The golden Stand wasn't swayed by Alison's bluff, or at least not significantly. Jotaro respected his distance to Gold Experience and to Alison, but he also still had no trust or faith in them. Understandably so, but his threat was an even worse bluff than Alison's. She remained silent as Gold Experience took its turn to bluff, though Alison couldn't help but notice that this Stand User was considerably more mouthy than Jotaro or Alison had been so far. When the Stand began to walk back towards the door, towards Alison, she stealthily stepped out of its way. It was extremely unlikely the Stand was physically manifested at the moment so they probably wouldn't have bumped, but she still didn't know what its ability was in the slightest. It was yet to demonstrate anything, at least not visually or audibly. The temptation to suckerpunch the Stand was very brief, as it would 99 times out of 100 be a losing gamble. Though it looks thin, and when it wasn't putting on a front it was shocked by the scalpel. I'm positive I could knock its lights out if it was tangible when I swung, but this user isn't a rookie, she thought as she let the Stand pass by unharmed.

Once she took a few more steps, deliberately putting herself outside her own striking range and to the side of the confrontation to make a triangle between herself, Gold Experience, and Jotaro, she tightened her grip on the invisible object. "My original objective here was to collect information on the killer's Stand abilities," Alison spoke up, admitting her plan rather bluntly. She had already determined she didn't have much to gain by keeping that particular information close to her chest, whereas these two were potential allies to be made. "But after hearing what this Stand had to say my objective has changed. If you really can create a reliable lead to the killer then I'd stand to benefit from that information too. I have no attachment to this victim or their body beyond getting the most information out of it as possible." Alison made a brief pause to move a few more steps to the side, so as not to remain standing in the exact same spot for any long period of time. "I'm also not concerned with any consequences with the law. I have a very good lawyer, after all."

With this moment of levity she took a few more steps, but she also relaxed her arms and put her invisible object away. It was unlikely she would need it at this point. "I believe we could stand to benefit from an alliance. I have both information and capabilities that would be most useful, if we all share the same goal." A smirk formed on her invisible face. More like similar enough goal, she thought to herself before a serious expression returned. "As well, should your lead turn up empty, I can provide resources to make finding the next lead much quicker and easier. All this and more, but not for free..." She made a few more steps, coming closer to Jotaro this time. It was likely his vines could extend his reach so she didn't want to get too close to him, but she also wanted to be close enough that if she had to fight she could suckerpunch him first. She knew where his body was so there was no guessing game or predictions required to figure out his tangibility. He was a pretty big guy so it was unlikely she could shut him down with a single blow, but there was still a possibility. "But I think you two will find my demands quite agreeable for the value that I offer. From you, Mr. Jotaro, immunity from police interference or retribution. And from you, Mr... hmmm, I suppose I should start with your name... but from you my demands are access to the information your Stand provides from its lead. To fulfill my objectives I must identify, locate, and confront the killer myself, and so long as neither of you obstruct these objectives then I will gladly work with you and share my resources."

Of course it was quite likely they would strike up this deal. At least the unknown Stand user was likely to. Jotaro, on the other hand, seemed eager to find this killer but equally eager to uphold the law. The idea of breaking the law and getting away with it was probably not very appealing to him, so it was a bit of a gamble as to whether he wanted to catch the killer more than he wanted to fanatically bring criminals to justice. The decision to work with Alison wouldn't be such a no-brainer for someone in his position as a detective, but at the same time if the unknown user agreed to work together and he didn't then he would be in a very terrible spot. The threat of that possibility would hopefully weigh on his decision and motivate him to work with Alison. Ideally this alliance wouldn't need to last very long anyways: the golden Stand might possibly take them right to the killer directly and save tons of time and effort. If only it would be that easy...

@scrawls

Lorenzo Cifaretto

Lorenzo nodded his head being sure he could beat this thing in a fight. “Find the son of bitch, and make sure to give em a good ass whooping.” Lorenzo shouted back before continuing to engage with the stand. The motorcycle stand didn’t seem bothered by his attack. Moving towards him at inhuman speed. Lorenzo knew he could not do much damage with his fist, so he would have to get creative. Just as the stand was coming towards him, he used his zipper to unzip the windows in front of him. Shards of glass littering the floor, he had hoped that would enough to slow it down.

Lorenzo smiled thinking he had gotten the best of the stand. But to his shock he saw the stand use a garbage can as a ramp, jumping over the shattered glass. “Fuck.” Lorenzo cursed under his breath. Watching it charge towards him. Lorenzo ran in the other direction hoping it would follow him. And he was right in his assumption, as he could see the rider following him. Moving onto the street and moving between the cars. Passing straight through the cars with his stand. Which got many surprised looks from the drivers and passengers.

Wanting to distract the stand so that the other man could find and defeat the stand user. Heading down a street and stopping in front of a park to catch his breath. Looking around he noticed he had lost the motorcycle stand. “Where the hell is it? Fuck I hope it didn’t start going after that guy.” Lorenzo cursed himself for not getting that guy’s phone number to contact him.

Meanwhile, West was moving around the street and standing above the city on a roof. He didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, mostly it was people going on about their day. Everything seemed normal until he heard a motorcycle revving up behind him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

@Lewascan2 @j8cob

Jotaro carefully watched the two potential criminals. His stand at the ready in case he needed to defend himself. But he was going to see if he could resolve this conflict peacefully. Although he did not like the way the Golden stand was talking, it sounded something like a cliche villain from a movie. He was squinting his eyes at the stand before clenching his hand into a fist. Getting annoyed by the smug way the stand was down to him like a child. Taking a deep breath to calm down before speaking. “What do you need from the corpse to try and find the killer? Why should I believe you have good intentions, you could be lying. And besides it would be a criminal offence to allow you to tamper with the body.”

“Unless I could use you as a witness or assist my investigation.” He muttered thinking of his options. But he didn’t want to go down the slippery slope of breaking the law, but perhaps this stand could help him find the killer. He would just have to watch this stand and its user with a watchful eye. “Perhaps you would be able to help with this investigation. You may continue, but I will only allow it if we stay in each other’s line of sight.”

Now turning toward the other girl, “As long as we do not break any laws then we should be all fine. If anyone asks I can say you two are helping me with the investigation.” He knew he didn’t have many clues that could help him catch the killer. So any kind of breakthrough would be welcomed by the police officer.

@Eviledd1984@j8cob

Gold Experience scoffed openly at Alison, both at her demands and her foolishness in actually revealing her name. "You don't get to make demands of me. This isn't a negotiation, and my identity isn't for sale. If you want my name, you can earn it. For now, just call me Sakura," it said without a smidge of compromise. Kasumi could already understand thoroughly that for this woman, information was power, and she had no intention of handing any regarding herself over if and until absolutely necessary. Besides, it wasn't like this so-called "Alison" couldn't also be lying about her own name. So, an alias is what she'd be getting, and she'd just have to be happy with it. "I'll work with you, but I don't need your resources or your skills, just your pact of non-hostility." It glanced at the corpse on the table.

Gold Experience clicked its tongue at Jotaro's words but nodded. "You're not wrong. I'd say my actions speak for themselves, but skepticism is justified." Folding its arms behind its back, it stepped over to the table, not making any sudden movements and keeping an eye on Jotaro's reactions. "As much as police oversight would be a pain in the ass, I'll allow it if that's really the price to get what I need." Glancing down at the corpse that it now stood beside, its expression wrinkled at the smell. "As for what I need from the corpse... Nothing. I do not need something from the corpse. I need the entire corpse, period. Don't worry," it assured Jotaro. "My ability will not tamper with the corpse's integrity. The 'evidence' will remain exactly the same when returned as it was when I removed it."

Unfolding a hand from behind its back, Gold Experience reached out, ripples of golden light beginning to spill from its fingertips. "The ability of Gold Experience is simple in concept, yet broad in application," it explained for the benefit of its audience. "My Stand has the ability to imbue life energy into anything it touches. Upon doing so, for a non-living target, that life energy gives it life." It touched the corpse, and ripples of gold pulsated into its form. This was all quite a bit more showy than Kasumi preferred to be with her ability, but she figured it was for the best in this case. The corpse of the murder victim began to physically bulge and morph, suddenly shrinking down several feet in moments... before wriggling to life as a harmless king snake.

Gold Experience reached down and gently scooped up the reptile, which rather docilely took the treatment, its head darting around, as it slithered in Gold Experience's grasp. The Stand let it be, letting it coil around and travel up each limb in turn, before providing the other for it to climb back on, and as it did, the snake would occasionally pause and dart its head up, consistently gazing in approximately the same direction each time. "All life retains connections... bonds," Gold Experience continued. "When I create a living creature, that creature instinctively understands when it is not... 'whole' and seeks out what it's missing... the remainder of what it once was." The golden Stand smiled. "And that is where we get to the meat of my plan, because this mass murderer, fool that they are, has been taking physical trophies." It chuckled darkly. "The Cobbler's foot fetish will be their undoing, because now that I have the part of the corpse they left behind... I can use this snake to track the feet they kept."

Its grin was filled with eager teeth, as it chuckled. "And if this corpse doesn't work out? Well, all I need to do is try again with the next newest victim and so on. The fresher, the better. Eventually, that rat bastard will have nowhere to hide."

---

---

Hierophant Green floated above the city tops while West paced out on the street, yet he couldn’t see anyone who seemed to be controlling the attacking motorcycle ghost. West cursed under his breath and began jogging back toward the direction of the bookstore. Maybe the enemy was somewhere—

Behind him, he heard the sudden revving of the motorcycle itself! West dived to the edge of a sidewalk, nearly bumping into a lamppost as the motorcycle sped by him nearly hitting him.

“Oh my god! Hierophant, back to me!” He pulled Hierophant Green back to his side. He began to run through the streets, eliciting many stares from nearby pedestrians and drivers as West ran being chased by the invisible-to-most being. No one else seemed to notice it weaving through the streets trying to run him over!

He dodged and nimbly avoided the motorcycle as it attempted to clip into West’s side. West led it over to a park where there was open space and fewer people. The motorcycle continued to chase him, using a rock as a ramp.

West quickly willed Hierophant Green to block the attack and attempt to use its tentacles to grab and swing the motorcycle off-balance. As he ducked and narrowly avoided its ramming strike, Hierophant wrapped its many tentacles around the vehicle and attempted to hurl it off course. Once Hierophant tried to fling it to the side, West felt an instinctual pulse of power and commanded Hierophant to try a new attack.

West let out a roar at the strange being. “Show’s over! Take this Emerald Splash!”

West pointed defiantly, and Hierophant Green spread its palms out wide, unleashing a barrage of shining, emerald constructions that shot at the target. Then—like a true hero—West began to run away in fear once more. By now, West had worked up a sweat running around the streets of New York like a lunatic. Further along at the park, he saw down the road that kid from earlier. West began to run towards him, waving wildly.

@scrawls

Lorenzo Cifaretto

The motorcycle stand started to rev its engine once again, quickly moving towards West. Closing the gap at an alarming rate. Lifting the motorcycle so the front wheel was high in the air. The stand was going to try to ram into West. West of course could jump out of the way, but the stand seemed dead set on running over the young man. West moved out of the way a few inches before being hit by the stand and chased after West by driving on the side of the buildings, jumping from one building to the next in an effort to keep up. Following West into the park, the motorcycle stand easily matched West’s running pace.

The stand was trying to avoid Hierophant Green’s tentacles, bobbing and weaving between trees and park benches. But its wheels were caught by the green stand’s tentacles, being flung back into a tree behind it. With the rider falling off and landing on the ground near its cycle. Before it could try to get back onto its bike it was hit by Hierophant Green’s attack. Holes were appearing all over the stand’s body. With blood spurting out of the holes that were made by West’s stand.

The stand lay on the ground for a brief moment, it seemed the battle was over. However the stand’s fingers started twitching, and the stand started getting back up. The motorcycle getting back up by itself. Now revving back up and trying to ram into West. While the rider was following behind. The cycle creates a chilling wind that seemed to be directed towards West.

Lorenzo meanwhile was desperate to find the user to try and help his new comrade. His search for the stand user had not found anything useful. He wondered if this stand could be sentient. Been able to move on its own without the command of its user. While walking around he noticed a trail of blood leading towards an alleyway. Following the trail of blood towards an injured woman with rather large wounds all over her body.

Lorenzo thought this woman had been shot multiple times, what he didn’t know was that this woman was the enemy he was looking for. “Are you okay miss?” He said now running over to the woman. Not caring he was getting blood all over his hand.

The woman smiled and coughed up some blood onto her shirt. “Yes, I was walking down the street when this guy tried to rob me. I refused and the son of a bitch shot me.” The woman tried getting up but couldn’t from the pain. Lorenzo told her that he would get help for her, helping her onto her feet and leading her toward a nearby hospital. But the woman didn’t seem interested in going to a hospital, muttering something about going to a friend.

It didn’t click in Lorenzo’s brain that this woman was the same person in the same bookstore that Lorenzo was in a few moments ago. Ignoring what she said, he was going to take her to the hospital.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@Lewascan2 @j8cob

Jotaro had a bad feeling about this Sakura woman, she seemed quite arrogant and he thought could betray him in the future. But he didn’t have many leads at the moment, but he would keep a close eye on the stand. Watching the stand leering over towards the corpse of the woman. The police officer made sure she would not do anything that would hinder his investigation. His stand was at the ready in case he needed to protect the body. Sakura’s words were not very reassuring to the police officer.

As the stand used its abilities on the corpse, watching in amazement as the corpse was turned into a common snake. This woman's stand was quite fascinating, but Jotaro could tell it was a formidable stand. The snake didn’t seem to mind being held by the golden stand. It soon wiggled around inside of its hands, pointing with its head where it wanted to go.

@Eviledd1984@j8cob

"Here." Gold Experience strode closer to Jotaro and held out the adult king snake, which was currently winding around its left arm. "A snake this big won't go ignored easily in the open... and certainly not if everyone but us basically sees it flying down the halls. I can't carry this out, so you take it." Certainly, Kasumi could have pulled the snake into her hidey hole in the walls, but that would have both revealed her presence and more than likely made the other two Stand Users think she was trying to run away on them. Giving the snake to Jotaro would be a show of "trust" or -if not that- then at least the acknowledgement that she was willing to put the crux of the investigation in his hands and not run away. "You look like you've got some big pockets, so that'll have to do."

Idly, Gold Experience retracted the life energy it had stored in the autopsy room's doorway, removing the risk of an... "incident" when the other two left the room. Turning to go, it walked towards the wall next to the door, before pausing and glancing over its shoulder. "Just keep a gentle but firm hold on it and watch where its head wants to go. You can take point; I can sense my life forms anywhere they go." And it naturally went unsaid, but it was a warning that if they tried to run away with her lead, they would fail.

"Oh, and one last thing," it added almost as an afterthought, a note of warning in its tone. "Be very careful not to cause any harm to my life forms. I can't control what happens next, but I guarantee you won't enjoy it." After all, at the end of the day, she did not have any direct power over her creatures. While they might have been loyal to her and never hostile, she couldn't actually control them, couldn't stop them from instinctively lashing out in response to things that tried to hurt them. They were just animals and plants; they just wanted to survive.

Gold Experience phased through the wall, and the second it was out of sight of the other Stand Users, it faded away, remanifesting at Kasumi's side. The pinkette quickly began to scramble down her tunnels back the way she came, sprinting ahead of the other two as best she was able without looking. Behind her, Gold Experience began reverting transformed matter back into what it had once been, erasing the evidence of her passage.

Making it to the elevator passage, Gold Experience punched the floor of the shaft, causing a tree to erupt from it. Hitching a ride, Kasumi shot up to the elevator car resting a floor above. A quick check with life sense that no one was inside, and she was morphing the floor open into vines, scrambling inside and reverting both the floor and the tree beneath the car. A touch on the ceiling, and Gold Experience was hefting her back out the top and then helping her scramble into the tunnel she'd made through the first-floor ceiling of the station. A hasty shuffle down that, a pitstop in the bathroom and down into the floor again, and Kasumi was once more outside the New York State Police Forensic Investigation Center.

Tunneling back through the earth, she finally exited her tunnel in the same place she had initially entered it, well out of sight of the police station, glancing around with narrowed eyes. The rest of the tunnel finished closing behind her, finally erasing her path in totality, as she brushed her shoulders off and smoothed out her coat, straightened her tie and tidied her hair.

A thin smile crept across her mouth.

It had been touch and go a couple times, but she would call this result a nearly flawless success. She had her lead, and her identity was safe, the two most important factors. Sure, the lead wasn't in her hands directly, but she could still follow at a distance. And better still, if the enemy did happen to be a Stand User, she most likely wouldn't be the one taking the brunt of their attention from the get-go. She could continue pretending her Stand was a long-range type and attack from concealment, getting the drop on that bastard. In some ways, this result was even better than her initial plan.

Kasumi's smile bared teeth, as she strode without hurry to the end of the alley and casually leaned against the wall. In the corner of her vision, she eyed the front of the police station, watching for Jotaro and paying attention to where her snake's life force was emanating from. One hand patted her large right pocket, inside which a small turtle lay quietly retracted into its shell.

Jotaro's idea that Alison and Sakura, so the Stand referred to its owner as, would cooperate with a formal police investigation was a bit far-stretched for Alison. Of course she'd help putting this serial killer into the dirt, but there was no way she'd participate in anything beyond that. She had a criminal record in this city, not to mention no shortage of potential "old friends" with a vendetta that would be just tickled to see her back in town. But it appeared that this Stand, Gold Experience it would call itself, wasn't bluffing at all about how reliable of a lead it could create. Hell it may have been understating just how useful this ability was. "Perhaps we won't need my resources," Alison finally spoke up again, after politely letting Gold Experience finish explaining its power and its plan. The open explanation of the power was also a display of trust from Sakura, despite the fact she probably left out some details. Her Stand was perhaps the most understood Stand of the trio at the moment, but for Sakura it was a necessity in order to track down the killer.

But as Jotaro took the snake and Gold Experience disappeared it occurred to Alison that an important conversation needed to happen. While following behind Jotaro, still invisible to any potential passerby, Alison spoke to him in a whisper just loud enough that only he would hear it. "I'm sure that you have entertained this idea I'm about to share, but you need to know this regardless," she began to explain over his shoulder. "When serial killers as prolific as the Cobbler get away with their crimes for so long you must consider that they not only have assistance, but that they may have assistance in the police force itself."

"The odds that our killer has been working alone border on zero percent. Before we even consider whether or not Gold Experience will lead us to him or not we must consider that we aren't going to find just him. We have hints as to the killer's capabilities but his allies are total wild cards. Who they are, what they can do, how many there are. Even if we assume that all three of us are honest and not secretly allied with the killer we might still find ourselves walking into a carefully placed trap. This man isn't going to be sleeping on the couch with National Geographic on the TV, he's gonna have a contingency in place and we are going to walk into it one way or another."

Alison paused now, wondering if Gold Experience could hear her through the snake telepathically. It didn't say that it could, but also didn't say that it couldn't. It'd be more convenient if it could though, otherwise Alison will need to have this conversation a second time at the earliest convenience. By this point the duo had made their way through the police building and out onto the street. There were no immediately obvious hints as to where, or who, Sakura was among the many civilians within line-of-sight, but Alison knew she was there nonetheless. "I'm assuming if it was possible for your Stand to divine more information about the killer and his allies you'd have done it by now," she continued. "Unless you already have and were holding out on us earlier? I suppose we'll find out soon enough." The invisible Alison reached out and pressed something invisible into the back of the collar of Jotaro's jacket, making sure to make it so that he would feel she did something. "In the meantime I've placed a tag on you. We're likely to separate in the near future and this will allow me to find you should something go astray. I could've placed it on you without you knowing, but I'm telling you so that you have an emergency option. If you break the invisible device, by accident in a fight or on purpose, it'll let me know that you're in trouble and I can come to your last known position to help."

Following the direction the snake pointed didn't seem like it was going to be fairly quick. It was like following a compass to an unknown destination an unknown distance away, on foot. This was certainly better than just about anything else other than having a GPS with the killer's location already pinned, but it still remained not ideal. "Anyways, back to what I was saying earlier: we also don't know for sure that the killer or his allies are unaware of us. If he indeed has allies in the police force then it is likely that the killer is at least aware of your existence, possibly of your abilities too. Sakura will surely be following us but she may not be the only one. After a while I'm going to split up from you and hang back, so that we stand a better chance of catching any clever spies tailing you. Anything you feel I should know before I start watching your back?"

@Lewascan2 @j8cob

Jotaro had no intention of hurting the snake in his hands. He didn’t want to think what kind of damage he could sustain from even squeezing it with his hands. Putting the snake into his jacket pocket and letting it lead him to the killer. Or at least that was what he hoped would happen. Hearing the invisible woman’s words it was possible that the killer had accomplices. The thought came to him that there was a possibility that either of these women could be working with the killer. They or perhaps one of them could be leading him into an ambush. And if so he would be ready since his skills in Hamon would help him in combat. Nevertheless, he would need an ally in this case because he didn’t know who had good intentions or not.

Jotaro watched from his pocket as the snake was pointing its head in the direction it wanted him to go. Listening to the invisible woman’s words and how she put a tag on his collar in case he needed to contact her. It seemed he would have some sort of backup if he needed it. Even though he didn’t really trust her as much as the golden stand. The snake seemed to be taking the group further down the street and finally leading them toward an abandoned building. Jotaro placed the snake in front of the walled up door, watching it slither underneath the doorway. Jotaro used his stand to open the door and headed inside with caution.

Jotaro had his gun drawn in case he would need to use it. Noticing that they have been led into a factory of some kind. “Be careful, the enemy could be anyway.” He followed the snake further into the factory. Not noticing there was someone watching them. Jotaro walked past a large machine touching it with his leg and getting a small shock. “Fuck.” The large man cursed under his breath, rubbing his leg but not noticing the wall socket on the machine he touched. While walking with the others the smaller machines were starting to move towards Jotaro.

@Eviledd1984@j8cob

Kasumi made sure to keep her distance from Jotaro, as he followed her snake's lead. As she trailed him, she made sure the officer remained at least a block ahead of her at all times, unsure how close the invisible "Alison" was. Now that she'd overcome the unexpected initial bottleneck, she had a real opportunity to keep her identity a secret, and she had no intention of throwing it away on a lark.

Eventually, after a not insignificant amount of walking, the trail led to what seemed to be an abandoned building. Kasumi picked up her pace to catch up after seeing Jotaro enter. Ducking into an alley, she deployed Gold Experience, who dove into the ground and began shaping a new plant tunnel that Kasumi quickly leaped into and began expanding towards the building, closing up the entrance behind her. Occasionally poking Gold Experience's head aboveground to act as her periscope, Kasumi quickly dug to the building and edged her Stand's vision through the wall, the sight of old machinery meeting its eyes.

A factory?

That... didn't seem encouraging. What would the rest of the victim's corpse be doing in a place like this? Was this the killer's hideout? I seemed more like the sort of place to use as a dumping ground... perhaps anticipating just this sort of situation. A trap? The golden Stand trailed behind Jotaro underground, following the beacon created by the snake in its life sensing.

Placing its hands upon the barrier of soil and wood that composed its User's flora tunnel, Gold Experience loosed a ripple of its life senses into the factory above, and Kasumi's eyes narrowed at the return. Three returns?

It seemed her "allies" weren't alone in there.

Shit.

Briefly raising a hand up in greeting next to the snake, Gold Experience gave a little wave of warning in plain sight of Jotaro to prevent an incident of startling him into accidentally attacking it. After expressing its presence, Gold Experience peeked out of the floor and reached over to gently grab the snake and stop it from continuing to roam unchecked. "Officer," it spoke quietly, hoping to ensure its voice didn't carry to anyone but them, "be careful. Somewhere in this factory, there's one extra person than there should be. We should... Hmm?" If it had eyebrows to raise, the golden Stand would have at the sight of Jotaro rubbing his leg.

The sound of quiet, metallic creaking made Gold Experience's eyes widen, as its attention snapped to formerly defunct machinery that was moving in ways that definitely weren't normal. "Look alive! The machinery!" It hissed urgently, as the machines around them began to come alive.

"It's the work of an Enemy Stand!"