Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion Chapter 187

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: Fitz faces off against Cooper.
Word Count: 1016
Rating: Teen (Buffy|Jojo's level violence)
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS

         If she were here, Josephine would be furious at Cooper’s threat.  If he recalls correctly from the stories, she’s a bit of a disco fan.  Fitz barely ducks out of the way as a shadow darts at him, ignoring the demented, ghostly laughter that’s probably just meant to unsettle.  It’s possible, barely, to dodge, but he can’t keep doing that in this environment, slowed down by the water, especially if several try at once.  The only probability why that hasn’t happened yet is that she’s toying with him.  At the next shadow darting at him out of the corner of his eye, he goes to one knee, barely ducking under the rush.  At least they seem to not be able to predict an enemy’s movement, but then, they don’t seem fully sentient, unlike their ghost master.
         “Excuse you, I rather think I’m stayin’ alive.”  It doesn’t appear to be an effective enough taunt for Cooper to rush him herself, but she visibly snarls and stops laughing, which is something.
         But that weapon—he’s read about it before.  Perhaps Johan would tease him about it, but he’d appreciate it, too, even if he didn’t say so out loud.  It’s a kris, an Indonesian sacred dagger.  It would have been easier to place if it had the wavy blade like most, but then, he’d read that the executioner’s kris usually had a straight blade, and Cooper is the type to self-style herself as an executioner.  It still retains the gold and jewel tipped, elaborately carved hilt, and she hadn’t bothered to point the tip at either of them until she’d planned to kill them.  She’d pointed it at herself, even drew some of her own ghostly blood, but then, the superstition about dying soon hardly mattered to one who was already dead, and one with a sense of theatricality at that.
         It’s possible the shadows are her Stand.  But it reminds him more of the stories he’d been told of another Stand User the Joestars have fought, Enya, and her Stand that could make puppets out of the dead and living alike.  Cooper seems to be controlling them, in the way one might command a dog to attack, rather than directing a Stand to attack.  It might be an Automatic Stand, of course, taking the form of tens of shades mindlessly pursuing a given target, but then, he hadn’t been pursued until he’d seen her again, and if she’d planned on even playing with him along his way, she would have at least had them hound him, nipping at his heels.  He’s only heard of one weapon Stand, but if one exists, that means that more probably exist, and kris were rumored to have a soul of some kind within, so it would be the perfect form for a Stand.  A connection to death, to a curse…He could be wrong, of course, but he’s fairly certain he’s not.
         And then, with a mental snort and an unfortunately slow roll to the side, feeling a wind rushing past him, ripples tracing his close call, he forces himself to be honest with himself, even as he spares a moment to think about how grateful he is that no matter how often he’s dodged, the shadows still don’t appear to have learned that he is capable of evading their attacks.  Then again, for most targets, it probably would have been more difficult to do so—having an extra pair of eyes from one’s Stand, with an already established means of communication involving tugging at a currently very destroyed belt, is extremely handy.  It’s entirely possible he’s choosing this explanation because he has no idea how to begin fighting a troop of shadows.
         In any case, every Stand has a weakness.  A weapon that can be taken from its owner would certainly be a weakness.  He can attempt that, but in either case, she’s hardly the only one who can use a Stand in this fight.
         It’s unfortunate that he’s lost his water gun at some point during the flood, but not altogether unexpected.  He’d tucked it into one of his boots discreetly, but that happened to be the boot he’d lost somewhere along the way.  Still, this hardly means he’s entirely unarmed.  For instance, if he can just get to it, there’s a very welcome source of water indeed, but it’s past another shadow.  Another weakness—the fact that the shadows’ movements are accompanied by wind makes it more difficult for them to conceal their attacks well enough for a successful ambush in a location with a liquid that could be disturbed by said winds.
         This time, rather than sidestepping or dodging, LJ takes in enough beer to swell slightly, then spews it out like a regular octopus’s ink.  It’s odd and kind of beautiful, seeing the droplets sparkle in the light.  It actually makes the shadow pause in its rush, and there’s a slight hiss, which is interesting.  He’s not sure if it’s actually damage or just a deterrent, but it’s a good sign.  It burns a little when it touches his skin, too, blowing back a little, which probably means that watering down the water means, ironically, watering down his powers, but it bought him enough time to slosh over to the fire extinguisher on the wall.  He suppresses the smirk.  It’s not like he’s won, after all, just gained an advantage. 
         Fitz sees something move out of the corner of his eye, again, but the movement appears different than before.  It’s…slower.  It’s still moving in the shadows, but not because it’s the only option for it.  Rather, it looks like it’s trying not to be seen.  And—and it’s not trying to hide from him.  It’s trying to hide from the ghost, based on the angles.  With any luck, it might be Johan, or one of their allies—the thief girl, for example.  He might as well oblige by trying to keep Cooper’s attention.
         “I don’t suppose you’d be interested in a little experiment to determine whether ghosts are affected by acid?” he asks conversationally, and she smirks.