Giorno Giovanna VS Joker – DEATH BATTLE!

(Note: This fight was originally published on DeviantArt on June 27th, 2017, but I have reworked it in order to acknowledge the criticism it originally received.)

Brain: “Alright, the combatants are set. Let’s end this debate once and for all!”

Nocturn: “It’s time for a GANG BATTLE!”

---

Japan, 2018

Cafe Leblanc, a small restaurant in the neighborhood of Yongen-Jaya, located in the suburbs of Tokyo. On the outside, it just seemed like a standard coffee shop, but only a few people knew what was really going on inside of that cafe. A middle-aged man by the name of Sojiro Sakura ran this shop as a hobby, but inside its attic, there lived a peculiar character. His name was Akira Kurusu, an ordinary teenager from a small town outside of Tokyo who had been put on probation after being unfairly accused of a crime.

Akira, however, wore a mask. Both figuratively and literally. When he wasn’t acting like an ordinary high school student, Akira led a group called the Phantom Thieves. This group was composed of other teenagers, and their objective was to reform society by stealing the hearts of criminals. How do they steal hearts, you ask? That’s a question that only they know the answer to.

The young boy’s appearance was quite unimpressive for someone who lived a secret life as a criminal leader. He wore a black uniform with red and black-square-patterned trousers, the official outfit that students wore at Shujin Academy. His black hair looked quite messy, and his face lacked any remarkable features. He was the textbook definition of a blank slate.

Akira was sitting in his uncomfortable-looking bed while looking at his smartphone. He was trading messages with his friends. “So, how about that school trip?” A person whose icon depicted a girl with blonde twin tails and cyan eyes, presumably her, said.

“Oh, right! I completely forgot about that!” A blonde boy with a smug grin replied.

“Your parents paid fifty thousand yen for this school trip, how can you even forget something as important as that?” A responsible-looking girl with short brown hair rhetorically asked.

“Were you really expecting anything smart from Ryuji?” A younger girl with orange hair and large glasses replied snarkily.

“Why do you like messing with me so much!?” The blonde boy said, irritated.

“Anyway, the trip to Italy is in two days. Make sure to be ready, everyone!” The brunette girl reminded her friends of the destination of the trip.

“Is Yusuke coming with us too?” Akira typed on his phone, asking about the group’s artist friend.

“Sadly, I have to skip out on this one, we have midterms at Kosei High next week, so we don’t have the option to go on a trip.” The calm-looking boy with dark blue hair, named Yusuke, promptly answered Akira’s question.

A black cat with blue eyes approached Akira from behind. “Aren’t you tired? It’s pretty late. Let’s go to sleep.” The strange cat, called Morgana, spoke in his high-pitched voice. After hearing the feline’s words, Akira changed into more comfortable clothing and turned off his phone, getting ready to go to sleep. The boy lay on his bed and closed his eyes.

When he awakened, Akira was not in his bedroom, but instead, what seemed to be a prison cell. He was now wearing a black and white striped uniform, fitting for a prisoner. A strange figure spoke to him in a very deep voice.

“I see your rehabilitation is going quite smoothly. You have changed the hearts of many criminals. However, the challenge that awaits you next will be more difficult than any you’ve faced before. You have great chemistry with your team, but do you think you have what it takes to steal the heart of a world-famous criminal without them?”

The figure that was speaking to Akira was none other than Igor, the long-nosed master of the Velvet Room, a place existing between dream and reality, mind and matter.

“I will do anything to protect the world from those with rotten hearts.” The Inmate replied to Igor’s question.

In response, the master of the Velvet Room chuckled. “Don’t forget that your bonds have helped you increase the power of your own Personas. If you have trouble defeating an opponent with your current Persona, remember to use the power of the Wild Card to catch them by surprise.” Igor gave this valuable advice to Akira. As he heard Igor’s tips, the Inmate simply nodded.

“The time of your awakening has come, Inmate. Beware of the dangers that the future holds for you…” As Igor said those words, Akira’s eyes suddenly closed. When he opened them, he was back in his bedroom, and the new day had come.

---

Meanwhile, in Italy…

The Italian seaside city of Naples was home to many great traditions and establishments. However, the mafia had a strong influence on the city. A few years ago, the leader of the Passione mafia, Diavolo, was defeated by a young boy by the name of Giorno Giovanna. After Diavolo’s apparent disappearance, the Passione mafia was left without a leader, and there was no one as appropriate to lead it as Giorno, a boy with the skills of a leader and the willpower to stand against injustice.

Ever since Giorno took over, the situation of Italy’s youth had greatly improved. No longer were teenagers throwing away their lives by consuming drugs obtained from the mafia. Never again would the innocent suffer under the rule of that demonic monster that ruled the streets in the shadows.

But it’s not that easy to purge the mafia from the inside, even if the root of all evil had been eliminated. There were still many longtime members who preferred the old capo’s methods, evil people who conspired against Giorno’s goody-two-shoes way to lead Passione.

Those traitors wanted nothing more than to eliminate Giovanna, much like how he wished to defeat Diavolo back in the day. But Giorno knew how to handle those people.

“Giorno, we’ve received news about the whereabouts of one of the groups of traitors.” A tanned man who looked only a couple of years older than Giorno entered the room. His outfit was rather informal. He wore a checkered hat, a short blue t-shirt with long sleeves, and a pair of tight-fitting jeans with a red tiger skin pattern. His midriff was completely exposed, and one could see that he was keeping a revolver tucked into his pants. This man was Guido Mista, Giorno’s right-hand man.

Contrasting Mista’s carefree presentation, the Capo of Passione was clad in a black suit with golden ornamentation and a heart-shaped hole on the chest area, his stylish outfit was decorated by a pair of brooches styled to look like ladybugs. Extravagant, but still formal enough to make him look like the leader of the organization.

“Great to hear that, Mista. Please, tell me what you know.” The Capo kindly asked his friend.

“The intel we’ve received from Fugo says that in two days, the traitors have scheduled an illegal drug trade at a pizzeria called “Mondo Pizza”. We have identified the rebels as Stufato and Carota.” Mista said, reading off a file he was holding.

“Excellent. I’ll make sure to handle them myself.” Giorno replied to Mista’s report, but his answer shocked the hat-wearing gunner.

“Eeh!? Are you really going to go out of your way to take out a couple of goons? You’re the boss, you can’t go around doing dangerous things like those.” Guido exclaimed, nervous.

“Mista, it’s precisely because I am the boss that I wish to do it. As someone who reached power by betraying Diavolo’s trust, I want to send a message to those who defy the just ways of the reformed Passione.” Giorno solemnly said.

“Aah, you never change, Giorno. Well, there’s no use in trying to change your mind, so I’ll go with you to make sure you don’t mess up, hehe.” Mista condescendingly said in response to Giorno’s ideas.

“Hah. You say that as if I haven’t had to heal your wounds every time you screwed up.” Giorno retorted, causing Mista to chuckle in embarrassment. Both friends laughed together before returning to their business.

---

Two days later, at the Haneda Airport (Tokyo)

A crowd of high schoolers was gathered near one of the airport’s boarding gates. Among them were Akira and his friends: Ann Takamaki, the quarter-American aspiring model, Ryuji Sakamoto, a loudmouthed track and field expert, Makoto Niijima, student council president of Shujin Academy, and Haru Okumura, daughter of the late CEO of the famous Okumura Foods fast-food chain. They were waiting for the boarding gate to open.

Akira’s phone began vibrating, as someone had sent him a message. The teenager took it out and checked the messenger application, only to see a text from the girl with orange hair from before.

“Hey, it’s Futaba. You said you couldn’t bring Mona with you, so I’m keeping him with me. We’ll keep you informed if anything happens.” Akira simply replied to Futaba’s message with the “okay hand” emoticon. Afterward, he turned off his phone. The group was suddenly approached by a female teacher, Sadayo Kawakami, who looked a bit displeased.

“All right, everyone, form a line in front of the boarding gate. Don’t forget to keep your ID card and passport close.” After saying this, the teacher started calling students in alphabetical order. Meanwhile, Akira and his friends chatted about the trip.

“Man, I’m so effin’ hyped for this. I’ve always wanted to visit Europe! I heard the girls there are drop-dead gorgeous!” Ryuji showed his desire to pick up women during the school trip and was soon told off by Ann. “Are girls all you think about, Ryuji?”

“Hell no! I was just making a comment! I’m more interested in tasting some good ol’ pasta!” Ryuji replied angrily. “Suuuuuuuure,” Akira replied in a mocking fashion.

“Kurusu, Akira” The teacher’s voice could be heard calling Akira, who simply lined up behind his other classmates. After a few minutes of standing around, all students entered the plane and sat in their assigned seats. Knowing the long trip that awaited him, Akira closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.

After several hours of sleeping, Akira opened his eyes and looked through the plane’s window, with the sight of a boot-shaped country filling him with awe. A few minutes later, the plane landed at Naples’ International Airport. The students followed their teacher into a large bus that could easily fit over fifty people. The bus quickly took them to a nearby hotel.

“So this is where we’re gonna be staying. It doesn’t look like the most glamorous place in the world, but it seems nice enough.” Haru Okumura said upon seeing the hotel, which looked slightly shabby. The teenagers entered their rooms and left their bags there. Akira shared his room with Ryuji, who looked quite enthusiastic about it.

“Hey, man. We have some free time now, wanna go have an unofficial Phantom Thieves meeting at a restaurant? Here, I brought a guide.” The blonde boy happily asked, with the black-haired one simply nodding. Ryuji called Ann, Makoto, and Haru, and told them about their plans. The three girls happily obliged, and the whole gang met up at the doors of the hotel.

“According to this guide, we don’t need to go very far, it’s just a few streets away from the hotel,” Makoto explained while looking at the tourist guide. The Thieves walked around for a while until they found the restaurant. At the entrance, there was a sign that said “Mondo Pizza”. Visibly excited, Ryuji slammed open the door to reveal a fancy looking pizza place filled with people.

“Buona sera, we would like to get a table for five!” Ryuji loudly asked the receptionist while faking an Italian accent and wagging his hand, making the stereotypical “Italian” gesture.

“Ryuji, don’t do that! It’s a very rude gesture to make!” Makoto forcibly stopped Ryuji, but before anyone could try to properly ask for a table, a strange man barged into the building menacingly.

“I didn’t know this restaurant also had a daycare service.” The man said in a menacing tone. He wore a tuxedo woven in many different kinds of materials, each of a different color. Such an extravagant appearance was completely alienating to the people around him, but still, the owners of the restaurant seemed to respect him, although a hint of fear could be felt in them.

Next to him was an adult woman who looked just as menacing and bizarre as him, but rather than insult the teenagers, she simply gave them a mean look. Both of the strange figures walked into the restaurant without asking any more questions.

“What the heck, man? We were here first!” Ryuji yelled, but the weirdly-dressed thugs didn’t bat an eye at the situation. Instead, the receptionist tried to stop Ryuji. “You don’t understand! Those people are part of the Passione mafia. This part of the city is their turf!”

“Mafia?” Haru murmured, shocked. Ryuji, however, wasn’t stunned at all. He came up to the mafioso, struck a menacing pose, and yelled the following. “Hey, do you like pizza?”

The thug raised an eyebrow and let out a little hum upon hearing Ryuji’s question. Immediately, Ryuji followed up his statement. “‘Cause you’re a pizza shit!” Once again, Sakamoto started making the stereotypical Italian hand gesture. The woman that was next to the thug, took out a handgun and aimed it at Ryuji.

“Get the fuck outta here before I pop a cap in your ass,” She replied angrily while pointing her gun at the Japanese student. Ryuji’s face suddenly got pale, and he slowly backed away from the gangsters’ table.

“I-I think we should go back to the hotel,” Makoto said, slightly intimidated by the situation. Everyone else in the gang nodded rapidly. As they exited the restaurant, another strange pair walked into the restaurant. The leader of those men was a blonde man dressed in pink. His stance was elegant but even more menacing than the gangsters. He was none other than Giorno Giovanna himself, accompanied by his gunman, Guido Mista.

Akira’s crew had already exited the building, but they were peeking through one of the establishment’s windows. The pink-clad man and his companion waltzed into the building without saying anything and quickly approached the table where the two gangsters were staying.

“How dreadful. Threatening an innocent group of teenagers who were trying to enjoy a meal.” Giorno spoke to the thugs, whose expression shifted into one of absolute panic.

“Boss!? What are you doing here, sir!?” The female thug tried to keep calm and questioned their boss. Seeing what was going on, all other customers fled the restaurant in a hurry.

“We could ask you the same question, pal. Our good ol’ Capo spent his youth destroying Italy’s drug market, and you clowns are trying to kickstart it again?” Mista reprimanded the thugs, Stufato and Carota, whose faces twisted themselves into awfully panicked expressions.

“Gimme a break, old man! Passione reached its current power thanks to drug trafficking! All you’ve done for our family is to kill longtime members who didn’t support your policies on drugs! We are the MAFIA, not the police!” Stufato lashed out at the boss and his right-hand man.

“Stufato. I, Giorno Giovanna, have a dream. The dream to save the world from those with filthy hearts whose only goal is to reach the top by harming the innocent. I do not want to see anyone throwing away their lives over narcotics. And yet here you stand, actively taking part in immoral acts such as these. You have guts, but I’ll show you how we deal with monsters like you in Giorno Giovanna’s Passione.” The golden-haired man delivered a speech.

A golden aura began surrounding Giorno’s body, causing the thugs to grow even more nervous.

“He’s gonna use his Stand! Watch out!” Carota shouted before quickly pulling the trigger on her handgun, but as the bullets approached Giorno, he yelled out two words.

『GOLD EXPERIENCE』

A mysterious figure quickly stopped the bullets. To the onlooking Shujin students, this figure was completely invisible, with the exception of Akira, who was able to catch a small glimpse of a golden humanoid.

This strange spirit swiftly grabbed onto Stufato’s neck and launched him through the window, shattering its glass into millions of little pieces. Before the criminal’s body flew through the window, Akira and his friends quickly moved away from it, but they were still shocked when they saw the man colliding with a nearby lamppost.

Carota tried to shoot her gun at Giorno again, but before she even got a chance to pull the trigger, three shots came out of the cannon of Mista’s gun, seemingly powered by another bizarre spirit. The projectiles suddenly dug into Carota’s head, but the strength behind them was so great that it completely destroyed the woman’s head, leaving a massive red stain on the floor and walls of the restaurant.

After Carota had been taken care of, Giorno jumped out the window and walked toward Stufato. “I will save you from your sinful way of life.” The Capo said in a serious tone before the invisible force grabbed onto Stufato’s neck and instantly crushed it in its fist, forcing the man to cough up an unhealthy amount of blood.

The Shujin students watched in horror as this obscene dance took place before them. Once Giorno let go of Stufato’s lifeless body, he turned toward the students and handed them a 100€ note.

“My apologies for spoiling your dinner in such a horrifying manner. Please treat yourselves to something at a nicer restaurant.” The Gang-star apologized to the teenagers. Ryuji nervously grabbed the money and bowed, saying “Grazie” in response. Absolutely horrified, all the teenagers ran as fast as they could while Giorno and Mista cleaned up after their mess.

Minutes later, the group of teens sat down at a cafeteria far away from the restaurant. “What the hell was that!? Those guys just up and killed two people in front of us!” The blonde boy aggressively murmured.

“God, that was disgusting… I’m not sure I can eat anything right now…” Ann said in a sheepish tone.

“How did they even do that? Were they using telekinetic powers?” Haru asked herself.

“Huh? You didn’t see those strange figures?” Akira responded with another question, making it clear that he had seen something the others hadn’t. “When that man said Gold Experience, a spirit of sorts manifested behind him. That was what killed those guys.” The leader of the group explained, confusing his friends even more.

“Could they be Persona users?” Makoto rhetorically asked.

“Persona users or not, one thing is clear. We need to change that man’s heart.” Ryuji said loudly, making his companions nervous.

“Ryuji’s right, someone like him must have a Palace. He acted like his way of resolving conflict was the only choice, but he didn’t even give that guy a chance to redeem himself.” Makoto followed up, supporting Ryuji’s arguments. All the other Phantom Thieves nodded.

“This looks like a job for the Phantom Thieves!” Ryuji said enthusiastically. While still close to the restaurant, Akira took out his smartphone and clicked on a strange red navigation app.

“Alright, we need a name, location, and cognition,” Haru explained the steps that they needed to take. “That guy said he was called Giorno Giovanna, right?” After Ryuji tried to remember the gangster’s name, Akira input his name on the application, which played a sound clip saying “Connection found.”

“It makes sense that a mafia boss would have a Palace. Based on our previous experience with crime lords, I think the location of his Palace should be a large-scale place, not just a building.” Makoto tried to deduce the missing keywords.

“How about “Naples”, since that’s where we know he’s working?” Akira typed it after hearing Ann say that, but a sound clip saying “Connections have not been met.” played. “Hmm… Then maybe Italy as a whole?” After trying again, the app played the “Connection found” clip.

“We have the “who” and the “where”. Now we only need the “what”. This one might be a bit trickier.” Makoto said. “I imagine it has something to do with commerce, since that is what his work is about, technically. Let’s try a department store.”

“Not working,” Akira confirmed. Before the team could input anything else, the leader remembered what Giorno said. “He went on about saving the world and “saving” people from their sins.”

“Ugh, so arrogant. Maybe something like a church or a chapel, since he’s saying he’s a savior?” Ann suggested in a disgusted tone. Surprisingly, the app found a connection when Akira inputted the word “church”.

“Perfect! Let’s get this shit done and dusted!” Ryuji vulgarly said as he clicked on the app. However, it did not have any effect. All of his companions tried to enter as well, but they received the same message.

“You are not allowed in this Palace.”

But for some reason, it was working for Akira, whose body was transported to the Metaverse and vanished from the cognitive world.

“W-what the eff!?” Ryuji yelled out once again.

“It seems only Akira-kun was able to access the Palace… This is strange. We’ll have to keep trying, but I’m not sure if it’ll work…” Haru said, worried about her friend.

---

Inside the Metaverse…

Joker reappeared at the entrance of a large building surrounded by people. The building looked extremely regal. It had a dome on its roof, and many of the columns that supported its weight were coated in gold. It looked somewhat similar to the real-life Vatican Palace, but it had a twisted look to it.

As he looked around, Akira was shocked by the fact that he was alone. He tried to check his phone messages, but there wasn’t any network connection inside the Palace. Then, it hit him. Igor said something about having to steal a world-renown criminal by himself. Was this some kind of test?

No matter the reason why fate decided to make him do this on his own, he knew he couldn’t afford to mess up. Things were different now. No longer was he wearing his school uniform. Instead, his new outfit was composed of a long leather coat, red gloves, and a white masquerade mask.

Suited up for the operation, Akira observed the outside of the Palace, which was filled to the brim with ill-looking people trying to enter the large church building. Many guards were escorting the contaminated people into the building while others were watching the doors.

Obviously, he couldn’t just get in through the front door, so Akira carefully observed every little detail about the pompous building. One of the sides was empty, and above it was an open window. Joker smirked and made his way to the deserted side of the yard without being spotted by the guards.

Once he was below the window, he took out a grappling gun, which he aimed at the open window that was several meters above him. When he pulled the trigger, a large hook attached to a cable shot out of the gun, soon digging its sharp hook into the windowsill. Joker pulled the trigger again and the cable contracted itself, carrying the Phantom Thief up.

Akira quickly and silently snuck through the window and closed it to avoid raising suspicions. He shifted his eyes through the hallway, which was just as ostentatious as the outside of the building. There were many golden pillars and pieces of furniture, as well as multiple framed portraits of strangely-dressed people.

As Joker walked through this hallway, he read the small plaques that were below the oil-paintings. In them, the names of the subjects of the paintings and the artists were engraved. Narancia Ghirga, Trish Una, Bruno Bucciaratti… They all sounded very Italian. The thief carefully left the room and advanced onto the next one.

As he opened the door that was before him, Akira’s eyes witnessed a massive monastic library with hundreds upon hundreds of ancient-looking books, but there was one that stood out. A large codex with a golden cover and a title that read “Vento Aureo”. There were no Shadows around, so Akira closed in on the book and looked at it closely.

“It’s all in Latin…” The gentleman thief said to himself out loud while sorting through the pages of the book. Luckily for him, there were many pictures that came with the text. These illustrations showed Giorno Giovanna’s life. The abuse he received as a child, the people he saved, and the people he righteously defeated.

Although he could only understand part of the context, the young thief learned a bit about the person he was chasing after. But he still wished to learn more, so he took the book with himself, which triggered a loud alarm. A pair of Shadows rushed into the room, but before they could spot the thief, he used his grappling gun to get to the second level of the library, where he hid behind one of the bookshelves.

After waiting for the Shadow guards to leave, Akira kept on exploring the chapel, making sure to eliminate any Shadows that got in his way. After a couple of hours of treading through the building, the Phantom Thief arrived at the top of the church, where there were a small hall and a large door. Joker forced the door open with both hands, revealing a large room with numerous religious paintings and effigies that looked suspiciously like Giorno and his allies.

The ceiling of the room consisted of a large dome with several frescoes painted on it, similar to the Sistine Chapel. One of the frescoes depicted Giorno recreating the Creation of Adam. But he was filling the role of Adam, while God’s role was occupied by a muscular blonde man that Joker couldn’t recognize.

But the artworks weren’t the only notable thing about this room. In the center of it, there was a small, cloudy object that lacked a physical form. This was none other than Giorno’s Treasure, the source of the strong feelings that formed that Palace. However, it hadn’t materialized itself yet.

Firstly, Akira had to trigger a change in Giorno’s cognition so that the Treasure took on a solid shape. To make sure he could steal the Treasure once it materialized the after sending Giorno a calling card, Akira climbed to the top of the room and tampered with the windows, thus securing an easy route to that room.

Once everything was in place, Joker made his way out of the Palace, returning to the real-world version of Italy. His friends were all waiting for him with worried and anxious expressions.

“Thank goodness you’re safe… We were worried sick!” Makoto greeted the leader of the Phantom Thieves. She almost went for a hug, but the fact that her other friends were there made her think twice.

“How did it go?” Ryuji asked Akira in an excited tone. In response to his query, the thief smirked and gave him a thumbs-up.

“I’ve located the Treasure and secured an escape route. All that’s left is sending the calling card.” The leader confidently said.

“Great to hear! While you were out and about, we looked for some info with Futaba’s help. We have the address of the main Passione office.” Ann said gladly.

“Hmm? What’s that book you’ve got there?” Haru asked while looking at Akira. The leader quickly explained that it contained the history of Giorno Giovanna, and that it would be vital for the creation of the calling card. Unlike the Metaverse version of the book, this one was simply in Italian, so they would have an easier time reading through it.

Wanting to wrap up the preparations, the group of students returned to the hotel and continued their investigation.

---

Two hours later, Passione Main Office

In the middle of the night, Giorno calmly sorted through some documents that involved dubious requests, such as money laundering and hit jobs. However, his work was interrupted by a tall man with dark blonde hair and a green suit, full of large holes, who came into the room while carrying a red and black card with cut out letters from other sources.

“Boss… These strange cards were plastered all over the office’s front door,” The man said while handing one of the cards to the man with the hair donuts.

“Do you know what it is, Fugo?” Giorno asked in return before reading the card.

“It seems to be some kind of calling card from a group called the Phantom Thieves. They’re a band of Robin Hood-esque thieves from Japan who try to change criminals’ hearts.” The man in the green suit, Fugo, reported to his boss.

“Oh, I have heard of them. Maybe they’ve started an Italy branch, heh.” Giorno laughed it off, but then he started to read through the card’s message, which was written in Italian.

“Giorno Giovanna, sinner of vainglory. Your way to enforce justice is nothing more than a grotesque and self-righteous joke. By giving death to all those who oppose you, the ideals that you push are no better than those of the people you slay. We will teach you that there is always a better way to do things, and for that, we will take your heart. Signed: The Phantom Thieves of Heart.”

Giorno’s expression changed after reading the card aloud. It seemed too on-the-nose for a prank, and too sophisticated for a plot designed by the organization’s traitors. Many possibilities rushed through Giorno’s mind, but on the outside, he still seemed stoic.

“Thanks for letting me know, Fugo. There’s no need to worry about it for now.” Giorno kindly replied to the informant, who bowed and left the room. When Giorno’s subordinate closed the door, Giorno silently read the card a couple more times before promptly crumpling it into a ball and throwing it into a trash can.

---

The next day, at 6 PM, outside the hotel…

“We’re all set. Akira, even though you’re the only one who can get into the Palace, we’ll do everything we can to cover for you. Please… stay safe.” Haru gently said, encouraging the leader.

“Thanks, guys. We’ve got this.” Akira enthusiastically said before activating the Metaverse Navigator, which transported his physical body to Giorno’s Palace. Once again, he donned his thief outfit while sneaking around the church building until he reached the shortcut he had prepared. Using his grappling hook, Akira climbed his way to the top of the building and snuck in through the window.

Unlike the last time, there was something in the Treasure Room. It was an arrow made of gold and other valuable materials. A ladybug was engraved in it. This treasure was hanging on one of the walls of the chapel, and below it was a figure with a strong presence, sitting down on a golden throne.

“I believe you’re looking for this.” This figure spoke in a distorted voice. It was none other than Giorno Giovanna, or rather, his Shadow. His irises were now colored golden, and flowing pieces of gold fabric fluttered behind him, giving him a divine appearance. However, most of his outfit was just as it was when Akira met him in the real world.

“Welcome, Phantom Thief. I eagerly awaited your arrival.” Shadow Giorno addressed the thief boss in a serious tone.

“Save the formalities for the press, murderer. Your treasure is mine!” Akira cried out while shooting his grappling hook at the golden arrow, but just when it was mere inches away from the Treasure, a golden hand stopped the projectile in midair.

“I have no time to argue with you about the infantile insults you’re throwing. Changing the world takes time, and I’ve got none to spare on a petty thief, so I will finish this quickly.” Giorno said as he got up from his throne. Just like in the restaurant, a golden aura covered the mafia boss’ body.

『GOLD EXPERIENCE』

Once more, he called out the same name. But this time, Akira was able to get the full view of Giorno’s spiritual guardian. It had a human-like body decorated with ladybug-themed emblems and wings on its shoulders, as well as a head that resembled a military helmet.

This golden spirit quickly levitated toward Akira while preparing to deliver a punch, but the thief wasn’t going to just stand there and wait to get hit. With a smirk, he put his hand on his mask and quickly took it off, causing blue flames to manifest around him.

“Witness my Persona! Arsène!” Joker shouted a French name, triggering a change in the flames that were behind him. The blue fire quickly took on the form of a strange spirit with great black wings manifested itself behind Akira. It wore a crimson vest and boots, a black corset decorated with a white handkerchief, and had its face composed by a black and red mask that was attached to an overly long black top hat. Its sharp claws and talons made it look especially menacing.

This spirit, also known as a Persona, quickly blocked the punch delivered by Giorno’s Gold Experience. The sight of the red Persona surprised Giorno. “Of course. I should’ve expected that you would have a Stand as well. We are all drawn to one another, after all.”

“So Personas are called something else in Italian…” Akira thought to himself as he drew his pocket knife. Giorno’s Stand took on a fighting stance, but he was not particularly nervous about the battle. He was confident that he could win.

FIGHT!

Gold Experience dashed in Akira’s direction with the intention of punching him, but Akira’s Persona suddenly moved right in front of his master and grabbed Gold Experience’s fist, stopping the blow. Arsene then clawed away at the Stand with his other hand, causing it to reel back slightly. Gold Experience tried to kick Arsene, but the Persona dodged the attack and began charging its claws with shadowy energy. Arsene grabbed Gold Experience’s neck and tried to stab through the Stand’s skin with its claws, but the Stand blocked the attack by punching Arsene’s hand at an incredible speed.

Akira stepped back and covered his mask with his hand, emanating blue energy while doing so. Arsene then pointed at Giorno, causing a surge of dark energy to appear from beneath the mafia boss’ feet. Due to the ethereal nature of the attack, Giorno was incapable of blocking it, but luckily for him, it wasn’t a very powerful attack, so he was merely shaken up slightly by it.

In an attempt to make a comeback, Giorno’s Stand punched one of the floor’s tiles. Akira was surprised by this, but he knew it had to be some sort of trick. In less than a second, the floor tile transformed into a tarantula of above-average size. This newly-born creature crawled at great speed toward the Phantom Thief.

Cautious, Akira commanded Arsene to snatch the arachnid from the ground before they could strike and crushed it with its claws…

CRACK!

Or tried to. The moment the Persona applied pressure to the spider, Akira’s body suddenly doubled over; an immense force was crushing him from all sides, his bones groaning in protest. But how? Giorno hadn’t moved from his position; unless he had something akin to telekinesis, the only explanation was that the tarantula could deflect damage!

Arsene threw the tarantulas back to the ground, and immediately, the pressure lifted. Akira drew in a labored breath, standing back up to his full height. However, while he was focused on getting rid of the tarantula, Giorno approached him and promptly delivered a punch to Akira’s face, stunning him briefly.

Within that small window of opportunity, Gold Experience’s gilded fists traveled toward the thief while screaming “MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!” The barrage of punches bombarded Akira’s body with extremely quick impacts, but after two seconds of withstanding the assault, he broke the attack off by trying to swing his knife at the Stand, forcing it to move back.

In an instant, Gold Experience attempted to resume its attacks, but in response, Arsene used his claws to intercept Gold Experience’s fist, which caused the Stand’s flash to be pierced by the dark claws. As soon as this happened, the Stand reeled back from the pain, and an identical wound manifested itself on Giorno’s hand.

Joker took quick notice of this detail and prepared a new strategy to exploit that weakness. Much to Giorno’s surprise, Akira quickly took off his mask, with Arsene disappearing in the process. However, the Phantom Thief took out another mask and put it on. As he did that, he pronounced the name of a new spirit, which materialized itself right before his eyes.

Vishnu, the supreme God of creation and balance in Hinduism. Its appearance resembled that of a human with yellow skin and four arms. It held different artifacts on each of its hands, and its waist was covered by a light blue piece of cloth.

“You have multiple Stands? That’s quite an interesting ability. Let’s see if they can match my Gold Experience’s power and speed.” Giorno, surprised by his opponent’s power, taunted him. Akira nodded in return with a smirk on his face.

Akira commanded the Hindu god, who pointed at his enemy with his four hands. Doing so caused strong winds to rise, despite the fact that there weren’t any winds blowing inside the Palace. In fact, those winds had become so powerful and sharp that they were starting to deal damage to Giorno’s skin and clothing, putting small cuts in miscellaneous parts of his body.

Giorno covered his face and neck with his arms while trying to command Gold Experience. The Stand attempted to punch Vishnu, but its fist was intercepted by what seemed to be a bullet, which was fired by Akira’s handgun. This bullet failed to pierce the Stand’s flesh, but it threw it off-balance, an opportunity that Vishnu took to deliver multiple blows to its stomach using its four fists.

This, however, caused the wind storm to disappear suddenly, allowing Giorno and his Stand to move freely again. Given this situation, Gold Experience delivered a high kick to Vishnu’s chin and then followed the attack up with a barrage of punches, knocking away the god, who counterattacked by firing two blasts of wind in the shape of saw blades. Gold Experience punched the floor before the blades reached its user, causing a thick tree trunk to appear from out of nowhere.

The blades of wind got stuck trying to slice through the tree, but due to the nature of Gold Experience’s ability, which returned all direct damage, the blades zipped through the air back in Vishnu’s direction. The god floated in front of his master and crossed his four arms, bracing himself to intercept the wind blades, which quickly ground on his skin until they dissipated.

Giorno approached the tree that blocked Vishnu’s attack and gently touched it, causing it to wither away instantly. While the Passione boss did that, Akira’s Vishnu began glowing intensely. As soon as the enemy’s tree disappeared, the Hindu God triggered an explosion beneath Giorno’s feet. The magical flames of this blue explosion quickly engulfed the gangster and his spirit, dealing great damage to them.

When the explosion cleared out, an injured Giorno was kneeling down with parts of his jacket torn off, revealing several bleeding wounds. Giorno’s Stand was touching said wounds, seemingly creating new tissue in order to heal them. While the gangster healed himself, Vishnu started transferring energy to Akira through the Charge ability. The thief’s body glowed red due to the immense surge of strength that he had received, but instead of attacking his injured foe, he switched masks again.

The Hindu God of creation vanished, only to be replaced by Futsunushi-no-kami, the God of swords in Shinto mythology. The spirit had the appearance of a grey-skinned humanoid covered in bandages. He floated around with his legs crossed, with eight levitating swords with dark green blades surrounding his body. Due to Vishnu’s Charge ability, both Akira and Futsunushi were glowing brightly.

While Akira switched his Persona, Giorno had finished healing his wounds, and he was now ready to keep fighting with his foe. Giorno charged in Akira’s direction, commanding Gold Experience to attack his foe’s spirit. The Stand attempted to pummel the God of swords, but its attacks dealt a very low amount of damage. Futsunushi counterattacked by rapidly attacking Gold Experience with eight quick slashes from each of the swords, tearing large gashes into Giorno and the Stand’s body.

The Passione boss attempted to retreat because of his grave wounds, but he noticed that Futsunushi’s swords started to group together to create a huge sword. The levitating sword was soon swung in Gold Experience’s direction, but the Stand grabbed the blade with its hands. Gold Experience struggled to hold the sword, but it used its power to transform the blade into a tree and quickly withered it. Upon noticing that his Persona’s main method of attack had been dismantled, Akira switched masks again.

The spirit that replaced the God of Swords was Cybele, the mother of all Greek deities. She took the appearance of a blue naked humanoid with long horns and brown hair that was long enough to reach her hips. She carried two thin swords, and there were white stripes of fabric surrounding her body. While Joker changed Personas, Giorno restored some of the wounds that Futsunushi caused upon him.

Expecting his foe to attack him as soon as he could, Giorno used Gold Experience to punch multiple floor tiles at incredible speed, transforming them into several poisonous scorpions, all of which quickly crawled towards Akira. The Inmate did his best to avoid all of the minuscule arthropods, but when he tried to reach his opponent, he felt his leg being stung by one of them. In mere seconds, the teenager’s calf began swelling up due to the powerful poison.

However, instead of healing himself, Akira used Cybele to cast a spell.  The attack consisted of instantly creating lances made of pure light and using them to impale every single enemy, and so, all of the scorpions, as well as Giorno, were impaled by sets of spears. Most of the scorpions died instantly, but this also caused multiple spears to pierce Akira’s body as well.

“You would willingly stab yourself to get the upper hand? That is quite tenacious of you.” Giorno was utterly flabbergasted by his enemy’s bold move. Still, there was something he wasn’t counting on. Akira’s Cybele began glowing brightly, causing green energy to appear around her summoner’s body. This was a healing power that not only healed all of Akira’s wounds but also eliminated the poison that he had been inflicted with.

“I wouldn’t do something that risky if I didn’t know I could heal myself.” The Phantom Thief said with a smug smirk, but this motivated the mafia boss, who cracked his knuckles to prepare for another onslaught of attacks, but instead, Joker withdrew Cybele and summoned a horrifying beast known as the Mother Harlot.

This creature was the root of all abominations and monsters that have roamed the Earth throughout its existence, and her appearance didn’t hide it. She had the look of a young maiden in a revealing nightgown, but her face lacked any skin or muscles. Instead, it was just bones. The Harlot rode a terrifying creature that seemed to be a chimera with seven heads, each of them wearing a crown. The ride’s fur was completely red, with the exception of multiple darker diamond-shaped spots.

Normally, any person would be intimidated by such an unsightly creature, but Giorno’s Shadow feared nothing. The son of Dio approached the monster and pummelled all of its faces before it could attack. Nevertheless, the beast was not deterred by the young man’s assault. The Harlot that rode the beast waved her hand, and all of a sudden, the room’s temperature lowered by several dozen degrees. This, however, only seemed to affect Giorno. He tried to create new life by punching a nearby column, but due to the impossibly low temperature, he failed to transform it into anything.

Frustrated, Giorno’s Shadow went in for another barrage of attacks. The Harlot fired a set of icicles at Giorno, but his Stand easily swatted them away like they were a swarm of mosquitos. The gilded spirit’s fists zipped through the air until they reached the Mother Harlot’s beast, repeating his typical barrage until the monster stopped moving. It was then that Akira switched masks yet again.

This time, the summoned spirit was none other than Odin, the chief of the gods in Norse mythology. The god had a humanoid form with purple skin. He wore a long white cape, a short piece of cloth around his waist, and a large golden horned helmet. He wielded the legendary spear Gungnir. Once Odin was summoned, the temperature of the room returned to normality.

“You have a lot of tricks up your sleeve, but I have infinite potential. Gold Experience allows me to create life itself! I can bring forth any animal I wish. Can your Stands keep up?” As he said this, Giorno sent his Stand to fight Akira’s Persona. The Stand’s golden fists clashed with Odin’s Gungnir, sparks flying with every single impact. Gold Experience raised its feet and performed a dropkick on Odin’s chest, sending the god flying backward.

Odin raised Gungnir, thus causing lightning to rain down on the room. Both Giorno and Gold Experience did their best to dodge the god’s magic, performing perfectly-timed sidesteps. Akira, however, commanded Odin to summon a horizontal bolt of lightning, which traveled so quickly that Giorno was unable to dodge it fully, thus taking damage to his left hand. In a flash, Odin sliced off Giorno’s damaged hand with Gungnir. The son of Dio let out a pained cry as he tried to retreat.

Lastly, the Norse God threw his spear at his opponent, piercing Giorno’s stomach. Odin snapped his fingers, causing a bolt of lightning to strike Gungnir. When the attack struck the gangster, he let out a scream of agony, and for a moment, he stopped moving. Due to this scene, Akira took off his mask, making Odin and Gungnir disappear, causing Giorno to fall and forcing Gold Experience to vanish.

HOLD UP!

“Ready to give up on your violent ways of enforcing justice?” Joker said as he pointed his handgun at the downed mafia boss, who laughed in response.

“You’re so childish. Changing people’s hearts? What a load of nonsense. The world is a twisted place. There are far too many people who require changes if you want to make an impact on society.” Although he had a gun pointed at his head, Giorno did not have an ounce of fear in his body.

“That’s not true. If you make an important figure change their mind, that will send a message to those who follow them!” Joker retorted, but Giorno seemed unimpressed. “You should know that well! You tried to change Italy!”

“And I succeeded. But you have no idea what I went through to get where I am now. The path to revolution is a bloodstained one. If it had been up to me, I would never have killed anyone, but the monsters that stood in my path were by far the most wretched scum Italy had ever seen, with Mussolini being the sole exception.”

“If the Phantom Thieves had been there, we could’ve changed their hearts!”

“Your optimism is admirable, but misplaced. There were far too many hearts to change, and too little time. In the mafia, you either kill or get killed. I’ve lost many friends because of that, but such is the way in which fate works. In the end, their sacrifices helped reshape society…” Giorno said as his eyes teared up slightly.

The memory of his friends gave Giorno the strength to stand up, but in response, Akira fired his gun at him. However, Gold Experience materialized itself in front of the Gang-star and easily deflected the bullet.

“You’re no better than them. Taking people’s lives will only breed more violence!” Akira shouted back and swung his dagger at the blonde man, who narrowly dodged the blade and grabbed it with his bare hands.

“Your wishful thinking… It’s useless. Utterly useless.” The Gang-star murmured as he let go of the dagger’s edge and stepped back. But as soon as Giorno got away from him, he felt the touch of dozens of needles pricking the hand that he was using to hold his knife.

When he looked at the dagger, he realized it had been transformed into a round creature that Akira was unable to identify. However, his whole body was overcome with extreme pain that forced him to unwillingly let out an ear-piercing scream. “That is a flower urchin. It is one of the deadliest types of urchins in the world. You may be able to heal from its poison, but nothing can take away the shock caused by its sting!” Giorno explained.

Taking advantage of the pain that Joker was undergoing, Giorno called forth his Stand, which landed a solid punch on the thief’s stomach, sending him flying to the other side of the room, but as he was flying toward the wall, Akira summoned Kohryu, a legendary dragon from Chinese mythology.

This long white serpent caught Akira’s body in midair, preventing him from colliding with the wall, and now the teenager found himself riding the dragon toward Giorno while being affected by the urchin’s poison.

But when the thief laid eyes on his foe, the blonde man simply stood menacingly while a horde of massive wasps surrounded him, which he had transfigured with Gold Experience while Akira was distracted. These above-average sized wasps buzzed through the air at bullet-like speeds, alerting the Phantom Thief.

Thinking quickly, Joker pointed his wounded finger at the wasps, giving Kohryu a sign. The dragon understood and activated his psychic powers, which gently engulfed the wasps before sending them flying back toward Giorno, who used his Stand to cover its chest by crossing its arms.

Although that served to shield him from the full brunt of the attack, the massive stingers still pierced through Gold Experience’s skin, and as such, Giorno’s too. Ignoring his pain, the boss of Passione used Gold Experience’s arms to launch himself high into the air, reaching Kohryu, and punched the dragon right in the face.

The immense force behind this hit caused the flying dragon to fall down immediately. While the Persona was downed, Giorno dropped in from the air and ran toward Akira. Once he was two meters away from the high school student, the Shadow of Giorno summoned Gold Experience and rapidly pummelled him at speeds that easily surpassed light’s movements.

While Giorno’s Stand punched away at him, Akira seemed to notice a change while he was being attacked. Everything was moving faster than usual. Every single punch felt too fast to perceive. Once Gold Experience stopped punching him,  Joker ran in Giorno’s direction, but his speed also seemed to have changed… His body was moving far faster than he could actually run.

However, in reality, he was moving at his standard speed. Although he was actually several meters away from Giorno, Akira started slashing away at him with his spare knife, but he completely missed by a long shot. He was not even close to the Gang-star. It was almost as if he had been drugged.

Once he realized his mental state had been altered, Akira sloppily tried to change his mask, making the downed Kohryu disappear, and bringing out Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of fertility and love. She took the form of a blonde woman with horns and wore short pieces of white cloth around her chest and hips.

As soon as this goddess appeared, Akira’s mind returned to its original state, and he saw everything at its normal speed, and on top of that, the poison that the urchin had injected into him was also gone. Wanting to surprise Giorno, the thief rushed at him, making him think that he hadn’t been healed yet. Giorno completely fell for Akira’s plan, as he didn’t even bother to dodge Akira’s slashes, thus being inflicted with a large diagonal cut across the chest.

Giorno’s jacket was now almost completely torn to shreds. While Giorno was still shaken by Akira’s attack, Ishtar fired a bolt of lightning at the gangster, hitting him dead on. While he still had Ishtar out, Akira used her to heal himself, but right as he did that, he swapped masks yet again because of Ishtar’s poor combat prowess. Akira’s next Persona was none other than Metatron, the angel known as the Voice of God. It took the shape of a robotic human with metallic wings. It wore a vanilla-colored robe with the Cross, the symbol of Christianity.

Using its powers, Metatron created a sword made of pure light. Giorno tried to respond to it and commanded Gold Experience to create a large club using many beetles with hard shells. The two spirits floated in each other’s direction and swung their weapons. The makeshift beetle-club clashed with the sword of light, with some of the beetles being scattered due to the impact, which dealt no damage to the blade of light due to its incorporeal nature.

The Voice of God performed a horizontal slash, fully dismantling the beetle-club, and thus throwing the Stand off-balance. Metatron took this opportunity to summon a dozen lances made of light, throwing them at the opponent’s Stand, impaling it through multiple parts of its body. Naturally, this damage also affected the user.

Giorno’s Shadow called off Gold Experience and brought it back just to try and heal his multiple wounds, but when he tried to look for his opponent, he was gone. Both the thief and the Voice of God had completely disappeared. Little did he know, Akira was right behind him, with a different Persona this time. Ongyo-Ki, the legendary Oni that was said to have created Ninjutsu by being able to suppress its own aura to become undetectable. It took the shape of a pitch-black masked creature who wore even darker robes and wielded a segmented staff with sharp scythes on each end.

Giorno looked around while his wounds were healing, but he was unable to find anything. Suddenly, he felt the overwhelming pain of having his back slashed by some kind of blade… For less than a second, Giorno was able to see Ongyo-Ki’s figure, but he was unable to attack it on time. Once he turned around, he got slashed multiple times again. After that assault, Ongyo-Ki and Akira revealed themselves. Giorno tried to attack with his Stand, but the Persona blocked the attack with its staff.

The Stand kept on punching and kicking away at its foe, but the staff-wielding Oni easily intercepted every single blow. It was clear that Giorno’s stamina was starting to run out. Ongyo-Ki vanished for a second as he rushed in Giorno’s direction, but re-appeared in a flash as the boss of Passione felt his flesh being slashed dozens of times.

After that assault, both Akira and the Oni vanished, with Akira re-appearing on top of a nearby pillar while wearing a new mask. Compared to his other Personas, this one seemed odd. Instead of a huge mythological dragon, a God, or an archangel, this Persona was just a little girl. It was Alice, a character from a Scandinavian fairy tale who killed children that didn’t behave properly.

As mentioned before, Alice had the appearance of a little girl, but she had light blue skin, almost as if she were a zombie. The girl pointed at Giorno, who instinctively started running. Many blue-colored explosions went off, with the gangster doing his best to run away from them. However, that wasn’t the full extent of Alice’s powers.

“Die for me!” As the little girl yelled out in her high-pitched voice, what seemed to be human-sized teddy bears started appearing out of nowhere. However, those moving plushes had packs of TNT attached to their backs. The teddy bears began charging at Giorno, who did his best to fight them off using his Stand. He transformed them into palm trees, but the packs of TNT were still attached to them, so in a few seconds, all of those explosives detonated, causing some major damage to the gangster.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

Once the smoke caused by the explosion cleared up, it was revealed that Giorno was still very much alive and kicking. The gangster ran towards the pillar that Akira was standing on and transformed it into a tree that had thorns all over its branches. Akira jumped as high as he could. While in mid-air, he revealed yet another new Persona, Mada, the origin of impurity and drunkness in Hindu mythos. Before Giorno could see its shape, it launched a fireball at the tree, causing it to be set on fire. However, due to Gold Experience’s ability, the tree shot out an identical ball of fire, which, upon hitting Akira, healed his wounds instead of damaging him.

The Phantom thief descended as the tree was burned down to a crisp. Mada was now fully visible to the gangster. This deity had a very strange shape. Its head was shaped like a torch, and its hips were similar to a plate. Both of those features were set on a permanent fire. Mada had four arms and a strange wheel-like object attached to its back.

The creature’s mere presence caused the room’s temperature to increase greatly, causing parts of the ceiling to start melting. Mada used its arms to spread flames all over the battlefield, restricting Giorno’s movement. The leader of the Phantom Thieves stood in front of his enemy, both of them with their spirits ready to attack. The young men stared into each other’s eyes in a menacing manner, waiting for either of them to make the first move.

“You’re wasting your efforts. There is no way you can change my heart. My goals are pure and unclouded by doubt. I am following the path that fate chose!” Giorno snapped at the Phantom Thief, weary of that contrived battle.

“That’s wrong. Fate isn’t something set in stone. Everyone has the right to stand against what life forces upon them. You were a victim too, but you rose up, did you not?” Joker retorted, which caused Giorno to be surprised.

“Ugh!” The Gang-star tried to think of a comeback, but all he could think of were the times where he fought against the cards that life had dealt him and his friends. From the abuse he had survived in his childhood, to his quest to uncover Diavolo’s identity. His whole life, he had been fighting against the odds, so why was he taking that conformist posture now?

As much as he wanted to stop the fight to reflect on his past, the Shadow could not afford to waste a second, so he began marching forward with his Stand following him. In a manner that resembled a certain fight between a centenary vampire and a high school delinquent, the combatants slowly, but menacingly walked toward each other, and as soon as they were close enough, both of them sent their spirits to attack.

The golden Stand took a step forward at the same time as it started throwing punches at the speed of light, but Mada, using its multiple fists, responded to the Stand’s barrage with one of its own. The spirits’ fists repeatedly collided repeated times while their users let out their warcries!

“MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA!“

The Fifth JoJo screamed the same words that his father used to say during his battles, while the leader of the Phantom Thieves simply shouted one of his signature battle cries.

“Ravage them, Mada! Haaaaaaaaaa!“

The collisions of the summoned spirit’s impacts released shockwaves with such force that the room’s walls started to crumble. Their screams became more and more intense with every passing second. The clash was completely even until Giorno screamed something that one would not expect.

“WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!” Yelling in a manner resembling a screech, Giorno commanded Gold Experience to deliver even stronger and faster blows, which Mada was struggling to keep up with. In return, Akira ordered Mada to crank its strength up further. The fists of the Hindu deity lit on fire, making them able to once again match Gold Experience’s gilded fists.

As the clash kept on going, Mada began absorbing the flames that surrounded the battlefield. Right as Gold Experience felt it was about to overpower the deity, Mada spat out the scorching flames, causing Gold Experience to stop attacking due to the pain caused by the fire. As a result, the Stand’s body was hit by Mada’s fists, which, after several more impacts, launched Giorno and Gold Experience at the wall where his throne used to be.

“I’m not done yet!” Akira withdrew Mada and brought out Lucifer, the fallen angel who betrayed God. It took the shape of a monstrous green demon with six wings and a long yellow mane. Giorno, concerned and irritated, ran in Akira’s direction, sliding under Lucifer’s legs.

“Do you think I will give in because of your speeches? Do you think your victory is secured because of your insane amount of Stands? I didn’t get to the top by kneeling when someone sweet-talks me.” Giorno grabbed Akira by the neck and soon picked up one of his own brooches. The mafia boss’ Stand touched the brooch, turning it into a small ant.

“This is a harvester ant, one of the deadliest insects in the world. Getting bitten by one of these guarantees a quick death… But not a painless one.” Gold Experience grabbed the ant and put it on Akira’s shoulder. The insect crawled up the thief’s neck and soon bit him on the carotid artery. An intense venom started running through Akira’s veins, with his whole skin swelling up. The thief grabbed his collar, feeling as though he was being choked. Giorno kicked Akira in the gut, making him fall to the ground.

The Shadow walked away from his enemy’s body and started laughing. But then…

“Pillage him, Lucifer!” Giorno turned around, only to see that Akira was perfectly fine. It was all thanks to Lucifer’s ability, which instantly healed the user of all ailments, which, in this case, included poison. Giorno stood shocked before the huge Lucifer, who made a pose indicating that something was coming. And so it was.

Lucifer’s namesake attack, the Morning Star, was about to come crashing into the Palace. The sight of a huge flaming fireball soon filled the skies. The Morning Star soon wiped out the Palace’s roof and reached Giorno, who was utterly defenseless. Once the attack hit the Shadow, he felt an agonizing pain. He knew that he couldn’t keep going.

Giorno Giovanna stared at the night sky, admiring the bright shine of the Metaverse’s stars… and he smiled.

“The Requiem has begun playing, Phantom Thief.” Giorno threateningly said to Joker, whose gaze rapidly searched Giorno’s body until it found something. That something was nothing less than the Palace’s Treasure: a golden arrow. This arrow stuck out of Gold Experience’s chest as if it had been stabbed with it.

In a rush, Akira pulled out his grappling hook and aimed it at the arrow. The black cord wrapped itself around the arrow’s shaft, and Joker pulled it closer by tugging on the cord. However, as soon as the arrow reached his hands, it was completely reduced to golden dust.

Panicking about what this could mean for the Palace, Akira quickly fired his handgun at Gold Experience several times, with every single one of the bullets piercing through the Stand’s skin, shattering it. However, for some reason, Giorno’s body was not receiving the same wounds anymore.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE

The whole Palace started shaking. The night sky changed into something much different. The sun rose, shining down on Giorno’s body, which started to slowly rise, with all of its wounds healed. Next to him was Gold Experience, but its appearance had changed.

The Stand now had a paler golden as its primary color, and various purple ornaments, including one shaped like the golden arrow, decorated its new body. Some parts of its body had turned orange, including its fingers. Its eyes were no longer soulless-looking. Instead, they were small, but full of determination.

Wary of what this new Stand could mean for Giorno’s abilities, Akira commanded Lucifer to attack by launching a large fireball at the Stand, but somehow… nothing happened. The fireball didn’t reach Giorno, but it hadn’t been dodged. It simply disappeared, as if it had never been fired in the first place.

While Akira took in what was happening, Giorno and his Stand appeared behind him and delivered a punch directly to the Thief’s chin, but it hardly phased him. “His power is not much higher…” Joker thought to himself, confused, while he commanded Lucifer to counterattack with a punch of its own.

Akira saw the demon’s fist quickly traveling toward the new Stand, but mere inches from the new Gold Experience’s face, everything started to change. Joker looked back, and both him and Lucifer were in the same position as they were before attacking.

Time seemed to be flowing backward, or was it? The thief attempted to take matters into his own hands by shooting his grappling hook at Giorno, but the same thing happened. Everything returned to its original position right before reaching the Gang-star.

“This… is Gold Experience Requiem,” Giorno said to the thief, who was sweating bullets over his inability to touch his opponent. “As long as this ability is in my hands, no harm could possibly come to me. The rules of fate and causality are in my favor, for my actions are righteous.”

“That’s impossible! No one could ever be that powerful!” Joker cried out, but he knew Giorno wasn’t lying. He had seen the effects of Requiem’s powers with his own eyes. In the Metaverse, if it looks real, it is real.

“Arrivederci, Phantom Thief.” The Passione boss said in a deadpan tone before ordering his Stand to attack. The sheer discouragement caused by seeing Giorno’s new power filled Akira with despair, leaving him unable to counterattack to the oncoming barrage of punches from Gold Experience Requiem.

Kurusu felt many of his bones breaking along with his spirit. All of his life was dropping down to zero. But right as he closed his eyes, he felt his consciousness appearing somewhere else… The Velvet Room. He was in the middle of the dark blue prison, surrounded by empty cells.

“It appears that placing my trust in you was a mistake.” A deep voice reached Akira’s ears. The boy looked up and saw a familiar figure… Igor. Not only that, but he realized that he was trapped in a guillotine, just like the ones he used to fuse Personas.

“You have failed your rehabilitation, inmate. Now, face execution.” The long-nosed figure waved his hand, causing the guillotine’s blade to drop in. The sharp sheet of metal swiftly came down onto Joker’s neck, slicing his head off with perfect precision. Akira did not even have time to scream. That death was completely painless…

But it wasn’t over. The thief opened his eyes again, only to find himself in the same Velvet Room. However, this time, he was not shackled to a guillotine. Instead, he stood on a platform with a noose around his neck.

“Fate and causality have abandoned you.” Igor kept talking as he pulled a lever, hanging Joker from the rope. Akira’s confusion kept growing as he felt his lungs being depleted. He tried to claw through the rope with his fingernails in a last-ditch attempt to survive, but his consciousness abandoned him again.

And again. He woke up, sitting on a bizarre chair. An electric chair. Igor’s creepy grin staring him in the face as a sponge soaked his fuzzy hair. “Your new destiny is to spend the rest of your days dying. You will never reach true death, inmate.” Igor said while activating the switch that delivered an electric shock to Joker’s nervous system.

This went on, and on, and on. Many more executions awaited him. Each one, more horrific and painful than the next. But Joker’s mind was not numb. He kept feeling. He thought back to all the people who awaited him in the real world. Ryuji, Ann, Morgana, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, Haru, Akechi… And many more.

He was paying the price for standing up against a man who didn’t fear the idea of killing. And he was now trapped in an endless spiral of suffering.

“But I refuse.” While still getting attacked by the killing machines in the Velvet Room, Akira spoke.

“I reject this fate. I won’t let that self-righteous thug get away with his twisted deeds.” As he said this, the shackles that bound him were shattered.

“I WILL FORGE MY OWN FATE!” Akira shouted. His reality was shattered into a million pieces. The Velvet Room was no more. He was back in the Palace, standing in front of Giorno and Gold Experience Requiem, who looked at him with wide-open eyes.

“H-how!?” Giorno shouted. “Requiem has no weaknesses!” The Gang-star refused to accept the idea of his foe breaking out of the cycle of causality. Akira’s eyes were now shining yellow, just like Shadow Giorno’s.

“I am thou. Thou art I. Thou hast broken the chains that bind thee to destiny’s slavery. I, Satanael, shall grant thee ultimate power!” A deep voice resonated through Akira’s head. He had awakened his Ultimate Persona. The thief ripped his mask from his face, leaving behind a large bloodstain on his face.

As the mask got separated from his face, a massive demon descended from the heavens. The sun that shone upon Giorno had been tainted by an eclipse, and the sky had been covered by crimson clouds.

This black demon, taller than the Palace itself, was clad in a military uniform, and there were six bat wings sprouting from his back. He held a gigantic rifle, and his face was covered by a skull-like mask, which was between two pointy demon horns.

“Your justice is mere vigilantism. A man like you, who acts like he owns the world because they killed a mafia leader, is nothing but garbage. Killing others steals people’s chances for redemption.” Akira addressed Giorno, who was more impressed by the Persona’s appearance than Joker’s speech.

“Nothing you can do can hurt me. I am holy. I bring light to the dark. I am the hope of this twisted country. IO SONO IL FIGLIO DI DIO!” Angered, Giorno let his Italian slip out. There was hardly a shred of his original psyche in his mind. He had been shattered.

“Punish him, Satanael!” The Phantom Thief ignored Giorno’s words as he commanded his Persona to attack. Darkness engulfed the Stand user, as if stricken by a curse. Then, bullet holes manifested themselves on various parts of his body, as well as his Stand’s.

Lastly, the demon pointed its rifle at Giorno. A massive sonic boom echoed through the whole Metaverse as a gargantuan bullet made from the manifestation of the seven deadly sins emerged from the gun’s barrel.

“WRYYYYYYYYYYYY!” Giorno screeched as he sent his Stand forward in a last attempt to stop the attack. Gold Experience Requiem’s fists pummelled the gigantic bullet as quickly as they could, but none of the attacks were doing anything to the projectile.

“It’s… useless…” Giorno’s will disappeared. The Sinful Shell ran Requiem over, soon reaching the user as well. Completely incapacitated, the Gang-star lay prone on the floor as Akira walked up to him.

“Heh. Are you going to finish me off? Are you going to betray your principles just to get the satisfaction of winning a battle to the death?” Although he was immobile, Giorno still managed to find it in him to taunt Akira.

“No.” The thief cocked his head and extended his hand to his opponent. Giorno furrowed his brows and slapped the boy’s gloved hand away. “Even if you think some people deserve death… You aren’t one of them. You have a heart of gold. Your circumstances aren’t the same as mine.”

“Weren’t you going to change my heart? Are you taking pity on me?” Giorno snapped back.

“Your heart doesn’t need to change. While we fought, I could tell that you acknowledged my points. Plus… Your treasure is gone. You changed your own heart.”  Akira explained, much to Giorno’s surprise. Determined to get the Gang-star out of there, he carried him in his arms, bridal style.

“This is such contrived bullshit… But I believe it.” Giorno said as he closed his eyes. The Palace’s foundation began shaking even more wildly, but Joker leaped out of the building with the Shadow on his arms, using his grappling hook to land easily. The two then escaped the Palace.

K.O.!

---

Two days later…

Giorno Giovanna calmly sat on his armchair, looking through a photo album of his former companions during the times when he was trying to take over Passione. Everyone was there. Although many of them were no longer alive, Giorno smiled.

“We changed the world, friends. But from now on, we can change how we operate. Everyone deserves a shot at redemption.” Giorno thought to himself, looking at Abbacchio and Fugo’s pictures. His heart hadn’t been changed by the Phantom Thieves. This was what his own reflections brought forth.

“Here’s to a brand new era for Passione.”

---

Well, time to make enemies again. This match is weird. If you consider only their basic Stands and Personas, it’s not even debatable. Giorno’s AP would only be as high as Jolyne’s, who can deflect small meteorites, which is Multi-City Block Level; and his speed is just the average Massively Faster Than Light stuff that everyone already knows about JoJo.

Joker’s side is a bit harder, because some people argue things without even reading the game’s dialogue properly. I’m talking about the infamous Big Bang Burger feat. For those out of the loop, a boss’ attack in the game causes an explosion that seemingly reaches the size of a galaxy, and all characters can survive this. This has been calced to be Multi-Solar System Level and MFTL+.

People have said that this shouldn’t apply because it’s just an attack animation that doesn’t affect the Palace, but what that argument fails to acknowledge is the fact that in the Metaverse, everything functions in the same way that it looks. This fact is established as early as the first week of the game. The characters use model guns and toy weapons in dungeons, but they still work as if they were real. To argue that the galactic explosion would be a different case as this is blatant cherrypicking, especially considering the rest of the feats in the games.

You’ve got Lucifer’s Morning Star attack, which travels interstellar distances in an instant, or Maruki’s Tyrant Chaos attack, which has a similar explosion that wipes out the galaxies in the background. On top of that, the main antagonist, Yaldabaoth, intended to merge the Metaverse with the real world.

This feat can be interpreted in various ways, but to put it simply, the Metaverse is its own plane of existence with a multitude of separate pocket universes created by those who are corrupted, like Okumura’s Palace, which contained many stars. Time also flowed normally in those dungeons, so the Metaverse would have the same attributes as a standalone universe with its own physics, such as the cognitive mechanics. Being able to defeat Yaldabaoth and Maruki, who can merge the Metaverse with the real world, would make Akira at the very least Low Multiverse Level.

The thing is… All of these stats don’t really matter in the long run, because of how utterly busted Gold Experience Requiem is. GER’s power is the manipulation of causality. It is supposed to be a foil to Diavolo’s King Crimson, and its power to erase the effects of something within a set amount of time.

GER’s ability does the exact opposite. It eliminates the cause of an effect, which makes it so that it never happened. If you attempt to attack GER, your actions are reverted as if nothing happened.

Originally, I thought that this match would be a stalemate, because while Akira’s AP and speed are massively above what Giorno could survive, he could not really harm Giorno, per se.

In response to that argument, some people have tried to argue that GER can induce a death cycle upon an opponent without killing them, bypassing their durability. These people do not understand Gold Experience Requiem. GER needs a cause to eliminate its effect.

In the case of the Death Cycle, what Giorno does is inflict death upon the foe while erasing the cause, which results in a cycle of uncertainty for the victim. The effect, in this case, is “death”, and the cause is “a deadly attack”, such as the barrage of punches he used on Diavolo.

The whole point of the Death Cycle is to trap Diavolo in a death where he will never be sure about what truly killed him, hence “You will never reach truth!”. To argue that he can just do this without performing an attack that could realistically harm the enemy to the point of death is to blatantly misconstrue GER’s powers.

So, Giorno cannot kill Joker. But can the opposite happen? The short answer is yes. The long answer involves two arguments. The simpler of the two is damage reflection. Many of Akira’s Personas have the ability to reflect physical damage, which is the way in which Gold Experience tends to attack. Simply put, GER could literally kill itself by attacking Joker with killing intent, and since it is GER’s own attack, the possibility of it getting nullified by GER’s powers is basically null, as neither Giorno nor GER would not be aware of the attack getting deflected at them.

If that does not convince you, there is another possibility. One of Akira’s passive abilities is to resist fate itself. There are numerous instances of fate being a real element in Persona 5, such as Chihaya’s fortune-telling, which was 100% accurate, and yet, Akira could still affect the futures she predicted. This is also similar to how he and the Thieves returned to reality despite having been eliminated from it due to being forgotten.

Joker, as well as Akechi, were also the only people who could see through the reality-warping caused by Takuto Maruki, which was potent enough to rewrite history, completely erasing major events such as deaths. This was not through illusions, but the alteration of the fates of those people, such as Futaba’s mother, who is alive and kicking in Maruki’s reality.

Okay, so basically, Akira can resist fate. But why does this make him able to get through GER’s powers? Well, one could argue that Fate and Causality are essentially the same things. Both are the inevitable results of an action, although one is definitely treated more like something that isn’t real. But if we consider those things and compare them to GER’s power, it all comes together.

Even if GER can alter the course of causality by removing a cause, Joker would be unaffected, as he was in the previous cases. An inevitable effect is something that he has been able to change before, as seen with Chihaya’s confidant.

With the damage nullification out of the equation, the outcome becomes as simple as the stat trinity, and as stated above, Joker is too much for Giorno. And even if we were to consider things like the many poisonous animals that GioGio could summon with GE, many of Akira’s Personas can nullify physical AND mental ailments. Plus, the Omnipotent Orb outright nullifies all damage except Almighty, so nothing Giorno could do would be able to hurt Joker.

There’s no way to mask it. Giorno could never see it coming. The winner is Joker.