Time had stopped.
Most people in the world, seeing this scene, wore grave expressions.
This was true time-stop; the world turned gray, and only Dio retained his color.
Like a king of time, he moved unchecked through the frozen moment.
In other words, within this stillness, he could snuff out Jotaro's life as easily as now.
"Enemy of my fate—farewell!"
Dio slashed down with a hand-blade, clearly intent on killing Jotaro.
But at that instant, Jotaro's finger twitched.
"!!!!!!!"
Dio's eyes bulged; he stared at the finger, wondering if it was a trick of his mind.
Then the finger moved again—no doubt this time—and Dio recoiled in shock.
Like a startled cat just hitting water, he leapt back and cried, "Wh-what!! He moved!"
It wasn't just in the video.
The real Dio, too, stared wide-eyed; a bad premonition stirred inside him.
Having his Stand ability exposed didn't matter—The World was invincible, so what if people knew?
No matter how hopeless the trap, Dio trusted he could escape—yet seeing that finger stir, his heart lurched.
Being known and having someone else wield time-stop were two utterly different things!!!
Inside the video:
"He moved!!" Dio exclaimed, eyes still wide. "Impossible—his finger just moved!"
"C-could it be… the same…?"
Watching that twitching finger, Dio recalled Jotaro's earlier words:
'Seems like Star Platinum and my Stand are the same type.'
"Star Platinum and The World are the same type?" Dio refused to believe it.
Within the frozen world, he met Jotaro's gaze and, for a moment, dared not strike.
"Can this guy see me?" he wondered, studying those eyes. "Or was that just a reflex?"
"Tch—out of time."
Uncertain, Dio still put a little distance between them.
The monochrome world regained its colors.
"ora ora!!"
Star Platinum kept punching ahead—
—but Dio and The World had silently circled behind Jotaro and his Stand.
Jotaro turned his head, expressionless, as if unsurprised to find Dio there.
"Can you see me?"
Dio demanded; Jotaro said nothing, only gave a telling look.
Irritated, Dio shouted, "I asked if you can see me, Jotaro!!"
"No idea what you're on about, Dio."
The moment the words left him, Jotaro "flew" off, changing course mid-air by summoning his Stand.
Dio snarled, anger flaring: "Fine! In a frozen world it doesn't matter if you can see me!"
Boom—!!
He called forth The World, punched the wall to swerve, and skimmed the ground. "If you can move free as The World, then twitch a few more times for me!"
(Skipping Dio's flashback—too long.)
"I, Dio, Stand above every creature, every Stand user!"
"My limit is five seconds now—and it will only grow!"
"Jotaro! Let's see just how powerful you really are!!!"
With that, he spread his arms and cried, "The World—halt, time!!!"
Once more the screen bleached to gray, Dio alone in vivid color.
Outside the video:
The Stardust Crusaders didn't bother mocking Dio's time-stop.
Instead they ribbed the on-screen Jotaro.
"So, Jotaro, how come you can fly?" Polnareff quipped, leaning on him. "Did you siphon off some of Dio's juice when you met?"
"Joseph said Dio's body used to be your ancestor—what's-his-name."
"Did he give you some special upgrade—like a second Stand evolution?"
"Jonathan Joestar," Joseph sighed. "That's my grandfather's body the bastard stole."
"Still… it's not impossible."
Joseph knew he should focus on how Jotaro would beat Dio.
Yet Polnareff had a point.
After Dio awakened his Stand, the Joestar bloodline slowly awakened theirs as well.
This time, with Jotaro fighting Dio, did it mean that his grandfather's body had, invisibly, lent Jotaro strength?
Indeed.
Not just Joseph, even Avdol fell silent; flying mid-battle was clearly impossible.
Moments ago, during the time-stop, Jotaro had stayed airborne; one could still explain it by saying time was frozen and he couldn't move.
But now the stop had ended—how on earth was Jotaro still flying?
Apart from the idea that Jonathan's 'body' had given Jotaro a new power, there seemed no other explanation.
Yare yare.
Jotaro shook his head and said nothing more.
It wasn't just their side.
In Egypt, Dio wore a dark expression; he desperately hoped his on-screen self would finish Jotaro off quickly.
Because if the video-Jotaro really could act inside the frozen world…
…then he was in serious trouble—he possessed the multiverse projection.
Joseph's tour group also had the multiverse projection; they might already know this footage existed.
And if luck were worse, Jotaro might have begun training to enter the time-stop world.
A newly awakened power versus one honed with purpose—there was no comparison.
In other words, if his video self couldn't kill Jotaro fast, he couldn't leisurely wait for Joseph's group to arrive.
He had to take the initiative and wipe them out!
...
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