"I will never forgive him!"
Diavolo's mind was bursting with emotions, trying to wrap itself around what had just happened. He looked behind him to see an immobile Doppio fallen on the ground with blood underneath him. Facing forward, he saw his enemy, Jade Sinfield, standing before him with his stand, Wake of Poseidon, by his side, in a silent challenge that urged him to go ahead and meet his doom.
"But... can I even beat him?"
He felt paralyzed with fear and anger, reluctant to take the first step. What was going to happen to him? Was he even able to defeat that threat? Was this how his journey ended? Many questions clouded his thinking, and for a moment he felt completely defeated.
"Don't give up now, Boss!"
Doppio's words echoed inside Diavolo's mind, setting him straight.
"I can't stop just yet..."
"There's gotta be a way to overcome him..."
"I can't fail him!"
He took a step forward. He could not back down, he could not forgive him. Jade smiled, embracing Diavolo's resolve with open arms.
"Come, Diavolo! Our true battle now begins!"
Diavolo ran at him, screaming a guttural battle cry, as King Crimson floated beside him. He approached rapidly, while Jade stood still in a serene pose, with his inviting arms wide open as he faced Diavolo with a malicious grin.
"No matter what I do, he will switch with me..."
Despite his almost primal reaction, Diavolo's mind worked to its full extent.
"There must be a breach in his ability, there has to be... and I must find it."
Still screaming, he was getting closer to Jade.
"But for this... I must take a risk to find it."
"KING CRIMSON"
His stand started to attack, but time erase took effect at that very moment. He held back his attack, circling Jade. Just as he did, he and Jade switched places.
"Interesting... it seems like he is fated to switch. Maybe I can use that in my favor. However..."
He looked at Wake of Poseidon, and with King Crimson, ripped the trident away from its hand. He stood back a few meters.
"I must test his range."
Time resumed as he threw the trident at Jade, who looked around trying to understand the sudden change in perspective. Jade stepped aside as Wake of Poseidon grabbed the trident mid-air.
"This seems to be a safe distance... but I need to go to the limit! I cannot hope to beat him from this far away."
Jade pretended to clean dust off his shoulder, mocking Diavolo.
"Nice try, nice try... my turn now."
Wake of Poseidon threw the trident at Diavolo. Before it got too close, King Crimson used its ability. The trident phased through Diavolo, who grabbed it again with King Crimson.
"I need to get closer and test him, but Jade won't allow me to approach him without retaliating."
He looked at the trident he held in his hands.
"Unless..."
King Crimson grabbed it and assumed a throwing stance.
"Unless I use a distraction!"
He threw it again and time resumed. Jade saw the incoming trident and was ready to catch it, but right before he did, time erase was activated again. Diavolo ran as fast as he could and grabbed the trident before Jade could touch it. He got behind him, only a few meters away. King Crimson once again prepared to throw the trident.
"Let's see you dodge THIS!"
Just as time went back to normal, Jade attempted to grab the trident he assumed to be in front of him, only to swipe the air in confusion. He quickly turned back, just in time for Wake of Poseidon to swat the trident away.
"Ha... nice plan."
Diavolo made an irritated expression.
"It seems like this is a safe range to attack. But I need to find a way to attack him from a distance. I can't rely on his trident forever..."
Jade began to approach him.
"You will have to up your tricks if you want to have a chance, Diavolo."
Diavolo started to look around, trying to find something that he could use to attack Jade.
"But there's nothing here... so I guess it will have to do for now."
He began to slowly walk towards Jade, who was now in a ready stance. He used time erase and quickly got close to him, King Crimson grabbing the trident from his stand's hand. However, he could not take it off his hand and stopped.
"What the hell?!"
While attempting to pry open Wake of Poseidon's hand, it suddenly moved the arm in a powerful pull forward, throwing Diavolo off his balance. He fell to the ground and time resumed. Jade looked at him with a slight sense of surprise.
"So it worked? Interesting..."
"WHAT THE-"
The trident went directly towards Diavolo's head, but he dodged it at the last second.
"Your ability to... erase time, was it? Interesting, but there is a clear flaw to it, isn't there? Whatever anyone is fated to do, they will. Except for you. With Epitaph and if your opponent doesn't know what to expect, that is a deadly combo. But..."
He grabbed Diavolo by the neck, pinning him to the ground.
"...none of these are the case right now."
King Crimson sweep kicked Jade, making him fall to the ground. While still down, Diavolo rolled on the ground to get away from Jade. He rose up recomposed himself.
"He might be right... but I can't let that stop me!"
Jade was still on the ground, trying to get up. Diavolo immediately ran towards him. When he got close, he jumped over Jade, seemingly to attack. Wasting no time, and still on his hands and knees, Jade switched with Diavolo. But while he expected to attack, Jade simply flew over Diavolo and fell to the ground a few meters away from him. Diavolo crawled back up and began to attack the top of a pillar near him with a barrage of punches by King Crimson.
"Your ability locks you to a set number of actions, Jade, and in this case, I'm the architect!"
He got behind the pillar and King Crimson began to kick it.
"I'm at a safe distance, this is it!"
With a powerful kick, the pillar broke down and was now falling over Jade, who was still on the ground trying to recover.
"I GOT YOU..."
"...now?"
Diavolo's perspective changed and he could see the pillar falling upon him. Without time to think, he and King Crimson held the pillar and tried to stop it from crushing them. Suddenly, it felt heavier, and he could hear Jade's muffled chuckling. Jade was now over the pillar, weighing it down.
"But...!"
"Did you really think my range was that low? It is just so easy to trick you, Diavolo... I'm starting to not have fun anymore."
He summoned Wake of Poseidon, who now pushed the pillar down. King Crimson held the weight as hard as it could, but it was getting progressively more difficult.
"I'm getting tired of this... why don't you just accept DEFEAT?!"
Wake of Poseidon started to rapidly punch the pillar. Having the weight become too much to handle, Diavolo made his stand do the same. The pillar began to crack, and in a split second, it was broken to bits.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"
"HHAAAAAAA!"
The two stands were now frenetically barraging at each other, exchanging punches as fast as they could. Neither of them could defend all of the attacks, and so both Jade and Diavolo were getting more and more hurt as that went on. Stil on the ground, Diavolo kicked Jade hard on the gut, but Jade quickly switched and Diavolo was sent flying back. He landed on his feet, almost out of balance. Jade got up, but was not approaching him, and had an expression of pure frustration and suppressed anger.
Suddenly, something clicked within Diavolo.
"That... that's it!"
He smiled and started to laugh.
"I know your weakness, Jade Sinfield!"
He thought.
"Your ability... it is only as useful as the advantage your opponent has! To defeat you... all I need to do is give you a fair fight."
Started to slowly walk towards Jade.
"Come on, Jade! You seemed so confident a moment ago! Let's see if you can hold that up."
While approaching him, Diavolo tripped on the debris of the broken pillar on the ground, making parts of the rock slide and scatter by Jade's feet. He recomposed himself and looked at the rocks.
"This will do."
King Crimson grabbed a stone and hurled it towards Jade. Without thinking twice, Jade promptly switched with Diavolo. Much to his surprise, just as he did, and before the rock could reach him, Diavolo used his stand to kick one of the rocks that were now by his feet, straight into Jade's direction. Wake of Poseidon punched the rock out of the way, breaking it into smaller pieces. King Crimson grabbed the stone that came towards Diavolo in its palm mid-air and broke it down with a crushing grasp.
"Too bad, Diavolo, we missed."
Diavolo ignored him and was mumbling to himself.
"Too safe... I need to risk more."
He kicked more rocks towards Jade, who switched with him again. In his changed position, he kicked even more rocks in Jade's direction. Wake of Poseidon spun its trident and got most of the rocks away from their path, yet one of them still managed to hit Jade's shoulder, making him flinch.
The rocks came towards Diavolo, who was able to deflect a couple of them, but the rest hit his body, making him fall back. Jade began to approach him, but Diavolo quickly rose up.
"More risk..."
He hurled multiple smaller debris at his opponent, who switch with him immediately. Upon switching, Diavolo grabbed a bigger piece and his stand kicked it in the air, making a large amount of smaller pieces fly towards Jade. Poseidon swiped its trident and deflected almost all of the bigger pieces that came at Jade, with only the smaller ones making minor cuts in his skin and clothes.
Diavolo raised his tired arm in front of his face, protecting it while King Crimson attempted to block the stones, with little effect, and so he was dealt multiple smaller injuries all over his body. Diavolo was bloodied all over, yet he stood still. He clenched his teeth before shouting.
"MORE RISK!"
He grabbed a big piece of the broken pillar and started to sprint towards Jade. When he got close enough to make his move, but Jade switched with him before he could act. He felt the stone hitting his back and fell to his knees. Jade grabbed him by the shoulder and punched him in the face.
"This is pathetic, Diavolo... You are pathetic! I cannot even take enjoyment in this. You have obviously given up on trying."
Diavolo tried to throw another stone at him, Jade grabbed his arm before he could do it.
"More... risk..."
"Admit your defeat already, Diavolo. You have already tried and failed to beat me in a fight we both have a fair chance. One of us will always be in advantage, which means I will always have the advantage. Your plan has failed, so just admit your defeat."
Diavolo gathered all the force he could and smacked Jade away from him, getting up once again. He was standing still, despite his obvious difficulty to do so. Both him and King Crimson were in an arched posture, hurt and severely beaten. Jade was not unharmed, but still in condition to fight.
"I will not..."
"What will you not, Diavolo, what do you think you can do?"
With an angered bloody face and eyes burning with rage, Diavolo looked directly into Jade's eyes.
"I WILL NOT DIE LIKE THIS!"
Jade was now smiling as hard as he could, and could no longer control his sadistic happiness. Wake of Poseidon assumed a fighting stance, and so did King Crimson.
"THAT IS IT! THERE IS THAT KILLING INTENT, THAT DESIRE TO FIGHT UNTIL THE VERY END!"
Jade opened his arms in invitation.
"COME, DIAVOLO! I WILL GIVE YOU A LAST CHANCE FOR A FAIR FIGHT! ONE OF US DIES HERE!"
Diavolo leaned in to attack, screaming on the top of his lungs, evoking a primal battle cry that chanted the very name of his will to live and fighting spirit.
"KING CRIMSON!"
"WAKE OF POSEIDON!"
The two stands were about to clash.
When suddenly a blade pierced through Diavolo's torso from behind.
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Stand User: Jade Sinfield
Stand Name:「Wake of Poseidon」
5 out of 6 trials completed
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