Loredana's stand fshes out of its sheath cutting at the body of Elvis's strikes. They're almost perfectly parried off in bursts of fme while Goldvis is sputtering out, "Hey wait! Not the face! Gentle, gentle!"

  He looks just like he did in life in one of his jumpsuits but way more fit. He floats over everyone almost like he's scared and well he has every right to be. Loredana, Jolyne, and I weren't gentle at all. Loredana fends off his attacks as Jolyne's stand with a call of, "STONE FREE!" had sliced rivulets of flesh from his body before he started to jolt from a barrage of heavy blows I fast-forward into him with a roar of...

  "MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA!" But then I scream towards him as I jump into the air to snap his neck with a final blow, "MUD-" Rhinestones hit me in the chest with a brutal force like a shotgun bst.

  Everything spirals and I can't breathe. A brutal rocky kiss is all I feel as water gushes over my face. My ears ring and I lie there. My arms... I can't feel my arms. My legs too. God, did he break something important? I can see Jolyne fending him off with Stone Free's punches but the range being harder to hit the body. But she still stays strong and swings around the best she can. The swings all hit at every pass but the body's hardened cws of nails keep sshing at her. I can't move, 'Move! Move dammit! Move! If I had just not jumped in I wouldn't be so useless!' my thoughts all scream but all the sudden I see a cut-up angel appear over me and lift me out of the waterfall I just smmed bodily into. Jolyne's hair falls to about just over her waist, her wounds leak that sweet smelling blood and the white spiderwebbed pattern slowly reddens as Loredana duels the body. Jolyne holds me almost like I'm something important.

  Why?

  She shakes me and I groan out in pain. Her dark green eyes fill with fear and confusion and I almost want to assure her but since I can't move then it's a moot point. I focus on the way her breathing is erratic.

  Why care for me?

  "niel! Niel!" Jolyne's voice is muffled and distant like it was stuffed with cotton. I mumble out something and she looks down at me with a scared look in her eyes. Like she's never been faced with someone hurt before.

  "Jo..." my voice rasps as she looks down at a cut on her arm, then back at my nails and my fangs. I stare up at her, "No..."

  She grits her teeth and thrusts it towards my lips. My nose fills with the thick and sweet scent of her blood. It smells good like something I would just scarf down at Mack's restaurant. She almost forces it into my mouth and I close my eyes and feel it slide down my throat. Sweet as honey, and sour in my stomach. The feeling in me comes roaring back. First nothing then pins and needles, and then pain. Sheer agony from my reawakening muscles with strength unparalleled causing them to swell. My nails sharpen and my teeth lengthen into dangerous sharp-toothed fury.

  I leap to my feet and plunge my hands into the rock waterfall, my predatory eyes on the thing that did this to me.

  "WRRRRRYYYYYYYYYY!" I roar as I rip it out of its mooring and heft it over my head!

  One moment Daniel's about to finish off the body of Elvis and the next he's sent on a one-way trip to the Jungle Room. Jolyne chases after him almost knowing that he's the key to what Mack and I have been watching.

  He was the symbol, the top worshipped being, and now has freed himself and is now wandering his way to us. How fortunate! Brocas Helm only severed the soul from the body. Making it so that all Elvis needed to do was return to his grave. But here he is worrying more about how much of this tacky seventies kitsch we're wrecking. Floating around almost panicky as he babbles and makes weird noises that sound like noises he *really* shouldn't have been making.

  "Not the...cha.. cha... cha... caharrr." he breathes out as his body tosses a chair at me only to be sliced to perfect halves. I've never had a body move without the soul before. Not that its completely unprecedented. Something sharp bsts into my side and there's a cold hand around my neck only getting colder until a battle-cry like WRYYYYYY! Rips out of where Daniel nded. All the sudden the rock waterfall comes flying out and smacks right into the monster, ripping him away from me and his arm goes sck.

  "M'aaaaaarrrrmmmmm!" The body scream-slurs out in a blood choked slurry of a voice. Suddenly here comes Daniel like a bat out of hell with Jolyne being dragged along by her strings. She grins and almost has him on a leash.

  His hair's a wild mane and even though the corners of his mouth are running red with blood and his eyes are pinpricked and bloodshot. He's still at least aware.

  "Whoa whoa whoa! Hey!" Goldvis screams, "Not the waterfall!"

  "WRYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAHHHH!" he charges and bashes the body downward, strings finally surge out of his arm and tie up the body, "You... you... useless thing! Big rotten thing!" I stab Brocas Helm into the neck of the body as Daniel snarls and the body writhes and bites hard.

  "No... No..." he groans before our vampiric friend all the sudden rips out of the strings and grips Daniel by the throat. Smming him into the air and Sacred Heart grabs him and rights him in midair. I vault over the wrecked waterfall and run against the wall, Rhinestones and glitz mangling the wall as Goldvis screams out.

  "NOO! STOP WRECKIN' MY HOME!" but I grit my teeth and grab the light fixture's chain just to swing across the room just to ssh him down. Daniel's nails dig into his foe mindless and angry with force rippling through his muscles.

  "Use... use... USELESSS!" he roars and his arms rip out of the body of the King of Rock and Roll with more blue strings slicing right through him and into Elvis, my sword finds its mark as I chuck it with all my might and then as a final hit...

  "ORAAAAAAAAA!" Jolyne roars and rockets a stringed-up barrage of hits into a pure storm of pugalist melee. Daniel falls to the floor with the mangled and beaten body of the monster twitching in its death throes.

  The body finally halts and all three of us stop what we're doing. The entire house is a wreck around us. I sheathe my sword and straighten my hair. Daniel shoves the body off him and he's still wild-haired and wild-eyed. Covered in crimson and his golden hair more like a mane on a roaring lion, his nails dark with dried blood and fresh blood as well. But he's not interested in it. His hands dig into his hair and he almost streaks it in there.

  But in victory with the burning body of the King stands the prince of a dark legacy! He leans back and with a loud yell procims, "You thought I would be defeated, but I Dio would never be defeated by a worm like you!"

  "Rrgh..." Jolyne drags herself in and she's a bloody wreck, "Hey Dan... my blood tastes that good, huh?" she sways and slumps against a wall with a gasp and a groan. Mostly from all the damage she took throughout the fight pying detector and wrangler.

  "Wait, is he a vampire?!" I excim, drawing my sword and pointing it at him, "If that's the case then that makes sense."

  Daniel scrambles away suddenly fearful and Sacred Heart appears in front of me with its bound pharaoh look looming almost protectively above him. It's eyes are gold and its expression is rather angry.

  Lengths of wrappings hang down as it watches like a silent guardian. Arms crossed and with a cold demeanor. Steady and true floating nearby with its shining golden royalty returning the light to the room and house. Gracend looks more like a horror show now with all the wreckage and the busted waterfall still leaking out the st of its water everywhere. Broken walls, smeared blood, and the absolutely cssless and unintelligent brawl that occurred between the two monsters making my stomach sour.

  Daniel snarls and steps out between us, "What do you think that sword would do to me?" his lips stretch into a smile, "It's merely what I'm from. Kill me and you miss out on the biggest piece of evidence you might have to DIO's true pns."

  "But you fought for us?" I ask.

  "Yes, I did. Mostly because it was advantageous. Not only that but Jolyne got the hint." his Stand looks down at him and he nods with his eyes turning back to normal and his nails shortening. His hair gets a little less wild and his expression goes from mad confidence to confusion.

  When I feel the blood rage come down, Loredana has her sword out and she's gring at me. I look down at my hands and find them covered in red. But Sacred Heart is already rewinding things. She sighs and sheathes it.

  "What a strange thing to happen..." she shakes her head, "Firstly, I never knew Brocas Helm could sever a Body and Soul and still have the body move. Secondly, I never knew that you could replicate the abilities of a bloodsucker."

  "Well..." I rub the back of my neck, "That's because I'm from one." I smile and Jolyne raises her head from where she's resting.

  "Wait hang on. That means you're..." she starts almost like she's about to be angry with me about being cloned from Dio's cells. But I don't think it was something she was shocked about, "You're a dhampir like... like Alucard from Castlevania?!" I have no idea who Alucard is. But from how she's acting its a good thing. Loredana rolls her eyes and looks at me full of disappointment and honestly a little bit of fear.

  "But he's a genuine monster..." Loredana sighs, "Seriously Jolyne? That's what you're focusing on?"

  She smiles and nods, "My mom always said to keep things positive. So what if he's from that Dio guy? He's a done and dusted creep!" she continues before scooching towards me and standing up.

  "If he was truly Dio's brat, would he help us even when he's not himself?" she asks her, "I mean, according to my Dad's stories and my great great great grandma Elizabeth's journal... Dio would rather die than work with a Joestar."

  Loredana looks at me with that same almost confused expression. I move off with Sacred Heart moving through the ruined area, its golden light reassembling everything it needed to. Even back to better than just restored. Almost brand-new!

  Elvis's soul appears with a smile, "Well I'll be! You're fixin' it all up, Lil' Vamp Man!" he excims. I help my friend and Sacred Heart starts to rewind her bloodstained clothing and the wounds start to heal up because of Stone Free already weaving them together. Sacred Heart only helped the process. The actual healing would have to be done on her own. I guess I can help heal people. I cross over to Loredana and she steps away almost like she can't stand to be around me dragging Jolyne along with her.I face the spirit of Elvis as he stares somber as all hell out the window.

  "Y'see..." he starts, "I think the reason why my body kept goin' was because of how unfair my death was, y'know? We had a second chance but... if I'm hurtin' people then that ain't right." he looks over at me and I feel his hand on my shoulder.

  "When ya fought my body you did it in defense of that fencer dy an' that Jolene gal." The restoring furniture was better than new. It was more than new, "This entire thing was built off the backs of artists that I took inspiration from and the money and praise they deserved. Tell that Handy guy you got out there I'm sorry for what its worth."

  "Also..." he smiles, "I guess I got a comeback tour after all. How about y'all come see me from time to time?"

  "Sure." I nod and smile, "Live your second life well, Elvis."

  As he moves away, I can hear him whistling Viva Las Vegas. That just leaves Loredana supporting Jolyne and I just watching him move through his old home now being returned to him.

  We all end up piling into the Minibus again. The marble and rhinestone encrusted Mask in Loredana's hands as she studies it. Jolyne settles in next to me and looks out the window. She gnces back at me every now and then.

  Mack leans over the wheel, "So he said he was sorry, huh?" he grunts, "Finally. I like that he was smart enough to say it. His whole damn knucklehead eatin' peanut butter n' banana sandwiches finally had enough thought to let it out."

  Jolyne finally pipes up after thinking about it some more, "So hey, Daniel. What's your full name? Like... my name's Jolyne Jun Cujoh. But over in Japan when I see my Grandma they call me Jun."

  "Yeah, you called yourself Dio when you were in there." Loredana says, "Same as the man my grandfather Antonio fought a decade or so ago."

  "Well..." I begin, "Father Pucci named me Dio. My mother included Daniel. So technically instead of Jolyne's name pying into her nickname. My full name is Dio Daniel Brando." I look down at the neckce on my neck.

  "I'm just so happy I managed to keep control." I grab it and even though there's a slight burning feeling I still keep myself in control at the very least, "It's almost like a test of my faith."

  "What do you know of this mask, Daniel?" Loredana passes it back to me. I look at it and try to search my memories for anything about them, "Please tell me all you know about this. It's critical for what they're pnning."

  I sit with it as she fidgets, "Afretti, ragazzo!" she snaps all the sudden making me tear up from her raised voice and cold tone. Memories of Father's wrath fsh hard through my mind.

  Pain.

  Fear.

  My mother holding me close as I sobbed into her dress.

  "I don't know much about it, only that they made them for people high up in the faith or useful bodies." I sputter, "I... I'm sorry."

  "Loredana, don't push the kid!" Mack pipes up, "He ain't at fault here."

  "Stronzate..." she touches her lip scar, "That's bullshit and you know it! You haven't seen what he can do, Mack!"

  "You took a chance on him. I don't ask questions that I need to ask for the answers to." he sighs, "Whatever he's been through is something he needs to tell us on his own." he looks through the mirror at me.

  Almost like he could rete to how I feel. I don't even know the first thing about the outside world. She was so kind before, I wonder if... maybe she was one of their 'converts'? Maybe she was reted to one?

  Loredana sighs, "Sorry, Daniel... I just... this is the first break in this case in a while." her calico eyes look right into mine, "You just tell me when you're ready. You both did better than I expected."

  "Alright!" Jolyne cheers, "Look at us, Danny! We did-"

  "Ma! We relied more on Daniel's raw strength and strange power over his Stand, and Jolyne your stand's lethargic punches left you wide open for attacks! While your pick-up with the strings was no doubt impressive, and Daniel's rewind ability fixed things up..."

  She writes something on a pad she got out of the glove box, "I'd give this engagement... a B. But minus a few marks for the raw power reliance would make it out to be a B minus." she smiles and turns back.

  "Ugh, what a pain..." Jolyne sighs, "We won! We should go celebrate! Ding dong! The king is dead! You know?"

  I shake my head and she sighs, "Right, you don't know..."

  Of course as we ride back all I can think about is what could be ahead. What the hell is with this mask? Why does Loredana want to stop my father so badly? Jolyne smiles and pats my shoulder.

  "Don't worry, Dannyboy. I'll show you everything you've missed. So... that's Gracend down, then we gotta see The Wizard of Oz, then... ah... what else do you wanna do?"

  "You're asking me?" I ask.

  "Sure, kiddo!" Mack excims, "Anything y'want me an' the ol' bus can provide within reason!"

  I look down at my hands, "Then..." I think about what I want. Something simple? Or something big? Maybe something special? I close my eyes and think about something. Anything off the top of my head. Little me presses his face up against a car window. One of the few times I was ever let out. Father was in a particurly good mood, letting me listen to that weird 'Palesnake?' No, Whitesnake. Band he likes. He must've gotten good news!

  Father was smiling, reaching down and ruffling my hair, "What would you like, my son? Anything in the city will be yours should you ask for it."

  "Can I have some ice cream?"

  I open my eyes and smile, "I'd like some ice cream, Mack."

  "Ooh! Geto! Molto bene!" Loredana pipes up as Jolyne cheers. I guess we're all hankering for some sweet treats after a pretty brutal fight. As we drive off Mack pumps up the volume on a song called Jump in the Line by Harry Befonte.

  His little Stand pops out and starts dancing with Brocas Helm jumping in and hopping along despite being a sword. Sacred Heart and Stone Free both join in as the smaller stand tries to hang onto its leg.

  We pull into a small little chain parlor and get out. Loredana makes an expression like she's shocked before turning on her heel and marching back to the van, "No. No, we're going to get Geto!" she snaps.

  "This is Ice Cream, Lore." Mack thumbs his way towards it.

  "No it isn't. Geto is different." she asserts, "Besides, Daniel has eaten more than enough American food to lessen his life expectancy." she turns and smiles at me almost like she wants to convince me to go along with her.

  The idea of there being *other types* of ice cream hits me like a truck.

  "Wait... there're other types?!" I gasp, "I knew about fvors, but... but more types?!" I grab Jolyne's wrist and spin her around, "More types~! More types~!" I sing. She pulls her arm out of my wrist.

  "Whoa whoa whoa..." she breathes, "Yer making me dizzy, Dan..."

  "Oops, sorry..." I stop and then run back into the bus, "Let's get some geto!" I buckle in and grin like a madman, "I, Daniel, demand geto!"

  "Aye aye..." Mack grumbles, "Seriously, a chain's as good as any..."

  Jolyne nods, "Yeah, I agree."

  "Oho so we're evenly split, eh?!" Loredana excims, "Let's see..." she rummages around in her top's colr, pulling out a coin.

  "Heads we go to get Geto. Tails we stay here and eat the Americans' poor excuse for it." she grins, "Lady Luck has always been on the side of the Zeppelis for generations..."

  "Yeah, for attractin' death..." Mack huffs gently, "Don't matter t'me none if you lose or not. Just that I know Butter Pecan's got my number... hehe."

  "Eh, I like Mint Chocote Chip myself..." Jolyne says, "But hey, let's leave it to chance."

  "Uhm... I uh... like vanil..." I mumble, "But... but that's the only kind Father Pucci would allow me to get! I'd much rather chance it."

  Loredana smirks and readies the coin, "On three... Uno. DUE. TRE!" she flips the coin and it whirls through the air. Fshing in the sunlight as the four of us all tense up. She catches it with her hand and smacks it onto her wrist.

  "And..."

  We all brighten as she pauses for dramatic effect, her eyes fall on the coin and... she deftes.

  "Tails."

  We all go inside to order and she pouts, "I wanted geto..." she huffs, "Ah well, as long as you all are happy."

  "Pfft, your face!" Mack chuckles, "I can't believe I have to DEBASE myself by eating AMERICAN ice cream!" he bursts out ughing and licks at his Butter Pecan cone in a near-victorious joy.

  Jolyne sighs and licks at her mint chocote chip, "Man, I missed this. I... well, I used to get it all the time when I felt down. I should be happy, but..."

  I lick my vanil ice cream and feel the same way Jolyne does. There's a hole where something good should be. I don't know why but I feel like this is yet another step towards freedom but... tears fall down my cheeks.

  I wish Mom were here to enjoy this. She'd like my new friends. I'm sure she's happy wherever she is. There was one thing I wanted more than anything deep down more than freedom and more than to stop my father...

  It was mom by my side through all of this. Through the doubt, fear, and pain. But she had to leave. She had to go and while it wasn't fair, I feel Loredana's arm around my shoulders.

  It's not so bad.