![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerJojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: Robin, Johan, and the "sheriff" come to an understanding.
Word Count: 1252
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS
More than anything, Xander is confused. Because thinking back he doesn’t remember any of his ancestors encountering this woman. It’s not like he has access to everything they’ve ever seen or done, not without sleeping and accessing The Colour and the Shape, so it could have been a brief encounter, but it certainly wasn’t the kind of interaction that would suggest this kind of reaction. “You’re...basically the law enforcement in this region, right? Have any of the other Joestars ever been to Paxil?”
Inwardly Johan’s kicking himself for his big mouth. Again. Like that’s new in any way. The only surprise is that it hadn’t happened more often recently. He hadn’t meant to say ‘other’, because distancing himself here might be useful, and she might not necessarily know about everything. Just knowing the name Joestar doesn’t mean you know the entire family tree. But nothing about this encounter is making sense. Fortunately, she might not notice, because she looks just as shocked. “You mean, you’re not here for me?”
Robin, thankfully with his common sense, stops them before they can just continue in this circle of confusion. “Why would we be here for you?”
The way she stares at them both searchingly, Xander realizes suddenly that the power dynamics aren’t anything of what he’d thought. She’d come into the room as ‘the one to enforce the law ‘round these here parts’, but that had gotten flipped the second she heard the name Joestar. When she finally accepts that they’re telling the truth, she relaxes almost instantly. Like they had some kind of authority over her. Like anything they say could get her in trouble, rather than the other way around. “You’re telling the truth,” she says out loud. Like they hadn’t been clear about that from the start. But if she’s really worried about it, it’s probably just extra reassurance.
“There’s no point in lying to you. How do you know the name?” Johan presses, and the tension returns. Not to the same extent, which is notable, but it’s still there.
She hesitates, but eventually continues. “I suppose I can tell you. I was originally from the Speedwagon Foundation.”
That explains why she knew about the Joestars, and why she thought they’d be here for her. “You’re the Foundation scout that went missing around here, aren’t you?”
She squirms, but says nothing. Doesn’t even nod. Xander’s about to ask her for confirmation, but Robin waves him off, and he only has a moment of confusion before he works that out, too.
She’s not saying anything but she can’t. She’d been nervous because she’d already been getting a little too close to things she’s probably not allowed to say, not under the Rules of the town. He’d ask her if she’s happy here, if she wants to stay, but she probably can’t answer honestly. She’d say yes, but she could just be saying it so as not to get into trouble, and even if she means it, even if she’s come to like her new job, the inability to trust her yes would obscure that, too.
So he’s not going to push. They don’t have to talk about her past as long as it doesn’t relate to any of this. “No, we’re not here looking for you, and we’re not necessarily planning on bringing you back with us. It’s not like being a Speedwagon Foundation Agent is signing your life away. I’d think the only thing we’d be worried about, really, is you talking about stuff that’s supposed to be confidential, but you already signed a form and I’m pretty sure it’s not a requirement for your current position, right?”
It takes her a moment with that, too, to realize that he’d maybe actually worded that in a way she can answer it. He had been trying carefully. He’s not a genius at it like Giles (or even, honestly, someone like Fitz) but he’s definitely doing his best. “I...can’t imagine it becoming a requirement unless you’re all a danger to the town. So the story about an intruder was the truth?”
Well. Actually. That makes some things so much easier. He doesn’t need to catch her up to speed with the dangers if she already knows some things. “Yeah—and he was the one that chose Paxil. We just chased him in. Maybe that’s why the town let us in? You’re familiar with Kars, right?”
Her hands go unconsciously to the obsidian blade at her side. “...Kars was sent to space.”
“Sadly, he wasn’t the last of the Pillar Men. I don’t know why exactly Rush came here, but he’s setting up some kind of ritual.” It’s so much easier to be concise for something like this. Thankfully between that and the awkwardness all of his nerves went away. “And it is something specific about the town he’s looking to use.”
She considers that and nods decisively. “Have you seen him in town?”
“We haven’t seen him here yet, though several of the other members of our party went out to scout.” Seems like Robin’s decided to follow his lead. “We tracked him to somewhere nearby, but lost him, probably when he actually entered the area, and based on his book orders through a third party he took a sudden interest in Paxil. Subject is a darker-skinned Pillar Man with longer pink hair, though he’s adept with disguises.” That has to be remnants of Robin writing those kinds of reports.
“You said ‘ritual’. Is there a reason you’re being so vague with me?” Other than not panicking her? Nah, not really.
“He has an Arrow and was researching evolution. Yeah, it probably can’t even pierce a Pillar Man usually, but this is—Kars was a scientist, sure, but I get the feeling Rush and Kars were rivals. Kars relied on his power, a lot; Rush isn’t content until he has fifteen technological backups on top of that. He manipulates water and is really, really fond of setting up traps in advance. He could be using eyes he’s gathered from other people as surveillance. He’s worked with Nazi scientists. He’s really into biological warfare, and not just your average bacteria. He does tend to run rather than letting his ego get the better of him until he can tip the scales in his favor, and he’s really intelligent and really good at improvisation. I don’t know why he wants a Stand, really, but I think this is all one big experiment to get that to work, and he’s here for the Well, whatever that is.” Any of the confidence she had gained has vanished.
“When you put it like that…” she swallows.
Pep speeches aren’t really Xander’s thing. He was too clumsy and too not-cool to even think about joining the male cheerleaders, even if that might’ve had some perks in terms of scenery (well, as a young hormonal boy, anyway). But it’s not like he’s a complete newbie at it, either. “It’s not all bad. If you know the Joestars, you know we’ve beaten worse odds before. And you’ve got an advantage none of the rest of us do. You know your town. The rest of us are trying to figure it out—and he is, too.”
That’s a faint smile, but at least it’s real. “I’ll do what I can, but I’ll call everyone. Try not to do anything that would be illegal elsewhere.” That’s probably as close to a specific warning as she can get, but hints like that are useful.
Chapter Summary: Robin, Johan, and the "sheriff" come to an understanding.
Word Count: 1252
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS
More than anything, Xander is confused. Because thinking back he doesn’t remember any of his ancestors encountering this woman. It’s not like he has access to everything they’ve ever seen or done, not without sleeping and accessing The Colour and the Shape, so it could have been a brief encounter, but it certainly wasn’t the kind of interaction that would suggest this kind of reaction. “You’re...basically the law enforcement in this region, right? Have any of the other Joestars ever been to Paxil?”
Inwardly Johan’s kicking himself for his big mouth. Again. Like that’s new in any way. The only surprise is that it hadn’t happened more often recently. He hadn’t meant to say ‘other’, because distancing himself here might be useful, and she might not necessarily know about everything. Just knowing the name Joestar doesn’t mean you know the entire family tree. But nothing about this encounter is making sense. Fortunately, she might not notice, because she looks just as shocked. “You mean, you’re not here for me?”
Robin, thankfully with his common sense, stops them before they can just continue in this circle of confusion. “Why would we be here for you?”
The way she stares at them both searchingly, Xander realizes suddenly that the power dynamics aren’t anything of what he’d thought. She’d come into the room as ‘the one to enforce the law ‘round these here parts’, but that had gotten flipped the second she heard the name Joestar. When she finally accepts that they’re telling the truth, she relaxes almost instantly. Like they had some kind of authority over her. Like anything they say could get her in trouble, rather than the other way around. “You’re telling the truth,” she says out loud. Like they hadn’t been clear about that from the start. But if she’s really worried about it, it’s probably just extra reassurance.
“There’s no point in lying to you. How do you know the name?” Johan presses, and the tension returns. Not to the same extent, which is notable, but it’s still there.
She hesitates, but eventually continues. “I suppose I can tell you. I was originally from the Speedwagon Foundation.”
That explains why she knew about the Joestars, and why she thought they’d be here for her. “You’re the Foundation scout that went missing around here, aren’t you?”
She squirms, but says nothing. Doesn’t even nod. Xander’s about to ask her for confirmation, but Robin waves him off, and he only has a moment of confusion before he works that out, too.
She’s not saying anything but she can’t. She’d been nervous because she’d already been getting a little too close to things she’s probably not allowed to say, not under the Rules of the town. He’d ask her if she’s happy here, if she wants to stay, but she probably can’t answer honestly. She’d say yes, but she could just be saying it so as not to get into trouble, and even if she means it, even if she’s come to like her new job, the inability to trust her yes would obscure that, too.
So he’s not going to push. They don’t have to talk about her past as long as it doesn’t relate to any of this. “No, we’re not here looking for you, and we’re not necessarily planning on bringing you back with us. It’s not like being a Speedwagon Foundation Agent is signing your life away. I’d think the only thing we’d be worried about, really, is you talking about stuff that’s supposed to be confidential, but you already signed a form and I’m pretty sure it’s not a requirement for your current position, right?”
It takes her a moment with that, too, to realize that he’d maybe actually worded that in a way she can answer it. He had been trying carefully. He’s not a genius at it like Giles (or even, honestly, someone like Fitz) but he’s definitely doing his best. “I...can’t imagine it becoming a requirement unless you’re all a danger to the town. So the story about an intruder was the truth?”
Well. Actually. That makes some things so much easier. He doesn’t need to catch her up to speed with the dangers if she already knows some things. “Yeah—and he was the one that chose Paxil. We just chased him in. Maybe that’s why the town let us in? You’re familiar with Kars, right?”
Her hands go unconsciously to the obsidian blade at her side. “...Kars was sent to space.”
“Sadly, he wasn’t the last of the Pillar Men. I don’t know why exactly Rush came here, but he’s setting up some kind of ritual.” It’s so much easier to be concise for something like this. Thankfully between that and the awkwardness all of his nerves went away. “And it is something specific about the town he’s looking to use.”
She considers that and nods decisively. “Have you seen him in town?”
“We haven’t seen him here yet, though several of the other members of our party went out to scout.” Seems like Robin’s decided to follow his lead. “We tracked him to somewhere nearby, but lost him, probably when he actually entered the area, and based on his book orders through a third party he took a sudden interest in Paxil. Subject is a darker-skinned Pillar Man with longer pink hair, though he’s adept with disguises.” That has to be remnants of Robin writing those kinds of reports.
“You said ‘ritual’. Is there a reason you’re being so vague with me?” Other than not panicking her? Nah, not really.
“He has an Arrow and was researching evolution. Yeah, it probably can’t even pierce a Pillar Man usually, but this is—Kars was a scientist, sure, but I get the feeling Rush and Kars were rivals. Kars relied on his power, a lot; Rush isn’t content until he has fifteen technological backups on top of that. He manipulates water and is really, really fond of setting up traps in advance. He could be using eyes he’s gathered from other people as surveillance. He’s worked with Nazi scientists. He’s really into biological warfare, and not just your average bacteria. He does tend to run rather than letting his ego get the better of him until he can tip the scales in his favor, and he’s really intelligent and really good at improvisation. I don’t know why he wants a Stand, really, but I think this is all one big experiment to get that to work, and he’s here for the Well, whatever that is.” Any of the confidence she had gained has vanished.
“When you put it like that…” she swallows.
Pep speeches aren’t really Xander’s thing. He was too clumsy and too not-cool to even think about joining the male cheerleaders, even if that might’ve had some perks in terms of scenery (well, as a young hormonal boy, anyway). But it’s not like he’s a complete newbie at it, either. “It’s not all bad. If you know the Joestars, you know we’ve beaten worse odds before. And you’ve got an advantage none of the rest of us do. You know your town. The rest of us are trying to figure it out—and he is, too.”
That’s a faint smile, but at least it’s real. “I’ll do what I can, but I’ll call everyone. Try not to do anything that would be illegal elsewhere.” That’s probably as close to a specific warning as she can get, but hints like that are useful.
