Tornare in Famiglia
Chapter 6.5: Come Back Home
The island of Capri. Even when it was part of the Roman Republic, it remained known as a resort for those who ventured to its shores. A Roman Emperor even stayed on the island for ten years before having to return to Rome. Remnants of the former days of the ancient empire remained on the island as ruined villas that complement both the natural beauty and modern metropolis the area offers to all. There were only two ports used to enter Capri: Marina Grande in the north and Marina Piccola in the south. Marina Grande is where Team #47 is heading— and where The Rising 88 were now waiting.
Giorno and Andreas managed to swim their way to the bigger port while Tae radioed that he was going to quickly check on Marina Piccola in case any enemies were waiting there as well. It was likely that the enemies are mostly centered around the main port, but Andreas suggested Tae make his way to the smaller one anyways. The older mafioso helped Giorno step out of the water as「Monkey Business」followed suit. The Former Don noticed the monkey Stand shake its fur to dry itself before it quizzically looked around. The new smells caught it by surprise but its attention quickly turned to its Stand User telling it to pay attention.
The three were hidden behind an elevated pathway to avoid walking directly into Capri’s port and being seen by anyone. No other boats seemed to be coming in but there were people frequently entering and exiting their boats. Like before, the Former Don found some lost binoculars and was using them to spy or find any suspicious characters that could represent Team #88 were already there. His eyes turned to the port office where he watched Mista approach years ago. Giorno knew he could no longer rely on memory to identify people; Greggio looked almost nothing like Mario and there was a high chance that whoever Sale would be may include other enemies in play.
Because the communication panel on the original boat was broken, Giorno managed to steal another radio from an already docked boat nearby using「Golden Experience」to hear any possible signals from the port office and to communicate back if necessary. Unfortunately, the radio taken was also not very reliable; it often didn’t connect properly with the radio on the other side and would cut out sporadically when he tried to listen in. It was still good enough to pretend to be Greggio Zucchero and send fake requests in the meantime while using the faulty connection to conceal one’s identity as much as possible; Giorno sent out a message regarding “boat number 4” to see if anyone would approach. It would be a miracle if Felìcita, during her call to notify Team #88 of Team #47’s plans to go to Capri, forgot to mention that the communication panel of Barca IV was broken in the first place and the trick would work.
The Former Don gave the binoculars to Andreas to see what was going on before he noticed the other’s monkey Stand steal a paper sandwich bag that was just placed by a naive tourist on the ground near them; no one noticed the two men hiding on the shores where they just swam to nor the furry paws of a bizarre-looking monkey snatch the bag out in the open. Its tiny hands ripped the brown bag without concern like a child on Christmas day and the monkey Stand squealed in joy when it discovered a perfectly untouched sandwich inside the now broken wrapping. It quickly gobbled it down without shame while licking the sauces of the sandwich that managed to dribble out; how it managed to eat the entire sandwich despite it being double the size of its head— no one will ever know.
“So,” Giorno wanted to know more about Andreas’ abilities. “Your Stand… on the boat, you said it’s called「Monkey Business」?”
“It’s not the most creative name,” he shrugged while still looking through the binoculars, “but it gets the job done. Honestly, I never knew how I ended up with a Stand like him. He just appeared after I joined Team #47 and the name stuck. I’ve been trying to figure him out since and the best way to do that was to let him do as he pleases.”
“I’ve never seen a Stand like it,” Giorno added.
“It’s kinda cute— sometimes,” Andreas noted. “It can get frustrating when it doesn’t do what you want it to do. But, it knows that it has a role and it needs to work with me to work that role until we’re done.” As Andreas talked, Giorno watched「Monkey Business」act like an actual monkey. It groomed itself with its stubby hands and scampered around to observe anything that piqued its interest like a child with barely any attention span. Had it not been for its unique colorful fur and markings, it would have easily been mistaken as an actual capuchin that managed to escape a nearby zoo.「Monkey Business」then stared at Giorno’s face and chirped as if it was saying something to him before it made its way to Andreas. The Stand climbed itself onto its Stand user, playing around with the binocular neck strap that was hanging loosely to get the latter’s attention. Andreas shooed it to stop but it continued until he gave the binoculars back to Giorno and finally gave in to peppering his Stand with multiple kisses.「Monkey Business」whined and revealed it only wanted the binoculars to play with and not its Stand User’s affections. Eventually, it resigned to its fate of being held and accepted the affection back. Had the two Stand Users been watching the docks at that moment, they would have seen two men just arrived from a nearby boat; a woman was also accompanying them but ended up mingling with the crowd nearby to avoid any association. All three seemed to blend in with the crowd as soon as they came but none of them noticed the two mafiosos hiding in the distance.
Giorno remembered the last place he and Mista hid was rather inconspicuous and away from the crowd. However, the fish that the Former Don transformed led them to a less suitable hiding place where traffic to and from their area was heavier. How anyone managed to walk by them remained a mystery. Andreas was getting impatient, tapping his feet while his Stand climbed around the former’s body.
“There’s no way we can just wait for The Rising 88 right here,” he reasoned why they needed to go find the enemies right away. “It’s either we run into them or they run into us. We need to get into the crowd and smoke them out.” Giorno, however, tried to protest and asked Andreas to wait a bit longer. In the past, Mista walked up to the watch room without anyone noticing and successfully took down only Sale soon after alone but was severely injured as a result; Gioro couldn’t be sure that it was going to be the same with Andreas. On top of that, they didn’t have a way to communicate with each other at farther distances without being heard despite having walkie-talkies; initially assumed to be waterproof, the ones Giorno and Andreas have with them were unknowingly damaged by sea water and the only other working device was with Tae. The other mafioso by now just arrived at the other port and the signal from him was already lost.
Despite Giorno explaining his reasons why he wanted to wait it out, Andreas brushed off the Former Don’s concern and assumed the latter was simply nervous; the mafioso offered to go out while Giorno would stay behind for lookout. He promised to be close enough so they could hear and talk or motion to each other without having to yell. He grabbed「Monkey Business」and guided its body to curl up around his neck, jumping out of their current hiding place before the Former Don could say anything else and began jogging into the crowd. Giorno wished Mista or even Fugo was here with him to provide some guidance.
The Former Don’s worries became a reality; while Andreas did his best to remain close, there was a sudden influx of people arriving at the port and the area was now more crowded than before. The mafioso was pushed and shoved further until he was in the thick of the people, many of whom were trying to get to the closest restaurants for their next meal. Giorno’s eyes noticed a figure in the window, similar to how Sale managed to sneak in from the back to use the radio. A balding man had just left the port office without knowing someone else entered and began asking for the owner of Barca IV to check-in. Giorno thought it was bizarre how long it took for the man to call someone out about it. The man himself didn’t look different from before based on his memory. The only takeaway was that he looked a bit more disheveled than what Giorno recalled.
While Mista had the privilege of simply approaching the area without issue, Andreas was unpredictably pushed and shoved around by unaware tourists and locals alike before he managed to fall right in front of the window. The balding man ignored him as he kept trying to call for the boat owner. Because he was on the ground, whoever was in the window now trying to contact Giorno wasn’t able to see that a member of Team #47 was close by.
“Greggio,” the radio was breaking but still audible. “Why don’t I see your boat? Where are you?” The Former Don could tell it was a different voice from the original Sale asking if something was wrong; Giorno quickly realized that Felìcita luckily didn’t provide the information to the rest of The Rising 88 regarding the radio. However, Andreas was about to stand up and his cover was about to be blown. It didn’t look like he knew someone was in the port office yet.
Like before, the Former Don called out to the mafioso and waved his hands again but his warning couldn’t be identified with just that. Andreas was processing the fact that he was just pushed to the ground by some rude tourists and was also wondering why the man from the office took so long to announce the boat. 「Monkey Business」tugged on his sleeve and pointed at the left pocket of the bald man for Andreas to see; it was unusually stuffed with cash. The mafioso instinctively tried to get up so he could get away from the port office as quickly yet subtly as he could.
Giorno thought Andreas couldn’t understand the signal and assumed the worst. If Andreas made himself noticeable from the window, the enemy could recognize him as a member of Team #47. In desperation, the Former Don used the radio to let Andreas know directly and risk their cover. Even with the audio cutting in and out, Giorno yelled as loud as he could.
“ENEMY… WINDOW… ROOM!”
Fioredi Sale, who was in the room and taking the calls, was taken aback by the voice change. With his phone in his other hand, he scrambled to send a message to his other two men that something happened to Greggio. Naturally, he looked out the window but saw no one; Andreas was still crouched down underneath to where he was somewhat hidden and Fioredi didn’t think about looking downward at first.
Andreas could hear Giorno’s warning and knew enough to understand what was going on. The mafioso didn’t hesitate to grab「Monkey Business」and positioned himself so he was balancing on his bent right foot and left hand. Throwing his Stand to his other foot, he maneuvered himself to hop up and unbend his right foot to deliver a chapeau de couro; he wasn’t sure if the kick would allow him to remain hidden by being low on the ground while he threw a hit.「Monkey Business」rounded itself to be a ball on command that could be kicked through the window. It broke through quickly; Fioredi had no time to react as the furry round object hurled itself into his chest and knocked him to the other wall upon impact; it caused him to cough up some blood as a result.
Everyone’s heads turned to the sound of broken glass and saw the aftermath of Andreas appearing to vandalize the port office with what was believed to be a soccer ball. The bald man who saw the whole thing happen quickly got into the mafioso’s space, demanding he explained himself for destroying property. “Sorry,” Andreas took out the money from the bald man’s pocket as he made his way to the door, “but I don’t negotiate with bribed enemies.” The man was flabbergasted, demanding the cash back, but the mafioso simply claimed it would be paid for causing such trouble. That was enough to shut him up out of embarassment.
Giorno made his way out of his hiding place and began running to Andreas as fast as he could.「Monkey Business」scampered back to its Stand User, chattering about how it unraveled itself but found the enemy already escaped. Only able to be understood by its Stand User, Andreas scooped it up and made his way into the port office to find a trail of blood and the backdoor open. The monkey Stand chattered excitedly to indicate it had successfully hit its target and wanted to show off to its Stand user. Andreas gave him a few pets to show his approval before rushing out to find the enemy. “We’re not out of the woods yet, buddy,” he reminded the monkey Stand. “Let’s go!”
He didn’t hear Giorno running from behind telling him to stop pursuing. However, before Giorno could reach Andreas and the watch room, he encountered an unusually shiny puddle of liquid that looked more like mercury than seawater. The Former Don should have thought about stepping through it when he suddenly felt grabbed on the leg by what felt like a human hand; he realized the puddle he went through was a Stand and there was another enemy to deal with. From the puddle emerged a figure of the woman that was with the two suspicious men earlier. She was covered in the same material and especially where Giorno was grabbed turned into her hand.
“I knew something was up with Briano and Felìcita”, the woman revealed herself to be another member of Team #88. Giorno used「Golden Experience」to break himself away from her, which didn’t cause any damage to the other mafioso but allowed him to temporarily free himself from her clutches. She kept trying to grab him with her fluid-like limbs.
“You look like you know what’s going on,” her skin was shiny and flowed like metallic water that formed a human body. “Why don’t you tell me about it, carino?” Giorno had no choice but to stay behind and fight her. He would have to let Andreas pursue the enemy himself but at least they were handling two mafiosos for now.
Meanwhile, Andreas followed the fading blood trail leading to a large truck parked behind the building. As the mafioso looked around to find any potential blood trails elsewhere, the truck ignition was heard turning on and Andreas suspected that the enemy was driving the vehicle and trying to get away. However, he saw a figure on top of the truck’s trailer saluting at him as the truck began to move. Without much thought, Andreas sprinted to the vehicle and quickly stepped onto its rear underride guards. He hung onto whatever he could as the speed continued to accelerate. Using「Monkey Business」Andreas maneuvered himself to climb onto the top of the trailer that was attached to the truck and used his upper body strength to finally lift himself.
「Monkey Business」was gripping onto its Stand user for dear life upon feeling the wind resistance was much stronger than it was used to. Andreas made it to the top so he could face the enemy. Fioredi introduced himself as the other Team #88 leader. “You must be from Team #47,” he was standing on the other side of the trailer near the cab and body part of the truck. “I don’t think I’ve met you before. What did you do to Greggio?”
“Can’t be helped,” Andreas had his Stand return to ball form. He carefully placed「Monkey Business」under his arm. “You’re the guy I hit earlier, right?”
“You haven’t answered my question yet,” Fioredi pulled out what looked like a calculator that only had five buttons; he hit one button that had a minus sign on it. He aimed what looked like the front of the object toward Andreas. “What did you do to Greggio and Felìcita?”
“Is that a fucking calculator—”
Once Fioredi clicked on the button that had an equal sign on it, a digital beep was heard and a neon green light came out. It hit Andreas on the arm where the ball was tucked under, causing his arm to turn into what looked like neon numbers that make up his limb that started to dissipate. What terrified Andreas wasn’t the fact that his arm was disintegrating in front of him up to his shoulder but the fact that it felt like nothing. “「Baby No Money」,” Fioredi smugly called his Stand’s name as Andreas began freaking out. The loss of his arm holding his Stand caused「Monkey Business」to drop and nearly roll off the trailer had the Stand not gotten its composure quick enough to stop near its Stand User’s legs. “I just subtracted your arm from you,” he showed off his calculator to reveal the other buttons: add, multiply, divide; it resembled a simple calculator without additional numbers or other operations. His thumb hovered over the division button. “Maybe,” he teased, “I should try dividing you instead. That might give me better answers from you!”
He didn’t hesitate to press the button as streams of neon numbers flew to Andreas. The mafioso didn’t hesitate to lunge down to dodge the numbers; the movement of the truck didn’t help much regarding balance. Still, he managed to time himself correctly to throw「Monkey Business」 as he switched his legs in a rather ungraceful way due to having one less arm to balance himself. Fioredi initially thought his opponent was simply struggling with keeping his balance and merely smirked. However, Andreas quickly maneuvered himself to kick the still-falling monkey Stand so that it would be pushed toward the enemy Stand User.
The enemy mafioso watched the ball fly away before turning back to Andreas, commenting how it was a shame to lose the Stand in such a way, and aimed「Baby No Money」at the latter again. “Such a vain attempt,” the enemy mafioso added. “What idiota would lose his own Stand—”
However, he didn’t realize the ball had just bounced off a cliff and was boomeranged to hit Fioredi mid-back at full force. It was strong enough to make him let go of 「Baby No Money」and Andreas watched as the Stand nearly rolled off the truck; it managed to get stuck on a piece of metal on the trailer sticking out between the two Stand Users.
「Monkey Business」eventually rolled up and over before landing on the trailer again and rolling back to Andreas’ right foot. The Stand user rested his foot on the monkey Stand as he watched Fioredi rub his back in pain, not yet aware that he lost his own Stand. Based on how the numbers disappeared a few inches away from where Andreas was, the mafioso noted the limit in distance. However, that didn’t matter when the Stand User needed to get as close as possible.
“And what were you saying about losing Stands,” Andreas asked the mafioso to clarify what he meant earlier with that comment. “I guess we never fought before, so you didn’t know what my「Monkey Business」could do. My Stand works as a soccer ball meant to be kicked around while also kicking ass. I could care less about losing an arm, although it made that martelo no chão kick a bitch to do!”
Finally realizing his Stand was no longer in his hand, Fioredi made a run for it once it caught his eyes. Andreas slightly faster and began trying to fight against the enemy Stand User with a combination of both「Monkey Business」’s antics and physical hand-to-hand combat. Had Rovescio known who Andreas was up against, the third-in-command would have advised the latter of Fioredi’s abilities in boxing; the two used to know each other during Rovescio’s fighting days and had fought each other in a few matches before. It was a battle where kicks were against punches while on a moving truck. Even with「Monkey Business」climbing around to limit the enemy Stand User, it was clear that Fioredi had the upper hand due to experience in both his particular fighting style and knowing how to deal with Capoeira-based fighters. There were moments where Fioredi acknowledged Andreas beating him, whether it be a sneaky push kick or switching it up with grappling, but the former came up on top in the end.
“Of all the things your third-in-command could have taught you,” an uppercut from Fioredi was enough to distract Andreas so he could grab「Baby No Money」, “you had to specialize in the one good for dancing? You’re probably the most useless member of the team!”
The truck was still moving, driving around near the cliffside road and narrowly hitting some loose rocks that now fell after experiencing「Monkey Business」’s prior impact. The turns were making it difficult for both mafiosos to stay on the trailer but they all managed. As if luck would have it, Andreas noticed a familiar flying figure with black wings approaching him.
“Tae,” he called out and waved his arms to signal the mafioso to join him. He shouted from the top of his lungs to get his attention. The younger mafioso recognized Andreas immediately and asked him what was going on. Only then did he notice Fioredi, who was now aiming「Baby No Money」at the other Stand User, and ready to take the other participant down.
“Help me stop the truck!” Tae heard his request and started to fly closer, managing to dodge Fioredi's attempt to shoot「Baby No Money」at him, when Andreas kicked「Monkey Business」at the enemy again. It knocked the calculator Stand out of Fioredi’s right hand once more and bones were heard cracking upon impact. The whole physical fight scene repeated, with Andreas telling Fioredi that the latter was going to deal with only him; the two were both preparing for the next attack from the other, throwing punches and kicks between insults. By then, Tae flew and landed on the driver’s side, standing on the steps and holding on by the grab handle.
What he saw inside the cab and body threw him off-guard. The driver of the truck was there but he wasn’t alone. Red hands that seemed to not be attached to anything else covered the innocent man’s body; his eyes were wide in fear while staring at Tae. Two hands were holding the driver’s hands down on the steering wheel as if they were controlling where the truck could go. Looking down in the truck compartment showed one foot was being held down onto the accelerator by another red hand. One more was gripping around the driver’s head to force him to keep his head up front. Tae asked the driver if he was okay when he heard a gun cocking from the passenger seat. It was another mafioso of The Rising 88.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” the mafioso’s silver grills twinkled when he flashed a grin and aimed the gun at Tae. “You must be with that Andreas uagliò on top, are you?”
“Please,” Tae tried to reason with him. “Let the driver go. Stop the truck and pull—”
A bullet fired from the pistol nearly hit Tae’s face and caused him to flinch. It was intentionally shot to barely graze his head and hit the side mirror instead, but it was enough to make the mafioso almost lose his grip on the truck and narrowly flew away. It ended up causing the driver to scream in fear, but the noise was immediately muffled by the hand on his head. It moved down to cover his mouth but allowed the driver to frantically move around in panic. All the red hands gripped tighter to tell the driver to stop fidgeting. “You think I’d let you bitches tell me what to do,” the mafioso, who revealed his name to be Kid Scimmia, taunted as he waved the gun around. He used the weapon to point at the driver’s temple.
“This fucking cazzo right here is going to keep driving so long as my Stand stays on him. And it’s not gonna move until your buddy fighting Fioredi right now surrenders and tells us where the fucking treasure is. Say hello to「 Smoke Under The Water」.” The red hand briefly removed itself from the driver’s mouth to wave. The driver took that moment to look at Tae helplessly and talk to the young man. “Please,” he begged the Team #47 members as tears welled in his eyes, “I’ll do anything. Help me… Just get me out of here—”
“WHO SAID YOU CAN TALK?”
The enemy mafioso pulled his gun away from the driver and fired his gun in the air, causing the bullet to hit the ceiling and go through the truck. Fioredi could hear the gunshot and noticed the bullet fly through as he just pushed Andreas away with his Stand. Had he stepped a few inches closer, Fioredi would have been shot. “The damn bastardo,” he commented on the recklessness he just witnessed and was narrowly hurt by. “I should have brought Kusunoki with me instead.”
“It’s G, man,” although Kid Scrimmia didn’t necessarily hear what Fioredi said, he knew the Team Leader was complaining about the former’s antics. “I got this!”
The two mafiosos on the trailer had been fighting each other during Tae’s interaction with Kid Scimmia. Tae looked up to get a glimpse of his teammate, who now looked like some horror movie monster that had random useless limbs attached to him like an octopus. It was making it harder for the mafioso to kick「Monkey Business」; Fioredi wasn’t looking too great either with his newly made bruises and cracked bones caused by the monkey Stand and the kicks Andreas was throwing. So many things were going on— it was overwhelming the younger mafioso and he felt his mind make intrusive thoughts. Kid Scimmia noticed Tae was now motionless but still holding on. He tried to speak to him but received no answer. “Stop staring like that,” the enemy pointed his gun at Tae while ignoring the driver’s continuing whimper. All the young man could hear were his thoughts. His mind visualized films of his life.
컴백홈, 형.
…나는 하늘을 날고 싶었어.
“Answer me, idiota!” Kid Scimmia was losing his patience and shot Tae directly in the left shoulder twice. Luckily, it didn’t hit anything vital. Tae didn’t react or move; he remained standing where he was as if he knew he was shot but refused to do anything about it. All he could see at the moment were faces of the past; some of them were distinct while others were too blurry for him to recall. When the bullets made the wounds, Kid Scimmia noticed the lack of blood coming out. Instead, it looked like watercolors made of different hues of greens and blues coming out. There were pinks and yellows mixed, staining his white shirt like tie-dyed watercolors. Another bullet hit and wounded Tae’s left arm, spurting out the same liquid, and some of it began dripping from his nose to stain his skin. Kid Srimmia loudly pointed out the bizarre nature as a means to get the other mafioso’s attention.
Andreas noticed Tae wasn’t moving from his spot and assumed the worst; everyone in Team #47 knew that Tae reacting in such a way meant that he was having bizarre thoughts and flashbacks that would be more difficult to take him out of if ignored for too long. Rovescio often handled Tae when these things happened but the third-in-command told everyone to do what they can to bring Tae back to reality by all means necessary; that was all everyone on Team #47 knew.
Andreas was struggling to move with the extra amount of mass he obtained. Fioredi just made a random hand grow at the mafioso’s left cheek, making it hard for him to breathe with the additional appendage in the way, and some of the hits from「Baby No Money」caused him to sustain some deep cuts as well. He looked at「Monkey Business」, which was under his foot and still in its ball form, and he had an idea. But first, he needed to get Tae back to reality.
형 뭐해?
집으로 돌아—
“LEE TAEHYUNG!”
Tae’s eyes widened and he blinked hearing his real name. He realized the voice that was calling it wasn’t the same as the one that was talking to him earlier. He was still in a daze but Andreas’ voice caused him to look up to the mafioso on the trailer and snap back to reality.「Monkey Business」flew straight towards Tae’s face as a ball before it bounced back and returned to Andreas while also tripping Fioredi in the process. Tae rubbed his nose, wiping colorful snot that came out of his nostrils as a result of the monkey Stand hitting him square in his face. Kid Scrimmia was more focused on trying to get the young man’s reaction from him instead and was now threatening to send a third bullet to his head; he was too riled up to notice Tae finally snapped to reality or narrowly fell off the truck after being hit in the face. Andreas reverted「Monkey Business」 into its original monkey form but grabbed its right hand forcefully. Fioredi watched as Andreas pulled what looked like a long needle from its finger and called Tae’s name again.
“Throw this at ‘em,” the mafioso wasn’t sure who else was in the truck but seeing Tae was shot twice a few minutes ago allowed Andreas to conclude that whoever was driving was working with Fioredi too. The younger mafioso saw the same needle reflecting in the sunlight and reached out his arm to catch it; he had done this trick with Andreas before and knew what to do. Fioredi asked what Andreas was doing, watching the other mafioso throw the needle to his teammate and noticing how「Monkey Business」looked limp now, but the mafioso ignored him. Tae ignored Kid Scimmia’s threats and threw the needle straight at his head while struggling to hold on with his injured arm. It flew past the driver and hit the other mafioso successfully; the man yelled in pain as he tried to stop the needle from going further into his head. His efforts were all in vain and it was enough to make all the hands from「 Smoke Under The Water」let go of the driver without noticing. Tae managed to open the door and unbuckle the old man to get him out of the truck. He unceremoniously took him out of the cab and body, dropping him onto the asphalt and letting the truck speed away. The lack of control caused the vehicle to swerve. Andreas felt the hit was successful based on how his Stand was feeling now.
“Scimmia,” Fioredi called out after concluding something had happened to his mafioso member. He saw a body thrown out but wasn’t sure if it was his teammate or someone else. “Kid Scimmia, what’s going on? Are you still there?”
Kid Scimmia unintentionally shot his pistol up as a means of fighting against the effects of the newly implanted needle; he felt like his body was moving against his will but didn’t know why. The mafioso ended up upwards; the bullets ended up hitting Fioredi. Andreas watched his enemy drop to his knees upon getting shot in both legs and struggle to still hold onto the trailer. He struggled to aim「Baby No Money」at the mafioso while seething at him.
“What have you done,” he gritted his teeth to bear the pain; he continued to shoot but the movement of the truck swerving out of control made it impossible to hit his enemy.
Andreas didn’t answer him right away. He was busy trying to visualize the interior of the truck with his target being represented by「Monkey Business」’s now motionless body. He felt through his Stand that Kid Scimmia gripped the steering wheel and placed one foot on the accelerator against the latter’s will. There was a corner up ahead with a sign warning all drivers to slow down at the turn unless they dare drive themselves over the cliff; Andreas saw a previous warning sign that was just passed during his fight with Fioredi. Tae flew up from the driver’s side and got himself onto the trailer right next to Andreas while clutching his shot shoulder. The older mafioso pulled another needle out from「Monkey Business」’s hand and gave it a few good stabs on both hands and then the right foot. Each stab allowed Fioredi to hear Kid Scimmia scream in agony from below. “I can’t move my hands,” he yelled from the cab and body at the top of his lungs. The truck was accelerating faster than before. “They’re stuck! That winged kid stabbed me, Fioredi! Help me!”
“「Monkey Business」isn’t just a ball to kick around,” Andreas explained his ability. “It doubles as a voodoo doll that I’m using to control your buddy in there. Now, go enjoy a little swim with the fishies.” Fioredi looked behind him, finally seeing what Andreas was talking about when he saw the truck going towards the end of the cliff and ready to crash into the broken barrier in front of him. Without another word, Andreas took Tae’s hand and the latter flew both of them off the truck. Fioredi tried to fire「Baby No Money」once more but missed his shot once the two mafioso flew off. The last thing the member of The Rising 88 felt was falling off the trailer and feeling his body being pulled by gravity toward the blue sea. The sounds of waves crashing masked the sound of the truck falling into the ocean. There was a chance for Kid Scimmia or Fioredi to survive the fall but certainly not unscathed.
For now, Andreas would give that crash the benefit of the doubt. Tae and he landed on the asphalt, gritting their teeth when they felt the carpet burn caused by their trying to break their falls. The effects of「Baby No Money」disappeared, causing Andreas’ body to revert to normal; limbs that were missing came back while excessive limbs were removed. Tae watched the same neon green numbers appear and disappear before his team member was finally normal. Both still had injuries from the recent fight, and the fall didn’t help make anything better.
Andreas noticed colorful tears coming out of Tae’s eyes; the liquid matched his gunshot wound still bleeding. The mafioso knew this was the action of Tae’s Stand trying to offset the pain; he wasn’t completely sure how to explain its abilities besides it being able to alleviate pain either to its Stand User or to others. Tae touched Andreas’ shoulder and the other suddenly felt a feeling of numb, painless euphoria. His eyes widened in surprise.
“You don’t need to do that,” Andreas tried to push Tae’s hands away when he saw Tae’s face contort in pain upon touching his team member. “I can handle it. It’s just a scratch wound.” The older mafioso tried to sniffle, seeing his bloodied cuts slowly change color to match the green and blue hues of Tae’s wound, and avoided showing that he was still bleeding in vain. Whatever pain Andreas was supposed to be feeling was now being felt by the other mafioso; that was just how his Stand worked
“You need it, Andreas-형,” Tae protested. The temporary release from pain was tempting, and eventually, Andreas gave in. The two of them remained on the ground in the middle of the road. All they could hear were crashing waves from below and occasional seabirds flying around. “I’ll be okay,” the younger mafioso reassured the older one. “I can—”
“You!”
The two mafiosos looked up to see that it was the same truck driver that called them out. He managed to climb up the inclined road huffing and puffing in both exhaustion and anger. The old man looked furious as he marched up to the injured men that had saved him earlier, who were now both struggling to stand up to greet the other man. Andreas gently pushed Tae behind him as the driver got closer.
“Did you realize how much that truck cost,” saliva nearly hit the mafioso’s face despite the distance between the two of them still being too far for such a scenario. With every word he said, the man got closer to Andreas’ face as if he was angry for not being able to confront Tae. It seemed like the driver, who was once begging for his life to be saved, was no longer grateful for the two other men’s actions. By the time he was merely inches away, the old man gripped Andreas’ shirt and was threatening to cause further harm if he didn’t get the retribution he deemed satisfactory. The mafioso tried to keep his cool, but the feeling of being slightly manhandled didn’t help with his current injuries, and he could feel his anger begin to boil after being constantly cut off from trying to say anything back.
“120 million Lire,” the driver was ready to punch the mafioso. “Your little friend that held me down already did some damage to the interior but you bastardo took it off the cliff! How dare you! You better pay me to replace that—”
No one noticed Tae had moved away from Andreas while the whole conversation was happening. The younger mafioso said nothing as he slightly backed away to initially move aside and get away from the conflict. However, something overcame him upon seeing the driver suddenly grab Andreas and threaten to hurt the latter. It was enough for Tae to let instincts take over and punch the driver squarely in the face. One hit was enough to cause the man to begin feeling unconscious but the mafioso threw in an ax kick for good measure. The driver dropped to the ground with a bleeding nose before Andreas tried to pull Tae back; he thought the other would go into a rage but realized the latter had stopped himself from attacking further. The younger mafioso wasn’t one to disrespect his elders and was shocked at how his actions came over him.
The shock caused by witnessing such a scene was enough for Andreas to forget about his overall situation and burst into laughter instead. “You… just beat that geezer,” he howled in disbelief and amusement. “You just knocked him out! Holy shit!”
Tae expected a lecture or a neutral word of appreciation, so the sound of laughter took him aback. Andreas didn’t hesitate to pull Tae into a friendly embrace with strong back pats while laughing; the latter eventually joined in the laughter out of shock and eventually realized why the situation was humorous. The two mafiosos were cackling maniacally and laughed harder at the fact that neither could stop laughing despite the situation not calling for it and their bodies still being in pain.
It was a scene straight out of a comedy movie of sorts: two men in tears guffawing before feeling pain due to laughing too hard and remembering they were both injured before going back to laughing at their situation again. The cycle repeated, with both trying to stop each other from laughing to no avail and rolling on the ground in both amusement and pain. They couldn’t wait to tell the rest of Team #47 what had happened.
Translations:
- Tornare in Famiglia: Although this literally translates to "come back to the family", this chapter plays on the meaning behind the word home and family.
- Marina Grande, Marina Piccola: The names of the actual ports in Capri.
- Barca IV: Boat IV.
- Carino: cutie. In this context, it is being used as an insult.
- Idiota: idiot.
- Uagliò: dude. It is the shortened version of "guaglione", which is Neapolitan for boy. It is also slang for street urchin.
- Cazzo: dick.
- Bastardo: bastard.
- 컴백홈, 형: come back home, big brother. This is a play on the lyrics for the song referenced in the chapter summary.
- 나는 하늘을 날고 싶었어: I wanted to fly.
- 형 뭐해?: What are you doing, big brother?
- 집으로 돌아—: —back home. The words from #4 are being somewhat repeated but cut off when Andreas is able to break Tae from his hallucination.
형: big brother. In Korean culture, a younger male would refer to an older male of close age range 형, which means big brother regardless of familial relationship. Tae has a habit of using these titles to his teammates.
Name Meanings:
- Kid Scimmia
- Scimmia: Italian for "gorilla, ape".