DISCLAIMER

The following is a fan-based

FICTION

F/SN, F/Z, F/KPI and other products related to the Fate Series are all owned by TYPE-MOON, Kinoko Nasu and Takashi Takeuchi.

All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki.

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Chapter 28: Esecuzione, Part 2

The world was still spinning when Sakura stood up from the ground.

It unfolded so suddenly- to be yanked out from the car, that her body was still recoiling at the sudden development. Teeth gritting intensely, her blue eyes narrowed at the few creatures forming around and blocking their path to... the coliseum? There was a pillar of light coming through it and, if things were as stupidly easy as she expected these to be, then their current goal was to get there and beat up the cause of this issue.

Around her were Arcueid, Narancia, Caren and Trish. It was just the four of them... where were the others?

"It would seem like we are alone for now," Arcueid muttered, with Caren nodding.

They couldn't see anyone else, and a grim thought entered Sakura's mind. They have been split, purposely so- the entity behind such a reality shift- the chaos that was troubling existence itself around them, was the same individual they were currently hunting down. Goetia.

"We need to get going then. We... Have a job to do."

At this point, the drill was clear to everyone. With Narancia's ｢Aerosmith｣ taking off and providing assistance against the few aerial foes in front of them, while Arcueid and Sakura acted against the main front. Caren protected Trish as the pinkette used ｢Spice Girl｣ to throw back any projectile attack thrown at them. Fast, they had to get this warpath going without ever faltering.

But as they started to advance and tore through the army of small Imps, skeleton knights and even a few low-tier demons, the situation started to get more complicated. Something was happening to everyone but Arcueid. Caren perceived this first, feeling a degree of nausea as they advanced. It was something in the air, like a form of pollution which was influencing their breathing- no, their minds.

"S-Something is tainting the air against normal humans," Caren muttered. "We need- We have to stop this before we all fall to this."

Sakura nodded nervously, knowing that something more was unfolding inside her. If for the others it was nausea and a sense of weakness, within the plum-haired girl a strange and raw rage was slowly unraveling and taking over her violent assault over the foes in front of them. She felt the need to smile, to laugh, to enjoy the carnage and to make it her 'mark' on the world. No one saw it, not even Arcueid as the vampire was busy shredding into the other monsters and couldn't pay attention to Sakura's own plight.

Sakura held out, she knew she had it in her as ｢One Vision｣ never once lost focus of their current task. Trish was the first to 'fall'. The girl stumbled, losing consciousness as Narancia rushed to get her and carry her in his back as they got closer to their destination. Caren looked tired too and while he was trying to hide it, even Narancia was growing more sluggish in his pace.

Eventually they made it, entering the large monument through one of the open entrances and closing it behind them with ｢Aerosmith｣ shooting down some pieces of the ceiling onto the entrance. They paused for a moment, with Narancia falling on his knees and allowing Caren to get Trish off his back before he collapsed, with the pinkette still unconscious.

"We can't... go on," Caren mumbled, sitting down and cradling Trish close. "Sakura... I am sorry."

"D-Don't be," Sakura replied, nodding. "We will stop him. Just... hold on tight."

Caren offered a tiny smile as Arcueid and Sakura left... and then growled when she stared at the blood coming from the wounds on her legs and arms which had been hidden by her robes. Her cursed nature allowed the pollution to hurt her the most and... she was going to make it.

I believe in Sakura and she will... save me.

Meanwhile Sakura was feeling uneasy. This whole situation was getting out of hand really fast as they tried to reach the main arena. The pollution hadn't stopped, and she was on a losing battle as she could feel her own consciousness faltering. She held strong, but she knew she wasn't going to last for long. Their path ultimately led them to the source of all trouble.

Goetia stood in front of the pillar of light, various artifacts on display behind such a phenomenon as he was waiting for something- no, someone. He turned around, the 'old priest king' appearance twisted in a demonic fashion. With his eyes now a bloody red with dark sclera, his mouth extending beyond his lips' limits and his body twitching in clear inhuman fashion- Goetia stood out from his creature due to its unusual existence. And he soon stared at them approaching.

"Matou Sakura- no, Kujo Sakura and Arcueid Brunestud. Many would say that your existence is flawed, Sakura, but I define you for what you truly are- an anomaly," Goetia muttered. "A mere child you may seem to be, yet your mere circumstance is indeed unexpected for the Will of the Planet. Your fated damnation, your tainting- even though your destiny was prevented in 1994, now you shall be part of something greater. The Holy Grail, you shall be a piece of this glorious plan to erase humanity as a whole."

Sakura scowled, starting to walk towards him despite how grim the situation was, with Arcueid following her example. The action wasn't lost to Goetia, which hummed and then mused.

"Oh? So you seek to approach me. Despite how miserable your chances are, you still seek to fight me and bring my defeat upon this world."

"I can't beat you up if I am not close enough," She admitted stiffly, unwilling to give up just because the bad guy asked.

"Not everyone can be some disgusting monster that can't handle a real fight," Arcueid added dryly, causing Goetia to frown at them.

"Truly? You both think you will succeed? Quite a pathetic feeling, and I suppose this is indeed humanity's finest flaw. Let's see what you two have to offer then."

At first, the two girls thought it would have been a tough but feasible fight. Goetia was still killable in that stage and they did deal a lot of damage to him early on as they tore into his efforts to stop them. But the more time passed, the more the situation shifted against them. The first issue was when Goetia's attempt to summon some of the Demon Pillars turned out to be successful, with three massive pillars with eyes manifested and forced Arcueid to shift her focus on them while Sakura kept on assaulting Goetia.

The more demonic power surged and the more reality twisted, the easier it was for Goetia to ultimately unleash his true form. From a somewhat killable Demon on par with a Magus of the Age of God, the greatest creation of Solomon mustered a form befitting of the king of demons, his figure now towering over Sakura with his massive frame and muscular shape. Atop his head, ethereal golden horns emerged like antlers with gold leaves sprouting from its many tips. A twisted regal entity.

And Sakura was also losing her focus. The pollution had effectively deprived her of much of her control over her actions and most of her fighting was done by pure instinct alone. Without a plan or good reactions to some attack, the girl felt pressured into a corner before being eventually slammed onto one of the walls, his great right hand wrapped tightly around her neck.

"You shall concede to me, child. For I am the one that holds this whole dimension hostage. There is no winning, there is no losing- there is just you following my orders and, perhaps, you will find peace through death."

"I-I refuse," Sakura growled furiously. "I will- I will not surrender. Not to someone like you."

Goetia was frowning hard on her, disappointed in this stubbornness, yet quickly picking up that her unyielding morale was not the only thing rising up to the challenge. Something else within her was, and it was growing over the rage, feasting on it and using it as fuel to extend its influence over Sakura's body. She felt it burn through what was left of her self-control and her eyes glowed in pure hatred, stunning Goetia for a moment too long for him to see how things were soon going to change for him.

"｢One Vision｣:" She proclaimed angrily. "Absolute!"

Anger fueled a transformation that tainted the original purpose of her Stand. From mere copycat, ｢One Vision｣ shuddered as its coat turned from white into pitch black, its blue elements turning red. It wasn't the only thing that changed as Sakura's hair turned white with its edges a dark-blood red. Her eyes were a deep violet which felt like a never-ending abyss. The corruption got to her, but not in the way that Goetia would have expected. As Sakura shifted up, standing from the floor, Goetia unconsciously backed away. It was sudden, unexpected and... something about this genuinely frightened him.

"W-What are you?"

No, he knew already. Something about her power- her vicious smile - it all made sense to him. Too much sense, in fact. The pillars surrounding the large arena shuddered, a sense of familiarity striking them as Sakura glared deviously at Goetia. No, this was no longer Sakura. This was more, so much more. It took him a moment, then it all clicked as he felt his Divine form faltering before hers. Something hit him and it was strong enough to overrun his own magical might. It was absolute, it was intense... it felt like his Nega-Summon skill.

It could only mean one thing.

"You became a Beast... that's why I wasn't stopped before, it was expected- your rise was... expected!" He called out, horror dawning upon his fake face as Sakura's grin turned predatorial.

"Yep~."

It was the only warning Goetia got as Sakura blurred forward and, with a single punch, tore his left arm off. It was sudden, it was intense and he felt something malicious starting to stab into his wounds and 'closing them'. It wasn't a proper healing, no, it was something more horrible. His body was getting devoured from the inside by such an entity and...

HE COULDN'T ACCEPT THIS DISAPPOINTING DEFEAT!

He jumped away, rushing to his brothers and draining on their essence to fix the damage. It worked, if only just barely as he felt his new limb was still hurting from what Sakura did. Snarling at the injury, he could only glare defiantly at the smiling demoness he had created. The taint on reality itself through her was much worse than anything he had ever perceived.

This was a novelty he would have enjoyed to study more through, but said novelty was the key to his success and said key was putting on a fight way more intense than anything he would have predicted. He was frustrated, quite so, but Goetia was not going to let this development stop him and his goals.

He was too damn close for this, and he wasn't going to be stopped by a foolish little child-turned-Beast!

Bruno hummed dryly, the car they just hijacked was working just fine, but the city was a mess.

Rome had indeed fallen, and it was clear that their current targets, Diavolo and Goetia, were behind this. Their group has been severely weakened as Narancia and the girls plus Arlecchino, Medea and the priest were no longer within reach. Luckily for them, Polnareff was with them and he was fine. He still held the Requiem Arrow's box with him, the item having been left untouched.

Still, they had to move and get to deal with one of those dangerous threats at once. The Coliseum was the easiest destination to see, but it was also the furthest from where they were. Hence why Mista was not driving them there, but rather taking a detour to reach the Quirinale Palace. When inquired on why this was the place for them to go, Bucciarati admitted hearing the boss mention that such a place would have been fitting for the leader of Passione. With Diavolo's mind declining as of recently, it wouldn't be too absurd to believe he had gone out and conquered the place for himself.

And he was given confirmation of this when they could find some corpses of former thugs working for Passione and then catching up with Pesci and Prosciutto as they were fending off some skeletons on their own. Prosciutto had some bandages on him but he was fine enough to join the fights from a distance. Once the area was cleared, the group tagged along and they made their way to reach where Risotto had left for. It's been awhile since the two had seen the new Boss, but they were hopeful he would be fine even now while killing Diavolo.

What anyone couldn't have expected was the sight that they found in the 'throne room'. It was clear that a big fight had ensued. Most of the place was broken, with the floor cracked, the chandeliers on the ground destroyed, the few tables shattered and...

Giorno stood between the bloodied form of Risotto and a now-standing Diavolo, the man glaring at the blond as the knighted form he showed was now standing before him - his Servant - and taking a stance towards a dark-armored knight that was using a twisted lance. The child, Nursery Rhyme, was trying to heal Risotto, but the damage he suffered was extensive and was going to take more than some limited magical power to fix that. The situation was indeed grim, but he could see that Risotto was still alive.

The standoff persisted even as they moved forward, with Abbacchio crouching to assist Nursery Rhyme and Bruno walking up to stand between Giorno and the armored Servant. Diavolo turned his green-eyed gaze to him.

"Bruno Bucciarati. Of all loyal members of this group, I was the most shocked to hear about your betrayal. Why did you seek to break from the very group that saved you from being tossed in jail?"

"The very reason that drove me to join this group was to help people to not experience the same experiences I had as a child," He flatly replied. "You think this is a betrayal, Diavolo. You chose to continue with these deplorable activities that harmed kids. There is no justification that can be employed, you grew rotten and greedy."

"Fuh, if this is what you have to say for yourself, then I believe you are truly gone and beyond saving," The former boss remarked. "Lancer, let us cease this rebellion for good."

The tall 'black knight' nodded, while the other one tightened the hold over her sword.

"Come forth then, father. So I shall show you how horrible you truly have become!"

Bruno wasn't completely sure what they were dealing with but-

"We will deal with them," Giorno muttered, confusing his chief for a few moments. "We got this."

"Giorno-"

"Trust... him..." Risotto muttered weakly, catching Bucciarati's attention.

"And bring him to safety, he needs to be taken care of by an expert."

Bruno didn't want to go. This was a risky situation and quantity may be the key to success, but Risotto's confidence was absolute and the man showed no hints of backing away from such order. There was little for them to do, but someone decided to leave something behind. Giorno looked surprised when he was offered a very familiar box, but Polnareff merely patted his back.

"You may have a shitty father, but you are worthy of this. Good kid you are, I hope to see you succeed today."

"P-Polnareff!" Diavolo angrily greeted. "I thought you perished!"

"You failed, Diavolo," The crippled Stardust Crusader muttered mirthfully. "To kill me and to end this world. Face the price of your actions, for this shall be a day of judgment for you."

Giorno didn't say a word, his focus aimed at the box as he retrieved the Arrow inside.

As they were leaving with a barely-alive Risotto, Bruno felt three energies erupting together with the bright lights behind them. He didn't turn to see, ordering the other men to follow through with their plan and bring the future Boss to safety so he could be healed properly. He wanted to stay, he wanted to help but... the more he thought about it, the more he realized that something convinced Risotto into believing in Giorno.

If a realist such as the leader of La Squadra was willing to concede the right to face Diavolo to an idealist such as Giorno, then Risotto saw something that made the blond worthy of such honor.

And Bucciarati knew, just like the rest of those that had been close to Giorno for a while, that this- this was perhaps the turning tide they had been waiting for. The end of an Era of Blood for the sake of an Era of Peace.

AN

Next time we will go through a bit of a 'flashback' on what happened during that fight between Risotto, Artoria Alter Lancer and Diavolo, how Giorno arrived and got Risotto's trust and... we will see how Dio is faring.

Also, I have to explain a few things for those that are not familiar with Beasts. Sakura is not a complete Beast, but she is 'fitting' certain requirements which would allow her to become one if she allowed the transformation to fully happen. Right now she is one shoe in to become what I would classify as 'Beast III/S', or the 'Beast of Disbelief'. The Sin in question is her mind forfeiting any form of belief within existence which may or may not be true. Without belief, there's only absolute despair. And right now, Sakura seeks to bring this to Goetia by shredding any chances he has to hurt those she cares for. And that's where the 'half-Beast' bit comes through: Sakura has not fully embraced the Sin she is supposed to represent.

Hence why, despite her current advantage over Goetia... She isn't much stronger than him. She is advantaged by the Sin her form embodies, with Goetia's purpose born from personal belief over others. Without belief, Goetia's purpose falls apart and thus his power, his will of fighting, perishes with it.

P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c