Strong Thunderstorm

Sex Pistols, back for a second round.

A gunshot rang out, and Dawn opened his eyes again. Time rewound, returning him to the moment everyone had gathered at the cabin.

A spine-chilling sense of being watched came from behind him, raising the hairs on his neck.

The vampire Diavolo.

So this is the point in time.

Dawn checked his abilities. Dragon Tamer was still there, which meant dying and rewinding had reset his previous snap.

That meant Dawn could use Mista's rewind to keep trying out different abilities.

"Kars, get ready to experience the most brutal torture in the world."

Dawn's gaze was dark, and the chill in his voice made Hewitt shiver despite himself, even from a distance.

"Time to get to work, Diavolo."

King Crimson rushed out of the cabin, swiftly took care of the vampire Diavolo and Risotto, then returned without a scratch.

"The wind's suddenly picked up outside. It might rain later."

King Crimson wiped the blood from his hands with a rag, speaking casually.

Dawn nodded, not looking into it any further, and they all set out to find Mista.

They had only just regrouped when a boom rang out in the sky. A giant peregrine falcon came hurtling through the air.

"Hewitt, go up there and hold Kars off."

"It will be my pleasure."

Hewitt bowed elegantly, then charged at Kars with a flourish of his cane. He didn't last two rounds before his head was twisted off. A moment later, he staggered back to his feet and charged again.

"Hewitt, you've truly disappointed me."

Kars shook his head and released a swarm of poisonous insects. Hewitt collapsed from the poison and couldn't get back up.

Dawn used Cloud Dragon to freeze every last poisonous insect, then sent out Notorious Big to buy time.

He glanced down at his watch. Time was up.

A mass of Chinese characters appeared. Dawn rubbed his hands together and snapped his fingers crisply.

The characters froze in place.

A blue glow appeared.

[Stand: Beyond Imagination - Lullaby]

"Let's give it a try."

Dawn activated Lullaby. Kars closed his eyes and fell asleep, but his body remained unaffected and continued its fierce assault.

"Start over, Mista."

Mista understood. Sex Pistols appeared again. A gunshot rang out, and Death Rewind activated.

They repeated the previous sequence and encountered Kars again.

Snap!

Dawn's fingers cracked sharply.

A purple glow appeared, and Dawn's eyes lit up.

[Stand: Beyond Imagination - Poor Imitation]

[Activate this ability to imitate another person's Stand or physical abilities through contact. By default, imitation reaches only 30% of the original's level. The greater the compatibility, the higher the degree of imitation.]

He gave up Dragon Tamer and locked in Poor Imitation.

Dawn crushed one of the frozen poisonous insects. In theory, these bugs were also part of Kars's body.

[Stand: Beyond Imagination - Poor Imitation]

Activate!!!

[Ultimate Lifeform loading...]

[Loading complete!]

[Stand: Gaia Consciousness loading...]

[Loading complete!]

Dawn's mind jolted. He glanced at Dio and Hewitt, and Gaia Consciousness took effect. He quietly gained mastery of two abilities.

Time Stop—three seconds.

Desperate Speed—consumed life in grains of sand.

Dawn casually took three hundred years of Joestar's lifespan, then turned and reminded Mista, "Be ready to start over at any moment."

Mista nodded solemnly. The Insect Arrow pendant pierced his chest, and he pointed his hand cannon at his temple, carefully watching the battle.

"Kars! You're not the only Ultimate Lifeform!!!"

Dawn's body twisted and transformed into a muscular velociraptor. He pounced at Kars at incredible speed.

His claws slashed across Kars's abdomen, leaving three bloody gashes, but they healed in the blink of an eye.

Seeing this, Dawn knew things were bad.

Kars healed too quickly. With only 30% imitation, he couldn't win.

"The World!"

Dawn shouted. Dio, standing behind him, froze for a moment before activating Time Stop. The world fell utterly silent.

Dawn slashed Kars's throat with a claw, and blood gushed out. Before he could make another move, Kars's fingers twitched, and his eyes turned toward Dawn.

"Nature truly is wondrous. To think that time could be stopped..."

Dawn leaped back to put some distance between them. Kars's ability was completely unfair. Now he understood why Dio had died without a sound.

"Desperate Speed!!!"

One of Dawn's hands turned into a tentacle and burrowed into Kars's body, frantically stealing his lifespan.

"So you have a Stand of the same type as mine. But my lifespan is infinite."

Kars murmured to himself, as if he'd figured something out. His legs transformed into reverse-jointed limbs, and he lunged forward with a lightning-fast slash.

Eight golden grains of sand fell. Dawn staggered to his feet, holding his own head in his arms.

[Warning! This ability is extremely incompatible with the user. The degree of imitation cannot be increased...]

Dawn gripped his head with both hands and hurled it toward Mista.

Mista caught it without thinking. The head opened its mouth and said, "Start over! Mista!"

After all those loops, Mista had long since developed perfect understanding with him. He immediately raised his hand cannon and pulled the trigger without the slightest hesitation.

Bang!!!

Before the gunshot, Kars's pupils widened, and his instincts urged him to stop it. For some reason, he had a strange sense of déjà vu.

The abandoned cabin.

The side effects of Wasting Time were growing more severe. If Dawn didn't speak, everyone would even unconsciously forget he was there.

"This can't go on. I need to think of something."

Dawn pondered in silence, sent Diavolo outside to deal with whoever was watching them, and sank into deep thought.

Before long, King Crimson returned and picked up a rag to wipe its hands.

"The wind's suddenly picked up outside. It might rain later."

"Rain?"

Dawn seemed to catch a flash of inspiration. His expression grew increasingly excited.

"Can Mista's Requiem control a large mass of storm clouds? Let's try it!"

Cloud Dragon set out once more.

When they reached the underground tunnel, Dawn got straight to the point. "Mista, can you summon a large mass of storm clouds during the next rewind?"

Mista looked a little confused, but answered instinctively. "I can, but my ability has to follow objective conditions. I can't create something that doesn't exist."

"It's about to rain in this area. I can turn a light rain into a thunderstorm, but I can't make the storm clouds last too long or grow too large."

Dawn frowned slightly. Ordinary storm clouds probably couldn't take down Kars. As an Ultimate Lifeform, Kars had incredible vitality.

He could swim in lava without dying.

Unless Cloud Dragon controlled a superstorm from several billion years ago that had lasted for millions of years, there was no way to take Kars out.

"I'll upgrade you."

As Mista stared in astonishment, Dawn activated [Stand: Beyond Imagination - Upgrade].

A sharp pain surged through him. Dawn held his dizzy head with one hand, looked up at Mista, and asked, "How about now?"

Mista turned to look at Sex Pistols in the sky. It had grown nearly as large as an adult, and the barrel of its machine gun was slowly spinning.

"I can influence storm clouds across the entire globe and create a supercell thunderstorm. The estimated coverage area is... about the size of India."

Mista continued, "If you don't care about its thickness, it can cover about twelve million square kilometers."