Author's Note: Hey everyone! It's been a while, huh? Sorry for the delay, school was very busy for me this year, but on the bright side, the year's over and summer break's just begun! This chapter is a little shorter compared to usual, but I at least wanted to put something out to say "I am here once more!" Thanks!
Ch. 21
Joestar Mansion, 1888
Moments Earlier…
The two Heroes gazed at the sudden new change in scenery. To one of them, it was a new area, reminiscent of the photos of an old history book; to the other, it was home.
Black and white square tiles dotted the ground like a checkers board. Part of that floor was covered in a red carpet, which moved all the way up to the stairs. The walls were a strong bright pink, with the occasional weapon and armor piece hanging on them, and the carpet past the tiling a dark blue-purple. Both illuminated by moonlight and artificial light from bulbs invented in America about a decade ago. Of course, the billowing rain and thunder on the outside provided bright bursts of real light from time to time. The staircase was split, and above it a slate of marble which sat under numerous large windows. Most notably, on the right side of the stairs stood a porcelain statue, whose figure wore a light cloth and carried a jug with a large spiked lid. It was known simply as the Statues of the Goddess of Love, but to the Joestars it was the guardian angel of the house.
"What is this place?" Bakugo was the first one to break the vocal silence as the thunder roared outside.
"It's my home," Jonathan responded, moving past the foyer of the house.
"You're telling me THIS is where you lived?" Baukgo responded in shock.
"The Joestar Estate is my abode," Jonathan responded, "Had we been in times of peace, I would be inviting my friends to dinner to celebrate our previous victory against Dio."
No wonder he was able to build a new Agency so quickly, Bakugo thought to himself, The dude's loaded with dough. But as he listened to Jonathan's words he could not help but question something.
"Hold on, previous?"
"That's right. We defeated Dio once before. But it came with such heavy costs. I lost my father and my mentor, and my first fight with Dio caused this house to burn down."
Jonathan began to walk around the house, almost as if he was indirectly giving Bakugo a tour, "When we thought we finally eradicated him, I found myself back in my house; it was as if it never burned down to begin with. And what stood as a greater shock to me was that my mentor had been brought back from the dead."
"You mean like those Zombies we had to deal with earlier?"
"Not even that. He was possessed by the same Anomaly that possessed your friend Kirishima, as well as Endeavor."
Bakugo, taken slightly surprised by that revelation, answered that question with another one, "So you mean to tell me that DIO has the ability to revive people either completely intact or somewhat zombified, and that both his older and younger self can exist at the same time?"
"Yes. That last part should not entirely surprise you. The old Joseph with whom Josuke and Koichi trained is just an older version of the Joseph Iida and Hagakure trained with."
"Wait seriously?!" He responded with a confused and unhappy tone, before replying, "Geez you guys really are bizarre."
"Cut the chatter, you monkeys," a voice sharply cut the interrogative tone in the air with its statement.
Jonathan and Bakugo looked up to find the person who cut the tone standing on top of the porcelain statue, specifically on the sharp lid of the jug the figure was carrying. There, the younger Dio stood with a grin on his face, illuminated by the sudden crackle of lightning behind him.
"The pleasant memories this house brings back, don't you think JoJo?" The vampire felt the need to ask some questions of his own.
"I wouldn't say they were all pleasant," Jonathan responded, "That decline started the minute you jumped out of the carriage."
"Really? I'm pretty sure I was enjoying the second-best part of my life: Not having to deal with the pieces of shit in the alleyways and instead dealing with you snobby gentrymen. Of course, I didn't really find it all that fun when you tried to stop me from getting what I was owed."
"You made my life a living hell. You tried to poison my father, after all the kindness he showed you. To say that you were owed anything is a grave overstep."
"Father was an easily-manipulable sucker who was merely owning a sucker's debt, and you were his weakling progeny. It took you burning the whole house down and stabbing me with this statue to stop me, and even then you failed!" Dio was kicking the statue he was standing on as he made the latter half of his remarks.
"Enough with the jibber-jabber already!" Bakugo himed in, having grown annoyed at the dialogue, "Why'd you even bring us here in the first place?"
"The Noble One requested that we finish you two off separately while he completes his Grand Entrance. And where better to do so then the household where it all began! While he makes his name known to your society, I, The Pinnacle of All Life, will be the one to offer your bloodless bodies to him when he makes that world Paradise!" Dio snapped his fingers and to his side, another figure emerged on the stairwell with skin that seemed as if it were melting, but was actually shifting into Himiko Toga's natural form.
"Aww man," she remarked towards Bakugo, "Why couldn't you bring in Izuku with you? Oh well, guess your blood will have to fill in in the meantime!"
"Good luck with that, you psycho!" Bakugo angrily retorted, as he put his hands behind him and let the sweat rolling off of them propel him upward and towards the stairs, to deal with Toga, taking out two small knives in an X-shape to stop his incoming attack. Gaining his foothold on the rail, Bakugo pushed against her and she pushed back, leading to a standoff that allowed Toga brief time to ask a question.
"Oh by the way, Dio," Toga asked, "You said giving Jonathan hell was the second-best part of your life. If that's the case, then what was the first?"
"Isn't it obvious, dear Toga?" He responded as he was jumping down from the top of the statue and towards the ground, "It was the day I killed Father with my own hands and rejected my humanity!"
"And you've caused nothing but hell for the world and my family since then! Your reign of terror ends here, once and for all Dio!" Jonathan shouted, drawing his sword as he let Hamon channel through his body.
"You and your exploding friend here cannot stop us!" Dio remarked back, lunging forward towards his rival, his hands ready in a chop motion to strike at his foe. For both pairs in the room, hand and sword clashed brightly in the midst of the thundering rain.