The Final Battle - What is Dio's Stand?

After exiting D'Arby's game room the group made their way deeper into the mansion. Hanabi stuck close to Jotaro's side not liking the vibe of the mansion. It was a beautiful place but its overbearing ominous aura made the once beautiful mansion dark and scary.

As they came across a hallway they discovered clear signs of a battle. The floors and walls were riddled with giant holes. The holes were rather off-putting because they were perfectly circular and all the same size. Chunks of concrete littered the floor as the group studied the derby.

Joseph walked over to a wall that had one of the perfectly circular holes in it. "It's a perfectly round opening like someone pulled out a cork."

Kakyoin looked through the hole. "The destruction continues beyond this room."

"Avdol and the others must have encountered another enemy. Jotaro!" Joseph looked at his grandson. "Bust down the door!"

"Sure." Jotaro summoned Star Platinum and with an "Ora!" easily broke the door.

With the new opening the group took off running down the hallways. They came across a stairway and didn't hesitate running up the long flight of steps. Once they reached the top Kakyoin immediately stopped putting his arm up to stop the group from continuing.

"Wait! There's something up ahead!"

A door to the room was slightly ajar. Everyone grew tense as they felt a presence approach. Heavy breathing could be heard as a woman appeared in the doorway. Her face was flushed, and she appeared terrified as she leaned against the door.

"It's a woman."

The woman's eyes got big, and she let out a shrill shriek of terror. "P-Please spare me! Don't drink my blood! Please don't drink my blood!" The woman started to cry as she shakily approached the group. "I'll do whatever you want! So please, spare my life!"

"H-Hey, wait a second. Calm down." Joseph said

"I promise I won't run away again! So please spare my life!" The woman cried

"Calm down!" Joseph shouted "Were not Dio's minions, and were definitely not vampires! Were friends! We'll help you so calm down already!"

The woman abruptly stopped crying. "Friends? A-Are you really friends? You're really going to help me?"

Jotaro approached the woman. "Sure. Were friends."

The woman gave a grateful smile and dove at Jotaro, she didn't even get close to the tall teen when she was met with a fist to the face.

Everyone was rather surprised to see who had punched the woman. A smiling Hanabi stood with her fist raised as the woman flew back. Some of her teeth flew out her mouth as blood gushed from her lips and nose. She landed on the ground with a heavy thud.

"We'll help you find a way to hell!" Joseph said

The woman twitched before flipping over revealing a man's face on the back of her head.

"I-Impossible! W-Why?! H-How!? How did you figure it out!? My power is infallible!" The vampire yelled

"Your infallible power is having the face of a woman on the back of your head?" Kakyoin questioned

Hanabi had a closed-eyed smile on her face as she approached the vampire. "Your hands are backwards."

The woman part of the vampire looked down at "her" hands to see that they were indeed the wrong way, whereas with a normal person the thumbs pointed outwards when the palms were turned up, but "hers" were facing inwards.

"That's right! I didn't even notice!" The Vampire exclaimed as he turned his arms properly.

Hanabi continued to hold her closed-eyed smile as she talked to the vampire. "I actually hadn't punched you because I noticed your hands were wrong, but I punched you cause you dove at my Jotaro."

"Who knew Hanabi was the possessive type?" Joseph whispered to Kakyoin.

"I don't believe it's just Hanabi," Kakyoin whispered back as he watched Jotaro stand closely behind Hanabi.

"Hey, nimrod. Where's Dio's room? Tell me." Jotaro demanded

"Jotaro, don't knock him out. He can guide us." Kakyoin said

The moronic vampire clenched his teeth and stood up. "Why you! You called me Nimrod! Don't mess with me!" He opened his mouth wide revealing his fangs and jumped at Jotaro. "I'll kill you! I'm immortal, for the blood of Lord Dio flows within my body!"

The Vampire aimed his jaws at Jotaro, but something wrapped around his ankle taking him down, slamming his face on the ground. Before he could get up something heavy was planted on his back.

"Neh, neh, look what I caught." Hanabi smiled as she dug her heel deeper into the vampires back. Queens Thorn was next to her giggling. "So you're going to kill Jotaro, huh? Since your a vampire let's test out that immortality of yours." Hanabi smiled looking up at Jotaro. "What do you think Jotaro?"

Jotaro nodded his head bringing out Star Platinum. Queens Thorn took out Rose Whip and stood back-to-back with Star Platinum, the two Stand's ready to go.

"Oh. My. God." Joseph gasped

"VEEE!"

Queens Thorn used Rose Whip to tie up the vampire and hung him from the rafters like a pinata. Next came Star Platinum with a series of "ORA's!" using the vampire like a speed bag. The vampire flew back breaking several columns. He landed bloody and bruised on the ground but was quickly reeled back by Queens Thorn's Rose Whip who strung him up again.

Jotaro and Hanabi observed the Vampires swollen face. As the two stood side by side Kakyoin noted how perfect the two seemed together, like a real power couple.

"Neat so it's true. But even a vampire can be cut to pieces." Jotaro said

"So you're going to lead us to Dio," Hanabi said

"Okay…" The Vampire weakly spoke, "But I have one question..for you…"

"Huh?"

"How did you guys know the guys called me 'Nimrod'?"

Hanabi looked perplexed while Jotaro sighed.

"Yare yare daze."

Polnareff felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he stood before Dio. For some reason no matter what he did he couldn't seem to approach the evil lord. He refused to give up but things seem to get worse as Dio brought out his Stand.

Suddenly the room started to shake, then the wall exploded inward shining some sunlight into the dark room. Dio pulled back staying out of the sun's rays.

Four figures stood in the hole of the wall making Polnareff smile.

"M-Mr. Joestar!"

Joseph smirked, "You don't need to worry anymore, Polnareff!"

Dio smirked down at the group below before levitating and disappearing deeper into the mansion.

"Dio!"

"After him!" Joseph yelled running up the stairs.

"I need to tell you something first!" Polnareff shouted getting everyone's attention. "I experienced The World's power just a moment ago. W-Well I say experienced but I didn't understand it at all. I thought I was climbing up the stairs toward him, but I kept going down instead! I'm not sure I'm making any sense right now but I just can't explain what he did. It felt like I was going insane. He wasn't using a simple trick like hypnosis or super speed. It was something strange and terrifying."

The group stayed silent for a moment until Jotaro spoke up.

"What about Avdol and Iggy?"

Hanabi held her breath scared to hear what Polnareff was about to say. The Frenchman's eyes started to water up, and he looked down.

"Th-They didn't make it...They died to save me…."

Hanabi let out a soft cry covering her mouth and clenching her fist to her heart. The rest of the group was just as struck as Hanabi all trying to process the sudden onset of grief.

"I see…." Joseph whispered

"Mr. Joestar….the sun is setting. We need to hurry." Kakyoin said

The redhead was right. As much as the loss of their friends was a tragic thing they didn't have time to grieve as long as Dio was alive.

Kakyoin took out a large sack and dropped it on the ground. A shriek came from the sack as it hit the ground.

"Hey, Nimrod, what's above this floor?"

Nimrod poked his head out the top of the sack. "A-A tower. It's a single room at the very top! Lord Dio rests there during the day."

"Is there any other way to the top?" Kakyoin asked

Nimrod shook his head. "N-No, that's the only way."

"All right. Lead us up."

The room was completely dark the only source of light coming from a few lit candles. There was a light fog gracing the ground. In the center of the room was a large coffin, Dio's Coffin.

Joseph looked at Jotaro and the two men nodded to each other. Star Platinum came out and punched a hole in the boarded up windows letting sunlight pour in the room.

Nimrod screamed falling back scooting as far away from the sun's rays.

"It's him…." Joseph said. "Even though I've never met him, I've known this man for as long as I can remember."

"This is it." Hanabi thought. "We can end this, rid the world of a great evil and save Mrs. Holly."

"Attack as soon as the coffin opens. But be careful. There's no telling if he's in there or not," Joseph advised

The group spread out around the coffin.

"Nimrod! Open it!" Joseph ordered

Nimrod squealed and turned to Dio's coffin in a jerking motion. "L-Lord Dio! I swear I have not betrayed you!" Nimrod took shaky steps towards Dio's coffin. "I only led them here because I believed you could defeat them! As surely as I believe pissing into the wind will wet your pants! Please understand!"

"Shut your mouth and open it already!" Joseph yelled

"Please make sure these idiots die!" Nimrod put his hands on the coffin lid and started opening it.

Hanabi gasped when the coffin fully opened revealing Nimrod inside the vampire's jaw broken.

"M-Me?" Nimrod gasped. "I-I'm inside the coffin?! B-But I just opened the lid!"

It was somewhat hard to make out what he was saying since his jaw had been practically ripped off.

"W-What? How?! I had my eyes glued on him!" Joseph shouted. "Did any one of you see Nimrod go inside-no! Get put inside the coffin?!"

"N-No I was watching him the entire time, but he appeared inside before I could tell what happened!" Polnareff exclaimed

"I-It's like he was teleported inside in the blink of an eye," Hanabi said

"Polnareff was right! This wasn't some kind of trick or super speed!" Kakyoin said

"Were in trouble. Were in big trouble!" Jotaro said

A powerful presence overtook the room.

"Run!" Joseph shouted

Hanabi felt a large arm wrap around her waist, and she was lifted off the ground. Jotaro carried Hanabi with him as he and the rest of the guys dived out of the tower through the window.

"Damn it!" Polnareff cursed not moving.

"Polnareff! What are you doing!?" Joseph summoned Hermit Purple and wrapped it around Polnareff's neck dragging the silvernette out the window.

"Damn it!"

The group was now in a free fall, Hanabi hadn't realized how tall the tower had been. She held on tight to Jotaro as the group continued to descend.

"What in the world was that? I couldn't see a thing, but I felt something much more powerful than any Stand we've ever seen before! It was like knowing a bulldozer is coming for you by the sound of the engine alone!" Kakyoin exclaimed

"The energy was so strong. I felt like I couldn't breathe with how dark and powerful it was in there!" Hanabi said

"I felt it too! That cold murderous intent! It felt like someone put an icicle up my ass! It would have taken us out one by one if we had tried to fight!" Joseph said

As the group got closer to the ground they brought out their Stand's grabbing the edge of the building. Hanabi was still held close against Jotaro, his grip tight on her not letting her drop. They climbed onto a roof catching their breath trying to shake off the terror that they had just felt.

"This bad! Really bad!" Joseph cursed watching the sun barely peeking over the horizon. "It's almost sunset!"

"His time has finally come," Kakyoin said

"Don't tell me were going to sit on our asses until sunrise!" Polnareff pointed at Joseph. "I'll make myself clear, Mr. Joestar! There's no way I'm running away from this now!"

"I agree with Polnareff," Kakyoin added

Hanabi looked worried. It would be a smart idea to simply wait Dio out, but who knows where the vampire might run off to, or he might not run off at all. With free rein of the city, he could easily locate and hunt down the group one by one. In the end, if they were able to survive hiding out till sunrise, there's a chance that Mrs. Holly won't last till the next sunrise.

"I don't want to wait either, but our situation has changed. We've encountered his Stand, The World, yet we still have no idea what it does. If you climb a mountain without knowing which route you'll take, or where the summit is, you'll inevitably get lost. In fact, it's as inevitable as a good belch after drinking a refreshing cola! Dio is definitely going to come after us. He'll want to finish us off before sunrise! We need to use this chance to discover his Stand's ability! It's the only chance we have!" Joseph said

"No! I'm not running away!" Polnareff shouted. "Avdol and Iggy died for me! I'll use underhanded tactics and burn in hell for it if I have to, but I refuse to run away!" Polnareff took off running.

"Wait, Polnareff!"

"Gramps you can't stop him," Jotaro said

"Jotaro, tell us your thought," Kakyoin said

"Polnareff, will fight him in pursuit. We'll fight him in retreat. Basically, it's a pincer attack."

The sun had completely set and Hanabi was anxious having the feeling that someone was constantly watching her, it had to be Dio. The group, minus Polnareff, had to be on constant alert for who knows when Dio will strike.

The four decided to split up. Joseph with Kakyoin and Jotaro with Hanabi. Hanabi was extremely nervous she's been doing well so far holding her own, but Dio's mere presence shook her to her very core. A large hand was placed on her shoulder and Hanabi looked up meeting Jotaro's eyes. She was rather surprised when Jotaro bent down placing his forehead on Hanabi's. He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to, Jotaro's actions always spoke louder than his words. Hanabi could clearly hear what Jotaro was trying to tell her.

"No matter what I'll protect you."

Jotaro pulled away from Hanabi, and she had calmed down a significant amount.

"Thank you Jotaro."

Jotaro nodded his head then two continued on with their other mission.

Hanabi and Jotaro found Polnareff crouching behind a tall bush lurking near Dio's mansion. Standing on top of the mansion was the vampire lord himself. Dio stood still for a while a dark gaze on his face, then he took off into the night sky. Polnareff stood up about to run after him but Jotaro grabbed his shoulder.

"Hold up, Polnareff. Normally I'd leave a stubborn guy like you alone, but Gramps and Kakyoin wanted us to stay. So here we are."

Polnareff smiled knowing fully well that Jotaro and Hanabi stayed on their own accord. "Jotaro. Hanabi."

Jotaro gave a small smile back and Hanabi grinned.

"Yare yare daze."

Now that they had Polnareff the three needed a ride. Jotaro quickly located a motorcycle ripe for the taking. Being the cool guy he was Jotaro simply gave the motorized vehicle a swift kick to the side and it started up immediately. Using Star Platinum, Jotaro broke the chain tethering the bike to a telephone pole then got on. Hanabi and Polnareff stood off to the side watching Jotaro, slightly awed by his actions. Well, Polnareff was awed Hanabi was pondering how the world Jotaro thought all three of them were going to fit on that motorcycle.

Hanabi's thoughts were answered when Jotaro grabbed her around the waist and pulled her on the motorcycle sitting in front of him sidesaddle style.

Jotaro then turned to Polnareff. "Hurry up and get on Polnareff."

"O-Okay," Polnareff said getting on the back.

Hanabi was pushed closer to Jotaro nestled into his chest. As Jotaro drove off she had to hold on tight wrapping her arms the best she could around her torso, so she wouldn't fall off, well she knew Jotaro would never let her fall, and she also had Queens Thorn to catch her.

"Hey, Jotaro!"

Polnareff pointed to the left and Jotaro veered the motorcycle towards a car accident. A truck was on fire and lodged halfway through a wall. A few feet away another car laid decimated, covered in blood looking as if the roof had been ripped off.

"That car got totaled!" Polnareff said

Jotaro looked up at the building the truck was embedded in, "Up there!"

Hanabi and Polnareff looked up towards the building's roof but saw nothing.

"Gramps and Dio are on the roof," Jotaro claimed

Before the three could continue their pursuit a large crash was heard. Then a few seconds they spotted Joseph using Hermit Purple to swing across rooftops and hot on his trail was Dio.

Hanabi sat anxiously on a rooftop watching the streets below. Her, Jotaro, and Polnareff had all split up. Jotaro would go after Joseph and Dio while Polnareff and Hanabi waited in the shadows to strike. Since Dio will be so focused on the Joestar's it would leave the perfect opportunity for Polnareff and Hanabi to sneak attack Dio.

Hanabi spotted Jotaro finally catching up to Joseph. The older man was wounded laying on the ground.

"Jotaro! Don't come any loser!" Joseph yelled

Hanabi had to hold breath as she watched Dio descended from another rooftop.

"Jotaro! The secret of his Stand, The World, is time! His Stand can stop it-!"

"The World!"

Hanabi gasped as in a blink of an eye Dio was in between Joseph and Jotaro. Joseph had let out a scream as a knife was sticking out of his throat.

"Gramps!"

Joseph struggled to lift up his hand. "S-Stay back! R-Run-away Jotaro. Don't get n-near him. K-Keep your distance. Y-Your no..match…."

Hanabi gasped covering her mouth as she saw the light leave Joseph Joestar's eyes. His hand fell limply to the ground and tears started to quickly fall from Hanabi's eyes.

Dio smirked looking at Jotaro. "Kakyoin has already been dealt with and I suppose Polnareff and Hanabi are hiding nearby. But it matters not." Dio pointed at Jotaro. "Now Jotaro, it's your turn!"

Jotaro clenched his fist tightly glaring fiercely at Dio. "You asshole! Dio!"

"Oh? You've decided to approach me? You wish to face the mighty Dio? Despite your grandfather, Jotaro, discovering the secret of The World he was nothing more than a desperate pathetic old man. No better than a student rushing to complete that exam before time has run out!"

Jotaro walked towards Dio, "The thing is I gotta get closer to beat the living shit out of you."

"Then come as close as you'd like!"

"ORA!"

Star Platinum struck but The World appeared kicking the Stand in the leg. Jotaro's pant leg ripped the skin underneath was bleeding.

"Much too slow! The World is the ultimate Stand. Even if you wish to ignore its ability to stop time, its speed and power far exceed Star Platinum's." Dio smirked

"So it's the same kind of Stand as Star Platinum," Jotaro stated

Hanabi did her best to listen to Dio and Jotaro. "The same as Star Platinum…." Hanabi's eyes widened. "Does that mean!?"

Hanabi continued to watch as the two Stand's started to go one on one. It really did seem like Star Platinum was no match for The World, the golden Stand matching Jotaro's punch for punch. A cut appeared on Dio's cheek showing that Star Platinum was able to land a hit but the cut immediately healed as if had never appeared. Hanabi was tense and worried watching the two battle. She really wanted to help, but she promised Jotaro that she would keep her distance and lay in waiting until he gave her the signal.

Hanabi kept her distance roof jumping with Queens Thorn as she followed Dio and Jotaro. It was a little hard to keep up with the fight since The World kept stopping time, it was like watching a movie but a friend kept pausing the movie then fast-forwarding it when you weren't looking.

The next time, time unfroze Dio was behind Jotaro and the vampire looked shook, a glare on his face, meaning Jotaro had done something. Hanabi noticed that Dio was a man who thought himself to be far superior than any other creature that roamed this earth. So for Jotaro to show any form of power greater than Dio's clearly rattled the vampire.

"Could you see me?" Dio questioned

Jotaro simply smirked causing Dio to grow angrier.

"I asked if you could see me, Jotaro!" Dio shouted

"Who knows? I don't know what you're talking about, Dio."

Jotaro gave one last smirk before using Star Platinum to take off. Dio immediately pursed Jotaro. Hanabi got out Queens Thorn and started to roof jump again chasing after the two but at the same time keeping a safe distance. Time stopped and started and Hanabi saw Dio fly away from Jotaro a trail of blood following him. Hanabi smiled and give a small "Yes!". She knew Jotaro would come up with something. As Dio had said The World and Star Platinum were similar Stand's, Hanabi isn't surprised Jotaro took that factor and used it to turn the tables on Dio.

Dio had crashed into a jewelry store scaring the patrons within. He walked back out of the shop holding a woman by the neck draining her of all her blood. His wounds immediately healed as if Jotaro hadn't even touched him.

As Dio talked it appeared that Jotaro had accomplished exactly what The World had done, and stopped time as well. Since Star Platinum could stop time that meant when Dio did it, Jotaro could move in the frozen time, but only for a split-second. Dio was able to move so freely for a number seconds with the time frozen because of practice but Jotaro didn't have time for practice.

Hanabi along with Jotaro froze when Dio pulled out several dozen knives.

"I've decided to kill you in such a manner that it doesn't matter how long you can move!" Dio smirked flashing his knives. "You've gone pale. When you saw these knives, you realized that you face a more horrid fate than that geezer Joseph."

Jotaro tried to escape but it was futile.

"There's no escape! The World!"

Hanabi gasped as several knives appeared around Jotaro. Star Platinum knocked most of them away but five knives made it through. One in each shoulder and three in his chest.

"It's over," Dio smirked triumphantly pulling out one more knife. "I'll add one more, just to be sure."

The World threw the knife at Jotaro and Star Platinum tried to deflect it but the knife embedded itself in the direct center of Jotaro's head.

"To be frank, I'm relieved that I could defeat you so quickly, Jotaro."

Jotaro fell to the ground blood pouring from his wounds. "I never thought you would be able to enter my stopped time. As I see it, those machines known as automobiles are useful devices, but because everyone had one, the streets became too crowded." Jotaro hit the ground crushing the asphalt beneath his heavy body. Onlookers gasped and some screamed seeing the large teen crash into the sidewalk, no one helped, and they all took off running.

"Only I, Dio, should have power over stopped time."

Jotaro laid still for a moment on the ground then turned his head. "Yare are daze. Throwing all those knives. Now my valuable uniform is full of holes." Jotaro lifted up his shirt peering inside. Covering his skin was layers of bark, the bark having been a protective shell preventing the knives from actually penetrating Jotaro.

Up on the roof, Hanabi let out a sigh of relief. "Ironwood Bark. The hardest bark in the world. It only took a few layers laid strategically across Jotaro's vital points to prevent any fatal injuries."

Hanabi watched with bated breath as Jotaro laid still on the ground playing dead, it was a smart move because Dio landed next to Jotaro's body.

"I'd better play it safe. The Joestar bloodline had proven itself rather lucky. He might be trying to trick me by playing dead. I must end him beyond a shadow of a doubt!" Dio picked up a street sign ripping it out of the ground. "By chopping off his head!"

"Oh no!" Hanabi whispered

Dio slowly lifted the sign jumping at Jotaro. "This is truly the end of you Jotaro!"

!

A figure descended from above. Dio was surprised when Polnareff appeared Silver Chariot out and ready. Moving quickly Silver Chariot attacked stabbing Dio in head right above his right eye.

"Die, Dio!"

Time must have stopped because in the next moment Dio was unskewered from Silver Chariot's blade and Polnareff was sent flying into a building.

"Nice try, Polnareff. With just a moment more, and just a tiny bit more force, you could have torn my brain apart with your rapier." The wound in Dio's head immediately sealed up.

"B-Bastard!" Polnareff choked out before going limp in the pile of rubble.

"You cannot assassinate Dio." Dio picked up the street sign again and walked towards the fallen Polnareff. "Joestars Egyptian group is going to be no more."

Jotaro watched trying to quickly come up with a plan. If he continued to play dead then Polnareff would end up dead. But if he moved then he'd lose his only trump card against Dio. There was another move he could perform, but he really didn't want to have to do this. Jotaro's hand moved slightly forming a hand sign.

A pair of silver eyes widened catching the small hand signal.

Dio lifted up the sign preparing to swing it down and take out Polnareff permanently.

"Farewell Polnareff!"

"HAAAAAAAAA!"

Dio jumped away as a small figure dropped from the roof above.

"Pollen Bomb!"

The area was quickly covered with what looked like yellow smoke. Dio growled letting out a curse trying to fan away the smoke as the scent from the smoke overpowered his vampire senses.

"Not smoke." Dio studied the substance clouding the air. "Pollen."

When the large cloud of pollen finally dissipated Polnareff was gone.

"Damn it! Where did he go?! It had to be that wench Hanabi! She used her Stand to create a smoke screen from pollen then grabbed Polnareff." Dio continued to glare but a smirk came to his face. "But no matter, Polnareff is down for the count and that small girl won't be able to defend against me. I'll just track them down and put a final end to the Joestar group."

Jotaro cursed in his mind. Now Dio was going to go after Hanabi, that was something he was trying to avoid altogether. He had no choice and needed to draw Dio's attention away from going after Hanabi.