Cheesy and Bizarre 1 (Patreon)

Cheesy and Bizarre (GeronimoStilton/TheaSisters, Human!SI ft. JJBA elements)

“So… this is it?” I asked as I turned to the crazy portal in front of me, then glancing to the side where my most recent ‘companions’ were giving me a perplexed look. “Like, I kind of thought… Well, I thought there would be more.”

Truth be told, I couldn’t blame them for giving me a surprised look. But, before I go any further, I think I should explain who is ‘I’ and who is ‘them’.

My name is John Bukharin, I was caught in some dimensional mishap just shy of a few days ago that brought me face to face with an adventure I hadn’t been planning to go through.

It all started when this guy, ‘Heavenly Ascended DIO’, tried to destroy a specific section of the multiverse. Now, I had seemingly nothing to do with this guy, but something gave away that we were connected.

The ‘reason’ that dragged me in this crazy inter-dimensional adventure was a strange birthmark that appeared on my upper back: a violet star. The same he had on his ‘borrowed’ body, same for the dynasty of the individual whom he stole the body from.

The Joestar Bloodline.

I shouldn’t have been tied to them, but something in that heavenly bastard’s timeline happened that ‘created’ the circumstance as he killed the one that was meant to destroy him.

Jotaro Kujo, the owner of the Stand ｢Star Platinum｣, perished in Cairo during the battle that should have seen DIO defeated. His passing was a tumultuous event, one that allowed some essence of his spirit to survive through and, through an odd manipulation of misfortune, that essence ended up in a timeline ten years beyond his passing- and found me as its feasible opportunity to survive.

I wasn’t ‘replaced’ but some elements stood out compared to my parents. Beyond the birthmark, my eyes were a clear blue that my father was quick to connect with my paternal grandmother’s eyes rather than a bizarre occurrence.

Life was normal through the ensuing twenty years, with ups and downs, and then I was yanked in this adventure as DIO tried to destroy the timeline and prevent the ‘Joestar Loop’ from happening once more.

He may have won once, but he sought to win everything all the time.

This battle was not one to save the world- but to save time itself. One that took days of difficult battles, tricks and weaving through the timeline without disrupting it. As I learned the truth behind my birthmark and my eyes, I was also able to ultimately draw the power of ｢Star Platinum｣ and assist in destroying the effeminate vampire once and for all.

The worst of the journey was over and now it was time to say goodbye.

The portal was supposed to bring me back home and… it kind of half-worked. I did indeed go back to Sicily, but it wasn’t my Sicily.

As my feet soon found ground beyond the portal, I felt a sharp pain going through my birthmark- a searing feeling that kept me flinching for a solid minute before I realized I was standing atop one of the small buildings in… not Palermo. I could not recognize any of the places there, but it was indeed Sicily as I could see some signs showing the main road directions towards Marsala and Agrigento.

Walking closer to the edge, I spotted a particular billboard describing the support the locals gave to… the local team, Catania. I closed my eyes, I patted my cheeks, I prayed to God and then relaxed as I realized I was in the worst spot for someone like me, a fan of the Palermo football team.

And that was before I realized that there were no humans down below.

In fact, I almost fell back on the ground when I noticed there were a lot of anthropomorphic mice just going around, chatting and… and being normal people!

“Okay, maybe… Maybe something went wrong. At least the place is right,” I mumbled quietly, looking around and pausing before the sight of a clothing store. “I need… a disguise. And then find the source of what caused this mess.”

Nodding at this simple but effective plan of action, I mustered ｢Star Platinum｣ and the Stand nodded at me as I confirmed he had stayed with me even though we made it out of the Jojoverse. Supposedly.

“Let’s get this started then. First, let’s find a way off this rooftop…”

This may be insane to many people, but I had just gone through a crazy story already- this? This was just an unexpected bunch of surprises.

—------d-d-d-d—-----

Chen Jin, also known to many as Violet or Vi, was having a bit of what the common mouse would define as a ‘panic attack’ as she scrambled to make sense of where she was supposed to go after leaving the Airport.

Catania was not as big as other major cities she had visited with her friends, but this was the first time she was quite alone in a place she had never visited before. Sicily was quite big and while Violet knew Italian through some assistance from Thea Stilton herself, she had been warned a few times that some regions had a specific attitude in using ‘dialects’.

Sicily was among those regions where ‘Sicilian’ is a rather common language and, while similar to commonly-spoken Italian, some words were just things that poor Violet was not aware of how to handle.

So, here she was, walking around and… having absolutely no clue on where she was supposed to go.

Holding back a scream at how infuriating it was to handle this sort of pressure when, by all means, she had faced far worse in the past.

Then again, that was with the other Sisters.

Ah yes, the ‘Thea Sisters’ was a group that, albeit far from broken, had recently split since the members that created it from their college years had decided to just… Well, do other things.

Life is nice among friends, but everyone has to find their own path one way or another. And since they were all particularly independent with strong minds and interests, it was only fair they would pursue their main ambitions on their own, with barely any relying too heavily on others.

…

And there was also the notion that Violet had purposely declined Colette’s offer to have her give a tour of the place since she had been in Sicily twice now. It was perhaps a hint of pride her grandfather had instilled upon her, or maybe Violet just wanted to do something to finally break away from her bouts of shyness and silly misunderstandings.

She wasn’t the babbling dummy as she had been during her time at Mouseford Academy, but some of that lacking backbone made her do some stupid things from time to time.

So, here she was, reaping what she sowed.

As she was turning the corner of one of the streets, she failed to take into account one thing she had slowly grown to detest: compared to other cities in Europe, the sidewalk sections in Catania were utterly wrecked by time, roots, and other factors the local administration had not given much care about.

So, out of the blue, she was soon jumping forward, expecting to land face first onto the cold unforgiving cement. The cement she landed upon was softer- and resembled a flat chest. One that was owed by someone slightly taller than her.

Oh, that’s a person… W-WAIT!

Jumping back, cheeks burning a glorious red, Violet appeared mortified as she regarded the strange mouse wearing a ‘Mickey Mouse’ mask. Oddly enough, this was not the kind of individual that she had expected from the abs- Th-The height he had.

Yes, she totally meant height! Nothing else!!

Still, he was wearing an all-black jacket with black gloves, pants, shoes and… yeah, this guy was a bit of a creep now that she looked at him.

“Hello~.” The mouse greeted jovially in Italian.

“Hello, I am sorry for stumbling upon you. I was just… I am trying to find a place.”

“What place?”

“It’s a Music School that is-”

“Wait,” He interrupted, scratching his fake chin. “I want to say I am not from around here.”

Violet deflated, looking down. “O-Oh.”

“Have you asked someone else?”

“Yes but… they all speak in the dialect-”

“And you are not versed in that,” He guessed, and the girl nodded. “Well, I could help you with the translation if you want.”

“B-but I caused you issues and-” She tried to apologize and pull away from this little mess but she was surprised by the chuckle coming from the tall mouse.

“None of that. I am happy to help others.”

The response had her chest tighten up a little. She may not see who was really speaking to her, but the kindness was endearing as the two soon started to look around.

After a few questions, Violet had the right spot in the map she got and she felt relieved to not be subjected to extra attention as the weird-masked helper leading her around had pretty much acted as a scapegoat for most of the weird looks.

It was ironic how many mice could just gawk at someone in so many different ways but… VIolet was happier about having the address down on the map twenty minutes before she had to do her first lesson, giving them the time to make it in time.

They both reached the place, with Violet thanking profusely ‘Mickey’ as he was already leaving and... something fell off his bag. A photo from the looks of it. She picked up the picture, surprised to see that it wasn’t mouses in there but… something else entirely.

They looked like mice, or cats- or just anything this world had to offer- but they were mostly hairless and… and that seemed like an important picture as her pause was interrupted when a familiar gloved paw reached for the opposite edge of the picture she was holding.

“Miss?”

She looked up, now realizing this wasn’t a mouse but something else entirely.

“Y-Yeah?”

“First, mind your business,” He said with a slightly more serious tone that made her tense up some more. “Second… Once again, good luck with your lessons.”

“T-Thank you.”

Soon, he turned around and left. Violet stood there for a solid minute, her mind drawn to the absurd development she had suddenly found herself into. As much as she wanted to deny this wasn’t something she should be handling, this alternative to panicking over new things stirred in her a familiar sense of interest over something that she was so familiar to solve.

She had found a new mystery and she refused to let this one get away from her paws.