Well guys, I moved recently. Luckily I was able to get my computer set up in the new place so I can keep my usual schedule.

The title here came from Black Lagoon, but I thought it was also fitting for Stone Ocean (though expect me to change it when Stone Ocean finally gets its anime adaptation).

Also, something I should say... Saying how you think my story will or should go is fine... But remember who's the author here.

That said, here's the penultimate chapter.

As Pucci found himself being filled with completeness of his new power, he realized something. 'They aren't trying to stop me. Have they finally given up? They must have finally realized the futility of standing in my way. No matter, they'll pay the price for doing so in the first place.' He smile as he saw C-Moon morph into a figure of a horse and rider, seemingly fused and pure white with a few accents. 'This is the power DIO sought... The power of Heaven. Maid in Heaven! It has been awakened!'

When the group was able to open their eyes again, they saw no sign of Pucci. The damage was still around them, but the news was coming back on and cell phones were getting reception again. After a quick check, the group was glad to see everyone was still around. "So," Giorno said, "What just happened?" "I'm not sure," Jotaro said, "I can still feel Pucci somewhere nearby." "So why did none of us try to stop him earlier?," Ermes asked.

"To prevent Pucci from truly completing his power," Valentine explained, "The one weakness in DIO's formula is the idea that the Will of Heaven and the Law of Man are two different things. But sometimes... It might be possible for them to be the same thing." A sudden rainstorm hit, but ended quickly. "As I thought," Valentine said, "It's not as powerful as it otherwise would have been." "Why, what happened?," Fluttershy asked. "Time accelerated for exactly five seconds," Valentine explained, "Then resumed normally. I was checking my watch the whole time."

"Strange," Pucci said as he observed the group, "It's complete, but not as strong as I thought it would be. Only five seconds... That's not enough time. I can probably improve it with practice, the same way DIO did with The World, but first I need to remove the Joestar Bloodline. Until I do that, I cannot claim victory. The trouble is... Jotaro has the same power DIO once had, and it's clear that he's been keeping his strength up. Plus, I saw it for an instant, when I passed Giorno. He has that special arrow. Not even DIO knew what it could do, but it always felt more complete than the others."

He felt his power start to refresh, and accelerated again. "The real downside, is that since I can only speed up time for so long, they'll be able to detect when I'm doing it. It will stand out, far more than if it was a sustained power. The only power I should fear right now is Jotaro's time stop, but the others could easily damage me once my acceleration ends." He took a moment to examine his power. "It seems from my perspective everything moves incredibly slow, while they experience things from an accelerated viewpoint. That could be my advantage."

Jotaro watched as Giorno got out the Requiem arrow. "That's the arrow Polnareff gave you, right?" "Yeah," Giorno said, "It fell out when I defeated Diavolo, but remained intact. I kept it safe, in case the time came when I would ever need it again. When I heard about how Pucci was enacting my father's plan, I knew this was that time." He, Jotaro, Jolyne, and Wes widened their eyes. "There!," Jotaro called out, "Star Platinum, The World!" Time froze in an instant, and Jotaro was able to get a good look at Pucci and his new Stand, Made in Heaven, as well as several knives being launched.

Jotaro noticed Pucci was about to go for the arrow Giorno was holding. "It worked. We drew him out. That was his last mistake." Jotaro swiped a finger across his hat, and smirked when he saw a bunch of knives around him. "Clever, Pucci. But I only need to hit you once. Star Platinum!" "ORA!" Star Platinum struck Pucci hard in the stomach, then started batting away the knives before time started again. He wound up missing one, but only barely, the blade cutting into his face vertically. Luckily, it was a shallow wound.

Pucci, however, got knocked back hard. With his time acceleration over, Giorno was free to stab Gold Experience with the Requiem arrow. Pucci got out and tried to straighten out his breathing. 'Damn it all... Something had to have gone wrong at some point, but I'm certain I completed the formula as written. No matter, there's still that age-old weakness of the Joestars... Their bloodline.' "Made in Heaven!" He accelerated again, then started running to where the rest of the group was located.

He stopped when he felt something on his shoulder. He turned around and gasped. It almost looked like Gold Experience, but more defined. "What... What are you?," Pucci asked, almost afraid to know the answer. "I am Gold Experience Requiem," the Stand explained, "My master stabbed me with the arrow, allowing me to take this form. In time it will subside and I will return to my normal form, but until then..." Pucci gasped when he realized time had stopped accelerating the moment Gold Experience Requiem touched him.

"This is requiem power," Giorno explained, "The gift of being able dominate all souls. In my case, it reduces everything to zero. Ah, one second." Gold Experience Requiem picked up a pebble and launched it, not at Pucci, but just past him, the pebble turning into a scorpion just as it went through the head of a man with long, red hair. "Not again...," the man muttered as he died and disappeared, "Damn, you Giorno Giovanna..." Pucci blinked. "What was that all about?"

"And that makes thirty-nine for me," Giorno said as he scratched something off on a notebook, "Still not ahead of Fugo, but we'll get there. Ah, I should explain. That man was Diavolo, the gangster I defeated in order to run Passione. By now he's wound up somewhere else, ready to die again. And again. Et cetera. You see, when Gold Experience Requiem attacks something, they are forever barred from reality. Basically it's removing the effect from the cause. I honestly don't know how many deaths Diavolo has had beyond the ones my friends and I have given him. But by now it's likely to be in the thousands."

Pucci started sweating. 'If that power hits me I'll suffer the same fate. But I still have a chance to escape it.' "Listen," Pucci said, "Your father's formula was meant to grant a world of eternal happiness to others. A world where everyone could know their fate, and what lies beyond it." "But without the ability to change it, right?," Giorno pointed out, "What sort of world is that, really? I honestly can't see people being happy with that. And really, from what I know of my father, he wasn't so altruistic."

He sighed. "It was in 1880 when Father first encountered the Joestars. Not as enemies, but as a family member. He would be given equal treatment, and was offered a loving home. It wasn't enough. He wanted more. He wanted the vast fortune the Joestar's had at their disposal. And when that avenue was closed to him, he chose to reject his humanity. He gained more power than a mere fortune could ever provide him. But even that wasn't enough. He wanted the world, he wanted beyond."

Giorno shrugged. "My father was a man driven by ambition that was fueled by greed." He pointed to Pucci. "Know this. While I am grateful to Father for giving me life, I identify more with the Joestar side of my blood, unlike my three brothers. And the path you're offering..." He smirked. "It's bad for my business." Before Pucci could react, Gold Experience Requiem struck Made in Heaven. "Now your power," Giorno said, "Will be reduced to zero. The reality of you reaching a new universe... It will never come true!"

Pucci screamed in agony as energy seemed to flow out of him, Made in Heaven glowing as it was reduced back to C-Moon, then quickly back into Whitesnake. The birthmark vanished from his body as his former appearance was restored. "No...," Pucci muttered, "This can't be... That arrow had the power to do this...?" "Father gave that arrow to Polnareff while he was under his thrall," Giorno explained, "And in time it made its way to me. Had Father kept it close, this might not have happened. And now, the new generation will have its chance to finish you."

Pucci gasped when he realized Jolyne and her friends were right behind him. "Looks like now we get the chance to correct a little mistake," Jolyne said, "We won't give you the chance to restart, Pucci." Anasui made his move and Pucci tried to attack. "Diver Down!" His Stand dove right into Pucci and started bashing him from the inside, causing the priest to spit up blood. The injuries he suffered got filled with plankton from Atroe, causing him further pain. "Have I mentioned that I'm glad I went on that little prison duty," Atroe said, "Otherwise I might have still been just another lackey coward."

Pucci then screamed as he felt the pain from a gunshot go through his lung. He turned to see Emporio, holding a ghost gun drawn from Burning Down the House. "That was for my mother...," he said. Pucci then noticed Emporio seemed to be getting taller. He soon realized he was actually shrinking. He then spotted Gwess' shadow as she loomed over him. "I owe you one for the coma, you bastard. Hey Jolyne! Ever play Kick the Can!?" Pucci grunted in pain as Gwess smacked into his tiny body with her foot.

He grew back to normal as he left Goo Goo Dolls' range, only to see he was heading right for Jolyne. "Stone Free!" Jolyne's Stand smashed Pucci right into the ground. Jolyne then felt her arm split, Ermes having applied one of her stickers to Stone Free's arm. "What the hell, Ermes!?," she called out. "Come on now," Ermes said dismissively, "He's getting back up." Jolyne sighed as she realized Ermes was just giving her an extra set of punches to work with, but she wasn't happy about it. "Fine..." Stone Free and Kiss, whose arms were also doubled, started wailing on Pucci.

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Pucci felt himself go flying, and soon realized he wasn't landing. He gasped when he realized Wes has conjured a tornado to keep him in the air. "You and I have unfinished business, brother," Wes said, "Rainbow, now!" "I'll Fly!" Rainbow flew right into the tornado, creating a pocket of normal breeze as she got ahead of Pucci before splitting from her Stand.

Energy crackled through her legs as she channeled her Hamon. She merged with I'll Fly again before launching herself at Pucci in a drill kick formation. "Tornado Overdrive!" The force of the tornado blowing him forward kept Pucci in place as Rainbow drilled right into his torso. He finally got released when Wes removed the tornado, causing Pucci to get launched across the space center. He landed quite a ways away from everyone. 'This is my chance...,' he realized, 'I can find a way to escape, try to start again... Even if it takes me another twenty years...'

Unfortunately for him, that's when Valentine appeared. "And so it appears the universe will remain as it was meant to. But first things first... You must be removed. One of the advantages D4C grants me is that I can interact physically with all the other versions of myself. You see, normally two identical beings from two alternate realities cannot exist in the same space. Oh, they can exist in the same reality, they just cannot have any sort of physical contact. Case in point... D4C!"

D4C conjured an American flag, which whipped about before conjuring another Pucci, looking very confused before landing on the first Pucci, causing both of them to start disintegrating. "That Pucci was taken from a universe where you were far more successful," Valentine explained, "Yet still failed right at the last moment. From the looks of it, it seems he was suffering from oxygen poisoning. Not sure how that happened, but it doesn't matter now." As he said this, the two Puccis completely disappeared, having completely destroyed each other.