Mercurio's Office
Accademia Magistrale
Venice

"Sir, their allies hiding in the school took out Noio, and the main group has been spotted outside Bologna. Shall we send the local polizia?" Tizio's voice trembled slightly, betraying his nerves.

Mercurio shook the small glass box in his hand, the ball inside rattling around. He observed it intently, his eyes narrowing as if searching for answers within its confines. "Do you know why I do what I do, Tizio?"

Tizio shook his head, his expression a mix of confusion and determination. "No sir, I aim to follow your instructions, not analyse your actions."

"A shame." Mercurio sighed, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "If you had, you could learn a thing or two." He stood up from his chair, his movements deliberate and measured. "I didn't reveal the existence of Stands on a whim. I've seen people online saying things like 'he just wants to watch the world burn' and the like. I don't. I love this world." His voice softened, a rare glimpse of vulnerability. "And it pains me to see the species I love… limit themselves by hiding their true selves and… and fighting with each other over nothing. The status quo is the problem. And Stands are the solution. Your fighting spirit, laid bare for the world to see. Those who cannot fight for change won't survive. It's simple. It's elegant. Eat or be eaten."

"And the Joestars?" Tizio's eyes widened, a flicker of fear crossing his face.

"That damn family has been an enforcer of the status quo for more than a century." Mercurio's tone turned bitter, his eyes flashing with anger. "Joseph Joestar prevented humanity from evolving to combat a mutual enemy. Kujo Jotaro did the same. Shizuka Joestar had the most positive impact, and I respect her and her Thieves for taking initiative and removing a corrupt politician. But, Giorno Giovanna… saw the organisation that sold drugs to children and came in like a goddamn saviour and changed nothing. I won't pretend that I agree with Apatia, as I am actively using their manpower and distribution network, and their existence is proof of Giovanna's failing. He sat atop his throne for more than thirty years and changed one country… and evidently not very well. It sickens me."

"Sir…" Tizio looked conflicted, his loyalty wavering. Apatia, or Mercurio?

"I have humanity's best intentions at heart. Don't get me wrong." Mercurio's voice softened again, almost pleading. "After the labs are ready to ship out, I'll leave Apatia to its own devices. You should be in a good position to take over all of Italy after what we did to Passione."

Mercurio rolled the box around some more, holding it up to the sunlight gleaming through the window. ｢Electric Boogaloo｣ shimmered in its cage, reflecting a kaleidoscope of colours across the room. "I nearly have all that I want."

"So, what do you want to do about the Joestar group?"

｢ELO｣ faded into view behind Mercurio. "I think… I'll send them a message. They've been getting a bit too confident in their safety."

"There's a car following us," Beneficci pointed out.

"How far?" Giorno asked.

"Three… no, four cars back. They've been tailing us since we went around Bologna."

"Take a closer look."

"What if it's a Stand user?"

Viale chimed in. "I'll cover you. Just figure out what they're up to." He cracked open his window, and his left arm disappeared. "I'll listen in with Broken Strings."

The wind pulled at Viale's thinned and extended arm. They were going more than one hundred kilometres per hour. He felt himself flap around at the sheer force of the air. As he elongated back to the tailing car, he furrowed his eyebrows and sent ｢Blue Sky Mine｣ through the appendage.

He had done this a few times during his fights with Giorno and Richiamare. For some reason a Stand's range begins wherever your body is closest. For example, because most people are taller than they are wide, their Stand's range is technically higher in the up and down directions. Viale thought of it as an egg shape. Using ｢Broken Strings｣, Viale could lengthen his Stand's range to a much wider degree.

With this logic he could use his Stand's eyes to see far distances. Hence, he could see the inside of a car twenty metres away.

"Two men, European. Late twenties to early thirties. Passenger on the phone. I can't hear what they're saying…"

"If you can, check if they have a SATNAV going," Beneficci asked.

Viale circled around the car and peered through the rear window. He looked around and found nothing on the internal heads-up display, and the man on the phone didn't seem to be giving directions.

"Nope. No Nav."

Giorno nodded. "Then they're tailing us. Good to know."

"Should I cut their brake pads or something? Oh, they're slowing down—"

Before anyone could respond, the road in front of them exploded.

~100km from Venice
Italy

Blue Sky Mine carried Viale's d20 out of the car, with Sana slung over his shoulder. The air was thick with the smell of burnt rubber and gasoline. After setting Sana down gently, Viale exited the surface of the die. His Stand proceeded to rip the other three doors off the car to allow the others to escape the wreck. The sound of metal tearing echoed through the desolate highway.

The car had landed a few metres off the side of the road, upside down and very much destroyed.

Viale got up and dusted himself off, his clothes tattered and covered in dirt. "I can't catch a break, can I?" he muttered under his breath, frustration evident in his voice.

"Don Giovanna… we meet again."

Viale whipped around, his heart pounding in his chest. He flinched at the sight of ELO sitting on the highway's guard rail. Even seated, his presence was overwhelming, a dark aura emanating from him.

"Y-You, Mercurio…!" Viale's voice trembled, his fear palpable.

"Oh… I thought you were Giorno. No matter. You and your little posse have been a thorn in my side for too long. When I told Giovanna – your father – to come to Venice, I didn't mean 'gather a bunch of allies and come oppose me'." Mercurio's voice was cold and menacing, his eyes boring into Viale's soul.

Viale put his hand in his pocket to hide its shaking. "So why now? W-why not just, just kill us all back at the hotel?" His voice wavered, but he tried to maintain a semblance of composure.

"I'm nothing if not an honest man. I like to think so, anyway. I didn't want to kill you in front of my daughter. The last thing I wanted was for her to be involved in this conflict." Mercurio's tone was almost mocking, a sinister smile playing on his lips.

"So what, you send assassins after us?" Viale countered, his anger rising with his nervousness.

"They were told expressly to avoid hurting her."

"And we all know that mafia assassins are the most trustworthy people." Viale's sarcasm was a thin veil over his fear.

The imposing Stand stood up, its presence even more intimidating up close. Viale tensed, his Stand aura flaring around him, ready to either run or fight. ELO got up in his face, the Stand easily a foot taller than the already-tall Viale. He breathed out through his snout, the air around them growing colder. "Don't forget I'm letting you live for the moment. Don't test me, or I'll flick your head off faster than you can say 'fettuccine'."

Viale was bodily shaking at this point, his fear overwhelming him. "Please… just leave us alone…" His voice was barely above a whisper, a plea for mercy.

"Bring out your Stand, Giovanna. Let's go a few rounds. Maybe that will change your mind. Maybe your limbs being separated from your body will send your father the right message."

Viale's leg hurt.

"Bring out. Your Stand."

He heard a groan from the car. 'Shit, I forgot to get everyone else out…'

"Gioviale…?" he heard his father crawl out of the car, "what… oh." He pulled himself up and held his arm close. "Mercurio."

ELO turned around. "And the man of the hour! You kept me waiting."

"What are you doing here… I thought we were meeting in Venice."

"Yes, I did say that. But now that you've gone and gathered allies, I decided to… expedite the process."

With Giorno distracting ELO, Viale took his opportunity to stagger over and pull Beneficci, Vuoto and Shizuka out. 'That glass isn't good. Hopefully we can get that healed.'

Giorno stood up straight. "Tell me, Mercurio… how much power do you really have right now? I know a hundred kilometres is a long way for you to push your Stand."

ELO scoffed. "What are you talking about? I just flipped your car without even trying."

"Every Stand has a range. Mine is quite well known as being around two metres. Even so, the further my Stand goes from me, even within my range, I can feel it getting weaker. I'm sure that's the same for everyone here, including you."

ELO bore his teeth, but Giorno continued on. "I bet that's why you didn't risk attacking when you found the others staying at the hotel. It wasn't like you didn't want to scar your daughter… you were afraid she'd beat you in a fight. Her and Gioviale."

"So much talking." ELO brought up a hand and did a 'tut tut' motion. "Don't put on a face and accept your fate."

"Accept my fate?" Giorno chuckled. "My 'fate'. Tell me, Scuderio, what is fate really?

"Now, I've come for you, Giovanna. Don't make this hard on yourself and your allies."

"Gold Experience!"

His Stand shot over to the wrecked car and gave it a flurry of punches. ELO watched in bemusement. The car morphed and shifted and started changing its very nature. The bonnet shifted into a lion, but before the rest of the car could change, Giorno whispered, "｢Maneater｣…"

The midsection shuddered and a goat's head appeared coming out of the lion's body. The boot of the car sprouted wings and a tail, which was actually a snake's body with a dragon head on the end. The creation lumbered onto its four paws and let out a low growl.

"This… is Maneater. A chimera." The three-headed beast turned to see ELO, now decidedly less confident. "Maneater… kill."

The lion's eyes turned to slits as it spotted its prey. It pounced, the ground cracking at the weight, and landed right on top of ELO.

Viale, watching from afar, saw the whole scene unfold. 'Woah… since when could padre do that…?'

Sweetie, Fragi, and Matito were staying in ｢Mr. President｣ for the meantime. Thankfully, the tortoise had provided them with beds, each one more luxurious than the last, with plush pillows and soft, silken sheets that seemed out of place inside a turtle's shell. They had watched the dormitory crumble from the math class window, and were still processing the destruction.

Being a ghost, Polnareff didn't need a wheelchair, which was one thing he liked about his situation. It allowed him to wander around his room freely, something he'd been doing for the better part of two decades. The room was filled with mementos from his past life, each item meticulously placed as if to tell a story. It also allowed him to keep in shape, although he mostly did that to occupy time. His spectral form moved with a grace that belied his ghostly nature, each step silent and smooth.

Polnareff was abusing a sandbag when he got a text. The sandbag swung back and forth, absorbing his powerful punches with a dull thud. His phone buzzed on a nearby table, and he paused, wiping the ectoplasmic sweat from his brow before picking it up.

Giorno Giovanna

Mercurio has his stand on us. His person is defenceless.

Polnareff's eyes widened, and he instantly got the other three up from their various states of relaxation. "Rapide! Rapide! This is our chance!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the room. The three boys scrambled up, their expressions shifting from confusion to determination.

"Sweetie, we need some BB Guns and smoke balls. Can you get those?" Polnareff asked, his tone urgent but controlled.

The young-looking Stand wordlessly handed out the equipment to the others, keeping a set for himself. His face was a mask of calm, but his eyes betrayed a flicker of excitement.

"Matito, what do we know?" Polnareff asked, turning to the young strategist.

Matito cleared his throat as he flipped through pages of ｢Take On Me｣, his brow furrowed in concentration. "It's likely that he won't just have his right hand with him. The man is smart; he should have reinforcements, even if it's just some basic bitch non-Stand users."

Polnareff nodded, his mind racing. "Okay, okay, I think I'm getting an idea. I think it's my time to return to the stage." His eyes gleamed with a mixture of nostalgia and resolve, the thrill of the impending battle bringing a ghostly flush to his cheeks.

ELO braced as the large amalgam's lion's paw kept him held down. The tail snaked around the side and let out a cough of fire. When creating it, Giorno had kept the car's gasoline the same so Maneater would be able to use it as fuel for the dragon head's fire breath.

ELO jumped out of the way at the last second, the fire only grazing his own tail. Maneater growled as the goat head on its back kept track of the enemy Stand.

Giorno rounded ELO, Gold Experience at the ready. Mercurio caught Gold Experience's punch and twisted, giving Giorno the same pain. Maneater swiped him off its master. It blew fire from its tail, which caught Mercurio as he landed from the powerful hit moments before. Giorno nursed his wrist and shoulder, still sore from the car crash.

'He's still leagues stronger than Gold Experience… I hope this is enough to get Gioviale out of danger…'

Viale was a ways away by this point. Before, his bum leg was barely an issue, but after seeing ELO again for the first time since that day in Esposito's office, it was aching with white hot agony, and making him limp away. Shizuka stirred as Viale dragged her and the others away from the fight.

"Wh…wha…?"

"Shizuka!" Viale poked her in the cheek over and over.

Shizuka, still delirious, halfheartedly batted his hands away.

Viale's frustration mounted. "Oh my god… Hulk Hogan is touring nearby!"

Shizuka's eyes shot open and she jumped up. "WHERE?!"

"I lied. Padre is fighting Mercurio."

Shizuka blinked and they turned invisible without another word.

The main school was crawling with as many guards as it was during the takeover only a week earlier. From across the courtyard being covered with men, Polnareff and the others watched through binoculars from their vantage point. Luckily in their various patrols of the school, they'd found multiple ways to access the roof of the dormitories.

"Looks like they're expecting us," Matito stated bluntly.

Polnareff nodded in the affirmative. "It won't really matter how many men he has – if they don't look down at their feet, they don't know we're there." Polnareff re-entered Coco Jumbo and tapped on the wall cheerfully. "Get ready for one hell of a walk, old girl."

"GET OFF ME!" ELO roared as he tossed Maneater over his shoulder in an impressive suplex move. The beast roared as it landed on the goat's head, its neck snapping under the weight of the rest of its body.

Giorno ducked low and clotheslined the rat with his Stand's fist.

"MUDA!"

ELO gasped and froze. Back at the school, Mercurio found himself outside of his own body, seeing everything in slow-motion as his senses were sent into overdrive. The effect ended just as Giorno turned back around to face him.

"What the hell did you do to me…?!"

'Seems like Life Shot works on Mercurio as planned.'

Giorno, still huffing, gave a sly smile. "I don't know what you're talking about."

ELO growled, "I may be weakened right now, but I'm still leagues stronger and faster than you."

"That means nothing if you can't land a hit." Maneater strained back to its feet, angry at the loss of one of its heads. It stalked back around to Giorno's side. "I think you should leave, Mercurio."

"I hope you realise that me being here is doing you a favour. I'm showing you what you're up against, even at a fraction of my power."

"You're lucky that my allies are conveniently unconscious. I wonder how you would fare against six Stand users in this situation?"

"Shame your son is too chicken to face me."

"THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

Houdini and Blue Sky Mine revealed themselves behind ELO (Viale wasn't planning on joining in) by sending a combined flurry into their enemy.

"MORAMORAMORAMORA…"

"You think I haven't done this long enough to know how to sneak up on people?! BAZUBAZUBAZUBAZUBAZU…"

ELO, still reeling from the Life Shot, had to bring his arms up and take the hits. Maneater and Gold Experience joined in, leaving the rat with no room to breathe.

"MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA!"

The three allies were shifting in and out of visibility, their forms flickering like ghosts in a strobe light, but it hardly mattered when Mercurio was being struck by Life Shot every other millisecond. Each hit felt like a hammer blow, reverberating through his entire being. At the school, Mercurio's body was wracked with pain, his mind a chaotic whirlwind of agony and confusion. Tizio knelt next to him, his face a mask of worry, as Mercurio lay on the floor, his skin glistening with sweat.

"You have to get out of there!" Tizio's voice was a desperate plea, cutting through the haze of Mercurio's torment.

With a groan of effort, Mercurio relented, his resolve wavering. As soon as there was an opening, he phased ELO into the ground and recalled him. The rat-like Stand vanished, leaving a swirling eddy of disturbed dirt in its wake. Blue Sky Mine, not willing to let their prey escape so easily, attempted to dig into the ground to find him. The ground churned and heaved under their frantic efforts.

But Giorno stepped in, his presence commanding and calm. He put a firm hand on his son's shoulder, shaking him out of the provocation.

"Gioviale," Giorno's voice was soothing yet authoritative, a grounding force amid the chaos.

Viale blinked and looked at his bruised knuckles and fingertips. "I… did we just… do that?" Behind him, Maneater began to reform into the wrecked car.

Viale fell down onto his butt, leaning back on his palms. He steadied his breath, and watched the sun set.

To Be Continued =