Capítulo 12: 12: A Monster
Boom!
Before the Stardust Crusaders could take any action, they saw a figure crash through the ceiling, hurled from the upper floors of the mansion.
For a brief moment, the Crusaders thought it was Mr. Borsalino, who had fallen victim to DIO's assault. Fortunately, Joseph, with his years of wisdom and experience, stopped Polnareff from rushing forward to help.
"How terrifying… I almost got killed just now,"
A second figure leapt down from the upper floor—a calm, smiling Borsalino.
Despite having faced both the collapsing mansion and DIO's attack, Borsalino showed no signs of injury. Even his floral shirt and beach shorts were spotless, completely unruffled.
In stark contrast, the Stardust Crusaders—who had just ganged up on and defeated Vanilla Ice—looked disheveled and dusty from the collapsing debris. The difference between them was obvious to anyone with eyes.
"You bastard! What kind of monster are you?!"
DIO, with his limbs bent unnaturally, pulled himself out of the crater he had been smashed into. His face was full of shock as he glared at Borsalino and shouted furiously.
This man's speed, strength, and durability were all far beyond his own. A creature with no apparent weaknesses—what else could he be but a monster?
"What's going on here? That guy… that's DIO, right?"
Polnareff was utterly confused.
Wasn't the normal progression supposed to be that the isolated Mr. Borsalino gets ambushed and gravely injured? At the critical moment, they swoop in to rescue him from DIO's clutches. Then, everyone bands together to defeat the villain, leading to a triumphant, happy ending.
How did it turn into DIO being the one who got smashed through the ceiling, looking like he'd been thoroughly beaten, while calling Borsalino a monster?
Polnareff wasn't the only one baffled. Even Joseph, with his vast life experience, had to admit that he had never encountered a situation like this before.
"This is too much," Borsalino said with feigned concern, scratching his head as if troubled. "I don't want to be called a monster by someone who doesn't die even after losing their head."
This innocent, unbothered demeanor completely enraged DIO.
In his long and storied life, it was the first time he'd encountered someone like Borsalino—someone he couldn't overpower physically or outwit verbally.
He was a hundred times more infuriating than Jonathan Joestar!
"Die already! Za Warudo! Muda muda muda muda…!"
Enraged, DIO activated his Stand once again!
In the world where time had stopped, his Stand—resembling a diver—launched a furious barrage of punches at Borsalino.
But, just like countless times before, even punches that could shatter steel plates barely left a mark on Borsalino. Not even his hair was ruffled.
The dark, mysterious substance surrounding him acted like a mythic suit of armor, protecting the irritating monster from any harm.
Whether intentional or not, DIO's Stand suddenly launched a kick aimed directly at Borsalino's groin.
Considering that all previous attacks had been futile, this kick was more of an act of frustration.
*Bang!*
What DIO didn't expect, however, was that even though time had stopped, and Borsalino should have been motionless, he suddenly kicked DIO's Stand away in the last second of the time stop!
The Stand was sent flying, and DIO was pulled along with it, tumbling across the ground, rolling over a dozen times.
"You can't kick there."
Borsalino, clearly annoyed, glared at DIO. While being kicked there wouldn't have harmed him, this was a matter that concerned Nami's lifelong happiness, and he couldn't let it slide.
"It's impossible! Time has already stopped! Why can you still move?!"
DIO, lying on the ground in an awkward position, was both shocked and terrified as he howled in frustration. Time stop was his proud ability, yet here it was, so easily broken!
"Well, how should I explain this to you? It's really too complicated. Let's just say that, theoretically, time stops when you reach the speed of light... so time stop doesn't work on me."
Borsalino didn't know how to explain the theory of relativity to DIO, so he decided to use the simplest explanation possible.
The time stop ability was ineffective on him.
However, Borsalino still couldn't achieve true time reversal... at least, not yet.
"How is that possible? How could a human reach the speed of light?! You're clearly a monster!"
DIO's mentality finally cracked. To be fair, he didn't believe in such nonsense about light speed or time reversal.
But seeing that Borsalino was unaffected by his time stop ability was crystal clear, and what terrified DIO even more was that time stop had no effect on Borsalino. His own confidence to continue fighting Borsalino evaporated.
"We can't let Mr. Borsalino fight alone! Let's go together!"
Without any knowledge of what happened during the five seconds of time stop, all they saw was DIO's Stand suddenly appearing in front of Borsalino to launch an attack, only to be kicked away by Borsalino.
Seeing it as the signal to start, Kakyoin immediately called out and released his Stand.
"Then let's go! Silver Chariot!"
The Stardust Crusaders had no hesitation and released their Stands, charging toward DIO.
DIO could only curse as he saw this. He was the one fighting alone, not them! Didn't they see how badly he was getting beaten by this monster? How could they attack him like this?
But soon, DIO realized this was the perfect opportunity. The monster could ignore his attacks and time stop ability, but that didn't mean the others could.
If he could seize a hostage, he could threaten these hypocrites into letting him go or even force them to turn on each other!
"Give me enough time, and I'll find that monster's weakness!"
DIO wasn't opposed to running away. If he couldn't win, why stay and wait for death?
Besides, if he couldn't find Borsalino's weakness, DIO still had his final trump card!
Worst case, he could sleep underwater for another hundred years!
"If I couldn't beat Jonathan Joestar, can I not beat you, Joseph Joestar?"
Revitalized, DIO grinned cruelly and unleashed his Stand again.
"Za Warudo!"
His Stand, resembling a diver, quickly avoided Borsalino's direction and dashed toward the Stardust Crusaders, who appeared to be frozen in amber in the world where time had stopped.
In that moment, DIO was fully prepared to deal with Borsalino!
But what he didn't expect was that the monster simply stood still, seemingly indifferent to the fate of his companions falling into DIO's hands.
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