DIO was dumbfounded; absolutely stunned beyond belief. In the dead of the cold, January night in Cairo, Egypt, a century-old war was in its death throes. The war between the Joestar family and a monster, who was once known as Dio Brando, was finally being put to rest after one-hundred years, yet not as the latter had intended.

Behind him, on top of the yellow road roller, was none other than his adopted brother's great-great grandson, Jotaro Kujo. How had he done it? DIO was certain that he had effectively used The World's ability to stop time in order to crush Kujo with the heavy construction machinery. If that were true, however, the half-Japanese teenager wouldn't be standing mere feet away from the blonde vampire. Not only that, but DIO was unable to move. Why? What was going on? DIO was able to move while time was frozen, but suddenly, even he was stuck in place. This couldn't be right. DIO was now frozen along with time, but Jotaro was completely mobile. The realization hit DIO harder than any piece of heavy machinery. Jotaro's confirmation only served to anger DIO even more. He finally managed to open his mouth to speak, though he was met with strong resistance.

"I-Impossible. You stopped time?"

Without a word, Joestar's spawn began walking towards him.

"Right at the end of my nine seconds of movement..."

The bloodied 17-year-old delinquent finally spoke again, this time, right in DIO's ear.

"How does it feel, DIO?"

Kujo's cold words hit DIO like daggers. Daggers... The irony was starting to creep up on he, DIO. Kujo continued,

"Having someone approach you from behind while you can't move a muscle? If I had to describe it, it's like when a guy who can hold his breath underwater for a minute finally comes up for air at the very last second..."

Who did this punk think he was, mocking he, DIO, like that? His disrespectful tone made DIO almost uncertain that Kujo, the one who now carried the title of "JoJo", was truly a descendant of an admirable gentleman like Jonathan Joestar.
Just then, the mighty hand of this kid clamped down on the yellow-clad bloodsucker's shoulder. How dare this insolent worm touch he, DIO, like that with his filthy hands! Without hesitation, Jotaro continued his defiant analogy.

"Suddenly, he feels someone grab him, and he's dragged back down into the water. Does that sound right?"

Kujo's grip tightened. "But for you, I feel no pity at all."

It was then that DIO noticed the fiery aura that enveloped Jotaro. He, DIO, knew that the next few seconds would be painful. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw a ghostly visage of blue and purple emerge from the 195-centimeter-tall stand user. With a deafening "ORA!", DIO suddenly felt his knees snap as blood sprayed forth as a result of the injury. DIO winced in pain, though the pain was somewhat numbed by the stopped time.

Jotaro menacingly muttered, "Time has begun to move again".

A shockwave overcame the two of them, and DIO felt the full burn of the pain from his broken kneecaps as he was flung forward. The force was enough to throw him off of the steamroller, and onto the hard pavement below. DIO landed face-down while his knees twitched and spurted blood against his will. The wind had been knocked out of him. The undead combatant lifted his head and gasped for air just in time to see his opponent leap from the giant yellow vehicle, and advance towards him. Jotaro's verbal onslaught continued.

"I don't feel even the slightest bit of compassion for you. I haven't even an once of pity for you."

DIO froze. Some of Jonathan's last words echoed in his head. DIO was suddenly taken back to February 7th, 1889, the night that extinguished the life of the only human he, DIO, had ever truly respected. He still went by the name of Dio Brando back then, though he was reduced to nothing more than a head. His adopted brother of seven years clutched the vampire's head close to his chest. DIO knew that it was in the vain hope of keeping the disembodied head from wearing the giant Brit as a full-body prosthetic, but to DIO, he liked to imagine that it was a loving, brotherly hug. As the fire burned around them, DIO glanced up to see Jonathan's bleeding face, which even until the end, sported a tender smile. Shrapnel stuck out of various muscles in JoJo's body, and yet, he tried to mask his pain.

"Dio," Jonathan spoke softly while gripping Dio's head tighter. Dio, upon hearing his name spoken in such a caring tone, struggled to keep his eyes from tearing up. He sniffled. The dying Joestar continued, "As you observed, it may be true that our fate is to be together. I feel an odd warmth for you, for now our lives are interwoven completely, and will end along with this ship."

DIO snapped back into the present, completely at the mercy of Jonathan's great-great grandon. He saw it now; the contrast between Jonathan Joestar and this Jotaro Kujo. Jonathan loved Dio as a brother despite the misfortunes that befell the Victorian aristocrat as a result of Dio's meddling. Yet this oriental degenerate... This... stain on JoJo's legacy, felt nothing but a burning hatred for his great-great-great uncle. Jotaro continued on while DIO struggled to get on his feet.

"However, just finishing you off by beating you to death now would leave a bad taste in my mouth."

It was clear that unlike his more humane ancestor, Kujo was going to make he, DIO, suffer. DIO's legs continued to twitch, which caught the attention of Jotaro.

As he observed the twitching limbs with morbid curiosity, Jotaro muttered, "How many seconds will it take for your legs to recover? Three seconds? Four? The moment you've healed, I'll throw Star Platinum at you. So bring it on!"

This challenge struck a nerve with he, DIO. It almost gave him the strength to keep pushing himself up. Jotaro continued walking towards him, taunting him all the while.

"If I were a gunslinger in an old western, I'd say, 'Draw! Let's see who's the fastest gun in the West!'."

Damn him! How dare he humiliate he, DIO, like this, and what the Hell is an 'old western', anyways? Was he referring to the American West? How much had changed in a century? No matter. If he wants to let DIO heal, he might as well sign his own death warrant.

'He's... He's mocking me!', DIO thought to himself. 'But... But Jotaro! You may have come this far, but you are still only human!'

Thoughts raced around in the centurian vampire's head. How had he, DIO, underestimated the latest of Jonathan's descendants? Of course JoJo's kin would have the same type of stand as he, DIO. The shared blood had to count for something, after all. Wait... Blood. That was the key to killing off this cockroach! DIO glanced at his bleeding knees, and chuckled to himself as he slowly rose to his feet. In his head, he continued to curse and mentally rip JoJo to shreds.

'You think like a human, who has so little time to live. About things leaving a bad taste in your mouth, or living your life with no regrets... That kind of reasoning is about as compelling as rat shit in a bathroom, and it will be your demise!' He continued to laugh, imagining how he would relish in standing over Jotaro's mangled corpse. 'I, DIO, have no such thoughts. Within my mind is but one simple thought. Just one! To be victorious, and rule! That is all. That is is all I need to feel satisfaction!' These thoughts strengthened DIO, and allowed him to force his trembling legs underneath the rest of his body. They burned in pain, but he had to stand as proud as his adversary, to mask this unpleasant sensation. He, DIO, had to psychologically best Kujo. Glancing at his bleeding knees, he prepared to put his plan into action.

'How I do it...'

Momentarily forgetting that he had never actually said any of this to Jotaro, the vampire finally opened his mouth to speak for the first time since Jotaro had gained a clear advantage. "...Does not matter!"

He applied pressure in the right part of his calf, and watched as his superior blood flew into Jotaro's face, temporarily blinding the teenager. It was now DIO's chance to belittle his opponent.

"How do you like being blinded by blood?"

DIO stood up completely, and as Jotaro attempted to wipe the crimson fluid from his face, DIO quickly summoned his stand, The World. The ancient vampire gleefully announced his victory to JoJo's descendant.

"I've won! Die!"

The yellow time-stopping stand launched a powerful kick aimed at Kujo's face, but almost serene, the blinded Jotaro could feel the oncoming attack and summoned his own stand, Star Platinum. The split-second summoning was so drastic that Jotaro needed Star Platinum to throw a punch right away. Jotaro threw a punch of his own as Star Platinum began to manifest, causing the stand to mirror its user's movements.

The technique proved successful, as Star Platinum's fist connected with The World's calf with a booming "ORA!". The collision sent a powerful shockwave of energy throughout the vicinity.

Despite neither stand's ability activating, time seemed to come to a standstill. The tension was high. Only one stand (and therefore stand user) would be coming out of this alive. Suddenly, Star Platinum's fist cracked, causing Jotaro's right hand to bleed violently. The vampire had let out a condescending sneer. He, DIO, had won. Star Platinum was no match for The World! DIO had finally rid Earth of the plague known as the Joestar family.

Or so he thought.

Just then, he felt a sharp pain in his calf. Surely, it was from the injuries that he had sustained earlier. However, DIO saw, to his horror, a large crack emerging on The World's leg. As the crack continued to climb up its body, light shone though, and the pain climbed up the night walker's body to match his stand's injuries. DIO screamed in agony.

"Wha-"

As the crack spread to The World's head, DIO's head split open, similarly to how Jonathan Joestar had severed into two the man who unlocked the stone mask's power one-hundred years prior. This, however, was different. This wasn't Hamon or sunlight, or even Jonathan's blasted sword. This was the power of JoJo's stand, Star Platinum. The injured Jotaro didn't even flinch. As DIO and his stand disintegrated before him, he could only stare. DIO didn't even attempt to mask his disbelief in his dying throes.

"What?! I-Impossible! I-I'm DIO! I am DIO!"

His body exploded. It felt as if Hamon had welled up inside of his body, and was released all at once. Blood sprayed everywhere around him. One half flew a few feet away while the remainder of DIO merely toppled to the ground.

As DIO's vision began to blur, his abnormally long life flashed before his eyes.

"You thought your first kiss would be JoJo, but it was I, Dio!"

"I reject my humanity, JoJo!"

"JoJo! Let me go! Release me! Think of what we two could achieve! You'd like a taste of eternity, would you not? I can heal your wounds! You and Erina can live together, forever! JoJo! ...No... It's too late... He's dead..."

"Do not be afraid... Let's be friends."

"Do you believe in gravity?"

"Die, JoJo!"

As his eyelids fluttered shut one final time, the last thing DIO saw was his bane, the man who had finally brought to an end a man who truly died long ago, on a burning ship.

But wait.

Behind the man, what...? Was that...? No. Surely, it was just Star Platinum... But the face, and the hair. There was no mistaking it. Looking down at DIO as his eyelids began to grow heavy, was the ghostly image of a solemn, tender English gentleman, looking as if he had just watched his brother die. Looking the British vampire in the eyes, he gave a sad nod of acknowledgement before fading away, ascending towards the sky. DIO... No... Dio Brando... reached out his hand as his strength gave out.

"Jo... Jo..."

"You're Dio Brando, right?"
"And you must be Jonathan Joestar."
"Everyone calls me 'JoJo'! Nice to meet you!"