Jotaro Kujo never thought he would experience being door-blocked again after Joseph Joestar and Avdol did it once.
Until today, when he opened the door and saw Diego Brando and a… priest?
Before Jotaro could speak, Diego outside leaned in close, hooked his shoulder with one hand, and asked in a casual tone: "Jotaro, I'm going to visit my son Giorno. Do you want to come?"
Jotaro looked disgusted. He slapped Diego's hand away and answered firmly: "No."
Diego wasn't surprised. He shrugged and added: "Polnareff is there too. The small dinosaurs told me he tracked the whereabouts of the Stand arrow and ended up blind in one eye and lost two legs. The culprit blocked his communication with the outside world."
"Go!"
Jotaro's expression vanished. He agreed without hesitation.
Before departure, at the airport, Jotaro looked Pucci up and down and asked Diego: "By the way, who is this? This trip will be dangerous. Don't let ordinary people get involved."
Hearing this, Pucci stared intently at Diego, as if very much looking forward to how he would answer.
"For now, treat him as ko no Dio's close friend. As for strength, don't worry. White Snake is very strong."
"Close friend!!"
The three boarded the plane to Italy together.
...
The suburbs of Naples..
Inside a secret base of the passionate organization, Diavolo sat on the sofa, listening to his trusted subordinate's phone report as usual and issuing his next plans for the organization.
"...And then, the account you previously ordered to monitor and intercept has had new messages recently. It's contacting a Japanese account to meet at the Colosseum tonight at seven o'clock."
Diavolo was silent for a while before saying in a calm tone: "I understand.."
Then Diavolo slowly hung up the phone. Cold sweat faintly seeped from his back. His eyes widened in disbelief as he muttered: "Polnareff?!"
But... how is that possible! That guy...!
"...Wasn't he already killed by me?!" Diavolo roared.
In Diavolo's memory, Polnareff, this "dying message" type Stand user, had recently been cut off at the hands and feet and thrown off a cliff by him. There was no way he could have survived.
Damn it... No wonder I wasn't affected by his Stand ability. It turns out this guy didn't die at all and luckily escaped with his life!
Polnareff has seen my face and knows my true identity. I absolutely cannot let him live in this world!
Everything about Diavolo is a mystery. Even his name and nationality are false reports. Everyone who has seen his true face has been killed without exception!
Therefore, Diavolo must kill this enemy who knows his true identity—and he must handle it personally. He cannot let his subordinates do it.
He made up his mind to arrive at the Colosseum before seven o'clock and clean up this hidden danger.
...
Night fell as scheduled.
——Colosseum——
18:45, Doppio (Diavolo) wearing a black hood appeared at the Colosseum, head lowered, pretending to be a tourist coming to visit.
At the same time, his peripheral vision cautiously observed the surroundings, searching for Polnareff's figure.
(ps: Doppio is Diavolo's second personality, his identity as his own subordinate)
Not long after, Diavolo keenly sensed that someone behind the stone wall upstairs was spying on him.
"Dorurururururu——, ah, BOSS's phone! Moshi moshi!" Doppio first imitated the phone ringtone, then picked up a stone and held it to his ear, saying, "BOSS, I've arrived at the Colosseum. What should I do next?"
Diavolo took the opportunity to give Doppio an order: "Well done, my dear Doppio. Maintain the status quo and slowly move toward that stone wall."
Then Doppio slowly moved upstairs. Once the person behind the stone wall entered the range of 『King Crimson』, he would immediately activate his ability for a surprise attack.
(ps: King Crimson: Diavolo's Stand. Its ability is time erasure, capable of erasing 0~10 seconds of time. Its sub-ability Epitaph can predict the future dozens of seconds ahead with 100% certainty.)
Just as Doppio was about to step onto the stairs, a roar came from upstairs:
"Who are you? Stop! Don't move any further!"
Doppio looked up at the sound. Sure enough, the man behind the stone wall was Jean Pierre Polnareff—the guy who should have been dead.
Doppio's killing intent surged. He had King Crimson erase time while he climbed the stairs!
Clack! Clack! Clack!
The gradually approaching footsteps sounded like the toll of death.
"This is a... 『trial』!" Doppio removed the black hood along with the pink sweater on his body. His voice gradually changed from youthful to mature, and his eyes gradually became resolute as he switched back to Diavolo's main personality.
"I think this is a trial given by God to make me overcome the past…!"
Clack! Clack!
"Only after overcoming that immature past… can a person grow…" Diavolo walked to the middle of the stairs and turned his head to look at the figure on the stairs. "Hmm? Aren't you the same, Jean Pierre Polnare...! What?!"
Clap clap clap...
Looking up, the person on the stairs was not Polnareff at all. The blond man standing there applauding was clearly someone Diavolo had never seen before.
"Excellent. Your insight into trials is truly excellent!" Diego applauded continuously with a playful smile and praised, "Congratulations, Diavolo. You've finally come before this Dio."
"..." Diavolo still hadn't figured out the situation.
"A trial should be thoroughly understood after overcoming it." Diego stopped applauding and raised one finger. "I appreciate you, so I've decided to give you, who have finally arrived here, a chance…"
"You... who are you? Where is Polnareff?!" Diavolo interrupted Diego's words.
Diego's eyes narrowed, then he laughed again: "I'm very tolerant of talented people, so I won't pursue the price of your offense. As long as you descend two steps, this Dio will permit you to serve me. Conversely, if you want to die, then climb the remaining stairs…"
What the hell is this guy talking about?
"Dorururururu!"
This was the unique ringtone for the trusted subordinate's emergency communication!
Diavolo's eyes dropped. Hesitating, he took out his phone and answered. Inside came the panicked voice of his subordinate.
"BOSS! You finally answered the phone. The organization is under a full-scale attack. There are dinosaurs, so many dinosaurs!!! And there's a monster wearing a hat and a priest. We————"
Beep beep beep...
The call was cut off. Diavolo's hand stopped in mid-air. His mind was in chaos. He completely didn't understand what had happened.
Before he could sort out the situation, another set of heavy footsteps suddenly sounded behind him. Diavolo turned his head and saw Jotaro Kujo, who had rushed over.
"Communication between people's hearts is truly wonderful, but once you rush it, it will leave aftereffects—for example: 『hatred』."
"Ah—…"
A trap!!
This was a trap specifically for me!!
Diavolo's nerves were tense. He stood frozen in place.
Upstairs was the demon Diego Brando, who could summon a dinosaur legion and whose main body was even fiercer than the Stand The World.
Downstairs was the evil spirit Jotaro Kujo, who could stop time and whose single punch could smash diamonds to pieces.
The only escape route was to break through the wall and take the dirt path leading to the toilet.
But Diavolo was just an ordinary person. His Stand could only erase time and predict the future—a weak Stand. So how should he choose?
Faced with the double outcome of being Muda-Ora'd predicted by Epitaph, he could only firmly shout:
"No... don't come near me aaaaaah!!! King Crimson!!!"
Diavolo had no will to fight. His mind was filled only with the thought of running away. He had King Crimson erase 10 seconds of time and ran.
He kept running until he reached the edge of the Colosseum wall. King Crimson punched the wall, creating a hole wide enough for one person. He drilled into the toilet.
Sensing that Diego and Jotaro hadn't chased after him, Diavolo's heartbeat calmed slightly. Just as he caught his breath, he heard a voice from behind: "Don't even think about escaping!! Silver Chariot!!!"
Silver Chariot suddenly appeared behind him. With exquisite Western swordsmanship, it seized the brief gap after time erasure and added several wounds to Diavolo's body.
"What?!" Diavolo hurriedly turned around. King Crimson desperately resisted, but his Achilles tendons were still severed.
That's right. Diavolo's target for this trip————Polnareff—was buried in the toilet waiting to ambush him.
Not only that, Polnareff's previous injuries had completely disappeared. His limbs were intact, and the blinded eye had regained its light.
It was precisely Giorno's masterpiece.
Bang!!!
Diavolo was sent flying. He flew all the way back to the Colosseum and fell to the ground in a sorry state.
"Stop playing around, Dio. Let's team up and take him down together!" Jotaro turned his hat and pointed at Diavolo.
Diego applauded and agreed: "Alright, Jotaro."
"Star Platinum! ORA——————!"
Star Platinum threw a punch, heavily striking Diavolo's abdomen, and stopped time for five seconds.
"Go all out and blow you up!"
"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!!!"
Star Platinum continuously pummelled Diavolo until the five seconds of stopped time ended.
"Dio! It's your turn now!"
Diavolo flew backward in front of Diego.
"WRYYYYYY——!!!" Diego suddenly leaned back, connecting with the time stop. "The World! Time, stop!!"
"Finish you in one go!!"
"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!!"
Bang!!!
After time resumed flowing, Diavolo crashed through the wall and flew straight toward the highway.
At this moment, not a single bone in Diavolo's entire body was intact. There was massive internal bleeding. But unexpectedly, he still struggled to his feet with astonishing willpower and crawled using King Crimson.
"As long as... as long as I can escape…"
Step!
A foot blocked in front of Diavolo. He forced himself to lift his eyelids. In his blood-stained vision, he vaguely saw a man dressed as a priest.
"Huh? Are you injured?" the man asked with concern.
This made Diavolo recall the foster father he had killed, who was also a kind-hearted priest. Almost as if possessed, Diavolo called for help to the man in front of him: "Y-yes… I'm injured. Please help me. Take me to the hospital…"
"Of course." The man showed a generous smile, then his tone changed. "It's just that I'm sending you to the morgue."
Smack!
"It seems you let your guard down, Diavolo. I've been waiting a long time for this moment." White Snake appeared behind Diavolo and pressed down on his shoulder.
"What?!!! King——"
Thud!
White Snake fiercely punched Diavolo in the face as he tried to resist, pulling out two discs from inside. One of the patterns on them was clearly: King Crimson!
"Disc retrieval complete."
White Snake took the Stand disc and handed it to Diego.
Not far away, Polnareff leaned over to Jotaro and said in a low voice: "To be honest, Jotaro, I never thought I'd fight side by side with Dio one day."
"I didn't expect it either." Jotaro pressed down the brim of his hat.
Polnareff raised both hands above his head and smiled brightly. He said jokingly: "Hey hey hey, Jotaro, you seem pretty familiar with this Dio, huh? Even your combo moves in private are seamless. I saw it—one time stop connects to another. Theoretically, couldn't you pause time indefinitely!"
"..." Jotaro lowered his head, the corners of his mouth slightly raised. "It feels really good to see you again."
"What! You stingy nephew better not be hoping for something to happen to me!" Polnareff laughed heartily. He reached out and scratched the back of his head, asking with concern, "Mr. Joestar is doing well, right?"
Jotaro's face instantly turned black: "The old man he... has quite a lot of energy."
"Is that so?! That's good, that's good!" Polnareff obviously didn't know about Joseph Joestar's affair and was still happy for his old friend's health. He patted Jotaro's back again and again, completely unaware that Jotaro's expression was getting worse and worse. "Right, how about I go on a trip to Japan with you?! I haven't seen little Jolyne in a long time. I wonder if she still remembers me. Let's call Mr. Joestar too and have a good gathering. The feeling of surviving a near-death experience is really great!"
"Mm."
Jotaro nodded with a smile.
"By the way, Jotaro, there's one more thing." Polnareff suddenly remembered something. He put away that playful expression and said with a serious face, "That 『Arrow』 disappeared a few days ago. I suspect…"
At this point, Polnareff didn't continue. Instead, he carefully warned.
"Don't fully trust him."