Butterfly Effect
I'm back, and I'm bringing with me a chapter full of action and emotions. Well, two actually, as apology for the long wait. This chapter in particular, though the other one mostly too, is a core piece of my original fanfic idea, and I'm doing my best to handle the delivery as smoothly as possible. I've been waiting to write this fight for years now, since that much time has passed since the first chapter, and hope you'll enjoy this chapter very much.
I do not own JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Chapter 22: A fulfilling life
Since the separation of the crusaders following a heavy disagreement, quite some time has passed. Enough for it to become night time. DIO's time.
In need for a means of transportation, Joseph's group went around the town, looking for a cheap car. They weren't particularly choosy as long as it had 4 seats, so they just bought an old Jeep from a random passerby, the old Joestar exchanging a wad of bills for the keys.
"Nice. With this, he won't catch up so easily." Caesar said, sitting on the passenger seat.
"Yes. I doubt he can run as fast as a car. And I even moreso doubt that he can drive a car to chase us, being a person from the last century." Marco added, sitting in the back on the right.
"Yeah, but I don't think that'd stop him from stealing a car and driving amok." Kakyoin had some fears regarding that matter. "DIO wouldn't have qualms with running over people, accidentally or not."
"You're right." Joseph nodded with a serious look on his face. "That's why we must defeat this evil as soon as possible."
While driving, all occupants were constantly looking out the windows, checking for any suspicious vehicle. So far, there weren't any.
On one road, where the road behind their car was empty, the old Joestar still nervously looked at the rear mirror, bearing a stressful expression on his face. "I can still sense DIO's dark bloodlust. He's coming after us! I'm positive he's following us!"
"But isn't the road behind us empty?" the old Zeppeli questioned, not knowing why his friend was so certain about that.
"Also, how does he know where we are? Does DIO know our precise location?" the younger Zeppeli also added questions.
"No… Remember, he's stolen the body of my grandfather, Jonathan Joestar. I can still sense his body somehow, but I can't pinpoint his exact location. I just know he's close." Joseph explained, going into detail. "The same way I could tell he was in Cairo, but couldn't figure out exactly where his lair was. He can sense Jotaro's and my presence, but he can't tell the difference between us… Most likely he hasn't realized that we split up yet."
"Ah, so that's why."
"I simply can't stand the fact that DIO is controlling my grandfather's body." The old Joestar felt uneasy talking about this. "Too bad for my grandfather, but with DIO we must also destroy his body, sadly."
"That's tough."
The Zeppelis really felt for the suffering of the Joestar family. They'd put their lives on the line to kill the tormentor of their brother family.
"Guys, bad news!" Noriaki then informed in a loud tone, changing the topic and atmosphere. "DIO's caught up to us! Look behind, he's in that bloody limousine."
"Shit!"
"Oh no, so he really did run over people!" Marco observed, his heart hurting for the innocent civilians that were killed in the crossfire of their conflict.
"Don't worry, I'll send [Hierophant Green] to deal with him." the redhead bravely announced, intending to put an end to the vampire's crazy ride. He wouldn't allow this recklessness to go on.
"Wait, how will you do that?" Caesar curiously inquired.
"I'll let my Stand float in the air, next to DIO's window, with a string still connecting my Stand to this car." the cherry boy told, opening his window in preparation.
"Watch out, okay?" Joseph spoke to him, their eyes meeting in the rear mirror. "I'll keep the car steady for you."
"Thanks, Joestar-san."
With that, Kakyoin started his little operation. [Hierophant Green] was like a diver in this scenario, venturing towards the enemy with only a single thin tentacle serving as a connection back to its master. The operation itself was quite dangerous, with the Stand floating in the air from one moving car to another. These movements required a great deal of control from the Stand user.
Eventually, the green Stand reached the window of the enemy vehicle's back row. At first, before noticing [Hierophant Green], the vampire sat in comfort, arms crossed, with a confident look on his face. Only after he noticed, did his cool demeanor change, eyes slightly widening.
"Kakyoin's…?!"
"DIO! Prepare to die!"
Noriaki transmitted what he wanted to say through his Stand.
"Emerald Splash!"
From close distance, barely 10 meters away, the redhead unleashed his signature attack, shooting a volley of emeralds at DIO.
The next moment though, the vampire reassumed his cool, fearless posture and expression again. Because after the emeralds came crashing through his window, he flicked the leading gemstone away with one finger, using that to deflect other emeralds away from him.
A chain reaction occurred, with the involved emeralds turning into projectiles and deflecting the green gems that came after. In the end, all the emeralds of the first wave bypassed DIO, not a single one hitting the vampire and only hitting the other back door, blowing it away.
"!"
Not having expected DIO to parry his attack that easily, the cherry boy was taken aback in great disbelief, almost shocked.
"Unbelievable! He blocked my [Emerald Splash] with just one finger! He didn't even move out of his seat!"
This impressive level of resistance greatly surprised Kakyoin, and rightly so. But Noriaki wasn't out of ideas, and certainly not out of fighting spirit. He'd attack as many times as needed, trying out another approach.
"Then what about this?!"
Increasing the volume of emeralds while reducing the attack area, the redhead shot another, more concentrated volley of emeralds at DIO.
Though the vampire, again, deflected the gemstones with ease, redirecting them towards the roof, turning his ride, formerly a luxury limousine, into a convertible. The only improvement was that this time, instead of using but a single finger, DIO needed his entire hand.
"I narrowed my aim and he still dodged it?!"
Disappointed at the results, the cherry boy was again shown the superhuman strength of the vampire. The Stand was one thing, but even the user had exceptional power in this case.
Again, Kakyoin wouldn't be discouraged. If normal attacks didn't work, he could try out yet another approach, this time infusing his emeralds with Hamon. DIO couldn't deflect them that way.
Noriaki was going to test out his new idea, however…
"WHAT?!"
[The World], which had only been seen by Polnareff and Avdol before, appeared before the eyes of [Hierophant Green], having the same meaning as appearing before the eyes of Noriaki Kakyoin.
It was an insanely muscular, humanoid golden Stand with heart and diver motifs. It basically had the same physique as [Star Platinum].
At that point, it was evident to the redhead that this was a physical type of Stand. And he was going to find out directly, since [The World] was in an attacking pose, head and torso facing towards the green Stand, with its right fist held above its head, charging up for a strong punch.
"W- What?! When did he bring out his Stand?! I didn't even see it move! How could I not have noticed?!"
With its great speed, [The World] delivered a powerful punch, sending [Hierophant Green] flying. The latter Stand had put up a guard milliseconds before the punch hit, but its forearms were not nearly enough to stop the force of the former Stand.
"GWAH!"
Sent flying uncontrollably, the green Stand crashed against several objects on the side of the road, like a hydrant, a stop sign, a lamp post and a bus stop sign.
"ACK!"
The cherry boy and his Stand took a long time to recover from that, briefly losing focus and orientation due to the many hits. Kakyoin was forced to recall his Stand after the terrific counterattack by DIO.
"Be careful, Kakyoin! You got to close!" the old Joestar reprimanded him, speaking with great worry underneath his voice.
"S- Sorry, I… I just…" Noriaki stammered, unable to get out a proper response. He breathing heavily due to the many shocks. Additionally, he was breaking out in sweat due to all the stress.
"Are you o-" the Zeppeli turned to him, wanting to ask about his condition before interrupting himself and raising his voice in concern. "Kakyoin, you're bleeding!"
Upon seeing all the blood, Marco's eyes widened.
"That was [The World]…" the redhead told, a subtle hint of fear in his tone. "It attacked me while I was 10 meters away from DIO. Had I been any closer, I would've been killed."
"Whoa..."
"His Stand is definitely a close-range power type." the cherry boy informed, disclosing all the information he was able to gather first-hand. "It's similar to Jotaro's, but beyond formidable! We still don't know its secret, but there are 2 things we know for sure. One, its range is approximately 10 meters. Two, it attacked me with its fists, so it doesn't have a projectile weapon."
"…That's very good to know."
For the crusaders, Kakyoin just procured invaluable information.
"So you're basically saying we have to stay out of its range to have a chance." the old Zeppeli figured, asking for confirmation.
"That's my idea." Noriaki confirmed, nodding at Caesar.
For Joseph though, that conclusion was too fast. "We have to figure out his secret. Can't be too careful with him."
To say just this one line, he took his eyes off the rear mirror for one little moment. And in that instance, something changed.
"Hey, something's wrong. His car stopped."
Sitting in the back, the younger Zeppeli was in the best position to look back and check. And it was a good thing he acted fast, because if he didn't, someone in the car could've died.
"Everyone, DUCK! There's a man coming toward us!" Marco warned, his eyes widened in danger.
One second later, the bloodied body of a round, short old man in a suit came crashing through the rear window, flying through the middle right into the windshield.
"ARGH!"
"Joestar-san!"
Because of this incident, the old Joestar lost control over the car, causing an accident. He couldn't control the jeep anymore as it crashed against a residential building on the roadside.
"FUCK!"
"SHIT!"
"HELL…"
"…Is everyone alright?"
"No… But we gotta get out of here, fast!"
Their bodies hurt, their heads were ringing. These crusaders needed medical attention, but had to bail as fast as they could to avoid the vampire catching them inside the wreck.
Hastily, they forced the broken doors open, getting out of their wrecked jeep. Bleeding, aching all over, they did their best to leave behind the spot where they came to a stop.
"We can take you up."
The crusaders' plan was to escape up a tall building on the side. [Hermit Purple] and [Hierophant Green] would serve that purpose, so Joseph and the redhead offered the Zeppelis their assistance.
"Thanks."
So, in a hurry, the 4 crusaders roped their way up that building. Acting rapidly had been the key, because as they were rising in the air, they could see DIO below looking up to them, having just finished inspecting the wreck and only finding the dead senator he killed.
After reaching the rooftop, the cherry boy stood on the edge, watching the vampire. He was looking eye to eye with him, not moving towards escaping further.
"What are you doing, Kakyoin?! Let's go!" the old Joestar called, in a rush.
But unlike Joseph, Kakyoin wasn't in a rush. Actually, it was quite the opposite. Calmly, he released the tension on his face. He'd just gotten a breakthrough idea.
"I have an idea." Noriaki spoke in a relaxed, pensive tone, assuming a ready posture. "I know how to find the secret of his Stand."
"What?"
"Did you just say you can figure out DIO's Stand?"
A new hope arose within the crusaders. If it was the redhead, he'd sure come up with a genius idea.
"Yes." the cherry boy assured, a resolved gleam in his eyes. "But for now, we need to change the location."
This sounded promising, extremely promising. Trusting Kakyoin, they'd assist him as well as they possibly could. Noriaki didn't fill them in on his plan yet, but that didn't change their trust. Actions spoke louder than words.
Wanting to get to the desired location, the crusaders jumped and swung around the city, [Hermit Purple] and [Hierophant Green] securing their swings dozens of meters in the sky of Cairo. Swinging and jumping along towers, above rooftops, their movements were the same as those of a certain red superhero from America.
Up in the air, while obviously concentrating during his flight, he himself deeply thought about his own trust in the other crusaders. How until meeting them, he chose to isolate himself from others due to the fact that no one could understand him, as no one was able to see [Hierophant Green]. And after meeting them, after them becoming his friends, despite him having got to know them for only a few weeks, he trusted them all from the bottom of his heart.
The redhead thought deeply about his life and its meaning. And he found, that exposing DIO's Stand ability for the crusaders to beat him all together, was the meaning and mission of his life. The greatest thing the cherry boy could achieve. That's why failure was not an option.
Finally, stopping on top of an electric tower, he gave the signal to stop.
"Let's wait here."
"…"
Nodding in understanding, the 3 crusaders with him also stopped, all relatively close to one another. They'd stopped, waiting in silence and anticipation for the vampire to arrive, and what Kakyoin would have in store for him.
'Ah, he's coming!'
A short while later, DIO finally caught up to them, jumping there by bouncing off buildings and towers. His chase would end with him landing on a roof next to where the crusaders were waiting. And then, the moment of truth…
*DHWUIIIIIIII*
"!"
As soon as the vampire stepped on a hidden wire that Noriaki set up, [Hierophant Green]'s ability triggered, unleashing a dose of [Emerald Splash] at DIO. But this wasn't just a normal [Emerald Splash], it was far more dangerous than that! This [Emerald Splash] was infused with Hamon, a vampire's natural enemy together with sunlight.
"NGH!"
DIO's eyes widened in alarm. Earlier, he'd easily handled the redhead like nothing, though this time, the cherry boy had turned into a real threat. He could feel the Hamon in the air, before the projectiles hit him. Like an allergic reaction, he started feeling an unpleasant tinge on his skin. It forced him to grit his teeth.
"LIKE I'LL LET YOU!"
Fatal if deflecting with his skin, DIO rapidly took off his red cape above his yellow jacket, slashing at the Hamon gemstones with it to deflect them, far away from him.
"Kakyoin…" the vampire uttered, letting out a heavy breather. He'd not imagined such a heavy counterattack, and was surprised at how difficult and troublesome it turned out to fight this boy.
*DHWUIIIIIIII*
But this was far from over. Another wave of Hamon emeralds, triggered by the deflected previous emeralds hitting the almost invisible and widely spread-out wires of [Hierophant Green], attacked DIO moments later.
"HN!"
The vampire narrowed his eyes and tensed up his face. He'd underestimated Kakyoin, and was paying the price.
*DHWUIIIIIIII*
"Hierophant's barrier!"
*DHWUIIIIIIII*
Only with great difficulty and constant action, always guarded, was he able to deflect and overcome the barrage of green gems from all directions, all packed with his Kryptonite. And on top of that, he could forget ever putting that cape back on again, which took away a significant portion of his majestic and intimidating getup.
Meanwhile, the crusaders that were watching DIO struggle were astonished by the effects of the trap Noriaki had set up. It blew their mind and left them shocked, staring in awe at the results of the redhead's visibly succeeding plan.
'Kakyoin, he's… he's dominating DIO!' Joseph reacted with an utterly impressed look on his face which was covered in sweat due to all the hype that this confrontation was generating. 'DIO can't keep up like this for long, he's bound to take out his Stand soon!'
'Unbelievable!' Marco, similarly impressed but also extremely proud due to the fact that the cherry boy was his student, observed the happening with an awestruck face. 'This is what the perfect synchronization of Stands and Hamon looks like! Kakyoin… he's using the full potential of both his powers! What magnificent skill, he's bound to succeed!'
'Interesting!' Caesar thought, making the observation of his life. He, who couldn't see Stands due to not being a Stand user, managed to visualize the [Emerald Splash] of [Hierophant Green], each individual emerald, solely because the gems were coated with Hamon. To him, the attack looked like little flying Hamon with its lightning effects. And of course, the old Zeppeli knew what emeralds looked like, so he was finally able to perfectly imagine what a Stand attack looked like.
Though that wasn't all. Additionally, this certain attacked invoked a huge feel of nostalgia inside the old man, making him open his eyes wide, with a bright gleam inside. A multitude of small objects infused with Hamon attacking a superhuman creature preying on humans that was very weak against sunlight, he'd seen this before in his youth. In fact, he was the one who performed said attack.
And now, he was going to do that again. Inspired by Kakyoin, clenching his fist tightly, Caesar obtained the determination to start his own attack against DIO.
'That's it… Thanks for making me feel young again, Kakyoin.'
"Hey, DIO!"
Shouting out loud to his enemy, the old Zeppeli revealed his position. Normally, that'd be disadvantageous, but Caesar WANTED direct confrontation.
Turning his head towards where the voice came from, the vampire located the old Zeppeli, who looked like he was going to cause him big problems. DIO concluded that by seeing a confident expression on the face of Caesar, emitting a glowing and powerful Hamon aura with his entire body.
"Kakyoin isn't the only one who's after you! Take this!"
Still his strongest attack, even after many years, the old Zeppeli proudly made the movements initiating the attack that won perhaps the most critical battle in human history.
"Caesar, you…" the old Joestar uttered in surprise, not having expected his best friend to act and join the fray. His body was slightly leaning forward, while his hands were on the side, a medium gap between them and his torso.
"Father…?" The younger Zeppeli reacted similarly, but he was slightly leaning backwards. He had no vision of the future, so he was worried that this attack would provoke something very bad.
'Nice!' Noriaki grew a smile at that. Caesar's help would accelerate his plan.
As he made those movements, UFO-shaped bubbles appeared near his head and shoulders, one after another. This was only the build-up, as the real attack would start when he'd yell out the attack name.
That time was now.
"Bubble Cutter!"
With the intimidation factor of a swarm of military drones, a flurry of UFO-shaped bubbles came flying towards the vampire.
"!"
In midair, though still far away from him, the Hamon surrounding the bubbles reflected off the spinning sharp edges, uncomfortably dazzling DIO. But far more dangerous than that, the vampire could feel the dangerousness of the rotating blade-like edges just from the movements in the air alone. He'd get cut, mercilessly grazed and slashed with the substance most deadly to him, and unlike with the emeralds, there was no way he could deflect those bubbles with his red cape, it'd get shredded.
"Crap, this is…!"
Suddenly, a new danger arose, also triggered by Caesar's attack. The cutting bubbles, while made with the intention of cutting the vampire, constantly cut through the air in the path of their trajectory towards DIO. Inside the path were the countless thin wires of [Hierophant Green], that if touched or cut, would fire a round of [Emerald Splash]. Because the old Zeppeli wasn't a Stand user, he couldn't see those wires and couldn't control whether the bubbles would cut those wires or not. But that didn't matter, as the flurry of bubbles cut through the wires in masses anyway. As a result, an unbelievable amount of emeralds were released, enough to wipe out an entire city block.
The Emerald Splashes that the vampire deflected prior to this already damaged and destroyed nearby buildings, towers, minarets and billboards. DIO would not be able to deflect an entire storm of Emerald Splashes, even if the bubbles suddenly popped, they'd whittle him down into little pieces.
'Heh, I didn't even need to activate the [20 Meter Emerald Splash]…' the redhead thought, knowing his plan to have [The World]'s power revealed would come to fruition in a matter of seconds. Though on the other hand, the cherry boy regretted not being able to shout out his ability name anymore, as he imagined himself to sound and look extremely strong and badass while doing so. 'But that's irrelevant now! DIO, he's finished!'
Joseph and Marco, seeing the calamity that was about to strike DIO, were extremely hopeful. Like Kakyoin, they too thought that the vampire couldn't counter that.
'Is this how he will end? Will his Stand power even be enough to rescue him out of this situation?'
Sweat built up on DIO's face, enough to drip. His fangs became visible as he clenched his teeth in alarm and anger. He'd been driven into a corner, needing to take out his Stand and use his ability in order to avoid getting killed. Like that, his enemies had gotten what they wanted. But the vampire, perfectly knowing the unfairly busted power of his Stand, would make them pay the price in return.
"Fools… You don't even realize what disaster you've just inflicted upon yourselves. Now that you've forced my hand, it's too late to regret! [The World]!"
With a powerful roar, DIO activated his Stand ability.
*THUUUUUUUUM*
[The World]'s characteristic sound effect was not only a deep, bass-boosted boom, it also included the sound of clockwork.
That part was directly related to its ability, Time Stop.
Besides the Stand itself and its master, movement ceased for absolutely everything on the planet. Everything else became still, stiff and unresponsive. The only sources of sound during the duration of the ability were the aforementioned two entities.
Neither of the crusaders could move, meaning, they couldn't resist. And the vampire was ready to dish out whatever damage he could possibly deal, with nothing to stop him.
"Hahh… Hahh…" First things first, DIO used a few deep breaths to calm down. He'd been in a pinch, but not anymore. The only thing that could hurt him now were his own decisions, and only that. No external factor could do nothing to him, they weren't of any concern. "I'm safe now…"
Behind him, around him, in front of him, Hamon everywhere. There were limits to the nature of his Stand power, as they didn't alter reality any more than altering time. Basic properties of matter and elements didn't change. Lava wouldn't become not harmful to touch in stopped time. Likewise, touching Hamon would still disintegrate his body.
So to properly go around his deadly obstacles and to avoid them, the vampire had to cool his head and think rationally and carefully.
"Phew… Let's watch out."
Cautiously, he hovered in the air, first positioning himself in a place where he'd avoid the brunt of the massive [Emerald Splash] that Caesar caused, then floating forward while wiping away all emeralds in his way by slashing at them with his cape.
DIO didn't just move all forward, but also upwards and to the side. Right towards where his target was, the one to kill during the free seconds his Stand provided.
Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli
Right in front of him, face to face with the old man frozen in time, the vampire looked with scorn in the confident face of the old Zeppeli. There was a great incentive for him to hate Caesar. He, together with Noriaki, caused DIO great humiliation. Despite having a massively ridiculous handicap in Stand power, despite being physically weaker races, the two of them managed to push him into a corner, where he couldn't escape anymore with his own power, but had to rely on [The World] to bail him out of that deadly situation. He'd been outplayed and outsmarted by creatures with lesser strength, using an ancient ability. This is what infuriated him like nothing else.
"Caesar Zeppeli… To think an old man without a Stand could cause so much trouble for me…"
He acknowledged the dangerousness of the old Zeppeli, but that was it.
"Even after 100 years, Hamon STILL causes me trouble." The vampire was frustrated and annoyed with this, and his face soured considerably. "Damned fossil of old ages, you aren't needed anymore in this new era of Stands! With my Stand power, I will put all Hamon users personally into their graves! Starting with you!"
[The World], acting on the orders of its user, clenched its right fist tightly and pulled it backwards to charge up in strength.
"DIE, CAESAR!"
One instant later, the golden Stand drove its fist through the torso of Caesar, opening a gaping hole right on his chest. Blood came out into the open, and would splatter around like crazy when time resumed.
Though the vampire wasn't quite finished yet. Before his time stop came to an end, he had [The World] step on the wound with its foot, charging up a hefty kick that'd trigger the moment time starts flowing again, sending the old Zeppeli flying.
Into a certain something.
Wordlessly, DIO waited for the effect of his Stand ability to end. 5 seconds was the longest [The World] could manage. After that, everybody could start seeing, moving, and feeling things again. They'd register things again.
But in this case, the uninjured crusaders would register a very gruesome event.
*DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN*
The crusaders were quite surprised when suddenly, to them, out of nowhere, they heard a bass-boosted boom sound.
"Huh?"
"HM?!"
"EH?!"
Far more shocking than that, they saw Caesar getting blasted through the sky, with a large trail of blood flowing out of him.
"Wh- Why is this happening?!"
"He… He was suddenly blown away!"
"Im- Impossible!"
With a loud, dull thud, the old Zeppeli's ballistic flight came to an end when he crashed against a water tower standing on a rooftop.
"Father!"
"Caesar!"
"Zeppeli-san!"
Shocked to the core, the crusaders couldn't believe what they'd just seen. Within a few seconds, the confident looks on their faces when Caesar was in the dominant position against the vampire mutated into horrified, incredulous, sweaty looks of fear with extremely wide eyes. Both their sweat and blood were freezing cold, not to mention their heavy breaths.
DIO had just shown them what kind of monster he is. This instance, the monster part wasn't referring to his personality or deeds, but his power.
Fear grabbed the crusaders right by their hearts. Their comrade was done it, out of nowhere, without any apparent reason. Sure, they knew it was [The World], but they had no clue how [The World] did that. And seemingly at any moment, the same could happen to them next.
"EVERYONE!" Joseph shouted out, his voice loud but shaking. He was sounding authoritative but desperate. "QUICK! COVER YOUR ENTIRE BODY WITH HAMON!"
That was the only way of defense that the old Joestar could think of at the moment, nothing else. Against [The World], no other valid idea popped into his mind.
Reactive instinctively, the younger two crusaders lit up their bodies with Hamon, making use of the only defense against the vampire. Anything to make DIO avoid killing them directly.
"Hmph!" the vampire let out, cursing at the quick-wittedness of Joseph. He couldn't kill them as quickly and easily now.
One eye carefully watching DIO, the other eye looking at the old Zeppeli bleeding out in the water tower, the crusaders couldn't help but feel they were in the worst situation possible. Unable to counterattack while feeling that they could be next, anytime and without any indication when the vampire would attack.
"Gh…"
Meanwhile, Marco couldn't hold it any longer, his body and teeth so tensed that it physically hurt him. Just by looking, he could tell that his father was going to die. As sad as it was for him, he was realistic and would accept the fate. However, the more time he spent standing there, fearful of becoming DIO's next murder victim, the more did the chance increase, that his father would pass before he could hear his last words. And that, he wasn't going to accept.
"Father!"
Turning his back on his unharmed partners, he sped across the roofs, running and jumping as fast and high as he could, to reach his old man's imminent place of death and hear out his parting words.
When the Zeppeli would eventually return home without the family's patriarch, he'd have to pass on the patriarch's last words to the rest of the family. It was his duty, and he refused to leave empty handed, even if it meant putting himself in danger.
Pushing his body to the limit, Marco dashed over to his old man as rapidly as he possibly could, before it was too late.
"Father!"
Now he was standing there, next to the water tower. His legs, teeth, sides, lungs were sore and aching. But when he saw how together with the water flowing through the massive hole in the tower, blood was flowing simultaneously through the gaping hole on Caesar's chest in parallel, his heart was hurting the most.
"He got me…" the old Zeppeli spoke up with great difficulty, all vitality gone from his voice. "Right through the lungs… Goddamn it, he put an end to me as a Hamon user and a human…"
Then suddenly, Caesar forcefully spat out a ton of blood, sounding very much in agony while doing so.
"BUGEH!"
"Father! You're in pain, aren't you?! What can I do to ease it for you, please tell me!"
"It useless, I don't have much time left anyway…"
Tears started to build up in the Zeppeli's eyes' corners.
"Marco, my boy… Listen up, I have 2 messages for you…"
"T- Tell me, father, what is it what you want to say?" Marco asked, sad bitterness creeping into his voice.
"To the rest of the family… Tell them that I didn't die in pain…"
"What?"
The Zeppeli's eyes widened in confusion. Everyone in the family knew they went to Egypt for the purpose of fighting and killing DIO. Such a lie would not work at all.
"I know what you think, but it's not that… You see, what I mean is… I've lived a fulfilling life." the old Zeppeli elaborated, his voice becoming more and more quiet and difficult to hear.
Meanwhile, the old Joestar, who'd moved closer together with the redhead to better guard them against the vampire's possible sudden interference, teared up when barely overhearing the very last part with great difficulty.
'Caesar…'
Joseph was forced to part with the best friend he's ever had, not even able to exchange parting words due to having to keep his guard up because of the evil vampire who caused this tragedy on top of all the other tragedies to his name.
"I've had a wonderful career as a Hamon teacher, continuing my grandfather and father's will… More importantly, I was blessed with the best family I could wish for… So many brothers and sisters… sons and daughters… nieces and nephews… grandchildren… It'll be your duty to look after them come tomorrow…"
"I know… I understand…" Marco promised, two streaks of salty water running down both cheeks.
"Besides… I've lived for 7 decades, that's not too young to die…"
For the crusaders, it was.
"Anyways… Marco, I also have a message for you only…"
"For me…?" the old Zeppeli repeated, pointing at himself with his shaking index finger.
"Well, also for our other friends, but mostly for you…"
"W- what is it, father?"
"Keep calm and concentrated until the end… Until DIO's dead, don't let the emotions get to you… No matter how badly he provokes you…"
"I… I'll try…"
It'd be hard for the Zeppeli not to feel emotional after what happened to his dear father, but he'd try nevertheless his hardest, as that was a dying man's final wish.
"Stay focused, don't become like me… Got it…?"
"Got it! I promise that to you, I swear!"
Marco made his promise while tightly gripping Caesar's hand, feeling the life flow out of his skin by the millisecond.
"You and everyone… Survive… Live…"
After uttering those words, the old Zeppeli's head cocked down due to gravity. There was no life energy controlling the body to hold up the head anymore. At the same time, his eyes shut close, hiding the deadness in his eyes. Through his skin, his son couldn't feel any trace of warmth anymore.
Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli: Deceased
SHIIIIIZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! ;_;
RIP to this hero, he will be missed. He accomplished an incredible feat at least, posing a deadly threat to a Stand using vampire as a Standless human. From a neutral perspective, I believe this is an epic last stand and a death that doesn't stem from weakness. In my personal opinion, he proved his worth and strength as a fighter.
When first writing the beginning of Part 3, I worried Caesar will become a passenger character with almost no fights since he doesn't quite fit in with all the Stand users, both friend and foe. But now I have no doubt that I avoided writing his character like that, since all in all, he had a fair bit of action throughout the Part 3 section of this fanfic.
About his death, I chose him since as it's literally written in the title, he lived a fulfilling life. In canon, he died young in Part 2 and lived only a short life. IMO that's very unfulfilling and takes away lots of future character potential. Like, imagine if Joseph died in Part 2.
Apart from a character perspective, I also "killed" him for story reasons. I love fanfics that leave out or soften the "bad", sad parts of canon stories. Which is why I'm writing this very fic. But I believe there's a limit to how "good" and happy such a fanfic can be, since too happy stories aren't that entertaining since it's foreseeable that everyone lives and there are a lot less stakes and the villains seem too weak and powerless. By killing him and Hol Horse, I hope I managed to create some sort of balance. The ones who'll judge that will of course be you, my readers.
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