Ch. 17
The nearby fires were swelling with intense heat, as Bakugo, Jonathan, Endeavor, Jotaro, and Midoriya stood in front of the villain who finally showed his face to the public for the first time.
"So that's DIO?" Midoriya questioned with a slight hint of uneasiness.
"Ah the sweet aroma of deja vu," DIO grinned, "Don't you remember our duel on the bridge in Cairo?"
"How could I not?" Jotaro responded, "It's still fresh in my head. Except you used a road roller instead of an oil tanker. And I beat your ass to a pulp."
"Haha, you're right about the road roller, but are you sure about that second part?" DIO inquired, "Because I remember something very different happening. You played dead after I crushed you and tried to disguise your time stop ability as mine, and tried to break my legs. But your efforts were futile, for the blood I squeezed in your eyes ruined your aim. With a clean hit I brought you down to your knees and sliced your head right off!...But why is it our stories are so different? Must be because we're from two different universes."
"That's enough talk out of you," Endeavor finally spoke up, "You're that menace who's responsible for all this carnage?"
"If you're referring to the people who went missing and became the Zombies you so ruthlessly massacred," DIO snarked, "Then your accusation is correct. But you're wording it wrong. Think of it more as a first step to bring enlightenment to this backwards world, saving them from the illusion of security you Heroes push!"
"You call creating a bunch of undead, brainless soldiers 'enlightenment'?" Katsuki questioned. "Seems kinda contradictory to me."
"Heh. Of course your minds couldn't wrap around it, Young Bakugo," DIO shrugged, "You simply have not reached it yet. You and other Heroes can only believe in concepts conceived by humanity. Anything that possesses no 'human' quality to you you discard like trash. The Zombies were a perfect example. Granted, they wouldn't have survived once the sun rose, but you did not let them have that experience."
As he talked, he slowly began to close the distance between him and the Heroes. The flames from the explosion simply walked forward with him, creating a pathway of sorts. While small, these flames burned with intense heat, yet did not burn his cape whatsoever.
"You deemed them unworthy of your help, so you exterminate them, like bugs crawling on your windowsill. I gave them a chance at enlightenment, and you took it away. So, in reality.." He stopped walking as he let his Stand emerge, "I'm the one who saved them."
"Do you really think that you saved them?!" Deku finally lashed out, "These people had lives, they had families. And you killed them, took their futures and lives away from them! And you call that saving?!"
"Earthly matters are insignificant when there is more that lies beyond the earthly veil! Why don't I SHOW YOU!" DIO rushed forward sharply, extinguishing the flames as he moved. His Stand, The World, had already been summoned, bringing forth a powerful punch right toward Midoriya.
He's fast! He barely had any time to block the punch, but there was no need, for Star Platinum caught the punch with its hand. The two hands clashed before Star Platinum pushed The World's hand back a bit. Jotaro got in the way of Midoriya and the rest of the group as Star Platinum began to unleash a flurry of punches. For each punch one Stand threw, the other responded in kind, each punch blocking the other out. With each punch it threw Star Platinum let out a ferocious war cry.
ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA!
And The World's cry responded just as ferociously.
MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA!
This lasted for a few seconds, while Jotaro and DIO simply stood; whilst the former had a look of displeasure and anger, the former had a wide grin.
Meanwhile, one of the helicopters had finally made it to the area where combat had been ensuing between the two groups. The reporters on board were fervently covering the battle as it unfolded.
It seems that while the Zombies had stopped, there's still a character fighting some Heroes outside of the new Joestar Agency. It seems that Endeavor, along with some students from UA, are currently with them. And despite the standstill there is a heavy amount of punches being exchanged from the two sides.
The two enemies stood firm whilst a flurry of punches was still being pushed around. That was until DIO bobbed his head at the oncoming fire arrow that approached him.
When DIO readjusted his vision, he saw Endeavor was making headway towards his opponent, a fist of flames ignited with intense anger.
"Oh my," DIO questioned, "Using the flames of hell against me?"
"You're one to talk," Endeavor returned, "I don't know you all that much but it's clear you should act a bit more humble!"
The punch missed as DIO simply leaned back, before repositioning himself for a punch of his own. Clenched between his middle and ring finger, a sharp vein had been placed which brutally poked Endeavor in the shoulder. Afterwards, DIO hopped a few steps back before rising in the air, as if he were ready to take flight.
"What did you poke me with?!" Endeavor demanded an answer, while the flames on his boots also began to ignite and sent him into the sky. The two of them ascended past the buildings, the same altitude as the helicopter was.
And it looks like the battle's been taken to the skies! And Endeavor's flames are just as bright as when he took on that High-End Nomu that gave him his scar!
At a certain point, Endeavor had gotten a bit higher in altitude than DIO, before coming down and trying to land punch after punch, flame attack after flame attack. All the while the blonde villain evaded in some fashion or another. With the tension raised, Endeavor condensed some of his flames into his right fist, readying for another flaming punch. Except DIO didn't seem like he would dodge it, or provide some counterattack. It seemed like Endeavor would land a clean hit. DIO would be done for!...
Flashfire Fist!
When all of a sudden, DIO disappeared from right in front of Endeavor's visage. He was nowhere to be seen! That was when Endeavor heard a little "Yoo-hoo~", and slowly turned his head around to the left. There, all he saw was The World's leg land a clean hit on his side.
Oh my! The reporter yelled, both puzzled and terrified, It seems the Villain somehow managed to dodge Endeavor's attack and sent him crashing diagonally downward towards the buildings! Endeavor's been knocked out in one hit!
As DIO levitated back onto the ground, he saw the rest of the Heroes standing relatively in the same spots. He took this opportunity to move back a little bit towards the intersection that laid behind him.
"Tell me," Jotaro inquired, "Why exactly did you send us to this world?" He sent out Star Platinum once more to try and land a hit, only for DIO to miss without needing his ability. This constant punching went on as his enemy talked.
"Isn't it obvious to you Jotaro?" DIO responded, "To put it simply, I was bored. Conquering alternative versions of your universe simply got too dull. But seeing a world where power is distributed unevenly upon the masses, I knew I had to take control of it! So much bitter fighting between Heroes and Villains that I figured I could swoop in and raze this society to the ground! You and the rest of the Joestars are merely thorns in my side, that I figured I could use this to not only get rid of you, but to establish myself as the ruler of this world! I, DIO, as The Noble One who holds dominion over all reality!"
As the group made it to the intersection, DIO kept looking head-on at Jotaro and Jonathan. At the time DIO realized that there were two of them missing, Deku took this opportunity to rapidly dash to the left side of the street, a few meters behind DIO. It also seemed Bakugo planned on doing the same, except on the right side. Both lifted their hands up, but Deku had his thumb covering his middle finger, a sort of flicking motion; whereas Bakugo had his palm out, the sweat running on it beginning to generate an explosion.
The gloves Izuku had took a shape which encompassed his hand, preparing for a large attack. And Bakugo finally released the condensed explosion.
"Midoriya, Bakugo!" Jonathan yelled, "Fall back! He spotted you!"
Delaware Smash...AIR FORCE!
Stun Grenade!
The concentrated air shot released from the Air Force combined with the explosion and sent it right towards DIO's face. Direct contact almost seemed certain! But…
And now The World...will bring time to a halt!
Everything around DIO stopped moving, caught in the frozen time. This allowed DIO to move around and dodge the attacks.
10 seconds…
DIO made his way towards Midoriya, whereas his Stand hovered in front of Bakugo. Both carried out the same object. First a flicking motion on their foreheads, which only moved a little bit within stopped time.
7 seconds...
Meanwhile, Jotaro had been able to escape the time stop a little bit and began to move around. Out of the corner of his eye DIO saw this, and acted quickly, removing a few of the knives he had stored and throwing it in Jotaro's direction. Though Star Platinum was able to deflect them all, it forced Jotaro a few meters back as well, until he couldn't move anymore.
"Uh-uh-uh, Jotaro," DIO said, "I did not give you permission to move in my world. And besides, it seems you can only move for 5 seconds. How measly! Now where was I?"
Resuming his actions, DIO sidekicked right onto Midoriya's abdomen, while The World did the same at Bakugo's. The reaction sent them back a few meters before ultimately halting within stopped time. As Stand and User retreated back to the middle of the street and facing his ambushers, DIO held his hand up in the air, with his pointer finger extended, before uttering "1 second remains…"
0 seconds, time resumes...
It seemed like the attack against Midoriya and Bakugo did not affect them, until the flick stunned them in their heads and seemed to make their mind and body limp. Their vision changed from looking at DIO head-on, to merely a sea of pure white, one of bliss and happiness. That was before a sharp kick feeling on their midsections snapped them back to reality as their bodies soared across the street, skidding on the floor and damaging their equipment and their bodies. After a few seconds onto the ground, they got up, a bit haggard, but still able to fight. Much of their bodies, including their faces, were bruised and slightly bloodied, but still able to stand and fight.
"Don't tell me that bastard can stop time too!" Bakugo spoke out of frustration.
Endeavor was able to break free from the crater he left in the building and stand on the ground. Jonathan was rushing to the aid of those who were knocked back, and helping them up, when a set of two small lasers cut right between Jonathan and the group. Jonathan was able to dodge the attack, but it separated him for a few seconds. As he peered from the direction of those lasers, he saw on the top of one of the nearby buildings a low-leaning figure, who walked further into the moonlight, and showed his more disheveled spiky hair.
"Dio!" Jonathan yelled, "What are you doing here?!"
"There's two of them?!" Deku questioned.
"My my, JoJo" Dio taunted, "Where's your sharp wit? Did you not think that my older self would be the only one here?! How foolish! What's more, I even brought a friend along!" From the shadows another figure emerged, appearing as a grey, amorphous mass, whose head was clear. From the top, Toga was smiling gleefully.
"Toga's with them?" Endeavor inquired.
"Oh," DIO finally had a turn to speak, "So that's where you too were."
From Luna Sacra, Ch 1:
Later on in the blood moon night, two Trinities shall appear: the first, an embrace of Arian philosophy, consists of a stronger Father, and they will all take on the form of Vampires. One with a blood red cape, serving as the Father; his younger, hotblooded self serving as the Son; and an amorphous female figure as the Holy Spirit.
"Now that the whole group's here," he continued, "I think it's time we bring forth the first Night of Enlightenment!" And with a snap of his fingers, DIO did exactly that.
Endeavor suddenly clenched his shoulder as he kneeled on the ground. Screaming on the ground there was a sort of uneasiness and shock in his scream.
"Endeavor!" Jotaro shouted, "What's going on?!"
Endeavor could not get any words out. Only screams. The remnants of the sharp vein DIO poked began to radiate white and purple, before a dark and black sphere enveloped Endeavor, cutting off his screaming.
"It's the same sphere that Kirishima got trapped in!" Deku realized out loud.
"Yeah, and from the looks of it, a stronger version of it!" Bakugo continued, realizing that something was about to go wrong.
In the alleyway…
As Shigaraki and Dabi continued walking in the alleyway, Dabi began to feel a sharp pain on his cheek, from where the vein had pierced his skin earlier. He let out a loud "Ouch!" from the reaction and held his hand onto it.
"Dabi, what's going on?" Shigaraki inquired, worried about what was happening with his comrade.
"I...don't know…" Dabi tried to utter through the pain, with some difficulty. "But...whatever it is, it's taking over my body-" He was able to finish his sentence, but not before the region around his cheek created a bit of black matter around it that ended up completely covering him. Shigaraki tried to move his hand towards the black sphere which Dabi was trapped in, but instantly reflexed his hand as it burned upon contact.
"What's going on?" Tomura inquired, "And what part of DIO's plan is this?!"
On the street…
As the group of Heroes and students and UA were moving through the street, taking care of any Zombies they faced, Shoto suddenly stopped moving, wincing at the sudden pain he felt on his left arm. Everyone turned around to see exactly what was happening to Todoroki.
"Shoto!" Iida asked, "Are you alright?"
"What's going on?" Momo worried as she got close to him.
"Urgh, I have no clue," Shoto yelled, "But… I'm not feeling all that good..."
"Shit!" Suddenly realizing what was going on, Lisa Lisa used her scarf to pull Momo away from Todoroki, as she yelled "Everybody get back!" He got this out before some the area around his arm where he had been poked began to surge with black energy as well, engulfing him like it had his father.
"It's the same energy that wrapped around Kirishima yesterday!" Uraraka yelled.
"Todoroki hang on!" Kirishima yelled trying to help his friend. Rather than direct contact with his hand, he hardened his elbow and tried to cut through the sphere, but the initial contact too burned him and sent him flying back a few feet.
"Uh, Lisa Lisa?" Joseph began to sweat, "What exactly is going on?"
"I don't know specifics," she responded, "But I believe it's some sort of possession that DIO's been using. A similar kind of possession that took over me on Air Supplena Island!"
"Then...that means…" Joseph tried to make the realization.
"Todoroki has become DIO's puppet," Lisa Lisa finished his thoughts. "Think back to what Page and Plant said after he was initially pierced!"
"It doesn't matter i-if you kill us now,"
"For n-n-now we hav-ve completed the work Lord Dio asked of us."
"Oh no!" Joseph yelled in shock.
"Everyone get ready!" Lisa Lisa instructed, "We'll have to take Shoto head-on!"
In all three locations, the spheres that had enveloped Endeavor, Dabi, and Shoto respectively quickly turned from a heavy black into a heavenly light, emitting white fiery beams into the sky.
Three white beams! The helicopter over the intersection said. What's going on?!
From Luna Sacra, Ch 1:
And like how Arius believed the Father begat the Son, the First Trinity will beget the Second Trinity. It shall be two Heroes and one Villain who have been summoned as the Vanguard for salvation: a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all bonded by blood and bearing the fires of hell dowsed on them to bring the wonders of Heaven.