Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion Chapter 246

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: Johan introduces everyone to each other and learns some important information, but they are interrupted.
Word Count: 1374
Rating: Teen
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS

 

        So it hadn’t been paranoia that had Darling seeing movement, Fitz confirms, moving closer to Xander’s side.  Perhaps it’s practice, but this time he has no trace of shame about the ridiculously colorful water pistol he holds in his hands at the ready.  Jojo glances over as he moves Pretender protectively in front of them both, and he certainly looks pleased that the blond had taken so well to his suggestion.  Fitz grins back.  As if that had ever been in question, really.
        Robin pulls back his bow, and the Captain lines up the shot at the thing coming at them quickly through the grass.  In fact, even the ghostly presence that is Johan’s friend Willow brings up her hands which are beginning to glow, despite the point that it is every question whether or not she could actually affect the real world in such a state.  In fact, there’s only one among their party who does not appear to be readying herself for combat.
        “Wait!” Darling throws out a hand, looking strangely desperate.
        Robin’s glowing arrow barely misses the moving shadow, while Beefheart barely manages to avoid pulling the trigger.  Whisper flies in, moving faster than Fitz has seen it go.  It parks itself in front of the enemy, seemingly unconcerned—and yes, touching the Stand is an attack in of itself, but should she be as confident as that?
        The shape stops moving before it reaches the Stand, though, so perhaps she has reason.  And then it moves away through the grass, and Fitz catches a glimpse—that’s a snake.  Possibly poisonous, for sure, but harmless if it never gets near them.
        “How did you get it to leave?” Robin asks, shocked, and in response Darling grins.
        “Whisper asked,” she states simply.  Can she talk to all animals?  Is that a feature of her Stand?  Is she joking?
        “Not a Stand?” the Captain asks, to clarify, and Darling shakes her head.
        “Nope!” she responds brightly.
        “…Was that what you were seeing?” Robin asks, sounding just as untrusting, and they all glance around.  No more movement, other than that one snake.  Unnaturally quiet and still, really.
        “I can’t be sure.”  At least she’s feeling comfortable enough to admit it.  Robin doesn’t unstring his bow, and none of them return their Stands.
        “As I was saying before I was interrupted by Mr. Slither,” Johan continues, voice nearly effortlessly casual, “This is Willow, witchy best friend.  Fitz, he’s a nerd; you’d like him.  Darling, who’s really good at what she does and would become BFFs with Dawn.  Captain Beefheart, who I thought was a Slayer on just seeing her.  And last but not least, Robin, who’s a compassionate guy and has the kind of common sense Giles wishes we all had.”
        “I look forward to meeting you all in person!” She sounds completely genuine.  It’s a vast change to Fitz’s previous social life.  “In order to facilitate that, though, I’ll try to hurry up.  In his research on the stone mask, Giles found some possible connections to a culture called the Tiwanaku Empire.”
        “What, you were actually listening one of the fifty times I tried to warn you about that?”  Jojo crosses his arms, frowning, and Fitz perfectly understands why he’s upset.  He might joke around, but he cares deeply about his friends, and despite the fact that they’d barely discussed the circumstances that led to Fitz’s own utterly embarrassing actions.  To be fair, he’s hardly the only one who’d been acting uncharacteristically, given the ‘trial’, and—
        He shakes his head at Xander’s questioning look.  It’s likely that if there’s something affecting minds, it’s not all his fault for the thought not having occurred before.  It’s entirely possible, but it’s also not of concern yet.  He need not interrupt, not yet.  One topic at a time. 
        Willow pouts right back, almost a perfect mirror—it’s pretty obvious that they’ve been best friends for a long time.  “Xander, don’t be like that.  We’re not responsible for being under a spell, as written by Scooby Consensus.”
        Johan holds her gaze for a moment, then sighs and nods, suddenly appearing exhausted.
        “Besides, even if we were affected, we were looking into it anyway.  Aren’t you glad that we’re research nerds looking for any excuse to read books?” she continues with a grin, and the blond decides to insert himself into the conversation.
        “I daresay I, too, resemble that remark,” he states dryly.  The astral projection glances over at him, a delighted smile on her face, and Jojo rolls his eye, despite the affectionate look in his gaze.
        “Nerd out later, bookworms.  We’re on a deadline, here.”  If not for the tone, that could be taken as an insult.
        “Right, right.  Well, I probably shouldn’t keep this spell up too long, either.”  She pauses, refocusing her thoughts.  “We didn’t want to mention it before we were sure, and anyway we were all kind of concerned you were going to turn out like Miss Summers’ friend and put the thing on.  All the more because you were insistent you weren’t going to do that.  It didn’t show up as a demon, which most things like that would, but you weren’t acting like yourself, so we were kind of focusing on things that could hide their nature.”
        “Fair enough,” Jojo acknowledges, still appearing impatient.
        “So the Speedwagon Foundation obviously knew what the Stone Masks were and also shared some information from their Archives about the Arrows, and their Librarian is really cool, but it’s the stuff about the Pillar People that was really useful, particularly after we found out about the Ascension…”  She glances at Xander’s expression and trails off.  “Long story short, we suspect that the Pillar People have some sort of connection to the Tiwanaku, either kind of their gods or the actual empire themselves.  Though I’m not sure what that has to do with where you are right now—Mexico is far out of their usual stomping ground in Peru.”
        “Cliff’s Notes, for those of us who haven’t read the assigned text?” Robin asks hopefully, turning up the charm.
        Willow nods.  “Lucky for you, this guy’s given me a lot of practice in that department.”  She glances at Xander, which would explain why he was able to take Fitz’s teasing so much in stride.  “Well, mostly it was the statues and wall carvings that got my attention, and Giles agreed with me.  They’re similar—and of course it’s not the first time something Pillar People showed up in Mexico, so maybe we’re wrong, because Mr. Speedwagon found the cave with the Pillar People and masks.”
        Johan looks thoughtful, focusing on some far-off point before he speaks up.  “Actually, Kars and his group were exiles.”
        “Oh!  So all this stuff in Mexico might be their work, rather than the whole!  That makes sense!”  She trails off into mumbling before shaking herself a little.  “Right.  Short version—agriculture, trading, religion, mining, artisans.  Noblesse oblige.  More importantly, though, was their Gateway of the Sun, with solar masks and gods that controlled elements.  And it might not even be an oxymoron, because Angel says that some Hell Dimensions have suns that aren’t dust-inducing, so the same might be true of Pillar People, particularly if that gateway was, you know, a really literal translation.  Giles was still translating a related text he found but we kind of didn’t have time to just finish, given Big Ritual, Apocalypse Inbound Again.  I’m still keeping in some contact, but I’m trying not to do too much…”  She waggles her transparent fingers in what is probably meant to be a way of saying ‘magic’.  “Oh yeah, also there are supposed to be Speedwagon Foundation scouts around here, only they stopped checking in.”
        “I doubt they were stopped by a snake—particularly since it’s not a Stand,” Beefheart states grimly.
        “Probably.  And all Ms. Joestar would tell us was that the ETA was soon,” Willow agrees.
        “She doesn’t have a precise idea because of how B3 works,” Johan agrees, thoughtful and forgetting to elaborate, completely missing Willow’s shocked look.  “Well, thanks.  See you soon.”
        “I better,” Willow agrees, and fades.
        “Shall we?” Robin asks, waving a hand at the structure ahead of them, and the Captain just sighs.