Coco regained consciousness on the cold concrete floor of an unknown room. Her mind, hazy, but otherwise unharmed.

"Ms. Abelnite!" Yelled Kenny, one of her younger male students with a perpetually runny nose called out. "Ms. Abelnites awake everyone!"

The soft pitter-patter of small feet and worried voices cried out as they rushed to her, eyes wet. All in all Muska and his men had kidnapped seven of her students, her children, the bastards.

"Is everyone all right?" Coco asked, concern straining her voice.

Most nodded that they were fine, save for Josie, who raised her hand.

"Ms. A, Jin is trying to act tough, but one of those men in the dark clothes whacked him real good in the head."

"Shut up, Josie, ya stupid girl!" Jin yelled.

Josie looked somewhere between ready to cry and thumping the boy before Coco put a stop to it.

"Enough, you two." She reprimanded sternly. "Jin, come over here. Now." Her tone brooking no argument. Every student knew it was a foolish idea to get on Coco Abelnite's legendary bad side.

Demurely, the boy came over, head down in mild shame.

"It wasn't his fault Ms. A," Kenny said as she inspected his friend's head. "He was trying to yell fer help. The rest of us, I mean- I was too scared to yell with him."

"I know. You all were very brave. None of this is your fault, kids. No matter what happens, I promise I'll get you all home. Ok."

Most nodded, fully trusting in the promise she wasn't sure she should have made.

"But Ms. Abelnite," Josie said raising her hand as if she were in class. "Isn't your Granny real important like?"

That was a good point. Maybe if the gang in question had been new and unused to the ways of Meteor City, maybe then that would explain how they could foolishly kidnap the granddaughter of an Elder and think to get away with it. Things like this hadn't been done in Meteor city for over a decade, not since the Troupe had formed and the City of the Fearful had slowly transformed into the City of the Feared.

What's more. Muska had been their ringleader. Surely, he couldn't have been so foolish as to actually think he could get away with this. At the very least his affiliates would never have an easy time recruiting from the city again, assuming most weren't hunted down when this whole fiasco was over.

Could he really have become so unhinged, Coco thought to herself.

Her final memory of Muska came to the forefront of her mind, hazy from the drugs he had laced the macaroon with. His eyes, crystal clear, deranged, obsessed.

Having inspected Kenny's head, she was gladdened to see that no blood had been drawn, but a large welt laid under his hair that would likely take the better part of a week to go down. She'd have to ask Josuke to take a look at it. As finicky as he was about payment, she was sure he'd make an exception even if she didn't ask.

…Josuke. She thought longingly. He was probably in more danger than anyone.

Gathering the strength to heft herself to her feet, some of the children had to steady her as her feet began to wobble. When she finally had her bearings, she began to inspect the room.

It wasn't the largest she had been in, perhaps half the size of her classroom, but nearly every inch of the room was grey concrete, save for some of the roofing which was made of rebar, wooden beams, and iron paneling. Wherever they were, it was a fortress, which narrowed down their position to exactly one place that Coco could think of.

"Did any of you get a good look at the building we're in? Anyone at all?"

Slowly a hand from among the children raised itself among the other, this time belonging to Leez, a girl whose head was often in the clouds and almost always scribbling on her desk.

"I-I saw it, Ms. A." She said softly. Then shyly, she brought out the notebook she had recently been gifted from behind her back, pen in hand. "I-um, I hid them. I-I drew the building Ms. A. I-I'm not in trouble, am I?"

"No no, of course not, Leez. You did wonderfully." Coco said comforting the young girl. "If it's all right with you, could I see your drawing?"

Leez beamed at her teacher before flipping through the pages, stopping at a crudely drawn but still very recognizable building, confirming Coco's worries.

The Block. One of several similarly built bunker-esk buildings that Mafia from around the world had built in Meteor City to house their soldiers when they came to recruit.

But this building was only perhaps an hour away from Daggertown. There was no way Muska could actually believe he'd be able to hide both her and the students here for long. Rival gangs would have quietly contacted her grandmother to let her know that the competition had kidnapped the children. Even if they didn't, someone was bound to have seen them being taken, townspeople had to have been organizing themselves. How could Muska think he would get away with this?

*Knock**Knock**Knock*

The children rushed behind her in fear. Terrified of what, or who could be behind the door.

Not waiting for a response, the door began to open revealing two men, one with a crewcut, the other with spiked purple hair, both large, and in Coco's opinion, more than a little stupid looking.

"Boss man says you all come with us to eat, then we take you wiff us." The large man with the crewcut said absently.

"Where are you taking us!" Coco demanded. "I demand you tell us whe-"

*Pow!*

Coco stared dumbfounded at the loose trail of smoke coming out of Purple-hair's gun. Squeezing tightly the children who now clung to her, terrified, especially Josie, whom the bullet had been aimed at in warning.

"Boss man says we don't hurt you. Didn't say anything bout the kiddos." Purple-hair said blankly. "Um. You do what we say, or we'll….uh….-"

"Blast em." Crewcut finished. "Right?"

"Yeah, uh, don't make us wait."

Then they closed the door, snickering to themselves loudly.

"W-What are we gonna do Ms. A." Kenny wailed, salty liquid streaming down his eyes.

Coco dug into the deepest recesses of her heart to find the strength not to release similar tears. "I want you all to listen to me. For now, we're going to do what they say. Don't argue or fight them until I can think of something, ok. People are definitely coming for us."

The Children nodded, still visibly worried.

I swear, Coco thought. I swear I'll get you all out of this, even if it kills me.

I Swear I'll save you even if it kills me, Sen!

Josuke drove like a madman, taking every shortcut he knew, unafraid to offroad wherever and whenever the opportunity arose. Did he run over anyone, no. Had he come close? Well, it wasn't as if he had massive amounts of driving practice.

Within several dozen minutes, he had left Daggertown's metro area, exiting to the east on a trail that was quickly becoming more obvious the closer he followed it. More and more, Sen's lock of hair was dragging itself in the direction of the Junkanyon until he had driven onto the only path that led to the dangerous ravine.

Centuries of years worth of garbage had piled up there, as it did throughout much Meteor City, but supposedly, before even Gran had been born, the land had given out to create a gorge nearly 50 miles long, and twice as deep.

Tetanus was the least of the dangers in the area. Barbarians frequented the chasm, as did many a scavenger, and if that wasn't enough, sections of the ledge were known to give out without warning. It was a perfect place to hold someone hostage; Dangerous, out of the way, plenty of places to spring a trap, and more than a few great places to dispose of a body.

I swear if even one hair on her head is gone, I'll kill them all, Josuke thought, the irony of his tracking lost to him.

He drove for another twenty minutes at top speed, when he spied them. A makeshift cabin near the top of the gulch, surrounded by men in black suits carrying firearms. Curiously, none fired at him even as he speeded toward them.

Doesn't make sense. If they wanted to take me out, now would be their best chance.

Clearly, someone else felt the same way, as mere moments later, from a nearby junk heap he was just about to pass, a man on the hilltop carrying a long cylindrical weapon let loose the familiar sound of a rocket. His mistake, his aim being too good. It would have been wiser to fire the rocket near the buggy and hope Josuke flipped over.

As it was, the rocket drew near, Josuke remaining unafraid as the explosive got within a meter of the vehicle. The perfect range for-

"Crazy Diamond!" He yelled, summoning his stand.

His spirit manifested in the back seat, easily catching the projectile and launching the rocket back at the hilltop from whence it came. Several screams from the resulting explosion suggesting there had been more men laying in wait for an ambush.

As Josuke neared the cabin, several men exited the building, wearing similar suits and bearing all manner of guns. At their head was a large man, perhaps as much as 7 feet tall with dark hair and a thin mustache.

Josuke stopped the Buggy 20 feet from the men before calmly exiting the vehicle, ignoring the kidnappers as they aimed their barrels at his imposing figure.

"You, Too-tall. You the man with a death warrant."

The giant laughed. "Heh, I like the confidence kid. You know we could use a guy like you in the Staymos family. Interested in a job?"

"I don't listen to offers from fools stupid enough to make enemies out of my town. Now where. is Sen!" Josuke retorted, seething.

"Ha! Fair enough, not like it was a real offer anyway. Names Tom by the way, Big Tom to my friends." He clicked his fingers loudly, signaling several men to go back into the cabin. "You know, some of my friends you met in the market were done a bad turn by this podunk rundown craphole of a cesspit you call a town."

"Am I supposed to feel bad? Wanna cry about it?"

Tom began to cackle loudly. "There's that confidence again. Real shame you got on the boss' bad side, a boy like you could go far. Shame really."

"You gonna talk all day, or should I start on beating you within an inch of your life now, Beanstalk?" Josuke said as he cracked his knuckles.

As he finished, muffled cries and shuffling noises of a restrained body appeared near the cabin's doorway drawing Josuke's eyes to the entrance. There she was. Sen. They had taped her mouth closed and tied her in enough rope to make her look like she was in a cocoon. Just under her left eye, down to her cheekbone, a purple shiner told Josuke that Sen hadn't made her captors' jobs easy.

Josuke was livid but fought down the urge to sprint to her. One of the men that escorted her out had raised a pistol to her temple. Crazy Diamond had stealthily retrieved a stone to fire at the man, but dare he risk it?

"You'll have to forgive us getting a bit rough with her, Mr. Fix." Tom began. "The man who dealt her that blow has been reprimanded, but the girl has some teeth on her, and she wasn't exactly harmless, what with the wrench she swung like a manic. Poor Orn'll be eating from a straw till we get back to the mainland."

Josuke tried to slowly make his way toward Sen as the man talked before a bullet nearly grazed his cheek. Stone-faced, he ignored the projectile, instead opting to send a glare toward the men that sent shivers down the spines of all but the most hardened.

"You don't move a god-damned muscle, you punk!" Tom screamed, his cool persona finally fading away. "You might not understand what kind of situation you're in, so let me enlighten you."

He took a few steps toward Sen before unceremoniously ripping the duct tape from her mouth.

"Yeow!" Sen screamed, before throwing a pleading look at Josuke. '"Jojo, you gotta run. They have C-"

But she was cut off as Tom stuffed the barrel of his pistol into her mouth, right past her teeth.

"You be quiet now little miss. Don't want the boss man getting angry I had to finish off his in-law, now. Behave."

In-law? Josuke thought in confusion. No, now wasn't the time for those kinds of thoughts. First, he had to save Sen, then he could sleuth for answers after he broke some bones.

"Let her go and I'll give you whatever you want."

"What I want," Tom began, "What we want, is for you to get a little something for us."

"You want me to…get you something?"

"Oh, it's not far" Tom said as he and his men began to laugh. "In fact, it's right behind us."

Staring out into the distance, Josuke saw where the thugs were now pointing toward. Stretching out into the ravine, the rusted remains of an old red transmission tower loomed over the chasm. Half of it was buried beath the rubble they stood on, but that was no indication of how stable the structure was. Josuke would have guessed, not very. At its end, barely visible, was a black duffle bag.

"It's real simple," Tom said, barely containing his laughter. "You get us what's inside the bag, and we let you both go. You don't, and maybe we send the girl and make you watch. We heard you were good at dodging bullets. Can you say the same about her?"

Josuke remained silent as more and more men came from behind the cabin and other hills of rotting garbage.

A little more than a dozen, maybe two? Not good. Josuke silently thought to himself. It was looking like he'd have little choice but to follow their orders.

*Pow*

The sound of a bullet near his feet broke him from his thoughts.

"Don't go blowing a fuse in that little head of yours, wise guy. Wouldn't want smoke coming out of your ears like that shitty dump you called a house." Tom yelled. "Oh, did we not mention we were the ones who helped you with your remodeling?" His men beginning to laugh and jeer.

Josuke didn't take the bait. He had long since figured these men were likely responsible for his house's arson. Instead, he remained silent, desperately trying to figure a way out of this situation. But that would have required time, time these men were unwilling to give.

"Clock's ticking, Pompadour," Tom yelled visibly cocking his pistol.

Begrudgingly, Josuke began to move toward the transmission tower. This had meant he'd had to wade through several of the Staymos henchmen who began to lambast him as he walked. One man had even been brave enough to try to hock a loogie at him before Josuke sent a look so full of promises of pain that the well-dressed goon began to choke on his mucus.

Still, he walked on before just making it to the edge of the rift. The fallen tower forming something akin to a cage that jutted out more than 100 feet above the canyon.

"Well," one of Tom's minions called out. "Keep going."

"Yeah," called out another. "Give the young lady a show she'll never forget."

Josuke spotted Sen in the distance, still tied, struggling to say something even as her mouth was still filled with the steel of the pistol. He gave her a reassuring thumbs up, hoping the gesture would calm her down. Then, he entered the tower.

First ten feet, then twenty. Inch by inch, foot by foot, he moved through the horizontal structure of the fallen tower slowly making his way to its end where the duffle bag hung, anxiety heavy in his heart. He had a sinking suspicion he knew what kind of trap they had laid for him. When he finally made it to the end of the tower, its top had been standing correctly, he reached for and grabbed the black bag only to find that it was-

Empty, Josuke thought morbidly. Of course.

"Can you hear me, you little prick?" A staticky voice asked. It was Tom, calling out from a walkie-talkie tied to the outside of one of the small rusted beams that made up the tower. "You think you're so tough, huh? Well, let's see you climb your way out of this, not that you'll survive the fall." A chorus of laughter from his men in the background, like white noise.

*Beep**Beep*Beep*

The sounds of small alarms surrounded Josuke, most coming from outside the structure. Each ringing becoming progressively faster.

One moment Josuke was summoning Hamon into his body, trying desperately to get into a position to sprint out of the tower-turned-death trap, but he was too late. He was almost 130 feet out over the ravine. His sun-empowered legs only taking him halfway back to safety in the brief second he had before the explosion engulfed him.

"NOOO!" Sen screamed as she watched Josuke and the surrounding tower explode in a ball of fire.

Tears welled around her eyes to stream down her face. It was over, all of it was over.

She had been called out early to answer a complaint about fixing one of the town water pumps that had supposedly malfunctioned.

Stupid stupid stupid. She had chided herself.

She should have taken extra precautions about verifying her customers like her grandmother had always warned. Instead, she had walked into the trap of a two-bit gang of lowlifes, who quite frankly, were in over their collective heads.

"Ill kill you, I swear you'll all die for this!" She yelled through strained teeth and the sounds of their laughter.

"Bwahaha! You and what army kid?" Tom asked. "You think anyone actually cares what happens to a few meteorites? Who's gonna help you? That old-ass granny of yours? The people who sold us the location of that idiot's house? Who?"

Sen glared at the man, praying he'd catch fire.

"Easy now girl," He said, leaning down to eye level, "it's not like you're in any danger. I'm not trying to get on my Capo's bad side. Muska's women is gonna be really important in the coming days. Like a big sister to us. That'll make you important by association. Doesn't that sound exciting?"

She spat at him, her saliva landing just under his eye, his men growing silent in anticipation of his anger. Instead, he smirked, before calmly wiping his face with his sleeve.

"I'll let that go." He said, "I won't kill you for that. Consider it a wedding gift for your sister."

*Whack*

Sen's vision blurred as pain spread across her right cheek. He had slapped her. Hard.

"That…that's for me, though." The tall man said coldly. "You know, I have a theory. Wanna hear it?"

He didn't wait for an answer.

"Not even ten years ago this dump was the playground of people like me." He began placing his pistol on her temple. "Then rumors start flying. 'Meteor City aint the same' some say. 'Gotta watch yourself there or the Troupe'll get ya' they say. Bullshit. Rumors from the big families, made to control the young dogs with bite, like us. Well, let me tell you something, little miss. That false bravado you got. Just what it sounds like. Fake as hell. You're all still the worthless worms you were then and are now. We take what we want. We do what we want. Now, then, forever. You got that you little whore!" He finished, spitting out the words inches from her face.

Slowly he began to chuckle, a sound echoed by his nervous men. "But really." he continued. "How did you think some punk teenager was gonna help you?" He started to laugh, first slowly, then faster as his men joined him. "I mean, did you see his hair? I haven't seen a doo like that since my ma showed me an old picture of my gramps. Where was that kid living, in the 1920s? Gahaha!" His men joined him in hysteric laughter.

Sen couldn't bring herself to look at the man, powerless as she was. Her mind was a swirl of emotion. Anger, irritation, and helplessness. If only she wasn't so weak. If only someone, anyone, could give these men the beatings they deserved.

*Tap**Tap**Tap*

"The hell'd you say about my hair?" A familiar livid voice asked from behind Tom.

Sen looked up, her heart swelling with hope.

(3 minutes earlier)

All it took was a millisecond. Between the flames, the concussive force of the blast, and the tower giving out beneath him, a millisecond was all it took to summon Crazy Diamond's body to encase his own and cover his ears, protecting him from the heat and shrapnel that surrounded him. But not from the fall.

What took perhaps 3 seconds felt like 3 hours as Josuke fell, helpless to see as the black smoke trailed in the air above the gorge. When he finally fell below the cloud, he wasted little time before acting.

Shifting his stand from his body, his soul began to punch every bit of flying metal, large pieces and small, teleporting where it needed to be to touch every bit of stray tower it could reach, which was quite a bit.

That was fine, he didn't need to touch every piece anyway. Crazy Diamond grabbed the nearest piece of graspable iron and threw it toward its master, Josuke easily catching the metal scrap. Then, he slowed as psychokinetic energy wrapped around not just the metal in his hands, but dozens, nay, hundreds of pieces of the tower that had been in the process of dropping down the gulch.

Slowly, they began to rise, Josuke careful not to restore the tower too fast lest he alert the villains above. Smoke and ashes that were slowly drifting away, acting to give him and his restoration only the slightest bit of cover. He'd have to play this safe and quiet if he wanted to save Sen.

Damn, Josuke thought. Hadn't the old bat shown him something useful for something like this months and months ago? He'd never been able to catch her behind him when she hadn't wanted to be seen. Like she could mask her presence. She'd used that to scare him on more than one occasion as a joke.

He'd asked her how she had done it on numerous occasions, but she only showed him once. She had called it Zetsoo, or something.

'Try shutting off that breathing of yours and maybe you'll figure it out, ya mule!' She had chided.

Shutting off my breathing, Josuke thought. Like Hamon in reverse, not more, not less, but no Hamon. Shut it off. Like I'm not even here. Like I don't even exist.

Josuke attempted this just as he finished restoring the tower, the last vestiges of black smoke, drifting with the wind.

No one noticed him. In the distance, the Staymos men crowded around themselves, no one even looking back, confident in their kill.

Josuke didn't think. Instead, he slowly made his way out of the tower, toward the ravine, his presence masked by his prodigious use of Zetsu. Still, they didn't notice him. They were too busy laughing amongst themselves.

It took him a minute to cover the distance between himself and them, aided by their backs being turned to surround someone he assumed to be Sen.

"-ake as hell. You're all still the worthless worms you were then and are now. We take what we want. We do what we want. Now, then, forever. You got that you little whore!" Tom said mockingly.

Josuke choked down the anger he felt, careful not to let himself be known, they were already in his range, but he wanted to be closer.

"But really. How did you think some punk teenager was gonna help you? I mean, did you see his hair? I haven't seen a doo like that since my ma showed me an old picture of my gramps. Where was that kid living, in the 1920s? Gahaha!"

Josuke's resurgent anger broke his focus, but it didn't matter. He was right behind the fool, inches away from Sen.

Josuke tapped on the man's shoulder.

*Tap**Tap**Tap*

"The hell'd you say about my hair?" He asked, ire seething in every syllable of his voice.

Dead silence filled the air in the half-second it took for the Staymos men to realize who had infiltrated their gathering.

"Y-you-" Tom began to say before the invisible chiseled fist of Crazy Diamond met his cheek, digging deep.

"Dora! Dora! Dora! Dora! Dora!" Josuke screamed in fury as invisible fists flew to make contact with and break hundreds of Tom's bones.

Some men began to point guns and shoot at Josuke, too panicked to realize they were only a danger to themselves, many bullets piercing only allies as Josuke dodged them easily. He didn't need Zetsu, didn't need to hide anymore. Now his Hamon-enhanced fists met the faces and guts of the men who had dared kidnap Sen, dared try to kill him, and most of all, dared make light of his hairstyle.

Tom's body flew, only to be caught by Crazy Diamond and thrown to the ground so its pummeling could continue. The Stand using its power of regeneration to keep the brute within inches of his life.

Mindful of the danger though, Josuke rushed toward Sen as soon as several of the men that surrounded the immediate area were blasted away by his own flesh and blood fists. He cradled her close. Oblivious to her reddening face.

As he did so, several of the men that remained standing stepped away to give themselves room to properly aim, too afraid to care if they accidentally hurt a comrade or two. Their only thoughts, escape. Too late.

Several fired their rounds, bullets easily blocked by Crazy Diamond's forearms while several were caught between the Stand's fingers. As soon as each chamber was spent, the armored juggernaut flicked a bullet casing at each of the henchmen, permanently ending each's hopes of ever reigning terror in his town ever again.

Men in the distance, likely reinforcements waiting in ambush from earlier ran at the carnage that had ensued. Around Josuke's feet, a little over twenty men writhed in pain if his burning punches hadn't already killed them.

"Sen, are you ok?" He asked. Crazy Diamond's fingers easily pinching through the ropes that still restricted the fiery tomboy.

"Wha toog you oh long…fweegin dumbass." She cried, eyes watery, and nose runny in relief.

"…Sorry." Was all Josuke could say to comfort her as he placed his hands on either side of her cheek to heal the swelling that the thugs had caused. "I'm sorry I didn't come sooner…"

"We-we don't have time, Josuke!" Sen said desperately, trying and failing to get herself under control. "I overheard everything. It was Muska. He's the ringleader behind everything. H-he kidnapped Coco and some students!"

Josuke's blood froze as time stood still. Only the dark sanguine chuckling of the barely conscious Tom broke him out of his daze.

"You'll…never…get to them…in time." He said straining between words. His face and body, unrecognizable. "Our boss'… too smart fo-"

*Crunch*

The Invisible foot of Crazy Diamond putting an end to any further words from the man, now and forever. The brutality of the act making even Sen pause.

That hadn't been smart. Now Josuke would have to hope one of these less-than-conscious grunts would have answers. But luck was on his side.

"I-I know where they went," Sen said grabbing his arm. "They said they were taking them to The Block."

"The Mafia inn?" Of course!

"Were," Sen stressed. "I overheard some of those idiots say they were going to take them to the pier, asap. That was almost an hour ago, Josuke. We have to hurry if we want to save them. Now."

Panic and worry mixed in Josuke's gut before he beat them down with a new feeling. Resolve.

"Right. No time to waste."

Coco…kids…please please hold on.

And that's the fifth chapter. I think I could have kept going but wanted to crank something out seeing as I hadn't posted a chapter in almost 5 months (Yikes!). Hard for me to believe that I stopped at the beginning of last semester. Anyway. If you liked this story, please consider favoriting/following, or better yet, leaving a review. Remember, silence=disinterest. And there's nothing that kills a story faster than disinterest.

Anyway...I'll leave you all with this. I'll try to finish this story in the next couple of weeks with one more big chapter, though I may split it in two. I really want to resolve things in this ark without feeling I rushed everything just to get Josuke to meet Gon and the gang. Until next time. Ciao!

But seriously, a favorite here, a follow there. A review expressing this as gold you found when you went hunting in the FF archives for copper...it goes a long way.