P H A N T O M   B L O O D

  "Here comes the sun, do do do. Here comes the sun and I say, it's alright."

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"Come, Jojo!" Dio taunts, posing with his crazy thick trousers pointing out.

Jojo responds immediately, breathing in loudly and preparing to fight- and oop, some random guy stops him with a hand on his shoulder, causing the bluenette to ask in confusion "What are you doing?"

Because really, who's this guy showing up out of nowhere and interrupting the fight that's been building up for like 8 years?

"Jojo please step aside, I have a prior claim," The new guy says, continuing forward and clutching his fist, "It is my right to avenge my friend's killing."

Oh, so he's one of Zeppeli's Hamon buddies from Tibet?

You analyze his appearance and wow, his hairline is off the charts, a structural anomie really. And talk about shoulder pads! Dude could keep his shoulders intact if he fell right off the balcony.

Awesome. Um, not the whole gonna kill Dio thing but eh, you can't say his upcoming murder attempt isn't justified. Hell, you're rooting for this funny looking fellow.

Speaking of outfits, guess who got changed? You! Almost forgot to describe the sick threads Wang gave you. And well, he really went out of his way to make you look like a poppy.

You're sporting this scarlet shirt that's probably older than you with really poofy sleeves from the elbow down and a really long sort of collar that appeared almost lopsided around your neck. For some odd reason, it's also cropped right above the big ol' hole in your abdomen, like Wang was out to get you or something.

Anyway, the shirt's a button-up right but the buttons are on one side rather than the middle and your fancy new trousers are designed in the same way. Red trousers with buttons running up the bottom! It's madness. And also heavily belted. You got two normal brown belts and this big gold chain looping around one of them.

You and Dio look like a weird met gala theme. Jojo looks like he was also invited actually. But eh, who are we kidding, the met gala doesn't even exist yet.

Back to the fighting!

"Zeppeli was a brave man and born companion through two decades of harsh training," The guy continues and you damn near tear up at the golden flashback of a younger Baron and this chap, "Dio, for his life I shall now send you to the bowels of hell itself!"

"No, wait, Dire! Dio has hidden abilities for which you are not prepared!" Jojo tries to warn the guy but then stops and gasps when the Dire guy starts... Multiplying?

Gasp indeed, Jojo.

You, Dio and pretty much everyone else in the room watch as the image of Dire starts fracturing and multiplying until he's in the air. It looked like a good enough technique for confusing opponents and getting the high ground and all but surely Dio could have just taken him out before he started?

But with it being Dio and all he's too dramatic to strike down the flying Hamon user before the flying can happen.

"Now there's an interesting walk. Apparently, with decades of the proper training, mere humans can enable them to float through the air," Dio watches with the interest of an arrogant cat watching a mouse squabble, "But in only a single night, I attained power far surpassing that of any human guru."

At this point you've started moving towards the small band of humans, trying to get a better view of the fight. None of them really notice you so it works out quite nicely.

Dio stretches out his arms and Mr Midair Dire moves into a kicking position, Dio only cackles at this, "You truly think you can defeat me in this manner? Like you were sleepwalking!"

Dio makes an odd growling sound and Dire's non-existent eyebrows scrunch up. The Hamon user uses his legs to trap Dio's arms and forms a Hamon charged x with his own.

"Fell for it, didn't you fool? Thunder cross split attack!!" Dire aims his Hamon charged arms at Dio's head in slow-motion so that there's time for dialogue before any contact is made.

"Uncanny! In crossing his arms he can mount an attack while still keeping his guard up for protection!" Speedwagon exclaims passionately as he tends to do, "An incredible strategy!"

"No fighter has ever been able to escape his move," Another random guy says. Only this time, the random guy has silky hair.

"Bite his dick off before his arms get too low!" You exclaim, egging on Dio after a momentary loss of concentration because of the pretty stranger, "Or uh don't kill the innocent guy who cared deeply about Mr Zeppeli... My bad... Go team!"

Dire's Hamon is so close to Dio's head that the vampire's eyes are reflecting the sparkling glow and it's then that ice spreads throughout Dire's body. Everyone gasps aside from the two fighting, Speedwagon even throwing in a little, "Oh no!"

"Useless, useless, useless, useless!" Dio chants as Dire's whole body freezes in a sudden and glittery way above him.

"Ah I can't- I can't move!" Dire exclaims, only his poor little head is unfrozen.

"Guh, he froze Dire!" Jojo exclaims. Bit of a delayed reaction there. Either your senses are faster now or Jojo's taken a few too many hits to the head.

It's not a cool move either way though.

Get it? Cool? Cuz Dire's, you know, frozen?

"Dio must've somehow chilled all the moisture in his body at once, turning him to ice in an instant," Speedwagon grabs the tip of his hat in distress and oh- oh. He's wearing the Baron's checkered top hat, "Dire can't control his Hamon, he can't send it into Dio unless his blood is flowing. Struth, that Dio's a fearsome creature alright, he froze Dire's whole body at once!"

"How did you do this?" Dire says through gritted teeth, having to speak above the noise of the ice encasing him.

"Oh we are feeble, aren't we? You imbecile, you dare think you can lay a finger on me?" Dio cackles again, "You're the one who's going to give up your life like some mongrel! Let's endeavour to give them a good show, shall we?"

Dio's frozen hand starts squirming beneath the ice and soon enough Dire's body starts to crack despite the protests from the ever-lovely Jojo and the hot emo guy with nice hair.

The sight of Dire's body cracking only makes you hungry. Which is obviously a bit of a worry. This poor man's dying for heaven's sake!

Dire lets out a pained filled cry as his entire body breaks off into little ice shards which are sent flying around the room. Pretty much everyone's horrified, you even gulp.

Damn, that's a cold way to end a life... Er, in both ways.

Dire's decapitated head lands in a pot full of roses which you cringe at as Jojo shakes and grits his teeth at the loss of his newfound friend.

"It's time Jojo! You're the next I shall dispatch to oblivion!" Dio points at Jojo who sort of poses and looks away in a dramatic show of mourning.

That is until Dio gets clarted in the face with a Hamon filled rose. You choke on laughter and Jojo calls out to Dire in recourse.

"Hehe, those Hamon filled roses thorns do sting a bit, hehe," Dire says before his head freezes entirely and he breaks up into little bits. Freezing every single rose in the process... Like a bitch.

No (Y/N), you've still got to hold onto empathy for Jojo! Don't be evil just because you got turned into a vampire and all your weird new instincts are telling you to.

"Insect... How dare... How dare you wound me? Wound my face?!" Dio is fuming, one eye shut and steaming stolen blood and the other staring at Jojo with the heat of all the sunrises he'll never see again.

"Dire, no," Jojo says weakly, shaking slightly and tightening a fist to call upon his resolve. You're tempted to comfort him until his next words have you backing up a bit, "Speedwagon, my sword!"

"Catch!" Speedwagon chucks the sword and while it's spinning you realize Jojo must've gotten it from the zombie knight he fought earlier. Nice.

It's in the spinning of the sword going through the air that the colours of the scene change and you hear Jojo's fancy orchestral theme.

So this is it. The big moment.

One of your friends is going to die. And you might die with them, if Dio doesn't win that is. But you don't mind dying if it means Jojo can return home to Erina come morning.

"Dio! I know exactly how to deal with you! Dire gave up his life which showed exactly how vulnerable you are!" Jojo brandishes the sword like the legendary sort of warriors you only get every once in a while, "It will be very easy for me now! You won't be able to stop it!"

"All I need to do is fill Bruford's sword of luck and pluck with Hamon and slice you with it!" The sword in Jonathan's hand ignites into gold and for a moment you think of Zeppeli's own Hamon.

Dio makes a single and smooth jump all the way out to the balcony, landing softly and gracefully on the fencing despite the situation. On that good manners lifestyle grind. You notice the little fires around him are now a bright green colour. Fitting for someone so toxic.

"You dare to touch me, filthy human? You dare to touch me with your Hamon, more disgusting than frog urine?!" Dio is obviously pissed, pun intended, his features becoming more monster-like, "Your string of luck's run out!"

Dio hisses, like actually hisses and continues, "Now you shall be fodder for my zombies! They will gnaw the faces right off your skulls!"

"Now we see! He shows his true colours as someone only fit to rule over a dung heap! His cool toffs of sophistication are nothing but a cheap mask! Now that he's had a nice humiliating taste of Hamon, he reveals his true filthy self!" Speedwagon yells out, roasting the vampire despite the oncoming hoard of zombies.

Poco and the girl from earlier hug each other close and whimper as the zombies march forward. So you go to try and help them, right? Nope. The hot emo guy who, thanks to the colour change is now strawberry blonde, beats you to it.

"Straitzo's my name. No mercy." He introduces himself to the zombies, they introduce themselves and boom, he traps them with a chandelier while saying cool stuff about Hamon and melting them all to death.

'Haha whoa, that looked like it hurt.'

Then the hot Straitzo chap turns to you.

'Hahaha oh shit.'

"No wait Mr Straitzo, it's not what it looks like! I'm on your side! This whole vampire thing is just the result of some really bad choices!" You say frantically, shaking your hands at the approaching Hamon user.

"Well, I choose not to believe you! You can't hope to fool me with such pathetic lies, vampire!" Straitzo charges at you and you sniffle lamely, preparing to actually fight the guy when Poco and the girl latch onto him.

"Please sir, it's true! This vampire might look as evil as Dio but they're not! They tried to help me! It wasn't a particularly brilliant attempt, but still!" The girl says in your defence.

"Yeah! This is the (Y/N) was talking about! They were a human fighting with us just a few hours ago!" Poco says and Straitzo finally relents and stops trying to charge at you.

"Vampire, if what they say is true then it is best for you to be aiding Jojo right now. If these children are lying due to your evil manipulations, you will die by my hand," Straitzo proclaims, raising a Hamon charged fist at you after the children let go.

"Oh well um, thank you, guys. Your trust in me means a lot," You look at the fight on the balcony, crimson eyes narrowing, "I'm gonna go kick Dio's tight little ass."

Straitzo's eyebrows shoot up, "What was that last part?"

You take that as a sign to run away over to the balcony.

The situation on the balcony is insane. One of Dio's arms is literally on the floor and Speedwagon's walking about with a giant hammer. Dio's got a sword splitting him down the middle and a hand clawing at some vein in Jojo's next, the bluenette's limbs being so frozen he can't move.

Not good.

"We have to help him!" Speedwagon cries but the hat-wearing blonde is stopped by zombies. You can get past them though and you continue forwards to the fight.

"Keep those peasants back! I'm rather busy," Dio orders the zombies smugly, tugging on Jojo's veins and ow, that must hurt.

"Say, Dio, am I still considered a peasant?" You ask and your fellow vampire looks at you in shock as you jump up over Jojo and punch him, "Don't hurt my boyfriend, you nasty wastrel!"

At the force of the punch, Dio is dislodged from the sword and is sent bending backwards into the fire behind him as Jojo uses Hamon to unfreeze himself and step away from the blonde.

"You've made a fatal mistake Dio. No matter who stepped in or if no one did at all your attempts at draining my blood wouldn't have worked if you froze me completely. You couldn't have killed me or stopped my Hamon entirely," Jojo says as the blonde stumbles out of the fire somewhat unharmed, "You also overestimated (N/N)'s loyalty to you rather than to me after turning them into a vampire! Your tactics, to say the least, are somewhat flawed."

"You tell him, Jojo!" You stand back slightly when the bluenette readies a fist.

"Sunlight yellow overdrive!" Jojo cries and you have to shield your eyes from the brightness of his Hamon.

"He's done it!" Speedwagon yells as you look at the ground and squint your overly sensitive vision.

"Not exactly correct," The bald Hamon guy says and you look back at the fight bad eyes or not, "It's quite evident that the Hamon did not make it through."

Oh, golly is it evident. Jojo's forearm, muscles and glove, is completely frozen solid and crackling with the same icy sound as Dire's body earlier.

Shit.

"My arm- my arm is frozen solid again! I only briefly touched his face!" Jojo announces in pain, and you quickly try and poke away at the ice. It's not effective but you don't have the Hamon to thaw it anyway.

"This isn't over Jojo," Dio says cockily, the veins in his detached arm stretching out and reconnecting with the separated limb, slapping you in the face in the process.

"But I have to admit, I must admire your tenaciousness. Really, I do," Dio says, pushing the two halves of his face back together. You're trying to stop your nose from bleeding and wasting the only blood keeping you going from when you were alive, "And your ingenious use of the flame! Truly marvellous examples of quick thinking."

Dio hums and adjusts his face again before continuing, "But really Jojo, an emperor's reach should exceed his grasp. Just a touch on the arm is all it takes! I can turn your whole body to ice in two seconds!"

Jojo grimaces and pushed out some funny looking amber liquid from the wholes in his neck. This prompts Speedwagon to exclaim, "The vampire essence, he squeezed it out! He's not done! Jonathan won't give up!"

Attaboy.

Jojo holds both his fists in front of his face with a silent look of determination. You can feel the amusement coming off of Dio.

"Really? The 'let's do battle' stance? You're not serious? No matter how you prepare, human ability is extremely limited and finite. Your Hamon training avails you nothing," Dio strikes a pose in preparation to fight, a manic look in his eyes, "It's useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useleeeesssss!"

"A mere monkey can never defeat a lion! In comparison to my power, you are but a mere monkey, Jojo!" Dio leaps up into the sky like an actual rocket with his eyes glowing and his fists twitching with a hunger for blood.

You tackle him out of the sky like a feral animal, the two of you tumbling onto the stone balcony and rolling about. You pin him to the floor, he grabs you by the head and slams you into the floor, you kick him and it's almost a cycle how you keep overpowering each other. Your pretty sure everyone but Jojo is gasping.

"Stop getting in the way of everything! I should've just let you die, you annoying git! Why on earth did I spare such an insolent creature?" Dio shouts, pushing you into the balcony and finally standing up.

"Just lucky I guess, love," You say before kicking Dio backwards into an awaiting fist charged with Hamon, "Jojo now!"

"Dio! With true conviction, the human race can overcome anything!" Jojo swings his firey fist at the marigold blonde, "Let me demonstrate to just what heights a human being can rise!"

Dio and Jojo both yell out loudly as their two powers collide, forming a golden spark of light over the balcony and a shower of icy particles. Jojo's the one to overpower the vampire, Hamon burning through his ice and upper body. Dio goes flying back in a flurry of flames.

"I'm disintegrating, it can't be! The pain, the burning! I can't!" One of Dio's arms comes clean off as he's propelled downwards, "My rein was to of lasted forever! Centuries uncounted by man."

"You had to be destroyed Dio," The victor says softly. You look up at Jojo in nervousness.

"Do I need to be eliminated too, Jojo?" You are a vampire, after all, it wouldn't be so bad to go out with Jojo at your side.

You look up at Jojo's sombre eyes and nearly miss Dio's last words as he yells, "I will not die!"

What you don't miss is the pink beam of energy he shoots up at you, hitting Jojo's arms, the roof, the zombies and the part of the balcony you're slumped against.

Your question is answered as the wall crumbles and you fall backwards to join Dio in oblivion. You did it, with Dio dead you can die too. Rest peacefully knowing Jojo, Erina and Speedwagon are all safe. You'll be able to reunite with everyone Dio killed, everyone you lost before that, and you'll even be able to see Dio again.

It's not such a bad way to go.

Something grabs your wrist.

You open your eyes once the falling stops and look up at Jojo. He's crying but he's not letting you go. Why isn't he letting you die? "Jojo? What are you-?"

The bluenette hoists you up onto the balcony and holds you tight. Your shock wears off as the Joestar keeps crying, "It's alright now, I've got you. We did it, we can go home to Erina now."

Jojo mutters something about Dio and you pull him closer, "I know, dearest, I know. But it's not your fault this happened okay? It was a good fight."

You hear the humans around you stir.

"Why would he shed tears for an evil creature like that?" Poco asks Speedwagon.

"He weeps because they spent their youth together. Dio was like a brother to him. But as for me, I could sing a song of Joy!" Speedwagon lifts the checkered hat off his head and holds it to the sky, "Baron Zeppeli were you watching? He did it! Jonathan Joestar did it!"

"Dio is dead! It may sound an exaggeration but Jojo saved the world tonight!"

You start to cry too.

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Yoooooooo it's nearly over. So excited for Phantom Blood's upbeat ending haha :'))

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!