Master's Academy Dormitory
Venice
Morning

It had been about a week since Viale and Amicio had faced off against Fuoco Esercito and the weird Stand-ghost kid. He'd been assured by Beneficci that the fiery one was no longer a threat and had been put in the Speedwagon Foundation-funded Stand prison, which Viale had many questions about. How were they sure they could keep in Stand users when Stands varied so heavily? Where is this prison? Is water wet? Viale decided to keep these thoughts to himself.

In other news, since the fight, Amicio moved back in with Viale and the tortoise. It was still pretty awkward. Amicio mostly kept to himself, feeling that he was walking on ice when he was around Viale, as if he were to trip and accidentally attack him. Viale thought it harmless, so he didn't press.

It was the weekend, so the two boys were just lounging around when something Amicio said bothered Viale. It was then when he realised he'd been using his Stand wrong the whole time.

｢Mr. Blue Sky｣ was able to store objects in surfaces. He could put his phone inside his phone case, for example, and have only the case be visible. He knew that, as long as it was a different surface, being divided by a corner, he could fit multiple objects in one thing, like hiding a pencil in the other side of the case.

So logic would dictate (or rather, Amicio would dictate) that if he got something with many sides, he'd be able to fit many things in one object. It helped that no matter the size difference, the object would cartoonishly squeeze itself down.

That was when Polnareff piped up from inside the key.

"What if you got a twenty-sided dice?" He suggested, as he leaned on his palm resting on the gold alloy of the key.

Viale paused in disbelief, looking between Polnareff and Amicio. How had he not thought of that?

So that was the current mission: find a store in Venice that sells a d20.

It started in the city centre. The half an hour walk was worth it for the possibility of conducting the two boys' new form of a science experiment. They asked around, walked around, and Google'd around. Viale suggested they check general stores and news agencies, but the search there fell flat.

One suggestion from Amicio was a magic shop. Viale raised an eyebrow at the proposal.

"Haha, yeah, I went through a bit of a magic phase back in middle school." That explained a lot. What he was surprised by was what Amicio next revealed. "That's actually how Sana and I became friends."

Viale was intrigued now. "Are you saying that Sana Rossi used to be big into magic tricks?" he deadpanned.

Amicio smiled. "I'd known her for a while before that," he explained, "her dad and my dad are friends, so we met when we were kids, but we never talked until we both wound up in magic club. Oh yeah, don't tell her I told you; she's still embarrassed about it."

That conversation made Viale's day. If they didn't manage to find a die, he wouldn't even be disappointed. Fortunately, it wouldn't come to that. Just after Viale learned of Sana's dirty secret they arrived at the magic shop. It was nothing special, a large window at the front depicting various crystal balls and tarot cards.

It was nestled among the winding canals and colourful buildings, and had a quaint air of mystery about it. A faded wooden sign above the door read 'La Bottega Magica' in elegant script, and as they stepped inside, the scent of old books and exotic spices filled their senses. The shelves were lined with curious objects: crystal balls, potions, spellbooks, and mysterious trinkets from distant lands. The shopkeeper, a wizened old lady with a twinkle in her eye, greeted them and warmly invited them in. The bell jingled as Viale pushed open the door.

As they explored the shelves of La Bottega Magica, they caught a glimpse of a stooped old woman shuffling between the shelves, her long black dress sweeping the floor. She introduces herself as Signora Magia, the owner of the shop, and listens attentively as they describe their epic quest for a twenty-sided dice. "Ah, Necimo, I thought you'd left us for good." she comments.

"Sorry I haven't, Signora Magia, but I'm actually not here for myself today." Viale could tell that Amicio was in his element here, being much more confident here compared to normally at school. "We're looking for some dice – twenty-sided, if you have it."

With a knowing smile, she leads them to a dimly-lit corner of the shop where a velvet-lined box sits on a small table. With a flick of her wrist, she unlocked the box and presented them with a stunning array of dice in all shapes and sizes, each one glinting in the dim light. She explained the intricacies of each type of dice, from the standard six-sided dice to the elusive twenty-sided dice. Finally, she produces a beautifully crafted twenty-sided dice and lays it gently in the palm of our characters' hand, assuring them that it is, in fact, twenty-sided.

As Viale and Amicio left La Bottega Magica with their newly acquired twenty-sided dice, they made their way through the bustling streets of Venice towards Accademia Magistrale. The blond couldn't help but fiddle with the dice in his pocket, admiring the intricate designs etched into its surface. Amicio rolled his eyes at his friend's fascination with the thought of being able to unlock a new way to use his Stand.

The streets were teeming with people, and they had to navigate their way around gondolas and water taxis, making sure not to get caught up in the crowds. Finally, they arrived at the front gate of their school.

'Why are they going into a magic shop?'

This was one thought on Tuono Fulmine's mind as he stalked the two boys. He wasn't one to believe in superstitions, so the choice to enter La Bottega Magica surprised him. The only force of nature he believed in was… well, he wasn't allowed to say.

Stands were funny things. He'd heard tales of one that could turn people into snails, one that required you to play a video game, and even one that could mimic any other Stand. 'Actually, that's the one I'm concerned with, right now,' he thought.

Tuono had been given a job. The, uh… his superiors…? Yeah, let's go with that. His 'superiors' had told him to get the principal of Accademia Magistrale into an 'accident', and right now, Giovanna was his best shot at that, especially if he used his Stand to its fullest potential.

He didn't know why he'd been asked to do the deed, but he would've jumped at the opportunity to give that old bag a quick one-two on the chin. Hell, he didn't even really want the payout, but, y'know, free money?

'Shit,' he cursed. He'd been daydreaming for so long that the two teenagers had already left. Luckily, they were just down the street, hopefully making their way back to school.

In the seclusion of their dorm room, the pair got to work. They sat on their own bed, Amicio nearly as curious as Viale. One by one, he started to put objects inside the different sides of the dice, carefully managing his Stand's ability to keep everything in place. It wasn't easy, but with each successful insertion, Viale grew more confident in his abilities.

Eventually, he managed to fill around seven sides of the dice with different objects, small trinkets like a pencil or eraser. Viale marvelled at the feat, feeling a sense of satisfaction and pride in his Stand's unique ability.

"This is so cool." He announced. He woke up Polnareff with the slightly-too-loud proclamation, but wasn't too mad when he found out what they'd accomplished. Again, it was Polnareff that asked the real questions.

"What's the size limit?"

They'd started small, with the pencil again, working up through differently sharpened and worn pencils, to a freshly opened one, which fit. Viale pulled out his spare change from his pocket (he'd paid for the dice), and one by one inserted cents to full Euros. When that worked, they started going crazy with the thing.

Amicio suggested larger items like his empty school bag, which fitted, and Viale stuffed his entire comforter from his bed inside the barely twelve millimetres of the surface (they did get a ruler to measure it, and then put the ruler itself inside the dice itself).

Eventually, they got to the big things by their standards. Polnareff was surprised Viale hadn't tried to go inside already, but Viale said that he'd already been inside of a coin already, so he didn't bother. He did, however, try to fit his entire bed inside the five-side of the dice. That one didn't go too well.

Viale had to call Esposito to ask for a replacement bed frame.

"Come on, Viale," he admonished over the phone, "I know having a Stand is fun, but you gotta…"

The school security was lax at best. All he had to do to get through the front office was tell them he was a past student. That only worked because, well, he was a past student. They didn't really care all too much as to why he was there, but his quick-thinking excuse of "having nostalgia" worked like a charm.

Now, all he had to do was find Giovanna, and get his Stand up and running. In the meantime, he was handed a visitor's pass and let on through. It had been three years; might as well see what's changed.

"...and that's why you have to be aware of your surroundings when you're experimenting with your Stand."

Viale breathed a sigh of relief as Esposito hung up. He thought he'd never get out of the lecture. This time, the sigh was in defeat. He'd realised that Amicio was getting off scot free because Viale had forgotten to mention his involvement to Esposito.

"That was quite the talking-to."

"No thanks to you," Viale shot back. He stood up, frivolously itching and scratching his skull through his hair. "Nah," he backpedalled, sighing shortly after, "I shouldn't be mad at you." He made his way back to his bed.

But before he could make it, a knock was heard on their door. Viale groaned. He was already standing, so etiquette dictated he answer it.

Of course, behind the door was an enemy – one who had been watching them all day. He'd spotted them in the hustle and bustle of Venice, and remembered their profiles from the briefing that everyone had gotten a few weeks ago.

Luckily for Viale, his door had a peephole on it. He looked through it, saw someone he didn't recognise, groaned again, and readied himself for yet another fight.

Tuono was having a great day.

He'd lucked out and found that Giovanna kid that the boss had told him and his associates about a few weeks back. Not only that, one of his allies was there too. While he wasn't necessarily a target Tuono figured the boss would appreciate one less 'problem' he'd have to take care of later.

A little more about Tuono. He flunked out of Accademia Magistrale in '25 – goddamn principal and his rules of drug dealing… Then he'd been picked up off the streets by what would end up being his people. They understood how he felt. It was everything to him that school wasn't: fun, united, and most importantly, fun. He'd been at it for a few years now; Venice was still quite active, even with Passione pushing up against their outer territories near Bologna.

With joining the crew, he inherited the hatred for Passione that permeated out through the organisation. Because the Giovanna kid was a target, he'd taken it upon himself to eliminate him. He'd heard of his competence as a Stand user, but he paid no mind to the reputation he was gaining amongst newbies.

So there he was, boldly knocking on the kid's door. He was confident – cocky, even. He had faith in his Stand. While the whole 'Stand' thing was new to him and a lot of others, he'd done jobs without it for way longer than people like Chubby and Checker. They were the real newbies, and Giovanna had put the fear of God into them.

However, it was not the time to be thinking about that, because Tuono noticed a set of technicolour arms phasing through the door in front of him. He feigned shock, but internally, it was going all according to plan.

Viale had Mr. Blue Sky reach through the door – not hiding, but phasing. Polnareff had told him that Stands could change their density and size like a slider in Photoshop, albeit with some effort. It took some practice, but of course Viale was able to nail it every time.

Eventually, Mr. Blue Sky was far enough in the hall to reach, and therefore punch, the obvious enemy. Tuono summoned his Stand in response, a green, red and blue snake-looking Stand coiled around the man's neck. The snake snapped out to defend its user from the vinyl-covered Stand.

But it was too slow. Viale, still behind the door, but watching through Mr. Blue Sky's eyes saw this coming from a mile away and quickly dodged, keeping the momentum and pulling itself the whole way out of the door. Now unencumbered from being, you know, stuck in a door, Mr. Blue Sky quickly found its fist connected to the tresspasser's face. Mr. Blue Sky watched the snake-Stand that was readying an attack abruptly fall out of existence.

"That was easy," Viale stated bemusedly as the man fell to the floor. He swung open the door, finding the man's unconscious body splayed out on the floor in the hallway.

"What was easy?" Amicio asked from inside the dorm.

Viale half-turned to have his face visible to his roommate. "Stand user. It only took one shot to knock him out."

Amicio tsked offhandedly. "They don't make them like they used to."

Viale let out a short laugh. "Says you. You weren't exactly competent." Viale gave the body a once-over. "I'll take him to Esposito – he'll know what to do," he said as he had his Stand heave the limp man over its shoulder.

"Why don't you just call him?"

"He's already pissed at me. Might as well get the rest of the lecture over with when I'm there."

Amicio shrugged as Viale left the room. He got up abruptly and walked over to the small hanging whiteboard that read 'DAYS WITHOUT STAND USER'. He shook his head and erased the 'six' with his sleeve.

Tuono was definitely not knocked out, but he knew Giovanna was way too proud to check. The whole thing was going all according to plan. Giovanna would carry him all the way to Esposito, then he'd get them to fight to the death. The plan was foolproof. The only real downside that he didn't see coming was that Giovanna's Stand was so. Damn. Uncomfortable. He'd foreseen being needed to be carried, but surely Mr. Blue Sky would have some padding or something, he thought.

Luckily the front office wasn't that far from the dormitories. All he had to do was wait.

｢Thunderstruck｣

Close-Ranged Stand

Stats:

Power: C

Speed: A

Range: D

Stamina: D

Precision: A

Potential: A

Accademia Magistrale
Staff Room

After getting off the phone with Viale, Esposito got up to clear his head. He decided that coffee would be the best bet for now. He got to thinking about how Viale had grown since arriving at the school. He was alone, the stale blue tabletops lined the room with half-drunk coffee mugs and ungraded assignments strewn across the room.

'Sure, he's talented. Sure, he's intelligent. But he's too cocky.' he thought, 'His attitude during his fight against Fuoco was too careless. Whilst he came out on top, there's no telling what would have happened to him had Nemico not been there to support him.'

His thoughts were cut short when a colleague entered. It was Professor Teripio, the resident school therapist. He was old. Very old. Older than anyone not in-the-know about his situation would assume. But that was no discredit to his skills. He had many accolades, mostly stemming from the psychology field. Let's just say the 'Professor' prefix was well earned. Not only that, but he was wise beyond his years. God only knew why he chose to work at Accademia Magistrale of all places.

He was dressed in old-timey professional clothes, with the homburg hat being rather iconic with the students that visited his office. He wore a grey three-piece suit that looked as if it were plucked right out of the 1910's and dropped in modern day. He also used a derby-grip walking cane that looked as antique as the man holding it.

"Professor. It is good to see you." Esposito greeted.

The fossil nodded shakily. "As are you. How goes your research?"

"It's not producing the results I had hoped, unfortunately." Datore spoke with more dignity when in the presence of the man. Whilst technically he was his boss, Luigi Teripio was held in high regard by many people.

"Fret not, young lad. Patience bears many fruits to those who deserve it, and you deserve it."

"I appreciate the compliments."

Teripio waved him off. "Think nothing of it. After everything you and your family have done for the school – and the Foundation – you should be rewarded with much more than platitudes from myself."

Datore decided to move on. "So, what can I fix you for?"

"Oh no, you mustn't trouble yourself with that."

"I insist."

Teripio shrugged stiffly and hobbled over to the brown leather couch that had been the subject of a fundraiser a few years back. He rested his hands on the handle of his cane and responded. "I've got my home-grown tea leaves in the commode over there."

Datore paused. "Commode?" he questioned.

"Sorry, the drawers in the corner."

"Ah." He spotted the drawers.

"I'm getting so forgetful in my old age. All of these new terms."

"Not to worry, sir."

"No, really. What even is a 'boomer'?"

Datore was forty five himself, but even he cringed at the old man's use of slang, however outdated it was in modern contexts. "I believe it refers to the 'baby boomer' generation, sir."

He looked bemused, and even slightly offended. "How young do they think I am?" He shook his head. "I'm getting too old for this."

"Yeah well…" Datore trailed off. He was done making the tea. As he brought it over, careful to not spill it, he noticed the old man was looking out the window wistfully. He decided to enquire about his work, "How is progress with Miss Rossi?"

"Not enough, I'm afraid. My Stand seems to have little-to-no benefit in her situation."

"She's had it rough."

"Those youngsters don't know how good they've got it," he noted, "We haven't had a war in what, twenty-three years?" He paused. "I guess that's a good thing, actually…"

"Yes, it is a good thing. I don't want to see my students conscripted into a war they had no involvement, like you were."

Luigi hummed in agreement.

"Well, I'd better get back to work." He said as he turned to leave, but was interrupted by the old man, sipping his tea.

"You've left your tea."

"Giovannna, why are you carrying someone over your shoulder?"

Viale swung around to see Esposito at the base of the stairs, as Viale was halfway up to Esposito's office.

"Uhh, Stand user?" Viale replied dumbly.

Esposito sighed. "Alright, let's get him upstairs. We'll call it in from my office."

As they made their way up, Tuono was sweating bullets. The entire plan hinged on whether or not he could pull this next bit off.

What was even more difficult was keeping his composure in the face of the man that ruined his life. He hated Esposito more than he was able to give. Before he'd been kicked out, he actually respected Esposito, as much as any student would respect their leader.

But the man had no respect for him in return, hell, he'd wager that Esposito didn't even know who he was until it came out that Tuono was dealing drugs to primary schoolers.

Viale and Esposito came to a stop when they got to the top of the staircase.

"Let's see the damage."

"His Stand looks like some kind of snake, by the way. Pretty slow, if you ask me." He paused. "Well, slower than me."

Esposito internally rolled his eyes. "Did you get to see its ability?"

"Huh? Oh, no, I didn't."

Esposito turned back to the 'unconscious' man. "Wait a second, I recognise this guy–"

"You should fight him, Giovanna. To the death."

The moment Viale heard Tuono say that, it became all that he could think about. Fight. Fight. Fight. Esposito whipped around to see that Viale had brought out Mr. Blue Sky instantly, the Stand's face contorted in rage.

Without taking his eyes off Viale, the frail principal spoke. "What did you do?!"

Tuono sat up, chuckling. "That's my Stand. ｢Thunderstruck｣. Because you so kindly asked. I call its ability 'no turning back', because it can make anyone commit to their current train of thought. Indefinitely." The stand appeared, once again coiled around Tuono's neck. Both him and Thunderstruck were now glowing a sickly shade of yellow.

'Shit! I can't fight an enraged Giovanna!' He thought. While he did think Viale was cocky, there was no denying he packed a punch.

Tuono got up, rounded the room, and sat down in Esposito's modest office chair. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm just going to sit here and watch."

'I'm going to have to reveal my Stand!'

Viale stepped forward. A deliberate move for intimidation. It worked as Esposito took a deliberate step back. Mr. Blue Sky moved, faster than the eye could see, only for it to stop just millimetres away from Esposito's face.

Datore had left the Stand's range by a hair. And it was very much on purpose.

"So it seems like you're going to fight. Very well. Show me what you can do, Giovanna."

Datore's Stand aura flared to life, as if it had been sleeping for a long time. An almost heavenly white and grey spewed out of his body. Tuono, who had his feet up on Esposito's desk and was eating grapes he found in a drawer, suddenly was way more interested in the fight.

From Esposito's chest, a majority of the Stand aura coalesced and compressed until it was formed into a spherical shape, three inches in diameter, with small indentations dotted all around the shape. It looked like a floating golf ball.

In fact, that's exactly what it was. Just a golf ball, floating midair, doing nothing.

"That," Tuono began, "Has got to be the most anticlimactic Stand reveal ever."

Esposito shot him a hateful glare, then smirked as he called out the Stand's name.

"｢Electric Boogaloo｣!"

As soon as he said that, the ball-shaped Stand grew. It moulded itself up and down, and a bit out, and changed colour to be a majority blue. It moulded into a humanoid figure, with camera lenses for eyes, a speaker for a mouth, and microphones for ears. On its torso, a vinyl record appeared. It was a one-to-one copy of Mr. Blue Sky.

"It's been quite some time since I've been in a fight of my own. Let's see if I aged like milk, or like wine. Electric Boogaloo!"

Electric Boogaloo shot out and nailed Mr. Blue Sky in the stomach, in turn making Viale wheeze. He quickly recovered with a swipe to the legs that knocked over Datore. Datore used the momentum to sink into the floor at a rapid speed, leaving Electric Boogaloo to fight in his stead.

Internally, Esposito was calm. 'I've read Polnareff's notes on how Viale fights. This shouldn't be too hard if I play my– I mean, his cards right.'

Through Electric Boogaloo's eyes, he saw Viale had jumped forwards, causing Datore to be within the Stand's range for when he inevitably had to come back up for air.

In the meantime, Datore sent forward his Stand to try and halt Viale in his tracks.

"MORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"

Viale responded with his own Stand rush, causing shockwaves to emanate from the two identical fists colliding. Esposito was struggling. Viale was way more adept with his Stand, not to mention he had been fighting battles since he got here. He wouldn't be winning this fight with brute strength.

Meanwhile Viale had aggressively walked over to the spot Esposito had popped down into the floor, and was cocking back his Stand's fists for another barrage.

Acting quickly, Esposito sent Electric Boogaloo to catch the fist so he could escape unharmed.

Esposito's Stand was weird. It could copy any Stand it sees, but once it copies, it adapts the duplicated Stand's stats too. So although the initial Electric Boogaloo had quite a large range, Mr. Blue Sky didn't. But estimating range can only get you so far. He needed to end this. Fast.

But first, a bit of information. Through Electric Boogaloo's newly formed mouth, Esposito yelled out, "So is this all your Stand can do?"

Tuono's eyes snapped open. He was about to doze off, but the taunt brought him back into the fight. "Ha! Of course not, idiot. Who do you think I am?!"

"I remember you, you know," Esposito revealed, "Lazy kid who got caught dealing." Tuono's eye twitched. "It was a shame, actually. I met with your parents afterwards. They were very disappointed."

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK! MY PARENTS LOVED ME!" He shot up from his lounging position, and Thunderstruck began hissing like the snake it is.

Esposito was juggling fighting Viale at the same time. He knocked Viale back so he could take a breath a couple of times, but it was time for Esposito's gambit.

After a final hard fought pushback, Esposito surfaced. When he was clear of the ground, he had Electric Boogaloo change shape. In a flash, it had diminished from its humanoid form into a longer, lithe one, and coiled around Esposito's neck.

"You should disable your Stand."

And once he said that, it was all Tuono could think about. Thunderstruck slithered back into his mind, and Viale's face snapped back to its usual emotive state. Once Tuono had realised what had just happened, he started slowly backing away.

"I am a firm believer in the quote 'knowledge itself is power'." Esposito stated. Viale was looking around, disorientated. "And once I knew that was all your Stand could do, I knew there was no danger in using your own Stand against you."

Viale and Tuono's eyes locked. Viale tilted his head. They were having a conversation internally.

"I'll let you take care of this, Giovanna."

"Thank you, sir, but I actually thought we could go by this a little… differently."

Tuono squeaked.

"I like that idea."

"MORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"

To Be Continued ===