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madimpossibledreamerJojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: They coordinate defense with the Sheriff.
Word Count: 1302
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS
Jotaro stiffens first. He’s apparently got Star Platinum out just under his skin and is using his Stand to enhance his own natural observational skills and handy to break out a barrage of punches. Johan really should have expected that part. It’s just the sort of thing he would have expected Jotaro to do if he’s suffering from paranoia. The rest of them react a moment later, though whether they’re reacting to Jotaro not being his usual ‘chill’ for once and how much is them actually noticing the incoming footsteps depends greatly on the individual.
The fun if slightly tense atmosphere shifts towards just being tense. On paper, they’re allies, but given everyone’s experiences with law enforcement, just relaxing is a difficult proposition. Josuke’s the exception; he actually looks a little unhappy about everyone else’s reaction. Even Josie isn’t completely comfortable, but then, she’d had a few run-ins with campus police alongside Mercia. It’s probably pretty hard to miss, but at least Ix Welch Ahau doesn’t actually comment on it. “We’ve set up a patrol and alerted every citizen. No one has spotted Rush so far, though one of our citizens was unfortunate enough to get a little too close to one of the eyeballs. Which is, I realize it’s unprofessional of me to say this, gross. He’s being treated in the Xmucane Center of Healing now, but the doctors aren’t very hopeful, and as much as this burns me inside, we need to stop this at the source. Is there anything we can do to disrupt the ritual from our end?”
Giorno steps up smoothly. Ironically, he probably has the most experience actually coordinating with the police aside from Josuke. “I am informed that the easiest way to do so is by knowing the exact specifics of the ritual, but unfortunately due to the nature of the signal here we are unable to contact others researching the matter.”
“Research always was important for work at the Speedwagon Foundation,” Ix Welch Ahau agrees. It might just be an attempt to get them to trust her, but it’s effective enough. Possibly because they don’t have the time to be fighting among themselves.
Jotaro jams his hands in his pockets forcefully. Josuke, who was about to speak, falls silent. Usually he’s a little more take-charge than this, but it seems he never did quite get over his nervousness in Jotaro’s presence. “Where?”
Johan doesn’t remember directly; it’d been too unimportant of a memory in the grand scheme of things for Pretender to have considered it worth sharing. But based on how the two are interacting Jotaro has to have at least met her before. They hadn’t worked together as closely as, say, he and Dunstan, but she also doesn’t look as taken aback as she should. “I can show you on the map.”
“That would help us know where he considers important. But I meant, take me to him.” Jotaro sounds brusque and impatient, but he is bothering to explain in the first place, which means he is fighting the effect. “It tried to burrow into his eye, right?”
The Sheriff doesn’t immediately respond. “Tried to replace it, yes. As a last resort, they placed the patient in an ice bath, and that seemed to at least halt the process, if not revert it. Is this important to do now?”
“Because it froze the water Rush is manipulating to move the eyeballs, probably,” Johan mutters to himself, smiling sheepishly when Willow elbows him. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“We still have hours of daylight. A Pillar Man can’t easily travel around in full sun. And I’ve had some practice. Isn’t that right, Johan?” Jotaro walks to the door and glances back, slightly irritated that no one’s following. That’s enough to shock everyone into action, falling in line. Kakyoin still looks a little smug, but then, he has a right, as the one rescued.
“Kars had a technique with bending light, I think? And Wham was using wind, but…” No tangents, he supposes, judging from Jotaro’s pace. “...It’s pretty likely that he can use water to some extent, along with a cloak or something, but yeah, his movements are going to be at least limited while the sun is up.”
“That matches our observations. The majority of the surveillance is here in the city center, marked in green, aside from our sewage plant, not too far to the south from here, and across the river. If his powers are water-related, he’d probably come in along the river parallel to the road you used. He’ll probably be using the sewer system to get into the city center.” She pauses and then adds, quieter, “...He’s probably here for the Well. Possibly the tree, but that’s a lot harder to influence. I don’t want to make us sound like some small nowhere town, but I specifically can’t think of anywhere else that would be of significance to some important ritual especially for a Pillar Man with water powers. If he had a different type of nature powers, I might suspect different, but…”
“He’s not Poison Ivy,” Xander confirms, adding a “...nothing, never mind…” when all that gets is a confused look.
“I got that reference.” Darling’s enthusiasm is charming.
There’s only so many of them that can be in the front checking the map, so things naturally fall into smaller conversations. The Captain has her binoculars out again, scanning the horizon. For the first time in a good long while Xander gets to actually have a normalish in-person conversation with Willow and Buffy. Obviously, rather than trying to work out what to do or how they’re going to prepare for the upcoming fight, they end up talking about Bollywood movies, a topic that has Josuke verbally bowing out and Josie at least intrigued. The crowds thin out toward the center of town, particularly noticeable in the marketplace, though given the Sheriff’s efforts there’s probably a general advisory about staying home if you’re not involved in the efforts to locate Rush.
And then Johan realizes something. “Hey, Jotaro? Where’s your watch?” He didn’t used to bother with one, but like most of his possessions he’d been really, really careful about it once he’d actually gotten one. It’s unlike him to not have it on him now.
Jotaro grunts. “Yare yare daze. I don’t know. Couldn’t find it this morning.” He sounds nonchalant about it, but it’s bothering him, the kind of nagging detail he’d learned to pick up on watching Columbo all those years.
One moment they’re walking down the street, having passed the tree and Administrative Center on the right, and the next Jotaro’s rushing them all across the street into the shelter of the Administrative Center. Several of them are already there facing the Cultural Center on the other side. It’s a good illustration of how Jotaro and DIO differed, Johan reflects, pulling out Pretender immediately. Jotaro stopped time to try to move as many of them as he could out of harm’s way. DIO did it just to be an ass to Polnareff.
“An excellent eye. Perhaps I should think about all its potential uses on my behalf.” Rush walks out from out of the shadows on the side of the building, clapping. The long poncho looks like it’d either been bought at the market or stolen from someone local. With the hood up and shadows around his hair that might be caused by him manipulating water, the hair looks darker. Actually, he might be manipulating it over his whole skin, keeping the light off; there’s just a slight shimmer around his face if Johan looks closely. Beneath that might be a glimpse of a sharp suit, possibly something Rush actually prefers to wear, rather than when he’s posing as absolutely anything other than the predator he is. That’s the kind of wary confidence gained in a thousand fights, not a school bully’s ridiculous bravado just calling for a punch in the face. “How does that saying go again? ‘It’s nothing personal’. I suppose for you, it is, but for me it’s just a matter of necessity. Sooner or later, I have to kill you all, you see. But perhaps you will be reassured to know that you’re not my immediate aim.”
Chapter Summary: They coordinate defense with the Sheriff.
Word Count: 1302
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS
Jotaro stiffens first. He’s apparently got Star Platinum out just under his skin and is using his Stand to enhance his own natural observational skills and handy to break out a barrage of punches. Johan really should have expected that part. It’s just the sort of thing he would have expected Jotaro to do if he’s suffering from paranoia. The rest of them react a moment later, though whether they’re reacting to Jotaro not being his usual ‘chill’ for once and how much is them actually noticing the incoming footsteps depends greatly on the individual.
The fun if slightly tense atmosphere shifts towards just being tense. On paper, they’re allies, but given everyone’s experiences with law enforcement, just relaxing is a difficult proposition. Josuke’s the exception; he actually looks a little unhappy about everyone else’s reaction. Even Josie isn’t completely comfortable, but then, she’d had a few run-ins with campus police alongside Mercia. It’s probably pretty hard to miss, but at least Ix Welch Ahau doesn’t actually comment on it. “We’ve set up a patrol and alerted every citizen. No one has spotted Rush so far, though one of our citizens was unfortunate enough to get a little too close to one of the eyeballs. Which is, I realize it’s unprofessional of me to say this, gross. He’s being treated in the Xmucane Center of Healing now, but the doctors aren’t very hopeful, and as much as this burns me inside, we need to stop this at the source. Is there anything we can do to disrupt the ritual from our end?”
Giorno steps up smoothly. Ironically, he probably has the most experience actually coordinating with the police aside from Josuke. “I am informed that the easiest way to do so is by knowing the exact specifics of the ritual, but unfortunately due to the nature of the signal here we are unable to contact others researching the matter.”
“Research always was important for work at the Speedwagon Foundation,” Ix Welch Ahau agrees. It might just be an attempt to get them to trust her, but it’s effective enough. Possibly because they don’t have the time to be fighting among themselves.
Jotaro jams his hands in his pockets forcefully. Josuke, who was about to speak, falls silent. Usually he’s a little more take-charge than this, but it seems he never did quite get over his nervousness in Jotaro’s presence. “Where?”
Johan doesn’t remember directly; it’d been too unimportant of a memory in the grand scheme of things for Pretender to have considered it worth sharing. But based on how the two are interacting Jotaro has to have at least met her before. They hadn’t worked together as closely as, say, he and Dunstan, but she also doesn’t look as taken aback as she should. “I can show you on the map.”
“That would help us know where he considers important. But I meant, take me to him.” Jotaro sounds brusque and impatient, but he is bothering to explain in the first place, which means he is fighting the effect. “It tried to burrow into his eye, right?”
The Sheriff doesn’t immediately respond. “Tried to replace it, yes. As a last resort, they placed the patient in an ice bath, and that seemed to at least halt the process, if not revert it. Is this important to do now?”
“Because it froze the water Rush is manipulating to move the eyeballs, probably,” Johan mutters to himself, smiling sheepishly when Willow elbows him. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“We still have hours of daylight. A Pillar Man can’t easily travel around in full sun. And I’ve had some practice. Isn’t that right, Johan?” Jotaro walks to the door and glances back, slightly irritated that no one’s following. That’s enough to shock everyone into action, falling in line. Kakyoin still looks a little smug, but then, he has a right, as the one rescued.
“Kars had a technique with bending light, I think? And Wham was using wind, but…” No tangents, he supposes, judging from Jotaro’s pace. “...It’s pretty likely that he can use water to some extent, along with a cloak or something, but yeah, his movements are going to be at least limited while the sun is up.”
“That matches our observations. The majority of the surveillance is here in the city center, marked in green, aside from our sewage plant, not too far to the south from here, and across the river. If his powers are water-related, he’d probably come in along the river parallel to the road you used. He’ll probably be using the sewer system to get into the city center.” She pauses and then adds, quieter, “...He’s probably here for the Well. Possibly the tree, but that’s a lot harder to influence. I don’t want to make us sound like some small nowhere town, but I specifically can’t think of anywhere else that would be of significance to some important ritual especially for a Pillar Man with water powers. If he had a different type of nature powers, I might suspect different, but…”
“He’s not Poison Ivy,” Xander confirms, adding a “...nothing, never mind…” when all that gets is a confused look.
“I got that reference.” Darling’s enthusiasm is charming.
There’s only so many of them that can be in the front checking the map, so things naturally fall into smaller conversations. The Captain has her binoculars out again, scanning the horizon. For the first time in a good long while Xander gets to actually have a normalish in-person conversation with Willow and Buffy. Obviously, rather than trying to work out what to do or how they’re going to prepare for the upcoming fight, they end up talking about Bollywood movies, a topic that has Josuke verbally bowing out and Josie at least intrigued. The crowds thin out toward the center of town, particularly noticeable in the marketplace, though given the Sheriff’s efforts there’s probably a general advisory about staying home if you’re not involved in the efforts to locate Rush.
And then Johan realizes something. “Hey, Jotaro? Where’s your watch?” He didn’t used to bother with one, but like most of his possessions he’d been really, really careful about it once he’d actually gotten one. It’s unlike him to not have it on him now.
Jotaro grunts. “Yare yare daze. I don’t know. Couldn’t find it this morning.” He sounds nonchalant about it, but it’s bothering him, the kind of nagging detail he’d learned to pick up on watching Columbo all those years.
One moment they’re walking down the street, having passed the tree and Administrative Center on the right, and the next Jotaro’s rushing them all across the street into the shelter of the Administrative Center. Several of them are already there facing the Cultural Center on the other side. It’s a good illustration of how Jotaro and DIO differed, Johan reflects, pulling out Pretender immediately. Jotaro stopped time to try to move as many of them as he could out of harm’s way. DIO did it just to be an ass to Polnareff.
“An excellent eye. Perhaps I should think about all its potential uses on my behalf.” Rush walks out from out of the shadows on the side of the building, clapping. The long poncho looks like it’d either been bought at the market or stolen from someone local. With the hood up and shadows around his hair that might be caused by him manipulating water, the hair looks darker. Actually, he might be manipulating it over his whole skin, keeping the light off; there’s just a slight shimmer around his face if Johan looks closely. Beneath that might be a glimpse of a sharp suit, possibly something Rush actually prefers to wear, rather than when he’s posing as absolutely anything other than the predator he is. That’s the kind of wary confidence gained in a thousand fights, not a school bully’s ridiculous bravado just calling for a punch in the face. “How does that saying go again? ‘It’s nothing personal’. I suppose for you, it is, but for me it’s just a matter of necessity. Sooner or later, I have to kill you all, you see. But perhaps you will be reassured to know that you’re not my immediate aim.”
