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It had been nearly 8 months since Giorno Giovanna became the Capo of Passione, and since then he has been entirely swamped with work. Constant requests from the people of his city, along with cleaning up the mess that Diovolo left… How inconvenient it all was. Giorno has done so much in such a small amount of time- He wasn’t sure when he last had a full night's sleep. It was all worth it to keep Passione going, to keep drugs off the streets and away from kids. He knew that.
Everything was improving at a steady incline, yes, but god was it exhausting. He had to gather his most trusted advisors to discuss a new mission, one that was incredibly important. On his lap was his second-in-command, Jean Pierre Polnareff, inhabiting Coco Jumbo's small form. He was brought along merely as a support. The first two to arrive were animatedly arguing about something, huffing but not raising their voices at all.
"I'm just saying, it would be far better to purchase a fridge with a water dispenser included, there's dozens of studies on the effects of-" The first one says, and stops when he enters. "Ah, Giogio, Hello." He bows and sits on Giorno's left. Ever since Fugo came back from the Narcotics Team mission, he was much more confident about his abilities and had far less outbursts. He hardly had any around Sheila E. anyway, who stepped in after him. The two wore clothing that complemented each othe,. Sheila E.'s braids matched the green and purple scheme that she wore, while Fugo had on the same style suit, only in Purple Haze's colors. They were arguing about their new apartment which Giorno bought, bringing them closer to Passione's base.
"Afternoon." She nods at Giorno and sits beside Fugo. The two, despite arguing with each other, are the closest two people in the room. Since they were first paired together, they decided to stick together as partners, working on field missions with each other. Giorno admires their tenacity, their determination to stick with the Passione. Despite the rocky start, he would confirm to any dissenter that they were loyal.
"Those fridges are expensive. We are broke. There's no way we can afford to buy that." Once she speaks, Fugo gestures to Giorno and Sheila E. scoffs. The two constantly argue about money and the fact that neither truly believes they deserve funding from Giorno. Sheila E. almost pushes him, waving her hand in his face.
"You're insane, this is why-"
The door is slammed open in a burst of excitement, Mista enters carrying supplies and blueprints Giorno had requested, which brings a smile onto his lips. He waves Mista over, who is frozen in place as he looks in between Fugo, Sheila E. and Giorno. Giorno smiles softly and lifts up Polnareff, which visibly relaxes the older man, allowing him to walk over.
"The entertainment has arrived!" Sheila E. lightly teases, standing and roughing up Mista's hair under his hat, patting his back. Mista desperately swats her hand away as the bullets giggle hidden in the fabric. Fugo gives him a handshake, one that is complex and looks like they're playing rock, paper, scissors. Giorno nods to him, and clears his throat to begin to speak.
"I'm glad you're all here on time, for once." Giorno lets out a huff that somewhat sounds like a laugh. It's not clear.
"I'd be here earlier if you didn't have me run to get these, Giogio." Mista grins, letting the supplies fall onto the table. Rolled out on the wooden top is a large blueprint, and three small manilla folders that hold files. Giorno nods and takes the first folder, opening it up and beginning to give a paper to each person at the table, placing one in front of himself and setting Polnareff down at the last 'spot'. The files carry very little information, only small tidbits. A phone record.
"I recently became aware that Diavolo had a phone that he used for personal matters, wherein many calls were received. He planned to have a successor, who I'm not sure, but in this recording he talks of information planted at an unsuspecting location." The next file he opens, which shows pictures of multiple pieces of jewelry as well as paintings. "The Louvre holds many irreplaceable pieces of history. A place many people visit with artworks that are kept to be preserved for a long time is an intelligent hiding spot, considering the value of the information he hid." Giorno sighed. "But, the place doesn't have as much security as it should have for a building with so much importance."
"Really? So like, what're we saying? Gotta pass a few cameras and guards?" Mista asks curiously, and Giorno nods his head.
"There are very few cameras within the Louvre. I checked myself. However, we still need to pick out an entry point that is good enough to keep us hidden and take us on the perfect path to optimize our time there. The faster we are, the less likely we are to be detected." Giorno points at different cameras, focusing on the routes with security.
To this, Fugo nods and brings the blueprint sheet closer to himself, looking over it. "There will be two teams. Mista and myself, along with Fugo and Sheila E. One will go into the basement to collect pieces that are no longer on display, and the other will be in the museum itself." Sheila E. gasps, sitting up out of her seat.
"Fugo and I will be in the museum. I've never been to the Louvre! I want to see!" She blurts, and Giorno nods. Mista lets out a whine of 'No fair!' Giorno points at the general layout. It’s ginormous, shaped to hold wings for each period of art. Multiple entrances are highlighted in red.
"There are five public floors. You two will need to go to three specific exhibits, visiting one painting on the highest level." He explains quickly. "The most important is the exhibit containing the French Crowned Jewels, and the Italian paintings. If you are compromised, those are ones we cannot risk losing. You will be bringing Polnareff with you, using the stand Mr. President to contain the big pieces." Giorno takes a deep breath. "While I know that we don't need to worry much about security, I am aware that a low ranked group of thieves are also planning a heist of The Louvre, which is why we are doing this today."
Mista blinks. "A group of thieves? In our territory?"
"Not quite, they were previously allied with Passione under Diavolo, however we cut ties with the group, they have a history of drug usage. They call themselves I quattro moschettieri, each represents one of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." Mista sputters.
"F-Four? You sure there are four of them?" Fugo groans and Sheila E sighs along with him. "We can't go! If those guys are there, that would be horrible!"
"Vaffanculo, Mista! No one cares, Giorno says they haven't even formed a plan yet, they're not going to pull up to the Louvre!" Fugo tugs at his sleeves, an annoyed tick that can show when he's about to act out. Giorno holds a hand up and the three go quiet. Such is the authority of the Capo.
"The chances of all four of them being there tonight is low. Each heist they have is poorly executed, and each time they've been arrested or caught. The only member not currently in prison has not been seen in months." He's almost annoyed now, but he was already going to explain the situation in detail, so little time was being wasted. Polnareff, who was content in listening now speaks up, amused.
"There is little risk in this mission, but the importance of it requires people we can trust. That's where you three come in." He hums, his spirit buzzing like a hologram. "We believe the information held in the paintings are records of past drug deals and contacts Passione had. Taking down even one more dealer in Italy would be a blessing." The others nod softly in acknowledgement.
"So we're going tonight?" Sheila E. asks.
"Correct. The sooner, the better. Now, here's the specific pieces you will be gathering. Your job now is to figure out the most efficient path, while Mista and I figure out where the pieces we need are located in storage. Public information is limited, and we have very little sources in the art industry to help us." He mostly tells this to Mista, who is mumbling to himself, repeating the information so he can get it. "If we're all ready, we'll confer again in an hour." Various tones of excitement are heard as each person agrees, and they split to work more efficiently.
❀
Mista is bored. He's tired. His job used to be easy. He used to shoot people a lot, and he was happy with that. He could do what he wanted, he could live easy and fight fast. Now he had to be intelligent. He had to think about what he did, when he did it, where he did it. Passione used to be a lot less prestigious, and with Bruno being the leader of their smaller group, he did a majority of the work.
Thinking about that now, maybe he should realize that that was because Bruno was working with a bunch of barely grown teenagers who had far too many problems and far too many issues with each other. It was surely easier to do the work himself then have any of them do it at the time. Now, with how much more work he has being so high up in the rankings, he can't help but feel guilty for leaving Bruno no other choice. He also can't help but feel thankful that Bucciatelli had the strength to do so much, that he had the courage.
"Mista. Focus. Don't let your mind wander right now." Giorno says to him, and Mista nods. As the Capo of Passione, Giorno had no slack for him to fall back onto, he was always required to be ready, to be aware. Giorno was always keeping Mista in check, even now.
"Sorry. Lost my train of thought. So all we gotta do is go in there, go down the stairs and..." He trails off, unsure of what else. He wasn't listening at all.
"And head to the area that is filed as 1-E. It includes the Edwardian and Egyptian pieces." Giorno sighs. "For a Museum, you think they'd have a system better than alphabetically sorting their valuables." Mista never heard such disappointment in his voice. He lets out a laugh, to which Giorno silences by holding his hand up. Mista quiets almost immediately, stiffening.
"Again, Focus. I'm aware that I'm surely hilarious, but starting a comedy show is not our goal." Giovanna teases with a raised brow.
In front of them stood the Louvre at an intimidating height. It was a contrasting sight, the pointed building in the middle a modern eyesore compared to the old walls around it. Mista isn't sure what the purpose of it all was, a museum this big and prestigious. Art is preserved to be shared, made to be displayed. This isn't very accessable. He supposes that doesn't matter much now anyway, since they'd be breaking in. He hears the comms crackle to life as Fugo and Sheila E. are finally in place. Mista lets out a breath of relief.
"Alright you two, keep watch for the minimal cameras and try to be brief. Polnareff has a map with him if necessary." Giorno speaks into his earpiece, his voice calm and present. He sounds like the perfect example of power. Mista stands and stretches, beginning to walk toward the entry point he and GioGio decided on. He's rearing to go, loading his pistol as a precautionary measure. Giorno follows after him and they silently nod to each other as they enter the doors.
❀
Fugo is grateful to the resources he has. He's been to the Louvre once in his life, when he was younger for a college trip. It was just before he was expelled, and he had an outburst in the middle of the building because someone began to insult one of the Grecian sculptures on display at the time. He looks back on the memory with disdain, but he's sure if the same thing happened currently he'd have the same exact outburst.
Next to Fugo, Sheila E. is walking excitedly, glancing at the architecture and art that is on their way to the exhibit. She points out names she can recognize, which is little to none, but Fugo still nods to her with approval. They reach the Italian painting exhibit, and they're able to find the pieces they need with ease. Sheila E. looks in confusion each time Fugo comments on one, at some point he even began to go on a rant about a painter he disliked heavily. Her head spun as Pannacotta insulted the artist while complimenting the art itself.
They enter the jewelry exhibit, and immediately something is wrong. Someone is standing at Marie Louise's set, humming and staring as if they're in awe. Fugo swears under his breath. So the thief is here. Tonight, of all nights. Sheila E. pulls him behind a pillar, bringing the two of them into cover.
"That person looks fucking crazy." Sheila E. whispers bluntly, to which Fugo nods enthusiastically at. "We should wait. See if we can avoid them,” she adds, to which Fugo shakes his head furiously.
"Giorno said we need to be fast. We don't know if they're from I quattro moschettieri. We need to eliminate the possibility of them being an issue for us." He explains.
"So what, we just knock 'em out?" Fugo shrugs as she questions, and looks back over. They're fucking gone.
"Whatcha talkin' about?" A high pitched voice says from above him, and Fugo screams. She(???) laughs and whatever she's hanging from wiggles. She screams and falls. "Ouch! Not cool!" She says. To the rope. Fugo is exasperated.
"Who are you?" Sheila E. says quickly, summoning her stand- Voodoo Child. Voodoo Child makes a noise akin to a growl. The woman on the ground shudders, backing from the two threatening her. Fugo can see her clearly now, and he studies her eagerly. She has black hair that is quite long, reaching the floor in her sitting position. Her outfit is colorful, it consists of paintings and statues, each that he recognizes but can't quite name. Her eyes are a striking blue. She has quite a few watches, one on each wrist and leg, as well as one on her right arm.
"I go by Paradicia. I protect these halls from thieves. You two aren't thieves, are you?" Fugo's face dropping tells her all that she needs to know, and she disappears without a trace. He panics, spinning around looking for her.
"Shit." From behind him, he hears a giggle. He whips around and Paradicia is standing there, her stand holding onto her, nuzzling against her with reverence. Paradicia pets it happily. The stand looks quite similar to her, it looks like a modernist painting. It has five clocks on it, each telling the exact time. It has footsteps tracing it like a pathway, each a different color. It...purrs. He stands on guard.
"Fugo, you get the jewels, I'll take her down." He looks over to Sheila E., who is eager to fight. Despite knowing this was simply her nature of self-sacrifice, he knows it's a far better option than fighting with Purple Haze and obliterating Paradicia. He gives her a nod and sprints to the jewelry. In a moment Paradicia's stand is on him, and he's at her side. He blinks, and from behind his eyes he feels a migraine. He's nauseous.
"Rendez-vous has the ability to bring whatever I want to me. You stand no chance running, so you better fight." Paradicia laughs. Fugo throws up.