Capitolo Secondo: Ambizione (11)
Farmville was a little sprawling city of Virginia. Having been chosen as the new seat of Prince Edward County in 1871, the city’s economics depended on the brick-making industry that had asserted itself just as the Civil War imposed a forced closure of the Piedmont Mine. Coal was still relevant despite the loss of the major mine section through the creation of the Farmville Coal and Iron Company, but it was clear that the production of bricks was gaining relevance due to the need of creating new homes and expanding the cities all over the Union of States.
The clay recovered from the Farmville Basin was more than enough to guarantee a steady production for this industry, and it was easily making many poor investors suddenly rich. Many were using the money to also improve the city and thus increase the workforce within its premises. Right now we were lucky enough that the railway system that led to the city was actually one of the more advanced due to how recently it had been. Not only did it have the older Standard gauge Southside Railroad that connected most of the major centers in the Southern States, but it even had its Farmville and Powhatan Railroad that allowed for a quicker arrival from the Powhatan region.
Our entry in the city was a tense one. I didn’t restrain myself when it came to extra caution, knowing way too well that the current situation was far from calm. If the sniper behind the assassination attempt against Speedwagon was still around, we needed to make sure that he wasn’t within the city and not planning to create any trouble to us beyond this checkpoint. I gave ourselves about six to seven hours to search around the settlement and find any clues that would either prove the bastard was still around and on our trails or if he had kicked the bucket back a while ago. We divided into three teams, two of two-men and one with three.
Robert wasn’t in a good shape, but he was still in decent enough conditions to wander around and not be forced on the train. While I would have preferred for him to remain back there to rest and recover, I didn’t want to take any risk when it came to possible infiltration just to try and kill him there. It was a difficult decision, but one that was soothed when I decided to have him wander around with Derek and Bloody. The Cowboy was best-suited to counter long-distance issues, while the boy was prepared to handle close quarters if the situation escalated in a fistfight. Training him in hamon wasn’t as easy as I would have wanted it to be due to how limited the space on the train was, but it was still doable with some creativity. He could use some basic things like reinforcing his muscles and enchant his senses for a brief amount of time, but he was far from being able to use the Overdrives.
Bhediya was stuck with Zephy. Both had heightened senses already, but Bhediya’s Stand possessed the qualities needed to predict a long range attack if it happened that Jones was really aiming at him. The spirit-like critter was capable of detecting ill intentions, so that would also work as a good alarm in case the former soldier decided to take a subtler approach towards them. It was a surprisingly good combination, while… mine wasn’t really based on a specific strategy.
Sure, I was the one that had to keep an eye out for bullets being shot at us, but to be fair… I doubted Kate couldn’t predict one coming her way. Her perception of things was just high enough to elaborate trouble aimed at her, and her hearing was top-notch compared to normal humans. No, what really made it a personal necessity was tied to a tiny promise I had with her. I told her that I would have given her the opportunity to come with us for something this important and here we were, taking a simple stroll around Farmville. While I struggled a lot to come up with a good reasoning to keep her identity a secret or even covered by a clever disguised, I ended up accepting the fact that there was a single but powerful way to keep anyone from causing any disturbance to us even if she was walking around without any additions to her usual appearance.
Of course the first ten minutes of wandering were filled with surprised people regaling us both surprised looks. There was no restraint on that regard, and I was caught sighing more than once while keeping close to the particularly tense young woman. She spared me a nervous look from time to time, but I merely offered her a smile that just promised unquestionable protection no matter the circumstances we ended up facing.
And, as partly expected, we were soon stopped by a couple of officers of the garrison of the Union Army within the settlement. Two men, both looking to be quite similar in age, with one taking the task of approaching us while his partner stared as we were soon asked to stop. We complied, turning around to regard the soldiers at once instead of making it awkwardly slow.
“Mr. Officer, is there any trouble?”
My words seemed to double the surprise present on the man’s face as he finally got a proper sight of Kate’s face. Despite her reluctant willingness to go through with my plan, she still demanded to at least put her hat on. The ‘Kasa’ was one of the Japanese hats that were commonly used by many individuals that lived, worked and fought in the countryside. Samurai, just like peasants and monks, were known to have a habit to wear those to shield their face from the public and keep their identities mostly a secret from those they didn’t have to interact with.
“S-Sir, I don’t- I… If it’s not asking too rudely, what is that?”
I sighed. “Sir, first… your rank. I believe you have a duty to report your rank to anyone you’re addressing, with the only exceptions being in case of emergencies or during crimes.”
His mouth opened, but he couldn’t exactly rebuke that truthful comment. He spared a quick glance to his companion, and the fellow officer merely nodded, finding no reason to deny that courtesy despite the unusual situation.
“L-Lieutenant Chambers. My subordinate, Sergeant Cooper. Now please… state your name and… your businesses.”
I smiled at the change of pace. It was less rude, but it was still clear that the soldiers were still worried about Kate’s appearance.
“My name is Damiano Divino. I’m an entrepreneur and businessman which is currently busy on a tour from New York right up to California,” I introduced myself, noticing that my friend was giving me the chance of introducing her as properly as possible. “While my companion here is Miss Kate Aryoko. She is my bodyguard and a close friend of mine that hails from Japan.”
A frown appeared on the Lieutenant. “Japan? Isn’t that in… Asia?”
“That’s correct, good sir. I had the chance of visiting it once, truly an exotic land to check.”
“But… I don’t wish to be rude to you, Ms. Aryoko but...”
“Is my appearance causing disturbance, Lieutenant Chambers?” The woman inquired, interrupting the man and gaining even more surprise out of him as he expected her to not be unable to neither understand nor speak the language. “I would understand if it was. It wouldn’t be the first time this has happened as I am a Nekomata, and I’m deeply apologetic if this has caused any issue.”
Before this much politeness and civility there wasn’t much the two could do to act against us. It was rather unconventional, but soon they seemed to calm down and press for more details as soon as they conceded that we weren’t trying to cause any trouble to them. They listened, they understood and… soon they let us go, but not before giving us a fair warning.
“If this guy you’re trying to find is here, I wish for you to know that the Army will start its own investigations. While the Civil War ended twenty some years ago, that doesn’t exclude the fact we can’t allow someone this dangerous around. Not when he is staining even further the flag he was doing these heinous things for,” Cooper confirmed with a nod. “So please keep wary if you end up approached by other officers. We will still spread the news of your situation Ms. Aryoko so you’re not going to face any issue in that regard.”
“Thank you,” The samurai answered and that seemed to be it as we were given just the instructions to reach where the most renowned pub was. The walk to reach it was short, but something happened before we had the chance to enter inside the building.
“Dio?” Kate quietly called, almost whispering with how soft her voice was at that moment. I turned around and gave her a confused look. I was greeted with a tiny smile. “Thank you. For… helping me with this.”
“I promised you I wouldn’t have left you alone on this matter,” I recalled with a nod and a confident smile. “You’re first and foremost a friend of mine, Kate. No matter what differences you and I might have, may those be physical or what else.”
She sighed, nodding gracefully at my response as we soon resumed our stroll to find a good place to start gaining some hints on the matter. The pub was half-full due to the current time. Not many clients were there to already drink alcohol as the groups there looked to be enjoying a simple morning together before going to their respective workplaces.
We approached the counter and the bartender spared just a brief surprised look in Kate’s direction before greeting us with a nod. “Welcome.”
I nodded. “Morning, I suppose it’s possible to make an exchange for… information?”
“Regarding what and… why?”
“A rogue officer that might have entered the city a little earlier than us,” I answered. “He is… trying to deal with the one that reported on him for torturing soldiers. He was from the Union Army and-”
“One of those dumbasses that tried to make the flag a reason for atrocities. I’m well aware of this occurrence, stranger, and I can assure you we don’t give much love to these kinds of bastards” The owner remarked with a sigh. “I would need at least a name. Anything particular about the guy.”
“He uses a rifle with a scope. He is tied to it quite tightly from what our friend told us,” Kate commented and that drew a snort from the big guy. “You’ve seen him?”
“Yes. He passed by without saying much but I saw him holding his rifle as if it was a baby, he drank some liquor and then retreated at the building beside this one, the one right in front of the fountain. I believe it’s a place where tourists stop by to stay for a while before going back to their own businesses. Either go home or check the next small city in the South.”
“Do you think he has left something within the rooms he is temporarily using?” I asked. “And I know you’re not tied with the business but-”
“He seemed methodical. But if what you said is completely true, then he definitely missed some steps because he can’t wait for that ‘big moment’. It’s a possibility, but I wouldn’t rely on it too much.”
I nodded. “We will still give it a go. Thank you and… I suppose this is yours.”
I landed on the counter about one hundred dollars. His eyes widened in surprise at the big cash delivered to him at the minimal assistance offered, so much that, as we were leaving, he took a moment to wave at us with a big grin. At least someone was going to have a good month while we handled our little issue at once. Reaching the new destination, we spoke with the owner of the place. The young woman was technically the co-owner with her father, and she was partly reluctant to part ways with the copy of the key for the room used by Jones. Nonetheless, she seemed to concede when I mentioned that the Army was going to be involved if the criminal wasn’t stopped at once and that she could end up in big troubles if she didn’t allow us to check that room.
Soon we found the clues that we needed. The main room was filled with numerous boxes filled with bullets of the same caliber, the very same used for the rifle that the bastard was currently equipped with. I spotted a small crate with a few similar scopes, maps about the Piedmont Mine, some explosives and… uniforms. Kate frowned at this last detail, pulling one of the jackets and bringing it up to me.
“The flag isn’t the one used by the United States,” She pointed out, and I carefully grasped at the cloth to check on it. “Do you know which one this is?”
A glance was more than enough to confirm the nationality of the cloth. “Mexican. Knowing how tumultuous things are by the border, I wouldn’t be surprised that he stole some and… no.”
I paused, my eyes narrowing as I spotted something within one of the corners in the room. Something that actually brought me dread and a slight sense of panic as I came to realize something really bad if I was correct about it. Numerous mattresses had been placed one above the others. If he had been alone, then why using multiple ‘beds’? And why keeping so much equipment when he was known to be neat, clean and… precise. Precise enough to require few bullets?
…
“W-We need to go,” I quickly blurted, pulling Kate through the door after grasping her wrist. She let out a surprised yelp, but managed to recover by the shock quickly enough to spare a swift question.
“What is going on?!”
I gritted my teeth. “It’s an ambush. They expected for us to split up to search for a single individual, when in truth it was an entire group. Jones has a squad with him.”
Her eyes widened. “U-Understood. Let go?”
I complied at the curt and panic-filled request and soon we were both rushing out of the building and back to the streets. Dread filling my chest, I hoped that they were doing alright. I couldn’t afford to make this kind of mistake and…
I, Dio, couldn’t allow anything bad to happen!
---------------d-d-d-d-d--------------d-d-d-d---------
The setting of the ambush was on the horizon, but even as we took the path that led towards it, we saw early on signs of a battle that had unfolded until a while ago. The Piedmont Mine was still supposed to have workers around, but for some reason it looked so abandoned. I realized that the reason that had been the case was tied to the two signboards by the entrance. One was meant for the workers as it explained how today was going to be a free day from their usual shifts and… the second thing was a little more crass.
‘Come and join the fucking fun for freedom, Derek!’
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
We were on the right route, but we needed to pick up the pace to not miss any situation that might require our direct assistance. I felt the failure of what happened at the settlement striking me the worst in that moment, my dread stirring up a sense of irritation and anger towards Jones. The bastard had to be nearby, and we were given proof of it when the noises of gunshots filled our ears and prompted us to pick up speed towards the origin of the sounds.
The sight we were presented with was the one I would have imagined from an intense fight coming to its brutal closure. Bhediya was on his right knee, breathing tiredly as he tried to catch his own rhythm to produce more Hamon and fix his wounds. He was holding the leg he was kneeling on, two bullet wounds visible from our current position and a couple more by his left arm. Beside him, lying dead on the ground were three unknown soldiers wearing the Mexican Army’s uniforms similar to the ones we had found back in that flat. Rifles scattered all over and used bullets littering the ground all around. It was truly a battleground, one that truly worried me the worst.
A few others were set in a similar display all around that battlefield, having been killed in the skirmish between the two teams combining their forces against the ambushing squad. Bloody was clutching at his left arm, blood slowly pouring out by the section close to his wrist, Zephy beside him and offering him some cover from the serious stance it took. The boy seemed unscathed in most part, but I could say that the one reporting the least damage was Speedwagon. Robert looked frightened and shocked, but still holding close to his dangerous hat while standing behind Derek.
It was when I looked at Derek that I understood the man had gone through the extra mile to prove his worth against his former friend. Despite the numerous gunshots that had landed on his legs and his arms, he was still standing. His posture was tense and trembling, but he clutched his Stand-gun as tightly as possible as he waited for the next move of his current opponent. Jones… didn’t look any better.
His legs were trembling in pure pain as most of the damage had been delivered to them. Two trails of blood slowly came out of the sides of his lips, a bloody grin matching the furious look on the former comrade’s face. There was some hesitation from the two, but I could see the blond’s reluctance was one driven by pain rather than genuine sadness like his opponent. Despite his dark mood, a chuckle left Jones’ lips as he showed that he could still easily move his rifle.
“I-It would seem you failed to see the proper spots… again. Poor Derek, didn’t have the chance to have someone to help him about this,” The man chuckled louder as he said this. “That Lady Liberty is going to bless me once I’m done with you, your little band of monsters and your pathetic boss. It will be bliss, it will be an honor to the United States and the Founding Fathers.”
“The war… it’s over, Jones. It was over so many years ago. And yet you still think it was all in the right. W-What kind of patriot would accept being under a new tyrant when we ourselves are a nation that freed itself by tyranny?” Derek remarked weakly, the blood loss affecting his speech pattern. “It’s… it’s over, Jones. You- You have to stop.”
“No… never! It will never be over! The- The dream is eternal! Our Destiny shall be glorious!!” The sniper yelled proudly, his grin regaining madness as he prepared to act. “And now… let’s put an end to this charade.”
He straightened the aim of the rifle, ready to strike… only to change the barrel’s direction towards where a panicking Bhediya was. “Starting with the bad wolf!”
Robert finally snapped out of his panic. His hat soared upward and curved with impressive precision towards the dangerous opponent. But… there was no time. No matter if it was Hamon or the Spin, the gun was going to shoot its bullet faster than the hat was going to hit its target. Or at least that was how nature was supposed to work in its normal manner. It should have been like this, for the bullet to soar and hit its target, but I was there to prevent normality from robbing the life of one of my friends away from me.
I’m too bizarre to allow this cruelty to happen! AND I REFUSE TO LET THIS UNFOLD!
Calling forth ｢ACT 2｣, my Stand swiftly manifested and used the power it had since its first form. My objective wasn’t to stop Jones’ full body, but to focus on a specific bit of it that I knew could be used to influence the current scene to my advantage. Just as his right index started to press onto the trigger, it suddenly froze and… bent away from the aimed direction in an unpleasant and hopefully most painful way. The man yelped almost instantly in a mixture of pain and surprise as the finger was broken through that move, forcing him to flinch away from the trigger and rendering it impossible for him to shoot the rifle as planned.
One thing that I learned by personally researching human anatomy was the specific bones and cartilage that made fingers, nose and other small things I could freeze in time in ‘appropriate’ moments and disable my opponents with proper focus and timing. Right now, due to the lack of trouble aimed at myself, I was able to focus on one of the tiny bits of the cartilage within that finger, making it so that by just applying a tiny bit of strength the man would have ended up with that kind of injury. The effect was morbidly excellent and... that was all it took for Speedwagon’s attack to gain importance and deadliness. Jones had barely time to realize the bad situation he was in when he felt the pressure of the approaching object from above, the hat finally rushed down towards its target and… it easily severed the right arm off his body before slamming itself onto the ground. The limb fell off to the ground together with the rifle, with blood exploding out of the newly-opened wound fueling even more the suffering the bastard was in. Agony struck the entirety of the rogue bastard, his body tensing up in pure pain as he found himself unable to react as Derek mustered his gun up one more and took aim of the killing blow.
It was clear that it had to be his victory, and I didn’t rush to finish the job myself. Even Kate hesitated as we both witnessed the end of that horrible standoff that turned so vicious and bloodier than any normal one of this age and era.
“D-Derek?” The frail voice of the dying sniper reached us all despite how weak and raspy it sounded to our ears.
Did Jones realize what was going on or was he just hoping to be spared by the one he knew the most? I wasn’t sure I could have given a true answer since I knew little of the guy and the one that knew… well, he didn’t care. Or at least, he stopped caring after what happened that very day.
“So long… my old friend.”
The ｢Emperor｣ delivered the last hit that determined the end of that encounter, with the bullet wasting no time in slamming through the forehead of the hurting enemy and killing him instantly. It felt somewhat anticlimactic, but… I hadn’t been there and so I wasn’t sure how much of a struggle it had been for them before reaching this point. Considering how many dead mercenaries were now there, I doubted it had been a fun time for anyone. Yet, as soon as Derek saw his old friend’s body slump on the ground, he followed suit, still groaning in pain and alive.
Kate and I rushed, with each checking on everyone there. I first went to see how the cowboy was, and I felt relieved when I started to pull out the bullets and fix his body with Hamon. He was in bad shape, but it wasn’t critical. All the blood he lost… he was somehow holding onto life like the sturdy idiot he tended to be at times when in a conversation. He had a family to come back and he just couldn’t afford to die like this.
I respected that, and I helped him as much as possible. He was still unconscious once I was done with him, and soon I started to tend to the others, with Bhediya being next since he needed help pulling the bullets and giving him some help to start his Hamon and get his body to heal on its own. Bloody was holding himself particularly well despite the stress he had been put in, and as I removed the lone bullet in his arm, I smiled and told him that his own Ripple was already healing, something that was visible to him due to his connection to the mystic art. As Kate went to check on Zephy, Speedwagon walked slowly towards the corpse of our deceased enemy without saying a single word. He spared it a blank stare, musing over the bloody carcass as he regarded his potential murderer with a neutral look before walking up to his hat and retrieving it from where it had been left. The thing had sunk part of its blades deep into the ground, digging into it and urging a fair amount of might to be pulled out of it.
The blond huffed and struggled, putting as much as he could in his weakened form to get his favorite weapon out and… he finally did. And then he was forced to back away as something erupted from the ground through the hole created by the hat. His eyes widened as he moved to shield them from the dark substance coming out from the dirt, his mind failing for just a moment what he had just discovered by pure dumb luck. Then the details clicked within his head and… he gasped.
“D-Dio!”
My jaws were already dropping really low as I realized what was going on. In a way that I could only reason being either the Speedwaifu’s luck coming out for the occasion or Fate finally giving us some mercy after so long, Robert Speedwagon had just discovered an oil reserve on his own. It was an impressive feat, but one that was slightly delayed to get everyone checked out properly before I worked to make something out of this discovery. And I just knew what to do for this occasion. It took me a while to get everything cleaned up and to actually stake a large amount of money to buy the land off the former owners. They quickly sold it to me the very moment they heard the price I was willing to pay as they just failed to check on why I was offering this much money to them. As soon as all papers and documents would arrive the next day, I had already contacted managers and workers to explain to them the change of pace, the difference in workers’ laws considering they were going to be part of Made in Heavens and… the fact I was quick to hire people to properly deal with the double production of Coal and Oil through that Mine. It was going to take money to restructure the entire scenario, then even more to buy authorizations to allow the selling of the new product in the American landscape. I left some of my administrators from London to take care of this, with them having their arrival schedule to happen in roughly three-four days.
I ended up bickering with Robert about the rights for the gains made through the oil field. He wanted it to be evenly split, but I was quick to remind him that since he was the one he discovered, I wouldn’t have demanded any more than just 45 percent for the company and the rest given to him as the one that deserved that win the most. Speedwagon was blatantly annoyed by what felt more of a negotiation spearheaded by friendship rather than economic logic, but he accepted this ‘loss’ and took the big part for this discovery as it is meant to be.
While I had imagined for him to discover this thing once we hit a little more in the south, I wasn’t going to shy away from the dark gold mine we had just discovered and brought. The money born through this was going to be enough to further finance missions in the States once we were done with the entire ordeal we were in.
After two days of resting for Derek and Robert, but also training for Bloody, our journey to reach our next destination began and… this time there was much to think about as Jones’ defeat opened up to something that I wasn’t really happy to discuss with the cowboy. Derek gave me a grim look as I finished telling him what we discovered in the deceased sniper’s former headquarters. The train was moving, and it was just me, him, and Speedwagon sitting down to discuss this as the others were either resting or checking to do stuff by the living quarters.
“The Mexican Army? I doubt the Porfiriato could accept this kind of influence, even if Porfirio Diaz himself had been bewitched by Vins. Too many steps to take into mind, and too many rebellious pawns to be wary about. It has to be a minor general, someone that doesn’t fear any kind of internal repercussion.
“A bandit?” I suggested in a clueless tone, drawing a snort from the cowboy.
“Doubtful. While it would have been easy to blame the weapons on some thugs by the border managing to steal a batch of those during one of their infamous raids, I doubt that they could have the same luck in finding the uniforms. Those are… good quality, and I’m quite sure the Army prides more about the cloth than the other equipment so...”
“It has to be part of the Army, but not someone that is considered threatening enough to be watched over by others,” Speedwagon muttered tiredly. “Someone that clearly knows how to enter this many men through the border and have them transport this kind of important equipment without being noticed- what if bribery was involved?”
“Not with how high tempers are right now between the two nations. Porfirio has gained the displeasure of the United States ever since he took dictatorial power within his country. It reminds them of-”
“Santa Anna,” Derek interjected with a nod, agreeing to the point I had just raised. “No, it had to have happened without the knowledge of the border guards and that is… concerning.”
“I thought the borders weren’t that protected-”
“That’s because it’s not something many high officers would want to tell the public. If it was known that there was tight security over the Mexican border, many politicians would use it as a reason to either demonize the US Army for being too aggressive with our southern neighbors or even call for an immediate war to bring freedom to them. To… Manifest Destiny.”
Humming quietly, I stared at the jacket I had shown to Derek to confirm the fact it was the real thing and not just a copy or an obsolete version of what was being currently used by the Mexican Army. I wondered what Vins did and… why she would take this massive step-up compared to other villains of the series. Even in her own previous efforts, she would never take this big step to call forth part of a National Army. I was nervous as to why she would go through this great extent and… why she hated me this much.
While it was fine to hate me for being a version of her son’s indirect murderer due to how deranged and insane she was, I still couldn’t believe the degree of viciousness she was going through and… what if it was because I was Dio in her eyes. It wasn’t even just a case of appearance, but of successes. I was winning more than the original Dio Brando and, knowing how much of a mastermind she was, I could tell she was trying to find the excessive force to put an end to my ‘excessive’ rise to power.
Despite the current successes and the many questions I still had to find an answer to, another dilemma presented to me now that the ‘coast was clear’ and I was free to grow busy with another situation of grave importance. Later that night, as everyone was falling asleep and I was the only one awake, I found myself musing over the Arrow I had in my possession. After unveiling it for the third time ever since I got it, I would have imagined for it to actually activate and… do something. It definitely did something when Kira Yoshikage needed help in not getting discovered, so… what got it to do something? And how did I prevent it from activating at the most inopportune time?
I just couldn’t think up a solution to this new mystery, and I ended up wasting an entire night trying to make sense of it. As predicted, I discovered nothing… except that an all-nighter of this kind could only leave me with a lot of tiredness after staying awake for almost a full day and dealing with so much stress all at once.
Naps were a solution to this big issue of mine. Sadly, Bloody found it annoying when most of those happened while I was watching over his limited training in the Spin and Hamon. Frustratingly enough, Bhediya found it a good reason to use my lap to sleep in his dog form. And I can assure without hesitation that he was a heavy dog after being around for so many years and putting on weight in both height and muscles.
Yet I still found peace within the slumber and with each nap, I found myself glancing over a vision of strange importance. I saw the Arrow, I saw myself clashing with an unknown being that was severely overwhelming me and… then I saw something that I couldn’t discern. Two words came to my mind and I was left immensely perplexed.
Why did I think of ‘the Heavens’ when staring at that last vision? Why did I see a Stand and imagined its name tied to it? It wasn’t ｢The World｣ nor ｢Made in Heaven｣, but I could tell it was still important for some reason.