "I can't help but stare at her you-know-whats, either."
"Eh? Th-That's…."
"I don't know where to look, it's hard when there are two great views," Mista whispered
"Huh?"
Fuga turned his eyes in the direction of where Mista was looking. With Fiamma's back to the group, they could see her backside, and thanks to the skintight outfit she wore every curve was perfectly outlined.
Suddenly the van took a sharp turn and Fuga was thrown from his seat and his head ended up landing right in the chest of Trish.
Both Fuga and Trish were stunned, neither moving. Mista yelled, grabbing Fuga by the back of his jacket yanking him back.
"Please forgive Fuga! He didn't mean any harm! He wasn't trying to take advantage of the sudden braking to see your breasts or stroke your thighs under your skirt! He just couldn't help himself!"
"Hey stop that! I actually lost my balance, but you're making it sound worse!" Fuga shouted
"Please don't tell the boss!" Mista pleaded
Suddenly a hand was placed on the back of Mista's head than another on the back of Fuga's, before the two could figure out what was happening their heads were smashed together. The two men cried out falling to the van floor grabbing their now throbbing noggins.
"Be quiet. I heard you both," Fiamma said
Trish who had been watching previously with a stunned confused expression turned her head away covering her mouth, hiding the subtle laugh that wanted to come out from watching Fiamma's punishment.
When they arrived at the station everyone boarded the train while Bucciarati went to the fountain. The train was starting to pull off from the station when Bucciarati hopped on holding a turtle tucked under his arm. In the shell of the turtle was a slot meant for the key. It turns out the turtle was a Stand user and its power was activated once the key was put in place. This gave the group access to a small room that was housed inside the turtle.
Abbacchio was pissed, clenching his fist glaring and gritting his teeth. Across from him was Fiamma, the woman sitting back in a relaxed position, arms crossed. He was pissed that Fiamma was right about the turtle and the woman seemed to be mocking him with her eyes, despite the fact that he couldn't see her eyes due to her bangs. Fiamma said nothing to the man but did stick her tongue out at him.
"Who's the dumbass now," Fiamma thought
"Th-The turtle is a Stand user?"
Narancia stuck his hand up towards the glass ceiling of the room, he didn't reach too far before half his body was yanked back outside of the turtle's room. He cried out before falling back into the room landing on one of the seats, rubbing the top of his head.
"Ow! But man, this is awesome! The turtle is like some kind of spaceship!"
"His name is Coco Jumbo," Fiamma stated
"What?" Fuga questioned
"That's the turtle's name. Coco Jumbo," Fiamma repeated
"Huh? How the hell would you know that?" Abbacchio asked
"He told me," Fiamma stated as if that would make things any less confusing.
Giorno spoke up, clearing the confusion. "Thanks to her ability Fiamma can understand animals."
"But this room isn't some kind of illusion. This is a real room. Even the sofa and other furniture are real." Fuga said
"There are some chilled drinks in here," Abbacchio spoke examining the contents of a mini-fridge.
"I guess the boss left them in there for us. Turtles like being in the shade, they aren't loud, and they don't scuttle about. This way, we should be able to get to Venice by train without worry," Bucciarati said
Fiamma stared up at the ceiling with a contemplative look.
"I've never turned into a turtle before." She thought.
It would take about an hour before the train arrived at its destination so the group tried their best to occupy themselves inside the turtle Coco. Fiamma was on the couch sitting upsidedown, kicking her feet in the air.
"It's probably because we're in a room inside a turtle, but it's sort of muggy in here," Mista said opening the mini-fridge, "You want a drink, too, Narancia? There are only cold drinks, but there's cola, mineral water, carbonated, non-carbonated, apple juice, orange juice, and pineapple. Hey, are you even listening?"
"Huh? What was that?!" Narancia called out, putting his hand next to his ear.
"I'm asking if you want something to drink! Why don't you get some rest while you're at it? You look pretty tired. I'll keep an eye on the ceiling," Mista said
"Oh, okay!"
Narancia started to walk over to the chairs, but what was rather odd was that he walked in a sort of hobbled fashion, holding a hand on his back.
"My shoulders suddenly feel stiff, and my back hurts. I'd really like something warm. Something that won't upset my stomach."
"I told you, there are only cold drinks in here! You never listen, do you!?" Mista snapped
Narancia looked to a bowl of fruit resting on the table.
"I'll just eat this banana, then."
As he reached for his fruit he started to cough and something came out his mouth. Fiamma suddenly sat up, her quick motion startling a few people.
"Fiamma, something wrong?" Giorno asked
"Blood and rotting food..."
Fiamma pointed to Narancia and he was hunched over staring down at the banana in his hand as something dangled from the edge of his mouth.
"I can't eat this banana for some reason. It's all hard and dry," Narancia said
He turned and it was revealed the object hanging out the edge of his mouth was a tooth.
"Hey...are you messing with us? Man, you startled me. That sort of looks like a tooth. I'm still pretty grossed out, so I can't really laugh. What is that hanging from your mouth?" Mista said
"Huh? Did you say something again, Mista?"
Narancia's voice came out weak and haggard just like an old man's. When he looked to Mista the gunman flinched shocked.
"You're speaking too softly…"
Narancia's face was withered, full of wrinkles. The tufts of hair that poked out from his headwear were no longer black but rather gray and quickly transitioning to white. His entire form had diminished, almost as if he was emaciated, the young man now shriveled like a raisin.
"I can't hear very well. I'm telling you, this banana is crumbling. I-I can't eat it."
"Wh-What the hell is wrong with you?! There's something wrong with your face!" Mista shouted
Narancia stood up and started yelling about the crumbling banana in his hand and how old it was.
"Bucciarati!"
"I know! It's a Stand attack! There must be an enemy on this train!" Bucciarati said
"What's this white stuff? It came from my head."
Narancia hadn't realized what was happening to him and had reached up scratching at his head causing him to grab a large clump of his now white hair.
"What's happening? Did something...happen?"
Eyes turned to the couch and the group gasped. Giorno, Fuga, and Abbacchio, all had succumbed to the aging effects.
"Th-They've all aged!"
Narancia looked to himself on a reflective surface.
"Wh-Who the hell is th-this? Wait? No way, this can't be! This is me?! What the hells going on?"
Giorno examined his body startled by the aging he was going through. Fiamma checked over Fuga and Abbacchio, they were both breathing, so they were either asleep or too weak to move as they laid still in their positions on the couch. Trish had a worried and distressed look on her face as she examined her skin searching for any signs of aging.
"A-A Stand that makes people age?" Mista said
"Mista…" Fiamma pointed to his face.
Mista too was starting to age, a few stray wrinkles appeared and his eyebrows were turning gray, but it was nowhere near as bad as what Narancia and the others were going through.
Mista pointed his gun up at the ceiling. "Did they figure out we're in this turtle?!"
"Calm down, Mista. If they knew we were inside this turtle, they would have used a more direct attack. And since they haven't, that means we have not been found yet. The enemy probably only knows that were somewhere on this train and, in order to find her, they're attacking everyone on the train indiscriminately!" Bucciarati said
"D-Does that mean this train is running with everyone on board affected?" Mista asked
"Probably. They're desperate. I'm sure they'll do anything, and without a second thought. This leaves us two choices. One, take Trish and somehow get off this train. Two, we find this enemy, even though we don't know their range, and dispel of them." Bucciarati said
"Obviously, we'll go with the second choice," Mista said
Both men were continuing to slowly age, Mista's aging progressed faster than Bucciarati's, as the leader only had a few creased wrinkles developing around his eyes.
"If we want to take her and run we'll have to stop the train. It's too dangerous. Assassinating them is more definitive, with my Sex Pistol!"
"Yes, you're right. But we don't have any time. Where aging at an alarming rate," Bucciarati said
"B-Bucciarati," Narancia groaned from the ground. "My hands….They're c-crumbing! They're falling apart!"
"He'll turn to dust soon," Fiamma said
"We really don't have any time!" Mista said
"Wait a minute Mista….It's too early to go," Giorno spoke wearily
The elderly teen tried to stand but Fiamma prevented him.
"What the hell are you talking about Giorno?!" Mista said
"I'm telling you, it's too early to go," Giorno said
"We don't have any time to waste!" Mista said
"Wait. Hear him out. What are you trying to say, Giorno?" Bucciarati asked
"Why are we all aging at a different rate than Bucciarati?" Giorno queried
Bucciarati looked down at his hands. "Mista's and my symptoms are light. Trish and Fiamma's are even less! But why?"
"Apparently, we're just aging at different rates! I'm going!" Mista said
He tried to leave but the back of his shirt was grabbed, and he was yanked down by Fiamma.
"No, if they're attacking everyone indiscriminately with age. They might end up killing her as well, despite her being the target. There's some kind of prerequisite to how fast we're aging. I'll tell you what I think. I think the enemy is differentiating between men and women by the difference in their body temperature. I read somewhere that women have more fat in their bodies, which makes them less susceptible to temperature fluctuations. Apparently, women also age better and live longer than men. Don't you think it's been a little hot? The enemy is differentiating the aging speed based on slight differences in body temperature. All that matters is that the men age faster, and she ages slower."
"Yeah, that sounds about right, but then why are you and I aging at different rates? Are you insinuating that I'm a girl?!" Mista said
Fiamma gave him a bland side glance. "Idiot."
"Body temperature….Come to think of it, our bodies were slightly cooler because we had something cold to drink. Narancia didn't have anything to drink." Trish said
She grabbed some ice from her drink placing it on Narancia's skin. Like magic, the skin that came in contact with the ice turned back to normal.
"Th-That's-Giorno, it's exactly like you said! We're aging slower because our bodies were slightly cooler!" Mista shouted
"Giorno's scary smart," Fiamma thought
Mista ran over to the mini-fridge. "Cool everyone down! Cool everyone down with ice!"
"Hold it, Mista! You're going to have to take that ice with you!" Bucciarati said
Mista looked to the ice tray to only see two cubes left. "Th-This is all that's left?"
"It doesn't change the fact that we have to dispose of the enemy. Mista, you're going to take that ice and defeat the enemy. Before the ice melts and you lose your Stand power!" Bucciarati said
Mista - 34
Oc - 24