Golden Wind: Fate of Zephyr

Chapter 4: Master of Puppets

Like a hawk witnessing the whole thing, Ogio Engio was perched on the highest rooftop overseeing the courtyard the two Stand Users were standing in. He could have gotten close and confronted them himself for the sake of his eyesight but decided to remain as hidden and away as possible. Usually, he would not witness such banal affairs but something in his gut told him to follow the candidate and observe. He had yet to see how Giorno’s ability manifests and determine whether it was worthy of a membership to Passione; witnessing would allow Ogio Engio to cut the initiation test short if the candidate exceeds his expectations early. The Caporegime wasn’t yet aware of Koichi’s abilities either and assumed the teenager was a foreign exchange student who just assumed the Former Don had just killed the janitor. Ogio Engio came up with a plan to kill two birds with one stone.

In the courtyard, the two Stand Users were trying to figure out how to defeat their new enemy. “Our opponent may be some bigshot,” Giorno began to tell Koichi, “but that doesn’t excuse him for killing that janitor as if he was a piece of trash to be disposed of. We have to defeat them once and for all!” 

The Former Don tried to find Ogio Engio again but saw the thin man had disappeared from his sight, possibly moving to a different rooftop or balcony to avoid detection. Nonetheless, there was no time to find him when there was a Stand on his tail. Just like「Black Sabbath」, it was remotely controlled and limited to the shadows but the Stand User was present to at least see what was going on; how a near-sighted man like Ogio Engio would be a good witness to the encounter was a mystery that only the older man knew. Koichi and Giorno were back to back until they found the hidden Stand in the nearby shadows of the stairwell for a brief moment before it disappeared. It seemed to be taunting the two with its hands waving around like a bizarre alien. “I think I’ve encountered this Stand before,” he tried to assume its abilities. “We have to be careful to not go into the shadows.”

“That won’t be easy, Giogio,” Koichi pointed to his wristwatch and then another nearby shadow. The day was almost coming to an end and sunset was inevitable. “Once that sun sets, everything will be in the shadows and we will have no way to avoid the enemy without fighting them. Not only that, shadows tend to be longer as the sun sets too. Do you know what the Stand does if we step into the shadows?”

“Well,” Giorno was about to answer when「Y2K」appeared again at the top of the stairwell; it peaked between the concrete bars, careful to not expose itself to the sunlight. Giorno gently grabbed Koichi’s shoulder to help the latter back away slowly. “I think it pins you down with its strength and then it will—”

He had no time to finish as he was then proven wrong. A black shadowy arm reached out from the shadows and began stretching towards Koichi; he was the closest to it. Panicking, the two Stand Users jumped to avoid the hand and began running as far away as possible towards the green patch of land nearby. “Looks like it’s not just limited to being in the shadows,” Giorno concluded. “It’s using them as some sort of force to extend itself!” Every turn they took in the small space they were in, the shadowy hand twisted and turned. Whoever was the closest at the moment, the shadow would diverge to try grabbing it. Giorno noticed that it would look thinner and weaker every time it stretched farther and suggested Koichi try running in circles separately. He falsely assumed that the more the shadow moved around that the more it would weaken and by two more times to strategize; the Former Don was particularly worried that running farther from the scene instead meant increasing the chances of running into people and therefore getting more victims involved. “Are you sure that would work,” the teenager tried to run around while starting to feel out of breath. However, he suddenly felt like his body stopped moving; the shadowy hand had finally gotten him. 

「Y2K」had the ability to manipulate shadows but another sinister ability as well. When it catches onto its victim’s body, it not only had the option of holding them down but the option to control them. One of the benefits of having Ogio Engio present was his ability to optimize this manipulation ability. His vision remained limited but he could see and feel enough to know that he caught someone other than his candidate; he was going to set his plan in motion. “Do you just really forget who you're dealing with,” Ogio Engio muttered to himself. From where he stood, the Caporegime tried to squint so he knew which part of the body was the arms and the legs. Giorno noticed Koichi’s body initially froze mid-run before jerking violently to face the former directly. As if he was fighting against himself for control, the Stand User felt his fists being raised and positioned into a fighting position. From the looks on his face, he was struggling to fight against it. “What is going on,” Koichi cried out to the Former Don for help. “My body is being controlled like a puppet! Giogio, help!”

Without warning, Koichi felt his right arm swing towards Giorno as if he was going to punch the latter. Giorno managed to dodge the fist as the other Stand User yelled an apology. Ogio Engio found the whole thing amusing as his fingers manipulated his victim as if the latter were a marionette. By himself, the Caporegime began humming a strange tune that was mostly “la-la-la” on his part. 

“I’m not trying to attack you, Giogio,” Koichi tried to reassure the Former Don. Neither was aware of the soft singing that Ogio Engio was doing. “The Stand is making me do this! You have to believe me!” 

It didn’t take a lot for both Stand Users to know that Ogio Engio may not stop unless there was a way to break the control. Giorno kept dodging and blocking Koichi’s fists and kicks as he saw the shadow now acting as a tether to power it. He tried to reassure the other Stand User that he understood what was going on despite the constant attacks progressively becoming worse; a few times Koichi’s fingers forcibly curled to try scratching him. The Former Don debated on whether he should shine a light or try to break the shadow in any way when his eyes fell on the stairwell.「Y2K」was still peeking out with its multiple hands positioned as if it was pulling strings on a marionette, mirroring it own Stand User’s action. Koichi had become a helpless puppet that was being used against Giorno. Some of the misses that resulted in the Stand User being thrown down onto the ground or punching something else was starting to bruise and cut his body. “Are you worthy of the Arrow,” the Stand bellowed at the two of them. “No one can escape the fate that is their proof of worthiness!”

The Former Don could feel Koichi’s kicks getting harder and more painful as the fight progressed. He felt lucky that Ogio Engio probably didn’t realize his current puppet was a Stand User who was already struck by the Stand Arrow; he only knew so much about「Echoes」beyond it having three abilities and wasn’t prepared to subdue Koichi in any way that could minimize harm against the latter. His eyes motioned to the stairwell and he decided to summon「Golden Experience」. He tried his best to be subtle about it and succeeded in avoiding detection from Ogio Engio. “Transform the stairs just like before,” he commanded his Stand as he narrowly dodged a round-house kick that overstretched Koichi more than he wanted. The Stand didn’t hesitate to hover over and transform what was commanded to be changed into various flowery vines that danced in the sunlight. The way the vines fell made the shadow of the stairs short and caused「Y2K」to lose its power. Giorno used his strength to push Koichi away as far as he could, helping him break off from the shadow and therefore ending「Y2K」 's control; the shadow hand retracted from its victim and merged back into the shadows. The enemy Stand just happened to be exposed to sunlight as the stairway transformed; the parts of its body not covered by clothing burned and emitted noticeable smoke as it cried in pain. Giorno heard the faint cry of an older man. “That must be the Stand User,” he thought aloud to let Koichi know without pointing. “I guess「Y2K」still has some similarities to「Black Sabbath」after all. Now, to defeat them once and for all.”

“Giogio,” Koichi had gotten up from his last fall and approached the Former Don once he was freed. “Don’t worry. I’m no longer in control of that… thing…”

“だいじょうぶですか ?” Giorno reassured him again that he did nothing wrong but checked on the teenager nonetheless. Koichi mentioned that Giorno was too polite with his words before the latter continued. “We must work quickly,” the teenager added. “The shadows are growing longer and we don’t have much time! What do we do?”

Giorno could hear some birds squawking and noticed they had perched onto a nearby ledge in the shadows. He recalled「Black Sabbath」using flying birds via their shadows to jump and grab Giorno last time and then noticed a familiar tree in the distance. If he could force「Y2K」to hold him down again and expose the Stand to sunlight, he could end the fight once and for all. The question now was to get Stand to make it far enough to the tree and to avoid it appearing suspicious now that there was a witness. The day was coming to an end.

“Koichi,” Giorno went completely speaking Japanese towards him in a very soft whisper. “I have a plan. But, you need to be careful to make it work. Do you have any snacks on you?”

“え,” the teenager was confused. “Why do you need snacks? I do have some airplane peanuts I kept from my flight a few hours ago but that’s all. They’re not particularly tasty if you plan on eating them.”

“I don’t need them to eat myself,” Giorno smiled when he asked Koichi to hand them over. “So long as those birds over there see free food, they’ll devour it nonetheless.” 

“What’s your plan,” Koichi noticed the person the Former Don mentioned was watching them during the scuffle and did his best to stealthily hand the peanuts over to the latter. “What does it have to do with the birds?”

“I need you to head over to that small sapling over there,” Giorno motioned to the plant far into the distance; he wasn't sure if the plant has changed or if it was still the same given its noticeably smaller size compared to years ago. “Walk quickly to the plant but don’t look like you’re trying to run off— we can figure out some way to make it not noticeable. I'll be following you behind. We’re going to bait「Y2K」into following us and, hopefully, he’ll catch me first. If he tries to catch you instead, I can easily stand in the way to make it so he gets me anyway. On my cue, use「Echoes Act 3」to pin the Stand down and I will take care of the rest.”

“You can’t be serious,” Koichi tried to not react. “If that Stand gets you and I’m too far away to help, you might die!”

“Dead or alive,” Giorno spoke motivationally, “this is my resolve. I will do what I can to protect and save innocent lives for the sake of my dream. If this fails, at least you have a chance to run and save yourself. But, I think this will work. Trust me... please.”

“Giogio,” Koichi considered talking the Former Don out of it but realized there was no way to change his mind. He remembered the first time they met at the airport and recalled the eloquence he gave off. The noble air that all the Joestars had and their determination to make things right. “Let me make a scene to make this plan more convincing on our end,” the whole time they were speaking a mix of Italian and Japanese, but now switched to the latter language completely. Giorno nodded in agreement, wondering what Koichi had planned. 

“頑張って,” Koichi squeezed Giorno’s hand to acknowledge the idea; the peanuts were hidden in his hand to pass it to the other like a drug deal. Giorno squeezed back to confirm and take the snacks as stealthily as possible. 

The Former Don wasn’t expecting a fake argument would be Koichi’s choice of approach but went along with the teenager’s bizarre idea. The teenager wasn’t one to be confrontational or brash but he decided to at least have fun with it. “What do you mean pineapple should not go on pizza,” Koichi screamed in Japanese. “This is why no one takes Italian culture seriously!”

“Are you serious,” Giorno tried to stifle a laugh, but their fake argument about pineapple on pizza seemed to be working. “You don’t know true Italian food! Get that fucking shit off our beautiful food or I’ll smack your face all the way back to Japan!” 

As the two pretended to bicker, Ogio Engio falsely guessed that the loud voices coming out of both Stand Users and saw that the shorter of the two was running off to where Giorno told him to go earlier. “Are they speaking Chinese or something,” the Caporegime tried to guess. “They must be arguing among themselves and believed one falsely attacked the other. My plan to pit them against each other seemed to be working. Separating the two would allow me to kill both at different times. Neither would be able to save the other! But first, I'll have to deal with the candidate.” Koichi moved backward to not only watch the shadows but to continue selling the act of him being too irrational to walk off silently. 

“This is why I’m never going back to FUCKING ITALY,” he threw in the vulgar hand signal that was the Italian equivalent to the English middle finger. Had Ogio Engio’s eyesight been better, he would have seen Koichi’s smile breaking when he held his hands. “We don’t want you anyway,” Giorno playfully called and threw the same hand signal back. “At least we're an honest people here in Italy, motherfucker! Get outta here, punk!”

Giorno wasn’t just flipping Koichi off for the act. During the conversation, he pretended to fish the peanuts from his pockets and open the packet as if he decided to snack out of nowhere. The teenager gradually approached the sapling and tried stalling so that he wouldn’t awkwardly stop if he walked too fast. Ogio Engio watched Giorno open what looked like a random bag from his perspective. He wasn’t able to tell that the Former Don was pretending to eat a few of them when in reality he was catching the birds’ attention by throwing them into the grassy area in the shade. The birds landed from their perched spot to the grassy area in the shade; they managed to conclude that Giorno was going to feed them if they tried to follow. 

Only now did the Caporegime notice the birds. He started thinking of the possibility of the birds flying and he could use it as an extension as he noticed Giorno walking towards Koichi; the two were still acting as if they were about to fight each other. The Former Don had mentally estimated where「Y2K」’s limits may be and was only a few steps away when he threw the peanuts to be above him. The birds took notice; Ogio Engio did not. As soon as they began taking flight into the sunlight and their shadows appeared separate from the building,「Y2K」took the bait. As soon as it began peeking out, Giorno made a run for it and one look was enough for Koichi to wait for the cue. 

The sapling was what the Former Don was aiming to use; it was a slightly different tree that did expose its roots for him to touch easily. As Giorno expected,「Y2K」used the birds’ shadows to extend themselves further than before, and, the Former Don eventually sprinted his way to the spot he told Koichi to wait for him at. “Now,” Giorno was about to tell the teenager to use his Stand when he abruptly fell;「Y2K」had used its shadowy hand to catch him by the leg slightly earlier than anticipated. 

Using the shadow, the Stand tauntingly made its way to Giorno and kept the shadow on the Stand User to keep him down. Giorno had used「Golden Experience」to start the growth process on the same tree he used to defeat「Black Sabbath」. He could see the tree growing and inadvertently making its shadow bigger. “「Echoes Act 3」,” Koichi made sure to remain in the sunlight but didn’t hesitate to take a grip of「Y2K」and hold it down. The Stand gave a low roar and they could hear Ogio Engio feel it from a distance. “What the hell,” the Caporegime asked himself. “Is that random kid the candidate was also a Stand User? I haven’t even figured out what the candidate’s own Stand is. It’s too late to throw in the towel and simply make him a member. He is too powerful for La Familigia and should not join Passione at all costs! He must die!”

Just like「Black Sabbath」,「Y2K」was also resisting but seemed to be giving its all to escape. “I can’t hold him much longer,” Koichi was concerned about Giorno's leg once he heard a loud crack. “Your leg will be broken—”

“I’m almost done,” GIorno tried to make「Golden Experience」’s effects go faster as he gritted his teeth to endure the pain of his leg longer; for some reason, he was not able to get the tree to age fast enough like before and he was putting in as much of his ability as he can. He realized the tree was much younger than the original one but kept pushing despite the pain in his leg gradually growing. The enemy Stand began using more of its arms to try overcoming「Echoes Act 3」. Giorno tried his best to be optimistic. “Just keep holding it down!”

But, Koichi could do so much. Exhausted due to the sheer power of the enemy Stand compared to his, the teenager let go and allowed「Y2K」to finally stand up from the ground. Instead of using the Stand Arrow, it used most of its hands to grab Giorno by his neck. A few grabbed his legs and arms to keep him immobilized and lifted the Former Don into the air. “You would have been a great mafioso if you had followed the rules,” the Stand tried to choke him slowly; it intentionally wanted to torture him to death. “But, now, you must face the consequences of your actions!”

Giorno noticed the tree was almost getting to the stage he needed it to be but being farther away from it is slowing it down. That was when he remembered something from his other pocket that had remained untouched during the whole day. When he stole Koichi’s suitcase earlier and years ago, he did keep one thing from it before selling the rest off: a small compact mirror that was decorated with rose motifs he later learned belonged to a girl named Yukako Yamagishi; she had snuck it into Koichi’s suitcase before his departure as a parting gift intended for her lover to find once he arrived to Italy. 

“Koichi,” his airways were restricted further as he used「Golden Experience」to transform the compact mirror into a butterfly that proceeded to fly out. “Grab that butterfly and open it!”

Koichi had no time to question it but did as he was told, realizing that it was a familiar compact mirror as soon as it reverted and understood what Giorno wanted him to do. “The light,” his words were becoming more hoarse while「Y2K」told him to shut up. “Take your execution with dignity at least,” the Stand mocked him as he felt the Former Don feeling weaker. “And then I’ll deal with your friend next!” Ogio Engio wasn’t able to know what Koichi held up but noticed something from the latter’s hand glimmered. The Caporegime realized what was going to happen but he and his Stand were too slow to react. 

The mirror was used to reflect the sunlight straight into「Y2K」’s face. The Stand immediately dropped Giorno, who then resumed speeding up the tree’s growth before it ultimately withered to expose light. The act was so quick that「Y2K」was unable to retreat and Ogio Engio was feeling the burn himself. Koichi used his remaining strength to use「Echoes」to hold the Stand more for good measure. In vain,「Y2K」tried to grab either Stand User to bring them with him to death. The Former Don gasped for air as soon as he was let go and used his remaining energy to quicken「Golden Experience」’s ability. 

The scream that came out of「Y2K」was inhuman and loud enough to hide Ogio Engio’s distant pained cry. In desperation, it tried to use the shadows of the cracked pavement to retreat but「Golden Experience」stopped it as soon as it tried to reach out. “Koichi,” he remembered this part of his past for sure, “please move a little to the right for me. You can let go of「Y2K」now.”

Koichi nodded and wondered what Giorno was going to do. Just as if he did it years ago, the Former Don threw「Y2K」’s burning body into the sky and beat the daylights out of it until it turned into nothing but ash. “Bask in the Italian sun,” Giorno gave a cough before he said his goodbye to the Stand. “無駄, 無駄, 無駄, 無駄 !” With that,「Y2K」disappeared from existence and silence filled the air as the sun finally set. The area was becoming shadowy but there was no more fear of the Stand returning to torment them again. All was rather quiet at first. 

That silence was then broken by the sound of a distant thud. Ogio Engio had been completely burned as a result of the Stand attack and had just fallen head-first to the ground upon dying. Koichi grimaced at the sound of the abrupt splattering of brain matter once the head hit the pavement. “Is that the Stand User that was controlling「Y2K」this whole time,” he asked Giorno to confirm. The Former Don nodded solemnly. 

Giorno hesitantly approached the body with Koichi and carefully rolled it over onto its back, noticing burned marks on the uncovered skin of Ogio Engio’s body; it seemed like the burns go underneath his clothes as well. The black Moretta mask he wore fell off and seemed to have cracked once it hit the floor previously and a few pieces of it were stuck onto his face like glass shards. What remained of Ogio Engio’s face revealed a frail middle-aged man, his face barely beyond recognition, and his bright red hair almost resembling fire on his head. The black earpiece that was on his body was detached, and he could hear the familiar faint voice of Polpo on the other line before it cut off; it sounded like he was panicking. The two Stand Users found out Ogio Engio had a golden piggy bank in his arms the whole time; miraculously, it was not broken nor had a crack in it. A closer inspection from Giorno revealed it was the same golden piggy bank at the prison earlier. 

“I think this belongs to you,” Koichi had retrieved the lighter on the way to the body, now lit, and given it back to the other Stand User. “I never thought I would be pulled into a fight so early in my trip. Let alone, fight alongside the person I was sent to investigate. Is your leg still okay?”

Giorno reassured him that he is fine; he was just going to have to limp for the rest of the day while「Golden Experience」resets the bone and heals it. The Former Don wondered what to do next with Koichi now that the battle was over. If a member of Passione saw how Koichi had a Stand, it would mean the teenager has been implicated more than ever before. He was still set on his dream, but he knew that he couldn’t get Koichi involved like before. “You need to leave Italy as soon as you can,” he instructed the teenager as he hoisted the dead man onto his shoulder. “Do not come back to this country or even Europe until it is safe to do so. I’ll personally let you know when the time is right.”

“What—”

Giorno continued to tell Koichi more as the former unceremoniously moved the bodies of Ogio Engio and the janitor into the supply closet that the latter was in earlier. Koichi hesitated to help but eventually was told why they had to move the corpses. With the lighter and the help of flammable cleaning supplies, Giorno set the closet alight. 

“If anyone asks,” Giorno continued to make the area look like it was an accident gone wrong, “tell them what I am about to tell you.” The remaining brain matter and blood stains that hadn’t dried up yet were transformed into inconspicuous weeds that grew in the nearby cracks that should have been cleaned up earlier by the gardeners. Koichi did his best to listen to the narrative he was about to hear. “A tragic accident happened here,” the Former Don dictated. “A crazy man in a pink suit tried to commit arson and the old janitor fought with his life to stop him. Mi capisci?” He took the piggy bank and mentally calculated how much he would need to bribe people to believe the same story. “That pink-suit man acted alone and disrespected La Familgila for acting in such a way.”

“We should report to the police,” Koichi reasoned but the idea was shot down by Giorno. “If anyone saw that you were involved in his death in any way, Stand User or not,” he explained, “they will kill you. They’ll come after the Speedwagon Foundation, Dr. Jotaro Kujo, and his family, your girlfriend.” 

Koichi became shy at the mention of Yukako, remembering he still had her compact mirror in his hand, and Giorno continued without mentioning the blush that began to appear on the teenager’s face. “I planned on dealing with La Familgila myself and not having anyone else involved,” the Former Don apologized. “But given that we just killed one of its prominent members and his Stand… The last thing I want is for you and everyone else to get into more trouble caused by me. For your own sake, I suggest you leave on the next plane out. Pretend we know nothing of each other. I promise I will not betray you.” 

Giorno made his way back to his dorm room while they spoke, lighter still in hand, before transforming it into a ladybug that can hitch a ride onto his body. Upon entering his room, he grabbed the zip lock bag and gave it to Koichi along with the latter’s luggage. “Give Dr. Jotaro Kujo my regards,” Giorno thanked Koichi for his help. “Now, leave. Do not look back.”

Giorno was willing to face the consequences on his own and would prefer no more unnecessary lives to be involved— especially the lives of those he would befriend in the future; Koichi would become one of them. By the time Koichi made his way to the entrance once more alone, a crowd was just forming to see why a fire had seemingly appeared in the janitor’s closet. “I can send more DNA once you leave the country safely and things are settled on my end,” Giorno reassured him before Koichi left the dorm room, “but I hope this amount will suffice for now. Please: don’t let the Speedwagon Foundation and the doctor know about why you had to leave early or get them involved just yet. I’ll reach out to them to cooperate further and explain everything to them once all is properly settled.”  

Koichi followed the order, pretending to be a visitor from out of the country to see a friend who attended the school and was now trying to make it back to the airport as soon as possible for his supposed next flight. He used a nearby telephone booth to update Dr. Jotaro Kujo on what had happened and was quickly given a red-eye flight back to Japan. True to his word, the teenager didn’t utter the whole truth regarding his encounter with Giorno and came up with a lie about how Giorno was willing to give him more than enough DNA while also being a good person. 

As Koichi sat back on his plane back to Morioh, Japan— it was a first class seat reserved as a thank you for getting the samples much earlier than expected— he sighed at the chaos that happened in less than one day. The Stand User wondered how he got into such a situation with a potential enemy that ended up being a potential ally, and what would be in store for the Giorno Giovanna now. Had he known what happened in the other timeline, he would know that Giorno ended up becoming a mafia boss that would work closely with the Joestars and the foundation. Giorno himself wondered if he would have that same fate as before in this new timeline.

The Former Don could only hope while standing alongside one group of students who were watching the fire get extinguished, pretending to not be aware of what just happened. Many of the students who had befriended the old janitor were quietly weeping at such a seemingly innocent loss of life. The lighter-turned-ladybug that was now resting on his shoulders and the students around him tried to get a glimpse of the old janitor, who was now being wheeled away into an ambulance. A white shroud covered his entire body, confirming that he was long gone, followed by another body bag that indicated Ogio Engio was beyond recognition in comparison. Word has it that the bodies would not be properly identified until tomorrow afternoon; something about a backlog of bodies in the morgue barely piqued the Stand User’s interest.

Against the initiation’s rules, Giorno decided to visit Polpo’s cell that night— way before the twenty-four hours were up and when the green guards had just changed shifts. Unlike the morning, there were way fewer guards who were willing to haze Giorno further nor did they know that he was there as a candidate for the initiation; none of them knew who he was and were completely different from the guards that he encountered earlier. They all simply assumed he just had some unrelated appointment to meet with Polpo and didn’t bother to check his name or even pat him down. He heard comments they made about how they wondered where Ogio Engio would come back and who was going to tell him that there was a visitor while he was gone; they all had varying degrees of fear as they pointed at whoever they could to be a so-called sacrificial lamb lackey to provide updates to their supposed boss. Giorno realized that none of the guards aside from the three that surrounded him earlier actually talked to Polpo directly— only hearing what Polpo would say through Ogio Engio’s words. He truly was the real Caporegime hidden behind the fat man, and Giorno just killed him.  

When Giorno entered the cell, seeing that the three guards had already left for the day and allowed him to freely enter, he noticed Polpo was now sweating bullets upon his arrival. The facade of being elite and trendy turned into a stuttering mess clutching a barely eaten banana that is being crushed by his fist; it was the last one from the bunch he was eating earlier. Giorno transformed the ladybug hidden in his hair curls into the relit lighter and placed it onto the same door opening that he retrieved the thing from earlier. The fat man’s hands were noticeably shaking as he used one of them to grab the lighter and unlit it; Giorno could tell many thoughts were going through the man’s mind. He wondered if Polpo knew what Giorno did; surprisingly, he didn’t see the other man transforming the ladybug back into the lighter earlier. 

“You… really killed him,” Polpo’s voice was shaking. “How did you do it? What happened to「Y2K」? I don’t…” He was now sobbing. Snot indiscriminately flowed down his nose, some of which made a long string between his lips to his sleeve. Giorno felt like he was going to throw up and looked at Polpo’s scared eyes as a distraction. Even with Aglio’s advice about not reacting arguably no longer needed after the test and killing Ogio Engio, the Stand User remained emotionless and maintained his composure.

The Former Don still didn’t want to give away how he did it or why he committed to killing the Caporegime. It was rather comedic to see this giant obese man who originally had such charisma and initimidation in his old life now cowardly trembling in front of Giorno. Had there not been a glass wall between him and Polpo, he would have smelled something fecal too. “Ogio Engio is gone,” the fat man said between sniffles as if he knew that as a fact. “To think he tried to kill me with this so-called ‘test’ years ago. To think he killed many others with it too. And yet you did the impossible! Monster! Satan reincarnate!” He was hoping for Giorno to say something but the younger man continued to stare defiantly with no reaction. It caused the man to feel more terrified. 

“What do you want from me?” Polpo just wanted the candidate to leave now. He knew that he was nothing with Ogio Engio. He knew that the pink guard and his green subordinates see him as nothing but a puppet, a joke of a life to be used for their orders and entertain when needed, and the fat man knew what they would do to him once they found out that the real deal was dead. He couldn’t get them to help him, even if he tried, and he had no other allies besides the now-dead Caporegime to back him up. He never planned for things to escalate so far.

“I want to join Passione,” Giorno said nonchalantly. “I want to join Nero’s team and only his. I can wait for the twenty-four hours to be finished but—”  

“Done.” He slid a piece of paper into the same door opening, along with a badge to indicate that he was now a new member. While Polpo was merely a puppet, he could complete the documents and other minutia needed to make Giorno an official member of Passione. Giorno noticed the fat man pulling out a computer to type some stuff in. The keyboard looked like it had seen better days when it was not covered in grease and God-knows-what. “Do what you want”, Polpo was choking back tears as he typed the last word and then shut the laptop down abruptly. “You're now a part of Team #47. You’re Nero’s problem now. Just leave me alone!” 

Giorno grabbed and looked at the piece of paper first; it had the address Aglio left as the leader promised before. The headquarters of Team #47 was not too far from here, but he was going to pretend that he took the test like everyone else and joined soon after. The last thing he wanted was for Aglio and his men to potentially mistrust him more because he got away with killing a Caporegime. Generally, he would become a major target overall if word got out that he was the one that killed Ogio Engio. Whoever was going to take his treasure, which Giorno assumed would be Aglio, wouldn't be too happy if the man that would have given Team #47 the prized asset of ten billion Lire died without notice. Regardless of why the Former Don was still standing in front of Polpo and staring at the fat man, it terrified the latter.

“All the paperwork and whatnot are complete,” Polpo was clutching onto the computer still and wondering why the candidate was still here. He tried to tell Giorno to leave his sight again. “You’re a part of his team now. Just go. I won’t even tell anyone else about what you did. All the teams will only know that you passed and that’s all. No one will question how you got here.” The younger man was suspicious of such actions, but he decided to go with them. He folded the piece of paper to put into his pocket and took the badge before turning away, briefly glancing at the small refrigerator behind the fat man. A thought ran into his mind, similar to the act of killing the original Polpo years ago, but he decided against it. He gave a curt farewell instead and tucked the written address into his pockets. 

“I… can’t do this…” Polpo's next words after Giorno turned around to leave caught the Former Don off by surprise- enough to briefly stop him from walking away for a few moments. He wanted to press further about what Polpo said but decided to resume walking in the end and not listen any further. The fat man trembled, dropping his computer and not caring that it was now in pieces. His nose was no longer dripping snot but his eyes remained teary. “He’s dead,” Polpo was referring to Ogio Engio, “you’re a beast for killing him... Wait! How did you do it? Tell me!”

Giorno continued to walk away silently. He refused to answer. Polpo had his greasy hands on the window, banging on it with his fists to get the Former Don’s attention and replies. 

“Did「Y2K」strike you with the Stand Arrow? How are you still awake and managed to kill him off before you met me here? Unless… no, it’s not possible. No Stand user who tried the initiation has ever defeated「Y2K」or Ogio Engio! Did you have help? No, there’s no way you had someone help... Who the hell are you, Giogio? Answer me... ANSWER ME—”

The door closed and Giorno left before Polpo finished his last sentence. All he cared to hear was the fat man muttering about how Ogio Engio had died so suddenly and how he was merely a coward that was going to face the consequences. 

Seeing the man in such a state was already too pitiful; death would be too merciful for him. Since he killed Ogio Engio, it would make things suspicious if he killed Polpo as well in such a short amount of time. That was why he decided to not transform the banana into a gun like before. Who knew if the relationship between the two was a kept secret that wasn’t supposed to be known? He’ll have to ask Aglio about the matter tomorrow. 

He made it out of the cell without the new guards noticing their large prisoner was going through a panic attack in the other room. The sun had already set long ago by the time Giorno walked out of the facility. Sticking the pin into the inside of his shirt, he began walking back to his dorm room alone. By now, he assumed, Koichi had safely left Naples with his much-needed DNA samples and took his advice to not look back for the time being. The fire had already been extinguished when he arrived back onto the campus and there was badly tied safety tape to close off the area for an “investigation” to be held tomorrow morning. He heard from a few students walking by that there would be a brief memorial service for the janitor the same day too. 

It was almost his usual bedtime when he finally got into bed. The AC turned on again and Giorno stared at his room ceiling, wondering what the next day would bring. He knew now that he wasn’t going to simply replay everything like before but there may be some similarities he can find here and there. One thing was clear: he was going to get his syndicate back one way or the other.

Translations:

1. だいじょうぶですか?: Are you okay? This is a rather politer way of saying the phrase compared to the more common, causal "大丈夫".
   
   
2. え?: a noise used in Japanese that people make as a response in conversation and used for various purposes. In this case, it is to ask for something to be explained.
   
   
3. 頑張って: Good luck. It literally translates to "with effort" and often used to motivate others. 
   
   
4. La Familgia: The family. In the English dub of Vento Aureo, characters often refer to Passione as "La Familgia" and the phrase can be used to refer to a mafia clan or mafia family. In Passione’s case, it is used in reference to the syndicate as a whole. 
   
   
5. 無駄, 無駄, 無駄, 無駄: Giorno’s Stand cry. "無駄" literally translates to "to render futile, useless" and is used by him and his father DIO.
   
   
6. Mi capisci?: Do you understand me?

Name Meanings:

[No new names for this chapter]