Author’s Note: This story takes place during episodes 45-46 of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
Previously on Robert’s Bizarre Adventures: Team RDGT was investigating the lab of an evil, mad scientist who was experimenting with technology that would allow him to travel through the multiverse and build an army of the strongest warriors from countless different worlds. After being discovered, the team battled what forces the attempting-conqueror had already collected and were able to stop his evil schemes… but not without cost. During the fighting, Robert and Delta’s semblance, Eve, had been thrown into one of the portals and found themselves trapped in a new world they did not recognize.
Cairo, Egypt - January 16, 1988“Ah, man my head hurts,” Robert said as he began to sit up. Once the pain had passed, the boy looked around at his surroundings. He was lying down on a sidewalk in a city with strange architecture. People were completely ignoring him as they made their way home from work, as the sun had passed not too long ago. There beside him though, sat one familiar sight in a world of unfamiliarity: Eve. “Where are we?” he asked the manifested semblance.
“I think we’re in another world, Robert. We both got punted into one of those machines by that one guy whose hair kept changing colors and kept shouting stuff about being the ‘Prince of Sayans’ and now we’re here, so that’s my best guess,” Eve replied.
“Makes sense to me. How are we going to get out of here though?” Robert asked.
Before Eve could utter a reply though, the sound of a revving engine and several screams caught both of their attention. Both of them looked up and saw a quickly approaching car, driving on the sidewalk, coming right for them.
“Duck!” Robert shouted as he laid flat in the hopes the car would just pass right over him. Eve did the same.
After narrowly missing the two though, the black sedan stopped and large, imposing man stepped out of the vehicle. “Hmm, for a moment I mistook you for one of my prey, Kakyoin. Now that I have a closer look though, I see that is not the case,” the blond man said. He continued to approach Robert though until finally coming close enough to grab and lift him by the shirt collar. “Still you are obviously a Stand-user as I can see there,” he continued, looking at Eve, “So I will allow you to live if you use whatever your power is to help me kill the Joestars and their friends.”
Robert didn’t reply as he stared, horrified at the man’s large stature and obvious ruthlessness, as he was the one who just ran over who knows how many people with a car. The man, who had yet to reveal his name, seemed to take Robert’s silence as a ‘yes’ though as he suddenly threw the boy into the backseat of the car with him and told his driver to continue whatever chase he was in.
Ignoring the sound of bodies colliding with the hood of the vehicle, the Beacon student and his friend’s semblance continued to silently stare at their captor. There was some sort of aura about him that gave off both a sense fear and attraction… but mostly fear. Actually, almost nothing but fear.
The blond man finally broke the silence by saying, “You may call me, Lord DIO as I am now your new master.” A frightening grin crossed DIO’s face as he said this and that was when Robert noticed his teeth, though a better word for them might have been ‘fangs’ considering how sharp they appeared.
“Are you… A vampire?” Robert asked, referring to the name that many bat faunus use back in his world, just like how many boar faunus refer to themselves as ‘orcs.’
Before a response could be given though, something strange occurred. The world seemed to suddenly change colors as DIO looked out the car window and utter the same name he had said earlier, “Kakyoin.” Without warning, the window shattered and Robert felt like he was being shot by hundreds of invisible, low caliber rounds. If not for his aura, he knew he would have been turned into swiss cheese. Then DIO lifted his hand and the roof of the car seemed to suddenly explode. Our red haired protagonist wondered if maybe DIO was the cause of the invisible attacks and the sudden shift in color. Well, there was the obvious fact that he was insane, made obvious as he spoke aloud about something called The World being out of range.
As the world suddenly changed back to its normal colors, several street signs began to fly at their car from seemingly nowhere. The vehicle’s driver looked back, a panicked expression on his face, and asked, “Wh- what’s happening?!” So Robert wasn’t the only one who was completely confused and lost.
The vampire lord responded, “Would it benefit me in any way if I told you? Keep your eyes forward and drive.”
“What was that thing with the colors though?” Robert asked.
“What?” DIO asked, actually confused.
“The colors. For a few seconds, everything was like… different. Like someone put a negative filter over the world.”
“What do you mean?”
“What do you mean “what do you mean?” Your headband-thing went from green to purple. The driver’s hair went from black to a dark green. My frickin’ hair went from red to yellow. Is this normal here?”
DIO just ignored the ramblings of what he believed to be a madman. After a minute had passed though, another strange thing occurred. The driver seemed to suddenly disappear from the driver’s seat of the car and reappear a couple feet away from the back of the truck they were following. It was almost as if someone had thrown him from the vehicle and used him as a projectile to stop the truck. DIO, Robert, and Eve’s car swerved now that it was without its driver, and crashed into a barricade, but the truck they had been following also crashed into the side of a nearby building.
DIO stepped out of the car and began to slowly walk toward the truck while Robert rolled out onto the pavement. “C’mon Eve, we’re getting out of here before we end up like that guy that momentarily became a human torpedo,” he said before crawling away from the wreck and towards one of the many alleyways that seemed to litter the city.
As he entered the alley though, Robert felt like he was suddenly grabbed by invisible tentacles and carried up to the rooftop of one of the nearby building where an older, bearded man and a red haired teenager that reminded Robert of himself glared angrily at him. “What in the world is going on in this crazy city?!” he shouted as he felt the tentacles drop him at the pair’s feet.
“You’re one of DIO’s servants aren’t you?! Do you know what his Stand is?! Tell us now?!” the older man shouted as Robert felt one of the tentacles beginning to wrap around his neck, readying to choke him.
“What’s all this nonsense about Stands? I have no idea what’s going on,” Robert struggled to say. He felt that invisible vines begin to decrease their hold on his neck as he continued. “I only just arrived here and already I’ve been almost hit by a car, pelted with invisible bullets, and now choked by invisible tentacles. Someone needs to explain what’s going on here or I’m going to go insane.”
Both of the men looked at Robert with confused looks before the younger of the two, the one that Robert assumed was Kakyoin considering the similar appearance between himself and green-clad teenager, asked, “You mean that isn’t your stand?”
Robert turned to look at what Kakyoin was pointing to, only to see Eve floating just behind him. Turning back to the bearded man and Kakyoin, Robert said, “You mean Eve? Eve’s a semblance and not even mine at that. So what’s a stand? And who are you people!?”
The bearded man answered first. “I am Joseph Joestar and this is Noriaki Kakyoin. And a Stand is a powerful vision, created from your own life force. We call it a Stand because it appears next to you, just as your friend’s ‘semblance’ does. Now, I suggest we start moving before DIO realizes we weren’t in that crash and finds us.”
As Joseph began to walk toward the edge, he noticed Kakyoin wasn’t following and turned toward him. “What are you doing, Kakyoin?”
“I’ve got it,” he simply replied, taking off his sunglasses. “I’ve figured out a way to reveal what DIO’s Stand truly is.”
“What!?”
Minutes later and Robert found himself hanging onto Joseph’s back as he and Kakyoin swung through Cairo like a certain arachnid-themed superhero. Eventually, they landed on the rooftop of a building and waited for DIO to get close enough for Kakyoin to activate his trap. Robert didn’t really understand it. Something to do with Hierophant Green and barriers. It didn’t matter to him. All that mattered was that it worked, and from DIO’s expression when he soon arrived, it appeared as if it was.
At least at first. Once Kakyoin explained how DIO had fallen into his trap though, the blond vampire’s expression changed to one of confidence. As a nearby billboard collapsed, DIO replied, “You fool! You shall soon know that The World’s true power is, indeed, the power to reign over this world!”
"The World!"In one moment, DIO was there. In the next he wasn’t. In one moment, Kakyoin was okay. In the next he was lying in a water tower with a large hole in his chest.
“What?! Kakyoin! He was suddenly blown away! Impossible! Kakyoin!” Joseph shouted.
“Yeah, I can see that!” Robert shouted back before jumping from rooftop to rooftop towards Kakyoin, with Eve following close behind. He knew trying to help him would be futile, but he couldn’t think of anything else to do. “Hey, Kakyoin, buddy. Stay with me, dude. We’ve got to defeat DIO. We can’t do it without you,” he said as he rested his hand on Kakyoin’s shoulder. “Oh, man. What do I do? Eve what do I do?” he asked
“I- I don’t think there’s anything we
can do, Robert,” the semblance replied. Eve turned around to see Joseph and DIO begin their confrontation while Robert focused on Kakyoin. Another ally was dying in his arms and there was nothing he could do.
Kakyoin then began to move. It was clear that his body was wracked with pain, but he kept moving. Robert didn’t realize it, but he had figured out DIO’s stand. He knew what their enemy’s immense and incredible power was, and he needed to let his friends know before it was too late. Robert couldn’t see it, but Kakyoin was trying to take aim with his Stand. He coughed up blood, making Hierophant Green disappear before he could take the shot, but he knew he couldn’t quit. He knew that he was about to die. He knew that he needed to make his last action mean something before that happened. Hierophant Green reformed, took aim, and fired at the nearby clock tower. His final words before he died were, “M-My final Emerald... Splash…”
With tears in his eyes, Robert looked at the clock tower and back to the dead boy beside him. “What does it mean? What were you trying to tell us? I don’t understand.”
“Rob, I think we need to get moving. DIO’s coming-” Eve began to say. Before the semblance you finish though, Robert suddenly felt someone grab the collar of his shirt and pull off his feet and away from the area. Looking up, he saw that it was Joseph trying to save both of them from the monster that was DIO.
Robert didn’t say anything though. He was still in shock over what had just occurred. It wasn’t until Joseph spoke up that he finally snapped out of his dazed look. “I-Impossible! Could it truly be…”
“What? What is it?”
“The true power of DIO’s The World…”
“Yes?”
“Is the power to stop time!”
“... What?! How do you get that from Kakyoin blowing up a clock?”
“He stopped the clock by breaking it. He stopped time.”
“Nah, I don’t see it. I think it’s the ability to breath fire.”
“... You’re an idiot.” Joseph turned to look at his friend’s body and said, “I understand, Kakyoin! You died to send me that message… and I’ve gotten it!”
As the two continued to weave through Cairo’s streets, trying to put as much distance between them and the bloodthirsty vampire, Robert looked back and saw that he was no longer following them. “Jo-Joseph. Where… where did he go?”
“H-He disappeared!”
“Behind us!”
It was too late. DIO was right behind them. Robert didn’t need a stand to know that The World’s fist was inches away from turning them into human donuts. But Joseph jumped back and nothing seemed to have happened. “Wh-What’s wrong? Not going to hit me, DIO? Weren’t you going to drink my blood?”
“You’ve suffused your body with Hamon to protect yourself,” was DIO’s reply.
“Great another word I don’t know the meaning of,” Robert mumbled.
“Hermit Purple, infused with Hamon, is like a high-voltage wire wrapped around your body, isn’t it? You’re quite the schemer, you cunning old geezer.”
“The same goes for you,” Joseph said before pulling at his shirt collar and revealing his hairy chest. Robert was pretty sure that the two Stand users were seeing something completely different but still couldn’t help but find the action to be odd. “You realized I was using Hamon and made sure not to touch me. Very attentive of you. But I’ve figured something out about your stand. DIO, though you can stop time, it looks like you can do so very briefly. About three to four seconds, I’d say. If you could stop time for any longer, we would have all died back at your mansion, and you wouldn’t have had to chase us down,” he continued.
“Unless he just wanted to for sport. Seriously, I don’t get where you’re getting all this information from. I’m still convinced he can breathe fire.”
DIO looked at Robert with a raised eyebrow before saying, “I should have had that senator run you over with the car to make sure you don’t pollute the world with your stupidity. I can’t believe I offered you to join me.” Looking back to Joseph, he replied, “So you understand how The World works? Hah! I’ll spare you a bit of praise for that.”
Joseph clenched his fist in anger and said, “It was Kakyoin who figured it out. I won’t let Kakyoin die for nothing!”
“And what of it? What good does understanding my Stand’s power do for you? What can your Hamon possibly do now?”
“Hermit Purple and Hamon!” Joseph cried out as a battle cry as he charged at DIO.
“Enough! I don’t need to touch the Hamon to attack you!” he shouted back as a nearby chimney seemed to explode, knocking both Robert and Joseph off the building and toward the street below. Robert was lucky enough to have a nice, soft wooden table to land on from the restaurant that they had been standing on. Joseph was not so lucky as he hit the pavement with a loud “thud.”
The people whose meal Robert and Joseph’s appearance had seemingly ruined didn’t seem to really care that much that most of their food now littered the ground and was being devoured by a stray cat. Instead, they began taunting and making fun of the pair, not realizing the danger that was DIO who stood on the rooftop above them.
Robert began to rise from the ground and realized that Joseph was talking to someone who had just turned the corner onto the street they were on. “J-Jotaro! Stay back! Don’t come near us!” As DIO began to descend towards Joseph, the old man continued to speak to the man the figure that Robert was unfamiliar with. “Jotaro! The secret of his Stand, The World, is time! It’s a Stand that stops ti-”
"The World!"Joseph didn’t get to finish his sentence as knife appeared from out of nowhere and impaled his neck, and standing in front him was DIO with a smug expression across his lips. Robert also found several blood spatters across his clothing that hadn’t been there earlier. The cat that had been standing next to him earlier had also seemingly disappeared, that is until he heard several screams behind him and saw where the cat and gone. Actually, it would probably be more accurate to say “pieces of the cat” considering the sight before him.
“Old man!” Jotaro shouted as he started to approach Joseph.
“S-Stay back! R-Run... J-Jotaro… D-Don’t go near him. K-Keep your… d-distance… Stay away… Stay away from him… Y-You’re no… match… “ Those were Joseph Joestars last words, before his heart finally beat his last. Another life taken by the merciless hands of DIO.
DIO then ignored Robert as he approached Jotaro, gloating over what he claimed to be his victory. Robert wasn’t really paying attention to what was being said, he was just staring at Joseph Joestar’s body. “Why? I only knew you and Kakyoin for a few hours, and yet, without a second thought, I’d consider both of you allies, maybe even friends. Why do I always have to be the last survivor?”
Eve, who had been hiding in Robert’s hood the whole time, poked its head out and spoke. “Robert, I think we should go. We can’t do anything against this DIO guy. We stay and we’ll only end up like him. We need to do what he told that guy over there and run.”
“Alright, Eve. Yeah, I will,” he said as he stood up and began to run. DIO was too distracted by Jotaro to notice or care about the cowardly, useless redhead.
Several minutes passed after Robert ran away from Jotaro and DIO’s impending, epic battle. Explosions, screams, and other such loud noises could be heard off in the distance, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to go back home. And soon, he got that wish.
Sitting on the sidewalk that he had first found himself when he came to this world, Robert sat there in silence while Eve sat in the hood of his hoodie. Suddenly, a bright light appeared over him and Trad, Delta, and Grane walked through with weapons drawn. “Robert, we’re here to- Oh God,” Trad said as he saw the dozens of bodies scattered across the from when DIO had driven his car over them. “What happened here?”
“Let’s just go,” the red headed leader said as he walked back through the portal to their own world.
Word Count: 3,201
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