Judd and Maria

Chapter 1
Maria was sitting in the park, reading her JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure manga, she was reading the fifth arc, Vento Aureo. Her black cat Shadow climbed up to her lap and settled with a vibrating purr.

A boy came up to her, He then spoke.

”Hi, Is that a comic book you’re reading?” He asked.

Maria turned to him and he sat next to her.

”What kind of comics are those?” The boy asked.

”That’s manga, They’re kind of like Japanese comics.” She said.

The boy took off his ghost bedsheet, revealing his bloodied mouth, Maria flinched.

"Mrrreowww..."

”Oh, sorry, Does it disturb you?” He asked.

”No, I’ve seen worse.” Maria said.

"Meowwww..."

”I’m Judd Watts.” Judd introduced himself.

”I’m Maria, Maria Tachimi.” She introduced herself.

”Are you a ghost?” Judd asked.

”Yes, I died in 1989, I died pretty horribly, Beaten so horribly my skull bisected horizontally and organ failure.” She said, shaking a little as she said the last sentence.

“I’m sorry.” He said.

He looked at the girl’s comic book.

”Can you tell me about the comic you’re reading?” He asked.

”Okay, The title is JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, the story arc is called Vento Aureo or Part 5, This part focuses on Giorno Giovanna, a teenager in Italy.” She said.

She took out a volume of the last volume of Stardust Crusaders.

”The blond-haired man pictured here, his name is DIO, Giorno is his son, they even do the same things, They go Muda Muda Muda and Wryyy, It’s interesting.” She said.

”Why does he make those sounds?” He asked.

”DIO’s a vampire.” Maria said.

”He doesn’t look like any other vampires.” Judd said.

”DIO, Araki-san likes to draw him wearing these funny yet flashy clothes, My mom thinks they do this to boost his sex appeal, She told me DIO got first place in a Shonen Jump Sexiest Male Villains poll, despite him being a massive jerkass, the fans adore him.” She said.

She put the volume back.

”My mom likes Giorno, She likes how he’s different from previous JoJos.” She said.

“Tell me about your mom.” He said.

”My mom never really had it easy in that fucking neighborhood, There was no one that gave a shit about her, these religious assholes no better than the KKK broke my mom’s arm right in front of me.........” She said, stopping at that part.

”I’m sorry....” He said.

”No, Don’t apologize, You’re not really the reason I’m dead.” Maria said, as she petted Shadow.

”Why did you die anyway?” He asked.

Maria turned to him.

”You know, I got a story that’s perfect for this atmosphere, Judd.” She said.

Judd looked at her.

”I’m gonna do you a favor and know a little secret, Judd, Okay?” She asked.

Jedd stayed silent, then nodded.

She picked up her Phantom Blood Volume 1 manga and the Thundercracker figure, left on her mother’s grave and her shrine.

”See this and this?, What would you say these two things are?” She asked.

”The first one’s a comic and that’s some sort of action figure.” He said.

”That’s where you’re wrong, Both of these are just things, nothing more, if you take away their meaning, that’s all they really are to others, Just things.” She said.

Judd was startled how cynical the girl was.

”If you’re gonna give these things any kind of meaning again, they won’t get any value because they’re a dead girl’s precious memories, Their value will be determined by what everyone thinks of the dead girl, and that’s revenge.”

Maria then put the two things back in her bag.

”The rest of it is a bunch of horrible shit a child shouldn’t see.” She said.

”Is revenge....your God?” He asked her.

”It’s power to me, something more useful to me than God, and Judd, If you think about it, what are we value in life?” She said.

Shadow then rested next to her.

”Love, God, Tolerance?, Don’t make me laugh.” She said.

Judd looked.

“Back when I was just a kid living in that shithole neighborhood, it seemed like Love and God were sold out when I went looking.” She said.

She held the manga book in her arms.

”Before I knew better, I clung to God and prayed to him every single night.” She said.

She sighed a little then spoke again.

”Yeah, I believed in that up until that point the people from the Concerned Citizens beat the hell outta my mother in front of me for no reason at all, All they saw when they looked at me and her were another little pagan rats, with no power and no God.” She said.

She then held the Japan flag up.

”What’s left for poor little Japanese-American bitch to rely on?“ She asked before answering her own question. “It’s things like tarot and revenge, Fucking hell, With these two things, the world’s a great place to live in.”

Judd then spoke.

”I wish that I hadn’t heard that, I’m sorry.” He said, and then he noticed Shadow resting on Maria's lap and gazed at the Ebony black cat. "Hey, that's a nice cat you have. What's your kitty's name, by the way?"

"Shadow," Maria replied. "I got her when she was a kitten on my sixth birthday, and it was love at first sight."

Maria then went back to her story.

”When you are living on the edge of fucking life, These things like your tarot-based faith, your emotional state of your family and your things all matter to you because that’s all you really got.” Maria said.

“Who did these things to you?” Judd asked.

”Derek Armstrong, Or as I and mom like to remember him, Freddy Krueger, controlled the streets he lived in, He was a prick with no morality for people who weren’t part of his religious organisation.” Maria said.

”Where did you get that name for him?” Judd asked.

”I first watched the first film when I was three, Yep, my mom watched them, we got threatening poison pen letters in the mail, he was heckling my mom then I pointed at him and called him “Freddy Krueger!”, the name stuck with my mom, who referred him as the Nightmare on Elm Street villain to piss him off.” She said

Judd was shocked at the girl’s coarse language, She looked like a sweet and innocent girl, but talked like a foul-mouthed Irish outlaw.

Maria then showed Judd the tarot card, The World.

”In my family, We use tarot cards for symbolism and faith, The World when turned upside down represents a hostile world put the right side up represents harmony.” She said.

She then showed Judd her arm, which has the XXI marked on.

”Relax, it’s temporary tattoos, You know the ones you find in goodie bags?” She reassured.

Judd saw a man in a Confederate uniform and a woman holding onto his hand, they both sat down next to her.

”These are my ancestors, Mia is the young woman and Michael is her dad.” She said.

Judd looked at Michael’s eyes, They seemed to be glazed over.

”What is your name?” He asked.

”I’m Judd.” She said.

“So, You were talking to The World, right?” He asked.

”Err, Judd, It’s more of a title, Don’t worry about it.” She whispered to him.

”Yeah, She cusses quite a bit.” Judd said.

”Heh, She’s probably got that from her da’s side of the family.” Michael laughed a little.

”Irish?” He asked.

”Yeah, Maria is 1/4 Irish.” He said.

Maria then whispered.

”Judd, keep in mind, Michael is blind, well, most of the time, it’s only at dark or lower temperatures he can see, even as a ghost it affects him badly, Neve and Mia sometimes acted as Michael’s eyes.” Maria said.

”Who’s Neve?” He asked.

”Oh, She was my nanny when I was alive, She also helped my clinically blind father who it was too hot.” Mia replied.

Chapter 2
"Tell me Judd," Maria beamed with curiosity, as she petted Shadow. "How did you meet your demise?"

Judd began. "You see, it was on Halloween night 1994...only 25 days before my 9th birthday and 30 days before Christmas. My 3 Musketeers candy bar had a razor blade in it...the one I obtained from the bowl with the label that read 'just take one'. My sisters and my classmate/friend Chloe were trick-or-treating with me; Chloe on the other hand seemed a bit cautious and turned down a bar as her father warned her to never take any candy unless she knew exactly well where they came from. She carried a notebook and wrote down addresses of the houses that were suspicious...I, on the other hand made a grave and fatal mistake of biting into the 3 Musketeers bar and payed the price with my life. After I died, the Denver police investigated my house, gathered possible evidence and questioned every witness; my body was taken to the forensics lab to be examined....the police investigated every scene and interrogated every suspect..."

"Have they found...the suspect yet?" Maria asked.

”I don’t know, I never knew, what about you?“ Judd replied

”My parents died a day after my funeral, my father told the people to bury my body somewhere near but not too near, Shadow never even left my grave until she died aswell.” Maria said.

Judd looked at Michael.

”Do you have any favorite films?” Judd asked Michael.

”Nightmare on Elm Street and Trick ‘r Treat.” He said.

“Oh, You like Trick ‘r Treat?” Judd asked.

”Yes, I like that film, But I fucking hate how they keep pronouncing the name wrong.” Michael said.

”Samhain?” Judd asked.

””Not you aswell, In Ireland, we say Sow-en.” He said.

”Sow-en?” Judd asked.

”Yeah, that’s it, It’s not pronounced the way it’s spelled, Irish is a very unique language, my English was crap growing up.” He said.