What the actual hell was this?
DIO stared at the shifting mass of flesh before him, and even he felt his mind go momentarily blank.
A flicker of genuine doubt crept in.
Hadn't he activated his time stop? Then why — why was something still moving inside the range of his stopped time?!
Though if he'd put that question to Anthony, Anthony would have probably just started laughing loudly in his face.
Oh, you don't get it? That's fine. It doesn't really matter if you don't.
Sure, The World is strong — but that time stop of yours is, honestly... a little hard to speak well of.
In canon, Jotaro didn't even bother pretending. First he just maintained conscious thought inside the stopped time. Then he started moving in it. And then he straight-up copied the time stop itself!
And you thought you were going to test the chat group with THIS?
That's selling the chat group a little short, don't you think?
All along, what Anthony had been counting on was never the new abilities he'd scraped together, nor the 1,300 Points' worth of soul energy he'd carried in. It was the chat group itself — and the absurdly high metaphysical authority it held.
The moment functions like Resurrection and Recycle went into effect, whatever they said would happen would happen. That single point was absolutely, non-negotiably unchangeable.
Just like the Perfect Resurrection written into the system — as long as 10,000 Points were provided, along with a physical body compatible with Jonathan and sufficient for his revival, what came out at the end would be Jonathan at his absolute peak. That was precisely why Anthony had dared to use the Ampoule to proliferate the flesh in the first place.
All it needed was a body. Nobody specified what kind.
And at this very moment — through the authority of the chat group, through the [10,000 Points] recycled from the Arrow, and through the [physical body] catalyzed by the Ampoule — the conditions for resurrection had been met.
In that instant, within the proliferating mass of flesh, something shaped like a human form began to rise — drawn upward by the power of the chat group.
DIO watched that silhouette take shape — and felt, inexplicably, a creeping sense of... unease.
You've got to be kidding. How could I — someone who possesses the power of The World — possibly feel something like that?!
It doesn't matter. This is my time stop. All I have to do is shatter it.
The World drew back its fist and drove it into the proliferating mass of flesh.
There's still a full second left on the time stop. Pulverizing this meat pile won't even take half a second.
But in that exact instant, the flesh accelerated its formation — countless excess pieces were flung away, a soul returned to its body — and finally...
When The World's fist came crashing down into the flesh, it was met by another pair of fists — golden, gleaming — and a shockwave of force blasted the surrounding furniture clean off the floor, leaving both The World and DIO frozen in a single stunned moment.
The next instant, the time stop ended. The golden fists vanished.
And from within the flesh, a young man with short blue hair stepped forward. He shook the last remnants of gore from his body. A pair of deep blue eyes turned to look at DIO.
That face — that face like something carved by angels — was one DIO would never forget. Not in this life, not in the next.
"Jonathan Joestar!!"
At this moment, at this very instant — Jonathan Joestar had completed his perfect resurrection.
"Ah. It's been a while, DIO."
Jonathan gave a small nod — a perfectly casual greeting — and then spoke, his voice calm yet weighted with absolute gravity:
"I won't stand by and watch you commit evil any longer... DIO. Back on that ship — that was when you should have met your end."
"Save the speeches!"
Looking at Jonathan standing before him, DIO felt a reflexive flicker of fear — but the next moment, it evaporated entirely.
He's come back to life once. So what? I have the power of a Stand now. I'm not who I was.
I killed Jonathan Joestar once. I can kill him a second time.
Jonathan didn't answer. He simply stepped forward toward DIO.
DIO's mind kicked into overdrive. The time stop still needs a moment to recharge... I don't know how much strength Jonathan has right now, but regardless — I should still hold the advantage here.
Which means what I need to do right now is... a sucker punch.
In an instant, a jet of blood erupted outward — so sudden that even Jonathan barely had time to react. A split-second later, his vision was smeared with crimson.
A vicious grin split DIO's face. He lunged forward in a single stride, The World erupting into being at his back, driving a full-force blow straight at Jonathan.
"JOJO! Even after coming back to life — you'll still be nothing but a stepping stone under my feet!"
"Taste this blow — the blow of your defeat!"
As The World's fist hurtled toward Jonathan, he said nothing.
Ever since the moment of his resurrection, he had been feeling it — a powerful, insistent sensation, as though all he had to do was reach for it, and something would answer his call.
Like right now.
With the faintest stir of his will, a pair of golden fists — ones DIO knew all too well — appeared directly across from his own, and met The World's blow head-on with unwavering force.
DIO's pupils slammed to pinpoints.
He knew those fists. He knew them in his bones. Nobody on this earth knew them better than he did — nobody.
Standing behind Jonathan, imposing and magnificent, could only be one thing besides The World itself.
A Stand. Identical to his own.
DIO stood there, completely stunned.
You've got The World standing behind you — so what does that make the thing standing behind me? A knockoff? A bootleg?
He had no time to hesitate. On pure instinct, DIO went to throw another punch — better to kill Jonathan now, before he had a chance to get used to his newfound power.
But in the next instant, DIO felt it — a searing, violent backlash of force that hammered straight into him.
He looked — and saw it. Running across the fists of Jonathan's World was a cascade of brilliant golden light, shimmering and alive. And that light — DIO would have recognized it if he'd been reduced to ash.
That's the Ripple.
In that moment, DIO nearly coughed up a lungful of blood — and a thought surfaced in his mind, completely unbidden.
Hm... any chance we could... work something out?
____
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