Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion Chapter 145

[madimpossibledreamer]

Beta-senpai doesn’t think fugo’s quite right here; I laid on the guilt heavy but haven’t actually read Purple Haze Feedback.  (I’d read more of these things but I’m scared of sites giving viruses to my computer because I don’t have a Stand to protect myself.)
(They’re in Toscana/Tuscany, so Severin got Ribollita, one of the region’s most prized dishes.)
~Dreamer~

Main Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: Buffy and Severin take a detour to check on the mask, while Fugo follows orders.
Word Count: 1466
Rating: Teen (hints at Purple Haze)
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS

           It seems like as good a time as any as when they’re making plans to mention a plan of her own.  “Originally, I’d left to try to find a mask,” Buffy explains, trying not to make a mess of her pasta (Severin had ordered for her when she’d mentioned craving pasta; apparently he knows some Italian though according to him his accent is rather poor) on the notes Severin’s made.  They’re far more organized than anything she’s ever seen used, other than Andrew’s recipe notes.  Willow’s are, but they’re in shorthand usually.  Xander’s, whether in school or for demon research, bounce all over the place.  She half suspects that he used to rely on caffeine to stay awake.  They cover every single suspected Wolfram & Hart location, whether anyone’s still there, how many they saw, whether a fight occurred, what each location was meant to accomplish…all in a very nice handwriting that she secretly envies.
           And she suspects he would fit right in with the rest of the Scoobies, given that he appears to have a sneaky sense of humor.  She didn’t specify what kind of pasta she wanted, after all, which is why she probably ends up with the black spaghetti or whatever it is.  Severin explains it’s squid ink with a confused ‘why is that weird’ air, but she spots the slight smile.  Fortunately, her tolerance for food has increased a lot since she became head of an international organization, so it’s just a harmless prank rather than a situation where she doesn’t get to eat. He sat oddly, too, jumping into his chair.  He's just as eccentric as the rest of them.  “It can be used to create vampires.”
           That gets Severin’s attention.  He goes from slumping in his chair and eating his soup with better manners than anyone she’s met besides maybe Giles to sitting up straight, eyes narrowed.  “Is it the original source of vampires?”
           “I’m pretty sure destroying it won’t make them all go away, unfortunately,” to which he slumps again, just a little bit, “…and from what I can tell, they create vampires of a different kind than we usually deal with.”  He’s serious about wanting to end vampires.  Not that she thought he was lying, but recent events have made her a little more paranoid than usual, and if her Slayer dreams hadn’t shown her working with this guy she probably wouldn’t have even bothered giving him the time of day in the first place. 
           “If demons could stop making our lives harder than they have to be, that would be greatly appreciated,” Severin sighs, taking another sip of his wine.  She had avoided it in the first place because even if it takes a lot to affect a Slayer’s metabolism, she didn’t like to run the risk, especially after that Caveman Buffy thing.  If she started feeling weird it was nice to be able to immediately realize she’s been drugged or affected by a spell or something, rather than wonder ‘hey, is this an alcohol thing?’. 
           “They’re just kindly trying to make sure we don’t get bored,” Buffy responds with a smile before continuing more seriously, “…It was stolen from archives by one of our Slayers.  Supposedly she and her followers were dealt with by allies of the SWC…” because that was by far the easiest way to explain a mafia named Passion, “….and given how fiercely their leader valued her independence they probably weren’t working with Wolfram & Hart, but I’d like to locate the mask for myself and deal with it the permanent kinda way.”
           Montreux’s eyes turn steely, dangerous even.  He hadn’t been this cold even when they’d been fighting.  “I’ve heard it said that all evil needs to win is for good people to do nothing.  I’d like to add that it’s a worse situation if good people turn evil.”
           “So you’re all right with a detour?” she asks, getting the hint to finish her pasta because—yep, Severin appears antsy again.  Like there are actual ants crawling over him.  The thought makes a shiver run up her spine, and she makes a quick visual check to determine—yeah, there aren’t actually any insects invading their restaurant time.
           “Even if they weren’t working together, if that organization knew of an artifact within arm’s reach, particularly if they were desperate, they’d be more than likely to try to strike and take it.”  Even hurried, his table manners don’t take a nose dive.  Interesting.
           Well, they’ll have to take a boat, but given that it appears Severin has a basic understanding of the language, and the way he suddenly appears not lost anymore but purposeful, driven, even single-minded…there is absolutely no way that will be any obstacle to their progress.

           Fugo is a little upset.  All right, so it had been a while since he’d been given the go-ahead to use Purple Haze, which always felt like a particularly unsettling relief.  The fact that it was an island meant that no one on the mainland would get infected given that the virus couldn’t survive the sun, which is good because after hearing Mista’s story there is absolutely no way he’d want to be compared to that bastard Cioccolata (and even Giovanna had turned a blind eye that one time someone had and he had picked up one of the Don’s expensive pens and stabbed the idiot). 
           He had managed to take a vantage point in the ruins, complete with the binoculars and climbing equipment.  Giovanna hadn’t outright suggested that, but a few remarks had led to him apparently spontaneously having the thought on his own, which was the way GioGio liked to give commands when he was feeling generous.  It is admittedly kind of genius to keep altitude as a factor when he’s attacking during the middle of the day, because it’s not like he’s immune to Purple Haze either (even if the Don had offered to make him immune, too).  It’s kind of annoying scrambling over half-broken structures trying to stay within range of his Stand, but that’s the price he pays for having an otherwise good plan, and honestly if it had been a perfect plan without any flaws, he’d find it suspicious anyway.  It’s also upsetting with the similarity to Pompeii, but he’s stronger than that.
           The plan even manages to go fairly close to, well, plan.  Guns are more Mista’s thing, but he takes one anyway, with the Don’s permission.  Vampires (which upset his worldview in so many ways, but he can deal with the crisis after he does his duty) require a few more bullets than even a Stand User, but they go down eventually, though he tries to restrict that to the ones that spot him.  They’re all hiding from the sun, which makes the binoculars useful.
           When he’s done, he calls Giovanna, using a device that allows him to get signal.  He’d been instructed not to use it before as it might have drawn unnecessary attention before.  “It’s done.”
           “Good job.”  He’s not sure if GioGio offers this sort of feedback for anyone—wait, yes, he does, for Mista, but he’s not sure if it’s just the two of them.  “I would appreciate it if you could look for a mask.”
           Fugo’s immediate response is to tell the Don ‘oh, yes, absolutely’, but instead, hesitantly, he points out, “…the virus is still in the ruins.”
           Out of the corner of his eye he can still see Purple Haze trying to clean itself obsessively.  Ordinarily, he would have put away his Stand immediately, but while this would have easily taken out an entire warehouse full of gangsters, he doesn’t trust a bunch of demons and vampires to be dead.  Dead and ash, he should say.  Despite the fact that neither he nor his Stand have seen any sign of movement since he dealt with the one he thought to have been the last.
           “Does any light source work?” Giovanna questions, and—there he is again, asking just the right questions.
           “I could buy something but that’d have to be on the mainland.”  He hates having to leave, just for this, but he’s not about to take chances with his Stand.
           “Please.” He pulls the phone away from his ear for a second, not sure he heard correctly.  That’s rare.
           Fugo finds the courage from somewhere—if GioGio can act in an unusual manner, so can he.  “Why is this important?”
           That’s a fond smile in the Don’s voice.  For him, and for others.  “It’s a request from one who has practically been adopted into the family by Uncle Jotaro and a previously unknown cousin.”
           His previous bad mood mostly disappears at the show of trust.  Giovanna ends the call, but it doesn’t matter because he has direction once more.