Crazy Heartbreakers - Chapter 7
"Well, because now we can finally move upward, NiNi. What you see as a wall is actually a staircase."
DIO (邪悪の化身, Jāku no Keshin, lit. Evil Incarnate) is the seventh and penultimate chapter of Crazy Heartbreakers, a light novel based on the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series.
Summary
DIO's Victims
In the winter of 1888, Will Anthonio Zeppeli sent his master Tonpetty a letter where he felt that he underestimated Dio Brando and the Stone Mask's power. Zeppeli had died in a battle against evil before Tonpetty could save him. Just like him, there were countless other victims who disappeared due to DIO.
Hol Horse thinks about Ryoko, noticing that her hairstyle was like Noriaki Kakyoin's. While wondering whether she is Josuke's girlfriend, Hol Horse hears a noise similar to the toll of a bell, reminding him of the evening before DIO's defeat ten years prior. That day in Cairo, Hol Horse awoke in a hospital, injured after accidentally shooting himself with Emperor. Boingo was trembling under a blanket, staring at his comic, Tohth. The comic ominously predicted "the end," declaring that fate had rendered their efforts futile, and that Hol Horse would "rush outside but not make it in time." Unnerved by the cryptic prediction and the fact the Joestar Group had left them alive, Hol Horse worried that DIO would come there to finish him and Boingo off for failing their mission. They fled the hospital and witnessed Kakyoin's death as they ran through Cairo's streets. Kakyoin's final Emerald Splash didn't target DIO but instead shattered the hands of a clock tower, causing its bell to toll. Hol Horse was shocked that even in Kakyoin's dying moments, he fought against DIO with his last message revealing DIO's ability. Hol Horse reflected on his cowardice, believing that his defeat was not at the hands of the Joestars but due to his submission to DIO's terrifying power from the very beginning. Blood seeped from Hol Horse's reopened head wound and he lost consciousness.
Hol Horse then woke up in a hospital resembling a research facility, connected to IV drips. He was greeted by Jean Pierre Polnareff, scarred and missing parts of his limbs. Polnareff informed him that DIO was defeated, though at the cost of Muhammad Avdol and Iggy also dying. Hol Horse learned that he had been unconscious for a week and that Oingo and Boingo surrendered to the Speedwagon Foundation. Polnareff asked Hol Horse if he still believes it's impossible for a sword to defeat a gun. Hol Horse admitted defeat, resigning to whatever Polnareff decides. Polnareff then joked about Hol Horse's pride and warned him to cease his criminal activities. Hol Horse mentioned he'd travel worldwide, enjoying time with his various girlfriends. After Hol Horse listed off several countries, Polnareff sharply questioned Hol Horse if he had any ties to Italy. Hol Horse denied any connection, visibly nervous at Polnareff's demeanor. Polnareff accepted his answer but left Hol Horse with the impression that he's still battling against some lingering darkness. As Polnareff departed, he encouraged Hol Horse to live peacefully and be kind to women, with that being the last time they ever saw each other.
Back in the present, Hol Horse reassures himself that he has followed Polnareff's advice and lives a peaceful life. While walking, he notices a trail of ants swarming over Boingo's favorite snack, Tabekko Donuts. He discovers it leads to a massive unfinished construction site. Spotting footprints resembling Boingo's, Hol Horse peers inside and hears the unmistakable roar of Josuke's Stand.
Josuke and Boingo vs. Pet Shop
Josuke races to the fourth floor, finding a figure in a high school girl's uniform collapsed in the corner. Suspecting a Stand trap, he hesitates to approach, knowing the defenseless figure might be bait. Using his Stand, Josuke attaches a rope to the figure and drags them toward him. To his shock, it is Boingo wearing Ryoko's uniform, and the real Ryoko is nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, they hear the screech of Pet Shop, DIO's falcon from ten years ago, and Josuke finds himself transported into an illusion of Egypt's backstreets. The illusion is vividly realistic, complete with scorching heat, dry air, and gritty sand underfoot. Also trapped in the illusion, Boingo panics as he recognizes the area near DIO's mansion. Josuke quickly realizes they are reliving a Stand attack from the past orchestrated by Pet Sounds. Pet Shop attacks them with deadly ice projectiles. Despite being illusions, the wounds feel agonizingly real, leaving Josuke and Boingo writhing in pain. The Stand was replaying the moment DIO tortured the bird trainer for trying to escape from him, having his own bird, Pet Shop, kill him. The attacks from Horus and The World trap them in a cycle of suffering, freezing them with ice and suddenly setting them on fire with gasoline-soaked flames. Josuke deduces that the attacks are designed to toy with them, pushing them to the brink of despair.
As Boingo succumbs to fear, blaming himself for the situation, Josuke berates him, declaring that it's pointless to assign blame when facing something this overwhelming. Despite his defiance, Josuke admits the attack is impossible to counter head-on. However, just before another wave of flames hits, Josuke uses his Stand to "fix" the ropes he used earlier, tightening them around his and Boingo's necks. The induced choking cuts off blood flow to their brains, disrupting the illusion and snapping them back to reality. Back in the building, Josuke untangles himself and Boingo. He explains that when a direct solution isn't possible, finding an unconventional or roundabout way is sometimes the only option. Boingo feels a sense of familiarity with Josuke. Despite Josuke being far stronger than him, Boingo thinks Josuke must have gone through the same difficulties Boingo did in childhood, but had someone in his life who saved him like how Boingo had Oingo. As they recover, Hol Horse runs toward them, wondering what's going on.
Daniel J. D'Arby's Poker Match
The man controlling Pet Sounds is astonished by their escape. While frustrated, he is convinced that he will eliminate them with his next move. DIO's Stand-wielding animals had the flaw of having a limited mental capacity, which caused behavioral issues. For example, Pet Shop was overly aggressive, relentlessly hunting enemies to the point of self-destruction. Similarly, Pet Sounds could store memories but lacked the intelligence to use them effectively. To overcome this, it relied on a human "control unit" to direct its abilities. This man had fused part of his soul with Pet Sounds by having the parrot eat a part of his earlobe, allowing him to act as a control unit for the Stand. Unlike natural Stand users, his power was gained by chance and he wielded it recklessly without regard for its consequences.
Hol Horse cautiously approaches Josuke and Boingo, only for Josuke to randomly punch him with Crazy Diamond for waving around his gun, breaking a tooth of his before healing it immediately. Josuke explains that Pet Sounds is still alive, and what Hol Horse thought was the real parrot earlier was likely a decoy. Suddenly, Ryoko appears, running toward the stairs in a frenzy. Josuke notices something strange about her behavior and chases after her, instructing Hol Horse to go after the bird. As Hol Horse pursues what he believes to be Pet Sounds, he discovers it is actually a kite designed to resemble the parrot. Hol Horse encounters Ryoko instead, who is in her underwear due to having her uniform stripped earlier, and she is gripping a handgun with the barrel in her mouth. Hol Horse realizes that Josuke has been lured into a trap by an illusion, while the real Ryoko has been left in this dangerous state.
Josuke chases Ryoko to the rooftop but finds no sign of her, realizing it was an illusion that replayed fragments of the past. Before he can act, Josuke hears a chilling voice, and his consciousness is hurled into a memory from ten years ago. A shadowy figure representing DIO challenges Daniel J. D'Arby to a poker match, wanting to make Daniel his servant since his brother, Telence, is already loyal to DIO. DIO taunts D'Arby by asking if he had ever been called "Danny" as a child, claiming that it'd make him want to burn the person alive if they were called that, but Daniel denies the nickname. D'Arby deals the cards, cheating by dealing himself a Five of a Kind, while ensuring DIO receives a trash hand. However, when D'Arby looks down at his hand, he suddenly finds that his Five of a Kind had inexplicably turned into trash cards, marked with his own bloodied fingerprints. Horrified, D'Arby realizes his fingers are split open and dripping blood, matching the marks on his opponent's cards. Despite his attempts to rationalize it, the inexplicable card swap is beyond his understanding, leading him to suspect that DIO used The World. DIO acknowledges D'Arby's skill in cheating without hesitation, but declares the match a "loaned victory," flipping his cards to reveal a losing hand of trash. D'Arby's Five of a Kind was restored as if nothing had happened, but DIO warns him that from this moment on, D'Arby is forbidden from losing, as a loss would disgrace DIO and lead to his destruction. Stripped of his pride and confidence, D'Arby is drenched in cold sweat and completely subjugated by DIO's overwhelming presence, feeling that any action he takes would be useless.
Back in the real world, Josuke is paralyzed by the overwhelming despair of the illusion, unable to move. It is revealed that the user of Pet Sounds is the police officer Kazuki Karaiya, who calls himself the "Ultimate Singer." Karaiya approaches Josuke from behind, wielding an acetylene torch.
Meeting Within Atum's Doll
Ryoko's consciousness drifts into a void after hearing an urgent voice calling out the name "Kakyoin." She then encounters the soul of her cousin, who had been trapped there after losing to Telence's Stand Atum ten years earlier. Pet Sounds's ability typically only causes sensory hallucinations and one-way transmissions, but in this case, the victim's soul was trapped in a unique barrier. This created a strange resonance or ripple effect, caused by the interaction between two overlapping abilities. Noriaki is surprised to see Ryoko and wonders if she's just a projection from his subconscious, suggesting that he might subconsciously blame her for when he fell under DIO's control. However, he denies it being her fault, blaming his own mental weakness. He attributes his fate to his own immaturity and inability to resist fear, admitting to feeling weak again after being caught in another trap. However, accepting his weakness has made it easier to forgive himself, as he used to not be able to face his feelings. As Jotaro and Joseph defeat Telence, Noriaki begins to fade. Ryoko tearfully encourages him, declaring her belief that he will overcome his challenges and win alongside his comrades. Noriaki expresses gratitude for seeing Ryoko, noting that seeing an older version of her from the future confirms that their journey was not in vain. Realizing she hasn't said everything she wanted to, Ryoko desperately tries to reach him, but it's too late. The space around her dissolves, leaving her cries barely audible as Noriaki vanishes.
Back in the real world, Hol Horse struggles to disarm Ryoko without harming her. Her grip on the gun is unnaturally strong, and tears stream from her eyes despite her unconscious state, unnerving him further. Hol Horse contemplates severing her tendons to prevent her from pulling the trigger, hoping Josuke will arrive in time to heal her injuries. However, with no sign of Josuke, Hol Horse is left worried about what he should do.
The Ultimate Singer
Kazuki Karaiya dubbed himself "The Ultimate Singer" as a reflection of his deep-seated contempt for others and belief in his own superiority. Though he was unremarkable academically and athletically, he saw himself as destined for greatness, influenced by his grandfather, Mogizo Karaiya. Mogizo was secretly a vampire, having unnaturally youthful skin and a severe "allergy" to sunlight. A few years before World War II, he took part in an intelligence mission in St. Moritz, Switzerland, where he saw the birth of the Ultimate Thing. He instilled in Kazuki the belief that humanity was vile and foolish, and that true power came from abandoning pride and ideals to claim the summit of existence. Mogizo was already married and had kids before becoming a vampire, so his son didn't inherit his ideologies. Although Mogizo planned to give Kazuki his "essence" when Kazuki was older, Mogizo disappeared when his grandson was still in elementary school due to some "suspicious foreigners". Karaiya was motivated by the belief that the world had some hidden "truth" he could encounter to reign supreme. He managed to get along with people since his grandfather told him he would have to be patient, and he became a police officer because he felt it was a job that would bring him closer to the truth. Nonetheless, Karaiya's frustration and hatred grew over the years as he watched the "foolish masses" live carefree lives. He acquired Pet Sounds from a mysterious figure with a Bow and Arrow, which became proof of his belief that he is destined to be supreme. Karaiya plans to eliminate Josuke before he grows to be a threat.
Josuke is still paralyzed within D'Arby's illusion, wondering why D'Arby is so shocked despite managing to win the match. Josuke concentrates on remembering the memory of D'Arby's pride and determination as a gambler. He manages to overpower D'Arby's will for a brief moment, using his Stand to punch in front of him in the real world, disrupting the illusion. As Josuke regains consciousness in the construction site, his memories of the illusion fade away, with him only vaguely remembering there was a gamble. He finds Pet Sounds on the ground, injured from his Stand's punch. He realizes that the parrot had poured all its energy into its illusion, so it was left defenseless and incapacitated. Just as Josuke steps toward the parrot, he hears a metallic clang and turns to see Karaiya, who claims to be a colleague of Josuke's grandfather. Karaiya feigns concern, mentioning the unconscious Hol Horse and Ryoko downstairs. As Josuke relaxes and turns around back to Pet Sounds, Karaiya picks up a sharp piece of metal, intending to murder Josuke and stage it as an accident. He initially planned to make it look as if Josuke burned himself with the torch, but changes his plan, making it seem as if Josuke tripped and impaled himself on a piece of debris.
Meanwhile, Ryoko's consciousness returns to the real world and she bumps into Hol Horse, causing him to slip. Hol Horse barely manages to grab onto the edge, but then Ryoko realizes that Hol Horse matched the drawing she saw in Tohth about shooting DIO's minion. She furiously asks Hol Horse how her cousin died, pointing the gun at him. Hol Horse wonders whether he should lie or try calming her down, but knows none of that would work. He reflects on his life, remembering how Enya told him that he is "The Emperor." Ten years ago, after he failed to assassinate DIO, he ended up saving a few women whose blood was drained by the vampire. He brought them into a car and took them to an underground hospital, where he learned they were all pregnant. Though he never fully understood his motivations at the time, he realized they stemmed from his sense of responsibility as "The Emperor," a ruler not of others but of his own soul. Hol Horse's creed was to be the kindest man in the world to women. If Ryoko truly wanted to shoot him, then he would surrender and allow her to. Seeing Hol Horse's calm expression, Ryoko ultimately can't bring herself to pull the trigger. Her cousin's voice surfaces in her mind and she feels a gentle touch on her shoulder, urging her to let go of her anger. In a gesture of reconciliation, Ryoko extends her hand, helping Hol Horse back up to safety. She questions him about Noriaki's actions ten years ago, and Hol Horse affirms that her cousin had "saved humanity." Ryoko points out that Hol Horse's forehead is suddenly bleeding, but Hol Horse brushes it off as his old wound had never healed properly. However, he believes that it may finally heal now.
End of the Pet Sounds Incident
Before Karaiya could strike Josuke with the debris, Josuke reveals he had already "fixed" the fragment using his Stand. The shard twists and yanks Karaiya backward, pinning him to a wall as if fused with it. Calmly confronting him, Josuke explains how he saw through his disguise and realized he wasn't an ordinary police officer. Josuke didn't believe someone would come to his rescue based on his past experiences; he knows that there are a lot of police officers who are prejudiced. If an officer saw a delinquent with a hairstyle like him, he believes they would've called for backup first rather than approaching him alone. Josuke questions Karaiya's motives, only for Karaiya to reveal that he fell for his trap. Pet Sounds, still alive, suddenly releases a deafening sound attack of The World's "MUDA" Stand Rush. However, Josuke had already sabotaged Pet Sounds earlier by shattering its beak with his punch. Without its perfect sound instrument, the parrot's illusion fails to work, and the Stand loses its power entirely. Furious, Josuke unleashes a barrage of punches with his Stand, blasting the Ultimate Singer into the air. Josuke retrieves Tohth and nonchalantly reunites with Boingo, tossing him his comic while remarking on his disinterest in manga. Pet Sounds, now harmless, obediently stays still as Josuke picks it up.
Josuke calls out to Hol Horse, confirming that Ryoko is safe. Declaring they should leave before they're caught trespassing, Josuke and Boingo head downstairs. Observing Josuke's unshakable confidence, Boingo understands why the Joestar Group was able to oppose DIO's overwhelming forces, believing they had the same kind of spirit as Josuke. Inspired, he resolves to find that spirit for himself one day. Thus, the Pet Sounds incident concludes quietly, unnoticed by the rest of the town.
