Chapter Text
Giorno, Mista, and Trish had just made their way back to the Coliseum to find their friend and leader who they had to leave behind in order to pursue Silver Chariot Requiem and Diavolo. Guilt was gnawing away at Giorno. How was he going to explain to them what had happened?
Mista was the first to begin searching for the man’s body, pushing ahead of the rest of the small group,
“Bucciarati’s got his soul back by now, but his body is still injured. He must be dying to find out what happened after Silver Chariot switched our souls! Come on, Giorno! Let’s fix up Bucciarati and head back home!”
“Yeah…”
Maybe it would be best to stay quiet, play dumb to save them from the convoluted story and save him from the rejection he was sure he would face otherwise.
“Come on, Giorno!” Trish called to him as she and Mista walked away to find their companion.
“I’ll… be right there.”
Giorno pushed some stray hairs out of his face and sighed. He began to braid his hair back up to try and find a moment to fight back the feeling of the impending doom of Trish and Mista finding the cold body of Bucciarati. When he finished, he looked up into the evening air. The sun had just set and the moon was full. It was red and hung low in the sky. He couldn’t help but feel that it was accusing him of all the blood split these past few weeks. Blood that was on his hands.
When he finally turned to join his friends he found that they were out of his line of sight.
“Mista? Trish?”
There was no answer.
He started walking in the direction they had left, but there was still no sign of them. He continued, following their suspected path, but still, they were nowhere to be found.
“Hey! Trish! Mista!” Still, no response.
Giorno was getting nervous. A few more minutes of searching also ended up fruitless. Something was wrong...
“But they were here just a minute ago…”
A low chuckle came from his left. He tensed and readied himself for another battle, but what was there had him frozen in his tracks. Giorno could not believe what he was seeing.
“Bucciarati! You’re okay?!” Relief washed over him. This didn’t seem possible, he thought he had seen Bucciarati’s soul leave them. But he came back before, maybe he had again. And with everything else that had happened recently, it didn’t seem completely out of the realm of possibility.
“I thought your soul had passed on...”
His question was ignored and ice flooded Giorno’s veins when Bucciarati spoke,
“I’ve captured Mista and Trish. Now, Giorno, I just need you to die, and all my problems will be solved.”
All the relief was replaced by confusion and fear. This man, he looked like Bucciarati, moved like him, sounded like him, but… what was he talking about? Giorno knew he had done wrong. He knew he had done Bucciarati wrong. Was this a vengeful spirit? A manifestation of Giorno’s grief and guilt?
“Bucciarati, what… I don’t understand, what is-” But before he could finish, Sticky Fingers rushed him, the zipper using Stand attempting to punch Giorno in the chest, and he barely had enough time to block with Golden Experience.
‘That-’ he thought, ‘That was Sticky Fingers! I could feel him, feel the life force come flowing out of him… There’s no way… This can’t be Bucciarati!’
The man who appeared as Giorno’s friend spoke again once Giorno had gotten his bearings,
“I will exterminate everyone who is capable of interfering with the Noble One, and that includes you, Giorno Giovanna.”
Giorno tried to push away his shock so that he could concentrate on the matter at hand.
“The Noble One…? What are you talking about?” He had to get himself together, this was an enemy, it wasn’t Bruno.
“Good grief…”
The low rumbling voice distracted Giorno from the aberration in front of him. He whirled around to see a large man approaching him from behind. He was in what looked like some kind of school uniform but he easily towered over Giorno.
“Looks like one of those anomalies is happening in front of us…”
“Who are you?” Giorno asked, he was completely bewildered. This person was probably from Asia based on his appearance and accent, buts that was all Giorno could discern about him.
“A tourist…” Bucciarati said to himself, irritated that his mission was interrupted, “Get back, unless you want to get hurt. This is something people like you shouldn’t get involved with.”
The “tourist” tilted his head and looked at Bucciarati dubiously.
“Oh yeah? And what kind of something would that be? Do tell.”
This guy was either oblivious or had a death wish. He was significantly taller and larger than both Giorno and Bucciarati, but he had no idea what he was getting himself into.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Bucciarati and Sticky Fingers charged the man, but before Giorno could act to protect him, Sticky Fingers along with Bruno went flying from a punch much more powerful than anything any human could accomplish. Bucciarati landed on the ground with a pained grunt but quickly reoriented himself so he was facing the foreigner, ready to attack again.
Giorno looked over and saw a large purple figure looming behind the stranger. The power he had, how that thing had appeared out of nowhere...
“Y-you’re a Stand User too?!” Giorno couldn’t contain his shock, this person had come out of nowhere and deflected one of the strongest Stands known to him, “And a powerful one too! You could even move faster than Sticky Fingers!”
Bucciarati was staring daggers into this person who had managed to overpower him. “How dare you…” He was as shocked as Giorno, but the rage for this insolence overshadowed it, “You’re a Stand User as well?” He paused for a moment, evaluating the man.
“That power… That speed… I am smart enough to know when I’m outmatched.” He stood, “I’ll leave the other two to deal with you.”
“The other two?” Giorno murmured to himself. He was still trying to take this all in.
The ground started to rumble and Giorno stumbled but managed to catch himself before he fell. A moment later, Bucciarati had vanished.
“Bucciarati!”
But there was no sign of the black-haired man.
“He disappeared…” Giorno racked his brain for some kind of explanation, but could think of nothing.
“Looks like he got away.”
Giorno turned to the foreigner who had just spoken so matter-of-factly, as if this was something he had to deal with on a daily basis. Questions were running through Giorno’s head and he had a guess that this man had the answers.
Before he could test his suspicions, a soaring sound drew the two’s attention to the sky. A plane no bigger than a toy was rocketing towards them. As it got closer, there was no mistaking it.
Aerosmith nose-dived at the two Stand Users and sent a flurry of bullets their way. They jumped back and the onslaught made impact at their feet. As Aerosmith flew away, it reached a figure standing a handful of yards away and disappeared as it touched down on the person’s outstretched arms as if they were a runway. Soon after, another figure joined them, this one wearing what might have been a suit if there hadn’t been holes cut out of it.
“Narancia! A-and Fugo! You too?!”
Just like Bucciarati, the two were the spitting images of his friends. But Giorno had never seen so much animosity from them, even when they had first met in that restaurant, they had never looked like that.
Narancia looked at Fugo with a mischievous grin on his face.
“You wanna fight together, Fugo? You wanna team up with me and Aerosmith?”
“Of course, Narancia. Just don’t get too excited. Remember to keep a level head and follow my lead, okay?”
Giorno couldn’t believe how normal they were acting. It was like nothing had changed. Fugo didn’t know about Narancia’s death, but still, it was like the two had never been separated. They didn’t seem to recognize him as a friend, but even in these circumstances, their bond was still strong.
“Hey.” Giorno snapped out of his train of thought and looked over to the stranger who had just addressed him, “You’re a Stand User too, right?”
Giorno’s mouth became a tight line and he gave a fleeting nod. He couldn’t find any words at the moment.
“Let me lend you a hand. We’ve got to get these guys back to normal.”
Giorno studied him for a moment. If he could turn Bucciarati, Fugo, and Narancia back to normal, then he didn’t have a choice but to trust him. He had so many questions, but now was not the time to ask them.
----
Their struggle was hard. Purple Haze was an incredibly powerful Stand and combined with Aerosmith’s aerial advantage, it seemed like winning the fight was nearly impossible. But Giorno was able to distract the two long enough for the stranger’s Stand to take down their adversaries. Fugo and Narancia were on the ground and Giorno worried that it might have been too much. But his fears were snuffed out when Narancia groaned. Fugo managed to get himself up onto his hands and knees and he glared at the ground between his hands.
“He’s too strong…” He looked to the foreign man, speaking between heaving breaths, “I can’t believe someone like him exists… I can’t let him get any closer.”
The light which had taken Bucciarati appeared around Fugo.
“No! Please! Wait, Fugo!”
But Giorno’s demands went unanswered when with a flash, Fugo disappeared.
Giorno let out a strangled cry. All the people he had lost were slipping through his fingers. It was like the universe was mocking him, dangling happiness right in front of his face, only to snatch it away again and again. Giorno felt his hands begin to shake and he tried his best to hide it.
“At least we got one,” The newcomer walked over to Narancia who had still not moved from his spot on the ground. The man took a strange object out of his pocket, wrapped in decaying cloth. The closer he got, the more the object emanated a soft yellow light. The light got brighter and brighter until it stopped abruptly. Nothing seemed to happen. Narancia began twitching and slowly gathered himself.
Giorno ran over hoping to find a Narancia who was not only alive but also back to normal. The teen had his head in his hands and eventually looked around. He was confused and startled, but otherwise, he seemed like his usual self.
“H-huh?”
Narancia looked at the foreign man who was towering over him, “W-what’s going on?” then he noticed the blonde standing a few feet away, “...Giorno?”
“Narancia! You know who I am?” He was so relieved. Seeing Narancia as a friendly face was by far the best thing that had happened to him today. But Narancia still looked uneasy.
“W...what was I just doing?”
Giorno walked over to his friend. He wanted to touch him, to feel his life energy pulsing through him again, and make sure that this wasn’t just an illusion or some kind of sick joke. But before he had the chance, an elderly voice called out from behind him, catching all of their attentions.
“Jotaro!”
The huge man turned, acknowledging the greeting immediately. Giorno followed suit and found two more strangers making their way towards them. The first was an older man who must have been the one who spoke and another with had red hair and a green school uniform which resembled their new ally’s.
“What just happened here?” The younger man asked the person Giorno assumed was named Jotaro. The redhead had an inflection very similar to Jotaro’s and it reminded Giorno of his mother. He guessed the aging man was British, though his accent was somewhere between English and American.
“I found some of those anomalies,” Jotaro replied, “We were able to fix one of them, but the other two got away."
Narancia stepped towards Giorno and tugged on his shirt, about to ask a lot of questions that Giorno had no answers for.
Glowing cracks formed on the ground between Jotaro and his companions. Narancia looked from Giorno, to Jotaro, and to the new strangers looking for some kind of explanation. Jotaro and his partners looked unperturbed and Giorno was resigned to the oddness that had been plaguing him for the past hour. Jotaro pointed a thumb at Narancia over his shoulder,
“Jiji, Kakyoin, keep an eye on that guy.”
Narancia looked anxious at the idea of being left behind with these odd strangers and was about to protest before Jotaro interrupted to speak to Giorno.
“We’ll chase after the two who escaped into the light. You coming?”
Giorno considered the rift briefly.
“...This will lead us to Bucciarati and Fugo?”
Jotaro nodded but did not speak.
“Very well… Let’s go.”
----
Jotaro and Giorno found themselves in some kind of railway terminal. Giorno took in their surroundings.
“This is… the Neapolis Train Station? We moved from the Coliseum to the Nepolis Train Station?” He looked to Jotaro for some kind of explanation, but Jotaro wanted to get right down to business.
“They must be around here somewhere. Let’s hurry up and find them.”
They wandered for a bit checking different platforms or any other place Bucciarati or Fugo might have been. After about 15 minutes of searching, Jotaro came to an unexpected stop. Something had caught his attention.
Giorno startled, “What? What is it?” All of this fruitless searching was starting to make him anxious.
“What the hell is he doing here…?” Jotaro said to himself barely loud enough for Giorno to hear. There was a man a little ways ahead of them kneeling and looking into a low fountain.
Once they had gotten close, the man noticed them and looked over his shoulder before standing to greet them.
“Oh! Jotaro! I found you!”
“What are you doing here? ...And what is that?” Jotaro pointed to the small creature the silver-haired man had been observing in the fountain.
“Oh, the turtle? It was on the other side of the platform and I thought that if I left it there, someone might step on it. So I brought it over here to the water fountain!” He seemed very proud of his noble deed.
Giorno took in the sight of the funny man in front of him. He was getting déjà vu. He felt like he had seen this man somewhere before...
The man known to Jotaro as Polnareff finally noticed the small teen. He looked surprised to see him.
“Huh? Jotaro, who’s this?”
“This is Giorno Giovanna. He got caught up in this era’s anomalies.”
Giorno’s unrelenting stare was starting to become more obvious. He could not get over how familiar this guy looked.
“Let me introduce you,” Jotaro started, “Giorno, this is-”
“I didn’t think you’d follow me this far…”
Giorno sucked in a quick breath. Bucciarati was there, like Jotaro said he would be, looking at the three of them as if they were the most repulsive things he had seen in his life.
“You came here through the Light Rifts, didn’t you?” he continued, “I see… You’re collecting the Holy Corpse parts too.”
Polnareff scoffed at the Italian man standing before them,
“So that is the anomaly we’re dealing with. I just need to beat him up and shine the corpse’s light on him right?”
Giorno’s eye twitched. This man was speaking of Bucciarati as if he was some random thug. As if he wasn’t a respected Capo and one of the most powerful Stand Users Giorno had ever met. He did not know the kind of man Bucciarati was and his disrespect irked Giorno.
“Yeah,” Jotaro confirmed, “but he’s got a close-range power type Stand. Be careful.”
Polnareff smiled, “Okay, leave it to me!”
Bucciarati scowled. Their antics were getting on his last nerve.
“Fine. If you want to fight, so be it. But I promise you, I wont hold back.”
At that, Polnareff laughed, “I wouldn’t want it any other way! All right,” he cracked his knuckles, “let’s get this over with.”
“Wait!” Giorno grabbed the back of Polnareff’s shirt to catch his attention before he ran head-first into the fight, “I know Bucciarati better than either of you. Let me fight with you!”
Between their first meeting and watching Bucciarati battle their enemies, Giorno knew his strategies, strengths, and weaknesses. If they wanted this to turn out in their favor, he knew that he had to help.
“That’s fine with me! Let’s go!”
Polnareff charged Bucciarati, but before he could reach him, their enemy had summoned Sitcky Fingers, opened a portal beneath him and dropped down into whatever plane of existence it lead to.
“Huh?! Wha-”
The portal reappeared directly in front of Polnareff, and Sticky Fingers burst out giving him a swift undercut to the jaw. Polnareff grunted in pain and stumbled back holding his chin.
Giorno sprinted to the billboard near where the other two were standing, Golden Experience punched it, and the billboard turned into thick green vines speeding towards Bucciarati. He noticed at the last second and fled back to the dimension accessible to his Stand and closed the entrance.
“What? Where did he go?! How do we know where he’s going to appear next?!”
“We don’t.” Giorno answered Polnareff, “He could be anywhere. Just keep an eye out and stay ready.”
After a moment, Giorno felt a hand wrap around his ancle. Bucciarati was trying to drag him into the portal with him, but Giorno reacted quickly, and more vines flew at the man, managing to wrap around his wrist and throw him back onto the platform.
Polnareff charged once again, Silver Chariot preparing to strike it’s target. Bucciarati pushed himself up and out of the way, but his success was short lived as a swarm of white and gray butterflies surrounded him, completely blocking his vision. He heard Giorno shout, and Polnareff burst through, another swing prepared and landed a hit, slicing Bucciarati across the chest. He fell out of the swarm and landed on the ground, hitting his head with a dull thud. When Bucciarati readjusted, he found himself prone, Giorno and Polnareff standing over him.
“Alright! That’s one hell of a Stand you got there, uh, Giorno, right?” Giorno smiled and nodded shyly, he wasn’t used to complements just yet .
The man on the ground groaned. He rolled onto his side clutching his chest, looking up at the blonde with disdain.
“Giorno Giovanna… Your ability is truely dangerous…” He groaned again as he moved himself to kneel in front of the two, “But I wont let this happen again.”
The ground rummbled and the purple light was back.
“Bucciarati! Stop!” Giorno rushed forward to try and grab him, but his hand made contact with nothing. He was already gone.
’Again… He’s gone again…’ The shaking was returning, worse this time.
“Please…” He looked to Polnareff and Jotaro, “Please, I need answers… He… he must be someone else, right? His body should… his body should have no life energy at all…” He turned his attention back to the ground where his friend had been, but he seemed to be looking somewhere else far away, “Yet when we fought, he was brimming with it. He’s the same but different… That has to be the only way to explain it… right?
“Except,” Said the silver-haired stranger, “that doesn’t really explain anything.”
Giorno knew he was right but… what other conclusion could he come to?
“Honestly, we don’t really know either.” Jotaro admitted, “We came here with a guide who’d supposed to know exactly what’s up but he’s kind of… sketchy.”
All hope was draining out of Giorno. They obviously had a way to get his friends back to normal, Narancia was proof of that, but they had no answers and no real solutions.
The moment stretched on in silence untill a pulsing glow began to come from Jotaro’s pocket. Like at the Colliseam, be pulled out the bizarre rotting object.
“There must be a Holy Corpse part in this station. Come on, let’s find this thing and see if we can get out of here.”
----
Giorno found himself looking between two other billboards on the platform. To his surprise, a yellow light was coming from an object shoved between the two panels.
“H-hey! Look!”
The other two were alerted by his voice and converged on his location. He dug around for a bit before eventually pulling out something that resembled the object in Jotaro’s possession. Giorno did not like the feel of it. Based on its shape and size, it seemed like it was a severed head, and it took all of his willpower not to drop it.
“Good, Speedwagon said there should be nine in total.”
Polnareff scratched his head, “Sheesh! This is gonna take a while…”
On cue, the man in question came walking down the platform with Joseph and Kakyoin in tow.
“You found the Holy Corpse part already?”
“Yeah, no thanks to your help.” Jotaro grumbled.
“Ah, yes, sorry about that… It took us a while to get here. And I found these lads by the Coliseum, it took a while to explain the situation.”
Three figures followed from behind. When they recognized who they were approaching, they sped up their pace.
“Giorno!” Mista led the group, he looked extremely relieved to find his friend unharmed.
“Mista! Trish! Narancia!” Giorno ran up to meet them halfway, looking them up and down to make sure that they were uninjured, “I see… When Bucciarati disappeared the zippers must have worn off…” That was a relief. He was worried that they had been taken along with him to some location that was unknown to Giorno.
“Hey, I’m gonna need you to explain something,” Mista said, “Why did Bucciarati come after us?”
“And how did Narancia come back to life?” Trish added. The boy in question still looked shaken up.
“What’s going on here? I… I don’t understand anything…” Giorno didn’t know if he remembered his death, but learning of it must have unnerved him. He was grabbing at his skirt-like accessory and his eyes were wide as he stared at the ground beneath his feet.
“I don’t really know myself…” Giorno wished he had some words of comfort for him, but he was at a loss.
“But you do, don’t you? Mr… Um…”
“Speedwagon!” He took off his hat and held it to his chest in greeting, “Let’s save the details for later, shall we? Basically, we’re collecting the Holy Corpse parts, and we need your help.”
If it meant finding Fugo and Bucciarati, then Giorno didn’t need any more convincing. But he did have one last question.
“Let me ask one thing.” He held out his part of the Holy Corpse. Mista, Naranca, and Trish (especially Trish) did not like the look of whatever was in Giorno’s hand. Trish let out an audible noise of disgust and shook her hands out as if she was the one holding it.
Giorno continued,
“The light from the Holy Corpse,” Trish made a quiet gagging noise, “can return Bucciarati and Fugo back to normal… Correct?”
Speedwagon nodded vigorously, “Yes, that’s right!”
“Very well.” Giorno said, “In that case, let us assist you.”
A small thud caught the group’s attention. The turtle which had been completely forgotten had tumbled its way out of the fountain. Polnareff picked it up and corrected it so the reptile was back on four feet.
“What about the turtle?” Polnareff looked genuinely concerned, “He’s got this weird thing stuck in his shell…”
Jotaro, Joseph, and Kakyoin looked at him like he had grown a second head. There were much more pressing matters at hand...
“Oh, hey! What’s he doing here?” Mista trotted over to the turtle excitedly and kneeled down to point at the object embedded in it’s back, “You wanna see something cool? See this key in the shell? There’s a room inside and we can shrink down to get into it!”
A silence stretched on for a bit, everyone starting at Mista either waiting for a more elaborate explanation or a punch line.
“I think what Mista is trying to say,” Giorno offered, “is that if we use the turtle, we might be able to prevent being split up when we teleport. ...Or, time-travel… I suppose…”
“Yeah! That’s what I mean!” That was not what he meant, “Watch! This is how you get in.”
Mista placed his finger on the polished red stone in the turtle’s back. A moment later he was gone.
“Ah!!” Polnareff exclaimed, “He disappeared! Is this some kind of Stand power?! Don’t tell me the turtle has a Stand too!!”
“We have no idea what it is!” A muffled voice called from the turtle. Mista reappeared looking very pleased with himself, “But it’s cool as shit, right?” He walked back over to his friends. Narancia was also looking very happy at freaking out their new companions.
“Well, that’s useful! Alright, everyone! Into the turtle!” Speedwagon said as he took the lead and vanished into the room inside the stone.
Kakyoin paused before shrugging, “I mean, weirder things have happened.” And followed Speedwagon into the turtle.
Polnareff was about to join them, but Griono stopped him.
“Wait please!”
“Huh? Me?”
“It’s been bugging me for some time, but I’ve finally figured out who you are!”
Polnareff put his hands on his hips and looked at him incredulously.
“Who I am? What are you talking about?” He didn’t go to Italy that often, but who knew what his future self had been up to.
“You’re Jean Pierre Polnareff, the turtle guy, aren’t you?”
Polnareff stared at Giorno. Giorno, Mista, Trish, and Narancia stared at Polnareff.
“Say what now?”
“He is, isn’t he!” Mista exclaimed, “I was thinking the same thing!”
“Me too!” Narancia added, “You’re the one who switched souls with the turtle!”
“Switched souls with the turtle!?”
“You look a lot younger than you did when you were a turtle, though,” Trish said thoughtfully.
“‘When I was a turtle’!!? Now wait one minute here, that isn’t making any sense. It almost sounds like you think I turned into a turtle or something… Is this some kind of Italian joke? Haha! That’s a good one!”
The Italian teens looked at each other.
“Hey… Maybe we shouldn’t have mentioned it.” Trish said loud enough so that only four of them could hear.
Mista rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, “Yeah, it’s just, there’s been so much weird shit happening lately that I’ve gotten desensitized… I guess if you think about it, turning into a turtle is a pretty shocking thing. Maybe we should have just kept quiet?”
Narancia looked to the youngest boy of the bunch, “G-Giorno… You’re the one who brought this up. You fix it!
The insistent looks from his friends didn’t seem to give him much of a choice. He scratched the side of his jaw then sighed.
“Very well…”
He looked back to Polnareff,
“I’m sorry. What I said before was just a figment of my imagination… Uh… Please forget about it.”
He changed the subject as quickly as possible,
“So, Jotaro. We’re to get inside the turtle, correct? I’ll go first.” And he got out of there as fast as he could.
Mista, Trish, and Narancia followed in order,
“Yeah! That stuff was all made up.”
“Sorry about that…”
“Y-you’re not gonna turn into a turtle! Don’t worry about it…”
One by one, they vanished into the tiny room.
“Hey- Wait a damn minute! You need to explain this clearly or it’s gonna bug me forever!”
Polnareff followed, and Jotaro and Joseph were left alone on the platform.
“Jotaro, did you notice, that boy Giorno...”
“Yes, I did.”
The kid named Giorno Giovanna had a striking resemblance to DIO. But that was something Jotaro wanted to think about later. As of right now, he was an ally, and anything that came after he would deal with then.
“Come on Jiji. We need to get out of here.”