Child's Play

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***

It had been almost a fortnight since the last encounter with a Stand user. Since then, they kept expecting another attack, but nothing happened, no other Stand users had ever appeared. When they wanted to check the anomaly again, it was no longer there, which only confirmed that it was travelling around the island. Naturally all this time they did not sit idle and actively studied the island and extracted new maps, which they as usual immediately sold and left only the most necessary. During this time they managed to explore two more towns: Ai-Ai and Soufrabi. Ai-Ai was something like a city of lovers, that is, it was basically a collection of scenarios of romantic simulators. It had architecture like the famous French fortress of Mont Saint-Michel. But still, there was nothing of interest to Risotto and the others, so they safely forgot about it. Soufrabie was a large fishing town on a beautiful beach. Next to the town was a lighthouse and outside the town on a cliff was a castle. It wasn't of much interest to Risotto and the others either, except for the fact that they could buy a variety of food at the local market, which made them come back here occasionally to buy food.

At the moment, they arrived in the city of Dorias, which was one of the closest cities to the starting point and was a casino city. Its architecture resembled a medieval European town with castles and narrow streets. It was also surrounded by palm trees and cacti.

- Shall we play in the casino? - Illuso asked with a slightly unhealthy smile on his face.

- Well, let's do it. - Risotto replied.

They entered the biggest casino in the city. Inside there were a bunch of rooms where you could play various gambling games, be it poker or regular slot machines.

- Wow,' Illuso marvelled, 'There's a lot of room to play! I'm going to make a fortune and become a millionaire.

- Just don't lose all the money. - Risotto warned him.

Illuso went off in an unknown direction, and the others started to look around.

'Gee, there really is a lot of room to play around here. We could play something for fun, just don't lose all the money.'

- Hey, Gyaccio,' Melone said, 'Let's go play poker. You can make a lot of money there.

- Are you sure about that?

- Don't worry, it'll be fine. I've got a scheme.

Giaccio and Melone went to the poker room, and Risotto walked around the slot machines.

'It's been almost a fortnight since we were attacked by a Stand user. Since then we've been waiting for another attack, but nothing. Silence. The anomaly has moved to a new location that we are unaware of. I'm beginning to worry about whether my theory is true. What if I'm wrong? What if there are no new enemies? But then what's true? No, that's ridiculous. This anomaly has something to do with the arrow and the Stand users. I can feel it! I can feel it with all my soul!'

Risotto finally walked over to one of the slot machines and decided to play. Using his Stand's abilities, he was able to stop the reel on the best combination, and thus snatch a pretty good score.

'That's pretty good, I can buy a lot of stuff with that.'

- Fucking bastard! - Suddenly, there was a loud shout from somewhere, which belonged to Gyaccio.

All the casino customers turned their heads in the direction where the shout came from, including Risotto.

'Is that Gyaccio? What happened there? What did he and Melone do again?'

Risotto walked over to the poker room where the screaming was coming from and leaned against the wall when he saw the following picture: Gyaccio was furiously strangling Melone, who was trying with all his might to resist it and not suffocate.

- Stupid arsehole! - Shouted Giaccio, -You fucked up all our money! Do you have a scheme?! A scheme?!

- D... Come on... - Melone struggled to speak, - Who doesn't?

- Who doesn't? Who doesn't? I stomped on your mouth, you fucking arsehole! Fuck this fucking casino, bitch!

Risotto was just watching them.

- Said Illuso, who happened to be standing next to Risotto and watching the whole thing, 'They're like children, for Christ's sake.

- Yes,' Risotto sighed heavily, 'Like children, indeed.

Risotto, tired of watching this, walked over to them and gave Giaccio a hard slap, causing him to let go of Melone and clutch his head.

- That's right! You'll know how to... - Before Melone could finish, Risotto gave him the same slap, - Oh, man! That hurt.

- You're both acting like little children, - Risotto reproached them, - You should be punished for this... Okay, we'll deal with it later, now let's get out of here.

They went outside and stood in the middle of the crowded street, discussing the results of their visit to the casino.

- You sure blew your money,' Illuso said to Melone and Giaccio with a slight sneer, 'But I made a nice profit.

- All right, forget it,' said Risotto, 'It's lucky that Illuso and I won more than you lost. Anyway, we still have enough money to last us for a long time. Now, about that.

- Found it. - Suddenly a voice came from outside.

Risotto and the others turned around and saw a tall man a few metres away, looking a bit like a rock musician from the 80s. His hair was pulled back to the left and right with bells tied to it. He was wearing wide yellow jeans and a T-shirt.

- Finally found it! - Said the man.

'That man... That aura!'

Suddenly, that man's shadow stirred and headed towards Risotto and the others at great speed.

'A shadow...? Oh shit...'

- Jump up immediately!

When the shadow was about to touch them they all jumped up and the attack passed over them. The man who attacked them just chuckled evilly and ran away.

- It's the booth user, hurry after him! - Shouted Risotto to the others.

They rushed after him. The man ran quite fast, Risotto and the others struggled to keep him in sight.

'Damn, he's fast!'

The man turned into an alley, but when everyone else turned to follow him, he was gone.

- What?! Where did he go? Did they miss him? - Giaccio wondered.

- I'm worried about something else,' said Melone, looking round at himself and the others, 'What's happening to me? Why have I become shorter? The clothes have become too big... What the...

As they began to look at each other, they noticed that their height had decreased, their clothes had become too big, their voices had become higher, and their appearance had changed to a younger one. The conclusion was self-evident.

- 'That goat,' Illuso said, 'His Stand... He turned us into children!

'Oh no... When that man attacked us with his shadow... He didn't miss, his attack achieved its goal! It was only for a few moments that his shadow touched us, but even that was enough to turn us into children!'

While everyone was trying to recover from the shock, from the end of the alley, thirty metres away from them, that man appeared. He was holding an axe and with a maniacal smile he slowly approached them.

- You're dead, - said Risotto and was about to launch a few knives at the enemy, but nothing happened, - What the fuck?! My Stand... It's not working!

- What do you mean it's not working?! - Gyaccio was surprised.

Meanwhile, the man came closer and closer, reducing the distance to almost twenty metres.

'Shit!'

Risotto summoned the map book and using the Escort map moved everyone except the enemy to Antokiba.

- Let's go to my room now. - Risotto said to the others before they could understand anything.

Fortunately the inn was not far away, and after walking a couple of dozen metres down the street and rounding a corner they came to it. Once inside the room, Risotto sat down on his bed and the others sat on chairs.

- What the hell happened? - Asked Melone to himself.

There was no answer to that question. Everyone else sat there, immersed in thought.

'We barely escaped with our lives. His Stand... It has the ability to rejuvenate and turn others into children. But what's far more terrifying... When someone is rejuvenated, along with that, the person's abilities also revert back to the return that person is in! That's why my Metallica doesn't work. I just didn't have it at that age! Hmmm... My age...'

Getting out of bed Risotto walked over to the nearest mirror. He took off his hood and looked at himself.

'Gee...'

Judging by appearances, Risotto was now about 14 years old. A lot of things about his appearance hadn't changed. He still had the same grey hair that had gotten a little shorter, and red eyes with black sclera. The only thing that had changed was his face, which looked much younger. And naturally his height had decreased, which was now around 170cm.

'Fourteen years old... Memories come flooding back. I lost my cousin at that age. Four years later, I committed my first murder. Another three years later, I found my Stand and started working with my team at Passione. What about the rest of you?'

He looked around at everyone else. Gyaccio and Melone had to be about 11 years old now, and Illuso was 12 years old. Their height was around 145-150cm. The rest of the changes were about as minor as Risotto's.

'Well, it seems the time for reflection has passed.'

Risotto sat down on the bed again and turned to the others:

- I take it that you have already had time to realise what has happened and what our enemy is.

- His Stand,' Illuso spoke up, 'He rejuvenated us, and with that our Stands disappeared too, since none of us had them at that age.

- And when we travelled to Antokiba the Stand effect was not lost,' said Giaccio, 'That means that no matter how far we go we are still children. The only way out is to deal with this freak! Only then will the effect of the Stand disappear. But how are we going to do that... You... What's your name? - Giaccio turned to Risotto.

'Oh no... It seems that as their bodies rejuvenate, their minds rejuvenate as well. They're starting to lose some of their memory and forget names. Although they can still think and analyse situations more or less clearly.'

- Hey... Gyaccio, right? - Melone suddenly spoke up and walked over to Gyaccio, 'Do you want to "play" a little? You're so cute at this age, I can't believe it!

Melone licked his lips and started to get under Gyaccio's jumper.

- Are you out of your fucking mind you fucking pervert?!!!!

Giaccio jumped up from his chair and kicked Melone in the balls with all his might, causing him to bend over and his eyes to pop out of his orbits.

- Hoo-hoo, you morons! - Illuso laughed.

Risotto covered his face with both hands.

'Oh my god... They're more degraded than I thought.'

- Anyway, that's right! - Risotto shouted at them, and they quickly calmed down, 'The plan of action is quite simple: we'll just wait for the enemy to come to us. Given that it's almost daylight, he'll get here by evening, and we'll be waiting for him in full force by then.

- What do you mean, waiting?! - Illuso's a little taken aback. Wait a minute. Not only do we have no Stands, but Nen is missing too. What are we going to use against him? What are we supposed to rely on?

- Our skills. We may be children who have lost our abilities, but our skills as assassins are still intact, and that's our advantage. Our enemy is overconfident because his opponents are children. It also implies that his fighting skills are very low because he is used to fighting against defenseless children. I hope you all understand our advantage now? - The others nodded silently, - Wonderful. In the meantime, I'll go buy us some other clothes, because these are too big.

Risotto left the hotel room and headed for the nearest clothing shop. He didn't bother much with the selection and bought a few sweatshirts, trainers and sports trousers in different sizes.

'Am I doing the right thing by taking this risk? Well, how could it be otherwise? Yes, waiting for him here is quite risky, but to stay there and give battle on the spot would be true suicide. I can only hope we won't be even more degraded by tonight.'

Evening was approaching. The time was 4.30pm. There were already quite few people on the street, so there was hardly any interference with the fight.

Risotto walked the streets near the exit of the city and waited for his enemy. As he made another turn leading to another street he saw the man he was waiting for about fifty metres away from him. When he noticed Risotto he had a maniacal smile on his face again and rushed towards Risotto waving his axe.

'There he is. Everything happened just as I expected. Now I just have to hope the others are up to the task.'

Risotto sprinted, trying to keep his distance so that the enemy's shadow couldn't touch him. Soon he ran into a fairly wide and deserted alleyway. Risotto made a turn around the corner, which turned out to be a dead end. When he realised he was trapped and turned around, the enemy was already standing a few metres away blocking his escape route. Risotto began to slowly back away, and the enemy in turn slowly approached him.

- Please don't uncle! - Said Risotto with an obvious playfulness.

- Hehehe, you've been caught, you little brat! Nothing can save you now! You're completely helpless!

- Hmm, helpless, you say? - Risotto's voice became much more serious and confident, -You don't realise how wrong you are...

Suddenly the man heard the sound of footsteps behind him, but when he wanted to turn around, a large mirror fell on him from somewhere above, which as it turned out had been thrown down by Illuso, who was sitting on the roof. The mirror smashed against the man's head and shattered into a pile of shards that shredded his face and hands. Immediately afterwards, Gyaccio came round the corner and rolled to his feet and cut the Achilles tendon in his right leg, causing him to fall to one knee. A small bag of ground pepper then fell on top of him and was dropped by Melone. The pepper spill caused the man to drop the axe from his hands and close his eyes. Risotto took advantage of this moment and ran up to the man, grabbed a knife from his pocket and plunged it right into his chin.

- Well,' Risotto said in a slightly disappointed voice, 'I've fought enough battles in my life. I've faced all sorts of Stand users. But one this stupid... This is the first time I've seen one. What a thing to do... Being a Stand user, to lose to kids who don't have a Stand.

Meanwhile, Melone and Illuso descended from the roof and approached Giaccio, who was standing a few metres away from Risotto and watching from the side.

- Quick, clear and efficient, - said Melone, - You can't expect anything else from the best assassin in Italy.

- That's how La Squadra di Esecuzione works... - Said Giaccio.

- That's how the Mafia works. - Illuso echoed him.

Risotto pulled the knife from the man's chin and with a quick movement plunged it into his temple, causing him to die instantly. After he died, Risotto and the others immediately returned to their former age.

- It was quite simple. You could probably manage it yourself. - Illuso turned to Risotto.

- Maybe, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Now let's get out of here. We need to change into our usual clothes, or these are too small.

Comment on Child's Play

I realise the battle with Alessi probably came up quite short. I really wanted to introduce him as another opponent, but I only had enough imagination for such a battle. I think it could have been better.