2

Die for me, why don't you?

Subaru took a step in, and his fate was sealed.

As he used the lantern to examine the loot house, he quickly discovered a pool of blood and a corpse, which caused him to panic instinctively.

The voice made it a little hard to remain calm, too.

"Oh, you found it, did you? Oh well. Wrong place, wrong time!" A cheery feminine voice called out before a blade lashed Subaru in the gut, causing him to be sent flying.

When he looked down at his stomach, he saw the gaping wound and started to vomit blood.

Satella stepped in to investigate, despite Subaru's warnings.

Before he knew it, she was dead, and then, after several torturous seconds, a hand held strong...

He was dead too...

Moments ago:

Diavolo, who stood outside drifting into sleep alongside Satella, was forced out of his rest by the sounds of Subaru's cries from within the loot-house.

He turned to Satella, who went in to investigate with a worried expression on her own.

Diavolo could only let out a sigh, wondering how the hell Subaru could have possibly hurt himself so badly without his supervision, and stepped into the dark loot house door.

He then-

- was not at the loot house anymore.

Huh?!

He was back at the damn Appa stand with Subaru! What the hell just happened?

He turned over to Subaru, who was staring into the Appa stand owner, who held out an appa in front of his face.

"What's the matter, bud? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Huh?!" Subaru held out his hand, wondering if he heard him correctly.

Diavolo was shocked. Was he in a death loop after all? Well he didn't die… and he was in the same exact world as before; it was almost like everything kind of went back? It was hard to just confirm what just happened to him, it was like he was there then he just wasn't. It was odd for sure.

"Did you want an appa? APPA." The stand owner continued

"HUH?!" Subaru did the same thing again.

Diavolo could only wonder if this guy remembered the two of them from earlier; after all, they helped his daughter, he even gave them both vital information for the insignia.

"DON'T 'HUH' ME, DO YOU WANT AN APPA OR NOT?" He yelled at the boy, who was puzzled.

"N-No, like I said earlier, I'm broke beyond repair."

"THEN GET LOST!" The owner yelled out.

Subaru walked away from the appa stand and was now in the middle of the street yet again with Diavolo.

Subaru turned over to Diavolo, who looked extremely scrambled. It was almost as if he was experiencing the same exact thing as him.

"Did that really..." Subaru tried to ask but could hardly figure out what to even tell Diavolo.

"We need to talk." Diavolo called out to Subaru, who was still processing what just happened as they both stood in the street.

Subaru looked under his shirt to see that his belly was completely unharmed, ignoring Diavolo and simply thinking about Satella and Puck in the Loot house.

"You're right." Subaru looked at Diavolo.

They quickly made their way back to the alleyway from before and took a moment to catch their breath from running over there.

"So, we were just at the loot house, right?" Subaru asked Diavolo.

"Yes. Upon entering the loot house after Satella, I was suddenly sent back to the Appa stand. It happened so fast I couldn't even react." Diavolo wondered. It was a mystery, for sure.

"Then... do you think they are still back there?" Subaru asked, worried

"There's no way to tell for sure. But we need to establish a timefr-"

Diavolo was interrupted by a familiar sound of chains as the three goons from before showed up yet again.

"Huh?! These guys again?" Subaru looked puzzled.

Diavolo raised a brow. Were these guys just incredibly incompetent? Well yeah, but something else didn't seem right.

"Well, lookie' here, boys! Some idiots to steal from!" The blue-haired man called out.

Diavolo picked up on this; from the way he said it, it seemed like he didn't recall the elf woman casting magic at him and making them all scream and run away like cowards.

"I find it amusing you fools can show up pretending you didn't run away from the elf girl." Diavolo commented, Subaru holding in a little chuckle at the roastful response.

"Eh?! So you just wanna die then, don't you shithead?! I don't know what the hell you're even talking about.." The blue-haired man, with a bit of anger in his voice, answered.

"I see. Thank you for your contribution." Diavolo started,

He stared the man down with calculating eyes.

"I won't need you anymore."

He had wanted to try this out for awhile now, and this was the perfect test.

As Subaru looked at the goons right after Diavolo stopped talking, Diavolo somehow suddenly appeared behind the skinny blue one, and a blood-soaked red hand was pierced through his chest.

It all happened in a second. It was so fast, Subaru didn't even see Diavolo move. It was like the goon was healthy, then he was not. Like an unknown force just opened up a wound.

"W-wha…" The man vomited his scarlet blood aggressively, as the walls were stained with the oncoming spray that followed, and even more had begun to pour down as the hand of [King Crimson] was taken out of his chest.

He fell over, preparing to impact the ground.

While that happened, the two other goons turned around, noticing Diavolo disappear, as now literally 5 seconds had just passed, and Subaru was still trying to understand what just happened.

But it was too late, as the brute was dead the moment the midget finally turned his head to look at the skinny one. Death by the same exact fate. And the midget followed last the same way as the other 2.

This entire sequence played out for Subaru in about 10 seconds. As he watched Diavolo teleport from person to person instantaneously, Popping in and out in different positions

"W-Wha…. HUH?!" He couldn't help but let out this noise. As their bodies finally hit the ground one by one.

Diavolo, who was now completely stained in the blood of the three goons, simply looked at Subaru, completely ecstatic. He had a look as if he didn't just kill three people before anyone could process what the hell just happened.

In his head, the syndicate was scheming the various things he could now do with [King Crimson]'s return. It had been awhile since he was reunited with his formidable partner. This was all the more proof he was truly free, wasn't it?

As the red and white stand stood behind the criminal, he uncast it as it was recalled into nothingness.

"I think I have an idea of what transpired at the loot house." Diavolo non-shelantly said.

"I um… Yeah, wha? I just can't even right now." Subaru just blinked.

"Oh." Diavolo realized that Subaru probably couldn't comprehend what he just did. But he didn't want to bother explaining the power of [King Crimson] to this idiot, as it would be too difficult to summarize.

"Listen to me very carefully, Subaru. I believe whatever you or Satella did in that loothouse sent us back maybe 4 to 5 hours in time. I'm not exactly sure why, but it appears to be the work of a stand." Diavolo explained the best he could to Subaru, who was just... he was gone, man.

"Great, that explains absolutely nothing." Subaru groaned.

Diavolo let out an annoyed sigh before continuing.

"Subaru, I need you to tell me what exactly happened in the loot house when you entered it. If we can gather a timeframe of events, we can piece together exactly what caused our traversal."

Subaru thought for a moment before trying to explain.

"Ok, well, when I entered, I saw the corpse of a giant old man, and then I heard the voice of a woman. I didn't really see what she looked like, but before I could even process what happened, I got my stomach slashed open by some kind of blade."

Diavolo simply listened, taking notes in his head.

"After that… I started to feel really cold and... Satella stepped in and was killed in an instant. When I went to reach for her hand with the last of my strength,, I, uh I guess I just woke up at the appa stand with you.

So the moment he died, it sent him back in time. But why did Diavolo also get sent back with him? This must have been linked to their summoning together.

"It seems at the moment of your demise, Subaru, we were both transported back a few hours into the past. Curious indeed." Diavolo questioned the circumstances. Maybe this boy had some use to him after all?

"Perhaps this is the power of your stand. I wasn't aware one was capable of unlocking it at the moment of death. This opens up several possibilities," Diavolo continued.

"Ah that's right, you were able to view [King Crimson] were you not?" He asked the boy, still processing things.

"King.. what? I didn't even see anything when you were… killing those goons I guess. You just kind of appeared behind them and caused holes to be formed in their chests. I figured it was some kind of magic." Subaru answered to the best of his ability.

So it's not a stand afterall? Even more interesting… he seems to have some kind of otherworldly power? It wasn't out of the realm of possibility for sure.

"But this also raises the question: will we be sent back further or closer into the past if you die again? Or will we simply not be sent back at all? What factors impact this ability of yours?"

This statement made Subaru gulp nervously; he already didn't like where this was headed.

"Well, regardless. We need to save Satella!" Subaru Interrupted Diavolo's thoughts.

"Hm, why?" Diavolo tilted his head at this.

Subaru's brow twitched at this response,

"W-Why?! What do you mean, why? She saved us, remember?" Subaru responded like it was obvious.

"She saved you, if I recall things correctly, and we have more important topics at hand." Diavolo rolled his green eyes.

"Besides, as long as you have me as an ally, I guarantee that you will sustain no more injuries unless I need to send us back in time again." He elaborated.

"Are you serious right now? I can't believe you would just leave her behind like that! You would leave me behind too! Ugh, after all she did for us?!" Diavolo could only facepalm at this foolish response from his ally.

"You are truly blinded by your emotions, Subaru. Think logically for once in your pathetic existence and try to recall anything she has done for us besides getting in our way. And past that, she probably still hasn't even had her insignia stolen yet." Diavolo monologued as his eyes shined an inglourious green.

Subaru's eyes were beginning to fill with fire at his words as he listened.

"She's just a fool, like you. You're both fools, but the difference between you and her and especially me; is that we have the ability to alter fate. BUT, only YOU can change our future. Because, Subaru-"

"We were chosen as kings of this pathetic world."

"And the sooner you realize that, the sooner I can escape this fantasy and kill Giorno Giovanna once and for all." Diavolo stood, finishing his speech.

"So this entire time, you didn't even pay attention to her, did you? The only reason you've followed me around is so you can use me? What kind of monster are you?" Subaru yelled out, fuming with anger.

"I'm not a monster, Subaru. I'm just a realist. It's something that comes with a thousand lifetimes of hell. And I am now forced to watch over you for another reason, considering the moment you die, all our progress now has a chance to be erased." He answered.

"Hell, the only reason I stuck around with you to begin with was because you were the only link to the modern world I had. And even before that, the only other person who was summoned, clearly for some kind of purpose." He spat out

"Speaking of which... I'll give you two options from this point forward." He continued

"What the hell are you talking about?" Subaru looked at him fiercely.

He simply ignored him, continuing,

"Option 1, we can make the correct choice and proceed with gathering information like we were supposed to from the start."

He held out a finger.

"And Option 2... you can try and resist Option 1 and suffer as many deaths by me as it takes to convince you. I'm sure you're aware that I'm capable of killing you in less than 3 seconds. Those goons were just sweat off my brow, after all."

He held out two fingers, his face still lifeless.

"So what will it be, Subaru? Making the right choice or suffering for making the wrong one?" Diavolo awaited his response.

Subaru, meanwhile, was more pissed off than he had ever been in his entire shut-in life. He wanted to kill Diavolo with his own two hands but was frustrated because he knew he couldn't. He wanted to save Satella and repay her for what she did for him, but he can't now.

"I…." Subaru was visibly struggling to say anything at all.

"Don't make me wait, Subaru. I'm a very impatient man. Even though we now have an eternity to contemplate this; well, even that is not for sure now that I think about it. You could just die forever, couldn't you?" Diavolo corrected himself.

"I-I…" He yet again struggled to speak.

"I'll make it easier for you, boy. I'll give you the count of 10, and when I reach 1, I'll automatically assume you chose option 2." Diavolo crossed his arms and began to count.

"10…. 9….8….7" He counted down as Subaru seemed to be shaking now.

"YOU BASTARD! How can you do this? What difference will it make if she lives? YOU CAN'T WAIT EVEN THAT LONG?!" Subaru screamed out in fury.

Diavolo was unphased as he continued counting despite Subaru's interjections.

"6….5….4…3"

"Damn you… I hate you. You're a monster." The boy let out frustrated tears.

"2..." Diavolo paused.

"1." He said this, staring directly into Subaru's very soul.

"I've been meaning to see if this works anyway. This will be a test, a trial, if you will." Diavolo summoned [King Crimson], which appeared behind him, and slashed at Subaru's neck.

But, unexpectedly, his entire world was frozen the moment it made contact.

"What the?!" He looked around, still able to move his neck but not his body.

It was dead silent. Even Subaru didn't move. This gave the boss a bad sense of deja vu.

"What is this? Can you hear me fool?!" He called out to the boy.

Suddenly, Diavolo could feel something grasp onto his heart, but he couldn't see what it was. It felt like a hand of some kind, and the world around him was beginning to get awfully dark.

"W-wha-..." He couldn't do anything as he began to suffocate in agony.

'King Crimson! Come on! Work, Damn You!' Diavolo thought

Was this it? Was this all just a game of Golden Experience Requiem after all? Were all of his efforts in vain?

He heard a whisper in his ears; it wasn't coming from just one place, but everywhere. It was insane.

"TraitorTraitorTraitorTraitorTraitorTraitorTraitorTraitorDieDieDieDieScumScumScumUseless"

'Damn it... DAMN YOU, GIORNO GIOVANNA!' Diavolo thought to himself on loop while the life in his body faded, and he died.

When he opened his eyes, he was... back at the Appa stand again? But… why? He died? Right?

He looked over to see Subaru, who was surprisingly not trying to strangle him to death. And furthermore, he was reenacting the scene from before with the Appa stand owner, as if nothing just happened a few minutes ago.

Diavolo didn't really know what to think about this. He seemed to have been punished for attacking Subaru, but he really didn't know why. To him, Subaru was just an asset, a tool. But whatever had just killed him, he was clearly a lot more than that.

"I suppose I'll play by your rules then." Diavolo sighed, catching the attention of Subaru, who was just told off by the Appa stand owner.

"Rules? What are you talking about, Doppio? Also, weren't we just at the loot house?" Subaru wondered, checking under his shirt again.

"Yes, we were Subaru. But it appears something has caused us to be sent back here." Diavolo played along, feeling like he was a puppet on strings.

"Weird, I wonder if Satella and Puck are alright…" Subaru gasped at the thought, and Diavolo let out a frustrated grunt.

"It's likely they were sent back too, Subaru. But I highly doubt we'll find them again. Maybe we should just look for information for no-"

"What!? Nah, we have to save them!" Subaru interrupted the boss.

"Yeah. Right." Diavolo facepalmed.

After hours of running, the duo eventually made their way back to the loot house, which was in much better shape during the day.

Subaru stepped up to the door and, in a panic, began to knock on it incredibly loudly, yelling for anyone to answer.

Meanwhile, Diavolo just watched helplessly, knowing that Subaru was only going to get the both of them into much deeper shit regardless of his input.

The door was opened by a giant, old-looking man, who proceeded to yell at Subaru for knocking without knowing the password. But after everything had settled down, both Subaru and Diavolo sat down at the bar across from the giant.

They began to discuss random pointless topics, all of which were not interesting to Diavolo, besides the questions Subaru asked him in order to confirm if certain events occurred. But it seemed like he was too stupid to catch on at this point.

"Well, I'm looking for an insignia; it's kind of like a pendant with a jewel in the center." Subaru explained to the old man,

"I don't have anything' like that, but I've got someone bringin' in some good later. I could have what you're looking' for." He mentioned

"Is Felt bringing it in?" Subaru blurted out.

"So you know who swiped it, eh? Well, we'll have to see if you can afford it when she brings it in." The old man rambled.

Diavolo sat away from the second, sulking to himself about his predicament. He has had his authority taken away from him; his very own ability to change fate wasn't completely gone, but he couldn't influence the decisions of the careless Subaru, and whatever killed him prevented him from making the correct choices. This was so damn frustrating.

He said nothing as they just passed the time discussing the 'valuable' grocery shop items within Subaru's bag, and after a while of bickering, Subaru went outside to sit down and wait.

The Gang Boss sat by himself inside now, only to be bothered by the giant old man.

"So, why are ya' with that kid, pinkie?" He asked him.

Diavolo simply shrugged before saying,

"I suppose I am his body guard in a sense now. Not that I have any choice in our arrangement. Believe me, I hate that boy so much; as a matter of fact, I would strangle him if I could, but, alas, I cannot in my current position." He calmly said, making the old man somewhat unnerved at his choice of words.

"R-Right…" He just continued to drink from his cup.

Suddenly, knocking was heard at the door. As the old man went over to investigate it, he quickly asked,

"For a rat..."

A girl on the other side of the door promptly answered,

"Poison."

This continued,

"For the white whale..."

"A harpoon."

One last time...

"To the noble dragon we are..."

"Shitbags."

The door was opened at this final response, revealing Subaru and that felt girl from before outside. They quickly all stepped inside as the giant prepared a cup of something for the girl.

While Diavolo stayed back, he observed the three talk and bond with each other in such a short amount of time. He supposed it was only logical that idiots would be able to easily talk with other idiots, though.

He then saw the insignia for the first time in the girl's hand as the negotiations were being discussed. It did look rather small, but it clearly had value in this world.

Subaru began to explain to the two the wonders of the magical device within his hand—a flip phone—from their original world. He managed to convince them well enough, considering the old man valued it at 20 holy coins. He also called it a 'metia' which was some sort of term to describe magic items.

A knock could now be heard, and as Diavolo turned over to the door, he heard the Felt girl get up to go and check it out. They were discussing the other 'client', so this was probably them.

The old man reached for a club in the meantime, while both he and Subaru discussed their positions in society.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a woman stepped in.

Diavolo's eyes widened at the sight of this 'woman'. She wore incredibly revealing clothing; seriously, it was a little insensitive. And she had some sort of cloak on. Her favorite color had to be either black or purple, judging by how she had her clothes colored, which were definitely custom-made and tailored.

But he didn't widen his eyes just because of this woman's fashion sense. No, she had this aura about her that he couldn't quite explain. It was familiar for sure, though; it reminded him of someone he knew long ago.

Her voice was calm, collected, and somewhat sinister, like every single word was stabbing you. Her expression was matching her voice, but not her style of clothing, for sure. She gazed at Subaru after it was explained to her that he was negotiating for the insignia as well.

He then realized, this was probably the same woman who Subaru described he heard before he died. He had to wait though, considering Felt was also in the loot-house with them; and there was no way to be certain it was this woman in particular. But he was banking on it for now.

After a couple of minutes of discussion, they were now sitting at a table across from each other, both Diavolo and Rom looking cautiously.

"I see now." The woman ominously and calmly stated:

"Great, I don't really care who gets the insignia, but I'm going to give it to whoever buys it for the highest bid." The girl cheerily said,

"Very well. I'd like to know how much this young man is putting up for it." She held out her palm towards Subaru, who stared at her, keeping up her 'kind' smile.

"I'm putting up this Metia," he said, taking a picture and showing it to her.

"I see, a Metia, huh? Well, as it happens, I have some extra funds from my client." She answered.

"So you're here as a proxy, then?" Subaru asked, to which she nodded, asking if she was in the same business.

He replied somehow with full confidence.

"Being in the same business as me would mean being completely jobless." He held up a thumb.

…

Diavolo could only cringe as everyone silently stared at him for only a second, even though it felt longer than that.

"Right so, this unemployed guy has an item that puts him in the lead at the moment, so what do you have as an offer?" The girl asked.

The woman pulled out a bag and poured the contents onto the wooden table, revealing twenty holy coins to the shock of Felt and Subaru.

"Is this not quite enough?" She asked

"Hm, from the looks of it, the boy is still in the lead with his Metia. I figure you'll have to bag up those coins and leave. Sorry for you and your employer." The old man concluded

In yet another bombastic moment, Subaru just had to release his energy, yelling out in victory.

Diavolo had to really hold in the urge to kill himself at this point, as the silence was overbearing even for someone with millions of lifetimes of experience like him.

After this horrific exchange, the woman stood, seemingly preparing to leave.

"Sorry, Elsa, you'll probably get in trouble, huh?" Subaru tried to console the woman.

"It's fine. I blame my employer for attempting to underpay after all. It appears I'll be leaving this deal with disappointment." She said she was taking a sip of milk.

Before she left, though, she had one more comment:

"By the way, what do you intend to do with that insignia?" She asked

"Ah, I'm planning to return it to its owner." He answered

"Ah, so you're with them." Her face contorted to reveal a rage-filled expression hidden behind a smile.

Felt had tried to move Subaru out of the way by jumping into him, but somehow she missed. As she hit the floor, he managed to teleport further back into the loot house.

"E-Eh?!" Felt looked over, puzzled that he could move faster than him. But then she noticed Diavolo standing behind him.

Elsa struck her blade towards Subaru at lightning-fast speeds, but he was gone the moment her blade was sent towards where he previously sat.

Subaru blinked, then turned around to see Diavolo, wondering what the hell just happened.

"It appears you are stupider than I thought." Diavolo interjected surprisingly, staring directly into Elsa, who was holding out her blade.

"My, My. You managed to dodge my attack. And with such haste as well." She smiled, staring into Subaru whilst holding out her dagger-like blade, shade covering her eyes.

"RAAH!" The old man charged at her with a club, breaking the table she stood on as she lunged away.

She turned to him, her smile fading for a moment before returning.

As the battle between the two ensued, the loot house was filled with bangs and the sounds of moving chandeliers as the giant destroyed several pieces of furniture.

"We need to do something!" Subaru looked over to Diavolo, who just had his arms crossed.

He sighed, accepting the fact that he probably didn't have much choice in the matter.

"Don't worry, Old Man Rom's got this!" I felt her exclaim, a determined smile on her face.

"No, he doesn't." Diavolo said, his bangs somehow covering his eyes.

"H-Hey! Have faith in-"

"KING CRIMSON!"

The Loot House was shattered into pieces as Diavolo floated in an endless abyss of his creation.

He made his way over to Elsa, who was about to deliver a dangerous blow to the giant's arm.

He raised the arm of King Crimson before bringing it down and delivering a chop to Elsa's hand.

"You failed this trail." He said, before erasing time, the moment King Crimson made contact

"H-Hey! Have faith in Old Man R-Huh?" She took a second to realize Diavolo had just disappeared and looked back at Rom, who had stopped moving, looking at Elsa and... Diavolo!?

Elsa's hand, which held onto her dagger, was cut clean off and laid on the floor along with the dagger as Diavolo stood directly in front of her, his shadow overtaking hers and his stand floating above him.

That look in his eyes told her all she needed to know about this man.

"I seem to have underestimated you. Haven't I?" She smiled even wider for some reason, pissing the boss off. She then proceeded to reattach her hand, like it was some kind of doll piece.

"Can you die already?" He tilted his head, trying to agitate her.

"Fufufu! Aren't you just cute?" She threw a hidden dagger towards Diavolo using her other hand, who stood directly in front of her.

Having used Epitaph earlier, Diavolo simply dodged this attack, moving out of the way the moment she threw it.

"Is that the best you can do, Wench?" He taunted, looking down on her.

She clicked her tongue several times before pointing behind him.

"Foolish woman, like I would fall for such a cheap trick." He said, preparing to slash her neck in half with king crimson.

"Have it your way, handsome." She taunted back, jumping onto the wall behind her.

Diavolo prepared to erase time yet again, staring directly into her eyes fiercely.

He yelled out,

"KING CR-" But before he could finish his statement, he was...

Back at the appa stand again.

He looked to Subaru, who was yet again staring into the owner.

"What's the matter, bud? You look like you've seen a ghost." He said it for the second time.

Diavolo sighed, now understanding what she was pointing at.

"Hey, are you alright?" The owner said as Subaru began to fall over.

The man gasped out, walking over to Subaru to make sure he was alright after he impacted the ground.

Diavolo knew exactly what was happening to Subaru. He experienced it himself several times. The mental stress that dying causes is not to be underestimated, for sure. But he'll get used to it after he dies a few more times.

The man put Subaru on a staircase and splashed him with some water, causing him to regain consciousness.

"Hey, forget about the money; just take this." The man offered Subaru water and an Appa. As he began to awaken and prepared to take the offer, he noticed the familiar silhouette of Satella.

His face turned to one of shock as he ran over to her.

"W-Wait! PLEASE WAIT!" He yelled out.

Diavolo followed the fool, knowing full well he couldn't interfere with the reunion like he wished.

"Satella!" He called out to her, causing her to stop in her tracks.

Diavolo chuckled a bit, knowing full well that the lie she told them previously would come to haunt Subaru. He just watched the reunion, hearing the shock and gasps in the crowd surrounding them.

He let out some emotional spiel about leaving her behind at the loot house, still clearly not having caught onto the fact that his death was causing the world to reset.

"I'm glad you're alright, Satella." He said it with a warm expression.

She turned to face him, her eyes filled with disgust and rage.

"What's your problem?" She shot the words like an arrow into Subaru.

"I don't know who you are... but calling me by the name of the witch of envy... what's your problem?" She yelled out.