CHAPTER 7

Roman Torchwick POV

"Y-You what?!"

Roman yelled in shock, his chair clattering to the ground as he stood up abruptly. The Judicators recognized him as a fellow Stand User operating within the same underground industry, so they extended their arms to invite him for a meeting and a job opportunity.

The 6 members, seated around a long rectangular table, stared impassively at the flustered Roman, their faces betraying no surprise. It was clear they had anticipated his reaction. The person at the head of the table, the leader of the Judicators, leaned forward, his expression calm and calculating.

"I shall repeat it once more. We want you to start smuggling drugs and weapons from our contacts in Mistral, the Spider. You are one of, if not, the best smuggler in Vale at the moment, thanks to your Stand Ability. Naturally, we will compensate you generously."

Roman's eyes widened as he processed the proposal in his hand. He slammed his hands down on the table, his voice rising.

"Are you out of your mind?! Vale already has an influx of drugs from the Blue Emperor and Black Rogues. The cap on drugs is nearly maxed out! There's a reason for that cap, and you want me to smuggle in five tons a month? That won't just overfill the cap, it will obliterate it!"

He glanced at the documents laid out before him, shaking his head in disbelief.

"And this amount of weaponry? Why would you need so much? This is enough to equip an entire Atlas army... Oh god, you're planning to start gang wars! This will skyrocket the violence rates. Vale is already struggling with manpower shortages, adding more chaos will plunge Vale into anarchy!"

One of the Judicators, his tone dripping with condescension, spoke up.

"So what? Honestly, I see this as an absolute win. You get a hefty sum of money and increased notoriety for an easy job, we get our supplies and revenue, and the underworld thrives on the ensuing chaos. It's a win-win for everyone."

"You—Can't you see what you're about to do? You're destroying the balance of Vale! The underworld needs the overworld to function. That's the first rule of the underworld!"

"I don't see the problem. It's not our group who will be losing out. Besides, don't you steal Lien from citizens yourself as warm up for your nightly raids?"

A chill ran down Roman's spine as he felt the temperature in the room drop. He struggled to articulate his words, his voice trembling.

"At least I only do it sparingly, at most a handful a month! They're so low on the scale that they don't even touch the balance in the slightest, but you all are dooming the whole entirety of Vale! And your plan will screw up... Tens of thousands of innocents' — !"

"If they shoot up drugs or join gangs, then they're not really innocent anymore, are they? And if their parents or friends get involved, that's more revenue for the Judicators!"

Some members chuckled and cheered, making Roman's heart sink. These people were monsters. They were going to tear Vale apart.

He glanced around the table, his eyes darting nervously before he swallowed hard.

"And if I refuse this offer...?"

"Then we leave you to your business with nothing changing. But you know the consequences if any of these leaks..."

In an instant, a palpable aura of fighting spirit flared around the participants, a fiery pressure that made Roman flinch from the pressure exerted, but his decision was already made the moment his eyes landed on the proposal.

"Yeah... Crystal clear. Sorry, but I'm going to pass. Thanks for the offer, though."

"You're welcome, Roman. After all, we Stand Users should stick together..."

The leader slid a name card towards Roman. Reluctantly, the gentleman thief took it and slipped it into his coat as a sign of respect. It was also a message: if he ever wanted to join the gang, the number on the card was always available.

Walking out of the warehouse, Roman quickly contacted Neo, urgency in his voice as he instructed her to get him out of there immediately. The bitter taste of the meeting lingered on his tongue as the world around him seemed to shatter into glass.

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??? POV

As Roman walked away from the warehouse, one of his men asked with respect in his tone.

"Excuse me for asking, sir, but... Who will be sent to take him down?"

What kind of idiot would let someone that already know their plans go scot-free? Especially when the Judicators currently needed eyes to be off them to succeed in their plan... He hummed in thought before answering Alpha's question.

"... Let's give him some time for now. One week. If he doesn't contact us in the span, then I will send Team ADRB first to test the waters. After all, that Stand Ability of his is deadly enough. Then, you will go next, Eplison."

"Alright! Can't wait, especially that shortstack of his... Thinking about her beneath me gives me shivers already!"

Said person started to shudder as he concealed the urge to frown. He didn't like Eplison compared to the rest of his subordinates, what a waste, but his Stand is powerful when dealing with multiple enemies at once without any evidence leading to the gang.

"What shall we do with Gamma, and Omega? They are still in Mistral as you ordered, and the preparations for the operation are about to be complete soon..."

"They will stay there for the time being; we still need them there to reel the Spider in our palm. I shall plan their schedule to return back to Vale at a later time. To the main topic of our meeting..."

ゴ

ゴ

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ゴ

The temperature around the warehouse chilled drastically as his tone lowers.

"I have evidence that Eta, Sigma, and Psi are planning to backstab the operation, courtesy of Beta's Stand Ability."

Hitches of breaths sounded as the three members around the table looked at him with a shocked expression. Traitors, he almost barked, but he kept it in as he calmly asked with a cold tone.

"Care to explain your reasoning, gentlemen?"

In a flash, a Stand materializes from Sigma and went for a punch towards the nearest subordinate of his with a battle cry while the other two stood up and started running to the door...

Too slow, the three of them. He had already predicted what the three were about to do. All three of them froze in place as gray aura radiated from his body, shadows wrapping around their bodies tightly. Leaning back on his chair, he couldn't help but sigh as he closed his eyes.

Sigh... They already knew that they are no match for his ⌈Suspicious Minds⌋, yet they still tried to. Why can't they see that it was all a waste?

"I will not ask why you three decided to desert, especially now. Do note that my disappointment in your three are immeasurable, even after I took you three in as well... Alpha, if you would please take them out of their misery."

*BANG BANG BANG!*

Three shots fired, as blood painted the ground and bodies dropping. Another sigh escapes his mouth, what a waste of potential...

"Thank you, Alpha. Please send someone to clean the bodies up and give them a proper burial. They deserve that much after serving under me for this many years."

"Yes, sir!"

Hmm... Alpha is helpful as always. He mentally notes to grant him another bonus before looking at his agendas. It seems like they were done for today.

With taht, he stood up from his seat, the rest of his gang members following his actions. The night shrouded his silhouette with shadows as he looked at each one of his members in the eyes. They had steel resolve in their eyes, good.

"You are all dismissed. The next meeting will be the same day, next week. Gentlemen, see to it that your tasks are done by then, especially yours, Delta. Good luck, and I shall see you soon."

Roman Torchwick and Neo Politan... You are now a threat of the Judicators, and will be designated as such. He will not take any chances when his goals were this close, he will use everything in his power to eliminate the threats to his plans.

He thought to himself as he retrieves the singular object on the table in front of him that started it all.

ゴ

ゴ

ゴ

ゴ

Inspecting the object, he couldn't help but smirk in nostalgia. To think that everything started because of this golden arrow more than 8 years ago... If only he was here to see him now, what a waste indeed.

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Roman Torchwick POV

He had to do something. Sure, he hates Vale for most of the stuff that happened to his career before all this, especially the higher ups, but this was different.

Question is... How? There was only him and Neo against at least 5 Stand Users and Huntsmen teams, and because of the Judicators' surprising reach, getting help from the gangs would be impossible.

... Neo? OK, he's listening... Uh huh... Mhmm... Yeah, that made quite some sense...

That was true, kids should love the idea of saving the world, no?

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Two Weeks Later...

Jordan Joestar POV

"Soooo... Is he still stuck on the wallet incident?"

"Sigh... He is. Don't tell him this, but he totally flunked his exams too since he'd been spending all his time searching for the thief."

"Huh, wonder how Summer's going to react with all the fails, then."

"You bastards, I'm sitting right beside you."

I glared at the two grown men who were speaking beside me, literally. We were currently in Vale's cinema watching Blast-Kill, you know, the movie that Tai bought tickets for before MY WALLET GOT GRABBED.

Grabbing a handful of popcorn, I shoved them into my mouth and tried to enjoy the caramel taste... Yeah, the Stand User incident along with failing all my exams are definitely not helping by appetite. It did give me a way to vent my frustrations though, stress eating was more useful than one might think.

And this movie was ass, by the way. Horrible lines, just god awful writing and plot, and the actors surely didn't know their characters well. It was so bad that it was entertaining to point out shitty parts of the film, that deserved recognition at the very least.

"Listen, Jojo, it's not that bad, alright? Hell, I even got pickpocketed a few times, I think I lost a few thousands of Lien over my years in Beacon alone."

Tai tried to make me feel better, only for Qrow to shoot his own opinion, drinking from his flask that I am sure is not allowed in the theater.

"Raven took quite a lot from your wallet back in the day."

"R-Raven did? Oh my god, that makes so much damn sense... What the fuck, Qrow?!"

"What? Even Summer noticed it, it's not my fault that you didn't realize it."

Yeah, seeing that Tai was getting into a midlife crisis over his lost money over his deadbeat wife, I gave a heave.

"It's not the money, it's... You know, the wallet had some important stuff that Ruby and Yang gave for my birthday... Losing it makes me feel really guilty for not trying hard enough. I could have done more to grab it back."

I could have definitely done more, espeically with my Stand's Ability. Maybe I would have...

"... OK, that's adorable, kid, didn't think I could see you in that image, but it's nothing that important. What's it they usually say... Make new memories and something. Who cares if their first gift to you is gone, things come and go, but memories don't."

Qrow said before chugging another shot in his flask, as I huffed. Yeah, that's... Huh. That's actually not bad, Qrow gave shockingly good advice for once. And believe me, most of the advice Qrow gives sucked ass. They were about the same, "Take a shot if you feel like banging your head, it did wonders for me", "A drink a day keeps the raven away", etc. And those were the tamer ones.

"Yeah, Qrow's right. I'm sure the kids would love giving you more stuff, especially when your birthday's around the corner!"

Tai, snapping out of his crisis for a moment, patted my back before he started snickering all of a sudden. Well, we all are, cause damn, the romance in this movie sucked so bad. It's like a kid wrote this script!

Now with my mood better and ever after watching this movie, I had the urge to go grab a pack of chips. Telling Tai beforehand, I easily sneaked out of the theater room and headed to my destination.

The stall that sold the cinema food and drinks were near its entrance for some reason, it was clearly a design flaw in my opinion, so I quickly jogged with a few Lien cards in hand to get my junk food.

With both hands in my pockets, I passed by a few people before there was this attraction that guided my attention to a random person walking a few feet outside. My eyes narrowed at the feeling, when suddenly I saw a familiar fedora amongst the crowd.

Our eyes met, and his lips curled into a smirk. A tilt of his head to the side made me realize what he was trying to convey: He wanted me to follow him. A brief moment of hesitation paints my face as my eyes darted around to try and find the assassin, but there was too many people around the both of us.

Taking a deep breath, I clenched my fists before I took a step forward.

◀——–– To Be Continued

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Stand Profile

Stand User: ??? ???

Classification: Stand User

Stand Name: ⌈Suspicious Minds⌋ – Composer: Elvis Presley

Stand Ability: ???

Stand Parameters

Power: ?

(Strength and ability to cause destruction)

Speed: ?

(Agility and reflexes as well as performance speed)

Range: ?

(Range of manifestation, ability influence, and spatial mobility)

Stamina: ?

(Duration of how long an ability will last)

Precision: ?

(Accuracy of their abilities to specified targets)

Developmental Potential: ?

(Possible functions, utilization, and capacity to improve its capabilities)

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