In the Court of the Blind King

Chapter 2 - Through Pointless Paths

"You are incorrect, Diavolo, they do lead to somewhere. They just don't follow a more... conventional direction. This is my Three of a Perfect Pair, and your trial has now..."

As Drie was about to conclude the sentence, their facial expression seemed to completely change into one filled with fear and insecurity, and with a clearly male-sounding cowardly voice, they concluded:

"...officially begun..."

Doppio and Diavolo started to run up the stairs, examining the room filled with paths in strange angles and orientations. They were both confused by the sudden change to the person in yellow's personality.

"Doppio, use your Epitaph, what is going to happen now?"

"I don't know Boss... all I can see is us running along the stairs, but they seem to go in all directions!"

Diavolo was visibly annoyed by his answer. "Had Epitaph stayed with me as it should have, this wouldn't have happened!" He thought "Foolish Doppio, there has to be something!"

They continued their path through the impossible labyrinth until the strange logic it worked on eventually led to their separation. The whole place seemed to be changing every step they took, almost as to interrupt their every step.

"I have to reach Doppio before he does something stupid!" He thought, while visually tracking Doppio in a somewhat distant staircase, whose gravity was horizontally inverted in his point of view.

As he thought those words, however, he noticed someone walking up the stairs that led to the same platform Doppio was going towards. Someone other than him and Doppio, someone other than Drie, a fourth entity in the maze. The strange being looked like a light blue mannequin with yellow joints, and walked calmly up the stairs, which would eventually lead him to Doppio.
Desperate to stop that thing from running into Doppio, Diavolo shouted:

"DON'T GO ANY FURTHER, DOPPIO!"

Immediately, the thing's face turned towards Diavolo. At that moment, the maze stopped changing, and Drie spoke, back with the calm monotone female voice:
"You found him, Model Man, now... get him."

Model Man, the mannequin looking sub-stand of Three of a Perfect Pair, started to run down the same path it came from, and even though the maze's pattern made it's route unclear, Diavolo knew that it was running towards him. Upon realizing that, he started to run as well, desperate to either find Drie and the trial or run into that thing and render it useless with his King Crimson.

The latter seemed to be the most likely, however: as Diavolo ran through the endless stairs, even though they had stopped changing their patterns, they proved to be too confusing for Diavolo, who always seemed to be straying further and further from any kind of exit to the point that Model Man quickly caught up to the staircase he was on.

"Then I guess I'll have to take you down first."

The mannequin was unphased by his comments, speeding towards Diavolo, head-on. As it was about to encounter Diavolo, the thing started to violently and chaotically wail its arms.

"King Crimson!"

Time and space appeared to be broken, and fate coordinated the course of all other entities, as King Crimson's ability was activated.

"A weak stand like yours stands no chance against King Crimson."

He moved away from the mannequin's path, preparing himself to strike when the erased time was over.

"And when I'm done with you, it's only a matter of time until..."

As he said those words, the mannequin quickly started to jump around the staircase, hitting Diavolo on the arm with one of it's flailing hands.

"I have to admit this was unexpected, but while King Crimson is active, I am immune to anything. Your attack was weak, but would regardless be useless against me."

The time erasure was soon over, and as King Crimson prepared to strike...

BLACK

"Wha... WHAT?"

All Diavolo could see was black. His vision was gone, and he was unable to complete his attack. He fell to his knees, desperate, touching around to try to find where he was.

All this time, Doppio was watching from afar, following his Boss's actions. He immediately noticed his strange behavior once Diavolo fell to his knees.

"Boss, what's happening?!"

In that exact moment, he noticed 2 things: the maze had started to move again, changing more frequently and disorderly; and also, the mannequin sub-stand, Model Man, had changed its appearance. It had still the same color scheme, but now, for some reason, it now roughly resembled Diavolo...

...and it was covering its eyes with its left hand.

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Stand User: Drie Gekijk
Stand Name: 「Three of a Perfect Pair」

0 out of 6 trials completed

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