Wild Cards (JJBA Villains x Reader)

7- The Promotion

No one's seen Doppio this morning.  

Diavolo was the first to notice the absence of his friendly freckled face. He had gotten so used to the man harping in his ear first thing in the morning, he'd grown confused why his alarm clock was screaming instead of gently yelling,"Goooood morning Dia!"

Throughout the day, Doppio would keep up this disappearing act. In one room or the next, behind this corner or that, no matter where you looked he was nowhere to be found.

Until, that is, he finally strolled down the carpeted stairs a half hour before opening-- though this wasn't the Doppio the group of debtors knew. 

Chest puffed, chin high, proudly strutting into the main room with a Cheshire grin, that wasn't the meek and gentle Doppio they knew.

But who else could it be? Bubblegum pink hair, height equivalent to that of a child, ochre doe eyes-- that had to be him, of course.

"Well would you look at that," Kars sang from the bar, "the missing man finally shows. You get caught by (Y/n) trying to skip work today?"

He said it with such a familiarity, you'd think Doppio's done it before, when really, "It's actually the opposite."

"Oh? How so?"

With a fluid suavity, he stepped over to the bar in great strides, climbing onto a stool to lean over the counter. He twirled his finger in the air with an drawn out anticipation before finally landing it on a peculiar badge pinned to his chest. 'Assistant.'

Kira's eyebrows flew up in surprise, and Diego, who was sitting next to him, choked on his drink.

"That's right," Doppio hummed in a bragging tone, "I got promoted. I'm the assistant manager now!"

Kars stared at him for a moment, absent in thought, before finally sighing, "No, you're an assistant to the manager."

"Yeah, assistant manager."

"No, no that's different. You're an assistant to the manager, not assistant manager."

"Oh. What's that mean?"

"It means you're an errand boy, Mx. (Y/n)s personal little helper," Diego smirked, as if he didn't cough up water two minutes ago. "Not their equal."

"Yeah, you're still stuck on death row with us." Kars laughed. "But anyways, congratulations are deserved, so good job on that."

The conversation continued as usual, with Doppio slowly slipping out of that brief smugness and returning to his normal, approachable state, and Diego still awkwardly coughing every now and then as he fought to get the water out of his system.

But something happened to put Kira off. He remained quiet for some time, silently observing-- and no one questioned it, as he did it often.

Though he wasn't studying just any person, a patron or typical gambler like he normally would to find entertainment. He was staring at Doppio, right into that round face of his that nearly spelled innocent in big, bold letters.

That's not Doppio. 

It's odd, he thinks, how he looks like he's stuck in a trance, the same distant daze Diavolo was thrown into days prior. He's still Doppio-- friendly, kind Doppio, but he looked as if he wasn't awake. 

He probably wouldn't have even noticed Doppio was acting different if he wasn't already wary of Diavolos behavior. After talking to you, he became more obedient to orders, didn't bite back as much when scolded; He even acted like he was beginning to like it there. 

The same behavior was barely noticeable in Doppio, for he was always that benevolent and good-natured, but if he hadn't that dull glaze over his usually sparkling eyes...

"Doppio," Kira suddenly called, interrupting whatever meaningless conversation. "How did you get your position?"

"Oh, you wanna know how to get promoted like me?" That joking smugness returned in a playful smile, and Yoshikage played along all the same, hoping not to arouse suspicion. "Oh, Kira, so shameless!"

"I suppose so." He forcefully laughed. "So, what happened?"

 "Well, they, Mx. (Y/n), said I was a super good worker and that I had a good drive, and asked if I wanted to have a more permanent position instead of hopping between random tasks."

"I see. Is that all?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Kira quirked an eyebrow. "You guess so?"

"I mean, I don't think anything else was said--"

"What do you mean, you think?"

"It's the darnest thing; I was just up there, and yet I can barely recall what happened." Doppio sighed, his confusion practically audible in his breath as his mind searched for answers. 

Then, as if a switch was flipped, he snapped from his questioning daze and locked eyes with Kira. He'd changed in less than a moment, from an unsure man to one with no doubts, and Kira knew in that instant that something was horribly wrong with the guy. "Nothing happened! I was just promoted."

"And how did you get promoted, Doppio Vinegar?" Kira pressed, as if he were in some interrogation.

"Because I'm a hard-worker, and very obedient!" He responded robotically, with a thousand mile stare that shot right through Kira's face.

No normal person would respond like that, though that much was obvious. He had known that something was up with the place the moment Killer Queen could barely manifest it's left hand, but for his coworkers to suddenly forget themselves? To lose their morale and personality, be reduced to mindless ants in a hill?

When asked about his attitude change, Diavolo delivered a similar response, like something scripted and pinned to the back of his head may he ever forget. 

Kira didn't buy it, his nonsense about behaving and enjoying it at the casino. Diavolo was the kinda guy, from what he gathered by his initial impression, who couldn't not be a prick. It was in his blood, the 'bastardness' that seemed to radiate off of him like nuclear matter. 

And now Doppio was also subjected to the same brain-fog. His bubbly attitude was no more than a cheap copy now, that cheery face he often held looking as though it was sewn onto his skin.

You had something to do with it, he was sure. There was no way you didn't, and he had a good reason why.

There's a brief gap in his recollection, an empty blank between days that he can't seemed to scrape together. He tried to rebuild his memories with the same frustration of erecting a sandcastle on the beach. Painstakingly pouring his time into sculpting, shaping, and constructing, only to have it all wiped away when the tide pulled in.

Before that empty slate of consciousness, he remembers that you pulled him aside for something, calling him into your office to have 'a chat'. Believing he was in trouble, or that Dio blamed him for one of his mistakes again, he went to your office without question.

Your words were blurry and jumbled in his memory, probably just some casual talk you made, when there was a flash. A brilliant green light blinded him, and a command rooted itself in his head. Even now, he can't remember what it was, but according to Valentine, he'd acted strange ever since.

He's long broken from that dizzy blur, but he still can't help but wonder what happened. Put under an influence unlike anything else, a mindless state worse than any alcohol or drug could induce, he was sure his behavior was no different from Doppio's or Diavolo's.

For now, he can't do much more than observe, sit back and watch as things pass like he always had. One of the other employees are bound to be your next victim, maybe Valentine, or Kars, and he'll be sure to be there when you take action.

He's going to figure out the secret to this casino, and he's going to start by picking you apart.