Butterfly Effect
One long wait after another, but progress is progress. And if you thought the last chapter was insane, or even sad, then wait for what's about to come next chapter.
I know last chapter I said 'next chapter', meaning this chapter right now, but I decided to move the content one chapter forward, since I don't want to bloat this chapter and diminish the emotional effect.
Anyway, it'll be shocking to say the least. And like the last chapter, the part I'm referring to is an original idea from the time where I came up with this fanfic, so I can't wait to implement this idea.
I do not own JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Chapter 21: Enemy of all
Having come out of their previous fight quite well physically, but not mentally, the crusaders sadly reduced in numbers proceeded in their path. Continuing their way inside the mansion, they just reached a very dark stairway, which they were about to mount. From the upper side of the stairs, over which they couldn't see since they were below, a dim light made things visible.
'Things' referring to DIO. The crusaders were taken aback immediately in great surprise. Him appearing so fast after the end of the fight with his right-hand man… it just happened too quickly. But on the flipside, their negative feelings for the vampire were fresh as fruit.
He was standing there, menacingly! His face was shadowed too, giving him a more mysterious appearance.
'DIO… that bastard. When the hell did he…'
Although understandably nervous and intimidated, Polnareff and Avdol were still calm. They cooled their heads in an instant, knowing that they couldn't stay mournful when a new battle was about to ensue.
"Hm." DIO stepped forward, deciding it was time to formally meet again. By doing that, he showed his face. This unique, one-of-a-kind majestic blond hair, those piercing, almost golden yellow eyes. That sharp, well-shaped face that managed to get him many, many ladies over the years. "It's been a while, my human friends."
And especially that charismatic voice that can either lure someone in and make them feel a false, twisted peace of mind, or strike possessive fear into someone and make them run away in pure dread.
While yes, the vampire showed himself in a very unexpected manner, the ones facing him weren't scared. They'd come this far and already built up their resolve. But it wasn't just about only that anymore. Due to a certain event only minutes earlier, the reasons for fighting him increased by one. And it was a very, very important reason.
"So you finally show your face… DIO!"
The seriousness could be felt throughout the dark and heavy atmosphere. They weren't fucking around, these crusaders especially wanted to end this manipulative vampire in a painful way. DIO knew this, since they managed to defeat all his subordinates, the crusaders were an objectively powerful group of enemies. Yet still, he was pretty relaxed.
*Clap*
*Clap*
*Clap*
Peak mocking sarcasm from the vampire. "Congratulations to you, Polnareff. You avenged your sister and managed to make it here without dying."
Polnareff grimaced intensely, this mockery just made DIO so much more hateable.
"Congratulations to you, Avdol. You conquered your fear and managed to make it here without dying."
Avdol frowned in severe annoyance, changing his expression into a hateful one.
"…And congratulations to you, Hol Horse. For…" DIO decided to be extra provocative here "Oh wait, he was killed by Vanilla Ice before being able to show me his ugly face again. There's nothing to congratulate."
Hearing this, the pair of crusaders narrowed their eyes in burning anger and unadulterated hatred. They clenched their fists, being on the brink of their rage exploding.
"Only someone as utterly evil and shameless as you could mock the dead!" the egyptian yelled, absolutely livid.
"Just so you know, I'll personally send you to hell for that, just like Vanilla Ice! Both of you will share the same fate!" the frenchman shouted, taken over by fury.
The vampire was enjoying this intense hatred, not stopping to smile like a devil.
"Yes, YES! Get angry, hate me! Hate me for everything I did to you!" he commanded overjoyed. "Your anger, your rage… must be giving you peace of mind in these hard times."
"Ha?" Polnareff reacted, shaking his head. "The only thing that'll give us peace of mind is your death, DIO!"
"Peace of mind really comes in all shapes and forms… Right now, you seem to be into a violent one."
"That's right." the frenchman half-grinned, half-clenched his teeth. His Stand's rapier was pointed right in the direction of DIO's face. "Come down here and help us attain peace of mind, DIO! There WILL be violence before peace."
Not worried, the vampire tauntingly tilted his head before displaying a provocative smirk. "How about you come up the stairs instead, you two?" he challenged the crusaders with a calm, chill voice. "Show me the resolve you have to attain your peace of mind. Show me how serious you are about it."
[Magician's Red], summoned after [Silver Chariot], cracked its knuckles. "That can easily be arranged." Its master let know, giving DIO a fearless stare.
At the exact same time, Avdol and Polnareff made their first step up the stairs, towards their main enemy. Heads up high, together they lifted their legs upwards.
However… they found themselves downwards. Not where they were supposed to go.
"Hm hm hm, what's that? You went down the stairs! Is that your resolve? What happened to all this 'peace of mind' talk you were spouting, were you not serious about it?" the vampire joked, acting like the crusaders did that on purpose.
'What the…' the egyptian thought, his eyes widening. This had to be a mistake, he went up and not down. This time, he would surely step upwards. But… he still didn't. Him and his friends found themselves to be at a lower position than even before. "It can't be!"
"W-what?! I'm sure I stepped up!" the frenchman called in shock, unable to believe what was going on.
"What's wrong? You're getting further and further away from me. Does that mean you are scared of me?" DIO mockingly asked from above, playing with his enemies. "Maybe you thought of coming up in your head. But you're too scared to come up, so you went down instead."
Polnareff especially failed to understand this mind-boggling logic. "Impossible! I know I tried to climb these stairs!" he shouted in insistence, to no avail. Whatever he tried, it didn't end up like he imagined.
"It… It has to be his Stand!" Avdol rationalized, unable to think of any other explanation. "He is most likely using his Stand to mess with us! Somehow he prevents us from reaching him, he prevents us from going higher!"
From above, the vampire was watching them struggle. He crossed his arms in a relaxed position, smiling and literally looking down on them.
Getting irritated, the egyptian gritted his teeth. "But you know what, Polnareff, I know just the right thing to do…"
The frenchman turned his head, waiting to hear what Avdol had to say.
"Even if we can't reach him with our feet, we can reach him with our Stands!"
He elevated [Magician's Red] in a fighting stance, making his Stand gather scorching hot flames around its hands. A hefty confrontation was about to ensue.
"Yeah, that makes sense…" Polnareff regained his senses, calming down. His eyes narrowed as a result, and [Silver Chariot] followed suit.
Of course, DIO couldn't face 2 powerful Stands just by himself, so he had no choice but to manifest his own.
"It's about time…" he quietly spoke, retracting his smile and folding his hands closely in front of his chin.
[The World] was an insanely muscular, humanoid golden Stand with heart and diver motifs. It looked like a very, very special Stand. It reminded them of [Star Platinum] in many aspects.
This stand appeared extremely imposing, but the crusaders wouldn't let it scare them. For this battle was unavoidable anyway. "So that's [The World]? Bring it on!"
With the Stands inching closer, the vampire merely grinned at the double opposition. "Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda!"
Inches away from clashing, a sudden event interrupted the flow of things. Without a warning, the wall next to the stairs was crushed from outside. Sunlight was coming in, which made DIO jump away from the stairs in order to not get hit by the deadly rays.
Both crusaders were sure happy to see the rest of their group arrive. Right then, they were pointing coolly through the hole in the wall.
"Ah, guys! So you made it out alive!" The frenchman was ecstatic to see his friends in well condition.
"Good thing you're here." the egyptian said, a narrow smile forming on his face after so much time where he couldn't. Largely reunited, they could deal with the vampire much easier.
"DIO!" Joseph called out the name of his family's enemy, pointing at him with violent intent. Thought the man in question was retreating to darker parts of his mansion, leaving the crusaders be for now.
"That was him! That was DIO!" the old Joestar told his grandson, who'd never seen this man in person before.
Jotaro didn't mind, all he wanted was to chase him. The five newly arriving crusaders went to chase him right off the bat.
"Wait a second! Before you go, I have to tell you about his Stand!" Avdol advised them, wanting to share a vital piece of information they didn't know. Listening to his words, the five who went with D'Arby stopped on their current steps for the time being.
"We've experienced his Stand." he described, Polnareff nodding. "We've experienced it, but didn't understand its ability. We were trying to climb up these stairs, but somehow ended up lower than where we started."
"It sounds unbelievable, and it is, we ourselves don't know what's happening." the frenchman followed up. "It's not like hypnosis, or super speed. What we experienced was just the tip of the iceberg."
"…" The others didn't say anything, silently understanding. The egyptian could guess that they were thinking about how dangerous either of these abilities were.
"By the way, where's Hol Horse?" Caesar then asked, noticing that he wasn't with the two.
As he asked his question, the other four set their eyes on Avdol and Polnareff.
"He… won't be joining us." the egyptian quickly answered, looking downwards with an upset expression.
"In order to save us, he…" the frenchman finished for his friend, sweating as he recited that specific moment inside his head.
"…"
"Is that so…"
Leaving that be and not bothering the duo about details of their loss, the other crusaders silently expressed their condolences. Any casualty was one too many. They each looked away, briefly mourning him in their thoughts.
Meanwhile, Kakyoin hated to be the one, but…
"Joestar-san, the sun is setting… We need to hurry."
"Right…" Joseph acknowledged with a quiet voice. "So far we only know that DIO's afraid of sunlight."
The next moment, Marco slammed a sack he carried with him against the stairs. "Hey, Nukesaku. It's your time to be useful. No time to waste, answer the question as soon as I ask it."
"Guh!" A sound of pain came out the sack. A small man raised his head outside of the sack's mouth.
"What's above this floor?" the Zeppeli demanded Nukesaku to answer.
"A… a tower… There's a room at the top. Lord DIO goes there sometime during the day." the DIO-made vampire weakling meekly answered, not that he had a choice.
"Is there another way up?"
"N-no… this is the only way."
Marco picked up the sack again and threw it in front of him, no regard for the man inside in the slightest. "Fine, then take us there."
"Geh!"
With that, the crusaders started their guided search for their enemy right in his home.
XXXXXXXXXX
Nukesaku took the crusaders to a dark spiral stairway with an incredibly wide diameter leading upwards to some tower, just as he said earlier. Looking at the staircase alone was pretty menacing. Climbing the stairs felt menacing too, but they did it without fail, reaching the door on the other end.
Inside the round tower was a room with a dome-shaped ceiling. On the walls were many mirrors, and in the center of the room was a brown coffin with a golden 'D'. Apparently, this was the vampire's bedroom.
Using [Star Platinum], the young Joestar smashed the wooden covers of the windows, allowing sunlight inside. Nukesaku instinctively fled to the section of the room where the sunlight didn't reach his vampire body.
Light didn't hit the casket. In a way, this made the coffin stand out even more. All eyes were focused on it. The crusaders had varying thoughts, staring at DIO's supposed bed.
'Despite this being our first meeting, I feel like I've known him forever.' Joseph thought, feeling this on a fundamental Joestar level. 'Actually, that feeling holds true. After all, even since before I was born, my Joestar blood tells me that I am fated to meet him one day… not as a friend, but as an enemy that must be defeated.'
'So this is the man who I must slay not only to save my mother, but also as a Joestar duty…' Jotaro thought, largely unfamiliar with the Joestar feeling since he was a Kujo first and foremost.
'No regrets. About anything that has happened on this journey or will happen from this point on. I will regret nothing.' Kakyoin thought, coming closer and closer to fully conquer his fear and avenge his shame from last year.
'About time… That I will face him this time, the man who made me run away in fear. No more of that!' Avdol thought, in the same situation as his japanese teenage friend.
'This feeling… I have sided with the light. DIO is the darkness, my friends are the light! I can clearly feel the distinction between black and white!' Polnareff thought, feeling great courage as he faced his former puppet master. 'I am one with the light!'
'In a way, I'm fulfilling what my grandfather failed to do… eliminating the menace that's DIO back in Jonathan Joestar's times.' Caesar thought, also thinking of this as a bloodline necessity.
'Good thing there's another generation to help with that.' Marco thought, his thoughts coinciding with his father's.
"Everyone, surround the casket from all directions." the old Joestar instructed, breaking the silence. "Nukesaku, go open the casket! We'll attack when he emerges."
"M… Meee?" the subordinate vampire of his originator was really scared about this, following the orders of his enemies. But having no choice, he could only meekly obey.
The little idiot hesitantly approached the coffin, making nothing but excuses. "Uh… Lord DIO! I am not betraying you… I believe in your power so I brought them here… This is not the end of the line for you, is it? I brought theme here so you can kill them all!"
"SHUT THE HELL UP AND OPEN THE CASKET ALREADY!" Joseph barked at Nukesaku, annoyed with how slow Nukesaku was.
"Lord DIO! Please kill them!" the vampire let out a little scream in fear, finally opening the coffin.
As he opened it, dust and gradually more bits of the inside could be seen. Eventually, a person's silhouette finally became visible. But it turned out that it was Nukesaku, dismembered and dying.
Not expecting this sudden development, the crusaders widened their eyes. "EH?!"
Nukesaku himself couldn't believe it either, spouting his dying words in disbelief even though his mouth had been horizontally severed.
"Wha-?! I… I'm the one inside…?! But I was just opening the casket…"
Unable to understand what happened, the old Joestar nearly panicked. "What is that idiot doing inside the casket?! I never took my eyes off him!"
"You see, it isn't hyper-speed. Nor hypnosis. It's just like what happened to us!" the frenchman told, looking around in fear.
"[The World]!" even the standless old Zeppeli figured, realizing the danger himself after being exposed to it.
"Son of a bitch… things are starting to get interesting." the young Joestar muttered, wary of the enemy's danger.
"Did anyone see how he was put into the casket?" the Zeppeli asked, seriously startled and putting up his guard. This place was bad for him to fight, since there were no liquids he could use.
"I didn't see anything. I was staring at the coffin, but he was already inside by the time it opened." The egyptian said, also very much alarmed.
"Avdol's right, that's not some kind of super speed at all!" Noriaki confirmed, pressing his teeth together.
Suddenly, Jotaro detected something that gave him a bad feeling. "Wait! Something is a bit strange…"
He couldn't really explain what it was, but that didn't matter. He just knew that it was dangerous. "Let's get the hell out of here!"
All the crusaders started running towards the window. No hesitation. Moments later, they threw themselves out the window.
"I felt it too! A strong intent to kill!" Joseph told, ready to use his Stand as one of the crusaders' lifeline. "It feels like something cold running down your back… If we had stayed, we would probably all be dead now!"
"What was that? It's the first time I've felt anything like it! We didn't actually see [The World] in action, but it feels more terrible than any of the Stands we've encountered before." the redhead told from his point of view, cold sweat flowing down his face.
"It's exactly like Kakyoin said! This… this actually felt worse than just meeting DIO for the first time." Avdol evaluated, not his proudest evaluation.
In order to not fall to their deaths, the old Joestar and the cherry boy used the vine- and tentacle-like nature of their Stands to hold on to a piece of the building a few floors below, as well as to save those with less convenient Stands for this. The Zeppelis and Polnareff used Hamon to stick to the wall once they touched it, safely decelerating their fall. Doing so, they allowed Joseph and Kakyoin to focus their power more on those that needed their assistance the most.
Soon, they found themselves on an elevated place of the mansion, an extension of the architecturally magnificent walls, as well as the roof of a protruding ground floor structure of the building. From there, they could see above the property's outer walls, previously guarded by DIO's personal killer bird.
That neighborhood of Cairo with the sun going down looked absolutely beautiful. However, this was a problem, as their time was ending, and his time was beginning.
"This is bad! Very bad." the old Joestar grumbled, agitated but keeping his voice down. "The sun has almost set!"
"Joestar-san… You aren't going to retreat and wait for the sun to rise again, are you?" the frenchman asked. "Because no matter how bad this was, I'm not running away now! Day or night, I will fight!"
"Just so you know, I'm having the same opinion." the egyptian supported him, a firm look on his eyes. Much unlike him, who usually played it safe.
"I'm feeling the same way you are!" Joseph quickly answered, narrowing his eyes and breathing unevenly. "But the situation has changed! We simply have no idea what [The World] can do. It's like climbing a mountain without knowing where the summit is, you'll run into trouble! We absolutely will if we are reckless!"
Understanding the extra burden on the old Joestar for his leadership role, how he was the main figure of responsibility for their lives, Marco supported his position. "We'd all like to defeat him, but he IS going to come after us! He WILL try to kill us before the sun rises! Before that, we have to figure out the secret of [The World]! We must wait until we know more about [The World]!"
Polnareff didn't want to listen, resisting all the way. "No, we can't run away! Hol Horse died because of me! I respect you guys, but I won't follow you in retreating!" he yelled, having made his decision. "Did we come all the way here just to run away?! It doesn't matter what we do now, but running away…"
"…is not acceptable!"
Suddenly turning around, he ran away from them. And he was pretty fast at that, hurrying away.
"Hold it, Polnareff!" Joseph ordered, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. His first option failing, he turned to Avdol. "Avdol, can't you do something about him?"
Though with a fierce look in his eyes, the egyptian too disappointed him. "Sorry, but I'll be following Polnareff. I'll be doing the opposite of stopping him!"
Turning around, he set out too.
Behind him, most crusaders were left deserted. Needless to say, this was not good, especially not with this setting.
As the leader, who failed to keep everyone together, the frustrated old Joestar punched the wall in anger. As well as genuine concern.
"So stubborn… What will the two of them alone manage against DIO? Even with Iggy with them, their life is in danger!"
"To think that even Avdol would behave this way…" Caesar shrugged, overwhelmed just thinking about the odds.
"Should we really just let them leave? Should we not try to stop them?" Kakyoin asked, worried about their safety.
"We can't really stop them." Jotaro then spoke, keeping his voice calm and neutral. "But that's not necessarily a bad thing."
"How?" Marco wanted to know, looking at the young Joestar with a slightly tilted head.
"Simple. Polnareff, Avdol and Iggy are fighting while chasing DIO, we are fighting while running away." he simply explained. "Basically, we're attacking from both sides."
Understanding his logic, the others calmed down a bit and started thinking about this point of view.
Some were still a bit reserved about that.
"I get that, but what if DIO focuses on them first and foremost?" Joseph wondered. "They'll have trouble defending themselves, since right now, the distribution of power between our two 'sides' is unequal."
"Then why don't we send someone over to help their side?" Noriaki suggested, quickly coming up with the idea.
"Like, who?" the Zeppeli inquired. "Someone will have to go."
"What about Jotaro?" the old Joestar then proposed, prompting everyone to turn their heads towards the boy named.
"Me?" Jotaro reacted in surprise, pointing at himself. "Why me?"
"Yeah, why him?" Marco questioned, wanting to hear the reasoning.
"You're outstandingly powerful, Jotaro. With you around, Avdol and Polnareff will be all right." Joseph stated.
"But sending Jotaro won't help evening out the distribution of power on our side." The redhead argued, thinking they'd get weakened by a lot.
"Maybe, but if Jotaro goes, the remaining 4 of us will still have our good old Hamon." The old Zeppeli reminded, optimistic. "As long as we cover our bodies with it when DIO gets close, he won't be able to touch us."
"I guess so…" Both the young Joestar and the cherry boy murmured, haven't thought of that before.
"Most importantly, do you want to go, Jotaro?" the Zeppeli asked him directly, wanting to hear if the boy was willing or not. He didn't want to send him off against his will.
Shrugging, Jotaro gave a quick response. "Yare Yare Daze… I'll do it. No matter where I fight DIO, I'll have to beat the life out of him anyway."
"Just watch out, okay? Look after them… and yourself."
"I will."
The following moment, the young Joestar made his last interactions with his fellow crusaders before temporarily separating, ranging from friendly and manly looks of friendships to a manly handshake with his grandpa and honorary uncle. No big emotional moments, since they'd damn make sure something wouldn't be necessary.
"See you, Jotaro."
"Til' later, everyone." he waved one more time with his hand, before hurrying into the direction the frenchman and the egyptian went to, in order to catch up as soon as possible.
After Jotaro left, the remaining crusaders simultaneously thought one thing.
'Now to the main event…'
My bad for taking so long to update. It's just that I am a university student and right now, by the time this update has been made, I'm in the middle of exam month.
That aside, large parts of this chapter don't differ too much from the corresponding chapter of my other JoJo fanfic. I know it's lazy, but I believe that the story content is more important than how the chapter is exactly written. Do you also think this way? Let me know in the comments, if you like to.
Other than that, stay tuned for the next chapter, since this chapter is only filler in comparison. It's going to blow your mind, trust me.
Feel free to rate and review if you like to
