The Blade's Edge (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders x Male O/C)

Chapter 40: The Younger D'Arby's Game

Gyalzen POV

For a while, all that surrounded us was darkness. I had no idea what had happened, one moment I was reaching out to get Jotaro, the next I was here. As were Joseph, Jotaro and Kakyoin. 

Soon though, the sun began to rise, shedding light on our surroundings. We were on an island, surrounded by water. But wait? Wasn't it already daytime when we arrived at the mansion? Surely this had to be some kind of illusion.

Turning, we saw D'Arby stood just behind us. Four chairs each positioned in front of four screens. Jotaro turned to us, instructing "Old man, Gyalzen, Kakyoin, see if you can figure this out. His Stand, he knew without a doubt I would throw a right punch. Any idea why? If we don't figure this out, we'll lose this one."

D'Arby gestured over to another table with a few glasses and bottles of alcohol as he offered. "Care to wet your whistle? The drinks are real. And I assure you, they aren't poisoned."

Joseph asked "Are we still inside the mansion?" To which D'Arby simple replied "Yes." He tried prying for more information though D'Arby wouldn't tell us where exactly in the mansion we were. 

What he did reveal was that it was the work of a Stand, just not his nor was it DIO's. I could tell from his expression he wasn't lying. Joseph even asked if Raymond's claim of two more Stand users being true, again, no reply.

I stepped closer to Kakyoin and Jotaro warning. "Be careful, even Raymond had no idea what this man was capable of. Be ready for anything." Jotaro just nodded as Kakyoin replied "Right."

 Joseph asked "So what you're saying is, unless we defeat you, we can't proceed?" To which D'Arby suddenly blurted out "EXACTLY! Absolutely correct, my good sir!" Joseph said "Well it's four against one, and we're short on time, so we'll be coming at you all at once."

This didn't bother D'Arby in the slightest though. Instead, he simply walked over to a nearby cabinet and said "I have something to show you. This is my collection." As soon as he'd opened the cabinet, my eyes widened.

DOLLS! Rows of dolls! As looked as disturbing and twisted as the next. D'Arby explained "Like my brother, I'm a humble collector. Every collector yearns to share his treasured trinkets, for that ephemeral moment of praise does he not?"

As strange as this was, it took on a much more sinister tone as one of the dolls came to life. Tears poured from its eyes as it cried out for D'Arby. Soon the rest followed suit. I was struggling to find the words as I asked "W-what is this?"

Joseph turned to me, saying "D'Arby's brother collected the souls of his victims inside Poker chips. Showed them off with pride. Seems his brother is the same, only with dolls."

D'Arby explained "My hobby is making dolls. Of course, most doll makers cannot imbue their handiwork with human souls. I guess I've given too much away, but THAT is my Stand's ability. My brother's collection is rather boring, all he has are coins made of human souls. With my collection you can play dress-up and have actual conversations."

He showed us some of his favourites, Sonia, a serial killer named Dr Elliott and Tatsushiko, a gaming expert whom D'Arby claimed was his favourite. Turning to us though, he sighed and said.

"Really wish Raymond was here. So fierce, confident. As soon as I heard he'd used fear to traumatise my brother into failure, I knew I had to collect him. I'd even made a doll just for him. Oh, the conversations we could have had. But, he isn't here. Instead I get you four." 

His face fell into a serious look as he said "Rest assured though. Another type of terror awaits him and your friends up above." At this we exclaimed "WHAT?!" D'Arby however simply said "It's no use worrying about your friends now. I shall be your opponent."