The police opened fire on Dio as the light from the mask faded. Dio was thrown back from the force of the gunfire, smashing through a nearby window and onto the terrace. He slumped down, seemingly dead. Meanwhile Jonathan and Twilight were comforting their father. "Why did you do that?," Twilight asked, "You knew about my powers. You knew I could keep Jonathan from getting stabbed." George smiled. "I suppose it was just my instinct as a father..."

"I was caught off-guard," Jonathan lamented, "I didn't realize he had the stone mask we'd been researching." George chuckled weakly, looking at his hand. "Your mother's wedding ring... It's so small I had to wear it on my little finger..." At that point, his breathing became more labored. Twilight realized at once what was going on. "No... No! I've already lost one father! I can't lose you as well!" Jonathan soon realized as well. "Father!" The officers rushed to render aid, but Speedwagon knew it was already too late. "Bastard struck Lord Joestar in the lung... No doctor in the world can help him."

Twilight got up and glared at Dio's corpse. "I can't believe he managed to get the last laugh in death. At least his victory was pyrrhic. He can't claim our family's fortune if he's dead. But why would he put on the mask? Me and Jonathan had been studying it and positing theories. At one point Jonathan even suggested it might be to awaken the brain's hidden potential. Ultimately we decided it was meant as an execution tool." She closed her eyes as she wept, Speedwagon offering a comforting arm around her shoulder. "I couldn't say why he was waving that mask around like a daft bastard. Maybe he wanted to end his life on his own terms rather than face the firing squad."

The police sergeant sighed. "I blame myself for all this. I knew Dio's father twenty years ago, had him locked up, but George insisted he be released. If I had ignored that, this would never have happened." "What do you mean?," Speedwagon asked. "I had just begun working as a police officer," the sergeant explained, "I had contacted Lord Joestar upon learning Dario had tried pawn his wedding ring. For some reason Lord Joestar had never reported it stolen."

He shook his head. "It was a major accomplishment for me, to recover a treasured momento from a nobleman. And Dario was looking at the death penalty if Lord Joestar agreed to file charges. But Lord Joestar would hear none of it, as he believed Dario had saved his life. Even knowing Dario had stolen the ring, he was willing to adopt Dio to pay back that debt. I watched as Lord Joestar gave Dario the ring, allowing him to sell it off and insisting he use the money to take care of his family. I thought him too naive, knowing Dario was likely laughing at him in his heart. I should have had Dario punished in spite of Lord Joestar's words..."

George looked at his two children. "Please... Don't weep for me... I apologize for all the times I have been harsh... But I have no regrets with how you both turned out..." He looked to Dio's corpse. "Have Dio buried with his family... It's least we can do for him..." He placed his hand on Jonathan's cheek. "I can honestly say it's not bad... To die in my son's arms..." And with that, George Joestar breathed his last. His words brought the sergeant to tears. "Even now, he has nothing but kindness even for the one who killed him. We have lost much this night. A noble man's soul was taken from us."

"No!," Speedwagon declared, "George Joestar's soul still lives on with his two children! Both Jonathan Joestar, and Lydia Twilight! You can rest assured they will live an upright life, using what their father gave them!" He calmed down and looked to the ceiling. "Rich folk are rubbish, flaunting their wealth and power for whatever they please, regardless of who they trample on. If I could I'd throw them all in the Thames. But the Joestars... They are the exception. If any family deserves to be called nobility it's them, for they are truly giants among men."

Twilight smiled at him, then noticed something out the window. She pointed a quivering finger, causing Speedwagon to whirl around and gasp. "Dio's corpse! It's disappeared! Quick, get away from the windows!" Sure enough, the only thing left behind was the stone mask. Twilight soon spotted a clawed hand aimed at the sergeant's head. Quickly she called out, "Love is in Bloom!" From her position below the terrace, Enya saw Dio cling to the outside wall above the window.

As he moved to strike the sergeant's head off, Enya spotted Love is in Bloom, Twilight's Stand. It was a violet colored female humanoid, though it's feet, crotch, and breasts were featureless. It's face was also featureless other than the eyes, which lacked irises or pupils, just colored a different shade of purple. On its chest was a six-point star, the overall shape of the body evoking an image of a Greek statue but colored. It's hair was similar to Twilight's, flowing like it was alive. A spiral horn jutted from the forehead, and large wings sprouted from its back.

As quickly as Twilight called it out, it reached out a hand and touched the sergeant, seconds before Dio could connect with his claws. Dio grunted in pain as the sergeant flew forward, stunned by the force of the attack even if it didn't damage him. As the sergeant turned around wondering what had happened, he gasped when he saw Dio hanging from the window, looking completely unharmed. "The bastard!," Speedwagon called out, "How did he come back to life!?"

Dio grinned in spite of his damaged hand, digging into the outside with his other hand to disappear. Jonathan laid his father on the nearby table, draped in a blanket, as Dio swung back inside, his cheek getting cut on a shard of glass. "How on Earth is this possible?," the sergeant demanded, "We filled him full of lead, and he still lives." Twilight's eyes widened. "I've read stories of this during my studies. He exhibits all the signs, all the powers. I don't know how it happened, but I believe Dio may have become a vampire."

Speedwagon looked at her. "A vampire? But how? I thought they were only a myth." Jonathan gasped. 'He didn't exhibit these powers until he activated the mask. Could that have something to do with it?' Dio started to approach, but Speedwagon grabbed one of the cops' dropped guns. "Stay back, you monster! Vampire or no, I'm betting a bullet to the right location will hurt all the same!" Dio didn't seem to heed him, forcing Speedwagon to shoot. The bullet shot right through Dio's brain, forcing his back a bit from the impact.

Regardless, Dio did little more than chuckle. "A valiant effort. Even now bullets can certainly do me harm, but they can neither hurt nor kill me." He immediately leapt up to the ceiling. "That mask gave me such wonderful powers. I should be more than able to destroy the lot of you now." Before anyone could blink, he had grabbed one of the officers and started draining his blood. Twilight looked on with a mix of horror and fascination. "Okay, none of the legends I've read had vampires drain their victims through their fingers."

Dio laughed. "I wonder now, Twilight, if my newfound speed can allow me to bypass your own psychic gifts." He threw the corpse at the group, and Twilight spotted on officer about to take the brunt of the impact. 'Dio doesn't realize my Stand can work on weapons, even improvised ones. Throwing a corpse won't stop it from working.' "Love is in Bloom!" The officer found the corpse smash against him like he was a brick wall, Dio grunting in pain as Love is in Bloom's power rebounded the damage to him.

He glared at Twilight, but then grinned. One of the corpses limbs escaped Twilight's notice and nailed Speedwagon in the arm. As the street thief grabbed his arm in pain, Dio chuckled. "As I thought. You can only focus on one attacker and victim at a time, and you must be able to see the attack. I feared your power growing up, Twilight, but now that I have a better understanding of its limitations... Well, it is still something to feared, but I no longer find it insurmountable."

Jonathan glared angrily before walking over to a suit of armor and grabbing its spear. "Jojo!," Speedwagon called out, "What are you doing!?" "Dio may seem invincible," Jonathan explained, "But the civilization that last had the stone mask did die out, meaning the mask must have a weakness. It was my curiosity about the mask that got us in this mess. So now I'll fight to get us out!"

"It's hours until the sun rises!," Twilight noted, "How else can we kill a vampire!?" "That mask unleashed power hidden deep inside Dio's brain," Jonathan surmised, "So if we can destroy it completely, it may just stop him forever." Dio raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure if Jonathan's theory held any merit, but he wasn't about to give him the chance to find out. He turned his attention to the corpse of the officer he recently drained. A flash emitted from his eyes, and the corpse began to stir.

"By God, what now!?," the sergeant called out as he saw his own dead subordinate stitch itself back together poorly and start to crawl towards Speedwagon. Growling, he muttered, "Will these nightmares not cease...?" The corpse tried to reach out a hand to drain Speedwagon, only to suffer pain when Twilight rammed her extended hand into the creatures neck. Speedwagon and the sergeant looked surprised, as Twilight seemed to glow golden as she struck the corpse, causing it to turn to dust.

"Ah, it worked," she said, relieved, "That man who taught me how to fight also taught me a few tricks for fighting the undead, but I never thought I'd have to use them." While they were distracted, Dio tried to come down from above Jonathan, but he sensed the attack coming and swung the spear in a defensive maneuver. Forced to land without striking Jonathan, Dio wound up in a perfect position for Jonathan to flip the spear and thrust the tip at Dio.

"A clever move," Dio admitted. Then he blocked the spear tip with his hand, suffering damage but otherwise ignoring the injury. "But as I am now it's a futile effort." He then bent the spear, breaking off the tip and pulling it out of his hand before throwing it into Jonathan's shoulder. Luckily for Jonathan it wasn't too deep, and noted that Dio had rushed at him while throwing the spear for maximum power. Taking advantage of Dio briefly monologuing about continuing the game for a bit longer, Jonathan pulled the spear out of his shoulder and helped Speedwagon up, while Twilight grabbed the sergeant.

When Dio turned around, he saw the room was empty, the other police officers having fled in terror. He scoffed. "Curse my hubris. It may be my one remaining weakness. Jojo is huge at 195cm, with enough strength to hide with his friends even with the spear stuck in him. Twilight was able to identify me as a vampire, which means they'll likely try to hide out somewhere until the sun rises." He carefully scanned the room, his sharper senses trying to pick up on the tiniest clue.

His head snapped in the direction of a blood trail leading behind a curtain, likely either Jonathan or Speedwagon. Not that it mattered. Dio chuckled as he approached. "Your mind is certainly a match for mine, Jojo," he admitted, "But as I said, humans have their limitations. I have none. You hide like Polonius, but I am in the role of Hamlet." He quickly pulled away the curtain, and got a big surprise when the curtain burned him to the touch. And not just from the fire that was on the other side.

Twilight was holding onto one edge of the curtain, and Speedwagon held an oil lamp to another. Dio was confused from the pain he felt from the strange golden glow Twilight used. Shaking off the pain, he quickly threw aside the curtain, though the flames still engulfed him. Jonathan growled. "Twilight, take Speedwagon and the sergeant and get out of here." "What!?," Twilight demanded. "If I can't stop him," Jonathan explained, "Then at least you can hold him off until the sun rises." Twilight hesitated, but nodded. "Be sure to come back alive."

Enya spotted the flames as they started to engulf the mansion. She watched as Twilight emerged along with Speedwagon and the sergeant. She thought about confronting Twilight, defeating her so Dio would have one last obstacle. But before she could walk out of the shadows, a thought occurred. 'Hold on... Even if I use my illusions Twilight can still protect herself with her Stand. And even if I managed to control either of the two men, her Stand might reflect to me instead of them since I'm technically using them as weapons. I'm sure Dio knows what he's doing. I'd best stick to his plan.'

Meanwhile, Speedwagon realized what Jonathan was up to. "Does he mean to spread the flames until they overwhelm Dio's regeneration? But that's crazy! At best they'll both die!" "I'm sure Jojo will find a way to survive," Twilight assured him, "He still has people waiting for him. He won't throw his life away." 'Or at least I hope he won't.' From inside the mansion, Jonathan could be heard shouting, "Father! Give me the final power!" Shortly afterward was the sound of Dio screaming.

Enya quickly rushed in under a cover of mist from her Stand, while the other three reacted in relief as Jonathan burst out a first floor window. Twilight and Speedwagon were the first to reach him. "I managed it," Jonathan said weakly, "Dio's been impaled on the goddess statue in the main hall. Even now the flames consume his body." "You pulled off one hell of a miracle, Mister Joestar," Speedwagon said. He then looked at the crumbling manor. "It's too bad it had to come at such a high cost." "It's worth it," Jonathan assured him, "To take a monster out of this world."

Hope you guys like the look I gave Love is in Bloom. If someone wants to try drawing me a pic of it, I'd appreciate it. It might help those reading this get a better visual. I left out the final fight against Dio in the manor since without Twilight it would play out more or less the same way (don't forget Jonathan doesn't know about Hamon yet, and even if he did, Twilight's still an amateur, so Dio gets to stick around for a bit longer).