Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion Chapter 217

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Main Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: Darling, Robin, Beefheart, and Styx are holding the line at the church.
Word Count: 1081
Rating: Teen (Buffy|Jojo's level violence)
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS

         Complaining doesn’t tend to make a difference in the fights, but Robin’s irritated enough to give it a go anyway. His arms are getting tired, and he’s had plenty of practice shooting for hours—it’s how one trains muscle memory for archery, after all. “How many of these guys are there? This just isn’t fair!”
         “They’re zombies,” Von Stroheim points out reasonably.
         “Depending on the type of spell, or should I say power, they’re probably, shall we say, press-ganging them right back into service as if they had not experienced their own demise,” Styx adds, muttering yet another blessing as an Anglican exorcism and redrawing the cross. The light’s been dimming with every cast of the spell, and he’s fairly sure the Father is starting to tire, though he hasn’t said anything to the effect and continues to be a calm, assured presence. The only place that continues to be completely covered is the church, which makes sense. Everything Robin has heard about magic is that it’s heavily influenced by a user’s will and belief. The intersection of the two, for the priest, is probably faith.
         The scene is all the more eerie with the moon shining from above on Pixie, laying motionless and seemingly lifeless like a cursed life-size doll. She’d been that way ever since she’d woken up and realized it didn’t seem like her deadly bunny companion was coming back for her. She’s probably not trying to add to the horror movie comparisons this time, but she’s achieving it perfectly, just as she had before.
         It’s fortunate because that’s where the townspeople are all hiding, packed in as much as they can manage. At a look, Robin’s fairly sure that there’s no way they found everyone, since while the church is decently large and the town is hardly a metropolis, there’s still a discrepancy that makes him uncomfortable. The knight zombie Jojo had found is out on the streets, finding a few stragglers here and there, but not enough. Not nearly enough.
         He hopes that a decent amount of them are just huddled down in their house hiding. It’s a better conclusion than thinking they’ve been killed and have joined the ranks crowding around the church grounds. Of course, in situations like this, there are going to be the inevitable casualties, but he still hates the feeling of failure it gives him.
         “They’re massing again.” Robin closes his eyes and refocuses. They’re all tired, but he’s the one who’s getting distracted. He’s proud of Darling, though. She’s really stepped up to the plate. Honestly, she might have a chance to teach him a thing or two about his own role. “Still no flamboyant vampires, no Jojo, no Mr. Speedwagon.”
         Robin frowns for a moment, confused, as Gregorian chant starts playing, before realizing the source is from Styx’s hand.  “Please tell me you called the cavalry, Father.”
         Styx smiles, and the way he looks re-energized, forgetting all the exertion and cares of before, makes Robin reconsider his joke, giving him an idea of the truth before the priest even speaks. “You’re not far off the mark, Robin, but I believe being a man of action will serve better than simply using words.” He texts something back quickly, and then quickly, with a flourish, draws something else on his phone, using a specially engraved stylus this time, a star, this time.
         Robin had thought the sparkly cross of death was impressive. This time, he sees the lines pass out of the church yard at high speed, racing quickly out of sight. Shortly afterward, each of the zombies vaporize, even the ones the lines hadn’t touched. Every one of them massing around the area. Just how big was this new spell?
         “Why a star? I wasn’t aware that was a Christian symbol, Father,” Darling asks respectfully as Whisper takes another lap around the edges just to confirm that they’d ended the fight.
         The thought briefly crosses Robin’s mind that it’s odd the priest hadn’t cast it before, but he dismisses it just as easily. Styx isn’t the type to allow others to be hurt when he could do something about it.
         “Many stars have relevance to Christianity—the four-pointed star as a star of Bethlehem, the five-pointed star that symbolizes the Nativity, the Star of David, the twelve-pointed star corresponding to the Apostles, among others…but that isn’t the only reason why it was chosen. This happens to be a ritual requiring at least three other participants from friends in the technopagan and technoreligious community—Shinto and Buddhist priests, a technopagan, and a witch doctor, in this case. Stars are likewise a common symbol in many cultures and religions, and when you have friends all around the world who just happen to be located at the points of a star, it’s only natural to take advantage of such a gift. I’m fortunate we were able to pull this together so quickly.”
         …Oh, of course. When you put it that way…and it would have more power, as a ritual.
         “I’d never thought about texting as a legitimate battle strategy before.” Robin’s voice is somewhat faint, but then, as extremely powerful spells go, this is up there. Styx’s pleased, but not smug.
         “A few zombie stragglers are still hanging out on the edge of town, but they’ve stopped moving like they know what they’re doing,” Darling reports, starting to get up and then, seemingly, realizing that her legs are asleep.
         “Young Pixie, could you please let the dead rest now?” he asks, just as gracious in victory as he was before they’d even begun their confrontation.
         The girl is just as listless, but she doesn’t ignore them like she had been before. “Miss Murder brought back the town’s sins. I could ask her if she was here, but I can’t do anything.”
         Whisper hisses at her as if mocking the idea that a Stand would defy its master before coiling up around Darling’s shoulders like a feather boa.
         “I appreciate the landing lights, Father,” Fitz quips from the gates, and Robin’s smile dims slightly as he notices the blond and Jojo’s stand seems to be carrying the unconscious man. It doesn’t bode particularly well, and the only thing that makes him slightly less worried is that he doesn’t think Fitz would be joking around if his best friend was seriously injured. “We really need to teach him to stop pushing his limits like this,” he adds, and Robin can’t help but chuckle at Pretender’s fervent nodding.