"NIGHTMARE KING REQUIEM!"
The red-tinted clouds rushed over the sky above the castle, visible between the multitude of giant and long black arms that surrounded the courtyard, coming from down below the abyss. The group of cloaked people, most fallen down while their otherwise fatal wounds were being healed by the mysterious dark mist, surrounded Diavolo as he stared incredulously at the situation that unfolded before him. Behind them was the bridge that led to a crimson portal, in front of them a battle none of them could have expected was about to commence.
Vinegar Doppio stood in the middle of the courtyard, with his stand Knight Watch in front of him in a defensive stance, holding the shield on its left hand in front of the body and the feather-shaped sword in its right hand resting behind him in a low position that also protected its user.
The Blind King was becoming one with the mist, as his body dissolved within it, giving a distinct and faint red glow to the somberness that permeated the stone floor. His red eyes slowly began to fade as his form disappeared into the environment. His voice seemed omnipresent, and the blood-red moon had a threatening aura as if it were his all-seeing eye, overseeing all of them. Now, there was only Nightmare King Requiem.
The first arm came rushing towards Doppio, who immediately noticed it.
"Knight Watch!"
The sword slashed through it with remarkable ease, as the severed part fell down and disappeared within the mist. The second one came right after, and Knight Watch immediately struck, before noticing a third one came at the same time. It defended itself and Doppio with its shield. Before he knew, many more came in his direction, alternating attacks. Using Knight Watch's predictions, Doppio did his best and fought hard against the incoming attacks, his sword hacking and slashing through the bizarrely long arms.
Diavolo watched the situation from afar. His eyes were widened and his mouth was gaping, as he tried to piece together the events that had led to that confrontation. Ganz Dämmer, now fully recovered from his injuries, approached Diavolo with a friendly face, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Hate to admit it, but the boy is giving him quite the fight. You trained him well, I suppose."
Without taking his eyes from the situation in front of him, watching as the attacks zoomed towards Doppio, he responded, still shaken.
"I did not train him... he was always like this, I think..."
"I really wonder why he made that choice. It doesn't make much sense..."
"I agree. I agree... I..."
Diavolo suddenly snapped and ran towards the fight, leaving Ganz behind, confused.
"Hey, where are you going?!"
He got near the fight, standing at a safe distance. His face looked desperate and unhinged. His green pupils came together for a moment, almost as a whole.
"DOPPIO!"
Still fighting, Doppio looked at him, unable to hide the spark of hope within his eyes. He opened his mouth but said nothing, exhausted while fighting the arms of Nightmare King Requiem.
"STOP THIS DOPPIO, STOP THIS MADNESS NOW! JOIN ME BEFORE YOU GET YOURSELF KILLED, PLEASE!"
Whatever trace of hope was immediately drained from Doppio's face, and he now expressed anger. Doing his best to avoid the attacks that came at him, he screamed back.
"NO! NEVER! THIS IS NOT RIGHT AND I WILL NOT BE PART OF IT!"
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, DOPPIO, THIS IS DANGEROUS, YOU CANNOT WIN THIS!"
"YOU ARE THE ONE THAT DOESN'T UNDERSTAND, BOSS! YOU ARE THE ONE THAT DOESN'T WANT TO UNDERSTAND! I WILL NOT COMPLY WITH SOMETHING THAT I ABOMINATE!"
"DOPPIO, PLE-"
"I WON'T STOP FIGHTING UNTIL I'M EITHER DEAD OR VICTORIOUS! I WILL CONTINUE!"
One of the arms slowly approached Diavolo and grabbed him, pulling him back. The ominous omnipresent voice of the Blind King echoed all around them.
"Do not interfere, Diavolo. He has made his choice."
Distressed, Diavolo tried to respond...
"BUT-"
"I said do NOT interfere."
...but no avail.
The assault on Doppio became increasingly violent, as he continued to fight against it however he could. Knight Watch moved like a demon, tearing down the hands that tried to damage it. Eventually, the attacks started to go through its defenses for short flashes, dealing small amounts of damage to Doppio, who persevered despite that. Suddenly, the long black arms interlaced and formed a larger one, its silhouette made clearer by the glowing red moon on the sky behind it.
It fell down to the ground towards him, but Doppio dodged back at the last second. The gooey black mass began to change its form, until it finally assumed a humanoid shape of Nightmare King Requiem. Its upper torso and head were the same as before, but now the rest of the body took shape, similar in appearance to King Crimson and Knight Watch. It stood before Doppio and spoke to him in a calm demeanor.
"Why do you not just give up? I reckon it would be much more simple."
"As long as I'm able to fight, I won't give up my morals."
"That is a shame."
In the blink of an eye, it was already attacking, sending a barrage of punches at Doppio, who hid behind Knight Watch's shield. The attacks became faster, and he had to defend from them with the sword as well. Some punches passed through his defenses, be he stood tall. Not stopping his assault, the Blind King still attempted to reach Doppio through his reasoning.
"Why are you so resilient? You discover all of this just now and suddenly you feel so strongly about it? It makes no sense! Why risk it all for a life you hardly know?"
Doppio, unyielding, responded.
"It doesn't matter for how long I think this, only how strongly I feel about it! I will not stop now!"
More arms started to grow on the back of Nightmare King Requiem, one by one, and immediately joined the assault. Its body seemed to get slightly larger every second, as the multiple arms granted it a grotesque eldritch appearance. The Blind King's voice was now monstrous and distorted
"You're making this harder to yourself, Vinegar Doppio!"
Nightmare King Requiem's body was now a jumbled mess of arms violently attacking Doppio in a blind rage, while Knight Watch struggled to defend from all of them behind its shield. Suddenly, a long thin tentacle appeared from the middle of Nightmare King Requiem's back, and now hovered above its head, much longer than any of the other arms, with a thin sharp tip instead of a hand. The hands stopped attacking, and the tentacle lunged at Doppio. Knight Watch put its shield in front of him to defend, until he noticed the tentacle was piercing through it.
"No way!"
He struggled to push it back, but the tentacle went further, almost reaching Doppio's forehead. Nightmare King Requiem was now dangerously close, and the spiky tentacle was too close to even defend. In a quick movement, it plunged into Doppio's forehead, penetrating it.
***
Doppio found himself in a pitch-black room. He looked around, but couldn't see anything. Despite the darkness, his body seemed perfectly illuminated and without shadows.
"What... where am I?"
"We are inside your mind."
He turned around towards the voice and gasped at what he saw. Walking towards him, there was a man. This man had a body and face almost identical to Diavolo, however, his hair was completely black, much like his pants; the irises in his eyes were red and unfractured, and he had a large red crescent moon tattoo on his chest.
"You are..."
"Yes. I am the Blind King. Well... at least, how I was when I was young."
"Why were you not like this before?"
"I had forgotten my appearance a long time ago if I have to be honest. I had no way to remember until you and Diavolo came here. His similarity to me breaks the usual barrier of stand ability and fate. Not only that... but you also remind me of my brother, Angelus."
"But... if you are the Blind King, why are you not attacking me?"
"Here? That would be useless. Much like myself, you are far more powerful than usual within your mind. I decided it would be better to approach you in a more... logical manner."
"How did you do this?"
"This is the true power of Nightmare King Requiem, the ability to enter someone's mind. We can talk here uninterrupted, and I can take any time I need to convince you of my point."
Doppio imagined he was supposed to feel uncomfortable in that situation, but for some reason, he felt at ease.
"Very well. Explain yourself."
The Blind King smiled softly before he started talking again.
"Your relationship with Diavolo... it has grown quite a lot in such a short while, hasn't it? I must admit it was curious. First of all, I must ask: do you know why he lost to Giorno Giovanna? How he lost?"
"I... I've got hints of it... Gold Experience Requiem. Something about an eternal torture. I don't know the details."
"I figured as such... By this point, he should have already explained your true nature, as a second personality to his. As I have felt no animosity until your decision in the courtyard, I imagine you have come to terms with that."
"It is... strange. I have always lived my life with a strange perception of time. I would regain consciousness in strange situations... and a lot of them included the Boss calling me. Why were those phones always so conveniently placed anyway?"
"They were not cellphones. You just projected his voice into random objects, thinking they were phones. Quite an amusing thing to watch, I must add."
Doppio chuckled.
"Not phones? Ha, that must have been weird-"
He realized something and became shocked.
"Wait a moment, how do you know all of this?!"
"While he was unconscious, I went through Diavolo's mind, through his memories. Since he was always conscious when you were in control of the body, that also means that I went through your memories as well."
"I... I think I understand..."
The Blind King clasped his hands together near his chest and closed his eyes. Before opening them, he asked Doppio a question.
"Do you know how you died?"
Doppio was taken by surprise. He had vivid memories of all of the moments he was awake in his life, even the events that led to his demise. However...
"I... I... I don't...? My last memories before this... were approaching the Colosseum, helping a blind and deaf Buccellati get to the man who had the arrow. Everything was blank after that, and then I woke up here."
"And do you have any idea of why you don't remember what happened next?"
"The Boss took over our body and tried to defeat them, then was defeated by Gold Experience Requiem, wasn't he?"
"Not quite. In reality, both of you and the rest of Buccellati's gang were affected by the ability of Chariot Requiem, which switched the souls of every person in the proximity with the person next to them. But that isn't all: Diavolo's body was in fact inhabited by 2 souls, which meant that one of them had the freedom to choose the body it inhabited. Naturally, that was Diavolo."
"And... what about the other soul?"
"Inhabited Buccellati's dying body, unable to move and trapped inside it."
"But... how-"
The Blind King rose his hand, interrupting Doppio.
"Do you know why I was able to bring Diavolo here?"
"Your... stand ability?"
"Correct, but my stand is no necromancer. Diavolo's punishment dealt by Gold Experience Requiem made him suffer many deaths, uninterrupted, never being able to really die. That is why I was able to bring him here."
Doppio started to shake.
"Then... then what about me?"
The Blind King sighed.
"When Diavolo was brought here, I went through his mind, and I realized he wouldn't accept working with me so easily. I needed a way to make him learn how to work with a team. I knew he wouldn't have trusted anyone, anyone besides himself and his stand."
"What... what are you trying to say?"
"Do you know why you don't have any memories beyond entering the Colosseum? I will tell you why."
"No..."
"The real Vinegar Doppio died inside Bruno Buccellati's body, in the Colosseum. You are just a construct, created by my mind with his memories within Diavolo's mind, given life by Nightmare King Requiem."
Doppio was now on his knees, shaking in absolute shock upon hearing that revelation.
"No way..."
"That is why you don't have any memories of your death: it was never you. Since his soul left Diavolo's body, Vinegar Doppio was the only soul to have those memories, and he is long gone by now."
"I'm... I'm..."
"Do you understand now why it is utterly foolish to defy me? All you were from the beginning was a pawn for my game, no more than a creation of my mind, much like the halls you walked through. Unlike your opponents and Diavolo himself, you were never truly a person from the start."
Doppio was too broken to even shed a tear. His existence was revealed to him as nothing but a creation with a purpose he now opposed.
"But now... now I give you a chance, a chance to live beyond, a chance to leave all of this behind. If you are to oppose me, I can simply erase you from existence, much like I what I did with many of my creations before. Instead, I offer you a chance to live a life with Diavolo, as brothers, help him achieve what he strives for. You can be much more, Doppio. Why throw it all away for a pointless feud, a fruitless endeavor?"
The Blind King extended his hand towards Doppio.
"What do you say? Will you join me and live a life you desire, or defy me and be erased as a bad memory?"
Doppio was facing down. His expression was somber and filled with shock and sadness. He waited a moment, before he started to raise his arm to reach the Blind King's inviting hand, to accept his offer.
"Yes, Doppio, yes! This is the only way."
As their hands were about to touch, sealing the deal between them, Doppio pulled his arm back with his other hand. The Blind King expressed surprise.
"No..."
Now getting angry, the Blind King replied.
"What... do you mean... no?!"
"NO!"
Doppio shouted, his words echoed all around, startling the Blind King as he took a step back. Doppio rose up to his feet.
"Do you think I didn't notice... do you think I forgot it already?"
"What are you talking about?!"
"Back there... before you sent your followers to attack me... I remember it... I remember when you snapped your fingers!"
The Blind King's eyes became wide open.
"Yes... and the surprise now is much like when you did that... and nothing happened. Do you think I'm stupid? If you were able to erase me, you would have done it already, as in fact you tried! And yet..."
He started to walk towards the Blind King, prompting him to walk backwards.
"And yet nothing happened! And I know exactly why..."
"What... what do you mean with that?"
He looked straight into the Blind King's eyes, shooting him a thousand yards stare that seemed to penetrate his very soul.
"I might have started as a simple construct, a collection of fragments from a broken mind... but I have outgrown that, I have become much more! I got to know the Boss, the real Boss! I got to know myself and for the first time ever have a dream and convictions of my own!"
He stopped walking and pointed at himself.
"Ever since that moment in the last trial, ever since I felt the need to protect what I cared for, that is when I gained a soul of my own! That is when I became more than just a construct, more than just your pawn!"
He summoned Knight Watch beside him, pointing at him with his open palm.
"This is the representation of my soul, the avatar of my will! Knight Watch! The personification of my life and will to live!"
The Blind King became desperate, walking backwards in fear.
"You don't understand, Doppio! You can't-"
"You are the one that doesn't understand! I will not follow your commands! I will not bow down to your will! I AM NOT YOUR PAWN! I CONTROL MY OWN DESTINY!"
"MY NAME IS VINEGAR DOPPIO!"
Knight Watch dashed towards the Blind King, with its sword up high and ready to strike.
"GET. OUT. OF. MY. HEAD!!"
The blade descended on the Blind King, slashing him across the chest.
***
Doppio regained his senses and saw the tentacle in his head retracting. Knight Watch immediately pushed it out of the way with its shield and slashed Nightmare King Requiem across the chest. Nightmare King Requiem was thrown back a few meters.
"I can't win this... I must get away from here somehow!"
Doppio though, trying to figure out a way to escape. It was then he remembered the crimson portal at the other end of the courtyard.
"That's it! I must reach the portal!"
Knight Watch minimized the size of its sword and gave it to Doppio, while projecting the future into the back of its shield. Doppio made a quick sketch over it before running towards the direction of the Blind King and the others, with the sword still in his hand as a pen.
Nightmare King Requiem rushes to attack him, but he miraculously dogded past him and ran away as the Blind King's stand fell to the ground due to the weight of its own attack. It dissolved into the mist and the Blind King reappeared in his original form, with its dark cloak and glowing red eyes. He looked at the others and urged them to help.
"STOP HIM!"
They each summoned their stands, except for Diavolo, but as Doppio ran past them, they found themselves unable to move a single inch.
"Scheiße! I can't move..."
"Me neither, Merde!"
"Stront, I'm stuck!"
"Me too, kuso."
"For fuck sake, he's getting away!"
While running past them, Doppio raised the feather pen in his hand up high.
"Knight Watch's blade has been tainted by the blood of all of you, which means I can control your fate!"
He was about to reach the bridge when a large black hand appeared from the abyss and smashed the pathway towards the portal, leaving a large gap between it and the courtyard. Doppio stopped at the last second, at the edge of the gap.
The Blind King approached him, stand a few meters away.
"This is the end, Vinegar Doppio. Nowhere to run. I will give you this last chance: join us, or die right here and right now."
Doppio stared into his eyes once again with a serious yet angry expression.
"Never!"
"Then you die."
A much larger hand than any before formed from the abyss, and began to descend towards Doppio. Diavolo watched the situation in terror.
"NO, DOPPIO!"
As the hand was about to strike down upon him, Doppio, with an extremely desperate expression plastered on his face, quickly scribbled on a Knight Watch's shield before the attack landed on him. Dust and mist rose up high, making a thick cloud that made it impossible to see anything for a moment.
"Do- Doppio..."
The cloud started to settle down in front of the group until it revealed the place Doppio was. There was nothing there, beyond the cracks left by the impact.
"What...?"
The Blind King looked in confusion.
"Where... is he?"
The dust around the portal now started to dissipate, revealing Doppio, fallen on the ground with minor injuries and a bleeding arm and head, rising to his feet.
"No way..."
"Oh no..."
"This can't be..."
The Blind King looked furiously at him.
"Vinegar... DOPPIO!"
Diavolo was surprised and unable to speak.
Doppio was now standing, having recalled his stand.
"I just had to change my position at the time of the impact... the shockwave threw me here."
Ruche approached the Blind King.
"King, quickly, rebuild the bridge!"
"I cannot... I'm mentally exhausted, and my powers inside my mind need time to take form... I cannot build this bridge quickly enough, nor reach him in time."
Doppio stood in front of the portal, looking at the group on the other end of the gap. He looked directly at the Blind King.
"I can't defeat you now... I'm not strong enough to do it here... But one day! One day I'll be able to do it! I will find a way! It doesn't matter if it takes me days, months, years or decades! I will stop your plans, no matter the cost! You just wait for me!"
He then looked directly at Diavolo, who stared back perplexed and desperate.
"And you! You betrayed my trust! You crushed my expectations, broke my respect for you! It doesn't matter where you are, it doesn't matter what you do or how you'll do it, I will find you!"
"Doppio..."
"I will find you... and I will stop you... mark my words."
Diavolo had tears running down his eyes, almost unconsciously.
"I will stop you..."
"DIAVOLO!"
His last words echoed all around before Doppio faded into the crimson portal, disappearing completely.
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Stand User: Vinegar Doppio
Stand Name:「Knight Watch」
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Stand User: The Blind King
Stand Name:「Nightmare King Requiem」
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