Car Park
Florence

The atmosphere was tense as the three groups rolled into the parking lot. Giorno and Vuoto were first, shortly followed by Sana and Shizuka. Viale and Beneficci were last. The air was thick with anticipation, and the sound of gravel crunching under their feet added to the tension.

As they approached the others, Shizuka spoke up, her voice breaking the silence. "Hey! What did you guys figure out?" Her eyes darted between the groups, searching for answers.

Everyone but Giorno sat on a low brick wall, chatting nervously. Giorno stood apart, his eyes scanning the surroundings for potential danger. His posture was rigid, and his jaw was set in a determined line.

Viale leaned closer to his temporary partner, his voice low and urgent. "Beneficci, you talk to everyone else, I'll handle Sana." His eyes flicked towards Sana, who was fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

Viale signalled Sana to follow him as Beneficci began the story of how they found and met Giuseppe. Viale led Sana around the corner to an alley between the multi-storey car park and some local business' building. The alley was dimly lit, and the walls were covered in graffiti.

"What's up?" Sana asked, her voice tinged with curiosity and concern.

Viale steadied his breath, trying to calm his racing heart. "You okay? I saw you talking to Giorno on the train." He wanted to ease her into the real question, so he asked an easy one first.

"Oh, yeah, he was all like, 'I know what's best for my son', and, 'mind ya biznus'." Sana mimicked Giorno's voice, her impression exaggerated and comical. Viale couldn't help but smile at her attempt to lighten the mood. "Well, he didn't say it like that. But he didn't even know your birthday."

"So you were defending my honour, is that it?" His bemusement grew, and he raised an eyebrow at her.

Sana's cheeks gained some colour, dusting red in embarrassment. "Well yeah. My… My dad is a bit much. He only really pays attention to me if it will affect him, y'know?"

Viale saw the opportunity and latched on. "Like when you go on the run? I remember that phone call when we were leaving Venice."

"I'm surprised you remember that, but yeah I guess. So hearing yours do the same thing… kinda ticked me off."

"I appreciate it." Viale's voice softened, and he gave her a reassuring smile. Sana nodded and was about to walk away, but Viale grabbed her wrist. She stopped in her tracks and looked at Viale quizzically.

"What're you doing…?"

"The informant told us something else." Viale let go of her wrist, his eyes avoiding hers. He was suddenly finding the cracked pavement very interesting. "He said… he said your mother is Mercurio's wife."

Sana's eyes widened in shock. "Huh?! What do you mean!"

"I mean it makes sense. You both have red hair, and you don't like your father…"

"Really? And you believed him?! That's all circumstantial." Sana's voice was rising, her frustration evident.

Viale closed his eyes, trying to steady his emotions. "I don't know what that means, but the informant was Giorno's step-father. I trust him."

"A-And I'm your friend! You should trust me!" Sana's voice wavered, and she took a step closer to Viale.

"Do you deny it?" Viale eyed her with his head tilted down. This was hurting him a lot more than he wanted to show. "I need you to be honest with me, Rossi. Him and us are gonna clash soon. I don't want to be unsure of your allegiance."

"You want me to choose between you and my dad?!" she revealed, her voice breaking. Viale was glad to know that he was right, but it was a double-edged sword. "What do you think I'm doing here!"

"I think you're hitching a ride back to Mercurio. I hope I'm wrong." Viale's voice was barely above a whisper, his eyes pleading with her.

Sana glared at him, her eyes filled with anger and hurt. "You are! He's a massive piece of shit! He broke your leg and your spirit! He killed our teacher! He tried to kill us! He tossed mamma aside like a used rag! It's not like your dad who is actually trying to get to know you; trying to care!" She heaved her breath, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Scuderio and his men have tortured and killed so many people, and I hope your father gives him what's coming to him. I hate him! I wanna– I'm gonna–!"

Viale wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. She paused, and looked up in his eyes. Her eyes grew wet and she buried her face in Viale's chest, and sobbed.

"I-I'm sorry… hic…" Viale's face fell downtrodden as he gingerly rubbed Sana's back. "I shouldn't be crying… on your shirt…"

"You can cry. This thing's been through like six fights. It's tough." Viale's voice was gentle, and he held her tightly.

Sana felt a giggle bubble in her chest, but it didn't make it out. Viale didn't take it personally. "I-I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys… I didn't realise it was him until… until the news report on the train…"

Should someone see this scene from the outside, they would see a boy and a girl cuddling, but to Sana and Viale, it was two people desperately clinging onto each other for fear of drowning.

"I'm scared, Sana," Viale said after a long pause for tears, "I don't think my Stand disappeared because I lost my 'fighting spirit'" he said the last part in a mocking voice, as if referring to an inside joke, "but because I got my ass kicked by your dad… I was so scared that I lost the ability to use my Stand so I wouldn't be able to see your dad's Stand… even after that, I had nightmares of rats surrounding me, crawling up me and chewing off my leg. I still get jumpy when I see rats in real life."

Sana's mouth quivered. "Slick, cool Viale has musophobia…" Viale gave her a look. "Sorry… that was mean."

"Don't worry about it. I only really snapped out of it when Richiamare reminded me of mamma. She's still… somewhere, and I've gotta get her out."

Sana pulled away and broke off the contact. "Padre is going to get what's coming to him. I'll help however I can."

The pair went back to the rest of the group, just to finish hearing Beneficci recounting the information.

"–and Mercurio isn't actually the boss, he's just a massive donor–oh hey, Viale." She walked up to him and whispered, "I didn't tell Giorno about his step-father. I thought you could."

Viale nodded as she went back to sitting on the wall. He cleared his throat. "Hey. Sorry about that. Sana has some more information on Mercurio."

All eyes turned to Sana and she shifted uncomfortably at the sudden attention.

"R-right. Well, he's a politician, right, but he actually has a background in chemistry and medicine. He was a doctor for like ten years before he started the whole politics thing. I think that's where he got the 'stand-revealing virus' thing from."

Giorno nodded, his expression thoughtful. "Do you know about his future plans?"

She shook her head. "No. I can tell you he's forty-five and from Venice. He had an affair with a singer, and had me."

Giorno's eyes narrowed, his gaze piercing. "You… are Mercurio's daughter." He didn't ask. He stated.

"Yes… but, I don't want that to change your view of me–"

"It doesn't. I completely understand not siding with your father," Giorno said, his voice firm and reassuring.

Sana stammered, her eyes wide with surprise, as Viale scoffed.

"We are on the same side, Gioviale," Giorno admonished, his tone stern.

"Reluctantly," Viale muttered under his breath.

The group broke off into several groups of conversation after that. Giorno tapped his son on the shoulder. "I want to see you in private. Come with me."

Viale sent Sana a look, and she nodded to indicate she was fine staying back. He and Giorno were silent on their walk.

Walking was still a bit of a chore for Viale. He still had to rely on a fake leg for refusal to get it healed. Not to mention running around Pisa was considerably more difficult. He outright refused both Sana and Giorno's offers to do so on the train ride over to Florence.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the famous Visarno Arena. The grounds were once known for racing horses, as the racing track might suggest, but more recently it was host to many rock concerts in the turf. The arena was empty now, its vast expanse echoing with the memories of past events.

Giorno turned to his son, his expression serious. "We need to talk about what's coming next. Are you ready for this?"

Viale took a deep breath, his resolve hardening. "I am. Let's do this."

"I don't want you to take this the wrong way," Giorno said, his voice steady but firm, "but I'm not confident in your ability to go all the way."

Viale's eyes narrowed, a spark of defiance igniting within them. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You and the others were thrown into this conflict with no say in the matter. You're a reactor, not an initiator."

"I'm initiating finding mamma."

"Then prove you have what it takes. Prove you have the resolve to go all the way. Tell me, the first time we visited your school in Venice, I asked you what your dream was. Do you yet have an answer?"

"I… I'm going to save mamma—"

"You need a dream, one that can pull you through the nightmares. Saving Grace is a goal in the present."

Viale was silent, his mind racing. "Do I… need one…?"

Giorno looked solemn, his eyes reflecting a deep-seated wisdom. "You cannot survive without something to fight for." They were silent for an uncomfortable moment, the weight of Giorno's words hanging in the air, before Giorno decided to move on. "I want to fight you. Test you."

"Didn't I just save your ass against Richiamare?"

"If I wanted Richiamare dead, he would've been so. I was testing you then too. And it worked."

"You let yourself get injured on purpose? Please."

Giorno let out a quiet groan and rubbed his bridge. "Are you going to fight me or not?"

Giorno felt the slightest shimmer behind him, and tilted his head just as ｢Blue Sky Mine's｣ fist was thrown at him, narrowly missing him. ｢Gold Experience｣ manifested and swept Blue Sky Mine's feet, tripping Viale over too.

Viale called his Stand back to him and slammed the ground, sending dirt and grass up into Giorno's face. In a split second, he travelled through the various particles and ended up in the air behind Giorno.

The dirt transformed into fire ants and stuck onto Viale as he fell back to the ground and brushed them off him. The ants caused enough of a distraction so that Gold Experience could close the range difference and sock Viale in the chest.

Viale's mind was sent out of his body as his senses went into overdrive. He watched as his body laid still and didn't even attempt to get out of the way of Gold Experience's punches. Electricity ran through his body as Giorno continued the onslaught.

'What the fuck is this?! I thought Giorno's ability was Life Giver… is he overloading my body with life energy…?!'

Viale's body was knocked away as Giorno finished pummeling it, and a short moment later, his senses returned to him.

"OW! What the hell?!"

He activated ｢Broken Strings｣ and pierced Giorno's shoe and foot with his ultra-sharp finger.

Giorno winced but didn't falter. He quickly retaliated, using Gold Experience to grab ahold of the finger and create a burst of life energy that surged through Viale's body, causing him to stagger back. Viale gritted his teeth, trying to reorient himself.

"You're strong, Viale, but you lack focus," Giorno said, his voice calm and measured. "You need to channel your energy and find your purpose."

Viale's eyes blazed with determination. "I have a purpose! I'm going to save mamma and stop Mercurio!"

Giorno nodded, a hint of pride in his eyes. "Then show me."

Viale lunged forward, his Stand moving in sync with him. He aimed a powerful punch at Giorno, but Gold Experience intercepted it effortlessly. The two Stands clashed, their fists meeting in a flurry of blows.

Giorno's experience and skill were evident as he deftly countered Viale's attacks. He moved with precision, exploiting every opening and weakness. In terms of raw strength, Blue Sky Mine was superior, but this wasn't a fight of strength. It was a fight of resolve.

With a final, decisive blow, Gold Experience sent Viale crashing to the ground. Viale lay there, panting and bruised, but his spirit unbroken.

Giorno extended a hand to his son. "You've got potential, Viale. Find your dream, and let it guide you."

Viale slapped Giorno's hand away. "You only won because you have years of experience on me."

Giorno let out a breath. "The enemies we will soon be facing could have more experience than me. That's not what matters." Giorno got up close with Viale. "Mercurio," he spat, "will have leagues more resolve than you. Should I not be enough to stop him, or if my death is fated to be at his hands, you will need resolve."

The father and son returned to their comrades as they were discussing their next plans.

"I'm telling you, we should keep going on the train," Shizuka argued.

Beneficci shook her head. "If anything, we should try a mode of transportation we haven't used yet, like an aeroplane."

"I disagree," Giorno said, with a weird look in his eye. "Us Joestars have a—"

"—terrible track record with planes." Shizuka finished. They looked at each other with understanding.

Viale looked between the two and shrugged. "We're in a carpack; why not drive? It's what, a four hour drive to Venice?"

"We already had the police called on us," Vuoto said, "so they could be on the lookout for Stand users."

Viale hummed. There were many cars in the parking lot, ranging from a few high-end sports cars, to shitbox 70s cars that were running on hopes and prayers.

"Which one do we take?"

"It's not that simple," Viale explained, "they would have put out an ABP for Giorno and Vuoto by now, and if anyone could come back to get their car and find it's stolen, they'd know exactly who they're looking for."

Giorno was about to interject, but before he could, Viale grabbed two handfuls of rubble from one of the rundown walls, and started throwing them at all of the cars.

"We'll steal all of the cars."

The rubble would hit a car, and the car would disappear into the rubble. Then using Broken Strings he could collect it back and put it in his pocket. He did this with every car, until just a seven seater SUV was remaining.

Giorno watched with a smile.

Shizuka was playing on her phone when she got a text in a group chat including herself, Giorno, Beneficci, and Polnareff.

Those Who Are Not Still In School (name pending)

J.P.P. We have interesting news regarding Mercurio and his Stand.

As Shizuka read what Fragi and Matito had discovered, Giorno's frown grew. They looked between each other and Beneficci.

"What's with the looks?" Vuoto asked from the middle seat.

Giorno sighed. "Mercurio is… not going to be a simple foe. We need a plan of attack."

To Be Continued =