JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Twisted Destiny

Chapter 42: Fortune Family and the Eagles, Part 2

Nico walks down the streets of London, returning to Kaiser. He steps off of the sidewalk into a busy intersection. His eyes are closed, and the light is green. Still, no cars hit him. Even with his closed eyes, he sees better than most. He can feel everything around him, see with the miniscule fluctuations in air pressure.

Suddenly, he stops. Something is wrong. He can feel something moving across the rooftops, far enough away that it's barely perceptible.. He feels Julius Zeppeli flying through the air with his Beatles, following him back to his master.

Nico doesn't show his surprise. He goes back to walking. He keeps walking, calmly. He turns, stepping off into an alley. He feels Julius land on one of the rooftops overlooking the alley. He smiles.

With a flip of Nico's wrist, the buildings surrounding the alley burst apart as the molecules of oxygen holding their concrete together are ripped away. None of the rubble comes close to landing on Nico, pushed away by the swirling wind surrounding him.

Julius jumps from the roof as it collapses. He summons his Beatles and throws them into the buildings, capturing people and moving them to safety. Unfortunately, this leaves him wide open for an attack. A chunk of rubble, lifted up by the wind and thrown like a baseball, strikes Julius in the stomach. He falls to the hard ground.

After a few moments, the two buildings have completely collapsed, covering the alley in stone and glass. Nico, of course, is fine. A mass of condensed clouds appears at Nico's side, scanning the rubble with its red eyes. It spots Julius's hand, popping out from beneath a pile of rocks.

Nico waves his hand and the Stand uses its powers, harnessing the wind and digging Julius out of the rubble. Julius's unconscious body floats over to Nico. Nico grabs him, hoists him over his shoulder, and walks away from the ruined alley.

+++

Johana looks up at the Shard, a massive triangular skyscraper of glass that towers over London. "Kaiser chose an ominous place to meet," Johana says.

"True, but there is little point in dawdling outside," Nero says.

The two of them step into the skyscraper and take an elevator to one of the highest floors. The walk into a restaurant; a chalkboard outside the restaurant denotes it as Billini Jolini's Italian Restaurant and Piano Bar. The restaurant is small, but nice. It contains a dozen small tables covered in white tablecloths arranged in front of a large glass window staring out over London. A man in a loose fitting tie sits at a grand piano, humming to himself as he plays old rock songs.

Kaiser Stroheim sits alone at a table next to the window, holding a half full glass of red wine. He swishes the wine around in the glass and takes a sniff. He shakes his head. "A far more recent year than what the waiter claimed," he says with a sigh. He notices Johana out of the corner of his eye and smiles. He waves the duo over.

Johana and Nero sit down across from him. "Johana Joestar and Nero Zeppeli, I presume?" he asks.

"How'd you guess?" Johana asks.

"Nero is far taller than the average british gentleman," Kaiser replies. "Of course, he is far more than the average briton in many ways, as are you."

"In what ways?" Nero asks.

"Strength, primarily. You've done quite well for yourself in the past few days. Your group has fought off half a dozen Stand Users without a single loss. It's really quite impressive," Kaiser says. "Of course, you aren't the only impressive ones in London. I have not had as many opportunities for combat as you, but I have not let my opportunities I've had go to waste."