DISCLAIMER: I do not own JoJo's bizarre adventure or Rising of the shield hero
A sword, a bow and a spear. What sounded like the opening to a terrible joke was, in fact, a heartfelt scene between friends. Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu. The supposed heroes of this world. In truth, they were merely children stripped from their homes to fight monsters.
"What do we do now?" Itsuki posed the question. They were currently in a vacant bar that was mostly untouched by the chaos.
"What we came to," Motoyasu spoke to which Ren nodded.
"Not the best idea at the moment."
The three cardinal Heroes brandished their weapons at the newcomer. Her appearance different from when they last met her.
"Myne!?" Motoyasu gasped, her voice still tormenting his mind.
"State your business!" Ren nudged the tip of his blade at her.
"Look at these sharp tips. Small. Though I guess that shouldn't be surprising," Myne laughed to herself, disregarding their threats.
"Is this... your true form?" Motoyasu asked as if pleading. Myne raised a brow, looking him up and down before replying, "HA! I have no such thing."
Motoyasu clenched his fist as anger built up inside him.
"What do you want, Myne!? Naofumi showed me the truth!" Motoyasu roared with anger.
"Wow, thank you, I absolutely couldn't hear you," Myne spoke with clear sarcasm, triggering more of the heroes' frustration.
"Answer him. You owe us that much," Itsuki spoke.
"Owe you? What for?"
"You've been lying this entire time! Framing Naofumi! And for what!?" Motoyasu screamed.
"You don't get it. This is bigger than him or you. Do you remember the church of the three heroes."
"What about them?"
"As you know, they're a religious group that worships the heroes of the sword, bow, and spear, but they despise the shield hero. Bunch of sick fucks. They've been plotting to usurp the throne and kill my entire family."
"I swear if this is another lie—"
"It isn't."
Myne seemed to look to Motoyasu with earnest. It strangely put him at ease somewhat.
"How does Naofumi tie into this?" Ren questioned.
"You saw that power he and Motoyasu fought with? Those are Sin States. Everything I did was to grant Naofumi the sin state of rage. The church is incredibly powerful. To beat it, I needed that on my side."
"He's not on your side. He hates you. He tried to kill you."
"Exactly, my death would have broken him. And once he uncovered the truth, nothing would stop him."
"You planned to die?"
"Not entirely."
Myne snapped her fingers, black flames engulfed the trio of heroes, healing them completely and restoring their armor and clothing.
"Black Fire. It is the conceptual inversion of ordinary fire. Where fire destroys complexity, Black Fire creates it."
While they were amazed, Motoyasu came to a sickening realisation.
"The forest! You could have saved us! You could have saved them!"
"Don't blame me for your failures! They were my friends too. My friends died because of you!"
The room fell deaf as the heroes recounted the worst event of their lives. They will never forget, for as long as they live.
"Why Naofumi?" Ren broke the silence.
"Like I said, the church despises the shield hero, there were terrible rumors of him even before he appeared. Wrath seemed to be the most logical pick."
"Using someone like that. Naofumi was a friend. Was there not a better way?"
"There is now. Help me."
Motoyasu was taken aback by such a request, "Myne—"
"Help me and I will help you unlock the Sin States. This Wave is proof you'll need them. If not for the sake of my family, you owe it to our dead friends."
The heroes took a moment to consider this. All of this.
"Are we sure about this?" Ren asked.
"We're nothing without sin states. We couldn't protect anyone," Itsuki admitted.
"If we can master them, no one will ever have to be hurt ever again. We can be what we were always meant to be. And we'll work for it. For this new world. Our new world."
The heroes nodded to one another, agreeing that so long they had each other, nothing could stop them. They turned back to Glass, determination reignited in their eyes.
"We'll do it."
"Thank you," Myne bowed her head low, a sinister grin hidden from the sights of the heroes. Things may have derailed somewhat thanks to DIO, but everything's been set in motion and nothing can stop it.
"But no more games, no more tricks. And leave Naofumi be. He's been through enough."
"Done."
"Good. Now, where do we start?"
A king and a mage displaced across dimensions into a foreign realm. Their goal clear and mission simple, however, far from easy. They had bled profusely, bruised and battered, their wills and morals tested yet they stood strong, holding onto the final hope for their world. Like a great darkness, a man more than mortal, stood even greater than them, on the verge of snuffing out the light of their hope. Their strongest ally upon her knees, near death at the hands of DIO. His body was healed to completion, leaving not even the shadow of a scar. It was almost a mockery of the great warrior that had given her all to ensure his demise. His voice roared with rage, having just defeated their strongest, in his mind they were nothing, even together. They were powerful and fast, however they could barely graze him, as his power over time made him nigh untouchable. DIO abused them with a bombardment of his powers born from pride. The king and mage accumulated more and worse injuries, DIO intent on wearing them down. Fire, lightning, earth, sky, wind, ice, death itself. The elements embodied in physical attacks that shook great towns were either evaded or healed from by the vampiric menace. His regeneration seemed instantaneous outside of timestop just as his attacks that were felt as countless of lesser attacks thrown at once thanks to it. Their combined synergy made them a threat beyond comprehension, but in a world devoid of time where they stood frozen before an immortal vampire aided by a guardian spirit of greater power, it only slowed the inevitable.
"[The World]! Stop Time!"
"He is activating it!" Therese yelled aloud.
DIO raised his arms to his sides, soon to shout out his stand. He was abruptly impeded by a duplicate of the legendary fan stabbing through his neck. The wound was near his cerebellum and he nearly collapsed on the spot.
"What!? Is... This!?!?"
"Glass!?" Therese and L'arc exclaimed.
Glass re-entered the fight, clutching her wounds and gritting her teeth as she removed the last of Rishia's blades from within her flesh.
"You?!?! You may live, however merely standing should be impossible!" DIO stood flabbergasted.
"You underestimate the heart of my world just as you do your own. You are not a force of good in this world, not truly. You exist of your own accord as you see fit. I have met true heroes, you are not among them."
"The words of mass murderers fall deaf upon my ears. I shall bear whatever cross, whatever slander to protect those beneath me. Strength is not to abuse but to inspire. Under me, new worlds perfected shall be born. You are correct I am no hero, I am a king. A king of the people that cry out my name! You kill millions out of desperation. I will kill you so we who live may push onward to the future!"
DIO proclaimed to the heavens and the earth, now facing all three invaders standing against him. He was the final defense against the world's end. The final pillar. The final challenge. Glass, Therese, and L'arc all moved in unison, using one another's strengths to reach the perfect position. Once all was set, they prepared their greatest attack. The three of them levitated over DIO, white, black and violet auras flowed in unison. The three of them were different in every way, distinct in race, personality and experiences. But necessity drew them together, like gravity, they were tossed into an impossible situation with only each other as support, thus came about their most potent weapon. In the skies above, a blue moon came to be, DIO's golden sillhouet beneath its light.
"First Form: Wind Slice," L'arc declared.
"Shining Stone: Blizzard," Therese interlocked her fingers over her head, summoning ancient magics buried in her nature amplified by those she entrusted.
"Circle Dance Zero Formation, Reverse Snow Moon Flower," Glass raised the legendary fan.
The blue moon lit up as sparkles of various coloured snowflakes rained down in white streaks. Their courses twisted around DIO as they descended, converging at a point on the ground. This display formed a tornado of frozen light from the heavens. Dubbed the Brillant Glaciar Cyclone, it tore through DIO at the most fundamental level, reducing the energy of his soul to nothing. It was a direct gateway to the afterlife.
"WRYYY!"
DIO screamed as his body was torn apart. Sensing the end was near, he took action to prevent his demise. DIO raised his hand to his neck and severed his head from his shoulders. In seconds, his body was reduced to ashes blown by the wind. A wave of light blinded all view as the tornado inevitably dissipated. Glass, Therese and L'arc breathed heavy as their bodies wore.
"Is it done!?" L'arc internally prayed for a positive answer.
"Unfortunately, it is not. I can sense his corrupt lifeforce pulsing," Glass observed.
"How is that possible!?" L'arc exclaimed.
"DIO is a being that rejects life and seeks to master death. More than likely he has separated a part of himself to regenerate from."
"Then let us end what remains before he is granted that oppurtunity!" Therese raised her fists eagerly.They hovered down in a slow descent, their feet touching the earth once more.
"Ow! Shit!" L'arc screamed, clutching his leg.
"Stop whining," Therese scolded.
"Pain is a construct of the mind, young king," Glass folded her arms as she spoke, conveying a sense of wisdom.
"This construct hurts like hell!"
"If you're done moaning, we have a job to do," Therese held a dulled gem in a closed fist.
"He is the last of them, huh? Once we do this, it's over," L'arc's demeanor saddened.
The others remained silent, it was time. Glass opened her fan and L'arc raised his scythe.
"Shattered World!"
Crossing zero space, Glass assisting L'arc, arrived at DIO's location. In the exact instant of leaving the Shattered World, L'arc swung his scythe downward to end DIO's head.
RAGE SHIELD II
Metal struck metal as a surprising arrival offset the invaders.
"Naofumi!" L'arc exclaimed, his shock visible.
"What's wrong? Seen a ghost?" Naofumi held a challenging glare as he spoke, withholding the internal storm of his rage.
"L'arc!? A hero lives!?" Glass hovering about cautiously, scowled at the revelation. Their mission was far from over.
"Soon, he shall no longer!" Therese proclaimed, dashing in to attack Naofumi as he was preoccupied by L'arc.
"Therese! Do not touch him! There is an energy in tandem with his shield, I see it coursing through his veins!"
Therese, caught in the moment, persisted, landing a heavy blow to the shield hero's side. It was a direct hit, but its effects were instantly mitigated by an electric repulsion. It was now that Therese understood how L'arc could struggle against an opponent he had prior overpowered.
"It's Unrelenting Hatred!" L'arc spoke through grunts of effort, reminding his comrade of the ability that allowed Naofumi to remain intact despite incredible strain or damage.
"This... this is the power of Jouta Kujo! Hamon!" Therese exclaimed.
Naofumi allowed himself a faint smirk, his energy surging as he expanded this electric field, repelling both Therese and L'arc. DIO, thanks to his state, could only act as a spectator, coming to the realization that the invaders had not.
"No, this is no mere rage or hamon. This is the burning passion of all life. The combination of the two. The spark that birthed life fused within the fire that drives it. Rageful Hamon. I hadn't believed it possible. Hamon requires near absolute calm while the dragon's rage required berserk fury. Polar opposites. But before my very eyes, stands one that has mastered both. His rage is concentrated, focused. Not upon his enemies, but his very actions. Empowering them. He possesses a goal beyond mindless destruction. His Hamon breathing granting perfect control over the flow of this wrathful energy, no, not energy. It is more akin to a force driven by the energy of life. Blazing Ripple."
With this Blazing Ripple, Naofumi could modify every single technique he knew. And as of this moment, that was Unrelenting Hatred. Applying it to his electricity, he condensed it to create solid Hamon. The limit of his current understanding of this new power which would surely grow as time went on. The invaders stood in wonder. Such power would surely surpass even them.
"Striking it is useless," Glass stated, "Do not battle the ocean, catch the fish."
Those present were left puzzled in search of her meaning. Her words were wise and for good reason. In a calm manner, Glass shifted her foot forward and raised her fan. With an elegant motion, she launched a vertical energy wave that split the earth beneath them. The split travelled ahead, growing beneath the Hamon forcefield and launching Naofumi off the ground. The force of it interrupting his breathing and disabling his shield. He laid upon his back with DIO's remain beside him.
"You did not form a perfect sphere!" DIO scolded Naofumi.
"Was I supposed to see the future!" He retorted.
"Honestly I do not see what she sees in you."
"What the hell does that mean!?"
Naofumi and DIO bickered as the invaders drew near. They encroached quickly to attack. Without his protection, Naofumi was left one option.
"Now you have forced my hand. You leave me no choice but to make use of an ancient technique passed on to me by my master," The invaders braced themselves in worried anticipation upon hearing this, and as stoic as ever, Naofumi blankly stared at them before grabbing DIO's head and running off into the dense forest that bordered the clearing.
"This world is strange..." mused Glass.
"Mhmm," Therese and L'arc hummed in agreement.
"Running into the forest is a good idea though. Potentially slowing down our travelling speed as well as splitting us up," L'arc analyzed.
"And Hamon grants its users incredible stamina and endurance. He may be attempting to reach a fellow comrade." Therese added.
"He forgets who he faces," Glass fiercely stated.
The invaders pursued the two, carefully evading trees and other obstacles as they run through the forest. Even with the terrain, Naofumi could not outrun them. And he could sense it.
"Damnit. You aren't dead! Can't you regenerate?"
Naofumi asked of DIO who could only glare from the hero's arms.
"Vampires cannot recreate their bodies from nothing. I require blood. Bountiful amounts."
"Shit."
Naofumi ran on, their best option as of now.
"We need DIO. With the way he dismantled L'arc and Therese, if we put our power together, we could take at least one of them out at a time. Issue is, that hinges on DIO being able to exploit timestop. That third invader seems like a hard counter to that idea. Getting rid of her is our only hope."
"Naofumi," DIO voiced, "I sense your ambition. She is Glass. A veteran of war and combat. Not only does she predict actions, but your very philosophy as a fighter. Luckily, she witnessed little of your abilities. There is a way of exploiting that. And it solely hinges upon your trust in me."
"DIO, in all honesty, you're manipulative and self-centered. Regardless of friend or foe. You're the type to betray others just to further your own goals. I despise such people."
"However?"
"Jouta, Senshi, DIONA, Eli, Raphtalia. All these amazing people you surround yourself with. They make me feel like I'm finally doing somthing worthwhile. Like a hero. I can only imagine that anyone, even you, would feel the same."
"Perhaps that is the only difference between I and he who precedes me. I have learned that people are a powerful weapon. A weapon greater than any individual."
Naofumi smirked, "Good answer."
Glass, L'arc and Therese persisted their chase, constantly on Naofumi's tail.
"He's better than us at traversing forested areas. He's well experienced," L'arc spoke as he ducked beneath a lateral tree branch.
"Experienced, but aimless. A wounded dog is a wounded dog."
"Does that mean you've mapped out his movement patterns?" Therese asked.
"Not entirely. Slightly further and I may trap him."
"Why can't we just destroy this damn forest?" L'arc expressed frustration.
"And provide him debris as cover? We would lose his presence. Such hasty thought is unbecoming, young king."
L'arc growled angrily, "It's fucked up. I'm tired. We've bled everything today for the sake of home, but it's still not enough."
"L'arc..." Therese' voice was truly doleful, understanding the weight of everything they've lost. He and her were an 'eye for an eye' in a sense after all.
"It will never be enough, young king. No matter your power or status, you are no god. A king understands that more than anyone. That is why you lead your people, you are their aspiration. A king is a humble servant to the nothing that is beyond all of us. And his people, following him, become humble servants to him."
"You sound like my father."
"He was a great king. Just as you will be."
"Hmph, you really are a steel softie."
"Just as you will be."
"Hahahaha," Therese laughed and so did L'arc. Glass sparing a light smile before returning to her stoic visage.
"The time to strike is now."
Therese and L'arc nodded, ready to support Glass. The invaders carried on their pursuit of Naofumi. They kept track of his movements, quickly closing the distance. Glass analyzed every possible pattern, every path, every future. And within that web, found the fate that belonged to Naofumi. As she knew where he had previously been, she now knew where he would be. It was certain. With a firm step forward, Glass entered her shattered space. A void of undefined shape where space had no meaning. Just as she entered, she escaped it in an instant, appearing before her prey. The shield hero. The light of the red sky bathed the forest in black shadows made by the towering trees. Five slashes of her fan would end his life. Five slashes would end this world.
Blazing Ripple: Unrelenting Hatred
Naofumi activated his power fueled by his wrathful spark. Late. Too late. Glass pierced through his armor and flesh. He was strong, nearly as strong as the invaders, but it was not enough. Her fan penetrated into his flesh. And Naofumi held tight onto it. The electric charge of his Hamon spread to his enemy. The Hamon expanded into a perfect sphere that engulfed them. Glass rushed to stab into Naofumi's gut, burying her entire hand up to her wrist. Naofumi's blood curdling scream resonated throughout the forest and yet he held firm onto his opponent.
"Glass!" Therese and L'arc ran to her aid, attaking the sphere to no avail.
"What is the point of this?" Glass asked Naofumi.
"Never heard of a sacrificial lamb? DIO's long gone. But if luck's on my side, not for long."
"You would gamble your life away?"
"This isn't just any gamble. This one's for the jackpot."
Therese and L'arc attacked the protective barrier with all their might, however little they retained in their current states.
"Need some help?"
A finger tapped Therese's shoulder. She spun around with a roundhouse kick. Only for her leg to be caught by an unmistakable Joestar.
"Jouta!?"
"In the flesh!"
Jouta punched Therese in the face, sending her flying into a nearby tree, splintering its trunk. L'arc swung his scythe at Jouta whose fighting spirit manifested to catch the blade between its palms. Then through the stand, Jouta exclaimed, "Hamon overdrive!"
Hamon conducted through the metal, shocking L'arc's nervous system like lightning. L'arc fell to his knees, vapor rising from his skin.
"Naofumi. You alright in there?"
"No."
"Gotchu, gotchu."
Jouta constructed an emerald sword from his stand and with it, severed the electric sphere in two. Like cell division, it split into two equal spheres. One contained Naofumi, the other, Glass. Naofumi absorbed the Hamon back into himself, partially healing the hole in his stomach.
"Nice trick. Where'd you learn that?"
"Raphtalia."
"How is she?"
"Alive. DIONA?"
"Same."
Jouta and Naofumi stood side by side, their blending Hamons illuminating the darkness of the forest around them. Therese and L'arc stumbled to their feet, injured and down a member as Glass was hopelessly trapped within the bubble. As it was produced from her very body, she could not escape via her shattered space as it would simply move with her. The two invaders stood at odds with the two protectors and preluding further violence, they exchanged words.
"Jouta! I believed you dead," Therese seemed more relieved than anything.
"Well, turns out I'm immortal," Jouta replied with the sincerest earnest.
"Naofumi."
"L'arc."
The scythe hero and shield hero spoke few words, a mutual respect communicated in their stead.
"When it comes down to it," Jouta began, his Hamon sparking with his stand's emerald.
"It's the strongest will that comes out on top," Naofumi finished, his Blazing Ripple ignited by his controlled rage.
L'arc and Therese similarly raised their energy, together they combined their power. The duos charged forward. One final clash to settle what had been started.
THUNDER RAIN FLYING CIRCLE
Naofumi and Jouta entwined the essence of their lives into a single fury. A dragon of jade blessed by the fire of the divine one. Together, master and pupil declared, "JADE DRAGON'S FURY!"
A spark of dazzling light blinded the forest, sweeping across the landscape and leaving it nearly barren before dissipating in an instant. All parties laid beaten and battered. However, from the dust of the earth, with the breath of the wind, Naofumi Iwatani was the one to rise, standing above the violence.
"We... win."
L'arc and Therese were left unconscious and soon to perish as their wounds overcame them. Naofumi assisted the barely conscious Jouta in standing as he too was hurt beyond the rate of his Hamon's healing.
"What do we do with them?" Naofumi inquired.
"Send them home," Jouta looked to the remaining invader, Glass.
She stood in silence, but faintly, her demeanor expressed deep concern though it was overshadowed by a hardened exterior.
"This battle is over," Naofumi stated.
"I agree."
Suddenly, Naofumi felt his internal organs burst. Blood exploded in all directions. Jouta could only watch in horror as his friend's body hit the ground in a pool of his blood.
"What the fuck!?"
Lodged in Naofumi's abdomen, was a severed arm. Naofumi drifted between dead and alive as blood rapidly left him, his breathing chaotic and desperate. His life now measured in minutes. Jouta returned his gaze to Glass, blood dripped from where her arm once was.
"She ripped off her own arm and used it as a projectile!? A severed limb wouldn't carry the Hamon keeping her trapped and could move through her void space."
"You are injured and he is near death. As he did earlier, he may absorb this Hamon to save himself," Glass spoke calmly desite her gruesome injury.
"Shit. She's cracked Hamon. I'm too injured to produce anything significant. If Naofumi doesn't absorb it, he'll die."
"You'll kill us anyway!"
"Indeed."
Jouta cursed his life as he limped over to Glass and removed the Hamon barrier as lightning that danced in his palm. He granted this to Naofumi whose breathing stabilized as a result. Jouta dropped to the ground, exhausted. Glass stood as the last man standing. Her objective simple: kill the heroes of this world. Even if that meant disregarding the lives of her comrades. The lives of her friends. Jouta sighed.
A few minutes ago
"You can sense where JoJo is?"
Naofumi conversed with DIO's severed head.
"The Joestars' bond runs deeper than blood."
"If I die?"
"You will not. Jouta is soon to arrive. You two are sufficient in defeating the invaders once Glass is trapped. Use their lives to force a retreat."
"If that fails."
"Things will get interesting, won't they?"
Present
"We're out of time. DIO..."
Jouta closed his fist, digging his nails into the flesh of his palm. Blood. What bound his family for centuries. It trickled down to the earth and from the earth to the one who hungers. Time stopped across time and space. A man in a black trench coat walked in the silence, standing over the downed Joestar.
"DIO?"
"Barely. This body belongs to a dead man."
"That's fucking disgusting."
"Merely borrowing. Moving about as a head is cumbersome."
"Of course you'd say that. You smelled it, didn't you?"
"I do. Constantly. It entices me."
"If I'm being honest, I'm worried what will happen to you."
"Whatever does. You will stop me. All of you wll. Even if I were to die now, my will shall carry on through all of you. A king is nothing without his people."
"You really are a sweet talker."
DIO grinned.
The flow of time was restored as the universe resumed. Despite that, the sky stood still, the waters froze in place, the earth spun no more. Even the Wave surrendered momentarily. The universe itself declared one simple fact: DIO had returned. In an instant, he regenerated the body of Jonathan Joestar cursed by his darkness. His lower body concealed by obsidian black cloth that wrapped about his legs and waist. Blessings from the earth in the form of trinkets of gold dazzled from his bare chest and arms. Their shine made utterly inferior by the glow of his stand, The strongest stand of his previous universe barring one, [The World, fully awakened. With the blood of the Joestar, DIO's mind returned to him and his strength peaked. DIO had awakened. Glass witnessed this divine ascension and faced it with a single arm.
"Now this, is the greatest high!"
DIO's blood red eyes hovered over this world, the world he sought to conquer. They then came to land upon his current enemy.
"You? I have arrived much too early. I suppose I should have some fun with it."
DIO walked over to Naofumi and ripped Glass' arm from his half-dead body. He tossed it over to Glass.
"It should reattach. Try it."
Glass hesitantly did so, sensing no ulterior motives. And just as he said, the arm healed perfectly onto the bloody stump. In fact, all of Glass' wounds vanished, restoring her to her max power.
"You... are not the man I faced."
"I am not. I am not a man at all, really. Whoever you encountered, was a shattered form of myself. There exists many of them."
"You recognised me. I assume you know of the future?"
"Only as far as it concerns myself. All else, I merely orchestrate."
"Then tell me, dark lord. Shall my world live?"
"It must."
"Very well," Glass entered her stance. The shattered form to its perfection. A rare and beautiful sight.
DIO smirked as [The World] grit its teeth. The stand and the hero clashed in a rapid fire display of attacks that shook the world.
"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA...!"
Jouta watched the battle unfold, not much else to do in his state. Others arrived at the scene but were equally made mere onlookers.
"Rishia? You're here."
"Hello, JoJo."
"The others?"
"Safe."
"Good."
"What happened to DIO?"
"His memories are back."
"Is that bad?"
"Really bad. Luckily it's temporary. If he was ever released onto this world, no one and nothing would be safe. Peace would die forever."
"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA...!"
The stand and hero battled, blow for blow, excluding the occasional strike that landed on either. But in this brief exchange, Glass' fatigue was greater than the battles of the entire Wave. DIO took note of her declining speed and grew bored of her.
"[The World]. End this."
With that command, [The World]'s speed and power jumped to a ridiculous degree, a single punch spilling blood. Another, shattered flesh and bone. Glass crumbled to the ground, defeated.
"Take your people and leave this realm. Once you've returned, warn them of disasters to come."
"You see this a game?"
"As a wise man once said 'God doesn't play games'. As I have already won."
DIO snapped his fingers, and the universe returned to normalcy simultaneously as DIO's mind scattered across space-time once more. DIO fell as his mind drifted.
"Heaven."
Jouta caught DIO mid-fall, nearly falling himself.
"Damn, you're heavy."
DIO could only groan in response.
"Joestar."
"?"
"I shall bring you home, kin."
With that, Glass used what they had learned from DIO's writings to create a rift between worlds. The invaders were enveloped in light. Their bodies became ethereal and they vanished from this reality.
"Kin?"
Jouta pondered her words, but was soon interrupted by the growls of monsters that crawled from the darkness. The Wave had never stopped. Jouta sighed.
"What delays you, JoJo?" DIO spoke as he rose to his feet, cracking his bones in preparation for combat.
Jouta was at first shocked by DIO's willingness. Then Naofumi similarly forced his body to stand, clutching his healing wound with one hand and burning with rage in the other.
"Nothin," Jouta stood beside them, facing what remained of the creatures of the dark with nothing but his bare hands.
They were foreigners. Aliens to this world and its people. Yet they shed blood, sweat and tears to protect it. This had become home. Home to a vampire terrorist, an egg baby, and an alleged criminal. Some might say they were the worst of the world, abominations in the gaze of many. That may be true. However, what the stood for, who they fought for, could not have been more pure. Just as it does for all who walk the earth, whether they denied it, embraced it, or despised it, the sun would shine on them yet. And they shone back. As the Heroes From Nowhere.