"There were no survivors, sir." One of the countless lackeys bowed deeply after relaying a report from the streets.

The man who would someday become a legend absorbed the information. "Thank you. You can see yourself out."

"Thank you, sir." The talking cannon fodder straightened his back and walked towards the door. While most would have reached for the knob, he instead stopped a meter away from it. He brought up a hand, fingers outstretched and palm towards the lock. His face scrunched up, as if he were struggling to remember directions. A few seconds and sweat drops later, the knob began to turn despite nobody touching it. The expendable man focused even harder, leaning forward and gritting his teeth. Just as he was about to give himself an aneurysm, the door slowly opened. He allowed his body to relax. His arm dropped and hung like a wet noodle as he panted deeply. Recollecting himself, he left.

Over by the window, the man he had called sir's close ally stared out the window towards the stars and crescent moon. "So, he really doesn't have a power- I'm sorry, Quirk?" DIO was moderately fascinated.

"Evidently, no." All For One, the Vampire's new friend, verified.

"Quite the curious outcome," DIO smirked. "You've the strongest Quirk, and he is stuck at zero. And he continues to defy you. History is repeating itself."

The Overlord looked at his confidant. "What do you mean?"

"I used to have a brother myself. To say the least, we did not get along." The bloodsucker gazed around them. "Though I do admit, when I first transcended my initial life, my domain was confined to but a small village, whilst here, you have brought nearly an entire nation to its knees."

"Is that so?"

"I was young. And too hungry for my own good. My brother nearly destroyed me."

All For One laughed. "Well, that certainly will not happen here."

"Because I threw him in a cell for you?" DIO jested.

"Quite the opposite. Please, follow me." The Overlord walked through the doorway, and DIO followed.

They walked down a set of stairs, their footfalls echoing off the walls.

DIO's voice soon contributed to the noise. "Tell me something. Do you believe in Gravity?"

"What, the force of nature that keeps us on the ground?"

"No. Perhaps I should use a less esoteric term. Do you believe in fate?"

Although he did not stop walking, All For One's stiffening posture made it obvious that the question had pierced something within him. "I... I'm not sure. I never really thought of that?"

"It's never too late to start."

"Perhaps I will. After we take care of something."

"I've heard tell from some of the spies that the West is thinking of siccing General Valentine on you." The immortal Brit recivied no response. Rather odd. "Chikara. Something is on your mind." DIO had always been curious about just what went on in other people's heads. And right now, his more-than-a-friend was hunched over in his chair.

"It's my mother," lamented Chikara, or as he was better known, Destro. "She was murdered this time of year."

"Now that I can empathize with." DIO's tone did not match his words. He might as well have been discussing a poker game. He reached over and grabbed a book filled with portraits of art. "The woman who birthed me was the only one who cared about me in the slightest."

Knuckles on his chin, Destro nodded. He had heard this recollection before. "And your father worked her to an early grave."

"Sad but true," DIO replied, skimming through the pages. "Thus, he had to go." When was the last time he had even thought about the filthy drunk? His constant loudness? The reek of booze incessantly on his breath?

Destro let out a long yet quiet sigh. "That is what I respect about you the most, my friend. You will stop at absolutely nothing."

"I wouldn't say that. You're the one who has amassed the army. Clearly, they believe in what you seek. Freedom." Behind the laminated paper, DIO's lips curled. Any mention of oppression, indirect or otherwise, was a surefire way to set Chikara off. And that always made him focus on leading the Meta Liberation Army. "Is that not your Heaven? A reality where restrictions are no more?"

"Yes. It is." Destro knew what he wanted. He had sought it ever since he was a boy. Looking to his closest confidant, he realized something. The immortal talked about where he had come from. But no so much where he was going. "DIO. What is your Heaven?"

"Success." Dr. Ujiko put the finishing touches on his latest medical project.

"Can he hear us?" All For One inquired. On an operating table before them layed DIO under a thin sheet that covered him from his shoulders to his feet.

"I cannot say." The mad doctor leaned in. "DIO? Are you awake?"

A deep breath. A groan. Eyelids opened, revealing hypnotic golden irises.

"Did you get the one I requested?" He remained on his back.

All For One nodded. "Yes, old friend." He turned to Ujiko. "How long until the recovery is complete?"

The Vampire's surgeon looked at the medical machinery before answering. "I also cannot give a definitive answer to that, either. Given the Regeneration Quirk, as well as his Vampiric biology, this is unprecedented."

DIO focused on only one part of what he just heard. "You gave me a healing ability? You do realize I already had one, no?"

"Given what you went through," All For One answered, "I opted to be safe rather than sorry. Can you move."

"Let's find out." DIO sent the cerebral message to his torso to lift up. He felt... something. Something wrong. It was... odd, as if he had made a call, and the recipient had hung up. Perhaps this was a time to exercise dominance and will. He mentally demanded movement, and his new body creaked and hesitated, like a rusty carnival ride. With no short amount of effort, he managed to sit up, making thr sheet fall off his chest and into his lap.

Ujiko felt like celebrating. "Huzzah! I anticipated this would take weeks!"

"Impressive as always, Daruma." All For One offered his oldest friend a hand mirror.

DIO took it. The reflection showed him a rather distinctive mark. All across his neck was an impossible to miss scar. He knew, without even looking, that it must have wrapped around the entire circumference, like a horrific necklace. Moving the mirror to over and just past his left shoulder, he craned his neck and saw what he sought. That red star etched into the skin like a wine stain. He smiled wickedly. "Were he still here, I would outright thank Joseph Joestar for adding four branches to his family tree."

"This is interesting."

DIO's words caught All For One's attention. He looked over to find his Vampiric blood brother standing at one of the nightstands juxtaposed on either side of his favorite chair. On it was a camera he had to have gotten from an antique store. It was old, incapable of taking digital pictures, and even had a flashbulb.

"What is?" He noticed only after he had asked that the power DIO's new body had granted him was active. Bright violet vines had sprung from his forearm and wrapped around it up to his wrist, and in his fingers was a photograph. "You took a picture of me?"

"No. I'm finding out more and more about this body's capabilities day by day. Look at this." He walked over and showed All For One the picture. In it was a woman at a street corner. She had a raggedy, dirty dress on. Her cyan eyes were full of longing and hunger. Her black and gold hair easily went past her shoulders.

"Who is that?" The Overlord was at a loss.

"I think..." DIO squinted and focused on the signs in the shop windows behind her. English words. "I went home... a while ago..." He passed the picture to his friend and went back to the camera. He thought about his bloodline, and gave a light hand chop to the top of it, making it crackle for a split second. Then, out of the slot came another photograph. He grabbed it and saw the same woman at the same curb, only now she had her head turned curiously. He drifted his eyes to the purple vines on his arm. "What else can you show?"

"What's wrong, little one?"

Shimura Tenko, sitting his knees in his chest, wiped the tears from his eyes. He looked up to where the question had come from. Standing there, between him and the glass door his father had thrown him out of, was a man. Very tall and dressed in yellow and black. His hair was wild like an unattended shrub.

Tenko had never seen this man before, and his mother had taught him the dangers of talking to strangers, but at that moment, he did not care. His skin itched horribly. His family did nothing at all to save him from his father's wrath. His Quirk still had not revealed itself. His dream of being a Hero was seeming less and less likely. But this man...

Something about him was... soothing. As if everything would be okay, no matter what.

The large stranger crouched down, making himself as eye level as he could with Tenko. "What are you doing out here in the dark?"

Tenko sniffled. "My... my dad. He-he got angry with me, because I want to be a Hero."

The tall man tilted his head. "That made him angry? Seems rather mean. Reminds me of my dad."

"He does?" Tenko wiped his tears away once more before scratching at the itch.

"Oh sure. My old man was a piece of work. I'll be honest with you, I hated him."

"You... you did?" A connection. Tenko could feel it. He felt this... dark feeling within himself about his own father.

"Why should I not have? He didn't love me, that's for sure." He smiled, giving off an air of serenity. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm DIO. What might I call you?"

"Tuh... Tenko."

"Well, Tenko, keep your chin up. Things change."