The Final Battle - It's Over Dio!
Hanabi struggled to get Polnareff to a safe place. Queens Thorn was strong but it was not a Stand built for strength. She was trying her best to hold back her fear, especially if Dio decided to pursue her and Polnareff. The strong scent of the pollen should throw him off their trail for a short time but once his vampire smell recovered he'd be able to track down the two, especially with Polnareff's bleeding. If that was the case then Hanabi needed to quickly patch up Polnareff and put him in a safe hiding spot. Locating a small park area Hanabi used Queens Thorn to grow a tall tree. She leaned Polnareff against the tree and did some emergency first aid, enough to stop his bleeding but there was nothing she could about any internal injuries. Which she was sure he had. Polnareff would need a hospital soon.
After tying off the last bandage Hanabi brought out Queens Thorn. The Stand made a hammock out of vines then securely strung Polnareff up in the tree. She then sprouted some flowers that had strong fragrances all around the tree to best help mask Polnareff's scent.
Hanabi prayed that this would be good enough until they got rid of Dio. Now she had something else to take care of.
Dio glared staring at Jotaro's body. His hand had twitched putting Dio on edge. Luckily Jotaro's plan worked and Dio's attention was solely vested on him meaning that he wasn't going to go after Hanabi. Now all he had to do was play dead well enough to get the drop on Dio.
"Jotaro….you're alive, or you're coming to."
The sound of gun cocking was heard behind Dio and two officers stood behind the tall vampire pointing their guns at Dio's head.
"Don't move! Were the police!"
"We have guns pointed at you!"
"Put your hands up slowly!"
Dio simply smirked amused by the men thinking that they had any chance against him. Dio disappeared then reappeared behind the officers. He punched one away then grabbed the second one by the neck sinking his fingers deep into the man's flesh.
"Perfect timing." Dio held the officer up pointing at Jotaro. "There's something I'd like you to shoot with that gun. Shoot the man lying on the ground over there."
The man struggled as his hand slowly lifted up, Dio controlling the officer like a puppet.
"Come on. Be sure not to miss."
The gun fired hitting Jotaro in the side of his torso, but his body did not move.
Dio dropped the officer letting him fall limply to the ground. "Perhaps I was just imagining that sound I thought I heard coming from Jotaro."
Star Platinum was truly an amazing Stand having caught the bullet just as it pierced Jotaro's jacket, making it appear that he had been shot.
Dio continued to study Jotaro's body from afar. "The sound of his breathing. I don't hear it. He's not breathing." The fact that Jotaro wasn't breathing didn't seem to satisfy Dio.
"What about his heartbeat?"
He pressed his ear against the ground. Jotaro did the only thing he could and used Star Platinum to grab his heart to stop it from beating. He struggled to hold on as Dio listened for his heartbeat.
After 5 more agonizing seconds, Dio finally lifted his head off the ground. "His heart isn't beating. He is definitely dead. I thought he was still alive, but it was just my imagination." Dio walked over and picked up the fallen stop sign for the third time. "Just in case, I'll lop his head so that I can truly rest at ease. Alright, Jotaro."
Star Platinum re-grabbed Jotaro's heart shaking it to restart the organ. Blood started to quickly pump through Jotaro's veins.
Dio swung the stop sign down and it crashed right onto Jotaro's head, or would have appeared so.
"What?!"
Star Platinum had appeared bending the sign so it couldn't chop Jotaro's head off. Then it went in for the punch.
"Stop time! The World!"
That didn't work and Star Platinum's fist connected with Dio's head.
"Wh-What?! It can't be!"
Dio's skull was crushed in, and he was sent flying into a building. Blood was pouring from his head and when he tried to get up he couldn't move his legs. The great deal of damage to his head weakened him. Dio seemed to be panicking when a bucket of liquid was dumped on him.
Jotaro stood above him holding a now empty bucket.
"I covered you with gasoline, so I can track your smell. I feel bad, kicking a guy when he's down, but….I don't feel bad about this at all. My friends and a lot of innocent bystanders are dead because of you." Jotaro pulled out his lighter and flicked it drawing a small flame forth.
Dio started to maniacally laugh lifting up the upper half of his body.
"The World!"
When time unfroze Dio had clawed his way to a car and latched onto the bumper trying to make a clean getaway until his legs had time to heal. Jotaro was not going to let Dio get away that easily. He pulled out one of Dio's knife and used Star Platinum to throw the knife into one of the tires of the car.
The car swerved knocking Dio off. The vampire lord struggled still trying to escape. He crawled his way over to a manhole and slowly lifted the cover off it but was met with the face of Jotaro.
"This place is taken. You can't escape. Give up, Dio."
"The World-!"
"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"
Dio was sent flying back his body riddled with holes, but he was smirking.
"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"
Hanabi looked up from what she was doing having heard the familiar war cry of Jotaro's Stand. Her eyes got wide as she saw a figure covered in blood flying towards her.
"You fell for it, Jotaro! You have lost in the battle of wits against me, Dio! Doesn't this street look familiar?"
Before Hanabi could react Dio's body crashed right before her, and she was sent flying back from the impact.
"That's right."
Hanabi screamed, "Mr. Joestar!"
"It was my escape route to take the blood of Joseph Joestar!"
Dio stood up from Joseph's body fully recovered, no wounds visible.
"Dio, you bastard!"
Dio seemed as if he had been renewed. His aura had almost doubled in power just from the small amount of blood he had taken from Joseph.
"As I thought, Joseph's blood suits me well. It suits this body presently, my strength is evolving faster than before! It truly suits me!"
Hanabi almost got sick as she watched Dio cackle and claw at his own flesh to show off his new advanced regenerative powers.
"This body belonged to Jonathan Joestar one hundred years ago. The blood that I just drank was from his grandson, Joseph! And the one who allowed me to make it this far was you, Jotaro. The Joestar bloodline was mere dog shit on the road that is my destiny, just something lying in my way. But in the end, it appears that the Joestars are fated to be my tools." Dio laughed maniacally as Jotaro stared him down.
Hanabi was on her hands and knees digging her fingers into the ground as tears slowly fell down her cheeks.
"Now this is the end!"
Dio lifted his hand to bring it down to Joseph's chest with the intention of draining the man of all of his life, but Joseph's body was grabbed and yanked back.
"L-Leave Mr. Joestar!"
Dio clicked his tongue in annoyance seeing Hanabi had used her Stand to pull Joseph back to her. Swallowing her fear and sadness Hanabi stood up Queens Thorn appearing next to her ready for battle.
"Rose Whip!"
Queens Thorn struck out its whip but Dio easily caught it in his hand.
Dio smirked in amusement. "Do you little Hanabi really think you can defeat I, Dio? You are nothing but a mere insect in my way. And do you know what I do to insects in my way?"
Hanabi didn't even have time to take a breath when Dio disappeared and reappeared behind her stomping on her back crushing her into the pavement beneath.
"I squash them!" Dio had a sadistic smirk on his face as he brought his foot down stomping on Hanabi's body.
"Hanabi!" Jotaro called out.
"Haha! No one can stand against the great Dio!" Dio laughed
Hanabi choked with tears in her eyes as blood leaked out of her mouth. She was sure that most of her ribs had been broken.
Jotaro took a step forward to run at the two but stopped when Dio reached down grabbing Hanabi by her hair yanking her up. "See what Jotaro, what happens when you try to stand against me."
Blood slowly dripped down the left side of Hanabi's face blinding her in the left eye. Dio put a hand under her chin forcing her to look up.
"Haaa, maybe I won't kill her. She is an enchanting piece. When I kill you Jotaro, I might just keep this one for myself. She'll make a lovely pet."
Dio continued to laugh but suddenly his vision got blurry.
"W-What?!"
Dio ended up dropping Hanabi as he stumbled back. Hanabi gasped trying to get air into her lungs a bit relieved that Dio had let go of her.
Dio felt like his skin was burning. The burning continued through his body and it felt like fire was running through his veins.
"Do you feel it?" Hanabi questioned, "Burning through you. It must sting a great amount."
Dio felt like his body not responding, no it felt like it was shutting down altogether. "What did you do?!"
"W-Water hemlock. It's one of the most deadly p-plants known to man. I-I grew them on my Rose Whip. When the thorns pierced….y-your skin I-I injected as much Water H-Hemlock seeds I could c-create...I knew i-it wouldn't-kill you….but it'll at least s-slow you down. A-As long as the seeds are i-in….your bloodstream….they'll c-continue to grow a-and poison you."
"D-Damn you…." Dio cursed. "You're a nuisance just like those damn Joestars. But it matters not."
Jotaro's and Hanabi's eyes went wide when Dio grabbed Joseph's body digging his hands into the man's chest. He started to absorb the rest of the blood left into Joseph's body leaving nothing but an empty husk.
The dizziness for Dio slowly started to subside, but he could still feel some after effects of Hanabi's poison plants, but he was still easily strong enough to take out Jotaro.
"Now Joseph's nothing but an empty shell!" Dio laughed
"J-Jotaro…," Hanabi whispered weakly as he started sprinting towards Dio.
"This is the final round!"
Hanabi had never been in this much pain before as she laid on the pavement watching Jotaro and Dio fight in the sky. She tried to pick herself up but the sharp pain in her ribs was too much. She had to remain conscious and remain hopeful that Jotaro would be able to defeat Dio. She spotted Dio knocking Jotaro out the sky and send him flying out of her field of vision.
"Jotaro….."
Hanabi's vision slowly started to go black, but she couldn't pass out. Not while Jotaro was still in trouble.
Jotaro was locked in a heated battle with one Dio Brando. The immortal being had dropped a steamroller on Jotaro and while Star Platinum had fought back, in the end, it was futile.
Dio stood on top of the steamroller basking in his win.
"Star Platinum has finally been defeated by my Stand, The World! Immortality! Eternal Life! And Stand power!" Dio laughed triumphantly. "This proves that no one can surpass Dio! Puny humans! I shall rule you all! Bow before my knowledge and might! My ability to stop time has now reached ten seconds. I guess I should find Jotaro's lifeless body and drink his blood. If there's any blood left to take."
Dio went to move forward but his body seized up frozen and stiff. "Wh-What? My body's movements a-are slowing down, n-no I'm not slowing down. I can't move impossible! M-My body won't move at all!"
"Dio!"
Jotaro appeared behind Dio. "It's been eleven seconds. I guess that's your limit now."
"What?!"
"I stopped time at the nine-second mark. That let me escape. Yare Yare Daze." Jotaro pointed at Dio. "Now. It won't take even a second to finish you off!"
"J-Jotaro!"
"How does it feel, Dio? Having someone approach from behind while you can't move a muscle. If I had to describe it, it's like when a guy who can hold his breath underwater for a minute finally comes up for air at the very last second." Jotaro slammed a hand down on Dio's shoulder squeezing tight. "When suddenly he feels someone grab him, and he's dragged down back into the water. Does that sound right? But for you, I feel no pity at all."
"Ora!"
Star Platinum kicked Dio's legs snapping them at the kneecap bending them at an awkward angle.
"Time has begun to move again."
When time unfroze Dio was sent spiraling off the bulldozer landing on the ground. His legs were now useless as they bent in the wrong direction spurting out blood.
Dio started to breathe heavily both from pain and fear.
Jotaro jumped down standing before Dio. "I don't feel even the slightest bit of compassion for you. However just finishing you off by beating you to death now would leave a bad taste in my mouth." Jotaro could hear the bones in Dio's legs snapping as the limbs tried to repair themselves. "How many seconds will it take for your legs to recover? Three seconds? Four? The moment you've healed I'll throw Star Platinum at you. So bring it on!"
Dio's eyes grew wide with fear not believing what was happening.
"If I were a gunslinger in a Western, I'd say, 'Draw. Let's see who's the fastest gun in the West.'"
Dio glared at Jotaro as his legs continued to twitch. A smirk appeared on his lips thinking that even though Jotaro had caught him by surprise there's no way a mere human such him would be able to defeat him.
Dio slowly started to stand up, then the wound from his leg shot out a stream of blood blinding Jotaro.
"How do you like being blinded by blood?!" Dio summoned The World. "I've won! Die!"
Star Platinum's fist met with The World's leg. Dio smirked as Star Platinum's fist cracked bleeding, but then the tables were turned when The World's leg started to crack. The crack spread and splintered up The World's leg spreading all across the Stand's body.
Dio screamed as the same thing happened to him.
"WHAT?! I-I'mpossible I'm Dio! I am Dio!"
Dio's body exploded blowing off one of his legs, arms, and his head. And without his head, there's no regeneration for Dio.
"Now if I just wait until dawn, you'll turn into dust. There's only one reason why you lost, Dio. There's one simple answer. You really pissed me off."
Jotaro quickly returned back to where he had to leave Hanabi. When he arrived on the scene police cars had already surrounded the place and Hanabi was being placed on a gurney getting ready to be loaded into an ambulance. The side of emergency vehicle read Speed Wagon on it. Jotaro easily pushed his way to through the crowd and the officers reaching Hanabi as she was being wheeled into the Speed Wagon ambulance.
An oxygen mask had been placed over her mouth, and she gave slow yet steady breaths. She looked worse for wear, the blood had been wiped off hr and the paramedics had already given her pain medication putting an IV in her arm. Hanabi hadn't noticed Jotaro was next to her until he placed a gentle hand on her cheek.
Tears started to well up in her eyes as she spotted Jotaro.
"J-J-Jotaro…." She weakly cried
Jotaro gave Hanabi a small smile just as relieved as she was. Hanabi was put in the ambulance and Jotaro got in too. The remains of Dio's body was loaded up along with Joseph's body. Hanabi had done her best to give the Speed Wagon men the location of Polnareff and his body was already being rushed to the nearest hospital. Kakyoin's body had been recovered and was being airlifted back home.
Although Dio's body was torn to pieces it was still alive, and they couldn't let their guard down until sunrise when they would turn his body to ash.
Hanabi's hand was being held by Jotaro as they both looked at Joseph's shriveled body. Hanabi had been confused just like the Speedwagon men, as to why Jotaro wanted to bring Joseph's body into the ambulance. She was also unsettled laying down so close to Dio's body.
"J-Jotaro, why did you bring M-Mr. Joestar's body?" Hanabi asked
"Because it's not over yet. Dio borrowed something and I need to get it back." Jotaro proclaimed
A scientist that was keeping a close watchful eye over Dio's body looked at Jotaro confused. "I have no idea what are you talking about."
"Jotaro d-do you mean….a blood transfusion?" Hanabi asked
Jotaro nodded his head. "Is it possible to do so from one corpse to another?"
The scientist gasped at Jotaro's words.
"A-Are you suggesting we put Dio's blood into Mr. Joestar's withered corpse?"
"Are you trying to bring Mr. Joestar back to life?"
"Dio sucked out his blood just minutes ago. Dio's upper body had been annihilated, but I want him to return what he's still got. Don't you think we can still make it in time?" Jotaro said
Hanabi pondered Jotaro's words. It could be possible, it depends on how much oxygen Mr. Joestar's brain was not getting. But the way Dio extracted Joseph's blood it might have actually preserved Joseph's brain. So even though his brain hadn't been getting any oxygen the preservation aspects mean Joseph could still be saved.
"Jotaros right," Hanabi stated
The scientist gaped looking at Hanabi.
"As long as Mr. Joestars b-brain is preserved and y-you can find a way to r-restart his heart."
"You heard the girl. Thanks to Dio I have practice starting and stopping hearts." Jotaro summoned Star Platinum and sent the Stand's hand into Joseph's heart.
The monitor Joseph's body was hooked up to started beeping.
"I hear a pulse!"
"His hearts moving!"
"Hurry! Extract the blood from Dio's body and perform the transfusion!"
The scientist moved quickly draining the blood from Dio's body and into Joseph's. Within seconds Joseph's withered body slowly started to rejuvenate getting back its life and color.
"Brain Waves! I'm detecting brainwaves!"
Joseph's heartbeat started to steady and get regular. Hanabi smiled as Joseph's eyes opened but something seemed off.
"Old man?"
Joseph smirked laughing as he sat up. "You fool, Jotaro!"
A scream got caught in Hanabi's throat. "N-No way."
"Y-You bastard! It can't be" Jotaro cursed
"Thanks to you. I live again!" Joseph laughed
Jotaro brought out Star Platinum and was ready to pummel Joseph. Joseph jumped putting his hands up.
"W-Wait, Jotaro! I'm kidding! Kidding! I'm just kidding! It's just a joke! A joke! Sorry! I was just messing with you a little." To prove it Joseph summoned Hermit Purple. "It's definitely me! I'm Joseph Joestar. I was born September 27th, 1920. My wife's name is Suzie Q. I like to collect comic books!"
Jotaro gave Joseph a questionable look. "Who's the female lead in the 1981 film Tarzan the Ape Man?"
"Bo Derek," Joseph answered
"Who sang the parody of 'Beat it' name 'Eat it'?" Jotaro asked
"Al Yankovic," Joseph answered
"Yare Yare Daze. I guess you are the real thing, if you know pointless crap like that." Jotaro said
Hanabi let out a heavy sigh putting a hand on her chest. "M-Mr. Joestar please d-don't do something l-like that again."
Joseph gave a sheepish smile rubbing the back of his head.
In the middle of the desert Hanabi, Jotaro, and Joseph laid out Dio's body. As the sun rose and the rays touched his body the corpse burned away leaving nothing but ash, that drifted away with the wind.
Hanabi smiled as she was being supported by Jotaro. She smiled watching the sunrise happy that the ordeal was finally over.
"Now, it's over."