[259] JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Premieres! (21)
Chapter 259: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Premieres! (21)
The perspective shifts from Jonathan and the others to Poco's sister, who faces Dio's threats with unwavering defiance. Refusing to yield, she stands resolute, prepared to die rather than surrender.
Enraged by her resistance, Dio orders his vampire minions to devour her. Just as she faces imminent doom, Jonathan and his companions arrive in the nick of time to save her. Without hesitation, Jonathan engages the enemies in combat.
Thanks to his earlier training, Jonathan has grown much stronger, easily defeating the undead before him. At last, he stands face-to-face with Dio.
"I've returned from hell, Dio!"
"Still alive, JoJo?" Dio sneers. Clearly unperturbed at first, he remarks, "So you defeated those two knights to get here. Honestly, JoJo, I never really wanted to kill you. We grew up in the same household. Turning you into an immortal would have been pointless, so I left the knights to handle it. I held back in the end. Seeing you alive now, I realize that was a lingering weakness of mine—something unbefitting of an emperor. This time, I'll show no hesitation. I'll finish you off in the cruelest way possible!"
"Fine by me. I won't feel a shred of guilt killing you!"
As tensions rise and the battle seems inevitable, Dire suddenly intervenes. "JoJo, step back," he commands, determined to face Dio himself.
Dire launches into a fierce battle against the formidable Dio. Undeterred by Dio's power, he employs his Hamon techniques to land a surprise strike. For a moment, it appears Dire has the upper hand.
But just as victory seems within reach, Dio freezes Dire's body in an instant and tears him apart. In his final moment, Dire uses his last remaining strength to launch a Hamon-infused rose, piercing Dio's right eye. With that final act, Dire succumbs.
Enraged by his injury, Dio roars, "How dare you wound me with that filthy Hamon! Don't get cocky! All of you will become food for my undead minions!"
Witnessing yet another comrade fall, Jonathan's anger boils over. He draws the sword given to him by Bruford and charges toward Dio, ready for the fight of his life.
Straits and Master Tonpetty stood on guard, fending off the monsters swarming from all directions to ensure Jonathan and Dio's duel would remain undisturbed.
Soon, Jonathan faced Dio directly. With a sudden charge, he scattered a handful of roses into the air, catching Dio off guard. In that moment of distraction, Jonathan closed the gap and struck, severing Dio's right hand with his blade and cutting deep into Dio's flesh.
"Got him!" he exclaimed.
But before anyone could celebrate, Dio—despite his wounds—plunged a single finger into Jonathan's neck, freezing both the sword and Jonathan's hands in place.
"Hahaha, JoJo, you will be my loyal servant!"
In this desperate situation, Jonathan struggled to fight back, only to have his legs frozen as well.
"Come, JoJo. Embrace the essence of the vampire. Become my thrall!"
Feeling Dio's actions, Jonathan's eyes widened, but he stayed calm. "Dio, don't think you've won. You made a critical error. In order to drain my life, you couldn't freeze my entire body. If you had, Hamon wouldn't flow—but you also wouldn't be able to siphon my life force. This is where your tactics failed!"
As he spoke, Dio realized that the sword he'd frozen was starting to thaw. Jonathan's blade had been resting against a fire behind Dio, and compared to the cold created by vaporization, the intense heat from the flames was much more powerful. In an instant, Jonathan's sword fully thawed, and he pulled it free from Dio's body.
"Gold Ripple Overdrive! Take this!"
In a flash, Jonathan's fist slammed into Dio's face.
Before anyone could celebrate, Jonathan suddenly realized his right hand had been frozen once more in a mere instant!
"You're still too green, JoJo!" Dio sneered. "I'll admit your ingenuity in using fire to heat your sword—clever, I'll give you that. But my freezing technique is undefeatable! If I only need to freeze one arm, a single touch is enough. And if it's your entire body, it'll only take two seconds to encase you completely!"
Despite Dio's taunts, Jonathan remained calm. He took his stance, ready to continue the fight. Dio, looking down on him, mocked further.
"Useless, useless, useless! Can a human ever catch up to a monkey? JoJo, you're nothing more than a monkey to me!"
"You're wrong!" Jonathan retorted. "With enough resolve, there's nothing a human can't accomplish! Humans grow. I'll show you!"
"And yet you'll only become another vampire minion!"
"Ha-ahhhhhhh!"
In an instant, both fighters lunged toward each other. Dio unleashed his freezing technique, but Jonathan boldly thrust his arm directly into the furnace, setting it ablaze.
"We'll see soon enough who will ultimately fall, Dio!"
At that moment, Jonathan's searing punch pierced through Dio's body, shaking everyone present to their very core.
"Ahhhhh! My body is melting… this heat… this intensity… I was supposed to live for centuries, for eternity, into the future…"
"Dio, you must be destroyed!"
"I, Dio…!"
With one final, anguished cry, Dio plummeted from the cliff into the abyss, meeting his ultimate end.
In theaters across the country, audiences watched the unfolding story with a deep sense of reflection.
No one had anticipated such an intense journey, filled with unbelievable twists that, remarkably, still made perfect sense within the story's logic.
What struck viewers even more was the complex psychology and unwavering convictions of the characters.
Each person's motivations and struggles felt so vivid and real, as if they were fully realized individuals with unique layers of depth.
Despite the relatively small scale of the narrative, the storytelling felt almost grand in its execution.
As the credits began to roll, the theater was filled with a heavy silence. It took several moments before anyone began to stir, as if they were all still processing what they had just seen.
Then, just as viewers started to find their words—ready to share their thoughts on JoJo's Bizarre Adventure—the film revealed yet another twist.
Dio reappeared.
Somehow, by separating his brain from his body, Dio had managed to escape the deadly effects of the Hamon attack. He was rescued by a shady poison merchant seen earlier in the film.
The audience gasped in surprise, and a buzz of speculation filled the air once again.
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