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starry-blue-echoes · 1 year

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So guess who wrote a silly little snippet for the Star Swap AU >:3

I started this with the intention of writing the “Joseph Runs On Water” aspect of the au but then I began writing the rest of the boat scene and the next thing I knew it was over 2k words long and I hadn’t even encountered Zucchero so there might be a Part 2 to this later on rjvbjdfbe

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Abbaccio felt like he was going to punch something.

He hated being backed into corners like this. Especially when he didn’t know what they were up against.

However, he hadn’t been expecting to be literally backed into a corner….. in a certain sense. Sure there weren’t any walls, but he, Bucciarati and Jojo were more or less trapped. They had no idea where the enemy was, if there were multiple, or where the hell the rest of the team was.

Jojo seemed to share his frustration, if the uncharacteristic glare on his face and the way he kept constantly shifting his weight was any indicator.

And of course, Bucciarati’s words were far from comforting.

“You think Narancia and the others are dead?” Abbaccio found himself questioning aloud. That was…. surprisingly bleak for Bucciarati. Sure the man wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but usually he tried to stay on the brighter side of things.

“I didn’t say that.” Bucciarati side eyed him, but Abbaccio could see his calm mask begin to crack a bit around the edges. “But this is 10 billion we’re talking about.”

It wasn’t a pretty possibility, but it was still possible. They had no idea who they were up against, and Abbaccio could name several members of Passione who wouldn’t mind getting their hands dirty with the blood of fellow members, and that was before throwing in the monetary incentive.

But still, this was half their team getting taken out in a single fell swoop, and it would’ve been over half had Jojo not joined them today. Abbaccio wanted to hope it wasn’t permanent but-

“They’re alive.” Jojo suddenly spoke up. “I don’t know where they are, but if our attacker was able to make them disappear like this, it’s most likely they’re still alive.”

Abbaccio looked at him with a small glare. “And how are you so sure about that?”

“Bucciarati, you care about your team, right?”

……what?

“Of course I do.” Bucciarati answered without hesitation, his voice firm and leaving absolutely no room for argument.

That wasn’t any surprise. It was no secret that the man was fiercely protective of the team, and any who doubted that very quickly(and sometimes very violently) learned otherwise. It was part of the reason why the kids loved him so much. Their care for him was reciprocated.

“You’re well known too. Important. Probably very skilled. Enough that a capo trusted you to hide his treasure. If our attacker is part of Passione, they probably know all about that.” Joseph continued. “So, they also probably know how protective you are. They know the best way to get you to crack isn’t to torture you, but to torture them. They’re going to take advantage of that weak spot in order to get the money.”

“Now, I’m not saying caring about them makes you weak. Trust me, I’m very familiar with how much wanting to protect what’s yours can give you an edge in a fight,” the boy continued with a shrug, somehow noticing Bucciarati’s sharpened gaze despite not even looking at the man. “If I had to guess, that’s why the attacker has only hidden them instead of…. I don’t know, flaunting their bodies or giving us dismembered limbs or something. Of course, all of this is assuming our attacker isn’t an absolute moron and got rid of his only leverage. He wouldn't be able to take us all in a fight, that much is obvious.”

And Abbaccio stared.

That…..

That was smart.

That was actually really fucking smart.

He’d assumed that Jojo was an idiot. The kid definitely made it seem like he was, with all his jokes and personality and how he wouldn’t shut the fuck up but-

Not only had he given good reasons that the team would still be alive, but because of the way he phrased it it was basically daring their attacker to do otherwise. He’d practically given their enemy the perfect plan on a silver platter, because as much Abbaccio doubted Bucciarati would crack, he did have to admit if he did it would most likely be because the kids were in danger but-

But Jojo bought them time and said it all with the kind of calm objectiveness that one might say the sky was blue.

…..

Abbaccio felt his gaze narrowing.

The newbie was much more dangerous than he’d first judged. He’d thought Jojo was just another 15 year old stray Bucciarati dragged in who was way in over his head but now….

Now he wasn’t sure.

Could his personality be fake? A mask? Something to get them to lower their guard and deem him a non-threat? Was it the work of a Stand, or was it all natural skill? And speaking of which, Abbaccio hadn’t heard so much as a whisper about the kid's Stand. Bucciarati had mentioned something about golden lighting and a brief flash of purple vines, but for him to only get that much even after personally fighting the kid? A fight in which the kid had beaten him???

Abbaccio wouldn’t say it scared him. He refused to be afraid of a fucking 15 year old who was only a bit taller than his shoulders and barely had an ounce of muscle on him.

However, it definitely put him on edge.

“We still need to be cautious.” Bucciarati spoke up, being the first to snap out of the shocked stupor. He slowly crouched down to the kid’s level. “We have no idea what kind of ability our opponent has, or where they are.”

Jojo nodded. “Right. By my guess the attacker is somewhere near the cabin. Fugo went missing when he looked inside, and before that Mista jumped to the other side of it and disappeared when he was out of our line of sight. Narancia was sitting by the cabin behind everyone else, and he went missing when our backs were turned.”

Jojo hummed, slightly squinting. “You said that ‘Stands’ could have almost any ability right?”

Abbaccio raised a brow, but wasn’t too surprised. It only made sense after all. Stand Users were never able to stay apart for long, only in a handful of rare cases, so if the kid had gone his whole life without meeting any that leaned more toward the idea of him obtaining his Stand rather recently.

“Within reason, yes.” He answered, side eyeing the kid.

As….. unsettling as it was, he kinda wanted to see where the kid would go with this.

Somewhere reluctantly, he crouched down too.

“So that means there are two possibilities.” Jojo held up his fingers. “One, this Stand can only be active when no one is looking, or two, it’s not very good at drawn out fights and this guy wouldn’t be able to use it in a proper one on one fight.”

“In both cases, learning what their stand is and what it does would be immensely useful.” Bucciarati nodded with a hum, his eyes sliding over to…… Abbaccio.

Oh.

Oh no.

“With your Stand, Abbaccio,” The man began, clearly noticing the beginning of his glare and leaning over to him until his mouth was right by his ear. “You could defeat the enemy.”

“He can?” Jojo looked at him with wide blue-green eyes, and despite the innocence of the gaze Abbaccio could practically feel it picking him apart.

Nope.

No, definitely not, not happening. He was not revealing his ability to this kid, especially after the analysis he’d just witnessed.

“Who knows.” he responded, pointedly avoiding eye contact.

He heard a small growl from Bucciarati. “Abbaccio. Now is not the time.”

“This is putting my safety at risk too.” He slightly turned his head. “I’m not just about to show my abilities to a newbie I can’t trust. I don’t know why you believe in him so easily, but I won’t.”

Not yet at least. Maybe in a few weeks, maybe a few months he could bring himself to put some trust in the kid. But right now? Not on his life.

It was practically the second rule of Stand Users. Don’t give away your abilities to others you don’t trust.

“We need to figure out the enemy’s ability.” Bucciarati hissed. “Otherwise we’re all as good as dead.”

“That’s what I’m saying.” he cut him off. “How do we know he isn’t working with the enemy? Don’t you think it’s strange that we got a new member the very same day Polpo died?”

Jojo looked at him with a childish pout and glare. “I think you’re being paranoid.”

“And I think you’re a suspicious brat who won’t even tell us his real name!”

And for the briefest of moments Abbaccio could’ve sworn he saw him flinch with an emotion he couldn’t place flickering behind his eyes.

Oh? So he was hiding something then….

But before he could press, it was gone without a trace. The boy scoffed with a roll of his eyes. “It’s not like I could see your Stand anyways, so I really don’t get why you’re getting so worried, old man.”

“I am NOT-”

……

Wait, what was that first part?

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded.

“Well you’ve got white hair and-”

Abbaccio was going to strangle him.

“Not that.” he growled. “What do you mean you wouldn’t be able to see my Stand?”

“Ohhhhh.” Jojo drawled at him, eyes widening with realization. “I thought Bucciarati would’ve told you. Guess it never came up then.”

Now it was Bucciarati’s turn to look confused. His brow furrowed and he gave Jojo a questioning glance. “Tell him what?”

“That I don’t have a Stand?”

…………..

He….

He didn’t what?

“What do you mean you don’t have a Stand!?!” Bucciarati whisper shouted.

“You mean you didn’t know either???” Jojo exclaimed. “I thought it was so obvious! Did you not notice how I clearly couldn’t see your Stand when we were fighting!?!”

“I thought you were just inexperienced!” Bucciarati shot back. “And if you don’t have a Stand then what about the gold lightning! Or the purple vines!?!”

“Or how you predicted what we could say back at the restaurant?” Abbaccio added.

Jojo raised a brow. “I have…. no idea what ‘purple vines’ you’re talking about, but the golden sparks are something completely different. As for the predicting thing…. I just notice things? It’s not that hard, you just have to know what to look for. I’ve always been able to and it’s definitely not a Stand ability.”

“What do you mean it’s something-” Bucciarati suddenly cut himself off, closing his eyes while taking a very deep breath.

And when he opened them, a blank, slightly smiling mask slid into place.

“Jojo.” he began and oh fuck that was his ‘I Am At My Limit And And Ready To Kill Someone But I Need To Be The Responsible One Here’ voice, reserved for only the biggest of fuck ups.

Yep, the kid was dead.

Can’t say Abbaccio was going to mourn him.

It seemed that the kid had at least some self preservation in him because the second he heard his name said in that tone he snapped to attention. In an instant his back straightened, his shoulders went back and he was giving Bucciarati his complete and undivided attention.

“Jojo, I’m going to test something.” Bucciarati continued. If he was surprised by Jojo’s reaction he didn’t let it show.

Jojo simply nodded.

Behind the boy Sticky Finger faded into existence. It was very close, but Abbaccio could tell Bucciarati was taking great care to avoid touching him. Slowly, the Stand’s hand lowered in front of Jojo’s eyes, practically a hair’s breadth away from touching.

Jojo didn’t react to it at all.

Bucciarati held up both hands, three fingers on one and five on the other.

“Can you tell me how many fingers I’m holding up?” the man asked.

“Uhhhhh eight?” the boy answered easily.

……Abbaccio wasn’t sure if this made Jojo less dangerous or much more. On one hand the kid wouldn’t be able to see Stands at all(which long term could become a problem but that was something for later), but on the other that opened the possibility that (depending on what exactly this ‘golden lightning’ thing was) every single thing the kid had done was entirely natural skill.

Bucciarati took another deep breath and Sticky Finger disappeared in an instant.

“We are going to be talking about this extensively when we get out of this, but for now-” he pointedly looked at Abbaccio. “We are going to figure a way out of this and so help me god if you two start arguing then our attacker is going to be the least of your worries.”

……damnit.

A small mischievous grin tugged at Jojo’s face. “So where do we start?”

#this was fun :D #joseph being accidentally terrifying my beloved #star swap #jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #golden wind #vento aureo #jjba part 5 #jjba abbacchio #leone abbacchio #jjba bucciarati #bruno bucciarati #bruno buccellati #sticky finger #jjba joseph #joseph joestar #sb writes

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