Chapter One

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After rushing home to tell their father about their victory in the rugby game at school, Jonathan Joestar and Dio Brando went up to his bedroom to tell him. But it seemed that the cold he had caught a few days earlier had gotten worse. "How are you feeling, Father?" Dio asked. "Better, except for this cough." George Joestar answered as he coughed, laying in his bed near the fire in the fireplace. "The doctors want me in the hospital." George added. "You should stay away from the hospital. Hospitals don't care about anyone. They are only after profits." Dio suggested. "I won't go, I feel better at home. My chest pains are better, and the swelling has gone down. I'm getting better." George replied. "It was only a cold. Why has it gotten this bad?" Jonathan wondered in his head. "Oh, and congratulations on your victory today." George remarked with a smile on his face. "You already heard?" Jonathan replied, surprised. "An old college friend informed me." George explained. "Some friend! We ran home to be the first to tell you!" Dio spoke, a bit annoyed at it. Then they all laughed. "I'm very pleased. I'm proud to have such excellent sons. You've come especially far, Dio. Follow your dreams after graduation. I'll support you in every way. You're family." George told him. "I'm very grateful that you have lifted me out of poverty. I'll keep striving to improve." Dio responded. However, Jonathan was still wary of Dio.

A little bit later...

Sitting at a desk in the studying room, Jonathan looked at the stone mask that laid in front of him. He hoped that he would find some clue to what the mask's secret was tonight. Lifting up his hands, Jonathan then made a tiny cut on his forefinger with a knife. Turning his right hand over, Jonathan let the blood drop that had escaped from the cut fall onto the mask. As soon as the blood drop hit the mask, it activated as stone spikes sprang out of it, causing it to move up a bit. "Only I know it. What purpose could this mask have been created for? But it belonged to my mother, so it makes me think of her." Jonathan thought as he wondered about it. The mask was shrouded in mystery but Jonathan was determined to find out its secret. "Maybe I should go to the library and see if any of the books could help me." Jonathan thought as he got up, heading to the library.

A few moments later...

Walking into the studying room, Dio saw that Jonathan had left the stone mask on the table. "I do wonder when JoJo will be able to figure out the secret of this mask." Dio thought as he looked at it. It looked quite old with cracks and weathering on it. It also had a sinister look, like the secret it was hiding was a dark one. "Though it looks like he's close to unlocking that secret." Dio added as he picked up the open book on the table in which Jonathan would write down information about the mask. There were already full pages of information written down and even a nicely drawn illusion of what the mask did to whoever was wearing it. "So it stabs stone spikes into the head of the wearer if blood is spilled onto it? Interesting." Dio commented as he read the pages. "It seems to me that this mask was perhaps an item that people would use to kill a person with. I couldn't imagine what other purpose it would have had." Dio guessed in his mind.

"Wait a minute, what if I were to kill JoJo with this mask? It'll be the perfect crime as I could say that Jonathan was messing with it and accidentally activated it by touching it while he had a bloody paper cut. I'll make it look like an accident! That's perfect, then I would only have George to worry about." Dio excitedly thought. Dio smirked as he felt brilliant for coming up with such a perfect plan. It seemed that his path to getting the Joestar fortune was becoming easier for him. "Looks like I'm going to meet my glorious destiny sooner than I thought!" Dio added in his mind, grabbing the stone mask and putting in a pocket on his pants.

Meanwhile in the library...

"I wonder if this book could offer any help with the mask." Jonathan thought as he stood on a small set of steps in the library, spotting a book that looked useful. "I hope one day I can solve it's riddle and stir up a sensation!" Jonathan added. Grabbing the book and pulling it out, Jonathan had accidentally knocked over a box. "Oops!" Jonathan remarked as he saw the box fall onto the floor. Quickly getting down from the steps, Jonathan walked over to the box and saw that it had opened. A brown letter laid inside of the box and Jonathan picked it up, curious to what it was about. "Dario Brando?" Jonathan thought as he read the name that was written on the letter. Opening it up, Jonathan started to read the paper inside of the envelope. "Dear George Joestar. I'm terribly sick. I know it will be the end of me. My chest hurts, my fingers are swollen and my cough won't stop."

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