World Tree MUSH

    Night-time in Morioh, within the back storage room of a museum. The traveling exhibit, "Meso-American Marvels" has come to the town with promises of rare and interesting finds. Not many are present, save for a janitor pulling the graveyard shift who seems to be taking a lunch break. Sitting on one of the crates, he gives a sigh of fatigue and opens a bento. "...A few moments of rest." he mutters to himself picking up a rice ball, then glances over at a nearby, "Statue" of a horned woman lying in hay within a wooden box. "Hey, nice craftsmanship." he says with an interested look. And then his pager goes off, causing him to jump with the rice ball landing squarely on the statue's horn. "CRAP!" he calls out, "Gotta clean this off..." he says in a panicked, though hushed tone.

    As he reaches over however, the statue starts to tremble slightly as the rice seems to simply absorb into the stone! "What the-?" he asks, before the stone rumbles and finally explodes in a wave of force as he's knocked to the side! "SOMEONE HEEEEEEEEEEELP!" he shouts as he runs for an emergency exit. Meanwhile, a woman in the place of the statue is stretching as though having awakened from a long sleep giving a groan of relaxation as she looks around herself.

    Serrah and Luke are wandering down the street right by the museum, with a snack they picked up in this town; Serrah is wearing her usual plaid skort, plus a black T-shirt which says 'Relying On The World Tree's Translations'. Implicitly, she's also relying on the general dimness to hide the fact that she looks kind of like she's dead. She also has her baseball-filled sports bag at her hip.

    "These rice balls are pretty fantastic," she remarks to Luke. "Y'know, I once saw a terrible dub of this one kid's anime which just substituted 'rice balls' for 'jelly donuts'. No change to the visuals, they were still depicted as rice balls, it was just kinda --"

    A pause as she hears the scream in the nearby museum.

    Serrah looks at Luke uncertainly. "... Should we go check that out?"

    Luke is happy to keep Serrah company!. He also is enjoying some of those delicious snacks, wearing his ever present Sylph Co. Hat, shorts, backpack and shoes, nothign fancy, all practical!. He is quite at ease, maybe a bit too much for someone supposedly escorting and keeping Serrah safe. "They are delicious, yes." he replies, taking a bite of his own. 
    Of course, given the fact there is the never ending potential threat around her, he is not alone!, he has two pokemon following him. One of them, is a small panda like creature in a costume, that seems content to perch on Serrah, the small 'vampire' panda content to keep her company, also eating one of those rice balls. The other one is a tall, pink black and white 'bear' (even if it looks more like a theme park mascot) creature, that seems far more alert than the boy, apparently taking the task a bit more seriously, even if it also is eating some riceballs, it is almost a wonder how he can hold those iwh those weird paws of his. 
    Of course, the screams of help catch the attention of Luke and pokemon, who don't seem to consider for very long, "Yeah, we should, let's just be careful."

    Statues coming to life? Yeah, the Speedwagon Foundation is going to be all over that like white on rice. Joseph would probably be livid. But they'll keep it from him for now, because, well... he's 80 years old and a shock like that might finish him. Even if he IS getting stronger slowly, now that he's picked up Hamon/Ripple practice again.

    But, relevent to this situation? Josuke is the one they picked to check it out, since he's already there in Morioh. So he's been rousted out of bed to go take a look. He's being driven there in a Speedwagon Foundation van, and the driver has given him all the paperwork he'll need to get in. Talking to Jotaro on a car phone, Joseuke yawns. "Seriously... a statue exploded? Someone in there after hours? Is this really a Speedwagon Foundation problem?"

    "It wasn't destroyed. It exploded. By itself. After absorbing a rice ball through a horn," Jotaro replies. "All the data we have indicates that's how these 'Pillar Men' operate. They sleep in stone for thousands of years, then wake up for thousands of years. The old man thought he killed the last of them when he was younger, and we have one at one of the Foundation's facilities."

    "...Okay so... cavemen?" Josuke inquires. "I guess it might cause a panic..."

    "Pillar Men," Jotaro corrects. "They're dangerous. Old man said they can fuse people's flesh and absorb their insides instantly. You're gonna have to watch out -- it's old, and probably hungry. Kill it if you have to."

    Josuke visibly starts. "What? They eat people?!" he yelps. "Why did you send just me, then?!"

    "You're the only one close," Jotaro replies. "Do not give it the chance to get close, and if you have to run, do it. Keep me updated."

    The car pulls into the museum parking lot, and Josuke steps out. He pauses a moment, looking around. It's this that makes him catch sight of Serrah and Luke, and Josuke raises a hand and waves. "Hey!" he calls out, relieved. "Did you guys hear something?" He's not hesitating on going in. He's just, uh. Gathering information! Yeah! Yeah, that's it!

    And then the alarms start going off in the museum, thought it sounds like a security alert. Inside, Blackheart is frowning at a nearby motion sensor and lightly tapping at it with her index finger. "What a strange little... Object." she says to herself, quietly, before heading out the front door. Looking up at the moon, she smiles and sits down though notices the chill of a climate very much /not/ Central American as goosebumps appear on her skin causing her to frown. "Where am I?" she asks to herself, looking this way and that.

    Serrah nods to Luke. "All righty," she says, striding forward. She pauses when that car drives up, and she brightens when she sees Josuke. "Oh hey! You're ... awesome-hair-guy," she says. "Josuke, right?" She shakes her head, and shadows start to swirl around her legs. "Anyway, yeah, I'm-a scout ahead. Let's see if I can't take a shortcut if I stop the gah!"

    She jumps in surprise as a ghostly black and gray feminine humanoid form appears, wearing armor with heart-shaped emblems and a helmet with cat-ears. There's a pink belt around its waist, which also has a heart-shaped emblem. "What in the world ..." She glances between it and Josuke in confusion.

    And then the newcomer strides out of the building, and Serrah turns to face her, a guarded expression on her face. One hand casually goes down to rest on the baseball bag at her hip.

     Luke begins to follow serrah, while the small panda pokemon simply remains perched on her shoulder, glad to be carried around!. The Bewear tries to take point, moving in front of the others, just to be safe, but they all pause when the car appears, and Serrah points out Josuke!. He can't find fault at the description, "Friend of yours?" he asks, trying to remember if he met the guy with the amazing hairdo.
    When Serrah mentions wanting to go ahead, Luke protests, "Don't go alone!, we need to be careful." The big bear pokemon nods and moves closer to the others, when it spots the weird figure, growling at the humanoid, clearly quite confused. Luke also can't help starng at it, "Where did that come from?" he asks, while the big bear slowly tries to move in front of Luke. While the boy doesn't spot Blackheart, a bit too distracted by the 'stand', his pokemon do, both fixating on the lost pilar woman.

    Josuke can't help but grin a little as Serrah refers to him as 'awesome hair guy'. His name is recalled, and he nods. "Yeah, that's me," he agrees, with that grin still in place. "You came to see about the disturbance too?"

    Luke's question gets a tilt of his head, and he scratches at his cheek a little. "We know each other, but I don't think we've met more than once. I'm trustworthy, though. I was sent here to figure out what happened. A guard said a statue absorbed a rice ball and then exploded. I've got some information though..."

    The door opens then, and Josuke trails off. As he sees what's coming out of the museum, he takes a step back. "Careful!" he warns Serrah and Luke. "Jotaro told me about these people -- he called them 'Pillar Men'. They absorb people's biomass, like that biological nanodroid with the tail in that anime!"

    He too 'takes a Stand', the pink and blue-armored male figure with a severe expression appearing behind him. "Stop right there!" Yeah, the fact that it's a woman doesn't faze him at all, despite being told about Pillar Men.

It's the hostile look that gets Blackheart scrambling before she stands up and takes a step back. Looking at Josuke, she tilts her head as though looking off to the side. "What... Is that?" she asks, gesturing to Crazy Diamond. "Who are you people?" she asks, visibly /very/ confused. "Did I do something wrong?" she asks.

    Serrah smiles faintly at Bewear. "Hey, I'd turn into a shadow so I wouldn't be seen. I'm reckless, but not that reckless." She nods to Josuke. "Actually, Luke and I were just wandering, but we heard a guy scream, but, uh ..." She gestures to her Pseudo-Stand, and squints at it. "... I'm ... not sure what this thing issss ...?"

    She regards Blackheart for a moment. "I mean, I haven't seen that anime," she murmurs to Josuke, "but she doesn't look like she's about to eat people ...?" She waves uncertainly to Blackheart, but she lets Josuke do the talking for now; her own Pseudo-Stand also waves, seemingly in an automatic mimicking-gesture.

    Luke just seems mostly mesmerized by the stand, especially due to how hard it is to see the darn thing. The small panda pokemon on Serrah's shoulder simply floats up and approaches it, trying to 'poke' the weird figure with one paw. The boy quickly focuses back on Josuke, rubbing the back of his head, clearly embarrassed by not inmediatly remembering that hairdo... him, not remembering him. "Yeah we were just visiting... and we heard pleas for help." he says, basically backing what Serrah said. 
    Blackheart is addressed politely, at least the intimidating lady seems... confused more than ravenous and planning to eat people, "That anime sounds awesome." he comments back to Josuke, "I'll keep that warning in mind.". 
    The pink bear takes a few steps in front of Luke, to stand between the boy and the 'man eating humanoid' even if it can't seem to see any inmediate danger either. It waves if Blackheart looks at it!.

    Josuke pauses at this, seeing the woman scramble back. His own hostility seems to fade then, and he blinks, confused. "...You're not a Pillar Man?" he asks. "...I've been told that they're hostile to humans..." He's not looking all RAAAR anymore, now he's just... kinda confused. The Stand behind him doesn't change its expression, but it doesn't seem any more inclined to attack. It just sort of floats there.

    And then Serrah needs some information! "Oh right! Uh. Sometimes when people from the Tree come here, their powers take the form of a Stand. It's not an actual Stand, and you won't keep it when you leave here. But I guess that's how this world is parsing your powers, as some kind of Stand ability," he explains. "Speedwagon is calling them 'Pseudo-Stands'."

    Luke gets a nod. "Yeah, one of the security guards got startled, it looks like. Understandable, I'd think." He's actually offering this openly, for Blackheart as well, because he's not sure what to make of her. "She was sleeping in statue form -- that's what they do, I think, for thousands of years at a time, and then they wake up for just as long. Jotaro said something about my -- about Jousutaa-san thought he got all of them, but..."

    "...Three." Blackheart says, raising her hand to her chin in a musing position. "-Not two?" she asks, looking at Josuke with a raised eyebrow. "Did they take disciples?.." she wonders to herself with eyes cast to the ground in thought then looks up. "Were their names, 'Kars' and, 'Esidisi'?" she asks, though appears mildly uncomfortable while speaking of them.

    Serrah peers at Pangshi. "I ... soooooort of felt that poke," she says. "And I ... y'know what, I'd say it's probably not a good idea for you to watch that, Luke, but you've already seen plenty of stuff in the World Tree, and I don't have the, the necessary remaining humanity to judge more clearly than that."

    And Josuke has an explanation. "Oh, got it," she says, regarding her Pseudo-Stand. "Y'know what, I think ... 'Lovato'. That sounds about right for the name. 'Lovato'."

    She tries to suss out the name Josuke just said. "Joe ... star?" she murmurs.

    She looks at Blackheart. An expression of understanding is crossing her face, because she's pretty sure there have been times she's had that exact same posture, that exact same expression. "... Were you turned involuntarily, too?" she asks, an uncommon gentleness in her voice.

    Satisfied with the poke, the small pokemon seems to perch on Serrah's 'stand' for the time being, simply watching what is going on!. Luke nods when Serrah says that, "I certainly have seen... some.... stuff I don't think I should have seen, yeha." he muses, shuddering and shaking his head to try to clear some mental images, "Maybe i should find out more of that anime, before trying to watch it." he finally concedes.
    The big pink bear pokemon seems to go fully at ease when Blackheart just... talks, and seems more concerned or uncomfortable than angry or dangerous, returning to Luke's side and nabbing another riceball, eating casually while the others begin to offer more explanation, still keeping an eye on Blackheart. 
    Luke just listens, trying to make sense of everything, and noticing Serrah's tone, "You think it is something like what happened to you?... that she was turned into one of those... pillar people against her will?" he asks softly, before turning back to Blackheart, nodding. "If you told me that kind of stuff without seeing her.. who knows, maybe I'd still believe you... heard pokemon legends not that far from it.." he says with a chuckle.

    Josuke pauses at the questions from Blackheart. "Uh..." Pause, fidget. He scratches at his cheek. "...I think? I don't have a lot of information. Just that... I think it was four of them, actually. But those names, they sound right..." Now he's just confused! "...So uh. You're not... going to eat us?"

    He nods to Serrah's translation of the name. "Yeah, that's right. Sorry, it's a weird name and I'm not good with English," he offers. Though as Serrah asks about being 'turned', Josuke notes, "I uh, think they're born like that."

    Luke's words get a look. "I don't think it works like that. The masks..." He pauses then, and trails off, looking in Blackheart's direction. "...Never mind. I'll explain later. But I don't think she was 'turned' into a Pillar Man. I don't think that's possible."

    "Would you eat another human?" Blackheart asks, "-Er no, wait, that came out wrong." she says, waving her hand in a dismissive manner. "I meant that I wouldn't any more than you would." then visibly relaxes. "Those two were... Monsters." she says, "Kars always talked about improvement, but his eyes held an infinite hunger. When one of our own went missing, the Elders knew. Somehow, they knew..." then closes her eyes and looks down, while it's a little hard to see from a distance you might get the impression she's trying to hold back tears. "I'm never going to see them again, am I?" she asks. "H-He... Killed them." she says.

    Serrah chuckles, and directs Lovato to pat Pangshi on the head. She sighs softly as Blackheart's tone becomes ... well, less and less threatening on several levels.

    She walks up to Blackheart. She can't answer any of these questions the way Josuke can, but she knows how to be kind, even if she's been finding it harder and harder to intuitively feel kindness. "I'm Serrah," she says. "I'm ... on the run from the jerk who turned me into a vampire a year ago." But she seems nothing like the vampires of this world ... "This is Luke, and Josuke, and Luke's buddies Pangshi and Bewear." She gestures to each of them in turn. "What's your name?"

    Luke nods as Josuke explains that bit, nodding, "Ah... when you mentioned them being... like that, kinda reminded me of vampires." he says, before focusing his attention on Blackheart now, waving in a friendly way as Serrah introduces him, with his pokemon doing the same thing. There is a pause at the final words, deciding to let Serrah handle consoling poor Blackheart, he just is not sure what to say. He ends up moving towards Josuke, followed by Bewear. "Maybe those three were just... what is the term... just bad guys?, I guess it might be like someone meeting a robber and thinking all humans are bad because of that..."

    And now Josuke just feels REALLY AWKWARD! His Stand finally disappears, though -- a sign that he's not feeling threatened enough to attack now. "W-well... I think there were four of them... But I don't know the whole story -- it happened over sixty years ago. The Speedwagon Foundation has more information. But... since the only real exposure to the Pillar Men anyone from my world has had, they've been hostile and trying to eat them... well..." He trails off, figuring that it's not necessary to continue.

    He tenses a bit as Serrah approaches Blackheart, but he doesn't intrude to pull her back or anything. He figures Serrah can take care of herself. Besides that, Blackheart really doesn't seem hostile. As Serrah introduces him, Josuke offers a friendly wave. He's relaxing a little now, so he's capable of offering a smile as well.

    Luke's observation gets a nod. "Vampires in this world are... really weird, compared to other worlds," he notes. "But... yeah... I mean... I don't have a lot of information, but that's what it's looking like..."

    "I..." Blackheart says, "I see what you mean." she says, then seems to relax just a bit. Looking up at Josuke she gives a light though somewhat forced smile. "Whoever finally avenged my people... Tell them, 'Thank you'." she adds, "I'm sure you have your own monsters, wearing faces not unlike your own. I will admit I'm a little lost though, this world is... Very different."

    Serrah shrugs. "I mean, my kinds of vampires seem to have a fairly justified nasty reputation, at least in my homeworld," she answers both Luke and Josuke. She picks up Pangshi and puts it on her head so she can dismiss her own Pseudo-Stand, then puts a comforting hand on Blackheart's shoulder. "Mr. Joestar," she murmurs, to the question of who avenged them. Not that she's sure about his relationship to Josuke; she noticed his hesitation, but at this point it slipped her mind. "And yeah." She chuckles. "Asleep for thousands of years ... I can't even imagine." She grimaces. "Wait'll you see what other worlds are like. Some of them ..."

    She stops herself from making remarks like 'some of them only have humans' or 'some of them don't have magic'. "... yeah."

    Luke is rather awkward too, this situation is certainly not very pleasant for anyone, but at least, it didn't end in a fight, so there's that!. He nods to Josuke, "That sounds horrifying..." he mumbles, hearin about.. those pillar people. He relaxes a bit more, and leans onto Bewear, it is certainly fluffy enough to double as a pillow. "I hope she will be fine, this might be a very.. scary and disturbing situation for her.". Pangshi reclaims his spot on Serrah's head and waves to Blackheart, it seems a harmless, curious little fluffy thing.

    Josuke thinks a moment. "Well... do you think you'd be willing to come to the Speedwagon Foundation?" he asks Blackheart. "They can ask you a little more about your people, since we didn't really have that great of a lens to view them through. I'll make sure you're treated fairly -- it wasn't your fault that a few of your people did horrible things. But besides that, they might be able to help you. This world is probably thousands of years beyond what you're used to, and they might be able to offer some education and a way to get established here."

    He nods to Serrah's words, both of vampires and of this 'Mr. Joestar'. "Yeah. That was him." He's not going to offer any information yet, since he's still not sure about this woman. Though she seems genuine... and he can't find any sign of subterfuge, so he's not sure what to think, really.

    "Well..." This to Luke. "I wasn't there when it happened, but it was bad enough that Jotaro thought to warn me really severely about possibly getting eaten here. But..." He looks to Blackheart. "I don't know what to think now..."

    "That if I only knew humanity by seeing two cannibal warriors I would think you were a scourge on the Earth as well?" Blackheart asks.

"I mean ..." Serrah shrugs, and looks Blackheart up and down. (She'd probably be a bit more careful about touching her if she knew that the woman could just absorb her, but probably not, given that all of her instincts are suggesting that she isn't any kind of threat.) "I think you can safely tell Speedwagon that you don't have anything to worry about, Josuke," she says firmly.

    Josuke nods. "Yeah, exactly!" he confirms. "That you're not instantly proclaiming that we're just cattle and trying to eat us... well, that shows our perception of you and your people is skewed. That's why I was so hostile when I first showed up -- which, by the way, I'm sorry for."

    Looking to Serrah, he notes, "It's not that simple... that's why I wanted her to come back and talk to someone there. Not only so they can understand that she's not like that, but because they might be able to help her get on her feet here."

    "OK." Blackheart says, "...And that sounds like Kars, yes." she adds, "Your people will want to know more about the history Kars had amongst his own... Species." she says, the word spoken with a hint of disgust. "It's hard to think of him as being similar to us in any way... Similar to me. But he shares blood, however twisted his mind was. Without my accounts, anyone else who might have survived hidden away would be treated the same."

Serrah shakes her head. "Well -- I mean -- yeah." She sighs. "Sorry, I kinda screwed that up." She nods along with Blackheart's comments. "Definitely a good way to do stuff." She laughs weakly, and runs a hand through her hair, briefly exposing the black heart-shaped mark. "Man. Before I got the Blackheart Mark, I don't think I would've imagined being in this kind of situation in my own world, let alone halfway across the World Tree ..."

    Josuke's eyes go wide. "Did more of you go into hiding somewhere?" He doesn't ask the question angrily, but there is some surprise. There's also some happiness, actually, that there could be others still around! It sucks to be alone. But he also offers firmly, "I promise I won't let them treat you unfairly. I'll protect you from them. I mean... you can probably take care of yourself, but I don't want it to have to be necessary."

    Serrah gets a curious look. "Screwed what up? If anything, I screwed up, coming in here shouting and everything. Besides, this isn't really a... normal situation, you know? I think everybody did about as well as could be expected, given the unusual situation."

    "I don't know." Blackheart says shaking her head, "I wasn't told of others, but it's possible... Though only possible." she says, "We were afraid at the time, but-" then blinks upon Serrah's mentioning the mark. "...That's... Not unlike my name." she says, "Heart of the starlit void. Er... Blackheart, maybe?"

    Serrah shrugs. "Well ... I mean." She shakes her head. "I meant with ... clarifying? -- Articulating! I forgot that word for a second."

    She raises her eyebrows at Blackheart. "Blackheart, huh? ... Y'know what, maybe once we've put Vincent six feet back under, we can make you my association with the term, instead of this freaking curse I've got right now. Definitely snappier." A pause. "But the name of the curse means 'black-hearted' as in 'evil.'"

    "I hope so," Josuke notes, of there being more of Blackheart's people. "I can't even imagine what it would be like to be the last human in the world. That's got to be the loneliest feeling ever, and I don't think anybody should have to feel like that." Compassion, from a human? What is this madness?! In all seriousness though, he does sound genuine. Josuke tilts his head at her offer of a name. "...Blackheart..." Yeah, he mangles it. But it's understandable, at least. "It's good to meet you!"

    Though at Serrah's words, Josuke pouts a little, partly in thought. "She doesn't seem very evil though," he notes. "So... yeah, let's try to make her what comes to mind when you think about that word. Just erase that guy from your memory, right?!" He's being encouraging now.

    "We always stayed out during the night." Blackheart says, "Dark things didn't seem evil, sometimes unknown, sometimes peaceful, but never evil... I guess it's just the way things went for us." she adds, then shrugs.

    Serrah nods. "Right. Right." She smiles faintly. "Vampires in my world are also nocturnal ... though sunlight is considerably less harmful to us." She shrugs. "Well, uh." Her smile becomes wider and more natural. "Nice to meet you, Blackheart!"

    "Humans are like that -- we're scared of things we don't understand," Josuke points out, to Blackheart. "We never really made it well in the dark ourselves, and the things that did were always something we didn't understand, and were scared of. That's something that hasn't changed."

    Serrah's words get a nod too. "Yeah. Vampires here, it's like lighting a cigarette. I also know someone who knows a technique that works really good against them, but he's like eighty and I wouldn't set him against a really strong vampire, even if he is starting to get stronger."

    "I guess I'll head back with you then. Are there any restraints you'd like?" Blackheart asks, "A show of goodwill, really."

    Serrah chuckles. "I'll let you take care of this, then, Josuke," she says, nodding to Blackheart. "Me and Luke are gonna wander off." She looks at Blackheart. "And ... good luck out here, really."

    "Well, uh... I was under the impression that I'd either have to beat you until you unconcious, or run away myself," Josuke admits. "So I didn't come prepared for having to restrain you. And I don't really think it's needed." He doesn't admit that his instructions had actually been to kill Blackheart. "Just make sure you don't have your hands where it looks like you're preparing to attack, and I think it should be all right."

    He pauses, looks to the parking lot. "Good, the SPW car's still there." He nods to Serrah. "Be careful out there, you guys. And thanks for helping out, even if it didn't come to having to fight."

    "Don't... Take too long getting me there." Blackheart says, "I'd rather not catch alight." she says, looking a bit sheepish about the matter. "You've probably run into that limit with the others, I think." she adds.

    Josuke nods. "I'll be careful with it. There's a Speedwagon facility here in Morioh, so it won't be too bad. And if the sun comes up, you can use my coat to wrap up in," he offers. "It won't be ideal, but the material's thick enough to block out the light in a pinch. And we can find you a black umbrella."

    He'll lead Blackheart to the car, and then look into the passenger's side window at the driver. "Hey! I've got a passenger coming back with me. Can you call Jotaro and let me talk to him?"