The Road
Italian Countryside
Stakeouts were an annoyingly essential part of the job. Especially for an army man like himself. Italia had a nasty habit of telling their military to do jobs they did not sign up for. Mario didn't mind, really. He got a thrill from the chase.
The target, unknowingly being viewed through a sight, blissfully ignorant of the fact they were in the middle of a crosshair. Their tracker couldn't even see him. Not that he was there physically. He was just seeing what his Stand saw.
｢Super Trooper｣ was quite a versatile and powerful Stand, if Mario did say himself. Think of everything people thought of the army– of a soldier. Anything. Sharpshooting, armed with all sorts of ammunition, paratrooping, tracking. Super Trooper could do it all. And that's what made it so dangerous.
Everyone saw Stands like his and thought, "it's just a guy with a gun. What's a gun gonna do against a Stand fast enough to catch bullets?"
It's better to be underestimated than to be overestimated.
That's the motto that Mario has lived by his whole life. From his childhood, stealing from his foster parents right under their noses, to his time in the army, proving his unimposing stature to be irrelevant when you could put a bullet in five terrorists' heads in less than a second. Much to the dismay of his jeering peers.
He excelled in the army. It was his entire purpose, to dispatch troublemakers with remarkable efficiency.
But then Passione got involved.
Now, all of a sudden, you can't go around killing terrorists in foreign nations. Now, the same superiors that were so impressed with his skill all those years ago were calling him 'unstable' and 'psychotic'.
That's when Mercurio stepped in. He, the new hotshot politician on the scene, saw what was happening and took pity on him, and recruited him.
Mario didn't mind that it was gang activity – anything to get back at those who wronged him, and anything for the man that saved him at his lowest.
They drove for about three hours before they decided to turn in for the night. It was a small hotel in the town of Parma.
Thankfully they didn't have many bags to unpack, only Shizuka and Vuoto having the hindsight to bring spare clothes. So the other three took it upon themselves to go out for a bit, and try to find a change of clothes.
Beneficci had ｢Hotel California｣ active the whole time, soaring high in the sky, looking out for telltale signs of Stand users as they made their way into the centre of town. Sana could tell that it was putting a strain on her, having her Stand constantly searching for threats. Sana didn't know for sure, but she had an inkling that she'd been doing the same thing the entire drive over.
Sana was helping Viale walk, as the rush job they had to perform in the car was starting to come undone. They could try going to a 24-Hour Clinic and try to get him properly patched up, but they didn't know how extensive Apatia's network was by now.
The town of Parma was one Sana had never been to. It was quite lively for such a small place. On almost every restaurant front there was the phrase "home of parmesan cheese", so either they all had the same grandparents, or they were all tricking tourists.
Eventually they found a boutique that was still open, and Sana found herself in the men's aisle. Very much not where she would rather be.
She was ashamed of herself. She couldn't heal Viale, and she didn't know why. It was a helpless feeling, similar to the one she typically felt at home. Her one job was to be there after the fight to keep her friends alive.
What a world she was brought into.
A few months ago, the most she was worried about was bringing a bad grade home to her father during the holidays. She tried her best to stay in the school dorms as much as possible, and avoid her father's scrutinising eyes.
Now, she was on the run from a supernaturally strong mob boss with two friends she had met a few weeks ago, an eccentric billionaire rich girl, and a member of what was basically the secret service. They were all also supernaturally strong too, but her supernatural-ness wasn't working and her friend had a broken leg.
Oh, how competent she was.
During her internal battle, Viale had picked out a few clothes and was currently trying them on in the change rooms in the corner of the shop.
Her eye caught a fibreglass mannequin just behind the change room, in the area where the vacuum and dustbin would be. It was missing an arm, but was otherwise in good shape.
After staring at it for a minute, she had an idea. She got the attention of an employee, and asked if she could have the broken mannequin. The employee shrugged in the 'I-really-don't-care-I'm-not-the-manager' kind of way, so she took that as a yes.
She reached around the corner, still not wanting to go into the employee-only area, and detached the right leg of the mannequin. She discreetly opened a crack in the curtain of the change room, and poked the leg through, giving Viale a fright.
"Ah! What the hell, Rossi?! I'm half naked in here!"
Her face went red at the thought of Viale– NO! She shook herself out of it.
"I thought you might want a replacement leg," she whispered back, still not wanting the employee to question what she was doing.
Viale was in his briefs when a leg appeared in his cramped change room. He jumped a bit, trying but not avoiding landing on his bad leg. He noticed the hand that was on the end of the porcelain leg.
"What the hell, Rossi?! I'm half naked in here!"
It took her a second to respond. "I thought you might want a replacement leg."
Viale stared at it as she handed the leg off to him. Warily, he unscrewed the knob that connected the upper and lower half of the leg, and slowly brought his foot up to the lower limb in his hands.
After a bit of struggle, with his foot refusing to enter the surface for some reason, he slipped it on. The mannequin's leg ran up his own, ending just below the knee. He could still feel the pain that came from his bones being snapped in half, but now with the support of a new leg, he could stand properly.
He put some weight on it. Yep, it worked. He had to give it to Sana, she picked a good leg to give him. Same length, so its knee would line up with his. It was very obvious that it was not his leg that he was using, but he could wear long pants to cover them up.
Unfortunately, the mannequin did not have his same shoe size. You can't have everything.
When they got back to the hotel with some fresh clothes and new bags to carry said clothes, the only thing Shizuka noticed was that Viale was barely limping.
"I got better," he said. Shizuka didn't believe him, so she turned his pants invisible instead.
"New leg. Nice."
Viale scurried away to his room after that.
Sana chuckled at the scene. It was nice to get some normalcy after the day they'd had.
Vuoto might as well have been asleep by the time Viale turned in. He was dead silent, only speaking to ask about the leg. He had lots to think about.
He didn't hate Zeppeli. He was a good person, Vuoto thought. Deep down. He'd stitched Vuoto up after his encounter with the wrong end of a knife. Which, sure, he might've just been saving face, still being a teacher, but Vuoto knew better.
There was also that time in the hospital. He apparently complied with all of Beneficci's questions, but whether that was because of the threat of her Stand or not, Vuoto wasn't sure.
But he came back. He came back and fought. Sure, it was to protect his uncle, but that was something, wasn't it?
Vuoto didn't know much about Zeppeli's past. He wasn't exactly forthcoming with his history, but from what Viale had told him, Vuoto got the impression he didn't actually know his uncle that well, at least until recently. He had heard Mrs. Joestar's story about the Zeppeli family while Viale was asleep. It didn't make sense why he would… dislike Viale's family so much. It must've been taught, from a parent or grandparent, that Joestars were the enemy.
He heard the shower turn as Viale entered the bathroom. He had some sympathy for Viale, as he'd had broken bones before. It was just a finger and a dislocated shoulder, but the idea was the same, he thought.
Viale knew he was dreaming. It was a similar feeling to Teripio's Stand.
He knew he was dreaming.
But if it was a dream, why was he seeing Zeppeli's corpse?
If it was a dream, why was ｢Electric Light Orchestra's｣ terrifying figure always there, in the shadows?
Why was the Stand continuously breaking his leg over and over again?
Why was no one else there?
Why did the Stand put on that mask?
Why was–
He woke up, gasping for air. Vuoto was standing over him, his face etched with concern. Viale threw off his bed cover and checked his leg was still there. It wasn't exactly there, but the replacement was.
He let out a sigh. Not of relief, but of disappointment.
Vuoto handed him a bottle of water.
"Did I wake you?" Viale asked.
Vuoto shook his head. "It doesn't matter if you did."
They sat in silence as Viale took heavy sips from the water. Viale saw his water was shaking – his hand was shaking.
He'd been fighting all his life. Maybe not this kind of fighting, but all through primary and middle school he would pick fights and come home with fresh bruises. He used to enjoy that.
Then Stands came along and he'd basically become a superhero. He'd never admit it, but he liked getting into Stand fights. There was a rush that came with outsmarting or outgunning an opponent, a scumbag who had to be taught a lesson. He'd never lost to anyone – not really. Not until him. Viale had to be saved from him, and someone had died because of it.
"Do you… want to talk about it?"
"No," Viale said without hesitation. He noticed Vuoto's dejected look. "We can talk about something else, though."
So they did, through the night, until they both fell back into a dreamless sleep.
The next day, they were on the road again. They got up early to avoid any traffic, inciting a groan from Shizuka (who was the one that decided to wake up early).
Shizuka, Sana and Beneficci had shared a room, denoting it the 'girls room without the smelly boys'. Shizuka was responsible for the name. Shizuka and Beneficci stayed up to organise themselves for the days to come.
"We need to get to Naples," Beneficci declared last night, as if it was new information, "so I'm thinking we go through Pisa and make it to Baratti by the end of the day."
And so they did. The drive was longer than the one to Parma, but they also had more daylight to kill.
Beneficci was in the passenger seat this time, with Shizuka driving. She insisted she drove, just to prove she could drive on the right hand side of the road, as opposed to Japan's left side.
During the drive, the car was silent. Deathly silent. Viale was perfectly fine with this, as his leg pain had diminished while asleep. It was a weird feeling, constantly walking without using half of your leg. The mannequin leg didn't have an ankle joint unfortunately, so walking was a bit weird. He had to always be trusting his new leg as there were no nerves to tell him when he was touching the ground.
The leg was weirdly stuck, so that Viale could not pull it off easily. It was like what was happening with Sana, Viale pondered. But where his ability was just malfunctioning, he hadn't even seen Sana summon her Stand.
Viale's thoughts were interrupted when the silence was broken by Vuoto, who was whispering to Sana.
"Should we introduce ourselves to Mrs. Joestar? I mean, she kinda just showed up out of nowhere, and if she's going to be protecting us, she should know what we can do, right?"
Sana agreed and leaned forward to get Shizuka's attention.
"You want to tell me about your Stands? I mean, sure, but you shouldn't just tell people your ability," she replied.
"I can heal people when they're out of danger."
"Non-Stand users can't see me or anything I do."
Shizuka raised an eyebrow at Vuoto's Stand. "That's pretty similar to mine. I can turn myself and things around me invisible. I can also absorb and release light into what are pretty much laser beams."
Shizuka turned to Beneficci, who hesitated. "...my Stand can do anything an eagle can. It can also detect lies and… see Stand aura."
Viale, who was listening in, noticed the hesitation in Beneficci's voice. 'She's hiding something.'
There was muted conversation in the van a few hours in. Vuoto's idea had worked as an icebreaker. Sana sat silent, however. Viale was talking to Vuoto. Shizuka was rambling to Beneficci.
That all changed when Sana's phone vibrated, indicating a call incoming. She felt her stomach drop as she read 'Father' on her phone. She got everyone to shut up as she warily answered the phone.
"...hello?"
"I hope you have a damn good reason for missing school," her father's voice rang into her ear, "and why you're halfway across the country."
She felt her voice die in her throat. She had known this call was coming. She knew that her father tracked her phone. "I…"
"After all I've sacrificed, all I've given you, you still throw it away?!"
"I–I can explain–"
"I don't want to hear it. You come back right now, or I'll–"
Sana didn't get to hear what he had to say as Shizuka had opened a window and threw Sana's phone out.
"You can use my phone to occupy yourself."
Baratti was beautiful, Shizuka decided, and she wanted to go to the beach.
Shizuka was sure they would be followed in some way. She appreciated Beneficci's constant vigilance, but there was no way someone like the man that killed Zeppeli would just let them go. No way. There was definitely someone keeping an eye on them.
And Baratti was the best way to throw someone off. It helped that this time of year, they were holding all sorts of festivals, so there were plenty of tourists around. Especially at the beach. Which was a place Shizuka hadn't gone to since her high school days. It would be the perfect cover.
She brought it up to Beneficci as they were driving through, but she disagreed and thought it would be better to just keep driving. Shizuka explained her reasoning – to confirm they are being followed.
"I would see if we were being followed."
"Not if we're being followed by actual people. You're Stand doesn't have eyes right? So you can't see normal people through your Stand."
This gave Beneficci pause. She looked away, almost in shame, at the blunt criticism.
"Tell ya what," Shizuka said, "We'll take a break, and you can scope around with your Stand. We can even send Vuoto to make a commotion and see if anyone reacts."
Beneficci sighed. "Okay, if I don't see anyone, and Segnaposto doesn't get anyone's attention, then we can stay."
Turns out, Vuoto running around like a madman, screaming in people's faces, even throwing a rock through a window (at the behest of Viale), was pretty funny to watch. Vuoto came back to the group out of breath and cracked his neck.
"Yep, ｢Coldplay｣ confirms the people here are either not Stand users or very unaware of their surroundings."
"Our Stands are pretty similar, Segnaposto," Shizuka says, "I mean, when we are using them, our Stands make us invisible."
Vuoto made a face, "Yeah but Stand users can still see me, and you can punch things. You're way better in a fight."
Shizuka shrugged. "I guess." She turned to Beneficci. "Have you got anything?"
"I felt something a few minutes ago, but that was when Segnaposto was doing his thing, so it was probably just him I saw."
From almost a kilometre away, Super Trooper sat, patiently waiting for his opportunity to arise. He couldn't make any big moves until he knew their tracker wouldn't be an issue.
The beach wasn't packed, per se, but it sure was busy. There were hundreds of people around, in their summer clothes and swimwear. Viale would normally take the time to 'appreciate the view' (try picking up girls) but he wasn't feeling it.
The past few days were some of the worst he'd had in a long time. Probably only topped by the day his mother had frantically pulled him out of school just a few months ago. Her trying to explain, fearful and erratic, was something he never wanted to see.
Grace Giovanna was a pure soul. Not to say she was perfect – she was apparently okay with her husband committing various acts of criminality, but she was kind.
He remembered a particular time when he'd asked for a milkshake for breakfast one morning when he was younger, and his mother had told him "no", only to have one waiting for him when he got home from school later that day.
It was the small things. That was what Viale appreciated about her. His father did the big things, like stopping the drug trade, where his mother did the little things, like getting her son a milkshake. Maybe that's why they apparently worked so well together. Viale didn't see it.
The group was lounging around, in clothes certainly not suitable for the beach (they didn't bother getting swimwear).
"I'm still not sure about this," Beneficci voiced, "This could be the perfect opportunity for them, to blend into the crowd the same way we are."
"Think of it like this," Shizuka said, "We are wearing street clothes, and we stick out. Gangsters wear gangster clothes, so they will stick out more. Stand users wear weird-ass clothes, so we won't have any trouble spotting them."
Beneficci rolled her eyes. "Look, we all know Stand users attract other Stand users. This is a well known fact. We aren't gonna have any more luck driving than we will trying to trick them."
"Bah, conspiracy theories!" Shizuka did know the whole Stand-users-attract-blah blah blah. She had seen it firsthand through 2017, during her high school years. How many Stand users had Shizuka fought that year? She didn't know. 'It was probably more than three.' She was just saying this to piss off the high-strung Beneficci.
"How someone with your level of maturity got to be a high ranking agent and a billionaire, I will never know."
"Nepotism."
Shizuka stood up, putting her hands on her hips and leaning to each side, obnoxiously stretching in the other's faces.
"I'm gonna go get something from the bar. Anyone want anything?"
"Everyone other than you and me are minors."
"So?"
Beneficci's mouth was about to open in protest, but Shizuka turned heel and walked away before she could say anything.
"This woman will be the death of us."
Sana nodded sagely behind her.
Night had fallen. Shizuka had come back with a concerning amount of alcohol for a group of three high schoolers and two adults with jobs that required them to be sober.
Sana didn't really mind – she just wasn't going to drink it. If the Joestar was to be believed, she could afford a martini donation to the local shrubbery. It was a good thing she'd also returned with a few non-alcoholics that she'd bought when she was still sober.
What she did mind was the woman that was supposed to be protecting them drinking enough for the whole group in about an hour.
They had found and lit a beachside campfire, and were sitting on logs around the flame. There was a small pile of Sanbittèr around Shizuka's legs.
"Makoto never lets me drink!" she told Vuoto. He looked mildly uncomfortable. "She says it's 'bad for me'. Also! Campari is so hard to find in Japan…"
"Your wife sounds like a smart woman," Beneficci said.
Shizuka cooed, "Aww, Mako's so smart! And cute! I miss her…" She fell silent for a moment. A few people started talking amongst themselves before Shizuka yelled out, without warning, "Never have I ever intentionally missed school!"
The rest of them looked between each other, before Viale took a tentative sip.
Sana looked at him pointedly. "Viale, you missed school intentionally…?"
"Uh, yeah," he replied, as if he was stating the obvious, "Back at my old school. I was sent out of class and stuff."
Sana shook her head in disbelief.
"Mmm, Segnaposto! Your turn!" Shizuka looked to her left, where Vuoto shook himself out of his silent thinking.
"Oh! Uhm…" he paused, "Never have I ever… fought a mob boss."
Shizuka let out a bark, and sipped. Viale grumbled and took another sip.
Beneficci spoke up, "Do I count?"
"No," Shizuka said, "You were shot by the right hand man. Unless you've fought my Gioviale's father too, you don't drink."
"That was a good one, Vuoto," Sana said from across the fire before Viale could correct Shizuka.
Next it was Beneficci's turn. "Never have I ever… been betrayed."
Viale rose an eyebrow at that. Shizuka and Sana both took a sip.
"Wow you guys are trying to kill me, huh?" Shizuka asked, loudly. She turned to Sana. "How were you betrayed?"
"Oh, uh, my friend from middle school…" she looked away in embarrassment, "stole my Magic: The Gathering deck after I lent it to her."
Shizuka squealed. "That's so nerdy! I love it!"
Sana buried her face in her hands. "Stooop, I didn't want you guys to know about it."
Viale gave her a small smile. "Amicio already told me. You don't have to worry."
It took them a while to calm back down. Vuoto, who for all but his turn had been silent, asked Shizuka, "How were you betrayed, Mrs. Joestar?"
Shizuka looked nonchalant. "Oh, me and my friends found out the detective we were working with was a crazed serial killer who was causing dozens of people to have psychotic breakdowns a few years back."
After a few seconds of dumbfounded blinking, Vuoto replied with a simple, "Huh."
"Yeah, I have hella stories."
Beneficci, who was usually the stoic one, tried to get the conversation back around to Viale, who was next in the game.
"Oh, sure, umm…" Viale rubbed his chin, "Never have I ever used my Stand to steal something."
Shizuka and Viale (who didn't really understand the game) took a sip. Then, out of nowhere, Vuoto drank. Everyone turned his way.
"Okay I expected Viale and Shizuka, but Vuoto?"
"I wanted to see how far I could go!" There was an unspoken question of 'what did he steal', which he picked up on. "I took a cash register from a restaurant."
"WHAT?!" Viale, Sana, and Shizuka all harmonised.
"I-I gave it back right away! No one even cared… worst prank…"
Viale smiled. "No harm no foul, eh?"
It was now Sana's turn, and the last in the game. Shizuka was fading slightly, almost losing control of her visibility as she was about to pass out.
"Alright, last one. Never have I ever…" she eyed Viale suspiciously, "fought Stand users for no reason. Viale, drink."
"Uhm, Vuoto went and found Sweetie!"
"Yeah but Sweetie doesn't count. He's just a kid."
"He almost squashed me!"
"You walked it off."
Shizuka finished the bottle, thoroughly out of it.
Vuoto left the fire a few minutes after Viale and Sana started squabbling. He took the path through the park instead of the lit up shoreline, but this way was faster to the motel, so he reasoned this way was safer.
As he walked, he became lost in his thoughts again. What did Sana mean, that Viale fought for no reason? Of course, he had a reason. He had to, if he was fighting this hard for this long. Hell, he'd gotten his leg broken for his efforts.
He was around ten minutes through his twenty minute walk, when he misstepped on a slick rock and took a tumble. As he got up, groaning, he felt a sharp pain emanating from his shoulder, which was odd, since he fell on his other shoulder.
He put his hand up to where the pain was coming from, and brought it back to find it covered in blood. He looked down at his shoulder, and realised there was a bullet wound, torn right through his shoulder.
To Be Continued ===