Viale's Dorm Room
Master's Academy
Weekend

? ﾝﾅﾥ? - Stardust Man Appears

Josuke Higash-I-Can't-Spell-His-Name

Hey Gioviale

Or do u go by Viale? I've heard differing opinions…

Anyway the Foundation has sent thru a Stand user to help you with ur Zeppeli situation

Good luck

Viale chuckled. A forty-year-old texting like that was a sight to behold. Even Vuoto, Viale knew, used proper grammar when texting. 'Wait, isn't this guy Japanese? His Italian is pretty good…'

Viale had decided to stay back with Sana after Vuoto left so they could use ｢Mr. President｣ to try and draw out her Stand. Viale (and Polnareff) attempted to explain what summoning a Stand was like, but Sana, for whatever reason, couldn't reproduce the effect. "It's like riding a bike," Polnareff had explained, "if you've done it once, you can do it forever." This was ironic, Viale thought, because Polnareff no longer had access to his Stand, ｢Silver Chariot｣.

They ended up resorting to explaining the origins of Stands. Seeing Sana's Stand would have to wait for another day.

The topic of Viale's family came up with Polnareff after Sana turned in for the night. For some reason Polnareff had the same family tree Zeppeli had shown Viale before their fight, which helped explain that Josuke was Viale's 'First Cousin, once removed'. Viale honestly had no idea how the convoluted Cousin system worked, and he didn't want to think about it any more.

His thoughts wandered back to Sana Rossi. It was all but visually confirmed that she had one. It intrigued Viale. It also gave Viale an idea, involving Vuoto and his Stand ｢Coldplay｣. Vuoto could, in theory, go around the school screaming like a madman and see who reacted. This would, theoretically, result in Stand users responding. But when Viale had pitched the idea last night, Vuoto practically died from embarrassment, refusing to ever do anything of the sort.

Viale was brought out of his head by a knock on his door. He got up and cautiously walked over.

"Mr. Giovanna, please open the door."

Viale recognised the voice. It was the Principal. With his concerns dissuaded, Viale opened the door.

"Hello, sir. What brings you to my humble abode on this fine morning?"

Esposito narrowed his eyes as he closed the door behind himself. "Just because we're working together, doesn't mean I'm not still your Principal."

"Right, sorry."

The Principal cleared his throat. "I believe you've been made aware of the fact that a S.P.W. Stand user has taken residence in Hotel Montalvo just down the road?" Viale shrugged. "Well, this Stand user is not combat-oriented, and requires a bodyguard to proceed safely in this investigation. I am disappointed to report that when I visited my nephew in hospital last night, he was unwilling to disclose any information. In fact, he was only comfortable with small talk."

Viale was concerned. "If he doesn't talk to you, I don't know what this whole thing with sourcing a Stand user will result in…"

"I assure you," Esposito put his hand on Viale's shoulder, "this Stand user can, and will, get you the results you desire."

Giovanna Household
Naples
Midday

Datore Esposito

Good afternoon, Signor Giovanna. I'd like to inform you that your son is meeting with the Speedwagon Foundation Investigator Stand user today. Together they will, hopefully, be able to coerce the desired information out of Mr. Zeppeli.

Giorno had a bad feeling about this. He of all people knew that being a Stand user attracted all kinds of attention, and not always from the best source. However, he also understood that what his son was embarking on was eerily similar to the journey he had begun with Buccelatti all those years ago.

Giorno hoped, for his son's sake, that whatever was lying around the corner, Gioviale was prepared to handle it.

"GioGio! Mista wants you!"

"Thank you, Number Five."

Outside Montalvo
Venice

? ﾝﾅﾥ? - Secret Manoeuvre

"Alright. I think this is the place."

"I don't see any other Hotel Montalvo's around here, so yeah, I'd say so too."

"Don't make me regret coming here with you, GioGio."

Viale had called on Sana to help him to the hotel. While sure, he knew there was a hotel near the school – he had passed by it a few times when going into town – he still wasn't accustomed to the area. Sana, however, was a local, so she knew what was going on. Also, with the Stand user apparently having gone through training, perhaps she could help out Sana with her situation.

"Alright, alright, calm ya farm. Let's get this over with."

As they crossed the street, Viale and Sana noticed two figures standing outside the building. They looked as if they were in a barbershop quartet, but with only two members. Their vests were inverse of the other; one was wearing a blue undershirt with a red-and-white striped vest, while the other had a red undershirt with a blue-and-white striped vest. The pair each donned an accompanying barbershop hat, with the ribbon on the base correlating to the colour of the stripes they both wore.

'They look ridiculous.'

As Sana and Viale approached the wardrobe dysfunction, the pair seemed to notice their presence.

"Hey, Checker, look! He's here!" one said.

"Alright, alright, you know your lines?" the other responded.

"Yeah." They both cleared their throats. "Erherm."

? ﾝﾅﾥ? - Team Rocket

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite the people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Chubby!"

"Checker!"

"Team Hucklebuck dances off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

…

? ﾝﾅﾥ? - Travellers Who Rest

Viale was nonplussed. "Did you two… seriously just copy the Team Rocket Motto and replace certain phrases to fit you?"

Sana leaned closer to Viale. "Is this how Stand fights usually go?"

"No, but just follow my lead, okay?" Viale told Sana, then turned back to the dastardly duo. "Also, 'Team Hucklebuck'? What does that even mean? Just saying 'Team Rocket' would've flowed better, even if you aren't Team Rocket," Viale commented.

Sana spoke up to the ridiculous pair, following Viale's advice. "Between the two of you, you couldn't come up with an original rhyme?"

Chubby and Checker looked at each other, then back. There was a pause, before Chubby (the one with the red undershirt and ribbon) announced, "We know what you're here for, and we have orders to–"

"You two have single handedly destroyed the sanctity of the Indigo League."

"Enough!" Checker stepped forward, exasperated. "You know we're gonna kill you both, right?"

"Is that so?" Viale questioned as he brought out ｢Mr. Blue Sky｣, who menacingly cracked his knuckles.

"Oh, no, not like that. Both of our Stands are non-combat. Let me ask you, have you ever seen Monsters Inc.?"

'No.' Sana thought, then replied aloud, "Of course."

Checker's grin expanded further. "Well then you're in for a treat."

With their speech done, they looked between each other, and bolted through the revolving doors of the hotel.

…

"That was awkward."

"Let's just… go after the bad guys."

Before Sana could move, Viale grasped her hand with a worried look in his eyes.

"Listen, Sana, we're likely heading right into a trap. If you want to opt out now, I won't blame you. This is going to be dangerous."

Sana turned her head. Wearily, shakily, she responded, "No. I-I'm going with you."

Viale let go of her hand. "Right. If that's the case, just stay behind me, mmkay?"

Sana shrugged. They proceeded inside.

"Those two were so rude!" Chubby complained.

"I know, bro. It's not fair."

"I mean, Ash and the gang never interrupted Team Rocket! Why do they get to?"

"Well, Team Rocket never had an intent to kill."

He paused. "Alright, that's fair. But still!"

"Chubby, let's just use our Stand abilities now; we're running out of time."

"Alright, Checker."

"｢Funkytown｣!"

"｢All Star｣!"

? ﾝﾅﾥ? - Evolution

Viale and Sana had made their way inside. The clerk, who had been told a guest was expecting people and directed them to the elevator. Neither Viale nor Sana were expecting to call the elevator, only to have the door open on an old lady showering.

Steam emanated from the shower, pouring out into the lobby. Sana shrieked, and Viale hastily averted his eyes.

"Sorryysorrysorrysorrysorry…"

"What's going on here?" The receptionist had left the front desk and approached the commotion just as the elevator door closed.

"You have to leave." Viale was still shaken, but the conviction in his voice reached the lady. Viale turned to Sana as the lady walked off, shakily smiling. "You sure you don't want to back out?"

"Let's… try the other doors."

Sana approached the utility closet, but before she could open it, the door swung open by itself and slammed hard into Sana's outstretched arm.

Viale was busy calling the second elevator when he heard Sana's wail. He rushed over.

"What happened, are you okay?"

Sana frowned at him, waving her arm around to stimulate blood flow. "Does it look like I'm fine?! No, one of them can obviously open the doors at will."

Viale pondered, "So one can make doors lead to different places, and the other can control the hinges? That's a combination for sure. Not sure if it's a deadly one."

He was standing too close to the same door Sana was just hit by, and proceeded to receive a plank of wood to the face.

"He just said we weren't deadly!"

"That son of a bitch."

"I'm gonna kill him."

"Can I help?"

"Erm… sorry, bro, but your work is already done."

"Rude."

Sana and Viale were hiding behind the corner near the elevators. Viale had blood dripping down his face, and an assumedly broken nose to boot. Sana checked it out – she had done the school first aid training that all Eleventh Grade students had to do a few weeks back. Viale had opted to skip it.

"It looks like it'll heal." Sana finished. "I can't believe I'm the one telling you to be careful."

"Well I can't believe you're sticking with me."

"I'd be kicking myself if I let you get hurt all by yourself."

"You're a good person." Sana looked up from checking her arm and wrist for possible dislocations. Viale elaborated. "You didn't have to come here. You persist even when there are people in the building trying to kill us."

"GioGio," Sana interrupted, "You're misunderstanding. I came for selfish reasons. It was obviously going to be a trap from the beginning, and I wanted a chance to unlock my Stand."

"That's not selfish," Viale declared, "Nothing's selfish about wanting the best for yourself."

Sana had to admit, she was impressed by Viale's bluntness. He didn't hesitate to tell people what he thought of them. Her thoughts were cut off by Viale springing up from his seating position.

"Let's go, then." Viale began walking towards the utility closet that had slammed him in the face minutes ago.

"Where are you going?"

"To beat the shit outta some twins."

"Do you have a plan?"

Viale slyly glanced back. "I got a few."

? ﾝﾅﾥ? - Overdrive

｢Funkytown｣

Long-Ranged Stand

Stats:

Power: ∅

Speed: A
Range: ※

Stamina: B

Precision: ※

Potential: ※

(※: depends on location)

Chubby was bored. His Stand, Funkytown, was honestly pretty bad. The Stand's only ability was to shuffle a building's entrances and exits once every thirty minutes. He couldn't even do it quickly in sequence. Once he activated his Stand, he had a huge cooldown until he could actually do anything.

At least the Stand's appearance was cool. It looked like a haunted mansion crossed with a chest of drawers. A big block of purple, spikey wood, with technicolour doors that moved around every time Chubby activated his ability. It could also take quite a beating.

Right now, he was sitting on a couch in a suite he and his brother had commandeered from the hotel. His brother was looking out the window, patiently waiting for–

Checker smirked. "They're coming back to the utility door."

Chubby sat up. "You ready to slam?"

"You bet."

Checker summoned his Stand. A big outhouse door, shoddily made, with a similar colour scheme to the outline of Chubby's Stand; a purple, spiky wood, that looked as if it was reserved for Halloween. There was a cutout of a moon in the top-middle section of the Stand. Its name was All Star.

All Star worked well with Funkytown. It could control every door in a building. Lock, unlock, open, close. It could do it all. Checker's favourite use of his Stand was opening doors magically for dramatic entrances with his brother. The boss never really cared for the Hucklebucks' antics, but his distancing never had any effect on the brothers.

The Hucklebucks were, despite appearances, relatively high-ranking in the gang. They had earned the respect of many in the gang, through Chubby's tricky tactics, or Checker's brute force. They had killed, interrogated, and tortured many, but never directly enough to pin the blame on them. If goody-two-shoes politicians pointed their fingers at the Hucklebucks, they'd find themselves being thrown down a flight of stairs, then being slammed with a door.

"What?" Checker's eyes went wide. "Where'd he go? The girl's still there, but Giovanna's vanished!"

"Well, start swingin'!"

As Viale approached the dastardly door, he had already enacted his plan. He knew that the twins knew when he was approaching the door, so he only needed to get close.

"Sana. Get ready."

"For what?" She was standing a fair few paces back, with her heart rate steadily increasing.

"Watch."

He stepped within range of the door, and predictably, it swung open. In a flash, Viale had whipped his right foot back, and pivoted so his left hand touched the backside of the door, and–

He vanished, entering the back surface of the door.

The door closed, begrudgingly accepting defeat. Seeing as Sana's sight was obscured by the door, she could not see that Viale had slinked into the room behind the door, and used Mr. Blue Sky to unhook the hinges from the door frame.

SLAM!

The door came off its hinges, fell forward into the lobby, and revealed Viale standing in the utility closet. Mr. Blue Sky was standing behind him, holding numerous screws in his palm.

"That," he glanced up to Sana, who was standing there dumbstruck, "was my plan."

To Be Continued ===