The sunlight of early morning shines down on the Atlantic ocean. Cool breeze flows west across the waves, across a beach, and in through the bay window of an expensive beach house. Two women, one with black hair and one with pink, sit on a white couch, eating a cake covered in strawberries. The woman with black hair pokes her fork into the cake, dislodging a strawberry. The berry tumbles through the air, landing on the white couch and soaking it with its thick red juices. "Shit," black hair says.
The woman with pink hair's eyes go wide. "Shit, I didn't mean to curse," black hair says.
"You did it again!" pink hair says, worried.
"Shit, did I?"
Pink hair winces and slowly turns. Their boss, a bald man wearing a puffy white coat, sits on a footstool, reading a book of poetry. "Delilah? What have I told you about cursing?" he says slowly.
"That you don't like it?" the woman with black hair, Delilah, says.
"No. I do not dislike foul language. I detest it," the bald man says. "We are not foul-mouthed, rude, uncivilized thugs. We are criminals, yes, but that does not mean we are repugnant."
"Of course, boss."
"Pink, be a dear and wash Delilah's mouth out for her. In the ocean, preferably."
The woman with pink hair nods and grabs Delilah by the throat. Delilah gasps as Pink drags her out of the apartment. The bald man sighs and returns to his book.
His name is Campbell. He is not a good man. This is something he will freely admit. Still, he at the very least has standards. Standards that some of his associates sadly lack. This annoys him greatly.
Take Salvatore, for example, that idiot with the birds. Foolish, impulsive, and rude. Powerful, yes, but still a constant annoyance for Campbell, like a splinter in his hand. Santiago was fine, but Salvatore was unbearable. When Kaiser had called and told him of Salvatore's untimely passing, Campbell did not shed any tears.
Campbell absentmindedly rubs the bracelet around his wrist, placed there while he was sleeping by Woodstock. This too aggravates Campbell. If his associates were more attentive, this source of stress would have been easily avoided.
"Master Campbell?" a man in a wetsuit says, stepping in through the window.
Campbell closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "You are dripping ocean water on my $100,000 rug, Mr. D," he says.
"My apologies," Mr. D says, taking a step back.
"For what reason have you interrupted my reading time?"
"I have returned to inform you that Huell Hearse is no longer with us."
Campbell sighs. "Again and again, you people fail at the simplest of tasks," he says. "I have sent three assassins, and yet this problem persists."
"Shall I send Pink and Delilah? Or perhaps Fallout Boy?" Mr. D asks.
"No."
"Ah, then you wish for me to handle this personally."
"Don't presume to know my wishes."
"Then, what would you like me to do, sir?"
"Clearly, you lot are incapable of handling this on your own. As such, I will be accompanying you and ensuring this problem is dealt with," Campbell says. "Gather the others. We leave at the end of the hour."
Mr. D nods and steps out the window. He leaps down, landing safely on the ground floor, and walks around to the garage. A large man meditates in the garage. He has buzzed blonde hair and wears green military fatigues. Scars resembling a black American flag cover the left side of his face.
"Fallout Boy? Mr. Campbell requires your assistance," Mr. D says.
Fallout Boy stands up and silently walks out of the garage. He and Mr. D walk to the beach, where Campbell waits with the girls. Pink holds Delilah's head underwater as Delilah's arms flail wildly. Pink lets her go briefly and Delilah gasps for air. "Goddmanit, I'm sorry, okay?" Delilah shouts.
Pink ducks her under again as Campbell shakes his head. "Are you ready to go, sir?" Mr. D asks.
"In a moment. Delilah has not learned her lesson yet," Campbell replies.
Pink pulls Delilah's head up again. Delilah stares at Campbell with hate-filled eyes. "I am sorry," she says, choosing her words carefully.
"Good," Campbell says.
He places his hand on Mr. D's shoulder. His minions do the same. Mr. D takes a step forward, into the ocean, and the five assassins disappear.
"I'd like to note that I object to you all accompanying me," Julius says.
"Your concern is noted, uncle," Nero says.
"I am fully capable of checking out Huell Hearse's hotel room on my own."
"I mean, you have a point," Kan says. "I really have to hand it to you, you did an amazing job of staying safe the last two times you tried to check things out by yourself."
Julius glares at her. "Too soon?" Kan asks.
Julius rubs his bandage-wrapped stub. "Yes, it is entirely too soon," he says bitterly.
Kan sighs, turns, and hangs her legs off the side of the bus. "You should not do that, the bus driver will get mad," Nero says.
"Look, there's strength in numbers, okay?" Kan says. "Again and again, our enemies have tried to separate us, because they know they can't take us all on at once. If we had all been there last night-"
"That isn't fair. You can't blame us for what happened to Johana," Kelly interjects.
"I'm not blaming you. I'm just saying, we need to stick together. Otherwise, we aren't all going to make it out of here."
They sit in silence for a few seconds. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll all be okay," Camellia says eventually.
"I especially object to bringing the child along," Julius says.
"Who's going to babysit her if we all leave?" Kelly asks.
"She's ten. She doesn't need a babysitter."
"First off, she's eight. Second of all, it's rude to talk about someone when they're sitting right next to you."
"She was alone for two years. She can survive a few more hours of isolation."
"Probably. But, I wanted to come and keep you guys safe," Camellia says.
"Honestly, I'm surprised you came, Kelly," Kan says. "Normally, you would have whined and complained about being in danger."
"True. But, I had a revelation today," Kelly says. "Nothing I do matters."
"What?"
"If I come along with you, I'll be attacked by Stand Users and almost die. If I stay home and fix my car, I'll be attacked by Stand Users and almost die. If I run away, I'll be attacked by Stand Users and almost die. Nothing matters! No matter what I do, people will try to kill me, so why should I care even slightly about where they attack me?"
"Wow, that's kinda zen."
"To be clear, I came to this conclusion after about a week of unending stress and fear. I still feel those emotions and it is likely I will have a breakdown the moment something goes wrong."
"Oh."
"Like, I'm still afraid of dying like Johana. I've just realized that I'm just as likely to die at home base as I am when I'm actively pursuing danger."
"Johana isn't dead," Kan mumbles.
She glances at the red ball holstered at Julius's side. "The answer is no," Julius says, noticing her gaze.
"You don't know what I was going to ask."
"You were going to ask me to let Johana out. I will not, unless we are put in absolute inescapable danger. You may have a fondness for the girl, but she's dangerous. Not just to us. To the people of this city."
"Fine," Kan says, sulking.
The doubledecker bus pulls to a stop. Nero jumps off and slides down to the street. Camellia levitates and floats down, landing beside him. "Stop showing off. We're in public," Julius grumbles as he takes the stairs.
The group look at the large hotel across the street. The Hobson Hotel, according to the sign in front. One of the many hotels built to accommodate the upcoming Olympic games, only a few short blocks away from one of the stadiums. "Stay aware. We could be attacked at any moment," Julius says as he steps onto the crosswalk.
Kan and Kelly follow him. Camellia begins to follow, but Nero puts out a hand in front of her. "Hold yourself, small child!" Nero shouts.
"What?" Camellia asks.
"Do you not see the ticking crosswalk sign? Look at the number shown via its pattern of light-emitting diodes? Six! And now five! Our friends left the sidewalk far too soon. It will reach zero far before the moment they reach the hotel's side of the street."
"And then they'll get run over?"
"More likely, they will be honked at by annoyed drivers who they have inconvenienced. Regardless of any peril crossing the street early may bring, it is a rude thing to do."
"I can fly. And you can jump like twenty feet in the air."
"True. But, the five of us have been thrust into the role of surrogate parent for you. Thus, it is our job to teach you proper safety."
"Hey Nero! Get over here!" Kan shouts from the other side of the street.
"What?" Nero shouts back as cars rush past.
"We're waiting on you!"
"Oh! I see! I am waiting for the light to change!"
"I can portal you over, if you want!"
"Stop drawing attention to yourself," Julius snaps. "We're trying to be covert."
"Relax. It's not like they're going to attack us in front of everyone."
As she says this, Julius notices a flash from a building across the street. Light from the setting sun, reflected off a piece of metal. There is nothing intrinsically suspicious about light glinting of metal. Perhaps it is a pipe, or a piece of trash. But, after years of doing what he does, Julius has developed a sense for danger.
Julius kicks Kan in the stomach, moments before the shot rings out. The bullet grazes Kan's cheek before embedding itself into the brick wall of the hotel. Cars speed up to get away and screaming people run for cover. "Get inside!" Julius shouts.
Kelly runs into the hotel, smashing through the glass of the revolving door when it doesn't rotate fast enough for his liking. He keeps running once he gets inside. Kan's Stand, the Doors, attempts to fly across the street to grab Nero and Camellia. A second bullet pierces her arm, causing her owl to fall out of the sky and crash onto the street. She desummons her Stand right before it is run over by a minivan. Julius drops one of his Beatles on Kan, sealing her away inside. He teleports it back to his hand as he runs inside.
At the same time all this happens, Nero and Camellia are on the other side of the street. The smart thing to do, what Julius expects Nero to do, is to run into the closet building and take cover. This is not what Nero does. He runs out into traffic, into full view of the gunman.
Fortunately, Nero is not shot. Unfortunately, this is because, halfway across the street, he is hit by a lorry. Camellia shouts his name as the truck drags him away.
Julius runs past the reception, heading for the lifts. As he turns a corner, he sees a man in a wetsuit standing next to a mop and a wet floor sign. The man in the wetsuit raises his gun and fires. The bullet knocks the Beatle out of Julius's hand. It bounces down the hallway, eventually rolling into the hotel's ballroom.
The man in the wetsuit ejects a shell casing. "Julius Zeppeli, I presume?" he says.
"Have we met?"
"No. But, our respective organizations have. Do you remember an altercation in Venezia, back in 1989, between the Speedwagon Organization and the Crucifix Syndicate?"
"I killed three gangsters with Stands."
"And I killed four of your allies. There is no point in bragging. We both possess venerable pedigrees."
"Why have you attempted to kill my team? Because of some bad blood that's older than all of them?"
"No. I am here to avenge far more recent deaths."
"Huell Hearse."
"Yes. But not just him. The Spaghetti brothers were also killed by your group, less than 48 hours ago."
"Hold on, Spaghetti?"
"Yes. That was their name."
"Shut up, no it wasn't. I refuse to believe there are a pair of Italian gangsters named Spaghetti."
"Do not disrespect the dead. It is rude."
"What's your name? Prosciutto? Risotto? Gelato? Rigatoni?"
"You may call me Mr. D," the sniper in the wetsuit says. "If you survive more than five minutes, I will tell you my full name."
"That won't happen," Julius says, moving his hand to his holster.
"Oh?"
"You'll be dead in four."
Mr. D laughs. "I enjoy an empty threat as much as the next person. But to be clear, that's all that is. An empty threat," he says. "While we're on the subject of time, let me tell you something about myself. I am very quick at reloading this rifle. I have already ejected the remains of the previous round. It will take me less than one second to load another shot, take aim, and fire. In that time, you will inevitably reach for your Stand and attempt to throw some sort of danger at me. The question is, which of us has the faster draw?"
"Let's find out," Julius says.
The two men stare each other down. Without another word, they reach for their weapons. In an instant, Mr. D loads another round, flips his rifle back, and fires. Julius has enough time to throw a Beatle, but not enough time to jump out of the way of a bullet. So he doesn't.
A moment before one of his Stand balls leaves his hand, Julius seals himself inside. Mr. D's bullet flies through empty air. When the Beatle is only inches from Mr. D, Julius bursts out. He spins, attempting to kick Mr. D in the head.
Mr. D disappears in an instant, causing Julius's kick to miss completely. Julius lands on his feet and looks around, trying to spot his opponent. When he realizes Mr. D has disappeared completely, he runs into the lift and slams his fist on the close-door button.
Nero is tough and, more importantly, he is quick. Seconds before the lorry hits him, he summons his Stand, Viva La Vida. The Stand holds its arms out to block the truck. This isn't enough to bring it to a stop, but it's enough to keep Nero from being killed instantly.
The impact breaks one arm and seven ribs, but is far from enough to break Nero's spirit. His body falls under the truck. He reaches up, grabbing onto its back bumper. He holds tight as the truck drags him down the street. He summons Viva La Vida again and kicks off the ground with the Stand's legs, landing on top of the truck.
He sits down on top of the lorry and takes a deep breath. Hamon energy flows through his body, healing his broken bones. He considers his options. There is a man with a gun, presumably a Stand User, back at the hotel, taking potshots at his friends. That is a serious problem. He could run back and attempt to help them. But, to do so would mean ignoring the oddity that sits beneath him.
What type of person runs someone over and then keeps driving? A dangerous person, that is who. The hit and run, Nero realizes, was no accident. It was an attempted murder, likely by an ally of the sniper. He could go back for the sniper, yes, but that would abandon the opportunity that has presented itself to Nero: an enemy, right beneath Nero's feet, who does not know he is still alive.
Nero creeps to the front of the truck. He summons his Stand and prepares to smash open the truck's cab. As he does, he gets an uneasy feeling. Nero jumps back, barely dodging the uppercut that breaks through the roof of the cab.
Floating above the cab is a large Stand. A close-range power type, like Nero's, but almost twice as heavy. The Stand is made out of thick white stone, with a cylindrical head that flares out at the top. The Stand has no visible eyes and a black and gold radiation symbol covers its chest.
"Hello," Nero says as his Stand raises its arms in a boxing pose. "What abilities do you possess?"
The enemy Stand doesn't respond. It just flies forward and swings a punch at Nero. He ducks under it and his Stand responds with a punch to the stomach. The massive Stand doesn't react.
Nero unleashes a flurry of punches right into the Stand's stomach. The Stand slowly raises its arms. Nero jumps back as the Stand claps. The clap releases a blinding burst of light. As Nero closes his eyes, the Stand punches him in the stomach, throwing him off the truck.
Nero grits his teeth and forces a smile as he flies through the air. "You fool!" he shouts. "You think I attempted to defeat you via an exchange of fisticuffs? No! It doesn't matter how strong a Stand is, if I can simply take out the driver!"
One of the truck's tires pops, causing it to swerve out of control. "I spread my Stand's decay through your truck! Enjoy slamming into a brick wall!" Nero shouts.
Nero lands in a nearby river. He crawls out, takes off his beanie, and squeezes the water out of it. He looks up at the half-finished building in front of him. The building is surrounded by scaffolding, but Nero can see that it has a roof like a wave and floor to ceiling windows. One of the new stadiums built for the Olympics, Nero realizes.
He walks up a staircase to get a closer look at the building. A big chunk of the windowed wall is gone, shattered when an out-of-control Lorry crashed through. Nero steps over broken glass and walks down the stadium seats to the massive pool. The truck sits in the pool, but the driver is nowhere to be seen.
"Where are you?" Nero asks as he walks by the side of the pool.
An answer comes a second later when a pair of hands break through the tile floor surrounding the pool and grab Nero's ankles. The hands rip back, throwing Nero into the pool. He gasps for air as his head pops back up.
A man wearing green fatigues crawls out of the floor. An American flag covers his face. He stares at Nero. "Curious," Nero says. "You were hidden beneath the floor. And yet, I did not see any sign of the floor being tampered with."
The large man doesn't respond. "I am Nero Zeppeli, by the way," Nero says. "What is your name?"
"Fallout Boy," his foe says quietly.
"And your Stand?"
"Fallout Boy."
Viva La Vida pops up behind Nero. "My Stand is called Viva La Vida," Nero says as the Stand runs its hands across the water. "It has the ability to decay anything, which allows me to do this."
Nero drops down, leaving only his hand above water. He snaps and a spark of Hamon ignites the Hydrogen filled air. In an instant, a fireball erupts over the pool.
Fallout Boy doesn't flinch. His Stand punches the fireball and it disappears completely. Nero pops his head out again. "Interesting," he says.
Fallout Boy jumps into the pool and walks across the bottom towards Nero. He summons his Stand and the two Stands exchange a series of punches. Viva La Vida is faster, but the water slows it down enough that Fallout Boy's Stand manages to hit Nero in the shoulder. Nero winces as he hears the sound of a crack spread through the pool.
Viva La Vida keeps throwing punches, eventually managing to hit Fallout Boy the Stand in the jaw. Fallout Boy the person's head twists back as bloody teeth are knocked out. The teeth sink to the bottom of the pool as Fallout Boy's head whips back. He stares at Nero, his jaw centimeters off center.
His Stand touches him on the lips and his jaw pops back into place. Nero mouths the word interesting, accidentally filling his lungs with water in the process. Fallout Boy's Stand throws a punch. Nero turns to dodge it, but is too slow, and the punch instead hits him in the broken shoulder. As this punch connects, a flash of light briefly illuminates the water.
The blow slams Nero into the wall of the pool. Fallout Boy swims towards him. The bulky Stand throws another punch; Nero jumps back onto land just in time to avoid getting skewered. Viva La Vida kicks Fallout Boy in the head, hard enough to crack open his skull.
Nero runs up into the stands and turns back at the pool. As Fallout Boy heals, the red water turns blue. Not the normal blue of deep water, a glowing, unnatural, blue raspberry shade of blue. "Cherenkov Radiation," Nero says. "The electromagnetic equivalent of a sonic boom, produced when particles are slowed by water."
Fallout Boy jumps out of the pool. Nero takes a step back. "That burst of light earlier, it wasn't meant to blind me. It was meant to expose me to lethal amounts of radioactivity," he says.
Fallout Boy charges for Nero. As he reaches the stairstep seats, hundreds of pounds of bricks crash down on Fallout Boy, crushing him. The bricks reshape around Fallout Boy, pinning his body to the ground.
Nero turns to see Camellia floating outside the shattered window. "How's it going?" she says.
"Camellia! Stay back! This enemy is very dangerous!" Nero shouts.
"Most of them are."
Fallout Boy's Stand punches its arm out from inside the brick prison. Camellia waves her hand and the bricks shove him back into the pool. "Hold him there, Camellia. I need time to think," Nero says.
He jumps out the window, landing on the ground outside the aquatic center, and begins walking away. Camellia levitates after him.
"We need to figure out how his abilities work if we are to defeat him," Nero says, thinking out loud. "Pulses of radioactivity and self-healing, that is what he has demonstrated. Two separate abilities for one Stand? No, that is unlikely."
Nero's eyebrows raise as he realizes something. "My shoulder does not hurt," he says. "It stopped hurting when I was in the pool."
"Can't you heal with that ham omelet thing?" Camellia asks.
"Sendo Hamon, and no, I could not have. I was underwater and thus could not breathe. Earlier, when Fallout Boy hit me in the shoulder for the second time, he mistakenly healed me. This indicates that he is not fully in control of his abilities. It takes a few seconds to switch between radiation punches and healing punches."
Nero thinks for a moment. "No, that is not right. Both when he hit me in the shoulder and when I saw the Cherenkov Radiation, the healing happened simultaneously with the radioactive flash. It takes a few seconds to switch between normal punches and these special punches, which both heal and release bursts of radiation," he says. "But, why would a healing ability release radiation? Unless, perhaps, it is not a healing ability. He also used it to get rid of my fireball, for example."
"Maybe it gets rid of things? Like it got rid of injuries and a fireball."
"Of course! It is not a healing Stand at all! That is simply a side-effect. Fallout Boy has the ability to reverse the effects of time for anything he touches!" Nero shouts. "Radioactive elements decay into inert, nonradioactive elements. But, with Fallout Boy's abilities, he is able to return matter to an older, far more radioactive state!"
"Cool," Camellia says.
"The exact opposite of my own abilities. This Fallout Boy will indeed be a worthy opponent!"
Fallout Boy sits at the bottom of the pool, pinned down by bricks, slowly drowning. His Stand's restoration abilities keep him alive, but only barely. He punches away the bricks, but they come back just as quickly.
He closes his eyes and thinks about his life. He remembers being at a lab, in the desert. He remembers the core, a shell of tungsten carbide surrounding a sphere of plutonium. He remembers examining it, keeping it from going supercritical by holding the shell open with a flathead screwdriver. He remembers the screwdriver slipping. He remembers the blue flash and the burning heat.
He remembers the fear, the hesitation, the dread unleashed as the core turns into a bomb. His friends fall over and die as he stares into their glowing killer. He knows that, in a second, the core will explode, destroying the entire base. He acts on impulse and punches the core as hard as he can.
The core explodes when his fist is millimeters away. The fire of the sun erupts in front of him, but he is not killed. The explosion disappears, never passing beyond his fist. The tungsten shell slides open as the radioactive domino effect is undone. He stares at the core, at the dead men surrounding him, and at the stone arm floating next to his own. Fallout Boy thinks about that day a lot, mostly because he doesn't remember anything before that day and remembers very little since.
His Stand punches the pool, turning all of the water into vapor that floats up to the ceiling. No longer weakened by drowning, Fallout Boy easily tears through the bricks and climbs out of the empty pool. He jumps out the broken window and follows the path of wet footprints to a large stadium.
The stadium is still incomplete; the dirt and grass have not yet been added, leaving the field little more than a dusty concrete foundation. Lights turn on as Fallout Boy enters, shining down on Nero, who sits in the center of the stadium, atop a throne of bricks. A sword made of dust, bound together with Hamon, sits in his hand.
"You are a dangerous foe, Fallout Boy. Perhaps the strongest I have ever faced," Nero says. "I do not know if I possess the strength to defeat you. And yet, I must, because I know that you seek to hurt those I care for. For example, that little girl sitting in the stands."
Fallout Boy turns and sees Camellia watching from the sidelines. She waves. "I have requested she stay back, because she is a child and I am afraid you will hurt her," Nero says. Fallout Boy doesn't respond. "You are awfully quiet for an enemy Stand User. Normally, your ilk would have insulted me ten times by now.
Nero stands up and points his sword at Fallout Boy. "Very well. I will respect your silence," he says. "You seem to be the type who speaks through action. So let this end with action!"
The two men charge for each other, summoning their Stands. Viva La Vida dodges a punch from Fallout Boy's Stand as Nero slashes the sword across Fallout Boy's chest. The Stand resembling a nuclear cooling tower winces at the pain, allowing Viva La Vida to kick it in the stomach.
Fallout Boy skids back. His Stand touches his stomach, closing the bloody wound. Nero runs forward and the Stand claps its hands together, creating a flash of light. Moments before the flash erupts, the bricks of Camellia's Wall fly forward, creating a protective shell around Nero. "Radiation is dangerous, but thick rock is effective at blocking its pierce!" Nero shouts as the bricks slide away.
Fallout Boy punches Nero in the face. Nero doesn't even flinch. "You need to time your blows better," he says as Viva La Vida uppercuts Fallout Boy. "That did not hurt even slightly."
Camellia's bricks fly forward, surrounding Fallout Boy's legs and locking him in place as Nero unleashes a flurry of Stand punches. Fallout Boy's Stand attempts to hit Nero, but a brick flies up and hits it in the jaw.
Nero tosses his dust sword in the air. Viva La Vida catches it and stabs it into Fallout Boy's heart. The assassin clutches his bloody chest as Camellia's bricks surround him completely. "Arrivederci, my foe," Nero says, turning around.
He begins walking away, but stops mid-stride. He looks back at the brick prison surrounding Fallout Boy. The bricks tremble as the energy inside builds. Nero attempts to run, but there isn't any time. Fallout Boy explodes.
The bricks are turned to dust as the shockwave ripples outward. The blast is small, more comparable to a half-ton of TNT than a real nuclear blast. Still, it is enough to leave a massive crater where Fallout Boy was imprisoned. In the center of the crater stands a skeleton covered in charred flesh, held together with nothing more than willpower. Slowly, the hand of time rolls back. Before long, Fallout Boy is completely fine.
Nero crawls out of the dust and coughs. "Incredible," he says, spitting up blood. "Your determination is unlike anything I have ever seen."
Fallout Boy walks up to Nero and punches him in the stomach with his bare hands. Nero, injured by the blast, can't do anything to avoid it. Fallout Boy picks Nero up, slams him down on his knee, and tosses him aside.
"My strength is gone," Nero coughs. "That blast, that burst of ionizing radiation, it's killing me. My organs are turning to mush. Soon, I will perish."
"Do you ever shut up?" Fallout Boy asks.
"I have a few minutes of life left, if I am lucky. Permit me my final words. Or, to be more accurate, final paragraphs."
Fallout Boy kicks Nero in the stomach, tossing him ten feet away. "Let me speed you along!" he shouts.
He summons his Stand. The stone behemoth claps its hands, producing burst after burst of deadly radiation. Each burst robs Nero of precious seconds. His body failing him, Nero Zeppeli crawls to his feet.
He screams as his Stand repeatedly punches the air, spreading its decay energy with each strike. As Fallout Boy attempts to restore old pain so it may fall apart once more, Nero protects through the unstoppable force of entropy.
They are evenly matched, but not for long. The dose of radiation given to Nero ensures he will eventually collapse. Fallout Boy, on the other hand, is protected. The radiation hurts him, but any damage is immediately healed as his restoration flows through his body.
Fallout Boy focusses completely on matching Nero blow for blow. Because of this, he forgets about the other Stand User he's fighting. Camellia Floyd's bricks have been exploded into dust, but her control over them remains. The brick dust floats through the air, into Fallout Boy's lungs.
As he attempts to heal away the radiation damage, his regeneration energy flows into the dust filling his lungs. The dust turns back into bricks, tearing open Fallout Boy's lungs from the inside. Nero knows this is his only chance. He charges forward and puts every ounce of strength he can muster into a punch.
Fallout Boy responds in kind. The fists of the two Stands collide. Fallout Boy is stronger. Even with his lungs exploding, he has the strength to beat Nero ten times over. But, there is a fire in Nero's eyes.
Viva La Vida's fist is not stopped by the stone fist of Fallout Boy. It keeps going, ripping away Fallout Boy's arm. Nero smiles as his foe falls to his knees. A second later, Nero falls over next to him.
With his remaining arm, Fallout Boy reaches and grabs Nero by the throat. Nero doesn't resist. Even if he had the strength to fight back, he's already accomplished what he sat out to do. He closes his eyes and waits for the reaper's blade to come down on him.
Ten seconds later, he opens them. His breathing and heart rate are normal. He know longer feels the pain of his insides melting. He had been healed.
"Why did you save me?" Nero asks.
Fallout Boy's corpse doesn't respond. Nero gently lifts the dead man's hand off his throat. Camellia comes running to Nero from the stands. "Nero! You won! Hooray!" she shouts.
"Yeah," Nero says quietly.
Kan pops out of the Beatle and looks around. She's sitting in a ballroom with high ceilings and chandeliers. The ballroom is filled with people dancing. One of the dancers, a young man in a leather jacket, is familiar to Kan.
"Kelly?" she asks.
"Kan I'm very scared right now," Kelly says, whimpering.
He jumps up on a table and slowly points around the room. He then pumps his hand in the air and claps. "I think I'm going to die," he says.
"Why?" Kan asks.
As she says this, her arm begins to twitch. Her foot begins to tap. Without any conscious thought, Kan begins dancing. "Oh, this is bad," she says.