Major change to canon coming up. I hope you like what I have set up here. I had originally designed Twilight's Stand for the sole purpose of saving Zeppeli, but now I have a better idea. And a new character that is almost entirely my own creation.

Bruford found himself in pain like he had never felt, but he was still alive. He turned to his old friend, and gasped as he saw Tarkus start to evaporate. "Tarkus!" Tarkus chuckled weakly. "I got careless... Lost myself in the fight... I took so much of her power that it finally broke through my defenses..." He closed his eyes and smiled. "But... I can't say I regret it... It was a wonderful fight. No man could ever compare to the battle that girl gave me. My only lingering regret... Is that I wasn't able to get out one last deathmatch... But it won't hold me back, because this fight was more satisfying than any I've had before..."

Bruford looked on as his friend and ally turned to dust, destroyed by Twilight's Hamon. "Tarkus rests once and for all," Jonathan noted, "But you, Bruford, persist." Bruford frowned. "I am a dark knight, who has sworn vengeance on the world... This pain I feel is nothing compared to my anger!" Jonathan raised an eyebrow as Bruford picked up his sword. "Even now," Speedwagon said, "His instincts as a zombie compel him to attack again." Bruford charged at Jonathan, bringing his sword down to attack, but stopped his blade mere inches from slicing Jonathan, a trickle of blood appearing where the edge scratched him.

"You make no move," Bruford realized, "Nor your sister... But why?" "Just now," Jonathan explained, "You said you feel pain. But an undead should not be able to feel anything." Bruford took a step back as he realized what Jonathan was implying. Flowers seemed to spring beneath his feet even as they crumbled beneath him. "I see," Zeppeli said, "The Hamon these siblings produced... It was enough to make the dark knights remember their lives as humans. Tarkus had finally found satisfaction in combat, and Bruford has gotten back his ability to feel pain. These two knights... Have remembered what it is to be human."

Bruford gave a gentle laugh even as his body ached from being destroyed. "Pain is proof of life. Even though I'm dying, I know that I die as myself. My Queen, my fellow knight Tarkus... I'll join you soon. Friends from three-hundred later, would you tell me your names?" Jonathan nodded. "My name is Jonathan Joestar." "And I am Lydia Twilight," Twilight said, "But my friends and loved ones call me Twilight Sparkle." Bruford smiled. "I'll be sure to give Tarkus the name of the one who finally defeated him, in true combat."

He shifted his grip on his sword, then wrote a letter in blood next to the engraving. "Jonathan, I offer you my sword Luck. See here, that I have altered the engraving to Pluck. Take it, and may your family remain strong through numerous generations." With these last words, Bruford crumbled to dust. Jonathan couldn't help but shed a tear as he picked up the sword. "To think that stone mask could turn such seasoned and disciplined warriors to such evil. I won't forgive Dio, the one who started all this!"

Inside his chambers, Dio received word about the failure of his knights. "I expected at least Tarkus to return," he admitted, "But to think my former siblings would be strong to defeat both of them. I have no choice but to summon another to act within the execution chamber I meant for Tarkus." "Who would that be?," Enya asked. Dio scoffed. "Someone I consider the weakest of the corpses in this village." Wang looked encouraged by this. "Even weaker than you consider me to be?" "You still have merit as a fighter," Dio admitted, "But this corpse is a mere executioner, not suited for combat. I doubt he'll prove a challenge to Jojo and Twilight."

Poco watched as the group buried the armor of the two warriors in their graves. "Now Tarkus and Bruford can sleep eternally," Zeppeli noted, "Their souls finally at peace. But there's one thing I'm curious about. What was Tarkus speaking of with this deathmatch? Something to watch out for in the near future, perhaps?" "So what now?," Speedwagon asked, "We still have to find Dio somewhere in this village. He said that he intends to spread his undead horde after just a day. I highly doubt he was bluffing."

Twilight then looked around. "Hey, where's that kid Poco? I wanted to ask him what the last thing he could remember was before he woke up to us and... Well... All this." Poco had gotten separated from Jonathan when the knights first appeared, but luckily had wound up safe near Zeppeli and Speedwagon. "He can't have gone too far," Speedwagon noted, "Not with those short legs. Let's see if we can find him. We need to reach the village regardless so we can start tracking rumors that might lead to Dio."

As the group hurried off to look for Poco, Enya could be seen on the remains of the cliff, a hooded figure behind her. "Those are the ones Lord Dio spoke of," she said, "Your task is to eliminate them however possible. You've been warned about their powers, so make sure you take caution." The figure laughed. "Lord Dio underestimates me. True I died in the process, but I was still able to kill those two foolish knights, Bruford and Tarkus. Mark my words, madam, these fools will most certainly fall."

Poco ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. One minute he was visiting a new fortune teller that had arrived in town, and the next thing he knew he was with several strangers being attack by zombies. It was a good thing they were able to destroy the living corpses, but the village was still in danger, if what they were talking about was true. 'I need to get back to my family... Find someone... There's a monster in this village!' He was suddenly struck by the idea that all those girls who had supposedly run away were in fact made into food for this undead legion. He silently hoped his sister was alright.