[X] Coach him through it- You need him at full capacity more than you need petty revenge. And it is pretty petty.
-[X] You suppose a little teasing won't hurt him. Just beat around the bush for a little, make him work it out, or work for it.
Vote is closed, the lesser Paragon option wins unanimously, really, kind of surprised by that, have a codex to pass the time.
|||
Humanity is a newcomer to the galactic stage, having only been around for 13 years, and even so, they have managed to shake the foundations of the galactic community with their logic-defying talents, and their propensity for low-cost, high-quality prosthetics.
Once the ashes of the First Contact War cooled and more civil contact was made, they were given an, at best lukewarm welcome to the larger galactic community, partially because of their violent first contact, partially because of the stories that came out of said first contact. Of the stories that came out of the Relay 314 Incident, the most telling of them is the story of what happened after night fell on Shanxi- vampires, at first thought to be advanced but fragile war machines that shut down once the faceplate was cracked open, shed their armour, allowing the use of their more... gruesome abilities. These, combined with the healing powers of Hamon, led to only five hundred and fourteen human and vampiric lives being lost, while the turians lost twice that.
Eventually, the Citadel got involved and stopped the impending war in its tracks by opening negotiations in a civil forum, and eventually, peace was reached. At first, there were talks about paying reparations, though the turians flat-out refused.
"We paid our dues in blood."
Nobody pressed the subject any further.
Unfortunately, the damage was done by that point, and a large part of the general populace developed a rather negative view of humans, ranging from being viewed as aggressors who want to do nothing but expand and consume whatever they can find, to swindlers who always have some kind of ulterior motive and trick up their sleeve, to monsters who drink the blood of the living to maintain their youth. However, in recent years, with the efforts of the Speedwagon Foundation, Councillor Valentine, and the Nemirovsky Corporation, a company specialising in civilian cybernetics, offering physiology-specific prosthetics to veterans of all species, free of charge, and it is hoped that this trend of approval will only continue to grow.
Several ideas run through your mind at the same time- from making him grovel for your help and watching him squirm, to beating the hell out of him with Pearly Gates until he summons his Stand through sheer stress, both of which you dismiss as soon as they occur to you because what the fuck Gioia that's just fucked up and move to slightly less morally reprehensible pastures. You eventually settle on mischievous but not malicious.
Basically, you're gonna tease the shit out of him and try and make him work it out by himself in the process.
Now, how to do that~?
You suppose you should start with... low-hanging fruit.
"Aren't you a little young for... performance issues?" You ask, an impish little grin spreading across your face while Cesare realises what you're implying.
You watch him blush, and start to stutter something to protect his masculinity, but you continue before he can recover and start in earnest.
"Look, it's simple. Stands are... instinct. I figured out how to use mine running away from people who had a non-zero chance of killing me. Your sister used hers to destroy that pepper shaker, because she hated it, so... what's the connection?"
Cesare goes quiet again, realising what you're doing. He sits down again, moving into that cross-legged position with a fluidity and ease you honestly can't quite believe he has. It just doesn't feel right, seeing him so... aware of himself.
As he thinks, you realise your arm is feeling a lot better, like an ache you didn't know was there was gone. You roll your shoulder a little, and the looseness persists, leaving you feeling... great!
Hamon- always an upside somewhere.
"You... wanted to get away from them, right?"
"Of course I did, the alternative was..." You trail off.
Let's, not think about that. Yes, the less you think about that the better, you think.
"And Daria wanted rid of the pepper shaker because…" His brow furrowed for a moment as he thought real hard.
"Goodness, I can see the smoke coming out of your ears." You prod.
If you can provoke him, he might want something hard enough to pull out his Stand.
"Hey, fuck you, ok? It's not even 8 and I haven't even had any coffee yet." He grumbles, not entirely meaning it. You shouldn't make fun of him like that, you know.
Not because it's mean, because it's too easy- you're never going to get better at insulting people if you keep picking low-hanging fruit.
"... Because she hated how much pepper I put on my food. She always has, so she... wanted to break it?"
"Yes! Ok, now you're getting somewhere!" You say, genuinely rather excited at this breakthrough. Hell, the more you think about it, the more you're genuinely excited to see what his Stand can do!
"So... it's desire. I have to want something. Well, I wanna see my Stand, so...? What, is that not good enough?" He asks you.
"Was that what you were focusing on when you were meditating or were you just focusing on figuring out your Stand's name?"
He looks up at you, clearly ready to say something before reality dawns on him. Choosing to shut up, he begins meditating again, and you can't help but take back what you said earlier- Cesare was actually really sharp when he needed to be.
A minute or so later, and he proves your revised opinion right. It passes his lips riding on one of his breaths. His soul, vocalised.
「Goon Squad.」
A figure appears behind him, a solid six foot six, dwarfing Pearly Gates by at least half a foot, and you by, well, enough to make you feel very small indeed. His Stand resembles what you would call less an old-timey gangster and more an ancient-timey gangster at this point, full trenchcoat, wide-brimmed hat, gloves, a cigar or cigarette of some kind obscuring its face, and some kind of, white mess printed on the black band of the hat.
Then you realise it has twelve arms. And, six cigars. And, it's actually six of those figures, layered over each other, and now they're separating from each other and looming over you and Cesare and oh wow you feel really quite scared all of a sudden Jesus-
"MUO!"
Pearly Gates creates a portal according to your unconscious desires, and unceremoniously drags you through it, dropping you ten feet away from the big bad Swarm Stand. You stumble out, letting yourself be guided to the side of a plant pot for stability, and start to take deep breaths, refusing to allow yourself to hyperventilate, even with your heart trying its hardest to beat itself a path out of your chest. You stare at the figures, now fully separated, ready to move further if need be.
"H-hey, we ain'ts gonna hurt ya!" A gravelly voice calls out to you, not Cesare's, not anyone you know's, actually, and then you spot one of the figures holding up its hands in a non-threatening gesture.
"Yeah, you're one of the Boss's friends, we ain't gonna touch a hair on your pretty little head!" A more nasal voice adds.
... They can talk. Cesare's Stand, one, is actually six Stands, and two, it's/they're apparently capable of intelligent speech.
You- what. What. No. That's just too much for you right now.
"Gioia?" Cesare's up now and looking at you with furrowed brows of concern. "Are you ok?"
You start to give him an answer and realise words are failing you. Geez, you're worse off than you thought. Why do they bother you so much, anyway? You didn't even care until you were surrounded by them, and, hell, they're literally the manifestation of Cesare's soul, they're not gonna hurt a hair on your tiny head, so why are you still so scared of them that you feel like throwing up and crying?!
He walks forward, the others following, and when you tense up at that he looks around, notices they're following him, and turns on a heel to face his spiritual muscle.
"Stay!" He says firmly, pointing at the ground. After a couple steps backwards to check they're doing just that, he rushes to you. "Gioia, Gioia, hey, heyheyhey, what's wrong?" He asks gently, keeping himself between you and... them.
It's... kinda sweet, how concerned he is. Sweet enough to distract you from his Stand for the moment, and start calming down.
"I-I'm ok." You manage to stutter out after a second. You still haven't got a reason for why you panicked so hard there, but it's passed now. "The-they just, kinda... freaked me out, a bit."
"Ey, go get her, Boss!" The gravel-voiced one yells.
"Be her knight in shining armour you Casanova, you!" The nasal-voiced one joins in.
"'Knight in shining armour?' The fuck are you on about, moron?!"
"What, sweeping the damsel in distress off her feet, what's wrong with that, you, you uncultured swine! It's pretty fuckin' apt if I say so myself!"
"Uncultured swine? How far up your ass are you reaching for these fuckin' words, eh?"
"Shut it!" Cesare shouts at them, making you jump a little. However, they do shut it. You both stare at them for a second, before looking at each other. "... They're... a little rough around the edges. Could definitely use some... teaching."
"But there's six of them. And, they seem pretty smart. Smart enough to hold a conversation with... each, other." You finish lamely.
"I'm, gonna choose not to dwell on the fact that my soul can argue with itself. What... what can they do?"
"I dunno. You'll have to figure that out for yourself."
Silence deafens you all for a moment. The sound of birdsong is all that rings through the morning. Well. The sound of gulls, mainly.
"... Holy shit I really do have a Stand I was kinda getting worried for a second there."
"I know and it's a really cool one too."
You won't admit to having a moment with Cesare where you both just kind of squealed in excitement over how cool his Stand and Stands in general and the fact that you actually really do have psychic powers is. Not now, not ever, torture wouldn't get that out of you.
Once the moment that definitely didn't happen passed, you... wondered what to do next.
Ok, Cesare's figured out how to Stand, that's three out of six, your panic attack has subsided, nobody else is gonna be up for a while, so… what do you wanna do now?
[] IT'S TIME. FOR. SCIENCE.- AS- ahem, as you just learned not even five minutes ago, there are things about your Stand you don't understand, and you should try and understand them. Go experiment a little.
- [] Write-in
(Please indicate a time on each action involving testing Pearly Gates, i.e, [] Can you make more than one set of portals? Can you make an odd number of portals? How would that work? Gee willikers you should test that. (20 minutes) For every hour's worth of actions, roll 2d20. Other actions, like talking to someone else, are assumed to be done in tandem with one of the other options, and thus don't count towards the current hour. You have a maximum of 3 hours or 6 timed options, whichever comes first.)
[] Take A Walk- I- yeah, fuck it, you're up, you've seen the sunrise, you've just got a shot of Hamon, that, now it's infused a little, has left you feeling a little restless, go get some exercise! Maybe you'll find something interesting, who knows?
-[] Just specify a general place you want to amble towards- a park, the seaside, a cafe for your breakfast, whatever finds your fancy. Or just roam around. Just, keep it in Chiaia, please.
[] Take A 'Walk'- I- yeah, fuck it, you're up, you've seen the sunrise, you've just got a shot of Hamon, that, now it's infused a little, has left you feeling a little restless, go pickpocket whatever poor schlubs are up at this time! Maybe you'll make some good bank, who knows?
[] Chill With Cesare- just, dick about with him for a couple hours, figure out what your Stands can do, maybe get some testing from the SCIENCE option in if you're good enough- just, chill!
-[] I dunno what you young'uns are up to these days. Have a Write-In, help an old fella understand the younger generation.
[] Write-in
Adhoc vote count started by Prok on Jun 7, 2017 at 7:39 PM, finished with 17 posts and 5 votes.
[X] Chill With Cesare- just, dick about with him for a couple hours, figure out what your Stands can do, maybe get some testing from the SCIENCE option in if you're good enough- just, chill! -[x] Play catch with stands and powers, talk to goon squad learn there names. -[x] See if you can loop 2 portals so you free fall have him pull you out before you get sick -[x] Have Pearly Gates open a portal to a Store with expensive stuff you could normally never touch reach a hand through and grab something we can use. --[x] Go downstairs start making breakfast cook something new & fancy. -[x] start singing a song we heard recently prove we have bad taste. -[x] Ask if he can do a anti-hamon taser? A hamon massage? -[x] Help him with the garden -[x] See if we can just use portals to walk through walls not even teleport 'bend' the space so we can walk through -[x] go for a walk around the neighborhood. It's totally safe right?
[X] Take A Walk- I- yeah, fuck it, you're up, you've seen the sunrise, you've just got a shot of Hamon, that, now it's infused a little, has left you feeling a little restless, go get some exercise! Maybe you'll find something interesting, who knows? -[X] Just specify a general place you want to amble towards- a park, the seaside, a cafe for your breakfast, whatever finds your fancy. Or just roam around. Just, keep it in Chiaia, please. --[X] Let's make it a general lap of the local area, and if anything interesting happens, deal with it in the best manner possible. ---[X] Keep an eye out for stray dogs.
[X] Chill With Cesare- just, dick about with him for a couple hours, figure out what your Stands can do, maybe get some testing from the SCIENCE option in if you're good enough- just, chill!
-[x] Play catch with stands and powers, talk to goon squad learn there names.
-[x] See if you can loop 2 portals so you free fall have him pull you out before you get sick -[x] Have Pearly Gates open a portal to a Store with expensive stuff you could normally never touch reach a hand through and grab something we can use.
--[x] Go downstairs start making breakfast cook something new & fancy. -[x] start singing a song we heard recently prove we have bad taste. -[x] Ask if he can do a anti-hamon taser? A hamon massage?
-[x] Help him with the garden
-[x] See if we can just use portals to walk through walls not even teleport 'bend' the space so we can walk through
-[x] go for a walk around the neighborhood. It's totally safe right?
[X] Chill With Cesare- just, dick about with him for a couple hours, figure out what your Stands can do, maybe get some testing from the SCIENCE option in if you're good enough- just, chill!
-[x] Play catch with stands and powers, talk to goon squad learn there names.
-[x] See if you can loop 2 portals so you free fall have him pull you out before you get sick
-[x] Have Pearly Gates open a portal to a Store with expensive stuff you could normally never touch reach a hand through and grab something we can use.
--[x] Go downstairs start making breakfast cook something new & fancy.
-[x] start singing a song we heard recently prove we have bad taste.
-[x] Ask if he can do a anti-hamon taser? A hamon massage?
-[x] Help him with the garden
-[x] See if we can just use portals to walk through walls not even teleport 'bend' the space so we can walk through
-[x] go for a walk around the neighborhood. It's totally safe right?
Woah shit, it's the ghost of Specials, here to haunt me for never finishing The 7th Stand User!
[X] Chill With Cesare- just, dick about with him for a couple hours, figure out what your Stands can do, maybe get some testing from the SCIENCE option in if you're good enough- just, chill!
-[x] Play catch with stands and powers, talk to goon squad learn there names.
-[x] See if you can loop 2 portals so you free fall have him pull you out before you get sick
-[x] Have Pearly Gates open a portal to a Store with expensive stuff you could normally never touch reach a hand through and grab something we can use.
--[x] Go downstairs start making breakfast cook something new & fancy.
-[x] start singing a song we heard recently prove we have bad taste.
-[x] Ask if he can do a anti-hamon taser? A hamon massage?
-[x] Help him with the garden
-[x] See if we can just use portals to walk through walls not even teleport 'bend' the space so we can walk through
-[x] go for a walk around the neighborhood. It's totally safe right?
[X] Take A Walk- I- yeah, fuck it, you're up, you've seen the sunrise, you've just got a shot of Hamon, that, now it's infused a little, has left you feeling a little restless, go get some exercise! Maybe you'll find something interesting, who knows?
-[X] Just specify a general place you want to amble towards- a park, the seaside, a cafe for your breakfast, whatever finds your fancy. Or just roam around. Just, keep it in Chiaia, please.
--[X] Let's make it a general lap of the local area, and if anything interesting happens, deal with it in the best manner possible.
---[X] Keep an eye out for stray dogs.
[X] Take A Walk- I- yeah, fuck it, you're up, you've seen the sunrise, you've just got a shot of Hamon, that, now it's infused a little, has left you feeling a little restless, go get some exercise! Maybe you'll find something interesting, who knows?
-[X] Just specify a general place you want to amble towards- a park, the seaside, a cafe for your breakfast, whatever finds your fancy. Or just roam around. Just, keep it in Chiaia, please.
--[X] Let's make it a general lap of the local area, and if anything interesting happens, deal with it in the best manner possible.
---[X] Keep an eye out for stray dogs.
My cousin has the right idea, a side-quest should net us some good exp. before we actually proceed further in the main story.
Let's go find Terrence. A Stand-using dog would be a helpful resource when we pull the heist, seeing as any guards won't suspect an animal of having supernatural powers. This feels like the perfect opportunity to FINALLY track the dog down.
Son of a bitch I was hoping someone wouldn't catch that.
Don't worry, it's the only ripoff. Rest are, to the best of my knowledge, completely original Stands.
Vote closes tomorrow at 8 pm, as usual, and so far it's between... let's see, dumb shit, stupid shit, stealing shit, cooking stolen shit, eating stolen shit, singing, blatant flirting, gardening, playing merry havoc with the laws of time and space with no regard for the possible effects of said merry havoc, going for an enthusiastic walk, and just skipping straight to the enthusiastic walk.
Having Valentine on the Council makes it much easier to prove the existence of the Reapers. Just have him take the Councillors to a reality where Saren wasn't stopped from activating the Citadel Relay, wait long enough for the truth to sink in, and bring them back.
And as long as Valentine believes Giola stands for Justice, he'll definitely support her in the Council.
Having Valentine on the Council makes it much easier to prove the existence of the Reapers. Just have him take the Councillors to a reality where Saren wasn't stopped from activating the Citadel Relay, wait long enough for the truth to sink in, and bring them back.
And as long as Valentine believes Giola stands for Justice, he'll definitely support her in the Council.
All good points, all good points, and I hate to burst your bubble, really, I do, but Funny Valentine, and all alternate versions of Funny Valentine, have been dead for at least 200 years, and that's including whatever versions ended up dying of old age with children. Hence, Councillor Valentine.
He's not just decomposed, he's dust.
Anyway, vote is closed, and it's a tie. Coin flip time, 1 is bro time, 2 is skipping to the enthusiastic walk. Someone roll 1d2 and 1d20.
All good points, all good points, and I hate to burst your bubble, really, I do, but Funny Valentine, and all alternate versions of Funny Valentine, have been dead for at least 200 years, and that's including whatever versions ended up dying of old age with children. Hence, Councillor Valentine.
Oh boy, something I've been waiting to do for a while.
Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeeee.
Er. Have a codex while you wait. What no I don't have a problem YOU HAVE A PROBLEM-
|||
Currently classed as a subspecies of humanity, and the first undead members of the galactic community, the Vampire is a creature that resembles the average human in shape and genetic diversity, though they are most definitely not average humans. As physical differences go, vampires tend to lean towards the Bram Stoker version- lean, physically attractive, and sporting pronounced canines that can press on the lower lip, leading to dimpling and, in extreme cases, something of a lisp. However, due to the malleability of their bodies, this is not always the case. Some choose to take much less human forms, either emulating other species or modifying themselves for either practical or aesthetic purposes.
The vampire is considered a parasitic organism, owing to their need for levo-amino acid-based blood to sustain themselves. They also show signs of extreme photophobia, with UV rays and Hamon quite literally causing them to disintegrate, becoming inert ash in seconds.
Beyond a need for blood and weakness to UV rays, the vampire is nigh-immortal- they have been recorded coming back from a paste, given time and sustenance, a feature that, alongside their terrifying speed and strength, measured in hundreds of kilometres an hour and kilograms per centimetre cubed respectively, turns them from a weak parasite to a creature that seems to have walked right out of horror stories from across the galaxy. As such, they are treated with distrust and derision by most members of the galactic forum, though there are some groups campaigning for rights on behalf of them.
Procreation between humans and vampires produces purely human children- the only known and proven method of creating more vampires is to 'feed' a human corpse a volume of vampiric blood, cementing the fact that they are in fact members of the undead. This is shown to require a certain level of proficiency on the part of a vampire- a neophyte will instead produce a Zombie- a vampire incapable of higher thought, completely obedient to the creator vampire's orders.
Due to their rarity and collective status as walking massacres waiting to happen, all vampires are drafted as military personnel by the Alliance and kept under almost obsessive surveillance by handlers capable of using Hamon for at least self-defence, though usually more. In addition, all vampiric members of the Alliance military, and by extension, all vampiric members of the human race, are kept in check by two pieces of equipment- the Hardsuit, and the UV Collar.
Hardsuits-
The Hardsuit is a piece of Alliance equipment mandatory for all vampiric members of the military when on-duty, and serves a dual purpose of armour and body cover. A logical conclusion of the 'floppy hat' theory- the idea that a vampire could live a normal life with the use of a large sunhat- the Hardsuit is a full-body, hermetically sealed suit that protects the vampire from UV rays, natural and weaponised, in addition to a VI that informs them of their mission and suit functionality. The lack of faceplate is enabled by the use of cameras and essentially glorified VR goggles, with a delay measured in microseconds- this leads to almost perfect reaction times, with what little fault brought about by the delay still placing well above any other race, bar perhaps some trained salarians. When inside the suit, the vampire is completely cut off from the outside, bar feeding ports and oxygen scrubbers. In addition to this, UV emitters are present in the helmet and around the joints, in the event of the vampire going rogue.
The suit's joints are all fitted to allow for a full range of movement from a vampire, allowing them some of their inhuman properties even within the suit. When certain conditions are met, UV levels below safe levels, no signs of UV weaponry being used, and the request granted by handlers, the suit will unseal, allowing the vampire out to use some of their more esoteric abilities, at the cost of their protection. Each suit costs around 3 to 5 million credits to build, leaving even more incentive to keep the vampire population under control.
When outside of operations, the vampire is afforded more freedom, and are instead fitted with UV Collars to allow them a semblance of normalcy.
UV Collars-
The most well-known sign of a person of vampiric nature is the UV Collar, a literal metal collar around the neck fitted with VI capabilities and UV emitters, hence the name. The VI, in this case, is more relaxed than its Hardsuit counterpart, more suited as a personal assistant than a digital warden, while the collar itself is more like a parole anklet than anything else- keeping the vampire within a certain radius of either a ship, a base, a commanding officer- so on. Should they perform an unjustifiable act of violence, i.e, anything that isn't self-defense or defence of another, the collar will activate and UV rays will cover the vampire whole, resulting in a swift, painful death. However, this is a last resort, and can only be triggered in circumstances that, should they be reached, are grounds for the dismissal of a handler in the first place.
Some people even outside of vampire rights groups consider the use of these collars a barbaric violation of sentient rights. These people are pointed to accounts of the town of Amilly, Loiret, the first and last victim of a vampire attack before movements were made to bring the vampiric element under Alliance control.
Procreation between humans and vampires produces purely human children- the only known and proven method of creating more vampires is to 'feed' a human corpse a volume of vampiric blood, cementing the fact that they are in fact members of the undead. This is shown to require a certain level of proficiency on the part of a vampire- a neophyte will instead produce a Zombie- a vampire incapable of higher thought, completely obedient to the creator vampire's orders.
Until some poor bastard snapped and just took one and ran, because Kars seemed to sweat the damn things and there was no shortage of them to just take and run, leading to the first and only incident concerning an unleashed vampire in a population centre. What that resulted in was the Alliance doing exactly what they were doing before, but this time without all the 'is this right? Are we bad people for doing this?' stuff.
Excellent codex update. I'm looking forward to the next story update, although I'm a touch sad the dog sidequest is still in limbo. I WANT MAH IRISH SETTER!
Excellent codex update. I'm looking forward to the next story update, although I'm a touch sad the dog sidequest is still in limbo. I WANT MAH IRISH SETTER!
Due to a combination of technical problems (read: my status as a walking techbane acting up again), health problems (read: my status as a walking plaguebearer acting up again), familial problems (read: WHY IS EVERYONE I LOVE AND CARE ABOUT IN THE HOSPITAL), relationship problems (read: taking the coward's approach to removing problem elements from the circle of people I associate with really wasn't the best option for me mental health wise), writing problems (read: the random idea fairy is poking me in the head with a stick again and WON'T STOP GOD WHY), and, indeed, just the sheer amount of stuff I have to fit into this update, even if I do intend to cut off the plan in the middle, the update will be...
Let's say, somewhat delayed. However, you'll meet probably my favourite character I've created for this quest, so you have that to look forward to.
At least there probably won't be non-human vampires. Kars didn't make contact with enough aliens to produce Stone Masks that work on them, right? Who am I kidding, I've just made sure they exist.
At least there probably won't be non-human vampires. Kars didn't make contact with enough aliens to produce Stone Masks that work on them, right? Who am I kidding, I've just made sure they exist.
I doubt he had any contact with them. Unless he managed to kidnap some Prothean anthropologists observing human development, or some advanced scouting parties from Mikitaka's race, there's been almost no alien contact with Earth in Kars' timeframe (100,000+ years).
... Did You All Just Kind Of, Collectively Forget That Terminal Velocity Was A Thing?
It took its damn time, but it's here. Before anything else, though- can we talk about how much of a goddamn bro Josuke was, holding a softball-sized pile of his friend's dead skin, and only really complaining that it was the size of a softball?
At least there probably won't be non-human vampires. Kars didn't make contact with enough aliens to produce Stone Masks that work on them, right? Who am I kidding, I've just made sure they exist.
I doubt he had any contact with them. Unless he managed to kidnap some Prothean anthropologists observing human development, or some advanced scouting parties from Mikitaka's race, there's been almost no alien contact with Earth in Kars' timeframe (100,000+ years).
The power of an erupting volcano is, relatively speaking, nothing, on a spatial scale, even if it did somehow make escape velocity. In reality, I'd be surprised if Kars, a) made it past Mars, not being funny here, if he made it past Mars without either burning up in the atmosphere or becoming a moonlet, I'd be rather surprised, or b) failing that, the Kuiper Belt would most certainly catch him.
... But where's the fun in that?
|||
You haven't spent time with Cesare for a while. With the twins as a unit, yeah, but just you and him, it's… it's been a hot minute. Yeah, sure, he's up, he doesn't seem busy- fuck it, you can spare a couple hours. Maybe you can figure out some of the stuff that you were gonna deal with anyway, maybe you'll figure something out that you couldn't on your own, who knows?
After the moment that didn't happen, you turn and ask him if he wants to see what these things can do. He agrees so quickly you almost suspect he heard the question faster than you said it. Then you realise that would be silly and move on.
"Uh, alright, what should we do?"
"I dunno… game of catch or something?"
Oh, yeah, that could work!
Wait, you don't have anything to play catch with.
… Finch does have that tennis ball he bounces off walls when he's bored. Drives you mad, sometimes.
A small part of you ponders the morality of stealing it with your Stand, and, indeed, the effects of having most everything you ever need constantly within arm's reach. The rest of you tells Pearly Gates to get you that damn tennis ball. You don't know exactly where it is, but that doesn't seem to matter- you know it exists, you know it's somewhere in the house, and that seems to be enough.
Yoink.
One tennis ball, property of Finch. It occurs to you that you don't know Finch's other name, you say 'other name' because you realise a moment later that you don't know whether Finch is his first or last name. You'd guess first, but you've been wrong on that kinda count before.
Eh. You don't really give enough of a shit to find out. You casually throw the ball to your side and an eight-fingered hand catches it as it leaves the apex of its arc.
... Ok that was pretty cool.
"Ready?" You ask the assembly of Stands and user.
The throng of Stand(s?) converges on itself for a moment, huddling together, and you can't help but wonder if they're going to fuse into some kind of monster, like that Chinese cartoon you saw in passing on the TV- y'know, back when you had a TV- but no, they just seem to be murmuring among themselves.
"You think we'll need radio-"
"Nah it's just a game of catch-"
"-not like we're being separated or anything-"
"True, true. No radio, then?"
Radio? What on earth are they on about? You're not sure you should ask, though- it feels, weird, asking someone's Stand how they work.
"We're ready." One calls out, and they begin to spread apart.
Well. Guess you're not getting an answer anyway. Either way, now, is time for a nice game of catch.
Pearly Gates lobs the ball up, sending it sailing lazily through the air like an early dream of mankind, easily caught by... this is getting ridiculous. You need some way of telling them all apart, and you know it. But, again, asking seems weird. Instead, you decide to focus on one of them and hope something stands out.
Heh. Stands, standing out.
You slay you.
One of them rushes to catch the ball, leaping through the air to grab it and succeeding. As he lands, you catch a decent look at the band around his hat, you notice something printed on it.
4
... Four? Out of six? You look at each of the others in turn and realise that they are numbered similarly, one through six. You also notice that Six is even further differentiated by the addition of a rectangular box on his back, with a metal bar looping from one side to the other, framing his shoulders like a halo. Is that the radio they were talking about?
Well. That's convenient. The numbering, not the radio, you don't know what that's for.
Four rolls onto one knee and sends a fastball at you.
Once again, an unnatural hand catches it, spinning with the momentum to send it back into the throng of gangster spirits. They scramble, phasing through each other until a gloved hand catches it and sends it high up. They move as one, shifting away, all except for the one marked One.
It reaches into its trenchcoat and draws a goddamn ten-inch long monkey wrench from inside, and readies itself.
"Batter up!" It yells in that gravelly voice from earlier. As the ball passes, it swings, hitting the ball dead centre and sending it whistling for Pearly Gates.
She doesn't even try to catch this one, instead palming a portal into the world, sending it straight for Cesare.
... Oh shit it's being sent straight for Cesare-
Realising her mistake as quickly as she made it, Pearly Gates punches a series of portals, hands blurring in motion, sending the ball through dozens of portals over and over and over again, bleeding off as much momentum from it as possible. Eventually, it somehow ends up in a pair of portals looping it in an infinite fall.
Cesare blinks while you just gawp at what happened.
Ok, on one hand, she almost concussed your dude, your guy, your Bruhgatti Veyron, your Mount Brolympus, your finely aged brovolone cheese- ok you can stop anytime now-, on the other, your Stand just casually broke so many laws of space to not concuss Cesare that you're... honestly kind of speechless.
Good Lord, your Stand is really kinda terrifying.
But... that looks like it could be kinda fun. The whole, riding in an infinite fall thing.
"Uh... Gioia?" Cesare says. "What's... what's the terminal velocity of a tennis ball?"
Why the fuck would you know that?!
You say as much.
"Well, I'm just saying, maybe you should... try and stop it before it gets too fast?"
... Ah.
Uh.
You don't- how do you-
「Pearly Gates?」
One hand snaps out, and the bottom portal shifts to the side. The ball bounces off the concrete tile, the sound violent enough that you wonder how it didn't burst. Almost as fast as it hit the ground, it's suddenly launched sky-high.
Going... going...
And... gone. Cesare stares up at the sky, hand over his brow, mouth slightly ajar in an involuntary sneer as he watches for it.
"... Can't see it."
"Squawk!"
"... I think it hit a bird though."
... Well then.
"At least we don't have to deal with Finch bouncing it off walls anymore."
"Ugh, that drove you crazy too?" You ask, beyond happy you finally have someone who shares your pain. Misery does love company.
"I was this close-" He holds his thumb and forefinger not even an inch from each other. "-to just barging in, catching it, charging it with Hamon, and-"
At this point, two things happen within a second of each other.
First, Cesare is hit in the top of the head with the tennis ball he was threatening to do something with.
"GAH, SON OF A-"
Second, he stumbles right into the path of the bird said tennis ball hit, the poor thing smacking him right in the face.
After you get over your mild guilt in killing one of God's most majestic creatures, the mighty pigeon, and Cesare gets over his being struck in the face by such a noble beast, you mutually decide a walk would do you both good. You both grab your colours, dyed rags, really, and get on out of there.
At some point during your walk through the wide, stone-laden streets of Naples, chatting away to Caesar about whatever stupid shit crosses your mind- not Stands, not the job, not Beedle, just honest to goodness normal stuff, music, movies, funny shit you saved to your phone at some point, just acting like normal teenagers who don't have psychic powers and the ability to breathe pure life energy-, it occurs to you how this could look to some people.
... Fuck 'em. You don't care, and people would probably think the same if you were with any of the gang, not just Cesare. Well, maybe not with Finch. No, they'd, probably be wondering who'd try to murder the other first then. Also it's like 7 am, there's nobody outside yet. The streets are yours. For once.
Feels good! You feel important. Like you own the damn place. Technically, your branch of the Rossi do own Via Pontano and all connecting streets up to the next junction, but there aren't many businesses in your turf and the few that do don't make enough to be worth hitting up for protection money and the ones that are are run by the kind of people that even Finch doesn't have the heart to try shaking down.
Also guns. Guns are a problem. Guns, really quite a large problem.
You wonder if Stands would level the playing field a bit, but before that train of thought goes anywhere too fast, it's sent flying off the tracks to a fiery death.
Oh, the mentality.
The source of this derailing- the plank on the track, so to speak- was an utterly... heavenly smell wafting through the air. Hot, buttery, a slight sweetness that lingers on the back of your throat, mixed with the smell of freshly ground coffee being brewed, and warm, hot bread.
The conversation between Cesare and yourself ceases as instincts awakened by a combination of hunger and the smell of baking take over and lead you on by your noses. A turn here, hang a left there, the smell just gets stronger and stronger as you get closer, before leading you to its source, the siren song captivating your stomachs something awful.
The sign held up by chains to a bar next to the door is simple, and old-fashioned, like much of the city, and proclaims its name quite proudly, in large, bold letters.
Cosa Dolce
Cosa Dolce. One of the most expensive, and delicious, bakeries in town, making absolutely everything from scratch, every morning in time for the workday rush. Being around to smell the baking happen is supposed to be a religious experience, and despite yourself, you have to agree. In the windows, you can see the first barrage of baked goods, fresh from the oven. Biscotti line the bottom of the window, filled with almonds and gently glazed with something to give the outer crust a tiny sheen, no doubt served with the fresh coffee they're brewing, your teeth aching at the idea of biting into them. Behind the granite blocks masquerading as cookies, a couple trays of Amaretti, still steaming from the oven, some Sfogliatelle flanking them, the leafy, flaky pastry filled with ricotta, but the centrepiece of the entire thing is a stack of Mostaccioli, the dense, honey flavoured dough no doubt hiding the chocolate and almond filling you adored the few times you had it as a child, and still have a soft spot for now. The other shelves stack bread, larger cakes, some Panettone here and there...
Your eyes keep drifting back to the Mostaccioli.
God a chunk of one of those would do you for breakfast.
Except you don't have your wallet. And it would go straight to your thighs-
Eh, fuck it, you've earned it. You've been beaten up, down, leftwards, rightwards, given psychic powers, and generally survived the worst and best night of your life at the same time. What's a little common theft for a street rat anyway?
"Cesare, follow me down this alleyway for a moment." You say, dragging him by the wrist towards the aforementioned alleyway.
Drag your fake boyfriend down an alley, throw off any potential for people to suspect you as thieves, keep an eye out for any perverts hoping to catch an eyeful... this should work. Graffiti and dumpsters make for a much less pleasant spot to stand with him than the front of the bakery, but you need some privacy- wow that's not a good way to word that considering where you are right now- to pull this off.
Even Cesare's unsure where you're going with this, considering his cheeks are growing pinker by the second.
"So, what d'you want?" You ask, suddenly fully aware of the implications of the question considering the context it was asked in.
... Eh, fuck it. He could do with some teasing. He's been getting off lightly lately.
The pink very rapidly evolves into a deep shade of red, and he begins stammering something out, leaving you struggling not to laugh. Honestly, sometimes it's just too easy.
"Er- I, uh-"
"From the bakery, Casanova. This is just so we don't look suspicious as fuck when stuff goes missing."
He freezes up for a second, before deflating, realising that he was being silly. You almost feel bad. Almost.
"Er... the Sfogliatelle looked pretty nice." His brow furrows for a moment. "Wait, how are you planning to-"
"Portals."
"Of course." He deadpans.
You ignore him for a moment, instead focusing on what's going to be your most extensive use of Pearly Gates yet.
You close your eyes and focus on the window. In your mind's eye, it appears with surprising clarity, considering how short a time you actually spent in front of it, and without opening your eyes you already know she's floating there, awaiting your command.
Go to the window.
You open your eyes in time to see it flit to the other end of the alley, and stop dead. You command it towards the window again, and it tries again, and fails again. It's like it's hit the end of its leash.
... Does it... have a range limit?
"Gioia? Why's it just standing there?"
"... I... don't think it can go any further. I was gonna have it walk right up to the window and start pulling stuff through for us, but... apparently, that's not an option."
Well. This is inconvenient. You try to judge the distance of Pearly Gates' 'leash,' and peg it at... ten metres? That's not terrible, you suppose. You could move to the mouth of the alley, that might get her the clearance she needs, but that would put you in plain view of anyone who cared to look-
Gioia. Portals.
Pearly Gates, on your somewhat exasperated mental command, comes back to you and creates a portal directly behind the bakery window, leaving all the baked goods within arms reach.
Alright. Portals, not affected by her range limit. Good to know.
You squint at the crystal ball that is the top of its head and see... the inside of the bakery, you think?
You have no idea. Whatever senses you need to comprehend the picture in front of you, you don't have.
You frown at your Stand, silently hoping it has something that'll make your life a little easier in that regard. Some kind of second sight? Shifting the picture to the portal? Anything?
No?
At this mental query, instead of any of that, Pearly Gates just grabs her head and brings it down to your chest, letting you see the entire sphere of crystal from the top down.
... Ohhh...
Now that you're looking at it from the top down, the view actually makes a lot more sense! Looking at it from below, it was all... distorted, yeah, no shit, but you could only see, like... 30% of everything you'd need?
Now, though, you're afforded a fisheye's view of the bakery window, and you can point out exactly what you want her to pilfer. You mentally give her your order and new portals are made, small ones just large enough for her hands to go through, and you watch her daintily grab the thin pastry of the Sfogliatelle with one hand, and a loaf of Mostaccioli with another, quickly but carefully pilfering the baked goods before any of the employees notice their products floating away and disappearing into thin air.
In a few seconds, you have your loaf of honey-flavoured goodness, and Cesare has his ricotta-filled pastry leaves.
You look at Cesare.
Cesare looks at you.
A grin spreads between you as you realise what this means.
For the moment, though, you both decide you've taken enough time in the alley for your mutual liking, and you leave, hiding your stolen goods as best you can while you're still near the bakery, but once you turn a corner back into the maze that is Naples' streets, you have the wonderful realisation you can eat the smells you've been enduring for so long.
The bakery smells, not the dumpster smells. You're not that desperate yet.
You bring the still warm sweet to your mouth-
And bump straight into someone, ramming the hard crust directly into one of your incisors, bending it disturbingly far back, but fortunately not breaking the root from the gum. You resist the urge to swear vigorously in pain, clamping your hand over your mouth as much out of instinct as to not do that, and just about manage to get an eyeful of the other guy.
... Girl.
... Carabinieri officer.
Oh shit that's a Carabinieri officer and you have stolen goods on you oh fuck-
"Ah, I'm sorry!" She squeaks, sounding beyond panicked. "Are you OK?!"
"I-I'm fine. Just, hit a loose tooth, that's all." You say with a deliberately slackened jaw. The Mostaccioli might have started the job, but you don't intend to finish it by clenching your teeth too hard.
Can you taste blood? You're not sure you can taste blood, but you're not sure you can't either.
Cesare, for his part, seems almost petrified, y'know, as if not looking guilty isn't your highest priority right now, and then you look up and join him in his petrification.
The first thing you notice is that she wears her uniform very well. That's not a comment on her figure or anything, you genuinely think she looks like someone who belongs in a Carabinieri uniform. The second thing is the eyepatch- for whatever reason, she's wearing a white gauze eyepatch over her left eye. Now, the obvious reason would be 'she's injured her eye,' but, one, you're not sure that someone with an injured eye would be allowed on active duty, and two, there's an old, ragged scar going from her inner eyebrow all the way down to her cheekbone. Underneath the uncovered eye, almost as an aside, you notice bags- she's obviously been up for quite some time.
Thing the third, she's noticed your staring and is now blushing quite badly at the attention being brought upon the one thing marring her beauty.
Or, enhancing it, depending on who you ask. Human depravity- less a barrel, more a silo at this point.
Which she apparently decides to punish you both for by dragging you into her inquisition.
"Sorry to bother you, but have you seen either of these people?" She says as she brings up her wrist and two holographic images come with it.
Oh, wow, omni-tool. Didn't know the Carabinieri could afford them, but there you go.
The first is a picture of the average Verdura male- gangly, sneer, hair greased with about four jars of wax or gel...
You don't recognise hi-
"Fireball Bruno." Cesare answers.
"You know him?" The Carabinieri asks, fixing her gaze on him. You note that he actually seems to be holding his own pretty well, considering.
"I know of him. Why do you wanna know?" He asks back at her, sounding as suspicious as he possibly could.
"He's connected to several cases of arson and assault, as well as association with one of the major... gangs..."
Her eye drifts down, and you feel like someone's poured ice water over your heart as you realise what she's noticed.
As soon as a human notices an object, they recognise it. However, it still takes around 2 seconds for them to react to the recognition of an object. Accounting for the obstruction of the rags, monocularity interfering with object recognition, her fatigue and the time of day...
You have 2 seconds. Go.
[] Write-in
Adhoc vote count started by Prok on Jun 18, 2017 at 3:47 PM, finished with 25 posts and 7 votes.
[X] Chill With Cesare- just, dick about with him for a couple hours, figure out what your Stands can do, maybe get some testing from the SCIENCE option in if you're good enough- just, chill! -[x] Play catch with stands and powers, talk to goon squad learn there names. -[x] See if you can loop 2 portals so you free fall have him pull you out before you get sick -[x] Have Pearly Gates open a portal to a Store with expensive stuff you could normally never touch reach a hand through and grab something we can use. --[x] Go downstairs start making breakfast cook something new & fancy. -[x] start singing a song we heard recently prove we have bad taste. -[x] Ask if he can do a anti-hamon taser? A hamon massage? -[x] Help him with the garden -[x] See if we can just use portals to walk through walls not even teleport 'bend' the space so we can walk through -[x] go for a walk around the neighborhood. It's totally safe right?
[X] Take A Walk- I- yeah, fuck it, you're up, you've seen the sunrise, you've just got a shot of Hamon, that, now it's infused a little, has left you feeling a little restless, go get some exercise! Maybe you'll find something interesting, who knows? -[X] Just specify a general place you want to amble towards- a park, the seaside, a cafe for your breakfast, whatever finds your fancy. Or just roam around. Just, keep it in Chiaia, please. --[X] Let's make it a general lap of the local area, and if anything interesting happens, deal with it in the best manner possible. ---[X] Keep an eye out for stray dogs.
[X] Make some adjustments slightly twist cesare arm out the way and move closers to block line of sight and have Pearly Gates rool down his sleeves.
-[X] Bring her attention back to us, "that's terrible" offer her a pastry she looks tired. Try to look like a helpful kind upstanding citizen.
-[X] keep the talk about Fireball Bruno don't let it drift to any other gangs. Keep her mind off of the Nail it's just a normal tattoo we got cause we thought it looked cool. Ask Cesare to keep talk about what he knows. Try and add whatever knowledge you have about his gang so it seems like you both have info and keep him from bring under to much scrutiny.
[X] Make some adjustments slightly twist cesare arm out the way and move closers to block line of sight and have Pearly Gates rool down his sleeves.
-[X] Bring her attention back to us, "that's terrible" offer her a pastry she looks tired. Try to look like a helpful kind upstanding citizen.
-[X] keep the talk about Fireball Bruno don't let it drift to any other gangs. Keep her mind off of the Nail it's just a normal tattoo we got cause we thought it looked cool. Ask Cesare to keep talk about what he knows. Try and add whatever knowledge you have about his gang so it seems like you both have info and keep him from bring under to much scrutiny.
Adhoc vote count started by Prok on Jun 19, 2017 at 6:32 PM, finished with 407 posts and 4 votes.
[X] Make some adjustments slightly twist cesare arm out the way and move closers to block line of sight and have Pearly Gates rool down his sleeves.
-[X] Bring her attention back to us, "that's terrible" offer her a pastry she looks tired. Try to look like a helpful kind upstanding citizen.
-[X] keep the talk about Fireball Bruno don't let it drift to any other gangs. Keep her mind off of the Nail it's just a normal tattoo we got cause we thought it looked cool. Ask Cesare to keep talk about what he knows. Try and add whatever knowledge you have about his gang so it seems like you both have info and keep him from bring under to much scrutiny.
Adhoc vote count started by Prok on Jun 20, 2017 at 2:58 PM, finished with 409 posts and 5 votes.
[X] Make some adjustments slightly twist cesare arm out the way and move closers to block line of sight and have Pearly Gates rool down his sleeves.
-[X] Bring her attention back to us, "that's terrible" offer her a pastry she looks tired. Try to look like a helpful kind upstanding citizen.
-[X] keep the talk about Fireball Bruno don't let it drift to any other gangs. Keep her mind off of the Nail it's just a normal tattoo we got cause we thought it looked cool. Ask Cesare to keep talk about what he knows. Try and add whatever knowledge you have about his gang so it seems like you both have info and keep him from bring under to much scrutiny.
[X] We need to get Cesare out of her without blatantly using our powers. Poke her eye with Pearly gates before sending him home with a portal. Fake chasing after him and use a portal to get home as soon as we're around a corner or out of sight. This way she would only consider us fast criminals instead of anything worth looking into.
