The timeline differed somewhat. According to DIO's research, reaching Heaven required not only arriving at the designated location but also "greeting the next new moon." Yet standing directly before the divine miracle seemed to have waived that requirement entirely.
A Stand was the manifestation of spiritual power—that had never changed. Take Polnareff's Silver Chariot Requiem: its soul-swapping ability reflected his deepest wish to die in someone else's place.
In the original course of fate, the one who would successfully reach Heaven was Pucci, years later as a fully ordained priest. Made in Heaven—a Stand powerful enough to reset the entire universe—was born from the philosophy DIO had planted in him: after watching his younger brother and sister unknowingly fall in love, only for his sister to die in circumstances indirectly tied to him, Pucci had been guided toward the belief that if one could know the future in advance, one could accept it with peace of mind.
By accelerating time to infinity and resetting the universe, every being that survived from the old world would gain the ability to foresee what was coming next. Even attempting to change the outcome would be futile. The only value was psychological preparedness.
This was what DIO had written in his diary with a question mark beside it: "Those who are prepared shall know eternal happiness."
But that was Pucci's misunderstanding. DIO had never intended to submit to fate and rule over some tedious, predetermined world. From the very beginning, he wanted to shatter fate.
"DIO!"
Jotaro arrived, following the trail of light, his expression grim.
"Oh shit! Jotaro, the way he looks is giving me flashbacks!" For the first time in ages, Joseph raised his left hand and pointed at DIO.
The Vampire who should have been annihilated on contact was standing with his back to a radiance more sacred and blinding than the sun itself, chin raised, looking down on them.
That posture made Joseph hallucinate for an instant—a vision of Kars, over fifty years ago, successfully evolving into the Ultimate Life Form.
No. That wasn't the point.
"Old man, our bodies haven't swapped back." Jotaro looked down at Joseph's hands. The mutation on his borrowed body was only barely noticeable. "But DIO somehow got his original body back."
The man Joseph was carrying had clearly shifted from DIO's frame to Pucci's own appearance—yet the swap had been of souls, not bodies. Even if their original forms were restored, their physical positions shouldn't have changed.
DIO pressed a hand over the star-shaped birthmark on the back of his neck. "The World Over Heaven. The century of grudges between me and the Joestar bloodline ends here."
A silver-white Stand materialized behind him. Traces of the old World were still visible within it—along with the ability awakened by his lifelong ambition: Reality Overwrite.
The World's hands could rewrite anything they touched. What had already happened could be unmade. Body swaps, the Vampire's weakness to light—even death itself could be overwritten to "still alive."
With this Stand, fate and the Joestar feud alike would be overwritten.
"Yare yare..."
Jotaro moved Joseph's body forward until he was close enough, then summoned the Stand.
"Star Platinum!"
A Stand with top-tier attributes lunged at DIO in a surprise attack. Even a Stand as powerful as Star Platinum had its weaknesses—range being the most notable. In the early days, Star Platinum could reach far enough to smuggle beer and manga into Jotaro's prison cell. But ever since he'd tested his Stand's power by firing a gun at his own head, its effective range had never exceeded five meters again.
"Petty tricks—but far too weak!" DIO folded his arms and let the evolved World take the punch.
The upgraded World was no longer the flimsy frame that Star Platinum could crumple at close range.
Perhaps feeling playful—or perhaps repaying Jotaro for pushing him to the brink—DIO simply let The World trade blows, batting Jotaro back with ease.
Jotaro turned to Joseph. "Old man. Press the button on your belt."
"There are two buttons on this thing—which one?" Joseph smashed both at once, and time froze.
"Muda da, Muda. Time Stop is no longer a power I need. The World's abilities are now effectively invincible. Next, I'll just go ahead and dominate this real world." DIO spread his arms wide, strolling freely through stopped time.
Joseph noticed too. The belt's Time Stop was startling, but right now it wasn't just useless against DIO—it had trapped Jotaro, who could only move for a few seconds within the frozen moment.
"Oh my God!"
But there was one other thing Time Stop couldn't restrain.
DIO's gaze flicked to the motionless girl behind him. The ground Love Train had torn apart was still shifting even within frozen time.
Seizing his moment of distraction, Joseph hastily canceled the Time Stop, ready to deploy the ultimate technique befitting his age bracket: running away. And in truth, it would have worked. Even at his current power, DIO could only rewrite the reality his two hands physically touched.
But when Joseph looked back, the intersection they'd come from was blocked by a building that hadn't been there before.
"The Joestars, still trapped within 'fate.' It seems fate won't allow you to turn your backs on me, DIO."
"But—she still hasn't disappeared. I thought she only existed as a tool for reaching Heaven." He turned, fixing his attention on the girl who had single-handedly pushed him into Heaven's gates.
The World Over Heaven reached out to touch the girl's face. Love Train—unbroken since the day it was obtained—finally cracked for the first time under Reality Overwrite. Where The World's fists reached, they would inevitably touch reality itself.
"Yimi-chan? Why are you here?" Joseph only now noticed the girl behind DIO. He charged immediately. "Get your hands off her, you pedophile! Your opponent is me—Joseph Joestar!"
"Why are the Joestars always so stubborn about losing? That armor looks completely wasted on you. Fine—that obnoxious thing gave me enough trouble earlier."
DIO sneered at the suit that had once punched clean through him. He wound The World's fist back and swung straight for Joseph's head.
Being labeled a pedophile twice in a row made him stop holding back. But the fist—destined to rewrite reality on contact—was gently deflected downward by a single hand, just before it reached Joseph's face.
"Nani? Who—?"
"Nothing in this world can be taken for free."
"Everything you have obtained has already been weighed against a 'price.'"
DIO stared behind him. Emerging as though stepping out of Heaven itself, crowned in thorns, stood a figure of kaleidoscopic radiance.
"What are you willing to pay?"
The Scales of Injustice swayed in the holy light, crackling and snapping. Never, under their witness, had anyone taken so much as a coin or a meal without paying.
The gaunt Stand behind the Saint moved of its own accord—without Yimi's command—reaching for The World Over Heaven's fists.
Congratulations, host! Achievement unlocked: [So What's the Price?]. Reward: 5% portal energy.