Local Park
Barrati
Italy

Vuoto's heart rate spiked, realising he was under attack. He quickly dove behind a tree, facing away from the source of the bullet. He was lucky that he slipped, as where his shoulder was shot was where his head was a split second earlier.

A bullet splattered against the bark. He hastily opened his phone, sending a text to Viale. The service was spotty here, as he'd noticed over the last few hours. Another bullet hit the fallen leaves beside him, concerningly close to his feet, which he tucked into the cover.

Another gunshot, this time close enough to see the bullet hit the ground next to him. He took his chance and reached out to grab it. He succeeded, but his pinky was nicked in the process, losing the highest joint.

Vuoto grit his teeth and turned his phone's torch on to see the bullet better.

'That's a sniper rifle round. I have no chance of surviving one of these if it hits anywhere important.'

｢Super Trooper｣ was already sick of this kid. He was hiding behind a tree like a coward. It was pure luck that he'd survived his first shot, and it was pure luck that he got away with just a bullet through his shoulder.

His TRG from the old days was doing wonders, though. Mario felt funny giving his Stand one of his most prized firearms, but considering the severity of the operation, it seemed appropriate.

He was on top of a barn house. The occupants didn't know he was here, but he was sure the numerous gunshots had alerted them to his presence. He wasn't concerned – it's not like the police here could deal with Apatia, much less himself.

From what he understood, this boy, Segnaposto, could weed out Stand users just by making a disturbance and seeing who reacts — he'd seen it earlier that day. Thankfully this town was barren of Stand users, or else they would've kept running.

They underestimated Apatia. Their payment would be their lives.

Vuoto's shoulder was on fire. The adrenaline was slowly wearing off and he was feeling it. His heart was beating into his ear. He heard another gunshot, and a few seconds later, bark exploded off the tree.

The bullets were starting to affect the tree he was leaning against. It was a strong tree, but sniper bullets were stronger, should there be too many of them.

It was a simple plan. Knock down the tree, draw him out. Simple but effective.

There wasn't much Vuoto could do. Vuoto didn't bring anything to the gunfight. All he could do was hope Viale or Mrs. Joestar or anyone would see his texts.

Viale and Sana's squabbling had turned into… something a bit more intense. It all started when Sana had called Viale a chicken.

Viale fancied himself a gentleman, but this woman. This woman was getting the better of him.

"Why are you even here? You didn't have to come."

"Someone has to be here to grab you by the scruff."

"You haven't done anything! Your Stand isn't even working properly."

"Hey! I found that leg."

"I would have come up with that eventually."

Beneficci and Shizuka were watching, with tipsy and normal intrigue respectively.

"Twenty euros Sana storms off," Shizuka whispered.

"Don't be ridiculous," Beneficci said. After a few more seconds of silent observation, watching the two teens bicker, they shook hands to officiate the bet.

"What are you doing here, Viale?"

"If you didn't notice, my leg was broken by some ultra-powerful Stand user and he's taken over my school."

"No, not like that. Why are you here? What reason is there? Why did you continue to fight Stand users?"

"If I remember correctly, they fought me."

"Oh, don't try to spin it. You love fighting. I know it."

"May-be," Viale said, with a small break in between the word, "But it's not like I didn't have a reason."

"Yeah, sure, your reason is daddy issues,"

"Pot, meet kettle. At least my father doesn't yell at me."

That gave Sana pause. She hadn't thought about her father for half a day and it had been the best half a day she'd had in a while. She stood up (Shizuka started poking Beneficci excitedly), and stared Viale down as she walked away.

Beneficci might have lost twenty euros, but it wasn't about the money. It was about Shizuka beating her in a bet.

It was a sad day indeed.

Sana had walked a whole two minutes when she checked her phone and found she had received a text.

Vuoto Segnaposto
Under attack
Sniper
Direct path to motel
Got shot

Sana swore under her breath. She knew where that was – they'd scouted out routes back to where they were staying. It was a path through the small woods and the park.

She heard a gunshot and instinctively ducked her head. But it wasn't directed at her.

She swore again and started sprinting back down the beach. It took her about thirty seconds to get back to them, but her voice reached them first.

"Vuoto is under attack!" she shouted with a short breath.

Beneficci shot up out of her seat and ｢Hotel California｣ flew out of her body just as fast. The sightless bird rose high above the trees next to the beach and searched for Stand activity. Beneficci's eyebrows screwed together as she concentrated.

Viale stood up, gulping hard. He looked down and saw his hands shaking. He shoved them in his pockets and hid his nervousness.

"I have him pinned down, sir."

Mercurio let out a heavy sigh, leaning into his interlocked hands that sat on the desk.

"It's not a thing I take lightly, attacking a child."

"He's a member of an enemy faction, sir."

"You are correct, but from what I've heard about this Segnaposto, he is rather harmless, ignoring his talent of sniffing out Stand users," Mercurio said, "He was the one that tipped Giovanna off about Zeppeli being a Stand user." He all but spat the Joestar's name out.

"He has likely sent out a distress call to his allies," Mercurio sat up straight, "I suggest getting closer to the target. Eliminate him by any means necessary."

When the firing stopped, Vuoto didn't move. It was a game of chicken, and Vuoto wanted to win, as the prize was his life.

If he left cover, two things would happen. One, he would be killed, or two, he would get away.

He didn't know why the enemy stopped shooting. Viale and the others could have found and gotten him, but they would have responded with an all-clear if they did. What was more likely was that the enemy had moved from their vantage point and was slowly approaching.

His phone vibrated, and he knew it was Sana responding. He didn't dare check it now — there was an enemy, around a kilometre away by his calculations, who was nowhere to be seen. He needed to be ready to move at a moments notice.

Super Trooper spotted the eagle Stand from a mile away (almost literally). He decided against his better judgement that he shouldn't shoot it down. The colonel said that the boy was his only target, so he would only target the boy.

He'd moved off the roof of the house, and was about to leave, before he heard a siren.

"Freeze! In the name of Baratti Polizia!"

There was a flashlight on his back. The Stand sighed and put his hands up.

"Is there a problem, officer?"

"I've had reports of multiple gunshots from the family in this house."

Super Trooper could hear the cockiness in the officer's voice. Obviously, he thought he was king of the village, likely being the only form of law enforcement here. He also obviously didn't know what Apatia was and why he shouldn't interfere.

He would have to take care of the man himself.

"Get on the ground." The officer yelled. The Stand complied, subtly reaching for something on his bandolier.

He lay flat on the ground as the sheriff, as he seemed to be, approached him. He grabbed the Stand's arms and pulled them behind his back.

He was too late to notice the flash grenade in the palm of his hand.

Super Trooper pulled the pin and sparks flew everywhere, getting in the sheriff's eyes and temporarily blinding him. The Stand took the opportunity and in one smooth motion, got up, took the army knife from his belt, and sliced the man's throat. He choked on his own blood and fell.

Super Trooper exhaled, and moved on to more important things.

"Reports came in. A local law enforcement officer came to check out the gunshots. He's no longer a problem."

"I'll send someone to dispose of the body. Tell Super Trooper to continue with the mission."

"Of course, sir."

It had been about fifteen minutes by his count. And he was counting. He'd started counting around fifteen minutes ago.

He didn't dare move. Not after he'd gone to pick up the bullet that hit the ground next to him.

His shoulder was killing him. His breathing was ragged. He felt like there was more blood on the tree behind him than in his body, but he was exaggerating.

That's when he saw something above him. It was Hotel California! He called upon ｢Coldplay｣ the same way he did when he affected other people with his the ability. From what he understood about Beneficci's Stand, he knew that actively using a Stand would notify her of his location.

Fortunately for Vuoto, his SOS paid off, catching the attention of Beneficci's Stand.

They had been running for a few minutes when they came to an intersection in the sandy paths.

"He's this way!" Beneficci yelled. They went straight and quickly found themselves in a clearing. Vuoto was there, shivering behind a bullet-ridden tree.

"What happened?!" someone asked. Sana was already running over to him, aiming to heal him as soon as possible.

"Sniper…" Vuoto groaned.

Viale looked around confused, but followed Sana anyway.

Beneficci was still busy trying to find the enemy.

"He stopped shooting a while ago…" Vuoto strained, "He was shooting me from— from about a kilometre away. It hurts…"

Shizuka was staring at Vuoto, unconsciously fading in and out of visibility. Vuoto, sitting there, as an enemy attacked him at range. It vividly reminded her of a certain paper-wielding assassin from her past. The shock was quickly sobering her up.

"This is troubling. I didn't expect you all to find him so quickly."

Shizuka turned to the source of the voice, only to find nothing to make it.

"Can't find me? Disappointing, for an invisible girl."

"Show yourself, ass face!"

There was a low chuckle. "How mature of you. Is this really the Shizuka Joestar that I have heard so much about?"

"Depends what you've heard."

Beneficci's Stand had landed on her shoulder and was now joining Shizuka in searching for the enemy. Sana was frantically trying to heal Vuoto, with Viale standing guard.

"I heard you were a member of the Arditi, or the Phantom Thieves of Hearts."

Shizuka stiffened and her eyes narrowed. "Yeah? So what?"

The voice came from behind her this time. "So you were one of the people responsible for decimating some of our largest contributors a few years back. Junya Kaneshiro? Akio Akatani? They were close friends of ours."

Shizuka slowly started walking towards a gap in the trees. "Yeah, I fought them. And they were chumps, just like you."

As she said that, she touched a tree, and it turned invisible, revealing nothing behind it. A gunshot rang out, and Shizuka turned around just in time to summon her Stand and cast a blue light over the direction of the sound. Everything in the path of the light froze, bullet included, in midair.

She thrust her other hand forward, and a red light shot out, blasting everything that was frozen back towards where the bullet was shot from.

"He's over there!" Beneficci pointed to a location just left of where Shizuka had attacked. Hotel California flew towards Shizuka, who turned the Stand invisible.

The bird flew unseen over to where the enemy was.

The Stand. The representation of the fighting spirit. Why does a person get the Stand they have? Does the Stand always reflect the user in some way?

In the case of Vuoto Segnaposto, yes.

The ability to be unperceived does not come about by random chance.

It was around three in the afternoon when Vuoto got home from school. It was a rather large house. His parents were well-off. Yet he still went to a normal school. Scuola Primaria di Venezia was its name. Normal kids, normal teachers, normal clothes.

The only thing that wasn't normal was Vuoto.

He got home to see his mother next to the couch, empty Campari bottles rolling around her. He sighed and got her up, putting her arm around his shoulder and hoisting her to her bedroom. He could smell the alcohol on her breath.

His father worked abroad. Some kind of big construction company. His mother, well lets just say she wasn't married for her smarts. She was beautiful and low maintenance, he was rich and was constantly moving.

He'd return home every couple of months to check in, and Vuoto would keep in touch semi-regularly. It wasn't the worst relationship to have with your father.

But soon after he started travelling, she would start drinking. And using. And all of the other nasty stuff.

One day when Vuoto wasn't old enough to get home from school on his own, his mother had come and picked him up. Her rolling up to the school gates in a sports car and narrowly missing the street sign on the curb was what started the rumours.

"Segnaposto's mother is a drunk," they would say, "I bet she's got photos online too."

He would continue to hear that all through primary and middle school.

He wanted nothing more than to not be seen.

"What do you mean you can't heal him?" Viale asked frantically.

He and Sana were next to Vuoto, Sana desperately trying to mend the bullet wound in Vuoto's shoulder.

"It's not working! The Stand is still here!" Sana explained, "We'll need to beat it before I'll be able to heal him."

"Maybe this guy is why you couldn't heal me. We were always in danger, so your ability didn't work."

"That's possible— are you going to help?"

"With what? He's not there. We still need to find him."

Sana looked up at him, sort of angry, sort of confused. "What do you mean? He's right here." She pointed at the boy below her.

"Where?"

"Here."

She saw Viale look around, obviously exasperated.

"Viale… can you see me?"

Vuoto called out, but it fell on deaf ears as Viale didn't respond.

"Can you… not see him?"

She saw the look in Viale's eyes he realised:

He couldn't see Vuoto.

"Wh— what's happening to me…?!" He took his hands out of his pockets, now full on shivering. "｢Mr. Blue Sky｣!"

Nothing.

No aura, no Stand, no more hiding.

Viale tried to put his hand into the leaf next to him.

"M-m-Mr. Blue Sky! Please!"

Nothing.

A gunshot rang out.

A blue light washed over it, and a red flung it back.

Viale looked over to Shizuka, the bicolour lights seemingly coming out of nowhere.

"He's over there!" Beneficci yelled, pointing to a spot across the way.

"S-Shizuka! Is… is Vuoto invisible?"

She barely spared him a glance. "I haven't touched him!"

The sun had set. There was no more blue sky.

To Be Continued ===