The Huntress' body gave out as it hit the wall, fractures rippling through the building's structure and her bones. Dio slipped his fingers under the skin of her neck, and her blood began to drain into his body. She weakly resisted, barely able to lift her head.

"You…monster…!"

Dio chuckled heartily at Ruby's words, her blood halting in his veins. He removed his fingers from inside her neck and coiled them around the outside, throwing her at the ground.

"I'm the monster? Ha! I think it's safe to say we're all monsters here."

He pointed at Adam's unconscious, massive frame.

"He can talk all day about how he wants love and acceptance, but what is he? A serial killer, a science project gone wrong. And you! You kill creatures without discretion. Do you care about what they think and feel, before you slice them to pieces?"

He reached down and picked up Ruby's shattered body, throwing it into the air. With a flex of his muscular torso, two razor-sharp beams shot from his eyes, cutting two neat holes through the girl's chest. He caught her as she fell, blood splattering onto his hands. He licked his fingers off as he set her on the ground. Ruby coughed weakly.

"…but…"

"Let me tell you something, little girl. The only way to rid the world of monsters is to be one yourself. When fear is your ally, and dread is your weapon, no one can stand against you. And when no one can, you can create order. You can say who lives and dies, what is permitted, what is forbidden. Then, there will be only one monster. You."

He drew an ornately carved knife from his pocket, briefly twirled it in his fingers, and jammed it into her throat. He stood back to appreciate his work. Two fine corpses littering the front gate.

That's how you send a message!

Dio stopped admiring his work when he heard faint footfalls echo over the stone streets.

She's about here.

He nonchalantly ambled to the steps in front of the gate and sat down, twiddling his thumbs. The girl sprinted into the small square, halting suddenly at the sight of her vanquished friends. She stared at both for a while, exhaled quietly, and raised her left hand above her head, three middle fingers extended.

Dio laughed aloud, causing Katniss to jump.

"You really hadn't seen me? Come on! I'm wearing bright yellow!"

"You… killed them already."

"Of course I did. I trust you had a fun time with Miss Starling?"

"You're… 'Lord Dio'," she gasped.

"Please, call me 'Dio.' Honorifics are for underlings," he said, standing up and taking a short bow.

"And… you're about to kill me, too, aren't you?"

"Most certainly," he said with a grin. He reached into his pockets and pulled out two handfuls of knives. Katniss keenly observed the movements of the man's wrists and arms, watching for the telltale twitches that would indicate the direction of the throw. Even with a whole swarm of blades bearing down on her, Katniss dodged every one.

"That's interesting," mused Dio. "I'll have to try again."

The man began to pull another two bunches of knives from his pockets, when Katniss interrupted him.

"Why bother? I'll just dodge them again. And how many of those do you have?"

"I do things how I please," he cackled, running a knife through his hair. "The WORLD!"

Katniss was confused by the exclamation.

"That doesn't make any se-"

Suddenly, she was against the wall of a building across the street, her back aching. Knives, driven into the building like nails, pinned her by her clothing. She tugged her arm against her jacket sleeve, but to no avail.

"It's useless," said Dio, suddenly in front of her. He wrapped a hand around her chin, forcibly lifting her eyes to meet his.

"Also, I have a lot of knives."

Katniss spat in his face, and he moved his hand down along her jaw until it clenched around her neck. She felt a terrible new sensation as her skin split to let the vampire's fingers underneath, wiggling freely in her bloodstream. Sickening lumps travelled along his arm's veins as her every heartbeat now drove her blood into his body. The horrible pain began to ease, as did all sensations.

Dio watched her slowly stop struggling, her body incapable of summoning the strength to fight him.

This just seems too easy.

The sound of winding cables and skidding leather boots confirmed his theory. He removed his hand, Katniss slumping against her bladed restraints. Dio turned to face his new opponent, thrilled by the opportunity to drain another foe dry.

Two thin, razor-like swords crossed over one another, glittering in the sunlight. Mikasa scowled underneath her scarf, which trailed out in the wind like a cut on the air itself. Dio ran his eyes over the scout, observing her outfit and 3DMG.

Professional soldier, with some sort of mobility-enhancing device. That scar over her eye indicates some sort of traumatic experience, either on the battlefield or off. There's a ridiculous amount of carbon dioxide in her breath, so her metabolic rate has to be astounding. She's unnaturally fit.

"What did you do to Katniss?" demanded Mikasa, pointing a sword at the vampire.

"Not too much. She might even still be conscious."

"Katniss!" shouted Mikasa at her immobile friend. With some effort, she raised her head.

"What?" she groaned.

"It's Holly! Twilight and some tough-looking-"

"Everything's about Holly, isn't it?" she snapped, her weak voice surprisingly full of spite.

"But… I thought you two-"

"Were friends. I don't care how she's screwed up this time. She's getting what's coming to her."

"She is a bitter one, isn't she?" chuckled Dio, his hands on his waist.

Mikasa was shocked by Katniss' response, and more than a little annoyed by Dio's glib attitude.

"Whatever," she grunted, extending her swords behind her like two metal wings. "I'll just have to tear you apart, so I can get some decent answers from her."

"I just hope you can make this interesting," he laughed, feigning a yawn. "The last few have been terribly droll."

Mikasa clamped her fingers over the triggers, firing two anchors directly into Dio's abdomen. With another click, the spool mounted over her lower back reeled the cables in, sending the man flying towards her. At the last second, Mikasa jolted her swords ahead, and Dio was run cleanly through. He looked down at the swords, then up at the girl, and shook his head in disappointment.

"That is just pathetically useless," he said, his voice dripping with condescendence.

He reached down to his abdomen and placed a forefinger and a thumb on each of the blades. With a simple pinch, both snapped in half, to Mikasa's dismay. Dio dropped to the ground, and slowly pulled the blades out of his body. He brought one to his face as if he was examining it, and dramatically extended his tongue, licking a bloody patch clean. Katniss, slowly regaining her strength, couldn't help but vomit at the sight.

Dio tossed the shattered blades to the ground, cocking his head at Mikasa arrogantly. Mikasa found herself incapable of coherent speech, collapsing to her knees.

"You… you… you…"

"This is what we call 'checkmate'," he said, drawing a handful of knives. He twirled them around his fingers as the brutal stab wounds sealed themselves. With an even more deft maneuver, he slipped a knife between each pair of fingers, and prepared to send them flying at their target. Then the air crackled, and the knives fell from his smoking hand.

He turned the back of his hand toward him and observed the blistering burn, poking at it quizzically with his other hand. He repositioned his hand to where it was when it was hit, and tracked his eyes back until they fell upon the unshielding elf.

"I just call it 'check'," snapped Holly, firing a wall of blasts from her Neutrino. Each shot singed the skin off the vampire, who tumbled helplessly to the ground. Mikasa was surprised to see the elf back.

"Wait, what happened back there? I thought they were going to kill you."

"It's a very strange story," replied Holly. "And I don't think I want to jinx things by telling it. All you need to know is that I'm all right, and all Katniss needs to know is that the book thing is not my fault."

"As if," spat the girl, still pinned by the knives.

A lavender sphere of energy exploded with a zap, depositing Twilight Sparkle and a very burnt-looking Ryuko Matoi. Alucard rose from the ground nearby, and the trio sprinted to Holly's defense.

"She's telling the truth," explained Twilight. "There was something evil stored inside of her, that influenced her to share the book!"

Ryuko brushed a lock of singed hair off of her uniform.

"It gets weirder," she warned.

"The good news is the evil is gone now."

Mikasa scratched her head.

"You said that like there is also-"

"The bad news is it's loose. Somewhere."

"Of course," concluded Mikasa and Katniss simultaneously.

Holly ran to Katniss' side, tearing the knives from the wall. The girl fell to the ground with a perfect three-point landing.

"Okay, I'll forgive you," she grunted, standing. "But I still don't trust you."

Holly slipped her hands into her pockets, shrugging.

"That's a start, I guess."

Alucard fired a single round skyward, disrupting the quiet moment.

"Now that everyone's absolved, where's Dio?"

"What are you talking about?" chuckled Holly. "He's right over…"

A bloody yellow jacket lay empty on the ground. The gathered warriors drew their weapons, scanning the square for the man. They formed a circle, and slowly backed toward each other.

"Where could he have gone? It's not like he can turn invisible," whispered Holly.

"No, he can't," confirmed Ryuko. "My guess is as good as yours."

"How about here?" said Dio, standing behind their backs.

A shriek could be heard as the fighters pivoted on their heels to face him, readying their attacks. In an instant, the man was assaulted with magical blasts, arrows, massive silver slugs, energy rounds, and a flurry of slices. Dio simply stood, taking the abuse. After the last shot was fired, he slumped slightly, flattened bits of silver tumbling from bullet holes. He plucked each arrow out, snapping them in his hands, and every slice- no matter how deep- sealed itself in seconds.

"Heh. He he he he heh," he guffawed. "It's useless."

"We can't kill him!" shouted Mikasa.

"You don't say," seethed Twilight.

"I've got an idea," said Holly. "I need you all to stand back."

"What? That's just stupid," said Katniss.

Alucard lifted the girl by her torn jacket, carrying her back with the rest of her retreating team. They backed into a corner of the square, leaving Holly to face Dio alone.

"If the police elf wants to die, it's her choice."

"But this is insane!" cried the girl, thrashing to get free. She was surrounded by a lavender sphere of energy, restricting her movement.

"Katniss," whispered Twilight. "It's better for only one of us to be in danger in order to occupy him than all of us."

"Are… are you serious?"

Twilight tightened her magical grip on the girl.

"Yes."

Holly slipped her Neutrino into its holster, raising her arms into an angled, palms-down stance. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, carefully observing the vampire.

"What are you doing?" asked Dio, observing the elf's footwork.

"It's clear we can't kill you from the outside. You heal too quickly."

She half-unzipped her uniform, her white undershirt peeking through the nano-machined suit.

"So what do you plan on doing? Undressing yourself won't do you any more good than all of those attacks back there."

"There are seven-hundred and two pressure points on the body, Dio. Each one is linked to an involuntary physical response. The Chinese, who were pretty clever for Mud Men, realized they could press different ones in different orders to relieve illness, and purify the soul."

"Good luck purifying my soul, elf."

Holly cracked a wicked smile, popping her knuckles loudly before continuing her lesson.

"But being Mud Men, it wasn't long before they figured out how to use the points to cause a lot of pain. Thus an entire school of martial arts was born. Hokuto Shin-Ken. The Holy Fist of Polaris."

Katniss struggled in her magical bonds, stopping briefly to question Twilight.

"Isn't that what Kenshiro uses?"

"It is. But I was under the impression that he did not share his secrets."

"Maybe she's bluffing," offered Mikasa.

Dio placed a palm on his forehead, laughing.

"Don't be foolish. Even Hamon, the Ripple of the Sun, cannot defeat me. And I thought that using such a martial art would require an astounding amount of ki."

A thin, slight hand drew an elegant line through the air, and halted two fingers up in front of Holly's face.

"Dio, how many people in their right mind would give you a lecture on how they're about to kill you? None."

He froze, his confident smile fading.

"Wait, you mean-"

"I've been using this time to channel my ki."

A soft ripple of energy caused her uniform above her belt to slip off her shoulders, swinging lightly behind her knees. She dragged a thumb past her nose, and lifted a finger to beckon the vampire to attack.

"There's no WAY," he grunted, swinging a fist toward her. Holly sidestepped the attack, leaning into an open-hand strike. Before Dio could react, she threw another punch. Her attacks began to run together, like an engine warming up. Each cylinder's own firing was soon drowned out by the sound of the whole, as the elf's small hands began to blur into an indistinguishable, rushing current of pain. The onlookers watched, captivated by the complex attack. The movements were so rapid and so precise that the punches themselves could not be seen; only the marks they left across Dio's helpless body.

And then, without warning, the afterimages condensed themselves into one- a single hand, driven straight into the center of Dio's chest. Holly drew her arm back, sweeping it into a dramatic pose, her entire body radiating heat like a mirage.

"Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken!" she shouted, clearly out of breath.

Dio stumbled backward, blood trickling out of his mouth.

"In… ten seconds, you'll explode," Holly gasped. She managed to smile weakly, giving a thumbs-up to the rest of her team.

"Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One," she counted.

"THE WORLD!" cried the vampire, and suddenly things looked bleaker.

In an instant, he stood before the other fighters, who barely had enough time to draw their weapons to keep him at bay. Stretched between his extended arms was Holly, suspended by his grip at her shoulders. She was horribly bruised, and her legs hung at angles that they should not.

"D'Arvit," she choked. "What happened?"

Dio smiled again, licking his own blood from his lips.

"How many times do I have to tell you? All of this is futile."

"What did you do? Why didn't you explode?" shouted Katniss desperately, still locked in a magical barrier.

"Your friend here is no master of Hokuto Shinken. A fraudulent practitioner's attacks are about as effective as smacking someone around with a pillow. Furthermore, I physically shifted my pressure points to avoid her having any success."

"Guess I shouldn't have tried to do your thing, huh, Katniss?" said Holly weakly.

Dio stretched the elf's arms further, causing her to wail in agony.

"What you see here is the result of my Stand, The World. With it, I can stop time. That is why you have no hope of defeating me. Now, do you have any last words for your friends, elf?"

"I… uhn!... I'm sorry. For what I did, Katniss. When I see you again, I'll… I'll owe you one."

With that, Dio pulled one last time. Twilight and Ryuko averted their eyes. Mikasa and Alucard, no strangers to carnage, did not. Katniss would have looked away, but something awful inside of her wanted to watch, wanted a reason to be angry.

Flesh and bone resisted, and for their effort, were torn to shreds. Dio threw the armless ragdoll at the mansion's front gate with the other corpses, tossing the severed appendages away like a candy wrapper. For a brief moment, a few sparks of magic scattered over where her missing limbs used to be, but quickly realized that the task was simply too large for them. They gave up, and faded away.

Twilight Sparkle was simply overwhelmed. Not only had they lost Holly, but there was simply no way to counter an opponent who could control time. In her panic, she realized that she had released her hold on Katniss.

Where did she- oh, no.

Katniss stood in front of Dio, who regarded her the way a boy with a magnifying glass regards a hill of ants on a sunny day.

"What's the matter, dear? Lose a friend? Perhaps I can help you find her."

"Katniss! Get back! We need to get away!" cried Twilight.

The girl's head hung low, her eyes flitting back and forth between Holly's corpse and the man who had taken her life. She felt a stinging pain in her palms, realizing quickly that it was her own fingernails. She felt blood trickle out along her hands, dripping slowly onto the ground next to her fallen friend's. Her body was coiled like a spring with rage, but her voice did not betray her emotion as she spoke softly to the ground.

"You killed Adam," she whispered.

"Miss Sparkle," said Alucard quietly. "What is she doing?"

"I'm not sure…" she said, stepping backward. "But I think we should stay out of her way." Alucard gave a nod and moved back as well, with Ryuko following suit.

"You killed Ruby," continued Katniss, as a thin corona of red energy burst into flame around her. Small stones began to float out of the cracks in the street, pitching and dipping as if suspended in a strong wind. Dio summoned his Stand to his side, the ethereal being visible in the crimson cyclone of energy surrounding the girl. The World appeared as a huge mechanical man in ornate Egyptian fineries, lowering its muscular arms around Dio in defense.

"Whatever you're doing, you can't get through my stand. Just give up already," said the Stand's master, his voice betraying the massive hole in his confident demeanor.

"You killed Holly. Now I'm going to kill you," Katniss roared. She twisted her arms around one another, pressing the bottoms of her palms together as her fingers clawed the air.

"Of course!" shouted Twilight over the roar of the spirit energy swirling around Katniss. "It's an Ansatsuken move, the Wave Motion Fist! Ryu is an expert, he must have taught her this too!"

Ryuko jammed her scissor blade into the ground to prevent herself from flying off.

"Why didn't she do this before?!"

"Ansatsuken's potential depends on the user's desire to kill! She must have reached a breaking point!"

"YOU DON'T SAY," yelled Ryuko in reply.

"SUZAKU!" Katniss screamed, the ki congealing into a swirling sphere of fire in her hands.

"HADOKEN!"

Katniss shoved the sphere forward. It travelled with enough speed to nearly disappear before reappearing in front of Dio's Stand's crossed arms. Suddenly, the sphere expanded exponentially, erupting into a massive fireball. Twilight sheltered herself under a magical dome while Alucard simply slipped into the ground. Mikasa fired off her anchors, locking on to a nearby building. Ryuko braced herself against her weapon. The huge explosion enveloped half of the square, the blinding light erasing all that stood before it. Soon, the light itself was swallowed by a thick shroud of dark smoke.

She could not see anything, but she could feel soft earth underneath her knees. Katniss placed a hand on the ground and confirmed that it was warm loam, still smoking. Her vision faded back in, and she found herself along the bank of a massive depression, as if some huge hand had scooped the street up. Across the crater, the fortified walls of the mansion still stood. She lowered her eyes to the center of the indentation, and saw the man who had killed her friends, splayed across the ground. Katniss stood, and slid down the incline, placing a foot on his chest.

His body was entirely burned; not an inch of his once-bronze skin had not been charred black. He still moved, though, weakly rocking back and forth in place, attempting to move limbs that no longer had functional muscle.

"My Stand," he rasped. "It went through… my Stand." He coughed out a cloud of ash that must have been his lungs as his body caved in under Katniss' boot. A satisfying crunch indicated the loss of what were his ribs.

"See if I care," said Katniss, who crawled back out of the crater. Her allies unbraced themselves, wiping debris from their faces.

"What the hell was that, Everdeen?" whispered Ryuko in disbelief.

"I'm… not sure. I just wanted to kill him so bad, …I let that desire take over."

Twilight pulled a burnt chunk out of her mane, and spoke solemnly.

"That may have saved the day for now, but the Satsui No Hado is not to be toyed with. I spoke with Ryu about how it worked in the last round we had together. It's possible to completely lose yourself in it. You've got to be more careful."

"He killed Holly. What was I supposed to do? Let him get away with it?"

The debate was broken up by an all-too familiar voice from the crater.

"That would be a start," croaked Dio, rising from his own ashes. Burnt tissue flaked off of the vampire as he stood, and already one could see pinpricks of pink skin underneath. He limped out of the crater, stumbling onto the front gate of the mansion.

"Mr. Everdeen!" he yelled, his vocal chords still far from healed. "Launch Nineball!"

"Damn. He is with them again," cursed Katniss.

Her father did not appear, but Dio was answered by something smashing through the mansion's fortified eastern wall. In a mess of thrusters and sparks, the Armored Core skidded to a halt in front of Dio, lowering its weapons at the group.

"ORDERS?" a loudspeaker grated.

"Kill them," coughed Dio.

The red robot pointed a massive beam rifle directly at Katniss.

"TARGETS VERIFIED. COMMENCING HOSTILITIES."

"Aw, cra-"

Katniss was very abruptly knocked off of her feet by Ryuko, whose clothing had suddenly become much… less. An arm locked around Katniss' midsection, and a blast of energy from Ryuko's outfit's back carried the two aloft. Milliseconds later, the Karasawa rifle turned the place they were standing into glass. They landed on the rooftop of a nearby building, where Mikasa joined them, and Alucard and Twilight warped in.

"How are we supposed to fight that?" cried Katniss.

The huge machine lowered the long barrel of a grenade launcher over its shoulder.

"I don't know," said Twilight, her analytical strategy failing her.

"I say we fall back," asserted Mikasa, who leapt from the roof, swinging away. The rest followed.