☆ ⁺ « 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐀 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐑𝐀𝐓
★˚⋆ JOJO'S FACE HAD STARTED TWITCHING. You eyed him from the corner of your eye, wondering if it was a nervous tic or something. Not that you would blame him.
"You okay?"
"Fine. Just a little—" JoJo angled his face away from you. After a moment, he turned back, nervous, but no longer twitching. His pensiveness reminded you of your engineer. If JoJo had been blonde, he might have passed for a younger Fugo.
You weren't sure where you and JoJo were headed, exactly. Whoever the Stand user or users were, they might have been in the bar with your crew as you listened to Pericolo. They would have booked it out of there after grabbing Trish and Fugo, but if Narancia still couldn't speak straight, they couldn't have gone far.
"I don't think I was right about the water," JoJo said. His voice trembled, as though he was afraid of admitting it to you. You knew sometimes you came off as brash, but you were willing to rethink your approach if JoJo was constantly skittish around you.
"Why do you figure?"
"If Narancia was attacked by water, then Fugo would have come under the same attack when the water spilled. He wouldn't have disappeared. I think the water might have to do with the other Stand."
"Like what, exactly? The water couldn't have done anything unless it teleported them somehow..." you trailed off. Teleporting through water. Or maybe even teleporting through liquids. There was no shortage of liquids in bars.
It was a terrifying thought. The Stand could be stowed away in any pool of liquid right now, waiting for its chance. You wondered if Narancia hadn't seen it in the bar and knocked your drink over because of it.
But how could it do something like that? So quickly that you hadn't seen Trish disappear or even catch Fugo?
You brought Coco Jumbo off mute. "Coco? We're in some shit," you said into your holopad.
[ I'M AWARE OF THAT. I'M ATTEMPTING TO HELP YOUR PILOT AND GUNMAN AS WE SPEAK. ]
"Can you tell me anything about this Stand? Is it actually teleporting or it some kind of—"
[ THE ROOKIE IS 100% CORRECT. TRISH AND FUGO WERE TELEPORTED THROUGH WATER. ]
Well. There you go.
"What do we do about it?" JoJo asked. "If we're not careful, all of us could get caught up by that Stand."
[ I'M CRUNCHING VARIABLES RIGHT NOW, BUT KEEP WALKING. THERE SHOULD BE AN EXPOSED CANAL UP AHEAD. ]
"The hell? Shouldn't we be staying away from water?" you said.
[ YOU'RE ATTACKING THESE SUCKERS ON TWO FRONTS RIGHT NOW. YOU AND JOJO HAVE THE STAND, AND MISTA AND NARANCIA ARE AFTER THE USER. DAMAGE TO THE STAND EXTENDS TO THE USER. IF YOU CAN WEAKEN THEM THAT WAY, ALL THE BETTER. ]
You and JoJo arrived at the canal Coco had been referring to. You were by no means an expert, but the streams of water didn't seem to hold any architectural significance besides making the colony look more confusing than it already was. Laius might have been going for "bohemian, alien-land gamble house."
[ JOJO, YOU'RE GONNA BE BAIT. ACT STUPID AND JUMP INTO THE CANAL. ONCE THE STAND SHOWS UP, THE CAP WILL START BLASTING. ]
To his credit, JoJo didn't immediately react to the statement. The immediate acceptance was a little off-putting. You were starting to realize that although JoJo was reserved, his mind was constantly simmering beneath the surface. It made you wonder just what exactly his life before the Eos crash had been like. Most people didn't pay attention to small details unless something in their life warranted it.
"I'm gonna blast him?" you said to Coco, a little annoyed. You came up with enough stupid plans to last the crew a light years. You didn't need the self-proclaimed "smartest supercomputer in the galaxy" to do that.
[ FAITH, CAPTAIN. BESIDES, IT'LL GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO SEE EXACTLY HOW THE STAND WORKS. ]
You looked at JoJo. It was a lot to ask of your newest crew member. He didn't have years of trust in you. He barely had a few days, actually.
"I'll do it," JoJo said.
"If he gets teleported away, how are we going to find him?" you asked Coco.
[ I'VE GOT A WAY. COME ON. WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF TIME. ]
JoJo scanned the canal with a touch of fear before he started walking towards it. You made to find a vantage point by a nearby line of Levis when JoJo looked over his shoulder at you.
"You'll get me back, right?"
"Don't trust me?"
JoJo smiled tightly. "I'm not sure yet." His face seemed to flicker a little at that, although you were sure it was just your eyes playing tricks.
"Trish! Fugo! Where are you?" JoJo called, his voice nearly swallowed by the rushing water. "Can you hear me? Where are you?"
You crouched behind a silver Levi, watching intently. JoJo continued to call for Trish and Fugo, walking steadily towards the canal. You tried to watch from your periphery, seeing if any of the people nearby were reacting to JoJo's proximity to the water. All at once, JoJo fell forward. There was a weak splash, nowhere near as loud as it should have been. You rushed forward, whipping your elector out, firing shots like your life depended on it. There were a few shouts nearby as people scattered from the gunfire. Your eyes barely snagged on it before your blood ran cold.
Was that a flacking shark fin?
Unable to help yourself, you leaned over the canal, feeling the spray dampen the back of your neck and collar. All you saw at the bottom of the canal were rueful casino chips and slivers of metal vouchers. No JoJo. And no shark either. Just a patch of blood that was quickly carried away by the water. At least you'd hit the bastard.
You backed away from the canal, every flash of light in the water making you tense. "Coco? What now?"
[ STARS, YOU'D BE TERRIBLE IN HOLODRAMAS. JUMP IN! ACT LIKE YOU'RE LOOKING FOR JOJO! YOU NEED TO GET WET TOO. ]
You gritted your teeth, wanting to argue but knowing there wasn't time. You leapt into the canal, calling JoJo's name. When it was obvious JoJo wasn't there, you scrambled out of the canal, trying not to shiver at the cold.
[ YOU NEED A LEVI. THINK YOU CAN GET ONE? ]
"First explain to me how we're supposed to find JoJo after all of that," you said. As nonchalantly as you could, you slipped into the crowd, trying not to look like a drenched rat.
[ YOU'RE NOT GONNA BE HAPPY ABOUT THIS, CAPTAIN. ]
Your eyes caught on a balding middle-aged man. "Just try me."
In a move so familiar you could do in your sleep, you matched your steps to the older man's, glancing your hands over his baggy coat for his Levi keys and encasing them seamlessly into a card.
Once the man was a distance away, you took out the Levi keys, pressing the key head for the Levi to signal its location. You had to look around for a second to find it a few blocks away.
[ FUGO ASKED ME TO PUT A TRACKER ON JOJO. ]
"He what?"
[ I'M SURE HE'LL TELL YOU HIMSELF, BUT AFTER RUNNING A SCAN ON JOJO'S IDENT CHIP, I PLACED A TRACKER ON IT AT FUGO'S REQUEST. THE THINGS I FOUND OUT ABOUT THAT KID ARE PRETTY INTERESTING, ACTUALLY— ]
Fugo might actually get airlocked for this one. Tracing crew members was strictly against your code. It went against the trust you were so hellbent on.
"I'll deal with that later. Do you still have JoJo's location?"
You started up the Levi, tapping your holopad against the dash to sync.
[ I DO. HE'S CURRENTLY MOVING BENEATH LAIUS' CANAL SYSTEM RIGHT NOW. ]
Coco displayed a map of Laius on your dash, a blinking red circle denoting JoJo's location.
"What am I supposed to do with this?"
[ I DON'T KNOW IF YOU NOTICED, BUT THE STAND IS ACTUALLY FOLLOWING YOUR LOCATION. IT'S AFTER YOU. IF YOU CAN ISOLATE THE STAND, IT'LL GIVE YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO ATTACK. ]
"And how do I do that?"
[ YOU'VE ALREADY TRAILED AN ENTIRE PUDDLE FROM THE CANAL INTO THIS LEVI. IS THERE A—YUP! A WATER BOTTLE RIGHT THERE. THE STAND SHOULD BE APPEARING ANY MINUTE NOW. WE'LL SEE WHO FINISHES OFF THIS ENEMY FIRST, YOU OR NARANCIA. ]
You didn't have time to ask what the hell Coco was talking about. You narrowly missed crashing the Levi as, suddenly, from the puddle at your feet, something sleekly grey burst up from the Levi's pedals. You jolted the vehicle to a stop, nearly snapping your neck as you tried to wrench away from the Stand. It was definitely some kind of shark, almost mechanical-looking with a hideous single eye between its two other ones. The Stand landed in your lap and you screamed, grappling with your seatbelt to launch yourself to the other side of the Levi.
The water bottle! your head screeched. Use it!
You scooped up the water bottle and unscrewed the cap. You doused yourself in water but just managed to enclose the Stand inside the container, frantically screwing the lid shut. For a minute, you sat there, breathing heavily and dripping water onto someone's nice Levi. Practically the entire cabin was soaked.
This had been your nice jacket too.
You left the Levi door open, ignoring all of the people ogling you. You found the nearest deserted alleyway, opened the water bottle and shot at the little shark inside until your elector's energy filler ran dry.
[ I THINK YOU GOT HIM, CAP. ]
- ✦ -
You should've known it would be the two space thieves from the casino. Following Coco's instruction, you followed the canal to find Mista and Narancia not far away. The pair of space thieves the two had been chasing were huddled on the ground, the redhead leaking blood in streams while the blonde glared balefully at you all. You would be lying if you said you felt even the slightest bit threatened. The shark Stand was still trapped in the water bottle, now hanging limply from your hand. If you hadn't wanted answers, you might have chucked the thing.
You glanced over Mista and Narancia. There was a disturbing amount of blood down the front of Narancia's shirt. He shook his head when you tried to check on him.
"Better you don't," Mista said lowly. He guided Narancia to the ground where Narancia promptly began coughing, clasping a hand over his mouth. "The Stand was attached to his tongue. It mangled his mouth pretty bad." He glanced over at your sodden clothes and raised an eyebrow. "Did you fall into the canal or something?"
"Something like that. Once we get JoJo back, we'll see if his Stand can make good on healing people. Got a spare energy filler?"
Mista reached under his hat and passed one over to you. You still didn't know how he managed to keep them there. Clicking it into your elector, you promptly pointed it at the two space thieves.
"Where's the rest of my crew?"
"Dead," the blonde seethed. His companion groaned pitifully.
You shook the water bottle. "Your friend's Stand is still in here. Answer my questions and I'll let you go."
The blonde only pulled his companion closer to his chest, murmuring something to him too low for you to hear.
"Stars' sake," you muttered. You reached into your jacket for Zero's badge and flashed it impatiently. "Talk or the big man blasts your ass."
The blonde's eyes widened. "You're working for Zero?"
"Where is my crew?"
"Release my Stand. They'll .... They'll be in ... the canal," the redhead managed to say.
You extended the water bottle to Mista. He took it and dashed to the canal. As much as you wanted to rush toward the sudden splashing and yelling once he opened, you stayed put.
"What's your name?" you said, and you could tell the blonde was confused by your sudden change in tone.
"Does it matter?"
"We're just trying to do our job for Zero. Who are you? Why did you go after Pericolo? Is he okay?"
"He should be back at the bar." The blonde fixed his gaze on his companion. It was obvious he was his primary concern. "My name is Tiziano. And my partner is Squalo." At this, he brushed a tender hand over the redhead's forehead.
"We didn't mean to harm you. We were just trying to do our job." You frowned. You summoned Party Rock, shuffling around in its chest compartment for the gel packs you always kept on hand. You tossed one to Tiziano, who seemed surprised but quickly started using it on Squalo. "Were you after the Stand Arrow?"
"Isn't everyone these days?" Tiziano sighed. "After the news spread that you were looking for it for Zero, every thieving crew was on it. We heard that you asked him for ten million credits, is that true?"
You neither confirmed nor denied it. "So you came here to find Pericolo. You must also know about Polnareff's location."
"The old man told us we were too late. Squalo was enraged, but I managed to hold him back. I didn't want him to kill Pericolo before you met with him or you would be suspicious. Squalo has always been hotheaded, though." Tiziano looked up at you. "You don't have his location either, do you?"
"We'll find him wherever he is," you said.
"You won't have to worry about us," Tiziano continued. Squalo winced as he shifted his position, and Tiziano grimaced as though the pain was mutual. "I've told Squalo for a long time now that we shouldn't be doing things like this anymore. We never held a candle up to the likes of Passione." Tiziano canted his head at you. "But I'm curious. Why choose now to accept a job from Zero? Hasn't your crew always been against him?"
Promise me you'll never accept a job from him. Anything is better than working with that man.
You rubbed your temple, suddenly feeling like needles were pricking at your head. "I'm glad to be working with Zero. His business is always that. Business. He's never gone back on his word. I don't know why we haven't worked together sooner." Your tongue stumbled a little over the words. You frowned, wondering why you felt odd at the words.
"You want to survive," Tiziano said. "There's no shame in that. That's all any of us want to do."
You could hear the rest of your crew hauling themselves out of the canal; Trish complained loudly while Fugo rained hellfire down on Mista's head.
"I'll call a medic for you," you said, pulling out your holopad. "I'm sorry you guys had to get caught up in this."
"Maybe I don't have a right to tell you this, but be careful, Captain. Things are bloodthirsty in the thieving world right now. Your crew going after that Stand Arrow has changed things."
You didn't know what to say to that. Eventually, you nodded, stealing back to your ship with the rest of the crew as you left Squalo and Tiziano behind.
Back in your ship, after copious bitching and moaning, everyone reconvened on the bridge in dry clothes. JoJo made quick work of Narancia's tongue, demonstrating that he was, indeed, a healer. You had shut Coco off the minute you'd arrived on the bridge, and now that it was quiet, you set it tentatively on your console.
"First off, good job out there. Things could have been worse. I appreciate all of your quick thinking and resourcefulness." You nodded at Narancia who smiled weakly in response. You reminded yourself to check in on him later.
"If you're wondering about Pericolo, he should be fine. Tiziano said he was back in the bar. I called an ambulance for those two. It seemed like they were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time more than anything."
You crossed your arms. "Now, on to the most important development of today. I'm pretty sure all of us have a nagging suspicion that Coco Jumbo is the turtle Polnareff left with Pericolo."
"I still don't see how that would be possible," Fugo said.
"There's the possibility it isn't," you acknowledged. "We'll just have to dig through its files to make sure. There must be a reason why it couldn't remember if it turns out to be the turtle."
Mista grumbled, "Would've saved us a hell of a lot of trouble if we'd known before."
Fugo had already moved the turtle over to his console. He eyed it for a minute before attaching a transfer cord into its key and lighting up his screen. "I'll work on it," he said. "Shouldn't take long to find out if Polnareff's location is in here."
"Everyone get some rest," you said. "I'll let you know if we find anything."
Before they left, you said quietly to Trish and Mista, "Would you two mind checking on Narancia? I feel like something else might have happened on Laius. Besides the Stand attack."
The two nodded before leaving you and Fugo alone on the bridge. You pretended to mess around on your console a bit while Fugo worked but eventually, you couldn't take it anymore.
"When were you going to tell me?"
Fugo didn't look at you. "About what?"
"About putting a tracker on JoJo's ident chip. I don't remember telling you to do that."
"It was just a precaution. It's not like you ever give me the chance to properly vet new recruits."
"If JoJo wanted to kill us, he would've done that by now."
"Sometimes immediate death isn't the final plan."
Even though the captain's station was on a higher platform than the engineering station, you had the distinct impression that Fugo was talking down to you. You stepped down from your station and stopped in front of Fugo's console.
"I never gave you permission to track JoJo. What kind of trust are we showing him by doing that?"
"He was working for two mechanics that tried to kill us. I think that's more than enough reason to suspect him. Scanning his ident chip gave me nothing. His record is completely blank. A 'Johnny Jones' might as well not exist."
"That's none of our business. If JoJo wanted to reveal any of that, he can do that on his own time."
"Are you really not even the slightest bit suspicious? Not even you're that blindly trusting. I put a tracker on JoJo because there was a chance he could be a threat to the crew and the mission. If you're so against it, I'll remove it right now." Fugo made a show of switching his console to another screen. The red circle of JoJo's location blinked out as Fugo shut down the tracker. "Happy?"
"I don't appreciate you going behind my back like that. I've never put a tracker on you or any of the crew. JoJo should be no different. You might have been on the crew longer than him but this was way out of line."
"Captain, if you want Polnareff's location from Coco, we have to talk some other time. You're distracting me."
"I want you to apologize to JoJo," you said tightly.
"I'm not going to apologize for trying to keep the crew safe."
"JoJo didn't ask to go with us so he could have his privacy violated. He's been through enough without people spying on him when he thinks he's safe."
Fugo pushed back from his chair. His voice pitched in exasperation. "I don't know what's going on with you. You've been acting differently since we accepted that job from Zero. I've never seen you bend over backwards like this to please a client, no matter who they were. I'm starting to wonder if you're doing this job for the crew, or if you're doing this job for Zero."
You clenched your jaw. "Everything I do is for the crew."
"Are you sure? Because the Captain I know wouldn't have argued against keeping the crew safe. They wouldn't have rushed blindly into a mission when the risks outweighed the benefits. They wouldn't have conceded to a client when that wasn't what the crew needed. Zero's got you under his thumb, Captain. And that has never happened before."
"This job is strictly business. We owe all of our clients respect. You have no right to talk about Zero like that."
"You're doing it right now! You just defended Zero instead of yourself! Zero is manipulating you and the crew!" Fugo slammed his hand down on the engineering console. "We should just trash this plan. Give Zero his flacking badge back. This isn't what Passione is about."
"How would you know anything about that?" you seethed. "I made this crew. Not you. Zero needs the Stand Arrow. Zero told us to get it. That's what we're going to do, with or without you, Fugo."
Fugo stared at your face. You didn't know what he saw there, but he didn't like it.
"Captain, listen to yourself."
"You're out of line. We need this job, Fugo. We're going to lose this crew and there's no one who can prevent that but Zero. We are getting that Stand Arrow. We're already too far in to give up." Your body thrummed with a strange energy. Some distant part of you chafed at this conversation, chafed at how it was going all wrong. You never spoke to Fugo like this, no matter how upset the two of you got. But Fugo had betrayed JoJo's trust. He had suggested you abandon this plan that you'd already staked so much on. He was wrong for that.
You held Fugo's violet gaze for a few tense beats. Eventually, he scoffed, unplugging the turtle.
"I don't want to do this, but you're the Captain and I have a duty to listen. If you won't listen to me, fine. I'm just hoping we'll get you back if we finish this job."
Fugo left for the barracks, his footsteps brisk on the ship's grating. You tried to see this job from the engineer's point of view, tried to understand his doubts.
But it felt so wrong to doubt the plan, doubt Zero. There was nothing to it but to finish the job that Zero had given you. Even if—
Even if ...
Huh. You couldn't remember.
- ✦ -
NEXT CHAPTER ─
❝ TO WHAT DO I OWE THE PLEASURE, YOUR HIGHNESS? ❞
☆ ⁺ ⠀«⠀ STRICTLY ONE OF BUSINESS