Fandom JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 2.5: Hearts Unchained

[Assailant]

The year is 1943.

France has fallen.

The nazis, utilizing their vicious Blitzkrieg, took France in only 6 weeks. Britain holds out against their threat, and refuses to back down, but who knows for how long? World War 2, a war to stand above all others, rages across the globe in some form or another... from the long front lines of the eastern front, to the stalemate over the British channel, to the oppression of the citizens where the nazis took over.

In the small French town of Locronan, the nazi menace has established a naval base. While they assemble for their nefarious purposes, the citizens suffer. People are starving and nazi soldiers roam the streets, innocent bystanders victims to their whims.

Some people have had enough.

A small group of remarkable individuals, gifted with a strange ability called a Stand, are about to gather together and begin the fight to take back their freedom. But they must be wary: for they are not the only ones gifted with strange and frightening abilities.

It all begins here.

 

[Assailant]

"Your transfer request has been approved."

The blonde haired man smiled as the woman behind the counter stamped a slip of paper and handed it to him. His eyes flitted over the paper, making sure everything was in order. Transfer order... Maximus Kühn... order #... he nodded, satisfied with his brief assessment. As he rolled it up and slid it into a pouch in his satchel, the woman sighed longingly with a dreamy look in her eyes. "I envy you. I hear France is beautiful this time of year... and that's one of the most beautiful places of all." Maximus nodded.

"Yes, well, with any luck that beauty will have been preserved." He clipped his satchel closed and pushed it around to the back of his body, leaving his front free. The woman nodded and sighed once more, though this time it was a notably more melancholic tone.

"I do hope so. Well, it is all for the best in the end, I suppose." Maximus smiled once more.

"Your optimism is laudable." She waved her hand dismissively.

"Oh no, it's nothing special. I wouldn't really even call it optimism myself. I just believe things tend to... work themselves out." Maximus chuckled.

"We have a term for that you know. 'Optimism.'" With a gentle roll of her eyes, she waved him off. He nodded his head as a silent thanks before doing just that, exiting out the doors and towards the location on the transfer order. As he did so, he felt the wind sweep his hair a brush against his skin, as well as the flapping noise of flags overhead waving in said wind. As he looked up at the flags, he fidgeted the medal on his sternum. Beneath the metal eagle on his insignia stood the same symbol that flew in the flags above the office.

The swastika gently blew on the breeze.

"For the glory of Germany," Maximus said under his breath.


"Gefreiter Maximus, reporting." Max stood at attention as the man before him examined a clipboard. The insignia on his uniform indicated he was an Obergefreiter.

"Greetings. I know you just arrived, but no time to rest. I assume your things have been unpacked?"

"Yes sir." There hadn't been much, just a small footlocker's worth of stuff. It had only taken about five minutes to get set up in the barracks.

"Excellent. In that case, you already have an assignment. Pretty simple, just patrol." He gestured to a small drawn out section of the map. The city map of Locronan. A beautiful town, and its position so far to the west meant that it was spared a lot of the physical devastation of the war. Of course, the emotional devastation on its citizens couldn't be understated, nonetheless... "This sector right here. Just a few city blocks worth. Got it?"

"Understood, sir." The man nodded.

"Very good. Well then, get to it. Oh, and keep in mind that the curfew is coming up in around an hour or so. These frenchmen know how the rules go, so when the clock strikes, don't be afraid to get a bit rough with any rule breakers." Maximus simply nodded quietly. "Right. Off you go then."


The streets were getting... fairly empty around this time, although there were still a fair number of pedestrians making their way around. Maximus tried his best to not pay attention to the fact that many of the citizens quickly looked away from him as they walked past, or that they noticeably closed their demeanor when nearby, or even the fair few that had the courage to give him a quick glare.

He did see a few other German soldiers around some of the street corners, although unlike him, they didn't seem to be doing as much active patrolling as they were simply standing by and looking out onto the streets. Oh well, perhaps they had different orders than him. Though somehow he couldn't imagine the pastries some of them were stuffing down was part of their orders. Or the harassing of innocent citizens minding their business... well... okay, maybe that wasn't too hard to believe.

As he walked down the avenue, taking in the sights and scenery, he couldn't help it as a strange feeling washed over him... an ominous and imposing feeling. Was it dread? Hope? Comfort? A warning or a prayer? A feeling was in the air that he couldn't quite discern, but for a reason that he would never quite be able to figure, he suddenly got the sense that he was in the midst of something major.

Something was going to happen... he just didn't know what or the outcome.

 

[Kloudy]

William Hawthorne

The German had taken a turn down a narrower street, even less occupied than the last. The opportunity laid in the multitude of alleyways that branched from its shadowy overcast path and an unknown figure slinked about in the darkness. Fewer and fewer lights remained, it was getting darker as curfew drew close like German battalions to the Maginot Line. The fall of Locronan had been a tragedy for all in France, for the Allies even. Many in the city held their contempt and hatred with pursed lips and clenched fists, unable to speak or strike out in fear of capital punishment. The rebels that did had not been seen for some time. But of course there stood some who were not retaliating out of outrage or spite, but out of duty. Allies of France but not entirely French, bound by the war to carry out their mission or die trying. Officer Hawthorne was one such individual.

The patrolling German came near to his hiding spot around the corner of an alley, seemingly unaware. In his weeks of hiding under threat of persecution, he had grown accustomed to reading how perceptive and vigilant people were from a distance. This one seemed like a good target. Edging further towards the corner, just barely covered in shade as the soldier walked by, the British officer stepped forth. A silver barrel pressed to the back of the German's head silently. The sound of slightly laboured breathing and the click of a revolver cocking was all that filled the silence.

"If you call out, I will shoot. If you turn around, I will shoot. If you reach for your gun, I will shoot." He growled in German, speaking the man's native tongue with surprising ease for the accent he held. The revolver did not move an inch, and the soldier could probably tell from the lack of shaking from his assailant's hand that he was probably well-trained in using his chosen weaponry. A cursory glance to ensure no one had witnessed this interaction, William grabbed the German and shoved towards the darkness of the alleyway.

"Walk five metres and drop your weapons on the ground. Then drop anything else in your pockets..." The unknown figure thought for a moment.

"And your jacket. Drop that too."

Assailant

 

[Bowl of Sad]

Liam McEvoy

Liam McEvoy was walking down the street on his way to the subway station. Liam had just finished a heist where he retrieved personal documents on one of the higher ranking Nazis Officers. It was one of the more difficult heists he had done, having almost been caught on multiple occasions. Now all he had to do was bring the papers back to the station and he will get off Scot-free. He had a noticeable spring in his step, the adrenaline having not fully worn off yet. He always felt like this after a successful mission. It was one of the only things that were truly exciting to him. Liam claimed his steps once an officer glared at him, though he couldn't help but crack a smile.

Liam was taken a more Roundabout way to the subway to make sure that nobody was following him, so it lead him into less populated alleyways. As he was walking, he turned the corner into one of the narrower streets and was about to take another step when he look across the road. He saw a shadowy figure which had what appeared to be a gun to another person's head, who, by the symbol on their jacket, must've been a Nazis. Liam quickly went back around the corner. He thought about turning around and walking back the way he came from, but he knew that the officer would get suspicious of him and might want to search him, so he had no other option to stay put.

Liam's first thought in that moment was who would ever dare to put a gun to an officer's head? Liam's second thought was whether or not they were a fan of his paper, though he scolded himself for worrying about that in the situation he was in. Liam rummaged throu ghb his bag, being careful not to mess with the documents, and pulled out a notebook and pen. He thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to take notes on the rebellion in Lacronan, since he might as well make the best out of his situation. Liam carefully peered from behind the corner, making sure to hid himself as much as possible, and watched what was about to go down.
Assailant Kloudy​

 

[Assailant]

William Hawthorne

The German had taken a turn down a narrower street, even less occupied than the last. The opportunity laid in the multitude of alleyways that branched from its shadowy overcast path and an unknown figure slinked about in the darkness. Fewer and fewer lights remained, it was getting darker as curfew drew close like German battalions to the Maginot Line. The fall of Locronan had been a tragedy for all in France, for the Allies even. Many in the city held their contempt and hatred with pursed lips and clenched fists, unable to speak or strike out in fear of capital punishment. The rebels that did had not been seen for some time. But of course there stood some who were not retaliating out of outrage or spite, but out of duty. Allies of France but not entirely French, bound by the war to carry out their mission or die trying. Officer Hawthorne was one such individual.

The patrolling German came near to his hiding spot around the corner of an alley, seemingly unaware. In his weeks of hiding under threat of persecution, he had grown accustomed to reading how perceptive and vigilant people were from a distance. This one seemed like a good target. Edging further towards the corner, just barely covered in shade as the soldier walked by, the British officer stepped forth. A silver barrel pressed to the back of the German's head silently. The sound of slightly laboured breathing and the click of a revolver cocking was all that filled the silence.

"If you call out, I will shoot. If you turn around, I will shoot. If you reach for your gun, I will shoot." He growled in German, speaking the man's native tongue with surprising ease for the accent he held. The revolver did not move an inch, and the soldier could probably tell from the lack of shaking from his assailant's hand that he was probably well-trained in using his chosen weaponry. A cursory glance to ensure no one had witnessed this interaction, William grabbed the German and shoved towards the darkness of the alleyway.

"Walk five metres and drop your weapons on the ground. Then drop anything else in your pockets..." The unknown figure thought for a moment.

"And your jacket. Drop that too."

Assailant

Maximus jumped a tad as he felt the gun press to the back of the head. However, after a moment, he gathered what was going on and quickly calmed himself.

From up close, the man actually seemed fairly old, all things considered. Not elderly by any means, but one could guess he was in his 40s. The man smiled a surprisingly gentle, yet undoubtedly firm, smile, although seeing as his assailant was behind him, perhaps he didn't notice. Though the man made no movements to comply, he also made no movements to resist.

"You speak surprisingly good German," were the first words from his mouth, spoken in said language. "Although from your accent... inselaffe... a Brit, eh? What are you doing so far from your motherland?" Maximus craned his neck, cracking it slightly. "I promise you that, if you go through with this, it won't go well for you. Even if you did shoot and kill me, you'd alert all of my allies without me saying a word. Lower the gun and walk away, and we can both pretend that this never happened."

Maximus spoke with a surprising degree of steadiness, as if he had no doubt that everything would be alright. As he spoke to the strange gunman, his voice was both reassuring in its calmness and yet strong in its firmness.

As his speech came to a close, he stood still. As before, he made no move to fight or escape and no move to comply.

Kloudy

 

[Minako]

​

Elsewhere, in a small little corner of Locronan, tucked away inside the local Hospital, was a team of nurses dedicated to helping others keep themselves alive. They were tough and tenacious women, taking no guff from anyone. They had to be if they wanted to survive these trying times with their sanity in tact.

"This is no place for softies!" One of the toughest and gruffest nurses would say.

"If you can't take the heat, get out of the nurse's station!" A snobbier nurse made that saying her catchphrase.

Their smallest (and, both amusingly and ironically to all of them, the oldest) member, however, was about the opposite of all of them. She was bashful and gentle, and upon meeting her absolutely no one would expect this type of person to have survived all that the nurses go through, doubly during war time, and yet...

"Hmph. It's because she's never technically had a patient DIE on her before," The snobby nurse would snidely remark.

"Hey. It's just luck, there's nothing strange about that. Besides, I don't want her to be scarred for life anyway," Her friend would say in her defense.

"Are you joking?! Of course it's strange! No nurse has that good a record!" A third nurse on her team would rudely chime in.

The tiniest nurse, who went by Rosalina Chandra, was definitely odd, especially compared to them, but she tried not to let the gossip bother her and passed off her oddities as nothing truly outrageous... even though certain aspects of her definitely were.


The truth is this little woman was very, very... odd.

It wasn't just her un-matching eyebrows (which were certainly not platinum blonde like her hair), her short stature, her youthful effervescence (she would be nicknamed "babyface" if not for her protests), or her non-French sounding name... At least, it wasn't those physical features that caught her fellow nurse's attention to the extent she did.

What made her the talk of the Nurse's station was that, without fail, every time someone came in with an injury, no matter how minor or major, they would always make an extraordinary recovery... In amazing time.

Fortunately for the Nurse, no one really could pin point when they did... or what conditions had to be met in order for the speedy recovery.

One, they had to be super distracted or asleep (being the night shift team, this was actually not too difficult a condition to meet).
Two, They had to be alone with the small blonde.

On the rare occasion these conditions couldn't be met right away, the patient didn't exactly heal instantly, but there would always be a window of opportunity, no matter how short, for her to "work her magic".

Or rather, another way to call it, use her stand ability.



"Sssshhh! Keep! Please be quiet... I'm trying to concentrate!" The woman known as Rosalina Chandra quietly begged her stand as she kept hearing her giggle.

"Iro! Iro iro! Iro ro?" The odd grey-skinned stand asked curiously.

"You know why! You ask this everytime, and everytime I give you the same answer! We're trying to keep a low-profile, r-remember? If people start seeing me use you that's definitely going to bring me way too much attention! I'm in hiding, remember??" The nurse, half in a whisper, reminded her stand of their predicament.

"Iro ro ro Iro..." The stand sighed back while hanging her head.

"Yeah, well, I'd rather be boring than dead!" Rosie retorted back, annoyed.




"...Rosie? Everything ok?" came a curious voice behind her.

She spun around in surprise to see a doctor of the night-shift, one that she trusted deeply and cared for like a brother. Being five years older than her, it was obviously an elder brother she saw him as. His name was Doctor Gerard, and he had been looking out for Rosie as much as her actual elder brother since she was employed in this tiny hospital center. He was the one that helped sign her apartment lease and car loan so she could have a place to live and a vehicle to get to and fro!

He raised his brow and quickly parted his sandy-blond hair from his face as he shot Rosie a concerned look.

"O-oh! Y-yeah! Yeah! I was just muttering something to myself wh-while going over the patients chart!" The small nurse awkwardly waved the chart she was holding around with one hand, adjusting her glasses with her other.

"Well... Alright... Don't push yourself..." The good Doctor nodded while walking off somewhere to let Rosie do whatever needed to be done.





"Iro iro, ro~!" Keep Yourself Alive happily singsonged as the nurse made her way to her patient.

"You say that everytime... Please stop reminding me you think he's cute... He's like a brother to me and it would be so strange..." The nurse whispered, begging for her stand to silence themself.

Keep Yourself Alive huffed and was silent after that.


She gently knocked on the door and opened it to find an old man. He had fallen and his children had taken him here just a few hours ago, and as Rosie suspected, he was falling asleep fast, given it was a little late anyway.

"Ready?" She whispered to her stand.

"Iro!" Keep Yourself Alive agreed and nodded vigorously.


The nurse closed the door, made sure all their roommates were asleep, and approached the injured patient. Rosie took a deep breath, looked over at her stand and slightly smiled at them. The stand smiled back, ready.

"Comin' in on a wing and a prayer
Comin' in on a wing and a prayer
With our one motor gone
We can still carry on
Comin' in on a wing and a prayer~"​

As the nurse sang quietly, a calming sky blue light flashed from her stand, and the once moaning and groaning old man in pain was now peacefully sleeping as if they hadn't fallen down at all.

"Heh... Gonna be weird when they don't see a bruise when they redress him... O-oh well..." Rosie stated to herself.

It wasn't a grave wound she had healed, but regardless, the consequences of using her stand were already taking effect... Her eyelids were getting heavy and she was already feeling slightly drowsy.

"Mmmn..." Rosie mumbled sleepily as she wobbled her way out of the room, yawning.

"Hey! Rosie!" Her friend, Corneille, called out to her as she saw the tiny nurse exit the room.

"Buh..?" Rosie lazily responded, stumbling as she turned around, clearly out of it.

 

[DJ UwU]

The curfew was drawing near, yet it didn’t seem to matter as someone burst through the hospital’s doors, a tall figure whose appearance wouldn’t be so different from others, if it weren’t because of his almost white eyes, and the fact that his suit was stained with the blood of the unconscious person he was carrying, leaving a small trail of blood from where the car was parked all the way to the hospital.


“Please, anyone, save him! I don’t know how much he has left!” The man pleaded with a distressed expression to whoever was near enough to hear him


About an hour earlier, Ace had agreed to be the dealer of a poker game between two german soldiers and two regulars of the bar they were playing at, who were also the targets he was scouting the nights before. The plan was simple, he had planted an ace of spades in the pockets of one of the civilians before the game, now all that was left was to make him win every hand, nothing that his sleight of hand couldn’t solve. After every round, the soldiers lost more and more of their temper, and once they lost all their patience, and money, they knocked over the table, at first they thought that Ace was an accomplice, however, he was quickly proved innocent once the card had been found in the victim’s pocket. Once they left through the back door to punish the “criminal”, Ace had already taken the money left on the table and bought the other guy’s silence, after all, he had already stolen his car keys during the commotion.

The house always wins Ace thought while smiling a little as he left the bar, he hadn’t even looked at his new car before the sound of a gunshot broke the relative silence of the now empty streets, it caught the attention of the few passersby nearby, who didn't dare to look at what had happened, preferring to ignore it rather than getting involved. Ace quietly hid in the entrance of the alleyway, carefully peeking in order to know what had happened.

“What did you do!?”

“Shut up! If anyone asks, he threatened us with a knife or something right after curfew.”

The two men continued to argue as they went back inside leaving a body behind them, and once it started squirming, Ace didn’t think twice before running towards this man and noticed that he was shot through the abdomen. Looking at him clearly, Ace realized that they were about the same age and that this guy seemed to work under the sun a lot, because of the slight tan he had. Of course, Ace didn’t linger too much on these thoughts and quickly helped the victim up as he groaned because of the pain, and brought him to his car.

As Ace drove through the streets as fast as he could, he couldn’t help but notice that the passenger was getting more paler as time passed, and while he wasn’t a doctor, it was clear that the bullet went through the victim, but wasn’t sure about what had been damaged on the inside, this worried him, because he didn’t know if he would make it to the hospital or if the damage was enough for what he had planned.

Minako

 

[Minako]

"Hey, are you--"

"GUYS! GUYS! WE GOT ANOTHER ONE!" Chantal, the snobbier nurse and cousin of Corneille, called out to both of them before the natural blonde pony-tailed nurse had a chance to even ask the small nurse if she was alright.

Both Rosie and Corneille burst into action, Rosie's adrenaline pumping through her head somehow keeping her from not passing out on the spot...

Though her mind was hazy, she still was able to (barely) have coherent thoughts... All she did was heal an old man from some pain, right? A sprain would only keep her yawning for a bit... Did they break something?

Oooh, it was possible the old man had new roommates with ailments of their own (and given her stand can heal all targets within the area)... There's no way a tiny fracture would drain her this much, right?

She decided to focus on the task at hand, the new patient, and fought through the fatigue.

Chantel and Corneille took the injured patient from the dark-haired and darkly dressed man who brought him in while Rosie and another nurse brought in a gurney for them while the good doctor spouted orders and procedures from the get go as they wheeled him off.

The nurses hoisted the man with a mini-hole in them and Rosie, though it was bizarre to feel this, was oddly relieved it was just a seemingly small gunshot wound and it didn't seem to get anything too vital (or else they'd be dead by now). Keep Yourself Alive made Rosie's life... interesting...

However, unfortunately, using her stand in her condition would almost certainly guarantee she would pass out the moment the healing was finished.



By some fluke of luck, Chantel, the other nurse, and the doctor were plenty distracted setting up the IV's to hook up to the patient and such that Rosie was able to, veeerrryyy quietly, whisper sing.

Keep Yourself Alive was able to lightly heal the victim (as they were getting medicine and stabilizers in them momentarily she didn't feel particularly urged to fully heal them AND fully healing them would collapse Rosie mid operating room).

Corneille, however, perked up and made a face once the healing began. She examined herself quickly (had she been healed herself?) but it wasn't to search for anything in particular, but rather in case something happened to be missing. The small nurse, however, was completely oblivious to this as Rosie was just about on her last bit of consciousness.

The pony-tailed nurse made a dash for her smaller friend and caught her right before she collapsed on the gurney herself. Rosie became her new priority, but before she took her out of the room after quickly excusing the both of them she almost got a good look at the patients wound, which was now no longer gushing blood...

To get to the nurses station from the operating room they had to pass by the general lounge area people waited (typically for their loved ones) in, and Corneille wasn't surprised at all to see the dark haired and darkly dressed man still there. He brought the newest patient in, after all.

Bursting through this area, the pony-tailed nurse cut her losses and decided it was better this was at least "after hours", meaning much more people would be here had this been the day shift. Corneille was well aware that the scene looked odd, an adult nurse dragging a much smaller, "teenage" looking nurse with said "teen's" arm over her shoulder while they're lazily slurring something.

"Heh, heh... Sh-she, uh... She isn't used to the night shift schedule yet... f-first day..." Corneille, while owing the stranger no explanation, decided to explain (and lie) anyway, just in case.

"...Hudsghblurb," Rose muttered sleepily while dragging her feet.

Keep Yourself Alive was giggling to herself, unaware of anything else but her user and said users friend...

DJ UwU

 

[Kloudy]

William Hawthorne

William sighed exasperatedly, groaning slightly to himself that he had another stubborn one. In his few weeks in occupied France, at least half the nutjob patrol soldiers he'd ambushed had been crazed with ferverent loyalty to the point of welcome death if it alerted their friends of his location. It was annoying to say the least and an annoyed frown crossed his features. William didn't like to kill, ironic given his profession, and thus only did so when necessary. Unfortunately there had been a lot of necessary situations lately and it was all beginning to wear him down. He was tired, it had been weeks of evading arrest and persecution. Perhaps he could try to intimidate the German again? He didn't seem to be an idiot or unconfident, so he could be capable of reading the scenario. A trained British agent such as himself would not reveal his presence without a plan. No, he was not nearly desperate enough yet.

"Perhaps you need me to prove that I am not a man of empty words."

Grabbing the man by the collar, William shoved him roughly further into the alley and followed after, blocking the exit. His gun was still aimed at the soldier, but his finger was not around the trigger. Yet clearly he still had something in mind, there was a certain hardened glint in his eyes that suggested he was not bluffing. With the German still facing away from him and towards the darkness of the alley, something moving impossibly fast flew by the soldier's face. It would have been hard to even see it properly, but it looked small, flat and round; almost like a small pebble. As it flew by, it left a thin scratch against the man's cheek, a few solitary drops of blood escaping the shallow wound. It had made no sound and there was no obvious attacker hidden in the darkness, although with the current time of day it was almost impossible to see through the impenetrable blackness. The message was clear: the next one would end up somewhere fatal.

William glanced over his shoulder briefly, a cautious feeling in his gut. He felt like he was being watched. As a British Intelligence Officer, it was imperative one remained undiscovered and he had spent many years keeping a sharp eye on his surroundings at all times, but while the darkness shrouded him from sight, it proved just as advantageous for anyone tailing him too. Unable to spot anyone or anything obvious, William tutted and turned back, walking out of sight of his observer and into the alley's depths. He cocked his gun once more so the German knew that killing him would not prove an issue, even if he didn't understand how he was to be killed if he didn't comply. It was true that whatever William had done, it was beyond comprehension. And that was fair, even William didn't exactly understand what it was he did with his newfound ability. At the German's imprisonment camp, he remembered hearing the word 'Stand'.

"And I promise you, German, that if you do not comply then you will be killed. You are not the first or the last soldier I've put down in this god-forsaken city."

Assailant
Bowl of Sad

 

[Assailant]

Maximus played along, being shoved by the British man deeper into the alleyway. He was about to speak up, but paused as he saw something moving rapidly in the distance. A sting raked his cheek, and he raised his hand to the wound and pulled it away, small amounts of blood staining his fingers. It was very minimal, the type of wound that a simple band-aid could easily stymie, but it carried with it a worrying implication.

What was that? Is there another gunman deeper in the alleyway? I didn't hear anything fire off, but what could have caused a wound like this? The accuracy, speed...

He would have to get serious here. He was only a day into his mission, he was not going to fail. Should he tell the Brit? Perhaps... no... he couldn't afford to poke holes in his story this early on, not to one man he knew nothing about. Besides: if he were really to fail here, then he never would have been able to succeed in the first place.

The friendly smile on Maximus's face fell into one of stone cold seriousness. "It's funny you should say that, inselaffe. Did you know that I fought in the Great War? It was... well, needless to say, it was quite horrifying. It's hard to feel enamored with the ideas of glory and honor when the gas is filling the trenches and shells are raining on your comrades. You see, these things do not care about 'glory', about 'honor.' You can choose to believe in these ideas all you want, but, noble or otherwise, ideals can't stop a bullet from tearing through you. When it comes down to it, why you fight becomes irrelevant the moment you step on the battlefield. What matters is survival: nothing more, nothing less. Either you die, or the enemy dies. That's all there is to it. In the course of my time in the Great War, I came into combat with a number of your countrymen."

Maximus turned around, and as he did, his appearance began to morph. Seemingly from nowhere, a gas-mask appeared on his face while a helmet covered his skull. A black trenchcoat draped over his body, with thick black boots appearing over his previous military uniform. Black gloves formed on his hands.

Spoiler: Maximus's Stand: Suit

As he faced down the British gunman before him, his features were completely obscured by the suit that had suddenly appeared over him. However, when he spoke, his voice was still completely clear.

"Here I stand, all of these years later. I stand, instead of your countrymen."

There was a pause as Maximus seemed to take in his assailant, considering his form carefully.

"I admire your conviction... however... you chose the wrong man."

Maximus lowered himself into a combative stance. Curiously enough, despite being a soldier, his combat stance seemed far more martial-arts inspired, as he did not pull out a weapon of any kind. Though he was facing the Brit, his head seemed to be slightly tilted, as if looking behind him as well, wary of anything else emerging from the alleyway. The slightest movement, and he was prepared to launch into action.

"Last chance, inselaffe. Turn around and walk away. I will still let you leave if you go now."

Kloudy

 

[Bowl of Sad]

Liam McEvoy had been taking notes about the man and soldier when he almost missed both of the people back into what he assumed was an alleyway he could not see them from. Liam silently groaned inside. This would make this a bit harder then he would prefer. Quickly, Liam looked into his backpack, opening a secret compartment and saw that he only had three lemon slices left. Liam paused for a second and thought whether or not it would be worth the risk to watch what would happen, though he quickly dashed away his uncertainties. Having information on rising resistance would be vital for bringing in more supporters, especially since there really hasn't been any hint of revolution in Lacronan, mostly because of the strong hold the German's had.

Feeling like he might regret it later, he grabbed one of the lemon slices out of the bag and held it in his hand. Liam silently walked to the edge of the street, slowing down before he reached the alleyway, he then carefully peaked around the edge of the wall. What he saw was, to say the least, not what he expected, the same person, who he can make out to be a man now, is facing another person who is in a full suit, gas mask and everything. Liam almost gasped, but covered his mouth. Quickly he turned back around the corner, a small bead of sweat dripping down his face. He was acutely aware of everything around him. Though he quickly composed himself, he was just a bit startled after all. Though now that there is a chance that he was seen, he cannot stay here any longer, cursing himself for being so careless, he bit into the lemon slice that he held into his hand and began to walk to the station, passing in front of the alleyway with the person in the suit. Though they were non the wiser, as they could not see him at all.​

 

[Kloudy]

William Hawthorne
(Locronan - Alley)

"You talk too much."

While he had intended to cut the man short from wasting anymore time, something equally incomprehensible occurred. William's eyes widened in shock as the German swivelled in place, surprise and confusion evident on his usually hardened face. What... had just happened? Something had grown from his face, no on his entire body. Was that a gas mask? His form had changed before his very eyes like some sort of demonic shapeshifter from the trenches. Had his wound finally caused him to become delusional? He winced slightly, holding his side as the thought reminded him of the pain he was in. Hopefully there was a French doctor willing to treat him somewhere in Locronan, or he'd find himself in a particularly dire situation. He was no medical practitioner himself, but he's heard terrible stories about the horrors of sepsis. And then a realisation hit him. This was one of those.

"Stand..."

He hissed the word, his expression turning dark and serious in a similar fashion. This man had one of those things too? Although his didn't seem anything like the soldier's, it looked more like a regular trench suit than anything else. William could only assume it had something to do with the unsettling story he insisted on telling. While the Brit wasn't very interested in hearing the rest of it, things had become increasingly dangerous now and he couldn't afford to make any mistakes here. From the stance the man assumed, it was likely that he was about to charge him. Either that or... gas? Somehow? William had no idea what he was facing and the caution coursed in the form of adrenaline through his bloodstream, but at this point anything was possible. Luckily for him, the German also had no idea what he was up against. Having turned around, just as William had warned him not to, he had unwittingly lost the battle before it had begun. The conditions for his|Dead Dreams| had been met. The officer regained his composure, his gun arm falling by his side.

"I warned you. You have seen my face, so now I cannot allow you to live."

No sound was made, but in what seemed like an instant a cold hand placed itself on the back of the German's neck. It gripped uncomfortably and was hard, yet smooth to the touch, almost like sanded stone. In that moment, William's eyes glazed over for a second as countles images, sounds and feelings washed over his mind. It was like watching a movie while fast-forwarding at ridiculous speed, yet he could observe every moment easily. The soldier was not lying, he had indeed seen much of the Great War, something that had cost William the attention of his parents. It did not show on his face, but a bubble of rage formed within him.

"You have lived a long life, but it is now time for me to rectify that. You may feel safe in your protective suit, but I assure you that you are not the only one with such tricks.

He smirked.

"Hun."

Assailant
Bowl of Sad

 

[Assailant]

As the hand grabbed him by the neck, he immediately reacted twofold. He burst forward, charging at the Brit before him. As he did so, he swung his arm around him, reaching to break the arm of whoever was grabbing him. William would notice that he moved far faster than could be expected of any man, let alone one of his age. He quickly jumped to the left wall, rebounding off of it with a kick, followed by a similar rebound off the right wall.

He needn't worry about the man at the moment, he had nothing that could harm him. Maximus was confident about that. No, the far more concerning matter was whatever grabbed him from behind... He was only turned around for a second or two, and he hadn't seen anything that way. Whatever it was had moved far faster than anyone could've... meaning...

Could it be? He has a similar ability to me? That's the only explanation...

In midair, he twisted around to stare back into the alleyway, keeping a lookout for whatever it was that had assailed him before.

"You presume too much of your own abilities! Inselaffe... you made a mistake attacking me! You had your chance!"

As he landed in the street, able to now keep his eyes on both William and the alleyway, he lowered into another combat stance, ready to take action if anything moved.

Kloudy

 

[Kloudy]

William Hawthorne
(Locronan - Alley)

"Oh?"

The hand seemed to teleport, gone in an instant. The man moved quickly, much faster than any human or William himself could. It was his stand's ability, of course, but the officer already knew exactly how it worked. His own stand's ability, Sanity Theft, allowed him to peer into the man's memories and learn all there was to know about him. He saw bravery, pain, struggle, murder, war, shame, promotion and finally repentence. William was no man of God and was in no mood to grant any mercy for the older man's ideals; he had a job to do and this German had killed too many. The Brit took a few steps back as the German executed a particularly fast manoeuvre that would have been too fast for a normal person to see. Luckily, his stand had the precision to keep up with the reactions and move faster...

"Are you really a soldier? You talk more than you fight."

His opponent was a vigilant fellow and kept an eye on both him and the direction his stand had come from, however there was no such creature in sight for him to stare down. As the German landed back onto the ground, |Dead Dreams| moved, diving down from the rooftops above where it had repositioned itself as soon as the soldier had reacted. The man was not looking upwards, but rather down either side of the alley. No one expected an attack from above, although William would have thought this man might have given the amount of mortar fire he'd had to deal with in the previous war. Flashing behind the man in an instant while remaining out of his peripheral vision, the stand delivered a powerful kick into the man's side with enough force to send him flying further into the alley and hit an adjacent wall within the darkness.

William was entirely confident in his victory, yet he was not a man to relinquish his caution easily. He'd brushed with death too many times to be afforded that luxury. Luckily for him though, this particularly unfortunate situation he'd found himself in was not so misfortunate after all. His enemy also possessed a stand, it was his first time seeing another one since his own, but it's abilities seemed to be geared solely towards fighting non-stand users. Indeed, it seemed that while he had granted himself extraordinary physical ability, the German was still vulnerable to his actual stand. And knowing his stats, William was certain that the man would not be able to keep up with his movements.

"I presume nothing, Fritz. Your Fields of Verdun are no match for me."

The officer wondered how the German would react when hearing someone else calling out his stand's name. He allowed himself a small smile as he turned back and retreated around the corner of the alley's exit. |Dead Dreams| could fight in his stead for now. Nothing he did personally would grant him an advantage against an enemy such as this. As he retreated, William bumped into something along the street's path. Surprised and instantly on guard, he looked around to see what it was he had touched. Seeing nothing, his suspicion grew and he raised his revolver ahead of himself and, purely by accident, in the direction of the invisible person he had hit. This wasn't another ability of the soldier's stand, he already knew all that it was capable of. Should he recall his own stand? No, then the German would just come after him again and he'd be back to square one against possibly two assailants. Scanning around, William kept himself ready for an attack.

Assailant
Bowl of Sad

 

[DJ UwU]

“Heh” Ace chuckled “It’s okay, don’t worry”

He couldn’t help but chuckle at how awful the lie that the nurse had just said was, he lived every day based on lies, of course, he wouldn’t be fooled by such a poor excuse, but if that was a lie, then why did she collapse?

Ace wasn’t one to overthink stuff and this was no exception, once the weird, yet suspicious pair slowly got away from his position, his Stand appeared in front of him. Its appearance would remind anyone of a demon, due to the sharp horns on its head, it seemed like it was wearing a mask, with a twisted grin and a piercing gaze, as if one were staring at the void. Ace was sure that his Stand would scare most people and even if it didn’t, it would at least make even the most hardened soldier falter for a second.

Ace spent most of his time in bars and the like, where common chatter could be turned into a fatal weapon since he knew all too well that strength is only half the battle. One day, as he listened to drunken gossip and random banter, it was brought to his attention that a “saint” had appeared at one hospital nearby, a miracle worker who could heal any injures and wouldn’t let anyone die on their watch. Of course, most people would dismiss this as a heavily exaggerated story of a really good doctor and that miracles were simply impossible, which could be what the person in question wanted, but Ace couldn’t simply ignore it, after all, he had a saint of his own, it was enough proof for him to investigate further, however, information was extremely scarce, and couldn’t find anything else besides what he already knew, so his only option left was by trial and error, he had already tried his luck in other places, but this time, it looked like he hit the jackpot.

Let’s see who’s this “saint” really is. Ace thought as he used his Stand to follow the pair closely behind while he sat in the lounge, seemingly lost in thought.

Minako

 

[Minako]

"Lord on high, you're heavier than you look," Corneille grunted while essentially dragging her smaller nurse friend to the nurse's station.

Rosie in turn responded with something incoherent, but displeased sounding.

"Where do you even hide all that weight!? There's, like, barely five feet of you...!" Corneille struggled, rather disgruntled, as the two drew ever closer to the nurses station.


Just when the poor pony-tailed nurse thought her arms may fall off shouldering her friend, the Nurse's station was in sight and Corneille homed in on it like a guided missile.

"GAH! There! There! Geez, rest already!" The pony-tailed nurse finally got Rosie into a chair... And instantly the small nurse slouched back over it, fast asleep.

"Do you not get enough sleep or something...? You don't live with anyone else... You don't even have pets... So what..." Corneille mumbled to herself.



Corneille sighed to herself and adjusted Rosie to a more comfortable position and put her jacket as a make-shift blanket over her.

"You can't keep falling asleep at every turn, Ro... One day..." The concerned nurse bit her lip.


Worried about her apparent narcolepsy, Corneille decided to stay with Rosie a bit, surprised to find Chantal entering the room about ten or so minutes later.


"A-ah! Sh-shouldn't you--"

"I would be, and so should the BOTH OF YOU--" Chantal disciplined both of them, disapproving and almost disgusted looking at the sleeping nurse, then brushing it off while adding, "If it was that serious."

"...Come again?!" Corneille asked.

This IS the man with a bullet hole in him, right??

"For all the blood they spilled... He barely needed stitches... It was more a nasty cut from a knife that broke a bit of skin than a gunshot wound once we cleaned up the blood," Chantal explains.

"...WHAT?!" Corneille could hardly believe what she was hearing.

She SAW their gaping wound... The gurney was practically covered in blood!

What the heck was going on!?


"Mmmhmmm... We'd almost think that man was pranking us... If there wasn't so much blood spilled and a huge gaping hole in the victims shirt..." Chantal groaned confusedly.


"I... This always happens... I-I mean, not that I'm not happy they make it through safely and indefinitely, but... What are we gonna tell the guy who brought him in? People talk..." Corneille asks, concerned.

There were already weird things being said about this place... But experiencing weird things going on here was a whole different story...


"I don't know! The Doc--- HEY! YOU LITTLE LIAR!" Chantal snorted, frustratingly brushing off her concern to suddenly yelling angrily and accusatory in record timing.

"Excuse the hell out of me!? Liar!? Why are you calling me that?!" Corneille got angry right back at her.

"You said you accidentally scared Sir Wigglesworth this morning and he scratched you on your right forearm!" Chantal practically spat while grabbing Corneille's right arm while pointing right to it, "I don't see a scratch on you!"

"HE DID, What are you ta--" Corneille glared back at her cousin, humoring her for a moment to glance at her arm and--

...There was indeed not a scratch on her...

WHAT WAS GOING ON!?

"But... Wiggles did...scratch me..." Corneille could only mutter in astonishment, vividly remembering the accident that caused their beloved cat to scratch her.


"Whatever," Chantal almost hissed back, clearly not happy about being lied to, "The doctor says he wants both of you back in the operating room... If we can manage to get this lazy creature to do anything but snooze!"

The snobby nurse said this while glaring daggers at the tiny, sleeping nurse.

"Leave her alone...She's doing the best she can, and it's not like anyone has ever died here anyway..." Corneille defended the small nurse, not appreciating Chantal's attitude.

"Whatever. This is a Hospital and she's a nurse. If she couldn't handle night-shift, she shouldn't have signed up for it. Doctor wants you back, at least... Lord knows I'm not dragging HER all the way back while asleep," Chantal rolled her eyes and didn't care Corneille wasn't happy with her.

"Hope that guy doesn't question what the hell is going on... I don't know how we're going to explain this to him," Corneille mumbled worriedly as she walked out the Nurse's station with Chantal.

"We're just going to tell him that guy's made a speedy recovery! If he cares about who he brought in, it won't matter what happened as long as the patient is gonna be ok, right!?" Chantal infamously brushes aside her cousins concern.

"Riiiiiiiiight," Corneille sighed, wondering how they really should handle this.



They can't just tell the man the victim got into the operating room and was magically somehow healed... They can't even pretend to have the guy stay in bed past when he wakes up because he's essentially just recovering from a nasty CUT....

Plus, even if the victim somehow was willing to play along, one look at the blood soaked shirt (with undeniable proof of a gaping bullet wound) and Mr. Tall, Dark, and "Concerned", presumably having an IQ higher than a toddler, would ask some reasonable questions...

Questions they couldn't answer even if they wanted to.


Corneille takes a last look at Rosie before leaving the Nurse's station to rejoin the last member of their crew and the Doctor, knowing well this was less a meeting of "how to help a patient" and more a meeting of how to explain the "miraculous recovery"...


But there was really no way to explain any of that to Chantal. Or the dark-haired man, for that matter.


Frowning and making a face, Keep Yourself Alive stuck their tongue out at Chantal as the pair left. The stand figured it was alright, as she didn't think anyone could really see or hear her, anyway.

Keep Yourself Alive, not really needing sleep, then sighs to herself as she boredly stares at her slumbering user. The grey-skinned, magenta haired stand poked the small nurse a moment before shaking her head in disappointment when there was no reaction.

Waiting for Rosie's awakening was her least favorite part, and this one seems like it might take a few hours...

If left undisturbed...

DJ UwU

 

[Bowl of Sad]

​

Liam was nearing the end of the alleyway when he heard a large Thump coming from the alleyway, but before Liam could react, he felt that someone had bumped into him. He quickly jumped away and turned around, seeing that the man who was in the alleyway was pointing a gun in his direction. Liam moved out of the direction in which the gun was pointed and wondered why the German soldier he was facing against wasn't following him. Maybe he incapacitated him? It would sure explain the large noise he had heard earlier, though he doubted that he could knock out the soldier in all of that gear. Liam had no idea what had happened and, honestly, wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

Liam moved around behind the man, the gun not having moved from it's direction. He checked his watch, seeing that it was about 15 minutes till curfew. He knew he couldn't waste anymore time, and he was about to run off, when he thought of an idea. He took out a piece of paper and tore off a small sliver. Then he wrote down a note telling him that he he wants the "seeds of truth to grow" he should meet him at the address specified tomorrow, which would be the park a few blocks away from his subway station. Liam would then carefully place it in one of his coat pockets for him to find later.

If he had ever read his newspaper or talked to someone who has then he would probably know that Liam was on his side and that he wanted to help him with his endeavor as the seeds of truth is his newspaper that a lot of people who want to get rid of the nazis read, and even if he doesn't know about his paper, he would probably be interested enough to follow up on it.

Afterwards, Liam made his way back down the alleyway to the subway station and deposited the papers in one of the false bricks in one of the walls nearby where one of his colleagues will collect and return later. Liam would quickly duck behind a wall and release his ability, making sure nobody was around. Then, after quickly making his way home, he went straight to bed, barely bothering to take off his clothes, and falling asleep after a few seconds.

Kloudy

 

[DJ UwU]

Ace kept his Stand out of the room the pair went into, close enough to still be able to hear inside it. Although nothing happened for some minutes, he wasn’t surprised to see another nurse arrive there since she had to go through the area Ace was in. Hearing the discussion, they were having, he now knew that this wasn’t the first time this happened but didn’t know how or why. Once the two nurses decided to go back to the operating room, not only did he know that neither of them had a Stand, he caught a glimpse of another person in the room, mocking the two that were leaving, it was clear that the small nurse sleeping inside was the one he was searching for, the only problem was, he needed to get awake her from her sleep.

He waited for the nurses to get further away before trying the first thing that he thought of, bursting through the door, quietly opening the door a little bit before kicking it fully open, he hoped that the noise would wake her up, further enhanced by the silence of the growing night, and while it would alert the other two, he didn’t care, to them, it could’ve been the wind, either that or another unexplainable phenomenon, much like the healing that happened before. Not even a second had passed after kicking the door before the Stand hid from the user inside, he already knew that it was her, he didn't need to show her his Stand and made sure to move it away a small distance away from the door, just to be sure.

Back at the lounge, Ace stood up once he heard the door open, making his way towards the Nurse's Station, he was sure it wouldn't be weird for him to be there, after all, anyone would be alerted by that kind of noise, and curiosity would win them over.

Minako

 

[Assailant]

Maximus (Fields of Verdun) vs William (Dead Dreams)​

“Wha-?!”

Maximus yelled as he felt Dead Dreams slam into his rib cage, sending him flying. Thankfully, with Fields of Verdun active, him slamming against the wall caused him no pain… that said, a force strong enough to send him flying like that in the first place wasn’t anything to scoff at. As Maximus stood up, he winced, his hand covering the point of contact. Something was wrong, though he didn’t know off the bat. Did he break a rib? Bust an organ? He’d be needing to go to the hospital after this.

“Heh… you know my stand’s name, huh? Then I presume you know what it’s capable of, too.”

As he stood up, he looked up into the sky and down the alleyway, not allowing the stand to get the jump on him again. Though he noticed something odd… his opponent’s gun was out as he looked around, not directly facing him.

Perfect.

Maximus reached down and pulled out his Walther P-38 and took aim. Being sure to keep his eyes flitting around the alleyway, not giving the enemy Stand a single opening, he let loose, firing four shots one after the other at the Brit. With Dead Dreams still standing in the alley in plain view, the stand swayed to the side slightly so as to block his firing line to William. The bullets sparked off the stands stony skin without leaving so much as a chip or mark. It clearly possessed B-Rank persistence or above. Now that the German could get a look at it, the manifestation appeared to be a statue from the Ancient Greek Mythological Era, resembling a middle aged philosopher dressed in toga wrappings. It seemed to be entirely made of stone, even the clothing, and moved unnaturally in an inhuman-like robotic manner.

Hearing the shots, William clicked his tongue in annoyance and began quickly walking down the street and out of the soldier's sight from the alley. Those gunshots were loud and likely to attract attention. He'd need to speed things up or this man could survive to describe his face to his friends. Being facially identifiable would make things very difficult for his already tenuous lifestyle. His opponent wasn't stupid, but it was clear that he hadn't faced anything like this before. William would contemplate the existence of other stands later when he had a moment to breathe, although he theorized that it definitely had something to do with the Nazi Intelligence Unit. They had done something to him during his time in their 'custody' so it was only one more thing he'd have to investigate.

God, I hate my job. Makes me wish I'd died in a trench like the rest.

Max glared at Dead Dreams as it stepped in front of his bullets. His gun wasn’t a manifestation of Fields of Verdun, so it would be unable to harm the Stand. Surely other soldiers would come to investigate the noise, although that raised a different problem. Unless one of the other soldiers just happened to be a Stand user, it’s not like they would be able to do anything to help him.

Gritting his teeth, he was reminded of his injury with a sharp pain in his ribcage. Thankfully, his advanced pain tolerance meant that he could focus and shrug it off. However, just because he could ignore the injury didn’t mean it wasn’t there. There was only so long he would be able to push through it before he would hit the physical limitations of his body and begin slowing. He still had some time, but if this fight didn’t end soon…

He pocketed his gun, his eyes never looking away from Dead Dreams for even a second, before once again lowering into his combative stance. Now that he had his eyes on the enemy, he wasn’t going to look away for even a nanosecond if he could help it. That Stand… it was quite durable no doubt, but even something as strong as it couldn’t withstand the force of Fields of Verdun. His A in Power made sure of that. If he could just land some hits, this fight would be over.

Do not get hasty, Maximus.

His fists were raised into a fighting stance, much like a boxer’s, although he seemed lighter on his feet than a boxer would. He was watching Dead Dreams carefully, waiting for an opening. As the two fighters faced off in the alley while William was retreating, the officer was sure that the soldier was certain he had figured out a way to counter Dead Dreams’ ability. A sly and uncharacteristic smirk crossed his face as he walked, content with the knowledge that he still had a few tricks up his sleeve to put this old dog down. If he thought just keeping an eye on his stand would be enough to stop an attack, he’d be dangerously mistaken.

The stands form stood stock still, unmistakable in all it’s 6ft glory. It didn’t seem to make a move either, waiting with fairly relaxed posture. The German’s first mistake had been charging into a fight without first ascertaining what it was he was facing. His second mistake was waiting for his opponent to make the first move. In quite literally the blink of an eye, Dead Dreams had apparently vanished from the German’s field of vision altogether. Without sparing even a second, the stand attacked from behind with Rank-A Speed and Rank-B Power, flinging its forearm out to land a blow against the side of the soldier’s head with hopes of sending him crashing into the alley wall. The impact of the wall wouldn’t hurt him, but it would slow him down if he planned on making an immediate counterattack.

The instant Maximus noticed that the stand was gone from his vision, he leapt into action: literally, as he vaulted forward, looking under his feet back at the stand. But before he could make any real progress, he felt the arm slam into his head. Thankfully, he was at least able to get his forearm in the way, preventing what could have been a fatal blow, but that did little to comfort him as he slammed into the wall next to him. Without sparing a moment, he raised his arms above his head, guarding it from any further attacks, and looked back at where the stand was.

He can’t say he was shocked to notice that it wasn’t where it had been before, but it certainly was unwelcome news. He fought his instinct to get up, staying small and curled up on the ground. Dignified? Not particularly, but if it prevented his soft interior from being exposed, that was worth it. His eyes flitted around the alleyway, looking for any sign of the assailant.

He stayed like this for a few moments, his eyes darting around. He wasn’t going to give it another opening. Fields of Verdun did little to protect him from the hits of the stand itself, and unfortunately his vision was beginning to become slightly blurred and he could feel himself getting a little dizzy. Not enough to impair him, not yet, but he couldn’t afford more hits like that. Out of the corner of his eye, Maximus could make out a tall figure staring at him from around the corner of the alley, where it turned into the street. It slunk back before any eye contact could be made. A mere second later, it reappeared on the other side of the alley, where the corner took a right onto a different street. Again, the stand shrunk back out of view before it could be fully looked at.

Maximus looked at the stand, and every time it shrunk around the corner of the alleyway, his eyes would flit back to the depths of the alleyway, making sure it hadn’t snuck up behind him again. They would then flit back to the entrance once more, seeing if it would appear once again. It was goading him. That, or it was being equally cautious. He couldn’t quite tell, but he wasn’t going to let it matter. It had proved itself to be a threat, so he wasn’t going to act rashly.

Before he could decide on a move to make, he could hear the gentle roar of an engine. A car rolled up in front of the alleyway and came to a stop as two armed men stepped out. The soldiers began to approach Maximus, stern looks evident as they glanced about for an intruder. The looks didn't last as a hole appeared in each one's head, about the size of a penny. A soft clatter could be heard as two tiny pebbles came to a rest near Maximus.

“He hasn’t used that ability against me… those pebbles can instantly kill a man… but he hasn’t used them against me. Those… those truly are just stones, aren’t they? Not a part of its stand ability. Otherwise, he would have killed me with those by now.”

Maximus looked up towards the building across from the entrance to the alleyway. He was no physicist by any means, but it didn’t take a genius to tell where those pebbles had to have come from. The trajectory was only right for one angle. If he could just get a bead on that damn Stand…

But no such luck. The building was two stories tall, it appeared to be a shop of some kind, though due to curfew it was dark. Perhaps it was closed or closing. Or perhaps it wasn’t being kept up anymore? It didn’t really matter. The important part was that there was no sight of that Stand. Either it had moved since it fired those pebbles, or it was hiding the whole time.

Maximus had to admit, things weren’t looking particularly good for him. The corpses of his fellow soldiers were proof that this enemy was more than capable, and he had yet to get a single hit off on the damn thing. One hit, just one hit! If he could get even one solid hit off, this fight would be over, he was sure of it! But it didn’t matter how strong his swings were if they never connected.

However, there was one advantage. One solitary advantage that he had. At the end of the day, when it comes to exchanging blows, he had the advantage. He was stronger and more durable… he just had to get himself in a position where he could use it. He just had to lure the stand into a CQC where he could see it… then victory was assured…

But then, that’s another problem. Him being able to see it was an important stipulation, and 8:00 PM was just about here. It was beginning to get dark, and in the alleyway where the streetlamps’ light doesn’t reach, he would be in a rough spot. So he had a choice: go out into the light of the street, and be open from all angles, or delve further into the darkness of the alleyway and have more surroundings to funnel his enemy in?

Maximus took a few deep breaths, his eyes keeping peeled, before he reluctantly made his move. He got to his feet, still being sure to keep hunched so his stomach wasn’t exposed, kept his arms up by his head, and, slowly, walked deeper into the alleyway, his back keeping to the wall so it couldn’t sneak up behind him. He wasn’t going to let it get the jump on him, and while the alleyway was dark, it was by no means pitch black. He could still see: he would be prepared.

Making his way to the ends of the alleyway, his eyes darting around to ensure it couldn’t sneak up on him, he got to a corner where two walls met and pressed his back to it. Now it couldn’t attack him from behind, or the left. He pressed himself against the wall, turning to face towards the opening of the alleyway. Now it was behind and to the right that was blocked off. It would be very hard to attack from the left, seeing as there was barely any space for Dead Dreams to attack from. Meaning he only had two places to watch from… not that he would disregard the left. However, most of his attention was focused on in front of him and above him: the two places it seems that stand could make an entrance from.

He continued guarding his head, naturally, making his body small and defensive. He needed to buy a bit more time to think of a real plan. He didn’t have long before this battle became unwinnable, he needed to act… Although it was hard to make out seeing how Maximus was now a street and alley away, a dark figure exited the building's main door, standing stock still in an unnatural manner. Truly, it didn't even breathe or stir. The lamp-light didn't quite reach it, so it was impossible to make out any detail especially given the distance. It seemed to watch and wait, perfectly in view of the German.

Maximus huffed, partly to catch his breath and partially in annoyance. He couldn’t make out any details, but he could tell that was what he was looking for. He kept his eye on it: it wasn’t close enough for him to make a move. He wasn’t exactly confident he could rush that distance without blinking, and even if he did he still wasn’t quite sure how capable that thing was in fisticuffs. As capable as him? Doubtful, but he didn’t want to give it another chance to catch him off guard.

As Maximus watched the stand, he couldn’t help but growl in annoyance. “What are you hoping to accomplish?!” He yelled to the stand. “Is killing one man truly worth this?!”

There was still no movement from the figure, but a deep and echoed voice reverberated from its direction, "you have seen my face… You have seen… You have seen my face. You…" It spoke uncomfortably slow in a complete monotone, robotic in nature. The echo bounced off of surfaces and threw off the direction it came from slightly.

"You have… You have seen… You…"

It paused.

"You must die."

“Is that so?” Maximus still wasn’t quite sure how to take this thing down. He needed it closer… he had an idea, but it wasn’t exactly a good one… in fact, it bordered on suicidal. While keeping his eye on the stand, he gently pulled out his gun and fired into the air a few times.

He wasn’t sure exactly what he was expecting to happen… but he needed time. Time to figure out a plan. He had the workings of one going on in his head, but if he could just get some other soldiers involved… Perhaps one of them could offer some inspiration, or even help him themselves. And then Maximus blinked, as he inevitably had to. The figure had disappeared from its previous position in that time, now standing at the entrance to the alley way, most hidden around the corner. Part of its arm and foot was visible, those smooth grey tones barely visible in the low light. Yet still it didn't move further, nor did it hide around the corner this time.

"You must die…"

Maximus’s first instinct was to look around for the stand when it vanished, but he was somewhat surprised to see that it had made itself, relatively speaking, very apparent. His second instinct was to charge it, to take it out. In this range, he genuinely could charge it before he needed to blink. But there was a problem with that, an obvious one. If he were to charge it, as he so badly wanted to, it could simply pull itself around the edge of the alleyway, disappearing from sight, and then vanish behind him while he ran and finish him off.

He wanted so badly to end it, here and now, but not yet. He needed to wait just a bit longer… he had a defensible position, he could not just give it up.

“Must I?” He murmured to himself, loud enough for the stand to hear it but clearly not intended as a question. “Well,” he murmured to himself once again, “I’ve survived far worse than you, I don’t intend to end that streak today.”

He could feel himself about to blink, he didn’t have much time. The first time, he’d been able to hold his blink for a while… but coming fresh off of that, his eyes burned. He only had a second or two more. He could hear another car coming, but it wouldn’t arrive in time. He had to defend himself.

He got into a defensive position, prepared to swing if he heard any movement whatsoever, covered his vulnerable positions… and blinked. Several things happened at once. Simultaneously, there were several sharp crashing sounds followed by telltale clattering of stones. When Maximus had finished his blink, he would notice that all the lamps near the alley had had their bulbs shattered by pebbles and no longer worked. The next thing he'd notice would be the dark silhouette standing at the mouth of alley, closer and no longer hidden at all, but still refusing to rush the German down. Even if help arrived, they wouldn't be able to see what they were shooting at. As it got closer, something would begin to seem off to Maximus, although it would be hard to place why.

This was very bad. Without a doubt, this was very bad. Every second he waited was another second the environment turned to his enemy’s favor. What a Catch-22. If he attacks, he’ll leave himself vulnerable, but if he waits, he’s making himself more vulnerable still. This was the best chance he was going to get though…

“This is a trap.”

Without a doubt, it couldn’t even be questioned. If this Stand knew him as well as it seemed to, it should know that making itself apparent was suicide. It wanted him to attack… but why, why, why?!

Something about this stand seemed… off. Why was it taking its time? When he had gone toe to toe with it before, it was fast, frenetic. Attacking from every corner, then darting off to the shadows before he could see it. Yet here it was, simply… standing there. Watching him.

With a raised eyebrow, Maximus leveled his gun at the stand itself and fired, curious to try something. The bullet flew and hit the figure squarely in the chest. A small hole punched through and it fell backwards, it's posture unmoved.

Honestly, he was shocked that it had worked. This thing… wasn’t a stand. At least, it wasn’t the stand he was fighting before, but more likely it wasn’t one at all. A lot of things made sense when he considered it that way, but then that of course begged the question… where was the stand?

Well, consider what it had been trying to do. It had clearly been trying to goad him into attacking the body, so that meant, more likely than not, the stand itself was waiting on the rooftops behind him, ready to jump down and attack had he charged. Perhaps, but… there was another question. If it wasn’t the stand, what was it? He had a few theories… and part of him really, truly hoped that it was that inselaffe himself… but it wouldn’t be. It couldn’t be that easy.

That said, clearly it was something… but he couldn’t make it out without getting closer, and like hell he was doing that… he needed a light source, but without a flashlight or a lantern, that seemed impossible… unless… he made his own light.

He unhooked his standard issue grenade from his belt and, priming it and seeing that it was ready to blow, he rolled it down the alleyway under the car that the two soldiers had shown up in before. When it went off, the car should go up in flames: flames that the damn enemy couldn’t turn off. And he’d be safe inside Fields of Verdun.

With a few clicks as the grenade tapped against the ground, it rolled rolled rolled… aaaaaand…

Fireball time.

With a loud bang, the grenade explodes as the car ruptures into a roar of flames. Naturally, some shrapnel pelts Maximus, although Fields of Verdun prevents any from actually harming him. The fire melted away the shadows over the figure, revealing not the stand, not the person, but… as he had suspected… a mannequin. A goddamn mannequin. He had known it would be, but he had to be sure. In doing so… he had made a mistake.

“Shit, the stand!” He turned, but before he could even finish, he felt a brutal kick.

As Maximus had been watching the grenade very intently, he failed to remember that it was important to look around him too. Against an opponent such as Dead Dreams, one always had to be vigilant. He did not see the stand creep up above him from the rooftop, gazing down at him. He didn't not see it stealthily climb down and certainly hadn't noticed its approach until it was already by him, landing a blindingly fast kick that would send him flying back out to the street.

With yet another cracking noise, he felt himself fly through the air into the streets. As he skid on the pavement, he allowed himself one groan before getting up. This was certainly bad… he had lost the advantage of defense, and while the light from the car explosion did provide some light, it still wasn’t like the lampposts had before.

The air itself was his enemy.

His eyes darted rapidly around, first checking the alleyway where, obviously, his enemy was gone. His breathing was beginning to become shaky. He couldn’t stand more punches like that, he was already getting weak. He needed to turn things around: now.

Some cars came driving down the road, about three, all with soldiers in them. It seemed this was starting to attract some serious attention. As they began to approach, they noticed Maximus.

“Hey! Stay right there, or we will shoot!”

Damn. They couldn’t make him out as a soldier in this darkness. His mind was racing, trying to figure out a way out of this. He was close enough to the car fire to be visible, but not close enough to be made out. He needed a way to make himself visible… while also defending himself on all sides… He needed…

He needed something crazy.

Thanks to the enhanced speed due to Fields of Verdun, he had reached the car fire in moments and, without hesitation, dove straight into the burning fire, covering himself in the flames and shielding himself with metal. The soldiers stared on in awe.

“Did… that man just dive into a fire?!” One of them yelled. “Someone, put out the fire, we’ll need to identify the corpse.”

He still had time. He had time before they’d be able to put it out. Enough time to set up a defence. He held his arms up defensively as the soldiers stepped out of the car and began observing the scene, from the dead soldiers to the burning car. Many of the soldiers were looking around, perhaps for other culprits or other victims of the scene. Dead Dreams was nowhere to be seen by now and all that was left was Maximus and the carnage. By now, it had returned to William already, who was long gone.

As for Maximus... he waited and waited. As the authorities came to take away his corpse, they were all startled to find the man still alive after the fire had died down. Wounded, for sure... but not dead. Not even burnt. As the ambulance loaded him up to take him to the hospital before his questioning, he allowed his consciousness to fade. As it did though, he heard one startling phrase.

"What was that man doing wearing a gas mask?"

 

[Minako]

As soon as the door to the nurse's station practically flew open, Keep Yourself Alive instinctively retreated back to Rosie. Not that Keep was particularly worried about being spotted, as most people Rosie interacted with seemed to not notice Keep was there at all, but Rosie always worried one day someone WOULD be able to see her and Keep remained as cautious as possible for her user's mental health in case that day should ever come.

And the door to the nurse's station flinging open "by itself" was one extraordinary circumstance caution couldn't hurt.

The gray-skinned, magenta-haired stand could definitely see movement... but not anything or anyone in particular on the other side of the door yet.

Keep reappeared as soon as she couldn't really distinguish anyone and suspiciously eyed the kicked open entrance.

"Iro... Iro..?" The healing stand demanded, nervous and suspicious while guarding her user (as much as she could) from whatever could come from the entrance.

"Mmmm... Wha...?" The stand heard behind her, turning around to find her user somewhat awake.

"Iro?!" She gasped, not expecting to see Rosie up and about so soon after using her ability, though the sound and jolt of the door would alert anyone, "Iro iro!!"

Keep frantically pointed at the door, turning to Rosie for figuring out what they should do.

"Oh... ok... I guess I'll see... wh...what happened..." The small nurse lazily nods and begins stumbling towards the door and whatever kicked it open.

...Clearly Keep's first mistake was turning to Rosie for any guidance at all.

"IRO! RO RO!" Keep yelled, eyeing the bandages around her arms and seeing if maybe she could use them to either restrain Rosie from going any further OR stop whatever possible assailant lies beyond the doors entrance.

"...Mm? ...Wha? ...Why?" Rosie yawned while stumbling to the door like a zombie in her state.

Keep Yourself Alive now desperately begins to try to wrap the bandages from her arms around Rosie in a futile attempt to restrain her from going any closer to whatever was out there.

"Iro! Iro iro iro iro iro iro ro ro! IRO!" Keep scolded her user, using all her might to keep her still.

"Mmmm don't be silly, Keep, we're in a hospital... You don't hurt people in a hospital..." Rosie lazily retorted, clearly still out of it.

"IRO! RO!" Keep shouted back, the bandages slowing down, but not completely stopping, the nurse from approaching the figure that had kicked down the door.

DJ UwU

 

[DJ UwU]

Ace rushed towards the nurse’s station once he heard the user wake up and reach for the door, he wasn’t sure when, or even if, he went past the other two nurses, but either way he didn’t care and only wanted to get there before the small nurse left the room. Her reaction caught him by surprise, he didn’t expect that reaction from her and while it wouldn’t put him in any danger, it would become an inconvenience that he could avoid.

He managed to reach the door before she could peek outside and walked towards the room with his stand following closely behind. Ace was full of confidence, as always, since everything ended up like he wanted and all that was left now was to talk, which he prided himself on. However, he knew that she wasn't fully awake yet, based on what he heard earlier, and was ready for any kind of reaction from her.

Minako

 

[Minako]

Much to Keep Yourself Alive's horror, a dark-haired and dark-clothed man appeared before them as well as the strange figure...

Who were these people?! Was... Was one of them even a person...?

While one was dressed rather darkly but still looked normal-ish all things considered, the other one... Did not... at all. In fact, while he didn't look at all like her, somehow Keep felt that this... "person"... was somewhat like her...

"...Iro, iro iro...?" She dared to speak to the more stranger looking of the two, in both caution and a bit of wonder.

If they were like her, she'd never met anyone like them before, really. Perhaps in passing occasionally she thought she saw someone who might, but Rosie never approached or stayed near them long enough for Keep to get a good look, let alone chat.

She didn't really know what to make of this stranger...

In her distraction, unfortunately, she had let go of Rosie and the small nurse had pretty much slept walked... Right into the other person!!!

"...Oh," Rosie slowly muttered once she crashed into the dark haired man (so small an impact it would hardly be considered bumping to), then looked up at him sleepily, " 'm sorry, sir... Th' nurses station is only for nurses..."

Keep could hardly keep herself from smacking her user, walking straight into possible danger like that!

She wished the side-effects of using her ability weren't quite so debilitating!

"Iro! Iro Iro! Ro!" Keep shouted at her user, again pulling them away from the person with dark hair and clothing.

"...Hm?" Rosie asked, now turning to look at the figure present aside the man, blinking, "Oh, that goes for you as well..."

Keep facepalmed while shaking her head in frustration, trying to take the reigns on this situation as much as possible. The magenta-haired stand stood bravely in front of her user, taking a fighting stance.

She was a healer, not a fighter, but they didn't know that... At least, she hoped!

If they ended up being enemies, at the very least Keep could wrap them up in bandages to keep them at bay.

"Mm, Keep...? What're you doing...?" She heard Rosie ask, yawning and rubbing her eyes behind her, still hazy but sounding more alert by the second.

"IRO IRO IRO!" Keep replied, frustrated.

DJ UwU

 

[DJ UwU]

As Ace walked into the room, he saw the nurse sleepwalking until she “bumped” into him, out of all the things he was expecting, this wasn’t one of them. A smile appeared on his face at the nurse’s sleepy remarks and her stand’s attempt to keep her safe.

Ace started laughing once her stand stood in front of him as if expecting a fight, “Sorry! Sorry” he said between laughs, as he slowly put his hands up “It’s just that I wasn’t expecting someone so… Heh, oblivious to their situation, you know?” Glancing at the yawning nurse behind her.

He cleared his throat to help him regain composure, “Anyway, you should be glad I was the one that found you…” He said calmly and as friendly as possible, as he slowly walked forward, inside the room and towards the stand. “…others might have done this instead.”

“GRAAAAGH!” His stand roared with a distorted voice, as a dark purple fist flew past Ace and towards the other stand with incredible speed, however, it was purposefully aimed at the air around her. “By the way, he can’t talk, even if he wanted to.” He said as his stand disappeared from sight while lowering his arms. "But I can, so if you're awake now, let's talk."

Minako

 

[Minako]

Well then... If Rosie was still half-asleep by this point she certainly wasn't after THAT!!

Keep AND Rosie both "duck and covered" instinctively after that blast, terrifying the both of them. Despite that, however, the levity of this man's words did not evade the small nurse, and she was grateful he didn't actually make any efforts to hurt her.

This man was like her. Whatever Keep was this man had his own version of it.

She was a bit scared of him, but above that... She was curious.

And that curiosity caused her to yearn to know more about him and tell him about herself.

Scared and shivering, but also wanting to know this dark-haired man, Rosie nodded and agreed to talking with the stranger, opening the door to the nurses station and pleading him to step inside.

"Pl-please... I really don't want to talk about this in public... C-come in..." Rosie begged him while leading the man into the nurses station, trying to hide how frantic she really was.




Keep hovered over him like a hawk circling a field mouse, not letting her guard down for a moment, keeping more serious as Rosie shut the door behind them.

"M-my name is Rosalina Chandra. Please call me Rosie..." The small nurse began after she took a deep breath, and pointing to the magenta-haired stand, "Uhm, This is 'Keep Yourself Alive'... Or so she calls herself. I'm not quite sure what she is... Or why she came to me... But... Ever since I was a child she sort of just manifested and... Well, once I sing a little song, I discovered she could heal others almost instantly as I sing and touch them... Though through the years I learned the greater the wound the longer I'm fatigued afterwards... And you're right: I am pretty oblivious... I thought after I fled to a small town and small hospital I'd be safe... I-I'm not sure why you came looking for me if you don't want to kill or arrest me... I promise I didn't do anything bad... I just wanted to help... When France started losing the war I-I was scared I would be either imprisoned or killed by the Nazi's for just helping my country... I heard what they're doing to the Jews... a-and..."

Rosie and Keep looked at each other a moment, Keep placing her hand on Rosie's shoulder sympathetically while Rosie smiled back and was encouraged to go on.

"A-and I'm sure you're not a Nazi... But if you're not one, then I don't know why you'd be here for me... Or what you mean by I should be glad you were the one who found me..."

The nurse both didn't see herself as that valuable an ally or asset and couldn't fathom she'd be of any use to anybody in a (rather alarming) lack of self-esteem.

"Iro iro iro..." Keep muttered, worried.

"Wh-who are the others who are looking for me? Are there Nazi's nearby...? I came here because I didn't think they'd care about a town so small.... And I can't really help any soldiers of importance from here, sadly, like I did in the front-lines..." Rosie grew more and more anxious with every word, adding, "...I don't know what I should do now if they are here and have their people looking for me..."

The small, blonde nurse gently took the curls of her hair and began running her fingers through them, almost uncurling them. She took deep breaths and tried her best not to show she was about to start fighting tears in her fear, confusion, and shock.... This man may not have been bad news, per say, but something told her this stranger like her was about to turn her whole world upside down...

And Rosie wasn't ready for it one bit.

"Iro! Iro iro! Ro ro!" Keep lectured, almost indignantly.

"Ah!" Rosie jolted her head back, blushing at her rudeness and smiling bashfully at the dark-haired man like her while stopping playing with her hair and continuing, "I'm sorry. I introduced myself, but I didn't ask for your name at all! What is your name?"

She smiled as sincerely as she could given the tidal wave of confusing emotions that tsunami-ed her and stretched out her hand to him to offer the dark-haired man a handshake.

DJ UwU

 

[DJ UwU]

Once inside the room and ready to talk, Ace sat on a chair and listened to Rosie, taking mental notes on whatever he considered of importance. While he normally wouldn’t care about other people’s problems, he still listened carefully, out of business rather than true interest in her condition and didn’t bother to hide it.

As she finished, Ace realized that something happened to her, however, while he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, he still kept that in mind as he stood up and smiled warmly when she reached out for a handshake.

“Guess it’s my turn, huh?” Ace said while shaking her hand “However, for someone that wants to hide, you’re laughably awful at it.”

“First, you don’t even know if I’m a “good” guy, yet you told me everything I need to sell you out.

Second, you really aren’t trying to not stand out y’know? I mean, the reason I’m here in the first place, is because I heard a rumor about a saint. Well, to tell the truth, I found you here out of pure luck, this isn’t the first place I searched for, but if someone actually had the intel, you’d easily be found out.” As he talked, the smile from before had turned into one of concern, and after a short pause, he continued.

“I don’t know if there really are Nazis or whoever looking for you specifically, but the fact that the rumors of your ability are spreading means that others with similar powers, much like me, are searching for you. Or to be more specific, your ability.” Ace paused for a second, before placing his hand on his chest, “And that is where I come in.”

Ace’s smile came back as he politely bowed before her, like many times he had done before other “clients” “The name’s Ace Codenotti, freelancer if you will.” Standing upright once again, his stand appeared by his side, letting itself show to the pair, “and my companion here, I call it Heavensent. A gift from the heavens, just for me, though I also don’t know what he is exactly.” The stand, watching the two from his user’s side, breathing heavily through its forced open mouth.

Spoiler: Ace's Stand: Heavensent

Ace continued, using his hands to further emphasize his speech, “What I’m here for is to make a proposition that will help both of us, you will use Keep Yourself Alive’s ability without any legal formalities, and in exchange, I’ll do your bidding, anything you need to be done, I’ll do it.” As Ace spoke, Heavensent held the blood-soaked suit in front of them. “I can even make your identity… disappear.” As he emphasized this last word his smile grew bigger and Heavensent swiftly shook the suit, which vanished, almost like a magic trick, with no perceptible sound. “Anyway, that’s my offer, of course, I won’t ask any questions and I hope you’ll do the same.”

Heavensent disappeared once again, and Ace walked slowly towards the door, “I’ll leave you two so you can think carefully about my offer, I mean, others might not be so generous.” He chuckled “I’ll be at the lounge, see you later.” He waved goodbye as he closed the door.

Minako