Hi everyone, SemiInsaneCentipede here with the first chapter of my new fic: The Stolen Mask. This is my second fic overall and my first for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. I'm very excited to start this story, as it has been on my mind for some time. I do not own JoJo's or any of the artists, musicians or bands referenced. Please enjoy!

The Stolen Mask

Chapter 1

Near Alice Springs, Australia

As the yellow glow over the red desert and low, pale green shrubbery lost its harshness, the old man wiped the sweat from his forehead and climbed out of the tunnel. The sand beneath his boots crunched as he walked back to the temporary house that had been built into a shipping container with the large wheel of the Speedwagon Foundation printed on the sides. He fell into a fold-out chair and let out a pent-up sigh. This whole excavation had been his idea, but sometimes he felt as though he'd never find anything. He reached into the esky he kept beside the chair and uncapped a beer. After a long draught he groaned, that's better, and reclined into a more comfortable position. He had other employees still working in the tunnel, so it wasn't as if he was wasting time. In fact, his age and rank excepted him from the work, but such was his enthusiasm for the project that he couldn't resist doing some of the work himself.

Placing the beer down, he reached into a pocket and procured a packet of cigarettes. He leaned to one side for better access to the pocket where he kept his lighter but coughed abruptly into one hand as he did so. A splatter of dark red and with black sediment now rested on the back of his left hand. He looked at it with disdain. "Better not." He grumbled, pocketing the cigarettes and taking another long swig of beer. He looked around and found a harsh beauty in the semi-arid landscape. The old man scratched the side of his face and found short, rough whiskers. He normally remained clean-shaven, but he'd poured every spare minute into the excavation. Ever since the new tech had detected empty space underground, his adventurous spirit had demanded that he see what was there. Especially, he thought, looking at his hand, before I die.

"Haddrock! Haddrock!" The cries for his attention jolted the old man from the stupor he hadn't realised he'd fallen into. Only the smallest skerrick of the sun remained above the horizon now. Haddrock looked up to see one of the younger members of the operation running towards him excitedly. "What is it?" He asked, slowly rising from the chair.

"Sir, we've found the space! Come look!" Revitalised upon hearing this, Haddrock's fatigue disappeared and he placed down his empty bottle. "Well? Let's go!" The worker turned around and Haddrock followed with the run of someone who'd had leg problems before.

They descended into the tunnel with lanterns and torches, a low babble could be heard further down, the voices of many excited people trying not to speak too loudly. "Coming through, coming through!" Haddrock grumbled as he burst past them, his uneven gait giving him a strange wobble. He slowed to a walk once he was past everyone and the one leading him stepped aside respectfully to allow him into their discovery.

Haddrock's breathing echoed throughout the circular chamber. Intricate patterns detailed every visible surface, a central pillar reached the five metres from floor to ceiling. Rubies, emeralds and sapphires decorated the pillar, and the sculpture of a man jutting out from the pillar's side, looking directly at Haddrock with cold dead stone eyes. Haddrock shone his torch around the cavern, as the light passed over the gems, the whole room lit up hypnotically as the light refracted. When he'd started this investigation, he hadn't known what to expect, but now that he had found it, he realised that it was exactly what he had desired. He walked around, eyes filled with a youthful wonder. On the back of the pillar, he found a face without eyes. He examined it for a minute, then walked back towards the entrance of the cavern and picked up a pickaxe someone had left and walked back around the pillar.

Wedging the point of the pickaxe around the mask, he jiggled the pick and the face fell out into his other, free hand with a cascade of dust and small rocks. Haddrock noiselessly placed down the pick and shone the torch over the mask's features. He walked back around the front and looked at the sculpture of the man. He was impressively sculpted, shirtless, well-defined muscles and in an extravagant pose. Most striking was the height, well over three metres tall and possessing a primal royalty about him. "I believe, sir, that I know what you are." Haddrock muttered. He sighed. His job had suddenly become more important. Haddrock's throat itched and he coughed a dirty cough into his hand, realising too late he'd coughed on the mask. He released the mask as it absorbed the blood and large white spikes curved out of its back. It clattered loudly on the ground. "Everything alright, sir?" Someone called.

"Yes, yes, I'll be out in a minute." Haddrock called back, picking the mask back up as the spikes retracted.

Haddrock emerged and addressed the crowd that waited expectantly, holding the mask behind his back. "Good work, everyone." He begun. "But don't all rush in, we've uncovered a Pillar Man." He was met with a disappointing silence. "Pillar Men? No?" Haddrock sighed, then pointed at an employee. "You, you're the oldest after me, yes? How old are you?"

"Uh, thirty-three, sir."

"And you don't know what I'm talking about?"

"No sir, sorry." Haddrock sighed again.

"What year is it?"

"Two-thousand-and-ten, sir."

"This is… you… have none of you done your Speedwagon Foundation history?" Silence again. Haddrock waved dismissively. "Whatever, no-one is to go back there, someone call the Foundation and tell them we've found an unawakened Pillar Man. Get them to send assistance."

The helicopters landed the next morning. Incredibly high-powered UV lights were unloaded and wheeled down into the tunnel. Haddrock was congratulated by some higher-ups while his employees begun packing up the operation. Haddrock watched now from the comfort of his room. The blood he coughed was now more black than red, he'd been promised a big paycheque when he returned to civilisation, but he feared he wouldn't live that long, he'd had the smoker's cough for years now, after all. In the afternoon, someone knocked on his door and he hastily put what he'd been working on into a drawer and answered.

"Well, Haddrock, it's done. We killed it." It was the leader of the response team.

"Well, that's a relief." Haddrock replied. "It wasn't likely to hurt anyone where it was, but we couldn't just leave it there with everyone knowing what it was." The leader nodded solemnly. "I'm no fan of attacking while the enemy's asleep, but a monster of that power… I've only seen the old videos from the Nazis, but you might remember how they were."

"I was nine when the Pillar Men awakened, not part of the Foundation then, so I learned about them the same way you did." Haddrock admitted. "That footage still chills me to this day."

"I see. Well, I'd say we've done good work today." The leader hesitated for a moment. "You didn't happen to find a mask in there at all, did you?" Haddrock furrowed his brow.

"No, no mask." He lied and the leader nodded.

"Good, good. We can't have another one of those running around. Well, I'll see you later, I suppose. We both have reports to write."

"That we do. Farewell." Haddrock bid, shutting the door.

Haddrock took all his things from the cupboards and drawers and packed them away into bags. He sat beside the driver of one of the trucks transporting the shipping container houses away for the ride to Alice Springs, where they would make sure everything was in order before continuing north to Darwin. Haddrock coughed a few times on the ride, concealing the blood in a handkerchief. They arrived in Darwin as night began to fall and Haddrock sighed as he fell back onto his bed after unpacking all his things. This accommodation was also provided by the Speedwagon Foundation and, though small, suited all Haddrock's needs in life.

Haddrock coughed. It was muffled by his shut lips and he had to roll onto his side as the blood that he had dislodged had fallen back into his throat. He coughed a few more times, each one racking his body. He scrambled to sit up, one hand over his mouth with dark blood welling up inside of it. Is this it? His body was jolted again. His throat felt raw and dry. He staggered to the kitchen, opened up the tap and thrust his head beneath the clear stream. The water soothed his throat, its coolness drawing a relieved sigh from him. He straightened up and shudderingly inhaled a lungful of air. Awful. Terrible. He walked back to his bed, leaning heavily on the wall. He looked over to his desk and fell into the chair that sat before it. With his elbow on the desk and his head in one hand, Haddrock opened a desk drawer with his other hand and reached in. His bloodied hand gripped the stone mask, as he did, the pale spikes shot out again, several puncturing the wood of the desk. When the spikes withdrew, he placed the mask before him.

After a moment, he lifted it lightly with both hands and held it over his face, looking out through the eye holes. There was no noise, only that of Haddrock's heavy breathing as he looked out at the world around him through the mask. The cold stone reflected his breath so that he felt a light wind all over his face. He coughed again and threw the mask away as the spikes shot out hungrily once more. No, not with that blood. He grabbed a knife from the kitchen and returned to the mask, which lay face-up on his desk. I'm a good person, he told himself, but he didn't believe it, so he affirmed it aloud. "I'm a good person," He said shakingly "I can control it. I am not evil." Saying this, he cut his right hand with the knife. Blood appeared along the thin cut in a red line with small droplets forming. Then they fell across his skin, a morbid image was drawn across him. He dropped the knife and it clattered at his feet. He reached out with his right hand, hovering it centimetres away from the mask, hesitant. He coughed again, the blood splattered onto the floor. Haddrock grit his teeth, grabbed the mask with his bleeding hand and pulled it to his face.

Speedwagon Foundation Call Centre, Texas, United States of America

"Speedwagon Foundation, Employee Concerns Department. How can we be of assistance?"

"Haddrock… He…He's a monster!"

"Slow down please! Is this a concern about a fellow employee?"

"He's… He was my boss, but now… He just drained the blood from… from…!"

"Is everything alright?!"

"Wrrrrrryyyyyyyy…"

"Hello! Hello? Is anyone there?"

Later

"Why didn't you report this call as soon as you ended it?"

"I'm sorry sir! I didn't know what to make of it!"

"Damn it! The repercussions of this could be catastrophic!"

"What do we do, sir?"

"Call all of our branches!"

"A-all of them, sir?"

"In every country! Put governments on watch for Haddrock! Do not let him leave Australia!"

"Y-yessir!"

Even later

"Sir! We've found Haddrock!"

"Excellent, where is he?"

"Well, he got on a plane-"

"WHAT?!"

"Please sir, it was a domestic flight to Melbourne."

"That's… still not great."

"S-so what now?"

"Contact our Stand users. I recall we have at least one in Melbourne."

"Uh… Stand user… sir?"

"Stands are… Look, I'll make the calls, you just… just go home."

"Sir."

Vnukovo Airport, Moscow, Russia

"This way, Ohkran." The slender man looked over at the one who had called him from behind dark sunglasses, nodded once, then followed. "So, to Australia, yes?" Ohkran asked as they walked, his black trench coat swaying slightly in his wake. "Yes, we've got a situation with a vampire."

"'We have', or 'they have?'" Ohkran pressed. The other man frowned.

"'We,' Ohkran, we're the Speedwagon Foundation wherever we are." There was a moment of silence. "'We' also won't be tolerating any shit from you, Ohkran."

"Come on, I'm just pulling your leg."

"Well you don't do it very well. Now hurry up, we have a private jet waiting." Ohkran let out a low whistle at this.

"Well, it's certainly no puddle-jumper." Ohkran commented at the sight of the large black jet, every sleek line of it screamed speed. "So, is this a solo mission, or are you just trying to get rid of me?"

"You will meet with some other Stand users and work with them." Ohkran frowned at the emphasis.

"Hey, I said I was joking earlier."

"Whatever, just get on. You'll be making a stop-over in Nepal on the way."

"Nepal? Why would I want to go to that frozen wasteland?" The man abruptly stopped walking and looked at Ohkran, who also stopped and stared back. "You are from northern Russia, yes?"

"Da." He responded. The man looked hard at Ohkran to see if he could elicit a realisation but received none. "Joking again, I suppose?"

"Da." The other man sighed. "I thought the enemy was in Australia, did they suddenly mount Everest?" Ohkran smiled when he said this, thinking himself quite witty.

"Yes, you've got three days to climb up there yourself and defeat the enemy."

"Wait-"

"A joke, I assure you." Humbled, Ohkran started muttering as they continued across the tarmac.

"Not funny when you do it." He grumbled.

The engines started as they drew near, and the pair separated on the stairs leading to the jet's interior. "The flight to Nepal shouldn't be too long, not in this jet. Shouldn't have any time to get bored." Ohkran smirked.

"Yes, well, I'll always have my literature just in case." He lifted up the silver attaché he'd been carrying with him. The other man sighed. "Yes, yes. I suppose you will. Don't make a mess on the jet!" With that, they parted ways and the hatch closed as Ohkran walked deeper into the jet.

"Now, where should I sit?" He pondered aloud as the jet started to move and he looked around. There were only two rows of chairs, and each row had five sets of two chairs facing each other. The chairs were big and looked comfortable, as Ohkran walked closer to one, he could see that each one possessed six different ways to recline the chair. "Here, I think." He concluded, picking somewhere halfway between the rear and cockpit. As he went to sit, he was violently thrown to the back of the jet as it rapidly accelerated and became airborne. Ohkran's feet left the ground and a knock on his shoulder from one chair sent him spiralling down the jet's length. His attaché burst open upon hitting the wall, and a colourful array of pornographic magazines spilled everywhere. Hearing a cacophony of banging and Russian profanities, the co-pilot stuck his head out and said in rough Russian. "Uh sir, the seatbelt sign is still on." Ohkran yelled back at him angrily and the co-pilot thought for a moment. "My Russian isn't very good, could you say that again, simpler, please?" Ohkran yelled again and the co-pilot, recognising one word, withdrew his head feeling that he could guess the rest.

The jet levelled out and Ohkran set about putting his 'literature' back into his case. He went back to the seat he had chosen and sat down, rubbing the back of his head. "I'll bet they're laughing up there." He mumbled to himself as he explored the various combinations of ways that he could recline. After finding an acceptable balance, Ohkran set about reading an English phrasebook that was sitting in a pouch. Ohkran was an adept English speaker, but it never hurt to go back over what he knew.

Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, Nepal

A few people stood around a large man on the tarmac. Everyone except the man was dressed in Speedwagon Foundation uniform. Winter uniform specifically, with jackets that they pulled tighter around themselves when they could. The man towered above all the others and wore less. He was heavily tanned and well-muscled, his head shaved bald and his face clean-shaven. He wore long pants, but no shoes, something that seemed the height of stupidity, but the cold did not seem to bother him. He wore no shirt, but instead had two scarves, big hand-woven ones that hung down from his neck and covered up most of his upper body but leaving his stomach for the world to see. The scarves were different colours, but both were dull in pigment and had small offshoot braids on the sides that each ended in a differently coloured bead.

The black jet landed on the runway smoothly and was directed off the main runway, the white Speedwagon Foundation logo on its sides drawing the attention of many onlookers in terminals. When the jet stopped moving, Ohkran peered out a window to get a glimpse of his new ally. "He's huge!" He exclaimed. A truck approached the jet to refuel it and Ohkran hastily stood and set about buttoning up his trench coat to make himself look bigger. Stairs were brought to the jet's side and the big man ducked his head as he climbed aboard. Ohkran reached up to his blond hair and flicked down his sunglasses as the big man's footsteps approached. The big man asked something in one language, gesturing to the seat opposite Ohkran, and the other man responded in a different language, but with a similar gesture. The big man sat down. "English?" Ohkran asked hopefully.

"English." The big man agreed.

A large, tanned hand was extended. "My name is Liev." Ohkran clasped the hand with his own.

"I am Ohkran, I'm looking forward to working with you." Liev nodded and sat back. A silence ensued that unnerved the Russian. Ohkran had no insecurities about his body, but some were now starting to develop as Liev sat in front of him. Those abs are the bigger than my hands! Liev spoke, startling Ohkran, who had fallen into a trance of muscular jealousy. "Do you know anything about our mission?" His voice was deep, Ohkran imagined it echoed around his chest after he spoke.

"I know that there is a vampire we must kill." He responded. "And that they're in Australia, which is mostly desert, so you'd think the sun would kill it for us." Liev didn't react to this, simply nodding and folding his arms over his chest.

"You, uh… get cold in that?" Ohkran asked, nodding towards Liev's lack of proper clothing. Liev shrugged. "Not anymore. I've trained in the mountains for years. I don't feel much cold anymore."

"Right." Ohkran nodded. As the jet started to move, Liev pointed out the window.

"That mountain, in fact." Ohkran followed the finger and pouted a little. Of course he trained on Mount Everest. Probably right at the peak. Unaided too. A happier thought struck Ohkran after this. Thank god we're using Stands, not our actual bodies. "Have you ever fought a vampire?" Ohkran asked and Liev shook his head. "There hasn't been a vampire sighted for two decades."

"What about other Stand users? Ever fought one?"

"No. Yourself?" Liev asked and Ohkran smiled. A point of superiority!

"I have disposed of a few problematic Stand users around Russia and Eastern Europe." He responded. Liev bowed his head. "Then I suppose I will be learning from you on this mission."

Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne, Australia

Bernard grew a concerned look on his face as he read through the report the Speedwagon Foundation employee had handed him. A Speedwagon vest rested on his shoulders, the zipper undone showed an orange high-visibility shirt underneath. "Is this all we have?" He asked the employee. "Not quite, sir. That's the first report, our findings have since advanced." Bernard stood up. "Well? Let's see them."

"No report has been written; we only have verbal confirmation." Bernard's brow furrowed further at this. "That's very unusual." The employee nodded agreement.

"Yes. It's also unusual for a whole group of our information gatherers to commit suicide at the time."

"What!?" Bernard exclaimed. The employee's voice turned strained.

"Yes, suicide. We've done several analyses of the scene, but all signs point to mass suicide." Bernard sat back down and crossed his arms, troubled. "What was the information they had for us?"

"They allegedly had evidence of the involvement of The Badloves." Bernard looked up at this.

"That old gang? I thought they'd gone back underground." Bernard rubbed his dark stubble contemplatively. "As did we all. They may have resurfaced. Or someone may be using their name to inspire fear." Bernard sighed.

"Well, we're going to find out. No-one just 'commits suicide' when gangs are involved." The employee smiled. "I hope so, sir. Oh, there are your colleagues now." Bernard stood again and ran a hand through his longish brown hair. Ohkran and Liev were being led by another employee. The three met and continued to be directed out of the airport.

A large four-wheel drive waited for them in the multilevel carpark. "The location of the safehouse we've arranged has already been inputted into the navigation system." An employee told them. "A satellite phone is in the back, it can't be traced and has a direct link to a task force made specifically for this mission." Ohkran approached the car.

"Good, same old protocol, we'll call when we make it there." He opened up a front door and climbed in. "This is not the driver's seat." He realised aloud.

"We're a bit different down here." Bernard told him as he climbed into the driver's seat on the other side of the car. A loud thud made the pair look abruptly to the back seat, where Liev had knocked his head on the roof while getting in. "Y'right?" Bernard asked and Liev grunted as he squeezed his massive frame into the car, his head sideways against the roof so that he could sit up straight. "Didn't sit on the sat phone, did you?" Bernard asked with more urgency.

"I broke one on a mission in Lithuania," Ohkran added "the Foundation was not happy."

"Phone's fine." Liev grunted. "Just me."

Softsill, Melbourne, Australia

Softsill was an outer suburb of Melbourne, and one that Bernard had never been to before. "Get a good look at everything." He told the other two. "We'll have maps at the safe house, but it's good to know what everything looks like." Liev tried to take this advice, his head grinding against the roof of the car as he turned it to look out the window. The safe house was unremarkable and Ohkran smiled, just the way he liked it. In the garage, Liev stretched and rejoiced in his returned mobility. Ohkran and Bernard set about exploring their new abode. It had three small bedrooms, a kitchen, one bathroom and a larger area that was a combination of dining and lounge rooms. A large table sat in the middle of the larger room, set out on it was another satellite phone, some maps and several printed out reports.

"Ow." Liev complained as he knocked his head on another doorframe while entering the house, a large gym bag full of his possessions over one shoulder. Ohkran finished his overview of the house and returned to where Bernard now sat in the large room. "Looks safe enough." He declared and Bernard nodded. "What have we got here?" Ohkran picked up a map of Softsill and sat down. Liev entered the room and saw the other two studying documents. "I'm taking the first room down the hallway." He announced. "I don't have to squeeze to get there." No response came, the other two were too absorbed in their readings. Liev sat in a chair awkwardly and started twiddling his large thumbs, looking around at the papers scattered across the table. He picked one up and looked at it blankly; he could speak English, but he couldn't read it. He continued to pretend to understand it as he waited for one of the other men to say something.

After a few more minutes, Bernard placed the report he'd been reading back onto the table and stood. Liev looked up hopefully. "Right, it looks to me that we've got some work to do." Ohkran looked up from the map. "We have a vampire to catch and the highly likely involvement of The Badloves gang." Bernard continued. "This suburb, Softsill, is known to be a place where The Badloves operate. We'll investigate, find out how they're involved, detain them and get them to lead us to the vampire." Ohkran stood now.

"Sounds like a plan to me." He agreed as Liev hastily stood as well.

"Yeah… let's do that." He supplied. Bernard allowed a small smirk.

"Gentlemen, let's get to work."

I hope you guys enjoyed this, it's certainly something I've come to be passionate about. I'd be interested in any feedback anyone has to offer. Once the story gets to the fighting, I might use part of my notes at the end of a chapter to present the Stands' statistics if you guys are interested. I'll see you all (hopefully) in the next chapter!