A Bizarre New World, Chapter One: Cat’s In The Cradle

[Tami]

" I'm not going back to my home. Life as an Ex hitman is quite boring, safe, but boring. Certainly not going back to the home where I was born and raised for obvious reasons," Boris said.

" Jinny, what financial advisor did you have in mind

"Let's see what happens next. If there is time, if it's possible to do so, I'll put you in touch with my financial advisor. For all we know, once this big reveal happens, these checks might not be worth the paper they are printed on." As much as Jinny wanted to place some trust in the late Johannes Joestar, she had her doubts about cousin Hiro.

[grampagen]

EDIT: ok, let's read closer, and let's try again...

[grampagen]

"As of midnight tonight, the Speedwagon Foundation's databases will purge any intimate information pertaining to you, which leaves the only files on record the same ones in your hands. When you leave this estate, what you do with those and the checks is up to you, as per Mr. Joestar's wishes. Just as some of you may wash your hands of this, the Foundation will be doing the same -save for one exception- so we will not be accepting any of your checks."

Extending a handout, one of the staff members gave Hironobu an hourglass, which he placed on the table before them.

"With that said, I must repeat my suggestion that you all should give great consideration to what you plan to do. As of right now, the reading has concluded and you are all free to leave any time, richer in monetary, knowledge, and in ... esoteric gains. Those who linger by the time the last grains fall will be consenting to Mr. Joestar's offer and the video will continue."

Still reeling from the mental shock she took from the folio - one billion dollars?! - Suzie blinked hard until the brain fog radiated into bright pinpoints behind her eyelids. Propping her hands on her knees, she straightened up and tried to compose herself to reply, but all that came out was a dry little cough.

I'd a feeling we'd be dragged into Joestar's world, but to such an extent that they'd have to purge the record should any of this get out...

...well she already had something of an idea of what that was like, and not in the way companies made you sign NDAs too keep it out of the tabloid press junkets. Furthermore, what would she be coming back to?

Being seated shoulder to shoulder with strangers in a room was nothing new to her, no real difference from standing adrift with bowed heads in the metro car in her day-to-day, on the way to the thankless task of straightening sets out before applying rouge and prosthetics to some backstage diva. Really...there's nothing really special about any of it, is there?

And surely the number of people who would notice she was missing she could count on one hand. Her parents, the members of the old Bromley group who bothered to keep in touch...she was hard pressed to think of any others who wouldn't just leave it lie, and the realization left a hollow void inside her.

"...the cheques will bounce if we end our association, have I got that right?" An awkward chuckle left her. "Though honestly, I feel it's a bit of a pinch we're in."

"It's not like I can go back to the way things were whilst I've got this Stand hanging over my head. I don't understand the thing, but I can't put anyone else at risk because of it, either." She squirmed her shoulders uncomfortably. "Official records or otherwise...there's people hunting for Stand users, regardless of the Joestar line. If this is the only place in the world willing to help, suppose I haven't much of a choice...and I want to know what...Father...was hiding..."

[KingofPie]

The envelope held only a check, each worth one.billion.dollars.

"...Oh, word?"

Miguel, satisfied with the amount of zeroes displayed before his eyes, immediately turned around to leave.

"This is not an attempt to buy back any wrongdoings," Johannes said, the recording starting up again, "This was what you would have gotten regardless of upbringing. Still, should you chose to reject it and wash your hands of this, I understand."

He paused, as if allowing them to recollect their thoughts, and proceeded, "What I am proposing next is entirely your decision. I have little room to ask any requests, nonetheless demand participation. Consider this an invitation to join your old man's legacy, but before I will get to the nitty-gritty, I must warn you; by accepting this, you'll be throwing away any chance of safety you might have."

Pausing the video once more, Hironobu addressed the crowd, "As of this point, you have reached the point of no return; your last chance to go back to your current lives with your inheritance. As Mr. Joestar said, you have no obligation to continue on and are free to opt out without any questions asked. Do not let curiosity put you into any unneeded risk, the ordeals you endured getting to the estate is nothing compare to what waits for you once you accept this invitation. Think long and hard about your decision."

Silence fell over the room for but just a moment before several people rose from their seats, some sheepish, others apathetic; among them were the two familiar faces of laid-back King and anxious Sonny. Gently guided by the staff, the doors were unlocked, only to be locked once more once they left.

Now was the time to choose.

Miguel was halfway towards the door before the video continued and Hironobu paused it. He honestly wish he'd just left.

Consider this an invitation to join your old man's legacy

Do not let curiosity put you into any unneeded risk, the ordeals you endured getting to the estate is

**** you, old man. Of all the things ascribed to you, why did you have to be interesting. Miguel normally wanted nothing to do with his father, save for the check he assumed he would receive and did. But this legacy....whatever it was. These stands, the murder attempts, the penguin...where did it all lead. What was the goal. Just what was Johannes a part of that lead to such secrecy such a fervor prevent them from uncovering it. Was he a part of a secret society? Was he guarding untold riches?

Every magician worth his salt, who had a keen mind would be stupid not to want to uncover the mystery behind every magic trick. The principal was the same. This was undoubtedly the real reason they were all invited here. Besides...who's to say the danger would truly fade if they all turned their backs on this and left.

"I should walk out that door..." Miguel sighed, turning around finally and walking back to his seat. "Regret this as I might, pops has kept one to many secrets already. It's time we figured out just what he was up to."

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Vivian, having been denied answers time and again by... uh. Hinobro? Hinata?

Something like that.

Opted to stay out of spite, and to ask one of the others how to make this paper turn into meat.

"I for one, am staying."

[Yun Lao]

Still reeling from the mental shock she took from the folio - one billion dollars?! - Suzie blinked hard until the brain fog radiated into bright pinpoints behind her eyelids. Propping her hands on her knees, she straightened up and tried to compose herself to reply, but all that came out was a dry little cough.

I'd a feeling we'd be dragged into Joestar's world, but to such an extent that they'd have to purge the record should any of this get out...

...well she already had something of an idea of what that was like, and not in the way companies made you sign NDAs too keep it out of the tabloid press junkets. Furthermore, what would she be coming back to?

Being seated shoulder to shoulder with strangers in a room was nothing new to her, no real difference from standing adrift with bowed heads in the metro car in her day-to-day, on the way to the thankless task of straightening sets out before applying rouge and prosthetics to some backstage diva. Really...there's nothing really special about any of it, is there?

And surely the number of people who would notice she was missing she could count on one hand. Her parents, the members of the old Bromley group who bothered to keep in touch...she was hard pressed to think of any others who wouldn't just leave it lie, and the realization left a hollow void inside her.

"...the cheques will bounce if we end our association, have I got that right?" An awkward chuckle left her. "Though honestly, I feel it's a bit of a pinch we're in."

"It's not like I can go back to the way things were whilst I've got this Stand hanging over my head. I don't understand the thing, but I can't put anyone else at risk because of it, either." She squirmed her shoulders uncomfortably. "Official records or otherwise...there's people hunting for Stand users, regardless of the Joestar line. If this is the only place in the world willing to help, suppose I haven't much of a choice...and I want to know what...Father...was hiding..."

"The Speedwagon Foundation has nothing to do with those checks. Those are coming purely from your father's private account. Otherwise, it would be pointless to give them to those who have already walked out."

Approaching the table once more, he almost scowled as he realized that the last few seconds were almost up, "Far too many of you... then again, Mr. Joestar was just as impulsive." Picking up the remote controller, he looked to all of them as if contemplating trying to warn them off one last time. He didn't see the point considering this bunch, "Let us all hope that none of you regret the decision you have made today. There's no going back..."

Hitting the resume button, the video transitions to reveal Johannes once more, this time he looks horrible, to say the least. Dark bags hang from sunken eyes and above sunken cheeks, the pallor of death already creeping through his flesh. His collar and ribs can be seen poking through his skin as his attire no longer fits him, his skeletal frame a far cry from the brickhouse he had once been. Despite this, life still burned brightly in his eyes and the old man managed to gather the strength to smirk at the camera.

"Pretty rough, right?"Their father asked, hollowly chuckling to himself, "Media says it's Night Fever and I don't intend to correct them, but you all need to know the truth..."

Leaning forward, it was then that it could be noticed that he was seated in bed, the blankets seemingly holding him down from floating off from the lightest breeze, "We were attacked not too long ago. That woman with the gauntlet did something to me. It's like a poisoning of the soul... or perhaps she has taken it?" Johannes looked off to the side, lost in thought but eventually catching himself, "Forgive me, I've been losing myself in my thoughts more and more recently."

Clearing his throat, he took in a deep breath, "I have found the cure to Night Fever, which is why they have chosen to kill me. Although I have failed to reach Avalon, that will be a different story for you. I can't give you the details here, but you must hurry to the impact zones. You must find the source of each one and only then with the owner of a broken heart guide you to Avalon. Be careful, they will want it for their own needs and will do anything they can to get it."

Looking aside once more, Johannes seemed lost, almost sorrowful, before he turned back to the camera, "I'm sorry things turned out like this, but it had to be this way. You may not understand or accept it, but you'll know soon enough. I love all of you, be safe out there and take care of each other."

The screen faded to black, then static overtook it once more, the electronic white noise filling the chamber.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Vivian, like the others were silent. Then she realized something. The final gift from her father, and it wasn't the paper check. "So you're telling me that, no matter which option I chose... I'd have ended back up in Salem with people trying to kill me?" An odd moment of clarity? Or was she always this perceptive. Did it matter? "Well **** me, I guess."

[Tami]

Averting her eyes from the now empty screen, Jinny suddenly felt a pang of sadness and perhaps a touch of grief. It was hard to watch him slipping into the eternal darkness of death. She could sense that he was a good man, one she wished she could have met in person if only just once.

Composing herself and looking up again, she scanned the room, quickly taking a reading on each person here. Vivian was the first to speak up, and what she said, while more applicable to her, could be applied to each one here. Even if they had left, they were already marked. At least now they have a chance to help save lives.


Salem, Massachusetts, Roswell, New Mexico, Gibsonton, Florida. Three places to travel to. Her mind already began trying to figure this out. Should they all go together? Should they split up? Vivian obviously knows Salem, so, perhaps she would have the easiest time finding what...they were...looking for....

What were they looking for? The meteorites?

Rubbing her eyes, she then finally spoke up, "Hiro, seriously, we can't just go running off in search of whatever it is that we are searching for. We need time to prepare, to plan, to make arrangements if needed. Didn't anyone take that into consideration? Are we now completely on our own? Or will the Foundation provide any assistance at all? "

[Sub-Zero MKA]

When the final grain of sand fell and time expired, Sandra's fate was sealed. She hadn't gotten up from her chair, so with no more time left to think, she was in the deep end of whatever conspiracy the old bastard was a part of. For better or for worse, she was in it for the long haul. You better not make me regret this.

The video played once again. Joestar was once again on the screen, but his visage was nightmarish. The shadow of death had been cast over him. His meaty physique had been whittled away until there was nothing more than pale, sickly skin stretched over a thin layer of meat and jagged bones. The pitch black circles under his sunken eyes specifically attracted her attention and held it. A small, very minuscule part of her felt bad for him. The larger part knew that whatever happened to him was exactly what he had coming.

Joestar explained very little and spoke only in what Sandra could only imagine were riddles. Something a woman with a gauntlet taking his soul, something called Avalon, and the impact zones. He found the cure to Night Fever, and so someone wanted to kill him because of that. The woman with the gauntlet? Did she have a name? What did she look like outside of the gauntlet? Did she have a stand? Was it her stand? What did he mean by "the owner of the broken heart"? What the **** did any of that mean?

Sandra had so many questions and Joestar gave no answers.

"That's it?" she asked when the screen faded to black, then exploded into a scratchy cacophony of auditory and visual static. "What the **** was that?! What did any of that bullshit mean?"

[bruceleegreyhulk]

"So I guess there will be people trying to kill us huh, well, having someone trying to kill me is something I'm familiar with. When I was a hitman, people try to kill my granduncle and me all the damn time. For anyone who doesn't know this, the word hitman is a synonym for a male assassin," Boris said.

[grampagen]

"The Speedwagon Foundation has nothing to do with those checks. Those are coming purely from your father's private account. Otherwise, it would be pointless to give them to those who have already walked out."

Approaching the table once more, he almost scowled as he realized that the last few seconds were almost up, "Far too many of you... then again, Mr. Joestar was just as impulsive." Picking up the remote controller, he looked to all of them as if contemplating trying to warn them off one last time. He didn't see the point considering this bunch, "Let us all hope that none of you regret the decision you have made today. There's no going back..."

"...mm, yes, of course..."

Suzie replied, but her dreamlike voice flit the words as if she were stuck somewhere far off and only distantly listening to the words.

It seemed, for better or for worse, the lot of Johannes Joestar's children had decided to stay. With how deep we've already gone, there's no going back anyway. But now that we might leverage something from being our father's wards, there might be something we can yet do...

For now, more a flight of fancy than anything else, she reminded herself, and as she sat there stooped and watching, the cold shadow of「Jigsaw Feeling」's upper torso faded in and loomed above her.

Hitting the resume button, the video transitions to reveal Johannes once more, this time he looks horrible, to say the least. Dark bags hang from sunken eyes and above sunken cheeks, the pallor of death already creeping through his flesh. His collar and ribs can be seen poking through his skin as his attire no longer fits him, his skeletal frame a far cry from the brickhouse he had once been. Despite this, life still burned brightly in his eyes and the old man managed to gather the strength to smirk at the camera.

____

The screen faded to black, then static overtook it once more, the electronic white noise filling the chamber.

If the first half of his will showed the man in his prime ready to face the future with a sort of resigned grace, the second half was disturbing. Not in the way a good fright or turn in the late hour picture show conveys a kind of knowing, dark mischief, but the sort of gothic horror revulsion that took Shelley as she described her Creature from the memory of her stillborn child.

Compulsively, Suzie drew a pen out from her pocket and began scribbling on the back of her Speedwagon Foundation dossier folder.

ATTACK.
WOMAN W/ GAUNTLET.
POISON SOUL.
THE CURE.
BROKEN HEART; GUIDE TO AVALON.

Pausing, she gripped the edges of the stiff card surface. The pen floated up in「Jigsaw Feeling」's hand, and began to dot the fineliner ink repeatedly upon the page. After a moment to parse the danger that surely face them, her voice warbled as she spoke.

"...I thought you said this place was safe..." she said with a quiver. If the fracas from the other night was enough to upset that notion, knowing the owner of the estate was killed in spite of everything shook her deeply. "Suppose it's as good as we've got, innit?"

She read over the notes she wrote again. "There's a cure, but...she didn't want that getting out," she repeated, "Hironobu-san, have you got any information about that woman?"

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Boris looks around at everyone. "We could split up, but counterpoint split up will make it easier for an assassin to pick us off one by one. We could also all go as a group, but counterpoint we would cover less ground that way," Boris.

" Anyways, I'm not sure what we should do? I don't think any of us are planners, especially not me. I'm the type of guy who follows plans. I don't make them," Boris said.

[Yun Lao]

Hironobu remained quiet for some time, allowing them to purge themselves of their initial reactions; outrage, confusion, whining, and everything else in between.

"That video was made roughly two hours before Mr. Joestar's death. I'd say he was more coherent than most of you would have been. Still, I am willing to be... understanding of your situation, so I will ease back on my retorts, for now." Approaching a wall, the teenager pushed on it, revealing a hidden function as it flipped over to reveal a whiteboard, "For Ms. Sandra, I will try and make this as simple as I can; Mr. Joestar had discovered that there was a correlation between the Night Fever and Ocasek 678. While there had been theories about this ever since the meteors struck, no one had the resources to go into the impact zones and find the remains of the meteors, nonetheless retrieve a sample. Your father eventually made that possible and found that combining samples from all three zones produced a... result. Testing proved that while it did not outright cure the Night Fever, it ensured the inflicted survived. Needless to say with the current survival rate, it might as well be a cure."

Pulling out a dry-erase marker, Hironobu pulled the cap off before he wrote out a name,

「LITA FORD」

"Mr. Joestar did not have many enemies, but one of them for certain was the O.S.S. after a... certain incident. It was only natural that they would be hostile to his attempts to obtain the RIZ sample," Tapping on the board right below the name, he continued, "They sent someone to retrieve the RIZ sample, as well as take the other two and the research as added interest and while we were successful in keeping her from succeeding in her mission, Brigadier General Lita Ford was ultimately the one who dealt the deathblow to your father."

Capping the marker, he turned back to them, "The speed in which Mr. Joestar deteriorated meant that some details of his research were not recorded and lost with him. In order to reproduce your father's cure, we will need the meteor fragments from all three impact zones."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Hironobu remained quiet for some time, allowing them to purge themselves of their initial reactions; outrage, confusion, whining, and everything else in between.

"That video was made roughly two hours before Mr. Joestar's death. I'd say he was more coherent than most of you would have been. Still, I am willing to be... understanding of your situation, so I will ease back on my retorts, for now." Approaching a wall, the teenager pushed on it, revealing a hidden function as it flipped over to reveal a whiteboard, "For Ms. Sandra, I will try and make this as simple as I can; Mr. Joestar had discovered that there was a correlation between the Night Fever and Ocasek 678. While there had been theories about this ever since the meteors struck, no one had the resources to go into the impact zones and find the remains of the meteors, nonetheless retrieve a sample. Your father eventually made that possible and found that combining samples from all three zones produced a... result. Testing proved that while it did not outright cure the Night Fever, it ensured the inflicted survived. Needless to say with the current survival rate, it might as well be a cure."

Pulling out a dry-erase marker, Hironobu pulled the cap off before he wrote out a name,

「LITA FORD」

"Mr. Joestar did not have many enemies, but one of them for certain was the O.S.S. after a... certain incident. It was only natural that they would be hostile to his attempts to obtain the RIZ sample," Tapping on the board right below the name, he continued, "They sent someone to retrieve the RIZ sample, as well as take the other two and the research as added interest and while we were successful in keeping her from succeeding in her mission, Brigadier General Lita Ford was ultimately the one who dealt the deathblow to your father."

Capping the marker, he turned back to them, "The speed in which Mr. Joestar deteriorated meant that some details of his research were not recorded and lost with him. In order to reproduce your father's cure, we will need the meteor fragments from all three impact zones."

" O.S.S, huh, my granduncle knows guys, and he doesn't like them very much. He considers them to be assholes. In fact, I'm pretty sure the whole world of assassination knows about such a group," Boris said.

[Tami]

Hironobu remained quiet for some time, allowing them to purge themselves of their initial reactions; outrage, confusion, whining, and everything else in between.

"That video was made roughly two hours before Mr. Joestar's death. I'd say he was more coherent than most of you would have been. Still, I am willing to be... understanding of your situation, so I will ease back on my retorts, for now." Approaching a wall, the teenager pushed on it, revealing a hidden function as it flipped over to reveal a whiteboard, "For Ms. Sandra, I will try and make this as simple as I can; Mr. Joestar had discovered that there was a correlation between the Night Fever and Ocasek 678. While there had been theories about this ever since the meteors struck, no one had the resources to go into the impact zones and find the remains of the meteors, nonetheless retrieve a sample. Your father eventually made that possible and found that combining samples from all three zones produced a... result. Testing proved that while it did not outright cure the Night Fever, it ensured the inflicted survived. Needless to say with the current survival rate, it might as well be a cure."

Pulling out a dry-erase marker, Hironobu pulled the cap off before he wrote out a name,

「LITA FORD」

"Mr. Joestar did not have many enemies, but one of them for certain was the O.S.S. after a... certain incident. It was only natural that they would be hostile to his attempts to obtain the RIZ sample," Tapping on the board right below the name, he continued, "They sent someone to retrieve the RIZ sample, as well as take the other two and the research as added interest and while we were successful in keeping her from succeeding in her mission, Brigadier General Lita Ford was ultimately the one who dealt the deathblow to your father."

Capping the marker, he turned back to them, "The speed in which Mr. Joestar deteriorated meant that some details of his research were not recorded and lost with him. In order to reproduce your father's cure, we will need the meteor fragments from all three impact zones."

"How much of the meteor fragments will be needed? I've seen meteorites in Natural History Museums that are the size of a golf ball, and others that are as big as a small car. Each of the Ocasek 678 fragments could be broken up and scattered over a wide area, or it might be intact."

Jinny then thought of something, "Speaking of enemies, does anyone have any idea who attacked Jamie and Boris? Seems odd and unsettling that they would be attacked inside the Foundation."