The story always repeats itself, perhaps the details and actors may change, but everything returns back to zero.

In this kind of world, nobody can ever change their Fate.

Perhaps, the only freedom that exists on this world is the 'resolution' to accept Fate.

...

On yet another, of the countless cycles, two figures stood above the debris and a mist at the end of their battle.

"How does it feels, Dio?"

A young man with a deep voice asks.

Dio turns his head, killing intent and anxiety fills his expression as he grits his teeth and exclaims.

"J-Jotaro..."

"Tell me, how it feels?"

Jotaro grabs Dio's shoulder with some of his strength.

"To have a guy right behind you, someone who wishes nothing but harm to you, whilst you can't even move an inch."

He asks sarcastically, then he snorts coldly and adds.

"And what about now?"

Jotaro grabs Dio by his shoulder with all his strength, the sounds of his bones cracking resonate across his body.

"Crck." "Crck."

On this world of stopped time, even Dio's body itself was 'delayed.'

And so it was the pain he felt.

Initially he felt a vague almost phantom-like sensation spreading on his body.

But as the time passed, this sensation became more vivid, even worse, it was continuous, he felt the pain as his bones break continuously.

Dio gritted his teeth, enduring the pain which seemed to last for an eternity.

"Damn it...

If only, if only I still had control over my brain I could stop this pain..."

As a Vampire, Dio naturally held abilities above mankind.

Be it consciously, or subconsciously he can manipulate all his body parts, including of course his brain.

Through it, he can suppress certain feelings and sensations as he pleases.

That is the origin of the monstrous pain endurance of the Vampires.

But, on odd instances such as when they face a Hamon expert they recall this pain

The reason of that comes from the nature of the ripple.

A ripple is like a current of electricity which harms and paralyzes both their minds and bodies, during this brief period, they temporarily lose the ability to suppress their pain.

Similarly, on 'stopped time' Dio found himself unable to suppress those pain signals that his body kept sending to his brain.

"It hurts..." Dio gritted with even more force his teeth, his expression became even more aggressive and his fighting spirit became stronger.

All the pain he felt, merely fueled his fighting spirit!

But, his expression froze when Jotaro began to speak again.

"This man, has already crushed many of your bones, yet, he goes and goes on, he doesn't give you even the room to breathe!"

For a moment he grabbed tightly Dio's throat.

"As he craves for your blood and suffering...

Heh, if I were to describe how you must felt, it would be as if you're a boxer, who after a long exhausting fight, fell to the ground, exhausted.

But, even when he is at his limit, his opponent, the man who put him in this state, simply refuses to stop attacking him!"

After finishing his phrase, with a jab he hit Dio's jaw, then with his Stand he broke his left leg.

"WRRYYYYYYY!" Dio shouted loudly, he glanced at Jotaro again with an even fiercer expression.

"JOTARO?

Do you really believe you're the only one who can enter the stopped time of someone else?"

"Swoosh." With a swift movement, he turned his body and threw a hit to his face...

But he froze halfway.

"This boxer was someone prideful, he'd naturally NOT endure such a beating on silence, it was such his rage that he forgot he was hitting his opponent with a broken arm!"

Jotaro punched his fist, breaking Dio's hand.

"Normally if I saw such an scene I'd feel pity towards him, and hatred towards his opponent, but towards you Dio, I don't feel remorseful at all.

After all, how many times you've been on the other side of the beating?

On this single night you killed my grandpa, some of my friends and a lot of bystanders who didn't even knew you.

So, I'll ask you then, Dio.

How many, how many you have killed on your miserable life?"

The pupils of Dio shrank, his body shivered and he gritted his teeth while muttering.

"Y-you, Jotaro..."

But, despite he looked so furious he was actually laughing internally.

"Fool, you have may come this far, but at the end you're still a human.

You may temporarily have forgotten your restrains due to your extreme anger, but now that you speak of 'kindness', 'justice', and other values like a kid showing off his participation trophies you, have lost.

Yes, my body may be on stopped time, but my Stand injuries are healing rapidly, whilst my fighting intent surges hearing your nonsense.

For this, I Dio shall be victorious!"

He smirked internally.

A few seconds later.

Dio began to laugh heartily openly, removing his facade of hopelessness.

"A moment ago you said how many this Dio has killed on his life, hah?"

He chuckled and added.

"Many, perhaps more than the loafs of bread you have eaten on your ephemeral, pathetic life!"

Dio charged towards him.

"Consider this 'honesty' my gift to you, for being foolish enough to give me the time to recover."

Jotaro frowned lightly, he released his Stand.

Dio laughed at his actions, he moved to the left whilst his Stand moved to the right.

"Tsk.

A pesky human like you, would struggle to draw a square with a hand and a circle with the other, let alone fighting two battles at once."

He laughed heartily, a barrage of punches and kicks befell on Jotaro's body.

Dio smiled widened even further, as he added.

"Jotaro, you are as short-lived as you're short sighted."

After saying this, he threw one of his nails towards his eye, blinding one of his eyes.

Jotaro raised his hands, on an attempt to block his attacks.

"USELESS, USELESS, USELESS."

Dio used his blind spot to move sneakily behind his back.

But, Jotaro used Star Platinum to block Dio's strike.

"Hehe, are you seeing through the eyes of your Stand, I suppose?

Speaking of Stands, the strength of our Stands are even, perhaps the tilts are on your favor in terms of precision and sheer strength, BUT.

On a battle two-on-two, with both the user and the Stand, my powers as a Vampire triumphs over your meek flesh and blood.

VICTORY SHALL ME MINE!"

Dio rushed directly towards him.

Jotaro, naturally used Star Platinum to block his head-on-charge.

"The World, attack his back."

But contrary to his expectations, Star Platinum didn't retreat to protect its user, instead, it grabbed him even more tightly and threw him towards his Stand.

"D-Damn it, because Jotaro put me, between my Stand and his body I am unable to materialize my Stand as I'd be killed by its strength too."

He frowned, after falling to the ground, he used the nails on his feet to increase his friction with the ground reducing his speed rapidly.

"But, so what?

If I can't defeat you on a round, I'll defeat you in ten, I don't believe you can keep up on a battle of resistance against me."

The world retreated, returning to Dio's side.

"Shall we compare the speed of our attacks once more?"

"ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA."

"USELESS, USELESS, USELESS."

Dio found a tiny gap between Jotaro's movements, and he lowered his back.

Then, he threw an upper hit aiming directly at Jotaro's jaw.

Jotaro and his Stand prepared themselves to block his fist, but Dio smiled viciously.

"You fell for it fool!"

The world made a slight turn, aiming towards Jotaro's cheek.

Jotaro's pupils shrank, he gulped and upon realizing he had no other choice he blocked his fist with his two arms.

"Crck." "Crck." Jotaro's bones cracked, as Dio's fist advanced at an increasing speed.

Without any other choice, Jotaro tried to take a step back and fall to the ground on an attempt to divert Dio and The World's combination strike.

"Fool, now that you're at the ground I can stamp you with my feet!"

"Swoosh."

"Gaah?" Dio lowered his gaze, he looked at his chest.

His heart was directly pierced by a tiny knife.

"Y-you Jotaro, since I threw you those knives y-you, concealed one of them on your clothes."

Due to the pain of being stabbed, his Stand instinctively returned his side to protect his user.

"Die, Dio!" Jotaro and his Stand punched with all their strength, Dio and his Stand's stomach.

"I, Dio, actually lost?"

He muttered, in complete disbelief.

Dio took a quick glance at his Stand which was now vanising.

"I feel dizziness, I also feel sleepy...

My conscience is vanishing, my Stand...

Damn it, even if I heal my physical wounds, I'd still die within a few moments."

Upon the realization he was about to die Dio smiled bitterly and said in resignation.

"If only, if only you had come on the next full moon, I would have achieved Heaven..."

After saying those words, he tilted his head on realization.

"Heaven...

My plan involved the destruction of my Stand!"

He touched his head, and added.

"Right, I also needed the soul of 36 sinners, but not because of their evilness, rather, due to the sheer willpower known as resentment they hold deeply on their hearts after death.

But, is not the only source..."

A slight smile reappeared on his face.

"Your friends, Jojo, didn't they carry a strong will, too?

They held all their hopes, in the slim chance you'd defeat me!

Hah, hah, hah...

Polnareff, Kakyoyin, your grandfather Joseph Joestar, all of them, believed on you until their last breath, didn't they?"

He laughed madly.

"I'm really grateful for your offerings, but, I still lack one more, a 'friend' a trusted friend, with no earthly desires, no lust, no greed, no pride which believes in the will of god not men.

JOJO!

Jonathan Joestar, you, my friend whose remanent will still lies on this body, you're the perfect candidate."

Dio squinted lightly, for a moment he paused his thoughts.

"How didn't I realize this before?"

He shook his head.

"It doesn't matter, for the moment I should focus on achieving Heaven."

Dio turned his head towards Jotaro, he tossed a liter of his blood, puke and other fluids left by his broken organs towards Jotaro, tossing him off by multiple meters."

"Now that I get rid off momentarily of my plan's greatest threat, I shall fulfill the last step.

'Carving those phrases inside my Stand.'"

He smiled devilishly, then he opened his claws and began to stab and pierce his own Stand with his fingers.

Those cuts, obviously inflicted an even greater burden on both his Stand and body, but he didn't mind this, his sole purpose was on creating those phrases inside his Stand.

Finally he completed those phrases, just at the moment his Stand was at the brink of shattering.

"Life has so many twists and turns, don't you think so, Jotaro?

If it wasn't for you, I'd have ascended to Heaven 28 days later, yet due to your stubbornness, not only you accelerated your mother's death, but also ensured your grandfather's death!

If I hadn't been for your persistence on saving your mother, she would still have survived for a bit longer, heh...

ISN'T THAT HILARIOUS?"

Dio laughed madly, Jotaro tried to approach him, but this time a silverlish aura surged across all the pores of his body.

Also as his Stand exploded, a dense golden sphere formed inside his body.

A dense fog filled the air, right when Jotaro could see trough the mist he saw a tiny golden 'egg.'

From this 'egg', there was a fetus, which quickly became a baby, then a child, then a teenager until it finally became a young man.

All of this passed within seconds, giving Jotaro no time to react.

Jotaro eyelids twitched intensively, still he shouted.

"Y-You bastard, you'll keep pulling up tricks until your bitter end, huh?"

Dio smirked at Jotaro, then he said.

"You'll die soon at my hands."

Then, he flew away.

"But, right now I have a plan to fulfill, I shall reach Heaven before taking care of you..."

Dio said loudly as he crossed through the clouds.

"Huh, what?"

From nowhere a purple light appeared in front of him, which felt slightly painful and made his vision temporarily blurry.

Dio frowned.

"Who dares, to use a mere flashlight to stand against the mighty Dio?"

He forcefully kept his eyes open, seeing through the ray of purple light.

There, he saw two men inside an helicopter.

One of the two laughed at him and said.

"This 'flashlight' was devised by the Speedwagon's association to get rid of fiends like you!"

Dio frowns lowered even further, with a thunderous ominous voice he asked.

"Hah, is that so, then why I am here, speaking so clearly?"

From afar, Jotaro who was pursuing Dio shouted.

"Fools, don't get too close to him, Dio, Dio has the ability to stop time.

If you're within his reach he'll kill you."

Dio sighed to himself.

"Actually, as my Stand evolved I lost such ability...Of course, nobody has to know."

Thus, to keep up his act, he shouted loudly.

"Don't meddle, damn Joestar!"

He then turned his eyes at the two.

"And as for you, mere insects!"

"Swoosh."

A red beam appeared from within his eyes, cutting through the two, through the helicopter and through the clouds with ease.

Then, he began to flew once more.

"HAHAHA, as expected of my new Heavenly body, this strength, this speed, this sight, this mental clarity, is simply indescriptible..

My horizons are widening, I feel my comprehension is expanding at the second, my comprehension of anatomy, physics, and even the Heavens themselves.

My attainment rises at an explosive speed."

From the Heavens, multiple sparks of a blue light surged.

Briefly, the Heavens switched of colors, then, a surge of light surged enveloping everything.

"I see, the Heavens are alarmed by my sudden ascension.

Hah, hah, your lighting, Tribulations and Calamities are the proof I needed to know that I'm on the right track-"

One of the lighting bolts was shoot towards his skull, without any prior signal.

Dio felt slightly dizzy due to the impact, thus he muttered.

"...Maybe I should those impacts beforehand, instead of putting my hands on the fire though."

Dio extended his hands, and then, with a mere clap, he released a potent shockwave.

"Boom!" "Boom!"

It was such its sheer strength that the clouds around shattered onto countless pieces.

Then, once more began to charge himself.

Obviously, the Heavens weren't going to wait patiently as he did this.

On mere seconds, once more the sky changed of colors, this time a myriad of clouds befell on the sky, whilst the lighting changed of tone.

This time it released a purplish shine, Dio frowned upon a realization.

"This...

Those lighting rods, also release ultraviolet light!

This radiation is such that even a normal human without my weakness, would be reduced to ashes on mere instants by it."

Dio closed his eyes, then as he opened them, he glanced at one of the clouds.

Here he saw a tiny golden 'strand.'

He pulled it, and the clouds were all vanquished!

"The power of Heaven is the power to alter casualty, the power to see through the strings of Fate and alter them as I see fitting.

Naturally, my intervention isn't absolute yet."

Dio sighed softly, his tone was joyful as he said.

"I'm on the brink of what many religions would call God.

Or perhaps, Dao, perhaps the universe, perhaps the world.

On my case, though I shall call it, the Truth, the Truth of the universe, the Truth of the Heavens.

To manipulate the Truth, create my Truth and see through the Truth.

That is my Stand's power; The Truth."

Be it a coincidence or not, the Heavens acted as if they're enraged by Dio's daring words.

This time, they threw the lighting for kilometers ahead of him, so he couldn't dispel the clouds with such an ease.

Dio's lips curved.

"The Truth; Hiding from the Truth."

A dense whiteish aura surged at all directions, covering Dio's body.

This fog disoriented Dio, who quickly lost his way, and lost his pathway.

Dio chuckled.

"I still have many tricks behind my sleeve;

The Truth; Tell me the Truth."

A purplish fog extended across his face, which quickly condensed onto two golden-purple flames on his two eyes.

"And Stairway to Heaven."

Once more, he dissipated the clouds ahead, and around him.

And he also formed a 'pathway' and some golden stairs, ahead of his vision which told him specifically the direction at which he had to go.

The Heavens panicked, threw a black substance through his eyes which extinguished the flames.

And when Dio swiped off that substance, and tried to open his eyes, he realized he was trapped.

Here, he couldn't move his body, he could only hear the sound of his own breathing and heartbeat and the tides of water, hitting a piece of wood.

"I'm trapped on a coffin once more, NO I refuse to believe it!"

His aura expanded and on a blink, he returned to reality.

But, then, when he looked around, he was at the space.

"WAS THIS A PART OF YOUR PLAN TOO, JOJO?"

Dio turned his head.

"Is that an angel?"

That was his first subconscious thought, after all, he had been indoctrinated since he was a child on religious matters, so, naturally he was already familiar with such kind of beings.

Whilst Kars was a beautiful man over three meters tall, with two big wings, so that was naturally his first thought.

But, quickly he realized.

"No, he's Kars, more specifically, Ultimate Kars before he was vanquished from the world!"

Dio turned his head, the distance between him and the earth widened on a blink of an eye.

He frowned, realizing a part of the truth.

"I see, so the Heavens are transporting me to the countless tortures that everyone who has tried to defy the world has suffered, first my Fate and then Kars."

A slight smile appeared on his face.

"But you made a wrong assumption, I Dio, don't feel the slightest fear upon such sights, in fact, this is all the proof I needed to know I am above him, above Kars, and anyone else.

Even the so-called Ultimate being fell on such trivial circumstances, don't make me laugh!"

Two rocks were shoot, one towards Kars, one towards Dio.

But, right when Dio was hit on the stomach his whiteish aura acted immediately vaporizing the rock upon contact.

His white aura expanded by the dozens, on a blink of an eye he began to return back to earth.

"Swoosh."

A golden ray appeared, cutting the center of his hand.

"Who?

Who holds enough strength to injure this Heavenly being?"

Dio turned his head.

"You will never reach the truth." A monotone voice said.

"Oho, I shall do as this paltry puppet says, hah?

Pff, don't make me laugh, puppet show me your puppetter."

"You'll never reach the truth." The 'puppet' said plainly again.

"Then, die." Dio said plainly, he released a dark green ray towards the Stand, immediately the 'puppet' began to collapse onto countless fragments.

But...

"You'll never reach the truth." Not only the puppet had recovered, but Dio was once more on the space.

"So, this is the game we'll play, huh?"

Dio squinted his eyes, and then charged again.

This time with the intention to vanish to dust that puppet.

But...

Over and over again, he was put on the same spot.

This frustrated Dio greatly, who frowned and said.

"I shall never reach the Truth you say?

Hah, why don't you listen my Truth first, then?"

A dense crimson barrier appeared in front of his body, Dio once more charged towards the puppet.

But, GER directly ignored the barrier, and teleported Dio back.

"Just as I expected."

Even though Dio was sent back, his barrier wasn't.

Thus, he managed to use that barrier to entrap, and then to destroy onto bits that annoying Stand.

...

The dimension shattered, he was sent back to 'reality.'

"I'm at Florida!"

Dio shouted joyful.

Yet another figured appeared before him.

Dio rolled his eyes.

"Who is it, this time?"

"Time is going to keep accelerating.

Faster and faster, beyond anyone's comprehension.

Until it finally hits the end, then a new cycle will begin.

Basically, the universe will repeat on an endless loop where the same events will happen over and over again.

But, even though this cycle may end, and even though the experiences of the flesh may be gone, a part of the self will comprehend the Truth.

Eventually, as enough cycles pass people will gain the confidence to predict their Fate, and eventually they'll grow enough to accept it.

Thus, they'll comprehend their place on the world, their place on the universe...

This will come as they eventually realize that they can't change it or escape it, then they'll become 'resolute', resolute towards their Fate, and hence, they'll achieve happiness.

Yes, I know that if a doctor said for example, that you're going to die tomorrow, you'd not be able to accept it.

But, 'accept' it, even though the death sentence has already been written you don't believe it, you think you'll be the one in a million exception who escapes through the inevitable.

This 'expectation', or rejection of Fate brings to unhappiness and disappointment, and hence, 'acceptance' is the true answer...

Imagine it, one day you wake up and realize than nothing was ever your fault...

The family you had, the life you held so far, the friends you made, the problems you had, they're not your problem, they're not your fault.

It was just meant to be.

Heh, this may sound hopeless, but, this is already reality, I'm merely sharing this 'knowledge', this 'reality' to them.

After all, the only true freedom on a world with an inescapable Fate is the freedom of thought, the freedom and ease on mind.

I shall share this peace of mind and happiness to the entire world!"

Upon hearing those familiar words, Dio couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"Those are the words I used to get that religious fanatic on my side.

Sigh, but even though I lied him, I thought that if he achieved 'Heaven' he would comprehend my meaning.

But no, his 'cycle' ended, he died as a fool who couldn't complete his goal, because he couldn't comprehend my true intentions behind all of this.

Sigh, at the end, a slave is a slave, no matter if you grant them all the power on the world as long as they don't destroy their mental shackles, they'll never be truly free."

The eyes of Dio shone with a golden trace.

"But I'm not you, I won't fall for the deception nor delusion of the Heavens!"

He gritted his teeth, with all his strength he tried to create a hole on the space to break free from his barrier.

But, Pucci had attained the power of Heaven, the gap of their strength was truly too high, even though he wasn't facing the real deal, his sheer strength still suppressed his half-heavenly self.

Luckily as he was a mere mirage, it lacked 'conscience' and hence, he could eventually find a gap between this pocket dimension.

As he shattered the dimension though, he appeared in front of a short, ugly man.

"You stepped on my shadow."

"Who is this clown?" That was Dio's first thought.

"Oh, yes, he's one of the useless killers I sent to the Joestars.

Puff, it seems the Heavens are running out of options, to send this clown isn't that the funniest of jokes?"

His expression changed abrutply.

"What the?

Is that bastard trying to reverse my ascension!"

Killing intent filled his expression.

"Hpmh, courting death!" He tried to slap the figure, but he was once again froze down.

He glanced at 'Jotaro.'

And he wasn't alone.

"Crazy Diamond; Heal his wounds." "You'll never reach the truth." You have stepped on my shadow..."

They and many other Stands emerged, all they forcefully tried to sent his body to its previous state, right before he ascended.

No, they're not trying, they're succeeding!

All their voices pierced through Dio's skull and slowly and steadily they began all to attack his Stand at all flanks.

"Damn it, no matter what I do, no matter how many opponents I beat, or how many cages I break.

A new one always appear and takes its place...

Sigh, is there truly no freedom in this world?"

He said with resignation, and bitterness on his expression.

...

Over half of his Stand had already returned back to its previous state.

Under the despair and panic, a crazy thought appeared on his brain.

"I Dio, perhaps I failed to ascend to Heaven.

Yet, even now, I still believe.

I believe that I'll triumph and stand above all creation!

Be it on this or on another world, I'll succeed and I'll reach the Heavens I so desperately seek.

I'll claim absolute victory, or I'll go down, crushed to atoms by the chaos outside this world's boundary, either way, this is my last resort...

So, if I'm already bound to die, why I don't give it a try?"

Dio laughed madly, at this point, due to the countless Heavenly insights that crossed through his brain and due to his own experiences, he had already figured out the existence of multiple universes.

Obviously, this didn't meant that he could cross through them safely, after all, apart from those universes there was also the 'Primordial Chaos' among each universe.

Furthermore, most places of the universes were pretty much hellscapes for any living creature, such as the space, the sun, and even most planets.

This was at the end a crazy, almost hopeless bet!

But as he said before, he was out of option, this was his last choice left.

Thus, without hesitation, he began to attempt to cross through this world's boundary.

Foolishly, he began to cut with his Stand, his nail and teeth, on a desperate attempt to create a spacial rift.

It was such his passion that almost all the remaining energy of his body began to condense closely to his heart.

This white sphere, somehow became the 'gateway' between those two worlds, which allowed for a portal to appear, which for the brief moment it appeared engulf Dio entirely.

Here, he was transported to a perfect black void, with only one single light source.

It was the 'white sphere', which now took the shape of an insect, a centipede to be precise.

This centipede was no other thing than Destiny, Destiny Gu rank 1!

...