A full moon illuminated the cloudy sky above the castle as a gentle breeze dusted its walls with sand and dirt. On one of the castle's balconies, a tall blonde man holding a glass filled with red wine gazed up at the stars.
"What a beautiful night it is." He said to himself. "It reminds me of the last night I was in my world... Cairo was such a beautiful city." He sipped his wine before looking behind him. "Remember when I told you the story of the Joestars?
Behind the man, a large ogre stood chained to a wall. "How could I forget? You were always so good at telling stories." It responded, it's voice hoarse.
The man turned and walked towards the ogre. It was two feet taller than him, yet still he felt more powerful. "I never told you, but you've always reminded me of the first Joestar I met." He said, looking up at the ogre. "So selfless, always thinking of others." He took another drink of wine and smirked at the ogre. "Look at where that's gotten you."
The ogre quickly lashed out, shouting and clashing it's chains against the wall, causing the man to stumble backwards and drop his glass. "And it'll stay that way! I'll never tell ya where they are, ya bastard!" Shouted the ogre, who watched the glass fall.
As it was about to hit the ground, it disappeared. The ogre looked at the man's hand to see that he was holding it as if nothing had happened. "Very well," he said as he drank what was left in the glass. "You have until midnight tomorrow to give me their location. If you refuse again, I'll kill you."
The ogre looked shocked as he watched the man walk away. "Sleep well," he said as he left the room.
The ogre looked up at the moon that illuminated his cell. He closed his eyes. "It's now or never, Mick." He thought to himself. "Ya got this, buddy."
Garfield stretched as the rising sun shone through the window of his room. The mattress in the guest room was surprisingly comfy, much comfier than the mattress back at his old place. He put on his eye patch and jacket and hurried to the control room where Bigweld had told them to meet the following morning.
As he walked into the control room, he saw Bigweld and Mick talking. They'd most likely been talking all night, as neither of them needed to sleep. They both noticed Garfield walk in.
"Garfield!" Said Bigweld, smiling. "How did you sleep? Sorry if the guest room wasn't the greatest, I don't really have many visitors."
"I slept well, don't worry." Said Garfield, returning the smile. He looked down from one of the windows. The ground had turned from a luscious green to a light brown. They were in a desert.
"I didn't realise the Wasteland had so many different environments..." He said. It made him realise how little he'd actually wandered from his home in the city.
Mick smiled. "I personally hadn't explored too much either, most of my geographical knowledge comes from Shrek." He responded. "Talking about Shrek, how far away are we from the castle?"
Bigweld pressed some buttons and flicked some switches. "I'd say we're almost there," He answered. "There's an urban area around his castle, I can see it in the distance." Both Garfield and Mick looked into the horizon. They could see the small outline of a city similar to the one Garfield came from.
Mick took a step back and laughed. "That's it. We really are going to find Shrek this time." He said. His journey was almost coming to an end.
Garfield smiled as well. He felt excited to finally meet Shrek, the man who taught his new best friend everything he knew. His smile slowly faded however. "Hang on, how do we know that Shrek's actually going to be there? What if DIO found out that we were coming for him?"
Bigweld flicked another switch and brought up a screen. "I thought of that," he said, as the screen switched on and displayed pictures of a large, sleeping green ogre chained to a wall. "So I sent a surveillance drone to the castle overnight. I got Mick to confirm the photos before you woke up... That's Shrek."
Garfield looked more closely at the photos. Shrek looked as if he had been tortured, and was covered in cuts and bruises. He clenched his fists in anger. "DIO..." He said to himself quietly. Mick put his hand on Garfield's shoulder, causing him to slowly relax his hands.
"We're going to save Shrek, don't worry." Said Mick. "And then we're going to make DIO pay." Garfield nodded his head. If this is how he felt, he couldn't imagine the rage Mick must've felt when he saw the photos.
"Now, do you two boys remember what I told you about DIO?" Asked Bigweld. Both Mick and Garfield nodded.
"Time stopping narcissistic vampire, I remember." Said Garfield. Bigweld smiled.
"Good. Now, there's one thing I forgot to tell you two about his ability. It's... Unlike anything I've ever seen before. It's almost as if he has a ghost following him, which he uses to attack. From all the footage I've observed of him fighting, it's almost as if he barely throws any punches himself. I'm not sure if it's an illusion due to his time stop, but it's something to be aware of."
Mick pondered for a while before gasping. "Wait a minute, I remember Shrek talking about an ability like that... A stand! That's what he called it! He used to tell me stories of one of his old teammates who used one..." He trailed off before looking at the photos again. He then turned to Garfield and Bigweld, who had the same theory as him. "You don't think... That was DIO?"
Bigweld rubbed his chin. "It's possible. I've rarely ever seen more than two people with the same ability in the Wasteland. Anyway, you won't have to wait much longer to ask him, we've arrived."
Mick and Garfield looked up to see that the skyline on the horizon had grown into a full city below them. Surprisingly, the city looked populated, with hundreds of humanoid figures walking across streets and in and out of buildings.
Mick sighed. "They're not humans, are they?"
Bigweld shook his head. "They used to be, until DIO turned them into zombies. They're the reason I had to leave." He slowed the ship down, letting it hover in the sky outside of the city. "I'm afraid I can't take you two any deeper. If any of them saw me, our plan would be compromised. I'd recommend that you two stay hidden on your way to his castle."
Garfield and Mick both nodded as Bigweld wheeled towards the exit of the control room and gestured for them to follow him. The two walked after him, both ready to save Shrek once and for all.
A few minutes later, the three of them were standing on the ship's deck, with a strong howling wind blowing through the air. Mick looked down at Garfield and tapped his shoulder, which Garfield quickly leapt up onto. He then turned to Bigweld and extended his hand. "So, this is it."
Bigweld smiled and grasped his hand, shaking it. "I guess so. Remember what I told you two, stay stealthy until you get to his castle then give him hell."
Garfield smiled as he and Bigweld shook hands as well. "We intend to, don't worry."
Mick's body started to glow as he hovered a few feet off of the ground. "Thanks for all your help. We'll get back as soon as we can."
Bigweld looked up at him and chuckled. "The pleasure's all mine. Good luck, boys." He said as the two soared into the air towards the city.
After a few minutes of observing their surroundings, Mick and Garfield landed on the roof of a commercial building and looked around. The ground below them was still teeming with DIO's minions, wandering aimlessly through the barren streets.
In the distance, the two could see a large terracotta building, surrounded by walls, minions and other defenses. Near the top of the building stood a small balcony, covered in green creeper ivy which hung down and covered the rest of the castle.
Mick pointed to a building a few meters away from them. "We can't use the ground, so we'll jump from building to building until we get to the castle. Hold on," He said quietly as he leapt into the air and landed gracefully onto the roof of the other building. The two continued jumping until they were a few meters away from the castle.
"You remember everything Bigweld told us?" Mick asked Garfield, who nodded in response. The two of them looked up at the grand castle that stood before them. They were ready to defeat DIO or die trying. Garfield grasped his hand to the helm of his katana as the two of them leapt towards the castle's balcony.
When they landed, Garfield dropped himself off of Mick and brandished his sword. The two of them were on high alert. "Let's go," Said Mick as the two of them ran into the castle, following the directions Bigweld had given them to get to Shrek.
As Garfield ran through the halls, he noticed how barren they were. It was quiet. Too quiet. Before he could ponder on the thought any more, Mick held his hand out and stopped him from progressing. He then held a finger to his lips and pointed around the corner they were standing at. Garfield looked to see two figures talking, one chained to the wall and the other standing a few meters away from him.
"You know, Shrek, this really is a shame. We could have ruled the Wasteland together, you and I." Said DIO with a sly smile on his face. "I'll give you one more chance to talk. Where are the Wastelords located?"
The green ogre looked down at the vampire with a stern expression, before spitting in his face. "Go to hell." He said as DIO slowly wiped the saliva from his eye, his smile fading.
"Very well, if that's how you want it. Goodbye, Shrek." DIO said as he brandished a handful of knives, throwing them at Shrek's damaged body. Before they could hit him however, a beam of brilliant blue light blew them to bits. DIO and Shrek turned to look at the cat and the man that were standing behind him, each with grim expressions on their faces.
"Get the fuck away from my mentor."
DIO looked at the two, before laughing. "Ah, you must be Michael. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, I assumed you'd been taken care of."
"We defeated the hitmen you sent to kill me. You should've sent stronger men." He said, his hands starting to glow brighter than they'd ever glowed before.
"We? Who's your pet?" DIO sneered as he pointed to the orange cat.
"My name's Garfield. We're here to kill you, save Shrek and end your reign of terror."
DIO laughed again. "And you prepared a speech? I can't say I'm not impressed. Ok, I'll humour you." As DIO spoke, a loud short boom was heard. Almost in the blink of an eye, DIO had disappeared. The two looked around to see DIO standing behind them. He punched both of them with his stand and sent them flying into a wall, creating a large plume of dust and rubble.
The two of them slowly rose, dusting themselves off. "He can stop time, Mick! Be careful!" Shrek shouted at Mick.
Mick nodded in response. "I know, me and Garfield know everything about him, even his stand."
DIO gasped lightly. "How you do know..." Before he could finish his sentence, Garfield flung himself at him, slicing him in two. DIO's severed body flew into the air, spraying crimson blood across the walls of the castle. His body landed with a wet thud.
Before the three could celebrate however, long, vein like tendrils sprung from DIO's torso and attached to his lower half, pulling the two pieces together. Garfield looked on in horror as DIO slowly stood up, his broken bones snapping back into place. He looked down at the cat and smiled. "I hope you brought more than a measly sword to defeat me." He summoned his stand again and readied himself to attack, but was interrupted by the beam of light that had been shot through his arm, blowing it clean off.
DIO turned to see Mick holding his hands outstretched towards him. "Oh don't worry, we did. Ever heard of Shoopbending?" He sent another beam of light at DIO, who dodged it. DIO looked down at his detached arm, which was burning up. He shook off the small amount of fear he felt and turned to Mick, smiling.
"As a matter of fact, yes. I'm actually quite familiar with the ability." Said DIO as he threw another handful of knives at Mick, who dodged all but one of them, which had sunk itself into his leg. He cried out in pain as DIO threw himself at him, punching him rapidly and sending him flying. "Even with your ability, did you really think you could defeat me? A measly human against a god?"
Garfield leapt in to attack, as he and DIO swiftly exchanged blows. Both of them leapt back from each other as Mick limped over to Garfield's side, his injury healing quickly due to his Shoop energy. DIO had sustained a few injuries, but was also healing himself rapidly.
"I must say, I haven't had a battle like this for a while." Said DIO as he readied more knives to throw. "You've impressed me."
"We don't care how much we've impressed you!" Shouted Garfield. "We're taking Shrek back whether you like it or not!" He turned to look at Shrek, who had a large chunk of metal stuck in his neck, pouring with blood. Mick and DIO noticed as well and gasped in shock.
"Shrek! No!" He ran up to his master, looking up at his wound. The piece of metal looked like a golden arrow head with florescent carvings covering it. DIO quickly put his hand in his empty pockets, checking them frantically. The arrow must have flown out of his pocket when Garfield sliced him in half.
"No... No! This is impossible!" He cried as he ran at Shrek to retrieve the arrow head. He summoned his stand to give him extra reach, but it was too late.
A green, ghostly figure grabbed DIO's stand by the throat before he could make it to Shrek. It had large, bug like eyes and pointed ears. Thin blue pipes and tubes lined it's body, pumping pure Shoop energy through its entire body, with the tips of its fingers being littered with tiny holes to spray the energy from. The being threw the stand, which sent DIO skidding across the floor and into a wall. It then tore Shrek's chains from the castle walls, allowing his now conscious master to stand upright. The ghost-like being stood behind Shrek as all of his wounds slowly healed.
Garfield and Mick watched the eight foot tall ogre stretch and breathe deeply. "It's really not the greatest idea keeping a stand arrow in ya pocket, DIO." Shrek said with a smile.
Shrek looked at Mick and Garfield. "Thanks, lads. I'd be dead if it wasn't for you two. Anyway, we'll talk later. We've got a vampire to kill."
The three of them stood side by side, ready to fight. DIO slowly rose from the ground, summoning his own stand. He had a look of worry on his face, which was slowly replaced by anger. He pointed at the towering ogre. "This will be our final battle, Shrek! I, DIO, will crush you and your teammates into bloody pulps!"