DISCLAIMER: I do not own JoJo's bizarre adventure or Rising of the shield hero
FURIOUS RAMPAGE
Naofumi wasted no time, dashing forward like a raging bull. Malty created a wall of flame in front of him. He broke through it easily but found no one on the other side. The wall then extended around him. Blasts of fire hit him in the back, their heat irritating his skin. He looked around to see where these attacks were coming from, but all he saw were flames. He continued to be bombarded by fire, forced to put up his shield to defend himself.
"HAAAAH!"
Naofumi struck the ground, creating a strong wind that blew back the flames surrounding him. However, this did nothing to extinguish them, as they moved above the gust of wind and came down on Naofumi. He fell to his knees engulfed in fire.
"What an animal, expected from the shield hero," Malty taunted him as he burned.
"I'll show you an animal!" Naofumi stood up and a red aura swirled around him. He opened his hand and all the fire around him collected within his palm, turning blue due to pressure. He wielded the flame as if it were his own, shaping it into a whip.
"H-how did you do that!? That's not right!" Malty panicked, slowly backing up in fear.
Naofumi smiled and whipped the princess with all the force he could muster.
"AH! WAIT, PLEASE!"
She fell as blood gushed from her wound on her shoulder. Naofumi loved the sound of her voice and continued to whip her violently. Her cries of pain brought untold satisfaction to Naofumi, but he wanted more. He stopped his assault and absorbed the flame whip into himself.
"PLEASE! SPARE ME!"
Malty grovelled on the ground, her hair messy and face ruined by blood and tears.
"I am not done."
Naofumi picked her up by her hair and punched her gut. She coughed up blood from the force of it, blood that landed on Naofumi's cheek.
"Now you're spitting on me!"
"NO! WAー"
Naofumi didn't allow her to finish before he punched her again and again and again. He had lost count of how many times he had done it, but he didn't care, as long as she suffered.
"I'll do anything...just...stop..."
Malty spoke, weak from the beating.
"How about dying? I'm sure everyone would be better off."
Naofumi's next punch lifted her off the ground, and he went ballistic.
"OWARI ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI!"
A brutal barrage of hateful punches splattered royal blood everywhere. The assault left the princess bleeding out on the ground. She tried to crawl away, but Naofumi stomped her leg.
"AH!"
"Where are you going?" He asked menacingly.
She looked up at him defiantly.
"What!?" He taunted.
"You're evil."
"Me!? Hahahahaha! You have some nerve, bitch!"
"You're cruel! Devil of the shield!"
Naofumi's smile dropped at the mention of the name the people of Melromarc had given him.
"Don't call me that!"
Naofumi straddled Malty's waist and punched her face.
"Die!"
He punched her again.
"Die!"
And again.
"Die!"
At this point, Malty could barely breathe let alone speak. Naofumi pulled back his fist for one final punch, imbuing his fist with enough energy to burn the ground beneath them. He looked down at Malty one last time. Her face was bruised and bloodied, but somehow he could still see the beauty of it. He took a deep breath, he was hesitating, but that's not right! Rage does not stop, it does not hesitate, and it persists until everything around it is destroyed. Everything.
"What are you doing!? Finish it!"
"And then?"
"What are you talking about?"
"After I do this, what would I have accomplished? I will always be known as the Devil of the shield."
"And? Why would that matter? We can kill all who challenge you!"
"Even JoJo, Raphtalia, Senshi, and DIO?"
"Listen, Naofumi! None of them matter! They are all our enemies!"
"Our? Now you listen to me! This is not the right way, not by a long shot."
Naofumi stood up from Malty, his eyes losing their hatred, but still filled with determination.
"You're not worth everything I've built. I'll beat you the right way, and clear my name!"
Naofumi turned his back, walking away.
"You bastard! You'll never beat me!"
Malty shouted as she stood up, a black flame in her hand. The black flame engulfed her body before returning to her palm, revealing her restored to normal, with no wounds to speak of. Naofumi was unfazed by this, he was hoping he didn't leave any long-lasting injuries anyways, because the real beatdown will be much worse.
"Oh, I will. I'll take all of your power, all of your authority, all of your pride, and crush it before leaving you to rot for the rest of your life," Naofumi spoke with his back facing Malty before looking at her with a smug smirk, "Buuut, for now, I think I'll catch up with my buddies. Here they come!"
He pointed at the group of colourful and bizarre anomalies he called friends, yes, even DIO. He continued walking, his anger wasn't gone, but now HE was in control. His shield remained in its wrathful form but was now much calmer and quiet.
"Naofumi!"
Raphtalia tackled the shield hero. Her much larger figure encompassed his as she bearhugged him.
"I'm so relieved! I knew you wouldn't do it!"
"Naofumi's the chillest hero ever! He'd never!" Senshi shouted.
"Hell yeah! That's the Naofumi I know!" Jouta shouted.
"Controlling the power of rage? That is impressive, you have my respect," DIO complimented.
"How did all of you get here?" Naofumi asked.
"We used a flying carpet!" Senshi shouted. Naofumi's response was a concerned furrowing of his eyebrows and unsure nodding.
Everyone surrounded Naofumi, their attention focused on him.
"Look at all of those wounds, Naofumi! I told you to stay in bed," Raphtalia scolded.
Naofumi smiled in amusement at how much she cared about him.
"I'll be fine, this shield won't let me die until it deactivates."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better!?"
"Come on, Raphtalia. I'm sure we can heal him before then," Jouta spoke with a relaxed expression, "Right, DIO? DIO?"
The group turned their attention to DIO, who stood stoically with a hand on his hip. He seemed to be staring down the princess of Melromarc as she did the same. Oddly enough, flakes of snow were falling from DIO's hair. DIO could feel all the heat around him move in one direction. He opposed this by manipulating the speed of vibration between the molecules in his body, raising his body temperature.
"Thanks to Spiral, I possess control over my body on the molecular level."
Others were not so prepared, feeling the heat-draining wind at its full efficiency.
"What theー" Jouta felt the honey filling his wounds freeze.
"How is the wind doing this? The honey in my body is fused into my flesh, sharing its heat, and yet, the temperature dropped to below -20 degrees Celsius, the freezing point of honey, in an instant! Flash-freezing wind!"
Raphtalia and Naofumi felt their joints become stiff, locking them in place.
"This wind isn't normal, its direction contradicts the entirety of the weather, no, it is more accurate to say it is dominating the weather," DIONA stated, her nose turning red.
"Malty!" Naofumi shouted aggressively, despite his frozen joints.
The person in question, stood silently, one hand on her hip while pointing at DIO with her index finger, a small dark flame burning from it, and a cheeky smirk on her face. She was challenging DIO, and it would seem, he gladly accepted.
"A wind that forces its influence on nature? You must be Malty S Melromarc. I, am DIO," DIO walked forward and casually introduced himself to the enemy.
"DIO!" Everyone shouted from behind him.
"Indeed, I am. I have heard many things about you."
"Likely from my former subordinate, I assume. Enya."
Everyone was shocked by DIO's words, even Malty, but she seemed more impressed.
"You may reveal yourself now!" DIO said to thin air, well, not 'thin' air. A mystic fog appeared next to Malty, condensing into a tall woman with white hair wearing a brown robe, golden bracelets and jewellery.
"Far more youthful than I expected but I digress."
"How did you figure it out?" Malty asked with a smile.
"If I were to travel to another universe, I would make allies to guide me. And knowing Enya, she would go after someone ambitious interested in domination. A person with influence, someone who could control others, someone with potential for greatness, someone...capable of surpassing me!"
DIO pointed at Malty. Jouta couldn't believe it, he had barely said anything about Enya, but DIO had her figured out!
"It seems I've been found out. It was going to happen eventually!"
A black flame engulfed Malty again, this time, revealing a much taller form with toned muscles. Her armour changed to a bright neon pink and black colour scheme. Her red hair flowed free majestically. Several various rings on her fingers, and gemstones on her armour which was darker with neon pink metallic outlines. Her skirt became longer, ending in a flame pattern, neon pink metal dangling from it.
"M-Malty?" Rishia was taken aback to see the princess' true colours.
"Ivyred! Finished riding Itsuki's arrow, so you jumped on DIO's pillar?"
Rishia held back her anger toward Malty, not just for her comment, but for allowing so many people to die in the forest.
"Can't blame you, DIO is handsome. Hell, I would like a bite."
"HEY!" DIONA, Raphtalia, and Senshi threatened.
"Calm yourselves," DIO calmly scolded his descendants.
"I wonder what you were trying to accomplish using that farmer," DIO said.
"How!?" It was Enya who was shocked by this.
"You almost fooled me, but due to my sense of smell, I could tell the difference between the ink. Further confirmation from a certain cephalopod demi-human determined it had been edited, likely to get me to commit suicide using incorrect travel methods."
Malty's smile only grew as DIO spoke. He was surely designed by fate to be her one true rival!
"This Wave has proved unsuccessful, but I assure you, this is not over."
"I hope not, princess."
Malty and DIO's auras emanated immeasurable malice towards each other. Everyone prepared themselves for a battle that would end with one side's death. One such person who felt that murderous intent intervened.
"Look who it is, the devil herself!"
Everyone turned to see Eli angrily approaching Malty.
"Speedy! It's been so long!" Malty held out her arms for a hug.
"That's not my name!"
"You sure? I remember you always being the first to run."
"You are the embodiment of evil!"
"Oh, stop it, I'm flattered."
"Eli? You know Malty?" Naofumi asked.
"She has killed more people than you could possibly imagine. She was behind Windknight's Lot!"
"Windknight's Lot? I heard of it during my studies but never investigated it. It is rumoured hundreds of people died that night. Though, it is seen as a ghost tale rather than truth," DIO thought in his mind.
"Windknight's Lot? I've heard that name before!" Jouta thought.
"You have no place here. We have more important matters."
"What do you mean, Eli?" Raphtalia asked.
"It was brief, but I saw it. Inside a crooked beam of light, three figures, human."
The news was surprising as is, humans coming through the waves is unheard of, but Eli was not done.
"They emanated a glow, a glow not dissimilar from the legendary heroes. They came down following the beam. And from hundreds of kilometres, I witnessed them turn in mid-air with the crooked beam!"
Eli made sure everyone understood the implications of that statement: these beings could track light! While not precisely the speed of light, they were able to see and witness its movements.
"So it has begun."
"It seems so."
DIO and Malty stared each other down, and with a final threatening gaze, they turned their backs to each other simultaneously.
"The war between universes...hmph."
DIO and Malty walked in opposite directions, the princess disappearing in fog along with Enya and DIO turning to his allies. Malty smiled like a giddy maniac while DIO tried his best to hide a faint smile.
"Eli, you mentioned you saw them quite the distance away?"
Eli nodded in response, "But considering their speed, I'm surprised they haven't arrived in seconds."
"Perhaps they have," DIO pondered.
"Shouldn't we help Raphtalia, she's barely breathing!" Rishia's worried voice carried a sense of urgency that could not be ignored.
"I'm fine...just tired," Raphtalia tried and failed to ease Rishia's worry, her eyes barely open. The extreme cold from Malty's flame had reset any progress the injured had made in recovering from their wounds, evident from Jouta's wounds opening back up and Raphtalia's bruises darkening.
"We should hurry, they're not gonna hold up for much longer!" Senshi said, rushing to repair the wounds with honey.
"Jouta, is it possible for you to transport us as you did before?"
Jouta attempted summoning his stand, focusing his will and soul to form the shape of his guardian, but the amount of blood leaving his body left him incapable.
"Such a nuisance."
*TEMPUS EST MEUM*
Without another moment's passing, the group was moved through space without time and found themselves facing a large spacious building covered with windows and a dome-shaped roof. The building was split into three areas, each area containing six floors. Surrounding it was a maze of walkways and decorative plants and trees. People in blue robes with big white stripes and an upside-down cross within a circle marked at each quarter of its circumference on the back walked about with an air of mysticism.
"Welcome to Mercyland," DIO introduced everyone to Riyute's hospital. He massaged his arm as if he had just lifted a building.
"Mercyland?" The name reminded Jouta of Disneyland, so it felt odd to him.
"It sounds...whimsical," Rishia commented.
"It was my idea," Senshi proclaimed.
"Lord DIO!"
The robed people stopped all of their activities to acknowledge DIO's presence, all bowing in unison. They approached with haste and tended to the injured.
"Take care of her," DIO ordered, his stand overlapping with his body and Raphtalia coming down into his arms. A woman stepped forward and sprinkled glowing droplets onto the demi-human. Her body began to float out of DIO's arms. The same was done for Jouta, but Naofumi insisted on walking.
"Follow me, Lord DIO," The woman requested walking ahead with Jouta and Raphtalia floating behind her. DIO obliged with the rest of his allies. Flowers of various colours and shapes filled the air with a pleasant and soothing aroma.
"Why do they call you that?" Naofumi asked DIO.
"Considering my name is practically plastered on nearly every inch of this place, the title of Lord fits well enough."
"How the hell did you accomplish that?"
"Connections," DIO glanced to the side, "and a little 'persuasion'."
"Hm, maybe I should also invest in real estate."
"For a legendary hero, I would assume it is only natural."
"Legendary hero? Been a while since someone called me that."
"One thing I have learned, shield hero, is that no matter the circumstance, our souls are unchanging, eternal constructs."
"What does that mean?"
"In time, you will learn, hopefully not as painfully as I did."
DIO and Naofumi lightly chuckled as they climbed the flight of stairs elevating them to their destination.
"I hear Raphtalia has taken quite the liking in you," DIO suddenly brought up.
"Huh?"
"We have arrived."
Their journey ended in a spacious white room with three beds along either wall facing each other. A curtain in place for each bed, currently all open except for one. The injured found their places atop the beds. Naofumi and Jouta were on the beds closest to the end of the room, and Raphtalia next to Naofumi.
"Wow. These are annoyingly comfortable," Jouta commented.
"Mmm," Naofumi agreed with a low hum, "Iron mattress coils," Naofumi lightly bounced on his bed.
"Will she be okay?" Rishia asked the woman examining Raphtalia.
"There is severe internal damage to every single part of her body and on such a fine level as well," The healer held Raphtalia's arm," Normally, it would take years to fully recover, if that."
"For real!?" Senshi exclaimed.
"I said normally. Drink this and you will be fine in a few days," The lady pulled out a silver goblet from her robe's sleeve. It was filled with what seemed to be water. Raphtalia accepted it and drank it in one gulp.
"What was it?"
"You are asking me after I have given it to you?"
Raphtalia nodded.
"Lord DIO, perhaps she has suffered brain damage."
"Enough, Oasis. Attend to the others."
"Very well, Lord DIO."
Oasis moved to Jouta and Naofumi, giving them each a silver goblet.
"It's giving..." Jouta's reaction.
"No." Naofumi's reaction.
"Wanna trade?" Jouta's words.
Naofumi's responded with a simple shrug.
"My talents are wasted on them," Oasis' thought. Once she was finished, Oasis returned to DIO's side.
"Anything else, my Lord?"
"No, that will be all."
"How long did you say it would take?" Raphtalia asked.
"A few days. But you should not worry about that, focus on resting otherwise you could slow down the process."
"Exactly, it was about time she had time to rest," DIO said, "Do you hear me, Raphtalia?"
"Yes, DIO."
DIO glared at Raphtalia with a skeptical gaze.
"Promise."
DIO smiled and nodded at Raphtalia.
"Very well, I am off then. Oasis will care for you all."
"DIONA?" Raphtalia called.
"Hm?"
"Your shoulder, it is still wounded. You should get it treated."
"Considerate as always."
"Over here!" Jouta called for DIONA to come on the bed next to his. DIONA smiled subtly and rushed over.
"I wanted your opinion on [Charmy Green]'s tentacles. Anywhere close to the real thing?"
"In shape? SEVEN out of ten."
"Knew it."
Jouta and DIONA went on, conversing about tentacles of all things. DIO watched on in amusement. His own grand-daughter, his life truly is bizarre.
"DIO?"
"Yes, Senshi?"
"DIONA's dad is our brother, right?"
Senshi curiously presented the idea. Raphtalia perked up, intrigued.
"In a way, yes."
"When will we meet him? Does he have a stand? Is he blonde? Does he talk in a funny way? Where do—"
"I don't know!"
DIO silenced Senshi, his expression unchanged, but his tone stern and clearly annoyed. Senshi withdrew herself and looked down dejectedly.
"I'm sorry."
"We are leaving, say goodbye to Raphtalia. Rishia."
DIO walked away with Rishia meekly following behind. Senshi turned to her sister and Raphtalia motioned for a hug. The earthly fighter beamed before pouncing on her.
"You're heavier than I remember."
"I grew."
"I can tell."
Senshi pulled away and sat beside her sister. Her smile faded quickly.
"Don't worry, DIO's just grumpy. He'll get over it."
"It's not that. We have a brother, Raphtalia, but DIO doesn't want to talk about him."
"It isn't our right to decide if DIO wants to meet his son. He is grown afterall, with a daughter no less."
"Still, when I was born, I made a promise to myself. A promise to experience life to its fullest. I can't do that if I feel like something's missing. Or someone."
"Senshi, I want you to listen to me. As much as I hate to say this, you need to understand that you will lose many things in this life, people especially. And most of the time, it will be completely out of your hands."
"Does that mean I'm powerless?"
"Not at all. What matters, what gives you strength, what gives life meaning, is how you push through it."
"Thanks, Raphtalia. You're so wise."
"No, just experienced. Now get going, I'm sure DIO is waiting for you."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Senshi dissappeared in a flash, leaving a smiling Raphtalia.
"Your sister?" Oasis questioned.
"Yep."
"I had a sister once. She tried to devour my soul."
"That's...unfortunate."
"It is fine, after all, she never expected me to take hers."
Oasis grinned deviously with excited eyes. Raphtalia took note of that.
"Personally, I would have grabbed its neck instead then jabbed it in."
"You're right. I should have thought of that."
"That why you're in here?"
"No. Not at all. It was a wind crab."
"Wind crabs? Never heard of it."
"I'm telling you, it is crazy where I come from."
Naofumi was speaking to the person on the bed next to his that was obscured by the curtain.
"Where do you come from?"
"Somewhere far, far away, shield hero."
