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[QUOTE=Tami;5302874]"How do you know this?"[/QUOTE]
He smirked, relishing in his upcoming answer.
"I'm glad you asked, you see..."
Slipping his hand underneath the collar of his shirt he grabbed hold of a lanyard ending in a Press ID badge.
"My name is Fleetwood Mac, journalist for [I]Rumours[/I] magazine. I've been researching Johannes Joestar, your father."
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[QUOTE=Yun Lao;5302890]He smirked, relishing in his upcoming answer.
"I'm glad you asked, you see..."
Slipping his hand underneath the collar of his shirt he grabbed hold of a lanyard ending in a Press ID badge.
"My name is Fleetwood Mac, journalist for [I]Rumours[/I] magazine. I've been researching Johannes Joestar, your father."[/QUOTE]
"Oh fu**" Jinny exclaimed, "You damn bastards chased after my mother for years after I was born. The nonsense you published nearly ruined her career." her face flushed slightly with anger, "Tell me one reason why I shouldn't kick your scrawny butt out of here."
-
"Another damn vulture here..." Lenny muttered, glancing over to Carla, "At least you have someone to gossip with now, ya nag." "Put those lips to good use and keep them shut, ya old goat." The older woman retorted
Meanwhile, Nancy, now brandishing a large pizza peel, was beginning the ordeal of flipping the gargantuan mass of eggs sizzling on her stovetop.
[QUOTE=Tami;5302903]"Oh fu**" Jinny exclaimed, "You damn bastards chased after my mother for years after I was born. The nonsense you published nearly ruined her career." her face flushed slightly with anger, "Tell me one reason why I shouldn't kick your scrawny butt out of here."[/QUOTE]
"Because you have bigger things to worry about," Fleetwood said, holding up his hands in a surrendering fashion, "As much as an exposé on Joestar's kids would sell, I'm on a much bigger story."
Putting the photos back into the envelope, he instead pulled out three newspaper clippings. They were obituaries of those same three individuals.
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[QUOTE=The Dog;5302648]"A few. But real-life medical work isn't anywhere as exciting as you see on those TV shows. It's mostly dealing with moms worrying about their kid's case of the sniffles and people making a big deal out of some minor illness or injury. But it's honest work, and I enjoy helping people either way." Jamie answered with a smile, gently elbowing her back as well.[/quote]
It did sound pretty boring. And all the times she had been to the doctor, the nurses were mostly just there to run the tests before the doctors showed up. Still, it was a respectable profession. [I]You could have been a nurse if you put your mind toward something other than being pissed all the time,[/I] a small voice in her head hissed.
Tch. Whatever.
"That's great. Uh.. keep it up." Man, being nice was hard. It sound awkward and fake as hell.
[quote]"Yeah, but what's done is done, and the best I can do is acquiesce to their wishes." Jamie replied with a sigh.[/quote]
"Family is a real pain in the ass. If they don't want anything to do with you, for whatever reason, fuck them. They aren't worth it, anyway." For whatever reason. For all she knew, Jamie was actually a bitch and the whole nice girl act was just that, an act. Then again, all she could do was go by what the woman showed and said. "Eh, you're probably better off without them anyway. You got a good thing going. Don't need any assholes dragging you down."
[quote]"Of course you can! Maybe you can explain what exactly it is." Jamie said, turning her to Jinny and moving the collar of her t-shirt enough to reveal the star-shaped mark adorning the back of her left shoulder near her neck.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Yun Lao;5302712]"I might be able to help you with that."
It is unknown how long he had been seated there, reading his newspaper, but it was long enough for their conversation to catch his attention. Lowering the paper [URL="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/924/OJsNX2.png"]a young man with glasses[/URL] reached into a pocket before withdrawing a small envelope.
"You're not the only one who has that same mark," He declared, producing three pictures depicting different people with the same marking.
[IMG]https://static.jojowiki.com/images/thumb/e/e1/latest/20200322055637/Joestar_Birthmarks_anime.png/400px-Joestar_Birthmarks_anime.png[/IMG]
"That star-shaped mark on your neck is the hereditary birthmark Joestar, which proves your relationship with Johannes Joestar."[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Yun Lao;5302864]"Those same three said the exact same thing," The young man replied, "However, it is undeniable that something within the Joestar lineage produces those birthmarks."[/QUOTE]
Sandra's hand unconsciously reached up and touched the spot on her neck where this "birthmark" had appeared some time ago. At first, she thought it was some kind of funky rash that refused to go away. Then, she got scared and thought it was some kind of STD. Apparently, neither of those were the case. "A birthmark, huh?"
She regarded this stranger suspiciously. "And who the hell are you supposed to be? Some kind of Joestar expert?"
[QUOTE=Yun Lao;5302890]He smirked, relishing in his upcoming answer.
"I'm glad you asked, you see..."
Slipping his hand underneath the collar of his shirt he grabbed hold of a lanyard ending in a Press ID badge.
"My name is Fleetwood Mac, journalist for [I]Rumours[/I] magazine. I've been researching Johannes Joestar, your father."[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Tami;5302903]"Oh fu**" Jinny exclaimed, "You damn bastards chased after my mother for years after I was born. The nonsense you published nearly ruined her career." her face flushed slightly with anger, "Tell me one reason why I shouldn't kick your scrawny butt out of here."[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Yun Lao;5302932]"Another damn vulture here..." Lenny muttered, glancing over to Carla, "At least you have someone to gossip with now, ya nag." "Put those lips to good use and keep them shut, ya old goat." The older woman retorted
Meanwhile, Nancy, now brandishing a large pizza peel, was beginning the ordeal of flipping the gargantuan mass of eggs sizzling on her stovetop.
"Because you have bigger things to worry about," Fleetwood said, holding up his hands in a surrendering fashion, "As much as an exposé on Joestar's kids would sell, I'm on a much bigger story."
Putting the photos back into the envelope, he instead pulled out three newspaper clippings. They were obituaries of those same three individuals.[/QUOTE]
"A fucking reporter? Of course some nosy fuck couldn't resist sticking his nose where it doesn't belong," Sandra scoffed. Still, those clippings were probably... something. He wouldn't have pulled them out if they weren't. Or maybe they were and he was just using them as an excuse to stick around.
[I]Fuck.[/I] Her curiosity was piqued. She sidled up next to him and got a closer look at the obituaries.
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[QUOTE=Sub-Zero MKA;5302950]"A fucking reporter? Of course some nosy fuck couldn't resist sticking his nose where it doesn't belong," Sandra scoffed. Still, those clippings were probably... something. He wouldn't have pulled them out if they weren't. Or maybe they were and he was just using them as an excuse to stick around.
[I]Fuck.[/I] Her curiosity was piqued. She sidled up next to him and got a closer look at the obituaries.[/QUOTE]
From what Sandra could see, while the obituaries didn't mention the causes of death, all three of them hinted that none of them were natural.
"Those three were only the beginning. As of the last few days, roughly twenty of your relatives on the Joestar have been hospitalized, but that's not even the biggest question here."
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[QUOTE=Yun Lao;5302979]From what Sandra could see, while the obituaries didn't mention the causes of death, all three of them hinted that none of them were natural.
"Those three were only the beginning. As of the last few days, roughly twenty of your relatives on the Joestar have been hospitalized, but that's not even the biggest question here."[/QUOTE]
Sandra looked at the obituaries. Names didn't look familiar. Why would they; she wasn't from that country and kept to herself so much that she didn't make any friends. The names, though, weren't the thing that attracted her eye. None of the three died of natural causes. "So, were they murdered?" she inquired.
Also, twenty? What the actual fuck? Did Joestar have a literal obsession with shoving his dick in random women? If so, whatever, but holy fuck was his pullout game nonexistent.
It was almost like he knocked up dozens of women on purpose.
...
Nah.
"Hospitalized with what? Did the old bastard pass on some venereal disease that just kicked in?"
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[QUOTE=Sub-Zero MKA;5302993]Sandra looked at the obituaries. Names didn't look familiar. Why would they; she wasn't from that country and kept to herself so much that she didn't make any friends. The names, though, weren't the thing that attracted her eye. None of the three died of natural causes. "So, were they murdered?" she inquired.
Also, twenty? What the actual fuck? Did Joestar have a literal obsession with shoving his dick in random women? If so, whatever, but holy fuck was his pullout game nonexistent.
It was almost like he knocked up dozens of women on purpose.
...
Nah.
"Hospitalized with what? Did the old bastard pass on some venereal disease that just kicked in?"[/QUOTE]
"Plane crash, car-jackings, accidents, the list goes on, but they were all on their way to the same reading as you. Like I said, there is a bigger question to all of this. The question is; what did Johannes Joestar really die from? Officially, it was stated to be Night Fever, but my sources tell me that his symptoms were nothing like Night Fever's."
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[QUOTE=Tami;5302874]Letting her hair fall behind her again as she turned to look at Jamie and the young man, "Jinny Wen." She then turned to the stranger, "You're not a journalist, are you? How did you get those images? Who are they?"[/QUOTE]
"A pleasure to meet you Jinny Wen." Jamie said with a nod.
Then the conversation went on overdrive. It was all Jamie could do to keep up with the three speakers talking around her. Apparently this man was named Fleetwood Mac, a tabloid reporter for Rumours. Apparently he wasn't interested in their apparently being the children of a millionaire philanthropist and head of the Speedwagon Foundation. That they weren't even ALL of his children, that he had at least 20 kids in the world including them. That this mark on their necks was a sign of being Joestars, and also seemed to be a magnet for danger and misfortune, if this man was to be believed.
Sighing, Jamie slumped slightly as she said "Wow... All I was really hoping for was to get to meet new members of my family and possibly learn about this mark on my neck." She smiled weakly as she said "Though I have managed both, I didn't expect it to have so much... I guess I should call it "baggage", with it."
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[QUOTE=Yun Lao;5302712]"I might be able to help you with that."
It is unknown how long he had been seated there, reading his newspaper, but it was long enough for their conversation to catch his attention. Lowering the paper [URL="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/924/OJsNX2.png"]a young man with glasses[/URL] reached into a pocket before withdrawing a small envelope.
"You're not the only one who has that same mark," He declared, producing three pictures depicting different people with the same marking.
[IMG]https://static.jojowiki.com/images/thumb/e/e1/latest/20200322055637/Joestar_Birthmarks_anime.png/400px-Joestar_Birthmarks_anime.png[/IMG]
"That star-shaped mark on your neck is the hereditary birthmark Joestar, which proves your relationship with Johannes Joestar."[/QUOTE]
From a distance from the immediate gathering, Suzie sat with her back to the wall, a shadow in the corner blotted out by the rays of mid-day sunshine that crept in the area. The conversation that sparked up seemed to echo through the dead, empty air of this place, and suddenly she found herself unusually interested in the magazine propped up before here.
Her teeth clinked nervously on the edge of the ceramic mug, black coffee slowly doing its thing as she...eavesdropped from a distance. Whatever the case may have been, this birthmark seemed to have eluded her, yet she still found herself hunching under the drawn up purple shade of her jacket collar.
[I]We're family...?[/I] A mention of a letter here, a swerve in a journey there, strange characters coalescing in this one spot to make an odd pilgrimage to see...'Father'.
[I]Thought I'd put an ocean between me and Canterbury by now. Bloody hell...[/I]
[QUOTE=Yun Lao;5302932]"Another damn vulture here..." Lenny muttered, glancing over to Carla, "At least you have someone to gossip with now, ya nag." "Put those lips to good use and keep them shut, ya old goat." The older woman retorted
Meanwhile, Nancy, now brandishing a large pizza peel, was beginning the ordeal of flipping the gargantuan mass of eggs sizzling on her stovetop.
"Because you have bigger things to worry about," Fleetwood said, holding up his hands in a surrendering fashion, "As much as an exposé on Joestar's kids would sell, I'm on a much bigger story."
Putting the photos back into the envelope, he instead pulled out three newspaper clippings. They were obituaries of those same three individuals.[/QUOTE]
Sure enough, the rumor mill from the till done encountered something like this before. Where else would a tabloid be, but a stone's toss from the source itself?
Suddenly, she began to feel faint as she drew the catalogue before her face.
[I]Back to school; Kick Skirts; High Socks.[/I]
Even so, as Fleetwood mentioned obituaries in the path to Johannes Joestar, her eyes strained to the rhythm of a rising pulse as if they could burn holes through the paper before her.
Nevertheless...she stayed quite still where she'd taken her seat.
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The cheerful ding of a bell could be heard across the Junction Stop as Nancy ringed up the order, "Eggs and bacon..."
Sitting on a phalanx of 12 dinner-plates stood a monstrous mass of eggs a foot high... and one tiny plate of bacon.
"... all we had left was a pack of turkey bacon... enjoy..."
With that said, she proceeded on, much more easily, with the other orders.
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[QUOTE=Yun Lao;5303008]"Plane crash, car-jackings, accidents, the list goes on, but they were all on their way to the same reading as you. Like I said, there is a bigger question to all of this. The question is; what did Johannes Joestar really die from? Officially, it was stated to be Night Fever, but my sources tell me that his symptoms were nothing like Night Fever's."[/QUOTE]
Jinny suddenly went silent, a lump formed in her throat for a moment. A reminder of a still fresh pain, a loss too recent to push aside so easily. The dour look on her face slowly melted as she realized that something deadly serious was going on.
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[QUOTE=Yun Lao;5303008]"Plane crash, car-jackings, accidents, the list goes on, but they were all on their way to the same reading as you. Like I said, there is a bigger question to all of this. The question is; what did Johannes Joestar really die from? Officially, it was stated to be Night Fever, but my sources tell me that his symptoms were nothing like Night Fever's."[/QUOTE]
Car-jackings?
Sandra would never forget how her modest sedan that she obtained through legal means disappeared into thin air while she was in a corner store picking up a bag of crisps and a soda to snack on while driving the rest of the way. The only thing that was left was her bag - which the fucks were gracious enough to leave behind. If this Fleetwood Mac was telling the truth, twenty of her siblings - what the actual fuck? - had some kind of mishap befall them, the severity of which were so severe, they had to be hospitalized. Suddenly, her car vanishing wasn't such a pain in the ass anymore.
"Well, shit. If my old man didn't die of Night Fever, any way you can find out how he actually died?"
She supposed that was an important thing to figure out. That, plus the too-numerous-to-be-a-coincidence mishaps that befell her siblings made her believe there was some fucky shit going on.
"Whatever it is, it smells fucky."
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[QUOTE=Yun Lao;5302979]From what Sandra could see, while the obituaries didn't mention the causes of death, all three of them hinted that none of them were natural.
"Those three were only the beginning. As of the last few days, roughly twenty of your relatives on the Joestar have been hospitalized, but that's not even the biggest question here."[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Yun Lao;5303008]"Plane crash, car-jackings, accidents, the list goes on, but they were all on their way to the same reading as you. Like I said, there is a bigger question to all of this. The question is; what did Johannes Joestar really die from? Officially, it was stated to be Night Fever, but my sources tell me that his symptoms were nothing like Night Fever's."[/QUOTE]
Night Fever?
[I]Penny loafers. Pump heel. Ribbon flats.[/I]
It couldn't have been...and yet that may have been precisely what it was. Suzie'd known she'd come down with something, an out of season influenza attack, perhaps, but no matter how much sleep or Paracetamol she'd taken in over that week, all she'd wanted to do was curl up, as if there was a pit in her stomach that wrenched, split, and sought to pull her in. Until one day it had passed.
Then...it...happened, just as the letter from the Estate arrived.
By some miracle she'd crossed two flights without incident, but she also hadn't slept since.
[I]Well if the official cause innit, where am I going to get answers from now...?[/I]
[QUOTE=Yun Lao;5303022]The cheerful ding of a bell could be heard across the Junction Stop as Nancy ringed up the order, "Eggs and bacon..."
Sitting on a phalanx of 12 dinner-plates stood a monstrous mass of eggs a foot high... and one tiny plate of bacon.
"... all we had left was a pack of turkey bacon... enjoy..."
With that said, she proceeded on, much more easily, with the other orders.[/QUOTE]
Slowly, she emerged from her little corner, inching just that much closer to the group conversation.
Crouching over slightly, Suzie inspected the bakery display, perhaps a bit overlong as she tried to listen in at a slightly less comfortable distance.
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[QUOTE=Sub-Zero MKA;5303041]Car-jackings?
Sandra would never forget how her modest sedan that she obtained through legal means disappeared into thin air while she was in a corner store picking up a bag of crisps and a soda to snack on while driving the rest of the way. The only thing that was left was her bag - which the fucks were gracious enough to leave behind. If this Fleetwood Mac was telling the truth, twenty of her siblings - what the actual fuck? - had some kind of mishap befall them, the severity of which were so severe, they had to be hospitalized. Suddenly, her car vanishing wasn't such a pain in the ass anymore.
"Well, shit. If my old man didn't die of Night Fever, any way you can find out how he actually died?"
She supposed that was an important thing to figure out. That, plus the too-numerous-to-be-a-coincidence mishaps that befell her siblings made her believe there was some fucky shit going on.
"Whatever it is, it smells fucky."[/QUOTE]
Jamie nodded, frowning as she said "You're right. Something has to be going on, because all of this is way too much to be considered a mere 'coincidence'. And it's all connected to Johannes Joestar, the Joestar bloodline, and this mysteriously-appearing birthmark."
Her frown deepened as she said "Now I'm even more sure that my decision to leave my 'carpool' and walk. I fear to even think what would have happened to me had I stayed in that car with those transphobes."
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[QUOTE=The Dog;5303074]Jamie nodded, frowning as she said "You're right. Something has to be going on, because all of this is way too much to be considered a mere 'coincidence'. And it's all connected to Johannes Joestar, the Joestar bloodline, and this mysteriously-appearing birthmark."
Her frown deepened as she said "Now I'm even more sure that my decision to leave my 'carpool' and walk. I fear to even think what would have happened to me had I stayed in that car with those transphobes."[/QUOTE]
Sandra considered what Jamie said, but only one thing stuck out. She overheard Jamie tell the old lady about that the guys she had been carpooling with had "bad opinions". [I]Transphobes, huh? And her being worried about [U]her[/U] well-being means only one thing.[/I]
Eh, whatever. If it made Jamie happy. Sandra wasn't one to judge in that regard.
She said nothing and made no indication that she heard what she said. It wasn't anyone's place to call that out unless Jamie wanted to talk about it.
"Sounds like you made the right choice. A long walk is better than the alternative."