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Chapter Text

The ship was going down.

It didn't take genius on the level of Dio's to make that obvious. The boiler had burst like a balloon, flames were quickly racing up the support beams and through the ceiling, and any floorboards that had not burned away were already beginning to creak under his weight. Any other time, Dio would not have worried. As he was learning again and again, his body was well and truly indestructible. A volley of gunfire, the wreckage of a burning house, a sword through the head, none of those had been enough to stop him.

But this was not his body, and as he dragged himself across the floor of the sinking ship, Jojo's aching muscles made that fact abundantly clear. When he commanded them, his limbs would move just a few inches off the mark. When his muscles flexed, they burned with the still fading glow of the Hamon coursing through Jojo's body.

Even in death, you still try to stop me, Jojo? Dio hissed between his sharpened teeth. How foolish. There is no point in resisting me. You are dead. There is nothing for you to gain from this, but you do not let me get to safety, we will both perish!

Again, he thrust his hands forward, digging his claws into the wood as he pulled himself ever-closer to the shiny black coffin at the end of the room, he could still feel the sharp pain of Jojo's Hamon refusing to die down. A man of futility to the very end, it seems.

Dio had said that he had admired that about Jojo to his face, and he had been telling the truth then, but now...

It doesn't bother me in the slightest. Dio laughed, his raspy voice sputtering out between the smoke quickly choking the air overhead. You fought well. You were able to defeat me at every turn. But I am the only one still alive.

At last, Dio's fingers brushed against the side of the coffin. He'd made it. Just a little further, just a little more. Dio shoved the lid aside.

Your resistance is useless.

Grasped the rim.

Useless.

Pulled himself up.

Useless!

A hand reached out, grasped Dio's wrist, and shoved him away.

The ship exploded. Dio's body was consumed in flames and burned to ash.

DIO's quill snapped. Blood trickled down his lip as his fangs bit into his flesh, and the way his eyes narrowed did little to restrain the bubbling frustration in his throat.

No, that's not what happened, he thought. If I had died on that blasted ship, could I have risen to this seat of power?

But as much as he had tried to deny it, the fact of the matter remained that there had been someone else in that coffin. The muffled sounds of combat coming from the manor's basement was proof enough of that.

How was it that the most useless of the Joestars were always the ones that caused him the most problems? Before it was Holly Kujo's fragile soul sending her father and son on the warpath, it was Erina Joestar who had stubbornly clung to life, escaping a death that was rightfully hers by weaseling her way into his coffin and using it to ferry herself to safety.

Her, the girl who had burst into tears upon having her doll stolen, had been the one to turn his own machinations against him? The idea was so laughable, had it not been the truth.

Which, of course, then meant that DIO, the genius that he was, must have outsmarted her somehow. Found... found some kind of way to turn her trickery against him.

But how had he done it?

The fact that he could not remember annoyed him greatly. This was his greatest moment of triumph, the moment he had finally taken everything from his greatest and only enemy, when he had triumphed over the destiny determined to pit them against each other forever and escaped with his life, and he could not remember it? What kind of a god did that make him, that he could not even recall something like that? What kind of a memoir was he going to give Pucci if he could not finish it?

I must think about this carefully and logically. This was a sinking ship. The entire crew, all its passengers, under my command. There should not have been many ways to escape, not for me, and certainly not for her, either. If I examine the facts of the case, then surely I will be able to determine the truth of this through the process of elimination.

Not that there were that many options to eliminate. There was a coffin. There was Erina. And there was Dio. There was only so many ways those three things could be arranged, and it would only be a matter of time before he found one that actually made sense. This was, after all, the night where he would at last discard everything that connected him to his past and his humanity. The Joestar bloodline, Jonathan's body, they would all submit under his heel by tonight. There would be no other outcome.

"Lord DIO." Vanilla Ice's low voice seeped through the door.

Had he come to inform DIO about Telence T' D'Arby's defeat? From the loud, resonating crash downstairs, DIO had already assumed that he had been overwhelmed by the combined efforts of Jotaro Kujo and Joseph Joestar, but it never hurt to have confirmation. The long and winding paths generated by Kenny G's Stand, Tenor Sax, would slow them down, and with the way Nukesaku was wandering through the halls, he was bound to run into them too, but for Jean Pierre Polnareff, Mohammad Avdol, and Iggy, coming in through the main entrance... they would need to be dealt with directly.

And just how should I rile up my oh-so faithful servant to deal with them? Shall I compliment his strength? Or his resolve? Either one should not matter. He is more than strong enough to, at the very least, deal a crippling blow to Joseph Joestar's team of crusaders.

DIO snapped his diary shut and placed it down on the desk at his bedside, swirling the wine in his other hand as he tried to think of the best way to drive his most powerful disciple into a frenzy, before he waved his hand and said, "Speak."

Then Vanilla Ice said, "There was a woman wandering the atrium. She has requested your presence, so I have brought her here."

The wine in DIO's glass stilled. His nostrils flared. The frost clinging to the threads of silk on his bedsheets crinkled as DIO's back muscles flexed, pulling him up to sit just a little straighter.

A woman? How... unexpected. Had one of his whores managed to slip away amidst one of his blood-fueled feasts? DIO was careless and indulgent in his drinking of women, so it would not surprise him if one or two had come to their senses in the middle of seeing their companions waste away and had hidden themselves in the manor's many crevices and hallways, but the fact that she had specifically asked for him implied otherwise. Could this be a poorly executed ambush by the wretched Speedwagon Foundation? Or was this another Stand user chasing after dreams of glory and power, as so many others seeking to serve him had done? He had little use for either, not when all his remaining disciples were more than enough to funnel Joseph Joestar and his companions right into his waiting jaws.

DIO flexed his hands, watching as Jojo's bicep, his bicep, curled, a faint undercurrent of Hamon still sizzling beneath his skin. Of course, I could use her to finish my transformation, a small, traitorous part of his mind suggested, but he snuffed it out without a second thought. If my dominance is to be total, and my victory complete, I must drink the blood of a Joestar to satisfy this hunger. It was the blood of a Joestar that granted me this power–it must be the same to complete it. To accept anything less would be... demeaning.

Still, this woman could still serve some use, so DIO waved his hand, and the mist parted for The World as he reached through and pulled the doors open. "You may enter."

The first thing he noticed about the woman who stumbled in through the door was that she was tall. Not taller than him, goodness no, but taller than a woman of her stature should have been, almost as if, despite being a full two heads shorter than either him or Vanilla Ice, he should have been the one looking up at her–and wasn't that one hell of a strange thing to admit. The whores had thrown themselves at his feet but this one, she picked herself up, brushed down her white wool coat, and got to her feet. She had this strange sense of dignity to her, almost like... like...

A rooster! Yes, a rooster among hens. One that carried itself with pride, oblivious to the fact that, like the rest, it was only just livestock.

"Dio? Is that you?" she asked, brushing her long, brown hair out of her eyes. "My, how you've grown!"

DIO narrowed his eyes. Definitely not one of his whores, then. They would have never spoken to him so blatantly out of line. None of his servants, either. DIO glanced past the woman at Vanilla Ice. The man looked tense, like it was taking everything in him not to snap and put the woman in her place.

DIO raised his hand, and at his command, Vanilla Ice spoke. "D'Arby has been defeated. As we speaking, Joseph Joestar's group has begun to search for a way out of the basement, while Muhammud Avdol's group nears the courtyard."

"Indeed. Ice, you are my strongest servant. I have full–"

"Joestar? Have you invited his family here too? My, you must be quite rich if they are the ones coming to your home."

DIO's wine froze in his glass. The curtains on his bed rattled and fell still, ice locking the threads in place.

Had she just–

"You dare?!" Vanilla Ice roared, instantly on his feet. "Who do you think you are, that you can interrupt your better?"

"We are all equal in the eyes of the Lord."

"There is no Lord but Lord DIO, and he stands above us all! Say another word against him, and I shall–"

"Ice. That is enough." DIO flicked his hand out the door. "See to it that Avdol's group is dealt with."

Immediately, Vanilla Ice's face cleared of all rage. "As you command." He leaped back, vanishing into the open mouth of his Stand, before that too disappeared through the open doors.

Which left him and the woman alone in his room.

"Where did he go? Is your friend alright?"

For better or for worse.

DIO had initially planned on injecting her with his vampiric essence, turned her into a thrall, and let her loose on Joseph Joestar's group, but now...

"You interest me, woman," DIO purred. "No one else dares speak to me so boldly."

The woman shook her head with a quiet laugh. "That's silly. Why should I be intimidated by you?"

"Why wouldn't you?" DIO's bed creaked as he pushed himself to his feet. His shadow, already stretched long by the deep blue candlelight pulsing from the glittering silver candelabra decorating the table beside him, cast over her face and left no light on her skin except for the faint red glow of his eyes. Tougher men had been left quivering by such a sight.

This woman, she just smiled. "Oh, DIO. It doesn't matter how old you are. I could never be afraid of you."

DIO's heart stopped. Something inside him stirred, in a way that he had thought he had forgotten how to. When he had put on that mask, he had left everything that was Dio Brando behind. His memories, his attachments, his fears. He should not be feeling this.

And yet, suddenly, he found himself sitting in that cold, dark room, sitting atop wooden floorboards as his father tore apart dinner with his bare hands on the other side of the crumbling wall.

He should have killed her then and there. He'd done it before, charmed dozens, perhaps hundreds of women into his grasp, only to drain the life from their bodies with a brush of his fingernails.

And yet... and yet...

"I am not old," he hissed, leaning closer so she could see his fangs. "I am DIO! I am beyond age. I have outlived entire bloodlines. There is no one in living memory who remembers my face."

"I could never forget your face," the woman whispered, and, instead of turning away, she placed a hand on his check. Her touch burned against his. His skin must have felt ice cold to her.

"Your smile. Your eyes. Your eyebrows." She reached out and tapped him on his forehead. "You inherited so much from me, but your nose... you have your father's handsome eyebrows."

The word escaped him before he could stop it. "Mother."

His mother smiled. "Dio. My son. You have grown up into such a beautiful boy."

Chapter Text

The ship was going down. Wooden beams snapped and crumbled before him, setting his skin ablaze faster than his vampiric healing could repair the damage. Normally, that was not a problem. Normally, he wouldn't be puppeting a body that was actively trying to root him out. His veins, Jojo's veins, really, burned with the heat of the sun as his vampiric essence pumped through his flesh, the fading energy of his life doing its best to flush him out even as the fibers of his muscle curled with his commands.

It was a trivial resistance, but resistance nonetheless. If he did not find somewhere to complete his takeover, he would surely burn to death.

Which was why Dio breathed a sigh of relief as finally, finally, his hands grasped the lid of his coffin. Jojo's body gave one last surge of resistance, almost as if his spirit could sense this was the last chance he would get to ruin his plans. A jolt of Hamon raced up his spine. Dio's flesh burned, and the skin on his neck began to peel away, his arms falling limp by his side. All Dio had to do was wait, and as the brief feeling of pain faded away and the feeling returned to his limbs, Dio smiled. At last, victory was his.

Dio pulled open the coffin, slipped inside, and dragged the lid shut behind him. As he laid down and relaxed, he could feel the fight slowly leave Jojo's body. Though the burns and the blood loss would take time to heal, it was only a matter of time before his vampiric essence bled through the rest of Jojo's body and put him firmly and completely under his control. Destiny had been so eager to pit them against each other, but now that they were one in the same, who was to say?

The lid ground against the coffin. Bright, flickering orange light can bleeding through as the coffin opened again, and suddenly, Dio found himself face to face with the stunned face of Erina Joestar.

Dio should have moved first. He should have lunged out with his vampiric strength and crushed her where she stood, or he could have split open her head with his vampiric essence eye discharge attack.

Then he blinked, and suddenly her hands were around his wrist, dragging him out.

Dio swung his hand out. His claws ripped through her throat, and Erina dropped dead before him.

But his arm refused to budge.

Dio's eyes widened, even as Erina hoisted his chest over the rim of the coffin. Jojo! What the hell are you doing?! Why are you refusing to fight back!

Again, he sent his vampiric essence down into Jojo's body, but he had wasted so much of it suppressing Jojo's body on the way here that he had nothing left. Erina grunted again, struggling to even lift Dio's weight, but when he couldn't even fight back, that was all she needed to do. Little by little, inch by inch, he could feel his body leave the safety of the coffin, all while he was completely helpless to do anything to stop her.

You can't do this, Jojo! Dio wanted to scream. This can't be what you want! If you let her do this, she'll kill us both!

But even as he thought those words, he knew that it was exactly what Jojo wanted. This was the same fool who had exploded on him because he had sullied Erina's reputation. Even if it meant destroying them both, Jojo would betray him in a heartbeat if it meant Erina would live.

Dio's back hit the wooden floor. His legs tumbled out not long after. Erina offered him one last pitiful look, before she sealed herself in the coffin and left Dio to burn.

She was not supposed to be here.

DIO knew this as a fact. He had been there when the police had told him his mother was dead. There was no one else to tell, not when his wretched father had spent that entire weekend out eating and whoring and... and now she was here, wiping the ice from his desk and dusting out his bedsheets.

It had to be a Stand attack. Some kind of mental projection or manipulation of his memories, or an illusion. Could it be a dream? Like the one used by Death 13? The Joestar group had somehow beaten him all the way in Saudi Arabia, but the Tarot card mercenaries had always been more loyal to Enya than to him, so it wasn't out of the possibility that the user had returned for revenge.

"It's so cold here," his mother mumbled, shaking her head. "I hope you aren't truly sleeping here. You might get sick!" Suddenly, she whirled on DIO. "Did someone force you to buy this, Dio?"

DIO grimaced. In truth, he hadn't bought this place at all. He'd liked how it had looked, so he had drunk the owner and moved in.

"No, mother. I wanted to sleep here," he replied.

"Are you sure?" His mother reached up and pulled his head down so she could touch her forehead to his. "Goodness, your skin is ice cold! You must be sick from sleeping here!"

And her skin felt hot to the touch, so it almost certainly could not be an illusion. She was really here. His mother was actually...

"I'm fine," DIO replied, but even the sound of his voice sounded distant.

His mother smiled and shook her head. "It's okay, Dio. You don't need to suffer any longer. Come here. We shall move your bed to somewhere far warmer after you have had something to eat, how does that sound?"

DIO said nothing, not as she led him out the door, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. She asked him how the stove worked, and he was fairly sure he'd said something in reply because she managed to turn it on after a few tries and started throwing things into a pot, but for the life of him, he could not remember what.

He had finally finished gathering himself by the time she was finished. Through some... strange sequence of events, his mother had been torn out of that hellhole that was the 19th century and ended up here. Here, right in front of him, in Cairo, Egypt, on the night he was to become God.

How? With the limitless possibilities of Stands, there could be any number of explanations for how she could be here. The existence of Divine Anubis and Divine Ptah proved that Stands had been around for hundreds of years, and although he was certain that none possessed the complete and total dominance over time that was his, it was not impossible that there existed a Stand with a... lesser influence on time, one that could have sent his mother hurtling out of his childhood and to here.

Then why here? DIO would have dismissed it as sheer chance, one thing out of hundreds that had refused to go his way over the past two months, but the timing, it was almost too perfect. As perfect as Zeppeli's arrival, as perfect as Erina chasing Jojo on that ship. Turn after turn, there was always something in his way.

He had already resolved to throw away everything that made him Dio Brando tonight. If he was to reach for the highest of highs, there could be nothing left that tied him down to his mortality. As his eyes slid over to his mother, he scowled. This would be no different.

Then his mother slid a bowl of soup in front of him, and suddenly, he found himself back home, under creaking floorboards and bathed in the silver moonlight pouring in through a shattered window.

Down the hall, he could hear his father snoring away. His mother knelt down in front of him, and she smiled.

"Eat," she said.

And he did. The soup was tasteless. Everything was, except for the pulsing of sweet human blood, but the smell alone was almost enough for him to remember how it was supposed to taste.

"How is it?" his mother asked, once again sitting across from him, her elbows resting on an ornately polished wooden table.

"Passable," DIO replied.

His mother frowned. "Oh. I thought you would have loved it. It used to be your favorite, when you were a boy."

Had he? It had been so long, he honestly could not remember.

DIO narrowed his eyes. "You're taking this awfully well."

"I'm sorry?"

DIO motioned to himself. "As far as you remember, the last time you saw me, I was but a child. Now, here you are, and your son has grown into a man. Nothing seems to work the way you remember, the world outside is hot and dry... don't you find it all a little strange?"

His mother shrugged. "Stranger things have happened to me. I have faith that, whatever this is, it will turn out alright. After all, you are here with me."

"Yes. I suppose I am."

His mother hummed. "Is your father here with you?"

DIO curled his lips in contempt. Ah. Of course, she was bound to ask that.

"He's dead," DIO replied.

"I see. Did he become a better man, once I vanished?"

"He did not."

His mother lowered her head and ran a hand down her face. "Oh. I'm... sorry I could not have made him understand."

And what was she apologizing for? That man would have never changed, even without the poison. He was rotten to the core, and here his mother was, apologizing for it?

"It doesn't matter," DIO said instead. "That man is long dead."

"I suppose he is."

As DIO finished drinking from the bowl, he heard his mother open a few more cabinets.

"Are you looking for something?" he asked.

"No," she replied. "I'm just a little... you have so much. I just think it's so wonderful that you have been blessed with such good fortune. This was the life I always wanted you to have, and yet I..."

Her voice hitched. For some reason, DIO clenched his hands on the table.

"Don't make a tragedy out of nothing," he said. "I'm doing just fine now."

"Yes. Yes, I'm sorry, I can see that now." DIO watched as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve, before she turned back to him and smiled. "I'm glad that you were able to find happiness, even despite my failures as a mother."

"Hm."

"I'm sure if your father could see you now, he would be so proud."

There it was again. His father, proud? DIO had spit on his grave and vowed that he would not fall to the same vices that his father had. He would not satisfy his needs feasting on whores and cheap drink, he would not stop until he had reached the very top. If his father could see him now, he would be screaming in envy from the lowest pits of Hell.

And she had the gall to believe that he would be proud?

DIO shook his head. There he was again, bringing up his past. Tonight was supposed to be the night he went beyond that. He could not afford any more distractions.

That was why she was here, wasn't it? To distract him? She was watching him right now, her hazel eyes examining his face as her lips pulled into a smile. He had to... yes, he had to discard her. That was what he had told himself, and that was what he was going to do.

"He's dead," DIO said, as his breath sucked in the heat from around him. The nearby glass cabinet frosted over. The leftover soup in his bowl froze.

And his mother did not seem to notice. "You are right. It does us no good to dwell on the past. You're here now, and I am here by your side. That is all that matters." His mother closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and smiled. "So, when are the Joestars arriving? Shall I help you make a meal for them?"

DIO opened his mouth to reply, when he heard the sound of wood splintering in the room next to them. DIO narrowed his eyes.

The World.

His Stand reached out and snapped the legs of the chair his mother was sitting on. As she tumbled to the floor with a yelp, a hole appeared to her right, and her hair was cut a few centimeters short. DIO saw the dust in the air part, waver, then stop, before Cream's gleaming yellow eyes appeared out of thin air, and its teeth pulled apart to reveal the glowering face of Vanilla Ice, blood running down his face and half of his shirt ripped away to reveal the raw skin peeling off his shoulder, sand pooling in the folds of the fabric.

"Lord DIO. Why have you come downstairs?" Vanilla Ice asked. "And why is... she still here?" His voice tapered off, and the normally expressionless man's eyes widened just a bit as, piece by piece, he took in the scene before him. How strange it must seem to him, for his lord and master, his God, sitting at the table with a normal woman, like a boy being served dinner by his mother.

But DIO was not a normal person. He was DIO, he was a man who had discarded his humanity and had survived a hundred years at the bottom of the sea. He held power that no other man could even dream to hold, power that would let him rule over his lessers with nothing less than an iron grip. He was his God, and he would not let that notion waver, not even looking like this.

The candles his mother had lit strangled and died as the temperature in the room dropped by several degrees. Without raising his voice, DIO said, "Vanilla Ice. Have you still not taken care of the problem?"

On instinct, Vanilla Ice dropped to his knees, his head bowed low enough that his hair touched the floor. "No, I have not. These wounds shall not hinder my capacity to serve you, my Lord."

"See that it does not. Do not return to me until it is done, or I shall be most disappointed."

"No. I shan't even dream of it! To disappoint you would be my death, and I shall not rest until our enemies have tasted death themselves!"

Again, Cream lunged out from behind Vanilla Ice, swallowing him from head to toe. Glass fell to the floor and shattered as a nearby cabinet exploded, and what cutlery remained tumbled through the hole that had suddenly appeared in the middle.

Then, he was gone.

"Dio," his mother said, her voice just a little shaky. "What was that?"

DIO thought about it for a moment, before he settled on, "Pest control."

"Oh. His wounds looked so serious... I hope you aren't pushing him too hard."

"I know what my servants are capable of. Vanilla Ice should be able to take care of this on his own."

His mother shook her head. "Dio... that man adores you. He would do anything you asked, no matter how difficult. You have to take care that he doesn't hurt himself!"

If he was wounded fighting off the likes of Iggy and Polnareff, then that meant he was not worthy to serve DIO's grand cause. "I fail to see how that is my problem," DIO replied.

"Dio... surely you can feel sorry for him, right? I remember how much we suffered back then... even if you own such a grand manor now, surely you haven't forgotten where you came from?"

Oh, remember he did. How could he ever forget the smell of dirt booze in the air, the feeling of shattered glass on his bare feet as his father came home from a long night of drinking. How could he forget long nights digging through the trash just to find something to eat?

How could he ever forget the sound of owls through the night as his mother sat beside his bed, her hand combing through his hair as she whispered soft, meaningless words to him until he fell asleep.

"I do," DIO huffed, glowering at his mother, "and I don't see much point in straining myself like that. My childhood was suffering enough."

His mother shook her head. "That is not how I raised you, Dio. If you can't help those in need, then how could you go to Heaven?"

"Why would I need to?" DIO raised his hands and motioned to the room around him, at the lavish decorations and decorated silverware on display. "I shall never have to suffer like that again. You said it yourself; I am blessed with good fortune. This is Heaven enough."

"Then surely it would do you no harm to share it? After all, if your father had a life like this, he would have been a much happier man."

He wouldn't have. Dario Brando was a wicked man, who only lived to fill the empty void he called a soul with carnal pleasures. Nothing would have made him happy, not even if he had all the money in the world.

DIO opened his mouth. Then he stopped. What had he been about to say? Not that. He'd already had another excuse on the tip of his lips. Excuse for what, his father's behavior? Why had he been about to say that? Because it would hurt his mother?

Then it hit him. Why she had appeared before him. If he was to become God, he needed to discard everything of his past. On the night of his betrayal, it was said that Jesus Christ climbed the Mount of Olives and prayed for strength to cast off his humanity.

Now, on his own Mountain of Olives, his prayers for strength had been answered. DIO had long ago swore to surpass his father. He had thought it had been bad fortune haunting him every step of the way, from Jojo's discovery, his defeat at the manor, the appearance of Zeppeli and Erina at the cusp of his victory. But now he was here. He had outlived every last one of his foes, and he had become stronger than they could have ever dreamed. Were they alive to witness it, not even the likes of Tonpetty or Straizo, Hamon masters of a hundred years, would have been able to stop him.

He had far surpassed the likes of Dario Brando, so if he could surpass his mother as well...

DIO threw his head back and laughed.

Across from him, his mother flinched. "D–Dio? What's wrong?" she asked.

"You believe that, don't you? You well and truly believe that," DIO purred. "You think that someone like Dario Brando would ever be pleased by riches and wealth? No! That man would never have been happy, not with all the money in the world."

"Dio! Please don't speak of your father like that," his mother protested.

"That man was not my father. He does not deserve the glory of even sharing my name! I have come this far not because I was raised by him, but despite it. And despite you." DIO's lips stretched into a grin, and he heard his mother gasp as she finally caught sight of his fangs. His vampire fangs. "You called me blessed, did you not? Allow me to show you just how blessed I truly am."

The door burst open behind them, and who would walk in at just that moment but Jean Pierre Polnareff.

"Mr. Joestar! Where are–" He locked eyes with DIO, and his face, wide with panic, narrowed into a snarl in an instant. "DIO!"

A sound like singing steel split the air in two, and Silver Chariot stepped out from behind him, its armor gleaming blue in dark.

"Jean Pierre Polnareff," DIO said slowly. "Just the man I was expecting."

"What the hell are you talking about? And..." Polnareff's eyes slid over until they landed on his mother. "What the hell are you doing to her?!"

"Dio, who is this?" his mother asked.

DIO ignored them both and inspected his nails in the dim blue light. "You know, I was considering giving you a chance. Extending you an olive branch of sorts, give you one last chance to return to my service."

"You must be a fool if you think I'd ever serve you again!"

"Yes. I was... desperate. After all, you have managed to get so far without losing a single member of your group. Fortune seems to favor you Joestars, wouldn't you say?"

Silver Chariot flashed its blade, and Polnareff spat back, "Then if you understand, why don't you do us all a favor and go die!"

"Because that is about to change."

His mother took a step back, away from Polnareff and closer to him. "Dio? What are you–"

Then DIO lunged for her. Not the World. Just him. She couldn't have seen it coming. Her pathetic human senses were not nearly fine tuned enough to keep up with his vampiric speed.

But Polnareff's were.

"No!" he screamed, and he shoved her out of the way.

DIO's fingers sank into his neck. The man gasped, blood bubbling in his throat. His nails frantically scrabbled against DIO's grasp, and his legs kicked out into the air. Silver Chariot rushed to his side, but the World slammed him into the wall, and Polnareff's Stand sputtered out of existence as DIO could feel his struggles grow weaker by the second.

"R–run..." he rasped out, his hand reaching toward DIO's mother.

Then DIO let go, and Polnareff collapsed on the floor in a pool of his own blood.

His mother gasped. DIO did not miss the splotch of Polnareff's blood over her coat. "D–Dio. What have you done?"

"What I have always done, mother," he replied. He flicked his hand out, and Polnareff's blood splattered over the floor. "What I've done best, since I was a child."

His mother shook her head. "No, Dio. This... this is murder! Why... why would you do this?"

"Because this is how it is, mother." DIO waved around at him, at the cold, empty room. "I wasn't blessed with riches. I killed and stole them. Everything I have, I tore away from someone else. Tonight, the Joestars arrive with fate on their side to punish me for my sins, and tonight, I shall take that fate from them and become the God I was always destined to become!"

Chapter Text

An explosion rocked the ship from somewhere deep inside. Wooden beams tore free from the roof and rained down on Dio. One dug into his arm. Another pierced his shoulder. Dio clenched his teeth together and bit back a pained hiss. Any more damage to this body, and he might not have the strength to reach his coffin.

But that was a risk he had to take.

Sucking in another breath, Dio let the vampire essence flow through Jojo's–through his veins. He could feel the residual traces of Hamon fight back against his influence. His muscles burned from the conflict, Hamon tearing through his cells almost as fast as he was taking control of them.

But the Hamon couldn't last forever. Not without someone to keep the blood properly circulating in his system, and as Dio felt the pain slowly subside, his lips curled up into a grin.

No more resistance. No more struggling. This body was now, and would forevermore be–

His.

A nearby bolt popped off. Dio dragged himself out of the way just as the pipes it had been securing before came crashing down onto the floor.

And just in time, too, he thought wryly. Fate always seems to have a particular sense of timing. Now, where did I leave that coffin?

Stumbling through the burning wreckage, hauling himself over the gaping holes in the skeleton of the ship, as he shoved a pair of crates out of the way, Dio finally spotted the sleek, black casket amidst the thick curls of smoke oozing out of the ship's boiler. His claws dug into the wood as he pulled himself closer, one inch at a time. Closer. Closer.

At last, he pulled himself next to the coffin. Throwing one arm up over the edge, Dio pulled himself up.

Right into the wide, blue gaze of Erina Joestar.

No one moved.

Then, everyone moved.

Erina Joestar was the first to act, screaming as she reached out to shove him away. Adrenaline must have sharpened her senses to a near inhuman degree.

But Dio was not human. He was so much more than human.

Dio ducked under her pathetic, flailing attempt at an attack and punched her in the face. Erina cried out. The baby tumbled from her grasp, wailing and sobbing into the floor. At least it understood its place properly. It was going to die here. Just like Jojo, moments before. Just like Erina, right now.

"Wryyyyyyyyyyy!" he howled. "Useless useless useless useless! Did you really think someone as weak and untrained as you would be able to deny me, Dio? This was my escape plan. The last person to ever sabotage it would be you, Erina!"

Dio bared his fangs with a hiss. His claws gleamed crimson in the flickering orange light. He leapt off the coffin, hands extended for Erina's throat.

He saw her scramble back in terror. Her hands flailed around on the floor for something. Anything.

She grasped a metal pipe. One of the very same pipes that had been blown loose moments before. He should have seen it coming.

He should have seen it coming.

Stars exploded in his vision. Dio collapsed onto the floor, blood gushing out from his nose.

Blood?

No. No no no no no. He... he was Dio! He was a vampire, destined to live for eternity! There was no way he could be wounded by something so primitive. So desperate.

Unless...

Unless.

He'd used all of his power to seize control over Jojo's body. Though the muscles responded to his command in an instant, they were still muscles. Human muscles. Human body.

"No!" he shrieked. Dio tried to push himself off the floor, but his head was still spinning. Cursing, Dio smashed his palm through the wooden floor of the ship. It hurt. It hurt so much, the splinters biting into his skin, tearing through his skin. The pain helped to reorient himself, and he staggered to his feet.

Just in time to catch Erina's eyes as she pulled the coffin shut behind her, the baby tucked around her chest.

The ship exploded.

And that was that.

DIO watched his mother's reaction. Her face flit through so many expressions in so short a time. Confusion. Shock. Horror. Grief. Sadness.

At last, she said, "I'm disappointed in you, Dio."

"Oh? Are you?" DIO's lips curled into a grin.

"Yes. I did my best to teach you from right to wrong, but you have become no better than your father."

At that, DIO's smile died an ugly death. No better than his father? Was she in denial, or just plain stupid? He was nothing like his father. No, he was better. So much better.

"That man," he spat, "was a lazy sack of shit. He was happy to stay in that run-down shack, to rot away on that rickety old bed so long as he had booze to fill his stomach and whores to suck on his dick. I refuse to rot away. I have taken everything that I wanted, everything I needed to live a long and happy life."

"And yet you are not happy," his mother replied. "Your father was not happy, either."

"And how are you so sure of yourself?"

"Because I knew him when he was truly happy." His mother glanced away, and her fingers clutched her shoulders as a fond expression flashed across her face. "He was kinder, then. He took me on long trips out into the countryside to watch the birds fly south for the winter, brought me to see his friends and hear them play music, walked with me out in the city on the dark, cold nights so we could dance together under the moonlight."

"Was this before or after your aristocratic family cast you out?"

His mother didn't speak. Her shoulders did not so much as twitch to give her away, but as DIO watched, he saw the faint glimmer in her eyes vanish, and he grinned viciously.

"The dress you always wore, whenever that man did not have the energy to wander around town? The one you thought he loved the most? Lord Joestar owned one exactly like it for his own, departed wife. Both of them, woven from silk, I believe? Not something a poor woman could ever get her hands on."

His footsteps made no sound as he stepped closer to her. The only sound that gave him away was the soft rustling of cloth as his pants brushed against cobwebs frozen to the spot, so dainty and so thin that they shattered the moment he got close.

"That man only loved you for your weight in gold," he hissed. "When you were no longer any use to him, he tossed you out like the worthless woman you are."

His mother whirled on him. He thought he saw her lips twitch, and for a moment, he thought she would finally start talking sense.

Then, she took a deep breath, and replied, "That is no excuse to be unkind, Dio. Your father was going through a tough time. It's only natural I would stay with him, through his best, and through his worst. Just like I shall do with you."

Idiot woman. Was she truly so blind to how that man had used her? How that man had abused her and would never love her as much as he had loved himself? What had he done that was so deserving of her complete, and unending devotion?

DIO glowered over her, fangs bared to make a response, when he heard a high pitched scream echo out from somewhere in those halls. His mother heard them too, and she turned to follow them.

"Oh no!" she gasped. "Hello? Who is there? Are you hurt?"

Yes. Badly, from the sounds of it. DIO could tell from the inflections of their voice that their jaw must have been broken. Nukesaku had fallen.

DIO cursed. Out of all the times–and he was not even in his room! What kind of a host would he be, if he were not there to welcome Joseph Joestar and his family to their demise?

"You! Stay there," he hissed at his mother, and he stormed out the door. Of course, his mother followed him, even through the manor's twisting hallways and pitch black corridors. Who the hell was he to stop her? If she wished to run to her doom, then so be it. It would be the final addition to the incredibly long list of poor decisions the woman had made over her incredibly insignificant life.

Again, he heard Nukesaku's sniveling voice, begging for mercy down the hall. Jotaro Kujo had gotten his hands on him, then, and had taken to his deception as kindly as he'd expected. How unfortunate it had been that Polnareff had been the one to run into Vanilla Ice instead of them.

How very unfortunate indeed.

They entered another corridor, one that led directly to the stairs ascending to his room, dimly lit with the dying gasps of candlelight and drenched in a frosty shade of blue from the ice clinging to the walls. DIO paid them no mind, trudging through until he'd reached the end.

His mother did, however. He heard her stop.

For reasons he didn't care to think about, he stopped with her.

"What is it, woman?" he said, back to her.

"You have so much gold," she mumbled.

"Yes. I never noticed."

"I've never seen so much in my entire life, not even... not even in my father's manor. How?"

"Gifts," DIO said, and since it was clear they would not be moving anytime soon, he stopped to peel Polnareff's dried blood off his nails. "From people I've killed, and people I've not. I don't bother to remember."

"And it's all... here. On the floor." DIO heard gold coins rattle, and he looked over his shoulder to find his mother wading through the piles of treasure and gold coins, enough perhaps to buy the Joestar manor three times over. "What a mess..."

She'd said it in such a low, soft-spoken tone of voice, like she was disappointed. Such a thing would normally be beneath him, but...

But father had left things all over the floor before. His mother had never chastised him then. She'd been more than happy to break her back, putting away the mess he'd always made. To look after other people's mess was blessed work, she'd said.

"Father left more of a mess than I ever did," he blurted out.

His mother looked up, her expression unchanging. "You should not strive to be like your father, Dio," she said. "Your father was... your father was suffering. He was still human, still someone worthy of love and patience, but he was not someone to be followed."

"As opposed to you?" DIO sneered. "You, who would have me throw away what little I had to the bastards on the street? You, who saw how we suffered, and told me I had to suffer more to reap a reward I would never receive in my lifetime?"

"That's not what I meant, Dio."

"Then what did you mean, mother? Because I understood what father taught me, and I understood it well. I have been rewarded for my sins, and I shall continue to reap my reward until the day I die!"

"That is nothing compared to the reward you would have received if you could find the strength in you to be kind. A life of sin is not a life worth living."

"And how is it so? My father lived in sin. He practically bathed in it, and he got everything he ever wanted. He taught me the true way the world works–that sacrifices must be made to live a happy life. You would have me sacrifice myself for nothing! My father may have been a wicked man, but he was the only true parent I ever had, the only one who taught me anything worth a damn!"

DIO heard the gold coins shift on the floor. He looked back.

His mother was on her knees. Her shoulders trembled with every breath she took, and as her fingers grasped at the glittering trinkets on the floor unconsciously, DIO realized she was crying.

"I'm sorry," she said between sobs. "I'm so, so sorry. I thought... I thought if I loved him enough, he would understand. I thought you would understand how much you both meant to me. I should have done more. I should have been more, but I... I was so scared. I didn't think I could do it. Be like your father, be like you. I wanted to give you both so much more, but I wasn't brave enough to push myself any further. I'm sorry, Dio. I'm so sorry."

Ages ago, when he was still a little boy, crying himself to sleep, he'd dreamt of being surrounded by riches, of having his enemies at his feet, begging for mercy that would never come.

He had all of that, now.

His manor was practically overflowing with gold in every room. His generations-long enemies, the Joestar family, would be laid dead on the street come morning.

But right now, his mother was all he could see. All he could hear.

Suddenly, he was that little boy again, huddled in the corner of their home, on a night when his father had come home, drunk, hungry, and ready to violently beat the first person he'd laid eyes on. He'd thought himself clever, hiding away in his room on nights like that. He'd thought himself smart, knowing his father would never find him first, not while his mother would rush to the door to welcome him home.

Where was his father now?

Chapter Text

North latitude, 28 degrees, 24 minutes, West longitude 80 degrees, 36 minutes, at the time of the new moon.

If Dio's estimations were correct, then this would be the location of the Cape Canaveral Space Station in the American state of Florida. A place and time where the pull of gravity would be both at its weakest and strongest. At such a location, with such conflicting forces acting upon someone, a Stand such as C-Moon would be able to draw them in and wrap them around itself, allowing it to not just control gravity locally, but to seize control of the gravity holding the entire universe together. This was the secret to achieving Heaven. This was the path to control the World.

And yet... why did he feel so unsure of himself?

Were his calculations off?

Dio frowned. A soul is worth 10 chips. 36 times 10 is 360, so 36 souls are needed for 360 degrees to represent a full rotation. 14 words to bind the life form's power to mine. 28 degrees north, 80 degrees west to align with the singularity, and the new moon for its gravitational pull. Would a full moon be just as potent? No, it must be the new moon, for the full moon does not reach its full strength until night.

The Passion crackled to life in the palm of his hand, confirming that his thoughts were correct. His plan would work. Everything he had wanted would come to pass. This, he was certain.

And still, Dio's heart would not be calm.

The Passion crackled again.

Dio watched from his new room as Jojo pranced around the courtyard, his idiotic mutt slobbering and chasing the stick in his hand as if entranced. How pathetic could someone be? To tease a wild animal like that as if they were old chums. Not Dio. Never Dio. He'd been around dogs back in the slums. Real dogs, who would tear your throat out the first chance they had if they believed you were an easy meal. Why, if he were there, he would–

This must be because of my upcoming battle with the Joestar family, he thought. I have no doubts that I shall win this encounter. I have survived one-hundred years at the bottom of the sea. I possess a Stand that has no equal. To conceive that I could lose this fight is an impossibility, but... the Joestars, they possess a will beyond that of a human, even beyond the will of me, Dio. If I am not careful, I may end this battle with serious injuries.

A pity Telence T. D'Arby had managed to trap the Joestars first, leaving Vanilla Ice to deal with Polnareff, Avdol, and the mutt. Though not nearly as strong as his The World, his Cream was sure to leave them weakened for his fight, and, not to discredit Polnareff's Silver Chariot or Avdol's Magician's Red, but their group was held together by the spirit and tenacity of Joseph Joestar and, to a lesser degree, Jotaro Kujo. It was not ideal, but he would simply have to make up for his minion's misfortune.

Yes, their... misfortune.

The door creaked behind him. Dio turned. "You're leaving?" he asked.

His mother paused, standing in the doorway, her hand gripping her coat tightly. "Yes, I am. I came because I wanted to see if you were doing well, and... you are."

"Don't lie. After all the fuss you made about my behavior, about my life, you can't be satisfied with just this."

But his mother just smiled. "You are my son, Dio. As long as I know that you are happy, I shall be happy too." She turned away again, only to hesitate. "You are happy, aren't you?"

Dio snorted. "Happiness is for fools. Happiness keeps those with lesser ambitions from climbing above their pitiful stations in life. I don't need happiness. I need to rule the World. I shall never stop until I have it."

"And once you have that, will you be happy?"

"Wha–what kind of question is that, woman?"

"Will you be happy, once you have everything in the world? That is all I want to know, Dio, in order to put my mind at ease."

"I–well, then I shall strive to take everything beyond the world. I won't stop until I hold the power of Heaven itself in my hands!"

"And then, will you be happy?"

Dio growled, already annoyed with this line of questioning. "Yes, mother," he spat out. "I shall be happy."

His mother looked back at him one more time. She smiled. "Okay. That is all I wanted to ask. Good-bye, Dio."

And she walked out the door.

Dio watched her go.

Dio leaned against a tree and scoffed, his eyes narrowed as Jojo walked hand-in-hand with a girl, softly speaking and laughing to each other under the shade of the forest. He had found a friend of his own, had he? After all Dio had done to prove himself to anyone worth a damn that he was superior in every way, he had the gall to show his face around someone else?

No matter. The noble brats were all idiots. They'd fallen in line with just a little bit of dominance. He was sure this girl, whatever her name was, would be–

Time began to move again. The faint orange color of the candlelight returned as his mother gasped; to her, it must have seemed like Dio had appeared in front of her out of thin air.

"Where do you think you're going?" he snarled.

His mother blinked. "I don't know," she replied.

"That's what I thought. Come back at once."

Shaking her head, his mother said, "I'll just get in the way. I think you would be happier if I left."

"And what if I wasn't?" Nonsense, of course. This woman had been nothing but an annoyance ever since she had shown up, but if she thought she could just come here, and then leave–

"This is your home, Dio. I could never burden you with my presence. I told you before, I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"Well, I am doing just fine. I don't need your meddling."

"I know. Good-bye, Dio."

"Now you listen here, woman. You are going to stay–"

But again, his mother turned around and walked past him.

This Speedwagon character, his eyes burned with such passion, of such hatred, it almost made Dio laugh. Had he truly decided that he was someone worthy of such hatred in just seven short sentences? And did he truly believe that Jojo was someone worthy of such devotion after a single encounter?

He was pure evil, he'd said? Ridiculous. Dio was just acting this way because it was best for his survival. That the fool could pretend he was any different just made him all the more foolish. As soon as Dio found a way out of this mess, he was going to–

"You dare defy me?" Dio roared. "I am DIO! I have lived for over a hundred years. I hold time itself in the palm of my hand. I am destined to rule the world! Who the hell do you think you are to defy me, DIO?"

His voice trailed off. Taking a moment to catch his breath, Dio snarled, dusting a new sheen of frozen sweat off his shoulder as he did his best to regain his composure. He hadn't meant to be so loud. It was... unbecoming of him to be this heated, and over his fool of a mother, no less.

And yet, his mother remained completely still. She waited, she watched as he pulled himself back up to full height, as if his snarling had been barely any louder than an infant's cries. It wasn't until he finally calmed down that she replied, "I am your mother, Dio. It is my job to raise you, to make sure that you become a good person, and to make sure that you can go to Heaven."

"I already told you, father raised me more than you ever did."

That finally got her to break her gaze. His mother raised a hand to her face to wipe away her tears, but instead of conceding his victory, she replied, "Yes, you did. As much as it pains me to see, I am still only human. I do not know everything. I can only raise you in what I believe will lead you to live a happy life. I see now that I was wrong, and that your father was right. It makes me happy to see that you were wise enough to listen to him, but the result is the same. You are all grown-up, Dio. There is nothing left for me to teach you."

She did not try to leave, this time. As foolish as she may be, even she could see that escape was useless. Dio opened his mouth to tell her off, to deliver a scathing remark that would leave her completely and utterly defeated, that would show her how stupid she was and how wrong she was and...

And he couldn't.

Had she beaten him?

Had this foolish, impossibly naive and impossibly pure woman, beaten him? It hadn't been in a physical fight, no, but...

Since when had that mattered?

Erina had washed her mouth out with mud. Holy Kujo had sent her father and her son on a bloody rampage to kill him, decimating his loyal followers one after the other as if they were insects, and now his very own mother had left him completely speechless.

He had to kill her. He wanted to kill her. For defying him, for daring to defeat him.

And yet he couldn't.

Of course not. If he killed her here, then she would forever live on as this defiant spirit, not as the warm, pure, and oh-so-foolish woman who had raised him as a child.

She would be a martyr.

This could not stand.

"Take this, Dio!" Jojo and Zeppeli howled together, screaming in rage and pain as they lunged for him, their hands bound in the life-giving essence of their Ripple.

They were fools, the both of them. They had already tried this, and he had shown them how futile their efforts were in a single blow. Why were they trying this gain? This was useless useless useless!

Again, Dio sucked in his blood, leaving his arms ice-cold as he effortlessly blocked the flow of Hamon from coming through. He had them right in the palm of his hand. In an instant, he could have both of their heads rolling on the floor.

And yet...

And yet.

Their eyes still shone with defiance. Jojo and Zeppeli, they both truly believed they had what it took to defeat him. They both truly believed that, together, they would overcome the impossible.

Together.

This was what had been bothering him all this time. That someone could defy him. That someone could stand up to him and live. That someone could reject him–of all people, him–and there was nothing he could do to change her mind.

This was ridiculous. How could this be so debilitating? How could this affect him to this degree? He was DIO! He had the entire world at his command. Stronger men would kill themselves for a chance to listen to him speak.

Dio was in control here. He was always in control. He didn't wait for things to come to him. Unlike those foolish Joestars, who coasted off of the good fortune inherited from the morons they surrounded themselves with, spoiled with wealth and with family, Dio seized what he wanted no matter what he needed to destroy, no matter who he needed to kill.

It was him who had plunged the arrow into his chest. It was him who had traveled to Egypt in search of the worst scum for his undead army. It was him who had donned the mask and discarded his humanity.

It was why he would win.

...

But then how had he escaped that ship one hundred years ago?

He couldn't have gone in the coffin because he would have never let Erina inside. Erina could not have found another way off the ship because he'd made sure to destroy all of them. He must've found some way to outwit her, some way to avoid her detection, some way to beat her and yet.

And yet.

It had been half an hour, and he still could not remember.

Dio bared his teeth and snarled. No. I am not going to entertain this, even for a moment. Am I seriously considering the fact that I could lose control? Never! This woman. This foolish woman. She is putting these doubts in my head. I will conquer them, as I have done with everything else. I shall force this woman to submit, and then... and then she shall see. She shall finally see!

"You're not going anywhere," Dio said.

"Dio?"

"Don't play coy. You're not going anywhere. Do you think you could escape me? I have evolved far beyond you humans. I could grab you and never let go. I could seize control of your mind and make you unable to disobey a word from my lips."

"Dio. Do you want me to stay with you?"

"What would make you think that?" Dio said. "I am DIO! I don't need you. I don't need anyone, but you... you can't seriously believe that you are going to survive out there. It's been a hundred years. Everything has changed. As much as it pains me to admit, I, DIO, shall make sure you live a life of luxury here. No one would ever beat you. No one would ever hurt you. As my mother, my followers would worship you as a Goddess."

"Why would you go to such lengths? You don't listen to a word I say, you disobey everything I tried to raise you to become. I thought you wanted me to leave. Don't you want me to leave?"

"You're not leaving! I will not allow it!"

The Passion roared to life. Energy raced down its thorny vines as Jojo's Stand spiraled out of control, thrashing and tearing the walls apart as Dio's head was suddenly wracked with the sound of steam and the smell of smoke and rotting flesh.

Dio was back in that ship, its great, wooden frame heaving and creaking against the machinery quickly falling apart as the room burst into flames. From his place, hanging from the ceiling, Dio watched as Erina Joestar cradled Jojo's head in her lap, muffling the sound of her cries on his blood-stained suit.

"I won't leave you," she mumbled. "I won't!"

Dio watched. Dio listened. And Dio burned with hate.

How dare she. How dare she?!

How dare she cuddle up to Jojo's body? To his body? How dare she show him such kindness, such love and compassion when no one had ever shown him the same?

Why? Why him? Why Jojo? Why rich, spoiled, arrogant and entitled Jojo?

Dio's nose curled, suddenly assaulted by the stench of alcohol. A glass bottle shattered next to his head. He could hear his father cussing out his mother. He could hear the crack of leather against her skin, could hear her cry out as she tumbled to the floor.

And as soon as she found her feet, she handed him a plate of food she had prepared for him. Just for him.

Danny, Erina, Speedwagon, Zeppeli. They had all devoted themselves to him. Thrown their lives away for him. What had he ever done to deserve them? He was already set to inherit the massive Joestar fortune. He'd already lived a life full of good food, a warm bed, and a father who loved him enough to save him from a killing blow. Didn't he have enough? What had he done to deserve such love?

What had he done to deserve none of it?

"I'm sorry, Dio," Erina said.

And suddenly, he was back in his manor, surrounded by frozen cobwebs and pulsing candlelight.

Erina smiled softly at him. She smiled warmly. Like his mother had, all those years ago. Or was it his mother, now? Slowly, she reached up and caressed his cheek.

"I just wanted you to have the same childhood I had. The same happiness I had as a child," she whispered. "I hoped for so long your father would change, I didn't think about how you would understand what I was doing, and I didn't realize how I was hurting you. I should have left that man behind. I should have taken you with me. I love you, Dio. I have always loved you."

And suddenly, everything made sense.

The ship. The explosion. The coffin. His escape. Erina's escape. One hundred years under the sea.

"No!" Dio roared. "I refuse to believe it. I am DIO! I control my own destiny. That someone would be so foolish to take pity on me, DIO–I shall not believe it!"

"I would never pity you, Dio. You are my son. You are my child."

"Liar!"

Dio lashed out.

Too late did he realize he had struck his mother in the chest.

"The World!"

Time stopped. Dio lunged. His blow had sent her flying away. If he could just reach her, if he could just catch her–

Time resumed. His mother's body crashed through the wall.

The first time he'd been struck by a vampire, it had completely shattered his arm. That was then, when he was a man in the prime of his life, well-fed and strengthened by a decade of living in luxury.

His mother had been brought as she was from his childhood, starving and weak and on the verge of death.

She bounced over the ground once, before crashing into an ornately decorated wooden cabinet. Pieces of heavy, carved wooden planks collapsed on top of her, crushing her lower body and leaving her a bloody mess.

"D–Dio..." she said through pained gasps of air. "It will be alright. I will be... alright."

She was not going to be alright. He did not have to have the finely attuned senses of a vampire to tell.

She had brought this upon herself. That idiotic, foolish woman. All she had to do was listen to him. This was why she was dying now. It was why she had died before.

Such foolishness.

...

Dio turned. And ran.

The ship was going down.

It didn't take genius on the level of Dio's to make that obvious. The boiler had burst like a balloon, flames were quickly racing up the support beams and through the ceiling, and any floorboards that had not burned away were already beginning to creak under his weight.

And Dio.

Dio could feel his body going down as well.

Jojo himself had surrendered to his control, but his body had other plans. Taking over had drained much more energy than Dio had assumed it would.

He had to survive. He had to get to his coffin, or this would all have been for nothing.

And yet, as Dio dragged himself closer and closer, he could feel his arms getting heavier by the second.

He wouldn't make it. He was going to die here.

No. I refuse to die here. I am Dio! I am destined to rule the world!

His body screamed in protest. An explosion shook a plank loose from the roof, and it stabbed down into his shoulder, searing his flesh with the most excruciating agony he'd ever felt.

And Dio pushed on.

Inch by inch. One hand over the other. Dio dragged his body across flames, over gaping holes in the floor. He was going to make it to the end. He was going to survive.

At last, his fingers brushed against the side of the coffin. Just a little further. All he needed to do was open the coffin, and pull himself inside.

Dio flexed his muscles, ordering them to pull him up.

And they refused.

No. This couldn't be. No, this just couldn't be! He was right here! He was so close! How could he fail? He couldn't die here. Not like this. Please, not like this!

Suddenly, the coffin door swung open.

His mother–no, Erina Joestar stepped over him, climbing into the coffin. As she turned to seal it behind her, she caught his gaze and hesitated.

She should have closed it.

She should have left him behind.

A wiser woman would have done it.

Erina placed the baby in her arms to her side, reached out, and grabbed him by the arm.

She pulled him in, slowly, gently. His head first, then his shoulders, his chest, until his whole body lay inside the casket.

Taking one last look at the burning ship, Erina reached up, and closed the door behind them.

The ship exploded. Dio heard the powerful vibrations rock the inside of the coffin. Beside him, Erina clutched the baby tightly and whimpered.

Again, the coffin trembled as it hit the water.

And his mind drifted off into sleep.

Chapter Text

He could remember her face.

His mother's face. Erina's face, lit orange against the rising sun as she watched over him from out of his open coffin.

Far away, he could hear people arguing in... French? No, in Spanish. A ship's sail fluttered high over his head, and beneath him, his coffin rocked gently as the waves lapped at the boat beneath him. Back and forth. Back and forth.

It was almost enough to lull him to sleep.

No. He could not sleep. He had ambitions to fulfill, worlds to conquer. He couldn't stop here, not now!

"Dio. Can you hear me, Dio?"

Erina's soft voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Dio tried to look over to her. All he could manage was a slow turn.

He should say something. To his hated enemy's lover, to the woman he had put through hell to conquer his own destiny. To the woman who had the power to decide whether he lived or died.

He could have convinced her to spare him. Could have lied to her, given her some hope about returning her husband to her so that she, the foolish woman that she was, would let him go.

"Mother..." was all he could muster.

Erina's face softened. "Oh, Dio..." she said. "Were you always like this?"

Dio's tongue felt numb and refused to move. Slowly, Erina looked away. Her hands touched down upon Dio's. Her fingers ran up and down his knuckles.

Again, sleep called to him. Fight back, he wanted to tell himself. Seize the destiny that you've worked so hard for, that you've killed and stolen for! Take what is rightfully yours!

And then, Erina smiled. And she spoke.

"From the moment we met, you were always so horrible to me," she said. "You stole my first kiss. And now, you have stolen my husband. You have ruined any chance I may have had for happiness, in the long life I may lead ahead of me. I would like nothing more than to watch you burn in the sunlight here. And yet..."

"My husband still saw you as part of his family. Until the very end, in his heart of hearts, he wished that you could learn to love him as he had loved you. And I suppose a part of me understands. No one spends ten years living under the same roof and does not grow fond of the memories that you shared together. Not even you, even if you still don't realize it, and even if you never do. At the very end, my husband still wanted you to become part of the Joestar family, and who am I to deny his last request?"

"If I had been in the same situation as you, I may have done the same things. I may have had the same ambitious heart, and cast away my humanity just as you did. Johnathan's body belongs to you now. Now, you are truly a member of the Joestar family. Rest a while, with my husband, at the bottom of Mother Ocean. Sleep soundly. I don't know if it will be 50, or 100 years, but someday, please give up your evil ways, and become a good person. Please become a noble, proud human that can go to Heaven."

Her hands left his, and for the first time, Dio realized just how cold his skin was. He wanted to reach up and take them back. His hands refused to budge.

Even as he watched her grasp the lid of the coffin. Even as he watched her pull it shut.

A hundred years under the ocean, and all he could think of were the tears rolling down her face.

"It's her!"

Jotaro came to a stop at the top of the stairs. Kakyoin and Gramps fell into line beside him, emeralds dripping out from between Hierophant Green's fingers and Hamon crackling through Hermit Purple's vines. Up ahead, Polnareff was crouched down beside the motionless body of a woman, his brow furrowed in concern. Her dirty blonde hair came down to cover her face and spill out over the floor, and her scarf was laid out next to her, stained with her blood.

"This is the woman I told you about earlier! The one I saw with DIO," he said. "It seems we were too late..."

Jotaro narrowed his eyes. "Maybe not. Gramps?"

The old man trudged over next to Polnareff and knelt down. A few seconds later, he said, "She's still alive, if barely."

Kakyoin relaxed, and Hierophant Green melted into a green puddle at his feet. "Thank goodness," he said. "It seems like even now, we've got our fair share of lucky breaks."

"Tell me about it. I still can't believe DIO didn't bother finishing off either me or Iggy."

"Yeah. Lucky..." Jotaro glared down at Nukesaku, still crawling up the stairs. "Oi. Nukesaku. Who's this woman?"

"O–oh, her?" Nukesaku dragged his sorry ass over the top of the stairs with a groan. As soon as he peered at the body, he licked his lips. "Oh, her name is... is Midler! Yes, that is Midler. Her Stand represents the High Priestess card, a–and she is one of Lord DIO's most faithful servants. Y–you should just leave her to rot, just to be safe. Right?"

Jotaro and Kakyoin exchanged a look. Kakyoin offered Jotaro a smile that said, Can you believe this guy?

Jotaro replied with a shake of his head, and a glare back at Nukesaku. "You're a pretty shitty liar, you know that?"

At that, Nukesaku looked surprised. "E–eh? W–whatever do you mean, Sir Jotaro?"

"He means you're making your true intentions quite clear," Kakyoin stepped in. "We're not morons. We're not going to leave her here for you to eat."

"B–but you kept forcing me to guide you through DIO's mansion!"

"Only because we could trust you enough to lead us down a path that wouldn't end with you getting skewered."

"Kakyoin, please," Gramps said from the front. Kakyoin swiftly apologized, not that Gramps really seemed to care as he turned back to Jotaro. "Give me a little sunlight. I'm going to try to save her life."

Jotaro hummed. Star Platinum's fist flicked out, punching a hole through the wall, and as the sunlight came pouring in, Nukesaku shrieked and leaped out of the way.

"You could've killed me!" he wailed.

As usual, no one paid him any attention. Streaking across the room, the sunlight hit the old man's shoulders in a way that made his skin almost glow. Hell, from what Jotaro knew of his abilities, he might as well be glowing. His chest rose as he sucked in a deep breath, raised his arms over his head, and yelled, "Green conduction overdrive!"

He slammed his arms down. Rays of light poured out through the woman's skin, casting the room in a bright, sunny yellow.

And her chest rose as she sucked in a sharp breath.

The instant the Hamon glow faded, Gramps's shoulders sagged. Though he'd never brought it up, Jotaro had always wondered why Gramps rarely ever tapped into his bag of Hamon tricks. Surely something as versatile as that would be invaluable in the battle against DIO, but now...

"Gramps?" he said. He took a step forward, but he hesitated. "We still need to fight DIO. Don't go running yourself into the ground now."

Gramps laughed. "A little late for that. Whew, I forgot how much that takes out of me."

"Good grief, old man. Are we gonna have to wait for you to get ready?"

"If I may," Kakyoin said, stepping in, "The sun will be down within the hour, and Mrs. Kujo will succumb to her illness by midnight. I don't think we have time to wait around, do we? If we are going to fight DIO while the sun is still up, we need to get moving now."

"I agree," said Polnareff. "Having the sun out is a huge advantage, and we need every advantage we have in our upcoming battle. As much as I am hesitant to suggest it... Mr. Joestar, do you think you could take this lady out of harm's way, and rejoin us as soon as you are ready?"

"I suppose you're right. What do you think, Jotaro?" Gramps asked, folding his arms and turning to Jotaro's direction.

Jotaro pulled his cap down over his face. "If you're going that way, you might as well make yourself useful and pick up Iggy on the way."

"I can do that. You three better not do anything reckless before I get back, you hear? If we're to defeat DIO, then we've got to work as a team!"

Lugging the woman over his shoulder, Gramps gave the three of them one last grin before he vanished down the stairs, leaving Jotaro, Kakyoin, and Polnareff. The instant he was out of sight, the three of them turned to Nukesaku, still huddled on the floor, as if being small would make them less likely to notice him.

It didn't.

Polnareff knelt down next to him and said, "Okay, enough fooling around. Tell us where DIO is, or I'll run you through!"

"He's in his room," Nukesaku whimpered.

"And where is that?" Kakyoin asked.

Nukesaku glanced around wildly, before he pointed down the stairs. Polnareff followed his gaze, and he scowled. "How stupid do you think we are? That's the way we came!"

"Don't try to trick us. We'll know," said Kakyoin.

Frantic, Nukesaku looked Jotaro's way for any semblance of mercy. Star Platinum appeared by his side and cracked his knuckles. Nukesaku gulped, and, shakily, he raised a finger to their left.

"I–i–it's that way," he said. "L–L–Lord DIO's bedroom."

"Was that so hard?" Kakyoin asked with a smirk.

Nukesaku bristled at the obvious taunting. "Y–you don't stand a chance!" he hissed. "Lord DIO has the strongest Stand in the world. The moment you step into his room, he'll kill all three of you in an instant!"

"And you think he's going to spare you for selling him out?"

"L–Lord DIO will understand! I've been loyal to him for so long... he won't kill me, I'm sure of–ow!"

Scuttling back, Nukesaku raised a hand to his ear. His red eyes darted around the room until they finally landed on the hole Jotaro had punched open a few seconds ago. As the sun set, the light moved with it, inching closer and closer to Nukesaku with each passing minute. His face twisted in pain, Nukesaku tried to inch back out of reach. His feet refused to move.

Slowly, his gaze fell on the rubble piled over his lower half.

"H–help!" he squealed. "Someone! Please, help me!"

"Why should we?"

Jotaro's voice cut through the air like a knife. Sharp. Sudden. Painfully clear and cold. Nukesaku looked up at him, his eyes wide and his expression frazzled and wracked with panic. Jotaro didn't even look him in the eyes.

"Like I said," he continued, "you're a pretty shitty liar. But that got me thinking, where the hell'd you learn to act like a woman so well?"

Frantically, Nukesaku grasped at his own coat and pulled. He scratched at the rocks, hoping against hope that they would budge. Had he been at full strength, it wouldn't have been a problem. But he wasn't at full strength. He'd been tossed around and beaten by everyone else the whole day.

"I–it's not my fault!" he howled. "It's Lord DIO's! He never let any of us eat, and I was so hungry... it was all I could do just to survive!"

"So you devoured a girl who came to you for help."

"I didn't want to! Don't you know how guilty I feel? It keeps me up all night, every day of the week! I feel so guilty, I can hardly get up in the morning!"

"So you took her face and glued it to the back of your head. How remorseful." Jotaro waved a hand over his shoulder. "Come on, Kakyoin, Polnareff. We're leaving."

The two other Crusaders exchanged a look, but in the end, they nodded and followed him without another word. Nukesaku's scream increased to a fever pitch, and he reached out for them, flailing desperately as he yelled, "No! Kakyoin! Polnareff! You won't leave me here to die, won't you? We all worked together under Lord DIO! Don't you have any fond memories of that? You wouldn't abandon me here! You can't! Oh my god, it's getting closer. I don't want to die, I don't want to die! Someone save me!"

"Keep crying," Jotaro said. "Maybe the next person who hears will be more merciful than you."

Behind him, he heard flames start to crackle as Nukesaku burst into flames. A nicer person would've stopped to feel sorry for the bastard. Jotaro kept his eyes ahead.

Hold on, mom. I'll be home by tomorrow.

They were here.

He could hear their footsteps outside the door, could hear their hushed voices echo through the halls, growing louder with every step.

He was out of time.

Out of time to finish his journal. Out of time to enact his plan to go to Heaven.

What a ridiculous notion. He was DIO. He had an immortal body. There was no such thing as "out of time" for him. He could afford to wait years, decades, centuries, and all that he wanted, all that he needed, would come to him.

There was no need to panic. He had an immortal body. He had the ultimate Stand.

He was DIO. And he would win.

Chapter Text

The door to his room opened with a long and low creak.

Torchlight spilled in from the hall, casting his room in a deep red and orange glow. Dio heard three sets of footsteps enter the room, and he pushed his chair back as he stood from his desk.

Three people between him and Heaven. For anyone else, a problem. For him, barely an inconvenience.

Briefly, he contemplated what would be the best way to strike terror into their hearts. Could he slice one of them up during his time stop? Or perhaps he would drain their blood as he had done with Polnareff. And who would he kill first, anyway? Kakyoin was inconsequential, and killing him would likely just serve to make the other two angry anyway. Joseph was undoubtedly the leader, and killing him would certainly drop the team's morale, but Jotaro was the only one with a Stand that could even hope to match his, and leaving him alive for too long could pose some complications.

Erina watched him from outside the coffin, her face bathed in the orange light of the rising sun, her expression sad and tears running down her cheeks. But still, she was smiling.

It didn't matter, in the end. He was DIO. The world would bend to his machinations, the ending already set by destiny!

"DIO!" Polnareff proclaimed. "Your reign of terror is over!"

Eh?

Polnareff? Wait. Hadn't he already–

Dio looked back. Sure enough, bathed in the orange light he could see the figures of Jean Pierre Polnareff, Noriyaki Kakyoin, and Jotaro Kujo.

Jotaro.

"Jotaro..." he mumbled. "You have travelled here from Japan in the span of forty nine days. You have travelled across oceans, trekked through deserts, ventured through hell itself, and for what?"

Jotaro narrowed his eyes. "What's it matter to you?"

From the corner of his eye, Dio, saw Kakyoin and Polnareff begin to fan out. They knew his Stand was a close-ranged one, likely from Polnareff, the tenacious bastard. Did they think they could take advantage of that and force him to split his attention? How foolish. His the World would not be dragged down by such petty tactics.

He turned his attention back to Jotaro, and, with a smirk, he replied, "I'm only curious. Is it truly such a sin, to wonder what unfortunate series of events brought you here? Such curiosity is what sets us apart from lowly beasts, after all."

"As if!" Polnareff scoffed. "You devour humans with no remorse, and you choose now to have a little empathy? Spare us your lies, DIO!"

"Careful, Jotaro," Kakyoin said from the other side of the room. "DIO is a master manipulator. He must be trying to trick you."

"Humor me."

The three of them exchanged a look. Then, Jotaro said, "Tch. Why do you think I'm here? You're killing my mom, you piece of shit."

"Ah, yes. The lovely Mrs. Holly Kujo. It truly is a shame what is happening to her. I shudder to think just how the overwhelming power of her Stand must be ravaging her soul as we speak. You have my sympathies, Jotaro Kujo, truly you do, but could I truly be blamed for any of this? It's not my fault that woman was raised to be so pathetically soft and weak-willed."

He didn't need vampiric eyesight to see how Jotaro's steely expression momentarily faltered, nor to see how his fists tightened in his coat. "Yeah. I can," he replied.

"Oh? And just how do you plan on pinning the blame of this truly unfortunate accident on me, Jotaro Kujo?"

"Cause you knew it'd happen. Unfortunate? Don't give me that shit. You've got a Stand that lets you keep tabs on us. You knew what getting a Stand would do to my mom. If you really gave a shit, you'd have left it as it is. You didn't have to do it. But you did."

"Oh, but I did have to. It is, after all, human nature to keep climbing, is it not? To reach higher than your lot in life, to seek the very top."

"No. It's not. You're just an evil bastard who needs to be put down."

Dio peeled his lips back, revealing his gleaming white fangs. Who the hell did he think he was? Did he think he was better than him? That he didn't need to climb higher because he was already at the top?

Dio knew who he was. Even without Jojo's pesky Stand giving him that connection, his network of agents and spies had dug up everything there was to know about Joseph Joestar and his descendants. The son of a musician and a woman who had coasted off her father's money... even a hundred years ago, the Joestar family had been a rich, pampered family who had never suffered a day in their life. Jotaro Kujo was the worst of them all, and he thought he was in any position to look down on him? To call him evil for doing what had to be done?

How foolish. How completely and utterly foolish.

"I think she deserves it"

"What?"

Dio shrugged. "Your mother. I think she deserves to die."

Kakyoin's eyes widened. Polnareff's jaw fell slack. And Jotaro...

The torch behind him flickered. The shadows in the room seemed to grow longer, the room itself seemed to get darker, and even then, Dio could still see Jotaro's eyes burning brightly.

"ORA!"

Dio smirked. Jotaro glared back, but they both knew there was nothing he could do about it with Star Platinum's fist caught in the palm of the World's hand. For all his anger, Dio could tell that Star Platinum's strength and speed were no match for the World. Even the strongest Joestar was just a pale imitation of him. How fitting.

"What's the matter?" he asked. "Nothing else to say?"

"You're talking about my mom, asshole!" Jotaro growled through gritted teeth.

Star Platinum's knee lashed up to catch the World on the side. The World bared his teeth into a snarl and brought up his arm to block the strike. Star Platinum let him deflect the kick to the floor, using the position to spin around and throw a roundhouse kick aimed for the World's head.

It wasn't fast enough. Nothing was fast enough.

The World reached out and grabbed Star Platinum's leg. Star Platinum jerked it away. The World took advantage of that, lunging into Star Platinum's guard while he tried to regain his footing and smashed his elbow into Star Platinum's nose.

Jotaro slammed into the wall behind him, his nose running red.

"Jotaro!" Kakyoin and Polnareff exclaimed.

Dio tisked. "Weakling, weakling. You'll never defeat me like that. Your mother's clearly failed you if you're still this soft."

As Jotaro pushed himself back to his feet, he shot him a glare that promised death and said nothing. Again, Dio tisked.

"Not to mention, you have no ambition! That is why you are going to lose!"

"I've got plenty of ambition. Right now, my only ambition is to send my fist right through your skull."

"And why would you want that? Out of some misplaced desire to protect your weak, helpless mother? Useless, useless, useless, useless. In the wild, those who are weak get devoured by the strong. That you're here means that you were stronger than my underlings. That deserves some praise. But you would throw it all away in a futile effort to save your mother? Weaklings like her are not to be coddled! They are to be used, devoured, and discarded to climb to the very top!"

Jotaro clicked his tongue. "If that's what you think, you must've had a pretty shitty mom."

It was a stupid insult. Childish, even. Dio ought to have found it amusing, that all Jotaro could think of was a line he'd only heard used in the schoolyard.

For some reason, he didn't.

"You Joestars have always been a stubborn bunch, haven't you? That's the one thing you and Jojo share, only he had the dignity to pretend it was for anything other than pride."

"Funny. The way Gramps tells the story, he beat you the last time."

"I'm still alive. He is not."

"And what do you have to show for it?"

"I have achieved immortality. I have legions who bow before my feet. I am practically a god!"

Jotaro tilted his cap back. "Then it's gonna be all the sweeter once I take you down."

Dio snarled. "Insolent brat. I'll kill you where you stand!"

"MUDA!"

"ORA!"

This time, it was Dio who struck first. Star Platinum caught his attack, but Dio could see Jotaro's Stand was struggling. His feet slid back on the floor. His teeth ground together, and Star Platinum tensed his muscles as he tried to push back but to no avail.

Dio threw his head back in a full-bodied laugh. "You still think you can win now? How utterly foolish! Your stubborn Joestar pride won't save you now! I am Dio! I am king! I am stronger than you; your pride may not allow you to admit it, but there's only one way this ends!"

"It's not about pride," Jotaro said. "You hurt my friends. You're hurting my mom. You're not going to hurt anyone else!"

Star Platinum howled again. His purple skin pulsed with light, and his eyes glittered like stars. A futile display, like a songbird trying to make itself look stronger to scare off a predator.

And then the World actually moved.

Dio felt his arm begin to bend. Watched as Star Platinum stepped forward and pushed him back.

But that wasn't possible! Dio had slaughtered an entire town in a single night, had overpowered some of the strongest Stand users through sheer force of will alone, had survived fires, explosions, and a hundred years under the sea. He was powerful. He was immortal. He was unstoppable! And here he was, losing to a mere child?!

A roar ripped itself from Dio's mouth. The World twisted Star Platinum's arm to the side. Not expecting him to give up so easily, Star Platinum stumbled past. As he struggled to regain his balance, the World hurled his fist into Star Platinum's face, but the Stand brought his guard up just in time to block it, sending him sailing back through the air.

"You're finished!" Dio crowed, and the World charged forward, his arms raised up high.

"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!"

"Emerald Splash!"

Only for Kakyoin to knock him away. Snarling, Dio ducked to the left, and the World swung out to his right, forcing Polnareff to back off or get knocked out.

"You didn't forget about us, did you?" Polnareff taunted. The air in front of him flashed a dazzling shade of silver. The World raised his hand to block. A line of red dripped down the side of Dio's face.

And Dio smirked.

"Polnareff, wait!" Kakyoin shouted. "DIO's planned something!"

Polnareff cursed and leaped back. Out of the corner of his eye, Star Platinum lunged for him, arm pulled back into a devastating punch. Dio's smirk widened into a grin. It was too late. The three of them had fallen right into Dio's trap, exactly as he had planned. The last words they would hear would be–

"The World! Time stop!"

There was nothing Jotaro could do to stop it. No backing out now, not even as Star Platinum continued to slam his fists into Dio's face, not even as his Stand splattered his blood against the wall. Not even as Dio's back crashed through his desk and Jotaro howled for bloody murder, because–

Because–

Wait a minute.

Why was Dio back against the wall, buried deep in the ruins of his desk?

Wasn't it Dio who was supposed to be attacking Jotaro, not the other way around?

How had he gotten past the time stop?

The World lashed out, catching Star Platinum's hand inches away from his face. Star Platinum's eyes widened. Dio roared, pushing his hand away and rushing in to take the offensive.

Star Platinum's other hand caught him across the jaw.

Dio staggered back. "The World!" he yelled.

"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!"

His Stand rushed forward. Star Platinum's eyes widened. The World's fists battered against Star Platinum's guard, brought up just in time to prevent him from taking a hundred punches to the face. He hadn't been expecting him to fight back? His mistake. The World roared, shaking the room around them as he struck Star Platinum with enough force to stagger him back.

"The World, time stop!" Dio tried again.

"Emerald Splash!"

Curses! How had he lost track of Kakyoin in the scuffle? The World swung wildly, knocking Hierophant Green's attack off course, but by the time he'd caught sight of the boy, Jotaro had already recovered and was forcing himself back in.

How the hell were they still moving? He thought he'd stopped time!

Something was wrong.

Did the three of them somehow possess the ability to move through stopped time? Of course not. Kakyoin and Polnareff's abilities were known variables since they had served under him and Jotaro... well, Jotaro was not him. He didn't have the same desire to dominate and to rule. The idea that his Stand ability could counter his... it was so ridiculous, Dio did not even bother to entertain the thought.

That left Joseph Joestar, who was not there for whatever reason. Could Joseph have figured out his Stand ability just from a single interaction with Polnareff? As annoying as it was, Dio was even more annoyed he had not considered it before. Jojo had been incredibly clever. That his grandson could pick up something like that without even meeting him was not likely, but not impossible either. Even then, Dio knew from using Jojo's Stand that Joseph's Hermit Purple did not have any extra abilities to counter his the World.

Could it be him, then?

That was impossible. Wasn't it?

Stands could go rouge, but that was only when they were formed, and only to those who had no fighting spirit or ambition. Such a failure was for people who had avoided hardship their entire lives. People like Holly Kujo. Dio's life had been nothing but hardship. That he, of all people, could lack fighting spirit... Dio wanted nothing more than to crush the world beneath his heel. He'd spent his entire life seeking nothing but that.

He was ambition.

He was fighting spirit incarnate.

He was Dio!

"You're wrong! Humanity can do anything they set their minds to! Let me give you a demonstration!"

"No!" Dio screamed. "I won't be defeated by the likes of you again! I will not let my hard work be for nothing! I'll prove her wrong. I'll prove you all wrong!"

"Emerald Splash!"

The World moved first. Before the emeralds had so much as left Kakyoin's hand, Dio was on him, and his Stand unleashed a devastating haymaker. Kakyoin barely had time to even widen his eyes before the World clocked him across the face and sent him back across the room.

"Kakyoin! Dio, you bastard!" Polnareff yelled. Silver Chariot glid across the floor, the sharp scraping of steel against stone his only warning before Polnareff's Stand crashed into him. Dio stumbled back. Silver Chariot flicked his blade once to make space, before he descended back upon Dio with a flurry of thrusts.

"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!"

Polnareff's blade punched straight through the World's armored chest. Dio lunged, pushing the blade even deeper. It didn't even matter. His Stand connected blows into Polnareff's face, chest, stomach, chest, stomach, and face again. Polnareff hurled back and smashed through Dio's bed. Dio lunged after him to finish the job–

"ORA!"

Only for Star Platinum to land a blow against the World's raised guard.

"Weaklings, weaklings!" Dio snarled. "Insects not worth even a speck of my effort, nor respect! I don't need to stop time to finish you off! You are so far beneath my power, I could finish you off myself!"

"Then why don'tcha put your money where your mouth is?" Jotaro yelled back.

The World's leg snapped out for Star Platinum's head. Star Platinum ducked low and swung for the World's knee.

"MUDA!"

"ORA!"

The two Stands clashed.

Become a good person? How pathetic can someone be? Good people didn't win battles. Good people died on burning ships. Good people wasted their entire lives loving people who didn't love them back. Dio wasn't good. He was going to win. He was going to kill Jotaro. He was going to kill everyone else. He was going to rule the world, and ascend to the peak of evolution, ascend all the way to Heaven! He was Dio! He was destined to stand at the very top!

"And once you have that, will you be happy?"

And Star Platinum's fist flew right through the World, splattering his leg like jelly.

Dio's eyes widened. His mouth felt dry.

The World stumbled back on one leg. His Stand let out a cry, then fizzled out in a storm of yellow static.

What the hell–my Stand just–I just failed–that's not–how could–

"ORA!"

Jotaro's sudden attack interrupted Dio's panicked train of thought. He flew back, smashed into the wall, and fell to his knees on the floor.

"No!" Dio howled, slamming his fist into the floor. "How could my Stand fail me? I am Dio! I stand at the very pinnacle of evolution. I have more power than any of you pathetic humans could ever dream of, more money than anyone could ever spend in a lifetime, and I have outlived everyone who has ever known me! All my plans, all my efforts, just to be thwarted by some brat... it's impossible! I was going to ascend to Heaven. I was going to rule the world!"

Jotaro's shadow cast a deep darkness over Dio's face. "If you really wanted to rule the world, you should've gone all out at the beginning."

Glaring up at Jotaro, Dio tried to muster as much hatred as he could, if only so he could live forever in Jotaro's mind, so that he would forever be haunted by the hell he was about to unleash upon him with his dying breath.

But what would be the point?

Star Platinum raised his fist. "You'll have all the time to regret your choices in hell," Jotaro said.

Star Platinum swung.

"Wait!"

Suddenly, she was there.

She had to be a ghost, or an illusion, or a Stand attack of some kind. He'd just killed her. Hell, she was supposed to be dead for the past one hundred years.

But Jotaro hesitated. Star Platinum's fist stopped an inch in front of her.

And Dio knew she was real.

"Who the hell–"

"Hold on!" Joseph burst into the room, panting and out of breath. "God, I must be getting on in years. Back in my day, I could've..." As soon as his eyes landed on his mom, he cursed. "Hey! Lady! Get over here, quickly, before he kills you!"

But his mom paid him no heed. Turning back to Dio, she smiled. "It's okay. Everything is going to be okay, Dio."

He could hear her. He could see her. He thought he would never hear her speak to him again, and yet here she was... right in front of him.

"Mother..." he rasped out.

"Mother?!" Joseph's eyes widened. Jotaro's brow furrowed a little bit. Dio would have found the sight funny, but his gaze was locked on to the woman standing before her. He could only see her. Her gentle blue eyes, her soft smile, the same smile that would put him to bed every night. Even when her face wasn't beaten black and blue, he could still remember her smile.

"I'm here, Dio," she said. "I'm here with you, Dio. You're safe now."

Safe from what? The Joestars? There were two of them here, both of them twice her size and almost ten times stronger. Did she truly think she could defeat them, all on her own?

How foolish. How completely, utterly, idiotically...

Slowly, Dio pushed himself to his feet. "Out of the way..."

"Dio..."

"I said get out of the way!"

His mother stumbled as he shoved her out of the way. Dio's heart skipped a beat. When he saw her regain her footing, it took him a moment to control himself, keeping himself from breathing out a sigh of relief.

"Not hiding behind innocent people this time?" Jotaro asked.

Dio cleared his throat and stood tall. "This has nothing to do with her," he said. "I don't see why it has to involve anyone else."

"Don't bullshit me. You're evil. It's what you do."

Yes. It was.

"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!"

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"

Again, the two of their Stands burst forward, locked in battle. Their fists clashed, each blow powerful enough to shake the room, and yet... Dio realized he almost seemed to be... losing?

Star Platinum swung a fist for his face. The World raised a fist to block it. Star Platinum's fist smashed into the World's, and the World's form fizzled for a moment before Star Platinum's fist pierced through, landing a blow square on his face.

What? How?! The last time we clashed, Jotaro's Star Platinum didn't stand a chance!

Star Platinum's eyes glowed bright. He swung wildly for Dio's face. The World moved up to block it. Star Platinum's fist hammered against the World's arms with enough force to cause the World's form to flicker again. Dio staggered back. A mistake. With the space suddenly between them, Star Platinum pulled his hand back and lunged, both hands clenched together into a full-body powered hammer blow.

CRACK!

Dio's blood splattered against the wall. Dio himself followed soon after, his nose bent and his eye blackened and swollen. Jotaro stepped forward again to finish him off.

And again, his mother stepped between them.

"Outta the way," Jotaro growled.

"Don't interfere," Dio said.

Dio's mother gave him a look that was somewhere between somber and proud. "I'm sorry, Dio. I truly believed your father could change. I see now that by staying by his side, I was hurting you. I should have never forced you to stay with him. I should have taken you with me and run away to somewhere safe. So that is what I shall do now. Run away, Dio. Find somewhere safe to hide."

Every instinct he had told him to listen.

So why didn't he?

Because even if she was foolish, she was still his mother. She had been the one to cook for him, to tuck him into bed. She had been here all night, by his side, when he would have otherwise had to face the Joestars by himself.

He wanted her with him. He needed her with him.

"Become a good person," Erina had told him. "Please become a noble, proud human that can go to Heaven."

Was this what it was like to be a good person? Dio gazed up at his mother. He had the World in the palm of his hand, but when she smiled back, Dio knew that there was no forcing her to stand aside, not any more.

It terrified him.

"Good grief," Jotaro said, cutting in. "You're protecting this bastard?"

"I am," Dio's mother replied.

"He's an evil piece of shit. You know that? He's killed innocent people!"

Dio's mother shook her head. "I know. I believe in a fair and just God, and I believe there must be a fair and just punishment for what he's done... but I also believe that he must have a chance to set things right."

"He's killing my mom."

That gave Dio's mother a moment of pause. She thought about it, then shook her head. "I'm sorry. Even after everything he's done, he's still my son."

Jotaro's scowl deepened. He towered over Dio's mom, and for a second, Dio was afraid that he might hurt her.

Him. Afraid?

He'd say it was impossible, but today was a day for impossibilities.

"Fuck," Jotaro hissed after a moment, tearing his eyes away.

"Jotaro..." Joseph said, placing a hand on Jotaro's shoulder. "It's okay."

"It's not okay! Mom is going to die, and it's all because of this bitch! After all this bullshit, after the hell he's put us through... how the hell is that fair?!"

"I know, Jotaro. I know."

"He has to die. He deserves to die!"

"Then kill me."

All eyes turned to Dio. It took him a second longer to realize he'd said it. Why had he said it?

Because some part of him recognized the look on Jotaro's face. A look of so much fury and anger, of spite and of hate. Of feeling like the world was out to get you.

Of feeling completely lost and alone.

Why should he care? He had almost won. In an hour, Holly Kujo would be dead. Jotaro Kujo and Joseph Joestar would have no reason to kill him any more. They would go home and leave Dio to fulfil his plans. Heaven would be within his grasp.

But would his mother be happy with that? Would he be happy with that?

Jojo's hands wrapped around Dio's face. His body was so cold. His eyes had already begun to fade. But he was here. Even as he let out his dying breath, he was still here.

As his rival, he was making sure they both went down with the ship. As his brother. As his family...

"Dio..." his mother said, hand on his arm.

Dio ignored her. "That's why you came all the way here, isn't it? No more distractions. No one else. Just you and me, and the fate of the Joestar bloodline in your hands."

Not that there was any doubt who'd win. Dio knew he would have taken the offer in a heartbeat.

"Fuck you," Jotaro replied. "I don't need your pity. I don't even care anymore. Go take over the world. Do whatever the hell you want. I don't give a shit. It's all... it's all over."

Slowly, Joseph Joestar reached out for his grandson. Jotaro grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him close. Neither of them spoke, but Dio didn't miss how Jotaro's shoulders shook with every breath he took.

"Dio."

Dio turned to his mother. She offered him a smile in return, one that didn't quite meet her eyes, but still shone on her face nonetheless.

For the first time that night, Dio wasn't quite as annoyed as he should have been at the sight.

"I'm proud of you, Dio," she said. "I always knew there was some good in the son I raised."

Dio was tempted to sneer. Good? He'd killed countless people for their blood. He'd condemned a boy's mother to death. He'd killed his brother and stolen his body for his own.

If Erina were here, if Jojo were here, what would they think of him now?

Jojo's Stand crackled to life, twitching wildly before they settled into a calm and, after a moment, vanished.

That was as good of an answer as any.

Holy Kujo awoke on the other side of the world.

She sucked in a breath, and for the first time that month, that strange, oppressive feeling pressing down on her body had vanished.

"Holly? What are you doing, sitting up so suddenly?"

Holly looked over at her mother, knelt beside her futon. She looked out of the open door, out at the rising sun, and she frowned. "I... suddenly, I feel a lot better..."

"Your sickness is gone?"

Holly pressed a hand to her breast. Under her skin, she could feel her own heartbeat. And beneath that, the strange, magical power from before, still there under her skin, no longer pulsing, just there.

"I don't know," she said. "But... I don't think it'll be hurting me anymore. It's over, Mama. And I can feel it in my heart–Papa and Jotaro, they're both coming home!"

Chapter Text

From the front of the plane, the pilot's voice called out, "It is 6pm in Tokyo. The plane will be landing very soon. Please keep yourself in your seats until further notice."

Dio's scowl deepened, watching outside as the Tokyo International Airport slowly came into view beneath them, cast in a dull grey beneath the cloudy sky. Once, when they were in school, Jojo had asked him if he would have liked to come see the world with him on an archeological trip someday, but Dio had never seen the point. Jojo was the one who thought all that historical shit was brilliant. To Dio, it was all the same.

His mother could not have been more ecstatic.

"Dio, look!" she said, pointing past him and out the window. "All those buildings, those tiny little homes, they look so exotic and oriental!"

Dio curled his lip in annoyance, less annoyed with what she'd said and more that he had to say, "Mother, you can't say that. It's... offensive."

"Oh? I'm sorry." His mother tilted her head. "Do you know why?"

Hell if he knew. Dio had once used the term in front of Pucci, and then Pucci had told him he couldn't say that anymore. Dio hadn't bothered to ask why, both because he was Dio and he could say whatever he damn pleased, and because frankly he didn't care. Peering over his mother, Dio opened his mouth to ask if Joseph had any idea, but the old fart was still asleep.

"Oi! Joestar!" Dio said, only for his mother to shoot him a disappointed look.

"Dio. Please let him rest," his mother said. "He's been very hard at work, helping you settle matters back in Egypt. I'm sure he must be exhausted."

Dio huffed, folded his arms, and leaned back in his seat. "Fine. But I won't offer him the same grace if he remains fast asleep when it's time to leave. I'm not staying on this damned metal contraption for any longer than I have to."

The first time he'd learned of humanity's conquest of the skies, he had been... perhaps not impressed, but a bit interested. He himself had never considered the merits of flight during his brief reign over Windknight's Lot, and he was sure that if he had, he could have achieved it in far less time, but the fact that humanity had expanded to the point where people could travel across the world in a matter of hours?

His world, the world of the 1880s, had already been very expansive. With the American continent being explored and the beginnings of trade relations forming with East Asia, the culture of Britain had already started to shift dramatically, but now someone like Pucci was only a phone call and a short plane flight away. Truth be told, Dio had assumed his victory against the Joestars was all but assured until Enya had pointed out that, if left unchecked, the Joestar family could be in Egypt the very next day. While Dio was not as fascinated with things such as foreign cultures and histories as Jojo had been, such a rapidly changing world was bound to pique anyone's curiosity.

So if anyone asked, it wasn't the plane itself that was putting him off. No, it was the fact that he had to leave his life in the hands of a human. Humans made mistakes. Humans could crash and burn.

Dio made a mental note to see if there was any way for a vampire to achieve flight so he would never have to worry about this again.

Suddenly, Joseph yawned, stretching his hands up and over the seat as he stirred awake. "Hm? We're already there? Air travel is so convenient these days."

"I agree wholeheartedly," Dio's mother chimed in. "I never thought I would see humanity learn to fly in my lifetime. After all, if not even the great Leonardo da Vinci could accomplish such a feat, then who could?"

"It's been a few hundred years since da Vinci's time, miss! Great minds such as Issac Newton, Nikola Tesla, and Albert Einstein have already come and gone. Technology evolves so quickly, too! Hell, in my lifetime, we went from music records to portable cassette players!"

"Portable cassette players?"

"I haven't ever shown you one before, have I?" Digging in the bag next to his seat, Joseph pulled out a small device, cables dangling over the floor, and handed it to his mother. "The Sony Walkman WM-9; it's got all the features of a record player without sacrificing any of the audio quality so you can listen to music anywhere you go."

"That is amazing! Dio, did you know about this?" Dio's mother said, and she brought the device closer for Dio to see.

Dio leaned over to get a better look, and as he peeled his eyes up and down, noting the little scratches and signs of wear over the plastic casing, he said, "Don't you think it's about time you had this one replaced?"

At that, Joseph frowned. "This one's served me just fine. I don't see why I would have to change it now."

"It's a little worn. I can't imagine it still works perfectly."

"Bah. You young folks have no respect for sentimental value."

"I'm older than you, Joestar."

"And you spent much of it underwater. That doesn't count." Taking back his cassette player, Joseph shook his head and stuffed it back into his bag with a huff that Dio thought was a little louder than necessary. "You'll understand once you have plenty of experiences to fill out your life. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go up front and ask the pilot when he plans to land this damn thing. I need to go out and stretch my legs."

Dio only realized what was wrong just as Joseph Joestar finished unbuckling his seatbelt. Personally, he didn't think it was any of his business, but his mother's eyes widened, and she said, "Lord Joestar, wait–"

Suddenly, the plane's wheels hit the ground. Joseph Joestar flew from his seat and slammed into the ceiling. "Holy shit!" he howled.

"Mr. Joestar!" the pilot yelled from the front of the plane. "Are you okay?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Dio noticed his mother reach down to unbuckle her seatbelt. Gently, he raised his hand so that it was over her chest, pinning her to the seat.

"He will be fine," he said.

Dio's mother eyed him with skepticism. "Will he be fine? Or are you simply finding enjoyment in Lord Joestar's suffering?"

"Of course not, mother."

The plane's metal frame jerked suddenly. "Oh my God!" Joseph yelled, flying to the back of the plane, sending a few suitcases tumbling from the storage compartment overhead and to the floor.

Surely God would forgive him this one lie. After all, he was still learning to be a good person. It was expected for him to slip up every now and then.

"Son of a bitch!"

Dio's mother craned her head back, a worried look on her face. The fact that, even after enduring such comical abuse, the man was still flailing wildly and cursing like a sailor probably alleviated that worry a little, but when she gave him a look pleading that he go help, he was helpless to refuse her.

As the plane slowed, finally coming to a stop, Dio rose from his seat, digging through the boxes and cases filled with the Speedwagon Foundation's stuff until he found Joseph Joestar sprawled out over the floor, and he helped him to his feet.

"Thank you," Joseph said, brushing off his coat.

Dio scowled and looked away. After the matter had settled itself in Cairo, Joseph Joestar had been the only person who had advocated for Dio's life, so he at least owed him that much.

Then, Joseph had gone around and told his minions that "it was all over" and that they didn't have to listen to his orders any more. It annoyed Dio that he had done that, and it annoyed him even more how quickly his loyal subjects agreed to it, cutting contact almost completely overnight.

It wasn't as if Dio truly cared about any of them. He had intentionally built his empire upon the worst scum he could find, not only because they would be strong, but he would have a chance to flex his power, but he had spent years building it up, so that it could break apart so quickly...

He wasn't blind to why they were doing it, either. It was only the most logical thing to do; they had beaten him, so it was in their best interest to ensure that he did not have the means to challenge them again.

But Dio didn't say anything. It was, after all, what a good person would do.

"What are we here for, anyway?" Dio asked. "You told me you had arranged for us to live in America."

Close enough to keep an eye on him, Joseph had never said, but Dio was clever enough to pick up the subtext.

"I did," Joseph replied. The door to the plane opened, and Joseph motioned for the agents entering the plane to pick up their bags. "But I need to check up on my family first! Not to mention, you've got a few things of your own to take care of here."

"Ah, yes. I'd forgotten."

Not really. Dio had secretly hoped that Joseph would be satisfied with the Stand arrow he'd had at the mansion, but oh well. Picking up the remaining two Stand arrows in Japan, Dio imagined, would be a fairly trivial task. If he set out right now, he would have it finished within the day.

Which was why when his mother suddenly blurted out, "I would love to meet your family, Lord Joestar. You don't think they would mind, do you?" Dio had to stop himself from slamming his face into the wall.

"No, not at all," Joseph replied with a laugh. "My daughter would love to have you two. I'll have to call ahead, though, just so she knows to prepare supper for two more people."

"That sounds lovely, doesn't it, Dio?"

He should have turned her down. It would be inefficient, not to mention it would invite needless hostility from Jotaro.

But a good person would go along, so Dio sighed and shrugged. "Of course, mother. I'm positively trembling with excitement."

As they left the plane, Joseph first, followed by his mother, Dio paused to make sure he had not dropped anything on his flight. To his annoyance, he found his diary under his seat, but as he picked it off the floor, he hesitated.

Become a good person, Erina had said. Please become a noble, proud human that can go to Heaven.

In a way, her wish had come true. Dio was... well, even he was not foolish enough to believe that he was truly a good person now. But he was getting there. And, if he wanted to, he could reach Heaven, especially now that the Joestars were no longer interested in pursuing him. Everything he wanted was in his grasp.

But now he found himself wondering if he really wanted to take it.

The way to Heaven had only been to satisfy himself. A climb to the top, to ensure that there was nothing that could ever stand above him again. Dio had thought of nothing else but reaching higher, reaching Heaven, for the past three years.

He had his mother now. To reach Heaven would mean leaving her behind.

Dio scoffed. He would be leaving her behind regardless. After all, she was only a human.

"Dio!" he heard his mother call. "Are you alright? We are all waiting for you!"

Dio tucked his diary into his pocket and turned away. He could ponder this later. After all, now, he truly had all the time in the world.

I should have said no.

Dio glanced up from the table. Jotaro glowered back at him, his plate untouched on the table between them. For once, Dio felt he could understand. He was a vampire, so his standards for food were a little strange, but even he could not imagine eating raw fish was particularly pleasant.

Not that it seemed to be stopping his mother. Seated next to him, he watched as she poked at it with her finger, picked it up, and held it close to her face to give it a good sniff.

"Don't eat that, mother," he said. "It's unsanitary."

"Oh, that's not true at all!" Holy Kujo said, sitting next to Jotaro. "I always make sure my kitchen is clean and sanitary when preparing sashimi. It's completely safe to eat; in fact, Jotaro has had it plenty of times, and I haven't heard him complain once, isn't that right, Jotaro?"

"Mhm."

"Isn't that right, Jotaro?"

Again, Holy Kujo gave Jotaro a sideways look. When Jotaro nodded again, Suzi Q cleared her throat from the front of the table. "Your mother wants you to eat, Jotaro."

"Tch. Fine," Jotaro mumbled. He broke eye contact with Dio, a fact that pleased Dio immensely, to pick up his chopsticks and stuff a piece of fish in his mouth.

That seemed to be enough to convince his mother. Taking a deep breath, she bit off a piece of the fish and chewed.

"Well?" Holy Kujo asked, her face somehow twice as radiant as everyone else in the room. "How is it?"

Dio's mother took a moment longer to chew, then swallow, before she replied, "It's made very well."

"Oh! It makes me very happy to hear you say so! I would have cooked something more Western if I had known in advance, but papa can be rather spontaneous when he wants to."

As if that hadn't been made abundantly clear when, the moment they'd entered the house, Joseph Joestar had been dragged away for some kind of important conversation.

"Don't worry," Dio's mother replied, shaking her head. "I suppose I will have to get used to this, anyway. After all, we shall be staying in Japan for a few days to take care of some business, isn't that right, Dio?"

Dio nodded.

Clapping her hands, Holy replied, "You can stop by anytime! My family would be more than happy to have you over for dinner. After all, you two are family too, aren't you?"

Suzi Q suddenly cleared her throat. "Speaking of family, how long will this... business of yours take?"

Dio's mother frowned. "I'm not sure. Dio, do you know how long it will take?"

"It should be done within a day," he drawled.

"By my husband's estimate? Or your estimate?"

Dio's brows pulled down into an annoyed expression. And to think he assumed Jotaro would be the most hostile person here. What had he done to this woman, anyway?

"Despite what you may think, I did not have many agents this far from Egypt," Dio replied. "I simply plan to visit them and convince them to stand down. That is all."

Suzi Q's frown grew deeper. For some reason, a strange feeling crawled up Dio's skin, like needles prickling down his neck and up his arms. Not enough to hurt him, goodness no, but... it settled over him in a way that made him feel... what was the phrasing? Just a trite uncomfortable in his own skin? Like the hairs on the back of his neck were being pulled straight up by a current of static electricity rippling through the air.

Could Suzi Q use Hamon? Of course not. From what he knew of Joseph Joestar's life, his wife was a housewife whose skills were all completely domestic. That woman had not raised a finger to hurt anyone in her life, and yet this electric atmosphere still left Dio feeling uneasy.

"Why such hostility? I can assure you, my servants shall not pose a problem. Most of them are so blindingly loyal to me, they would throw themselves into an oncoming train if I asked it."

Holy Kujo winced. Suzi Q's eyes narrowed further, so Dio quickly added, "Not that I would, but you understand. It is a pityingly simple task." Under his breath, he added, "Unless Nijimura lost the Stand arrow I gave him, but–"

"Nijimura? Like... Mansaku Nijimura? The man who works at my hospital?"

Dio paused. "Oh, yes. I completely forgot you would be familiar with Nijimura. Yes, that Nijimura."

"Bastard!" Plates clattered to the floor and foot spilled over the table as Jotaro's Stand lunged across, grabbing Dio by the collar. "You turned one of my mom's co-workers into your agent!"

Rolling his eyes, Dio replied, "That man is a fool. Do you think he would be your mother's colleague without my intervention?"

"Jotaro! Put him down!" Suzi Q snapped.

Jotaro leveled a glare at her and said, "But he's pissing me off."

"That is no excuse to be acting like this!"

"He's pissing you off too."

"And you don't see me attacking him, do you? Now is not the time to be fighting. We must be civil."

Grumbling angrily, Jotaro tossed Dio back in his seat and folded his arms across his chest. "Tch. Whatever."

Next to him, Dio's mother shook her head. "Dio, could you please refrain from aggravating the Joestars? They are our hosts, and it would not hurt you to be a pleasant guest for the evening, would it?"

Dio huffed and turned away. "No. I suppose it would not."

A quick look across the table, and Dio caught Jotaro shooting him a glare. He was sure the boy had meant to be intimidating, but Dio had just seen him be put down by an old woman, so it came across as a sulk instead.

Turning back to Dio, Suzi Q asked, "And once you're done? What do you plan to do then?"

Dio raised an eyebrow. "Has your husband not told you? He has me employed as a member of the Speedwagon Foundation. To make up for all my transgressions, and all that."

"And after that?"

Scowling, Dio looked away. To be frank, he had never thought that far. Once he had satisfied his debt with the Joestars, he'd idly considered continuing to pursue his ambitions. Go to Heaven, attain ultimate power, and so on. There was no point in it, not anymore, but Dio had spent his entire life like that, so what else was there for him to do?

"I'm immortal," Dio replied, waving his hand. "I have enough time to figure it out."

"Well, when you figure it out, you better leave my family enough of it. We've suffered enough because of you."

Annoying, but not unexpected. Dio could honestly care less if the Joestars wanted anything to do with him, because, blood-related or not, Dio had survived most of his life on his own, and he could survive the rest of it just as well.

It seems even after they "defeated" him, the feud between their families would never end.

Again, he thumbed the pages of the diary in his pocket. If he was already receiving this much hostility, he could hardly imagine how they would feel, once the Joestars found out about his plans for Heaven. Oh, it would take them a while, especially since his plans involved only the worst of the worst, and he could hardly imagine any of the Joestars sinking that low, but they were soft and would move to intervene.

"Excuse me," his mother suddenly spoke up, "I must ask you to not treat my son with such hostility."

Suzi Q furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm sorry if I come off that way. I don't wish your son any harm, I am only trying to protect my family."

"I understand, Lady Joestar, but surely you can find some way to articulate it without speaking to my son as if he is the devil himself."

"All my life, I've heard nothing but horrible things about your son. So far, he's done nothing to disprove that."

"I baked a cake!"

Both women paused as Holly placed a rather sizable cake roll in the middle of the table. She grinned sheepishly, but did not move out of the way.

"I know it's a little early and papa still hasn't come back yet, but I thought it would be a good time to start dessert!" she said.

"Holly, dear, you don't have to worry–"

"No! If you bring family drama to the dinner table, I have to worry! After all, we are all here to eat and have fun. I won't allow it!"

Suddenly, Dio spoke. "You lot are doing an awful lot of speaking for me. My servants would have never dared to do such a thing."

In an instant, everyone fell silent. Dio could practically smell the table's mood going sour, Jotaro gripping the side tightly, Suzi Q shaking her head in disappointment, and Holly shooting him a look that screamed panic. His own mother gave him an inquisitive look, the only one curious as to what he had to say.

Waving a hand dismissively over his shoulder, Dio said, "Don't look at me like a rodent about to be swallowed by a predator. I shall resolve this little drama and do it quickly. Involving myself with your family has brought me nothing but trouble. I do not plan on repeating that mistake once my business with you is done. As long as no Joestar is foolish enough to seek me out, I shall be content to never cross paths with you lot again."

Suzi Q opened her mouth to respond. The lights overhead flickered and died, leaving everyone in the dark without warning. The electric tingling on his skin suddenly got twice as strong, leaving Dio to pull his jacket on a little tighter, and even that was not enough to stop the feeling of needles prickling at his skin. The temperature around him rose so quickly and so suddenly that he needed a moment to realize that his lungs had been emptied of oxygen, and as he sucked in another breath, he found himself hacking up air so thick and dry he would have thought himself to be in the middle of the desert.

Around him, he could see Holly jump in her seat, and Jotaro moved to protect her. His own mother placed her hand over Dio's chest, and as much as he knew that she was as effective as protecting him as a wet towel, a part of him appreciated the gesture nonetheless. Curiously, Suzi Q's only reaction was to look toward the door.

The woman that stepped through was almost bright enough to light up the entire room on her own. Her skin glowed a faint shade of pale yellow, her long, flowing brown hair streaked with grey intertwined with the deep red scarf over her neck. Even through the pair of sunglasses over her eyes, Dio could feel her looking him up and down, like a rhinoceros trying to decide if the animal in front of it was threatening enough to blow away with a single charge.

Now, Dio did not feel fear. He was an immortal vampire with a powerful Stand who stood above all humans on the food web, and just as an eagle would have no reason to fear a mouse, so too did he have no reason to fear humans.

But this...

This came pretty close.

Joseph Joestar came stumbling in behind her, his face covered in sweat. "S–see, mom?" he said, the words practically stumbling out of his mouth. "Everything is fine! I told you, he hasn't tried anything for a week. There's no need for this to get messy."

The woman, Elizabeth Joestar, nodded silently. She tilted her head, frowned, and said, "I know."

"You–of course you do. Ahem. Mom, this is Dio. Dio, this is mom." Joseph clapped his hands. "I'm sure you both expected this reunion to happen, but... if you could, please leave the young ones out of it."

Dio frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Joseph Joestar swallowed. The man had carried himself with a practiced sense of ease the entire time Dio had known him. Even staring him down, Dio found that Joseph had a surprising amount of tenacy, at least enough to look him in the eye. To see him so nervous could not bode well.

"I'm not surprised he doesn't remember," Elizabeth remarked. "One hundred years is a long time."

"How would a human such as you know?" Dio asked.

"Because I have lived it."

Dio scoffed. "Impossible. No human can live that long."

Without a word, Elizabeth pulled her sunglasses down and looked him in the eye.

And Dio understood.

Those eyes.

He had seen them one hundred years ago, on the burning ship, cradled in Erina's arms.

"It's you..." he said.

"Indeed," Elizabeth replied. "Dio Brando. Come outside. I must speak to you alone."

Chapter Text

Through some way or another, Dio found himself standing outside on the porch. The woman who had invited him there was sitting beneath him, and yet her face remained cool and impassive, her hands folded across her chest as she slouched back against a support beam, her eyes closed and her face set into a frown.

In many ways, she was similar to Jotaro. She had that same cocky attitude, one that said she already knew the outcome before anyone could make a move, but while it came across as childish stubbornness from Jotaro, here, it came across as certainty.

Dio liked to tell others he was 122 years old. He believed that such an old age granted him authority and power, despite the fact that he only truly had 22 years of experience to draw from. The likes of Joseph Joestar seemed so far beneath him because he was a human. Aging would not make him stronger like it had with Dio, but Dio was not foolish enough to deny the man had more experience than he did, and now here was this woman who was even older than Joseph was and none the weaker for it. She was everything Dio claimed to be.

Did that annoy him? Almost certainly.

But for all his grandstanding, Dio was not someone incapable of respect.

Yes. Respect.

That was certainly what he felt for this woman. Just as he could respect Enya's sharp tact, or Pucci's undying loyalty, so too could he respect Elizabeth Joestar's overwhelming might.

"Sit," she said.

Dio grimaced. Even if it weren't for the blistering heat of the Hamon that practically radiated from her, the murderous glare of the woman hovering over her told him that would be a poor idea.

"Recall in your Stand first," he sneered. "Then, I shall comply."

Elizabeth tilted her head. "Ah. I had forgotten about that."

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a small plastic device and put it up to her mouth. She inhaled into it a few times, and as Dio watched, her Stand slowly faded from view, and the faint traces of Hamon on the wind stopped prickling at his skin.

"You will forgive me for my poor control," Elizabeth said. "It has been a long time since I have had to use this much energy, and I am a little out of breath."

She was practically melting his skin off from just standing a few feet away, and this was when she was out of breath?

Dio huffed. "Don't talk down to me. I can tell when someone is trying to intimidate me."

"Intimidate you? I would do no such thing."

"What do you call this, then? Despite what you say, you humans are just like animals, using displays of power to make yourself look bigger in the face of a predator."

Elizabeth sighed. Electricity followed the flow of her breath, out her arms, into the wires, and back through the house.

"Oi!" he heard Jotaro call out from inside. "Who the hell turned off the TV?"

Dio opened his mouth to make a comment, with the rest of the neighborhood's lights flickered briefly. Scowling, he glared back at Elizabeth, who stared off into the distance, and he said nothing more on the matter.

With a snort, Dio settled down beside her. "Why did you come here, then? Surely you would not be seeking revenge for something that happened one hundred years ago."

"I would have, were I fifty years younger," she said. "When I was young, your face was all I would see in my nightmares. I assumed that was the reason why I was able to grow so strong so quickly; I'd always feared you would come back."

"Why did you change your mind? You lost the will to fight?"

"Something like that, yes."

Dio scowled at the woman's open declaration of weakness. "Just as I thought. You humans are all so fickle. To change your mind about something after only fifty years proves that you could never climb higher on the food chain."

"Perhaps. But that does not matter now, does it?" Elizabeth tilted her head, resting her cheek on a finger. "My son tells me that you have agreed to work for the Speedwagon Foundation. What do you plan to do after that?"

"Again with this? I have already told your daughter in law that I have no interest in crossing paths with your family, once my debt is paid."

"You have been our enemy for generations. I still would like you to tell me."

Dio rolled his eyes. "Then I intend to retire and spend the rest of my days peacefully, hiding away in a cave in the middle of nowhere."

Clicking her tongue, Elizabeth shook her head. "I know that is not the truth, Dio Brando. Please spare yourself the humiliation."

"If you think you're so clever, why don't you take a guess?"

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. Before Dio could react, she reached out and pressed her finger against his forehead.

Dio hissed and drew back. Thankfully, his head did not begin to melt from her touch. Then Elizabeth spoke, and he almost wished it had.

"You wish to pursue your ambitions and complete your plans," she said. "The... Heaven plan, was it?"

The World burst out of his back, fists raised. "How do you know that?" Dio growled.

"Because that is the direction your choices shall take you. Hamon is the energy created by the ripples in the human bloodstream. To harness it, to use it in battle, one must learn to be able to follow the movements of their own ripple, both the ripples created from their bodies and the ripples created from their actions. Every decision we make ripples out from that point in time, affecting the decisions of those around us who in turn affect those around them. To understand the ripple is to understand the direction of destiny, and with the decisions you plan to make, that is where your destiny shall carry you."

"Wha–impossible! If such a thing were so simple, I would have–"

"Simple?" Elizabeth scoffed. "To read one's fate is far from simple, Dio Brando. It takes years of dedication, mastering Sendo and learning to fine tune your control."

"And you had the ability to do it this whole time?" Dio paused, then laughed. "Is that why you did not travel to Egypt with the rest of the Joestars? You knew it was a futile effort all along."

"On the contrary, my son and his grandson would have won that fight easily without me."

"You lie! The old fool is far weaker than you are, and his Stand is much too weak to have a chance against my the World. That he has to rely on cheap tricks to keep up is a testament to how much of a foolish errand his little crusade was!"

Elizabeth shook her head. "And why do you think that is?"

"Because that's how you mortals are. You grow old. You grow weak, and you grow complacent."

"No, Dio. It is because our battles are long finished. There is no need for us to keep training, to keep fighting." Elizabeth smiled. "I know you want to ask if I have come to stop your plan to ascend to Heaven. Even after everything that has happened, you still believe us to be enemies. But I do not suspect I shall have to stop you."

"And what," Dio asked, "makes you so sure of yourself?"

"Because your battle is over too, Dio, whether you realize it or not."

The moon shone brightly overhead, lighting Dio's path as he slipped through the halls of the Kujo mansion. Nearby, he could hear Joseph Joestar speaking with his wife about the food he'd had in Egypt. On the other side, he could see the silhouette of Jotaro Kujo, nodding slowly as Polnareff's excited voice came over the phone. Though she was not saying anything, he could see Elizabeth Joestar beside him, nodding her head and taking a long drag of her cigarette as she listened in. He could not pinpoint exactly where Holly Kujo was, but she had mentioned earlier that she was going to bed, and the woman was too simple to lie about that.

Importantly, however, none of them had their eyes on him.

That was the true reason why he had not turned down Joseph Joestar's invitation to come to dinner. Back in Egypt, in his home, the Speedwagon Foundation had tapped all of his phones. He couldn't so much as speak a word without someone somewhere finding out.

And he understood why Joseph had done it, truly he did. It would make sense, if only to settle the paranoia that your old enemy could be plotting behind your back, and he did not mind it that much.

But there were still some things he wished to speak about... in secret.

And around the Kujo mansion would be the perfect place to do it.

Dio thumbed his diary, hidden in his pocket. I should phone Pucci and let him know I am still alive–perhaps schedule a time to speak about Heaven and finalize our plans.

Freezing the floorboards so they would not creak when he walked upon them, Dio slipped through the hall and out the door. If he remembered correctly, there was a pay phone just down the block. If he could make it there without being seen...

Dio strolled quietly through the empty streets and turned the corner.

His mother was already at the pay phone, looking utterly lost.

Dio frowned. "Mother?"

His mother startled. "Ah! Hello, Dio."

"What are you doing outside?"

"Hm. It's rather strange, but I can't seem to be able to sleep."

Dio's mouth made an "Oh" shape. "I believe that phenomenon is called "jetlag." Right now, we would be having supper in Egypt. Your body simply has not registered that the time here is six hours ahead."

"I see." His mother laughed. "It seems that, just as humanity invents new technology, new problems arise as a result."

"Indeed."

"Would you like to go for a walk? Perhaps that ought to tire both of us out enough to get some rest for tomorrow."

Of course, he did not truly need rest like she had, but he did not bother to correct her.

Dio's eyes strayed to the phone booth. He was so close... if he could just get his mother to go back inside...

"Around the block," Dio said, nodding.

His mother smiled. She waited long enough for him to catch up, then fell into stride beside him as they fell into a stroll beneath the flickering street lights of the Tokyo suburbs.

"So tomorrow," his mother said, "you are going to speak to this Mansaku Nijimura and Yoshihiro Kira, and you will tell them that they no longer need to bother the Joestars, correct?"

Dio hummed. "Something to that effect, yes."

"And once we have finished that and settled in America, you will spend some time working under Lord Joestar. What do you suppose he'll have you do?"

"I suppose he'll have me fulfill the position Muhammed Avdol vacated, dealing with the occasional rogue Stand user."

"Does that mean that you will get to travel the world?"

"Most likely."

Dio's mother clapped her hands. "Oh, how wonderful! I suppose I may have to get used to this... "jetlag" thing, if I am to travel with you."

Dio paused. "You? Coming with me?"

"Yes! That's not a problem, is it?"

"Stand users are dangerous. You will be putting yourself in danger."

"I know, but technology has advanced to such a point that we can be anywhere in the world in under a day. I want to see what I've missed these last one hundred years."

"And we can, but only when I'm not assigned some meaningless task by the Speedwagon Foundation."

"Yes... but I won't get to spend very long with you, so I want to make the most of it while it lasts."

At Dio's confused look, his mother smiled and inclined her head. "You are such a strong-willed child, Dio. I know that, once this is done, you plan to pursue your ambitions, and when that the time comes, I shall support you with all my heart. But I have missed out on so much of your life already. Is it too selfish for me to ask that you indulge me for a bit? I would like to see the world with you before you go."

Dio opened his mouth. Then he closed it. "I... no. Not at all." Clearing his throat, Dio suddenly became very aware of the weight of his diary pressed up against his leg. "Well, mother... what do you plan to do? Once this is over, that is?"

"I suppose I shall ask if the Joestars would take me in, then. Perhaps they might be able to find me some work? Goodness knows I only know how to work a factory loom, but I am sure I will be able to make do."

"I thought you said you wanted to see what humanity has achieved."

"I do... but I doubt that anyone would want to travel with me once you're out of the house."

She said that, but Dio could still detect an underlying tone of sadness to her words. She was pretending not to suffer, for his sake.

Just like she had, one hundred years ago.

They turned the corner again, and the payphone came back into view. As they reached their destination, Dio's mother yawned.

"I suppose this is goodnight, then," she said. "Please wake me up when you leave. I would like to come with you to meet your subordinates."

Dio watched her go and frowned. Again, he thought back to the words Elizabeth Joestar had shared with him, about how her battle was finished, of how she and Joseph could become weak, now that there was no more enemy for them to face.

Dio had thought it ridiculous. Life was a climb to the top, a never-ending battle against those who would take from you, to ensure that your enemies were dead and that there was no one who could stand above you. But clearly his mother did not share the sentiment.

He wanted to pursue Heaven, of course. He had spent three years thinking of nothing else, and to abandon it now would be a waste. To seek Heaven would be throwing himself into a new battle, a new climb for the top.

And if he was being honest, that sounded exhausting.

He thought back to Joseph, to Elizabeth. They were old, they were weak, but they could afford it because there was no fight left for them to finish. He thought back to when he was sneaking through the Kujo mansion. How relaxed everyone was. How they had nothing better to do but chat and listen.

And Dio realized, for the first time, that he was jealous of that.

Perhaps he had always been jealous of that.

Dio thought back to Erina. To seeing her walking down the road, hand in hand with Jojo. To her words on the boat.

"Mother."

His mother stopped. "Yes?"

"When I was in Egypt, Joseph Joestar mentioned that the Tokyo Tower lights up brilliantly at night. I had always thought he was exaggerating, but... would you like to come and see if it is true?"

Dio's mother looked at the house, then back to him. "I would love to," she replied.

Together, they walked past the phone booth again, deeper into the city. Dio didn't even spare it a second glance.

Stardust Crusaders: END