In the Court of the Blind King

Chapter 3 - Perfect Pair

"No way... Boss!"

Doppio didn't know what to do: Diavolo had fallen to his knees, blind and terrified; the maze of stairs had started to change chaotically, and Model Man, the mannequin sub-stand had started to run away from Diavolo, furthering their distance more and more as time went on.

"I have to do something... or else we're done for! Think Doppio, think..."

He tried to imagine a way to take his Boss out of that situation. But the ability of Three of a Perfect Pair had the stairs changing in complete disorder, which made planning a route towards Diavolo almost impossible. As he tried desperately to think of a solution, Doppio was surprised by Diavolo, who spoke directly to him from afar:

"Doppio, use Epitaph!"

The shock of the situation made Doppio almost forget that Epitaph was now his stand, and that he could use it at will. He activated it's ability, looking at the bangs of his hair, the small being that was the manifestation of his stand right beside him.

"It's no use!" he answered "Even if I can see what happens, if I don't find the right way myself, I won't be able to reach you, Boss!"

"Doppio, if you can't use It to predict your own movement, use it to-"

Diavolo's voice was suddenly cut. Doppio turned to him in shock: he was trying to speak, but no words came from his mouth.
From a distance, Drie looked at them with anger on their face. He spoke to them in a deep and angered male voice, far different from any of it's voices from before.

"I'M NOT ALLOWING YOU TO GIVE HIM HINTS, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

Witnessing that, Doppio felt compelled to look at Model Man. As he laid eyes upon it, he realized what has happening: The mannequin with Diavolo's appearance had one hand covering it's eyes, just as it was previously, but now it has the other hand covering it's mouth.

"That's it... it's as if it's physically restraining the Boss's speech and sight!" And with that, he had a realization. "If I can't reach the Boss or predict my own movements... I just need to predict the maze and the mannequin and deal with it first!"

He began to run down the stairs, looking at Epitaph's future sight, making sudden turns confidently.

"I got this, Boss!"

Drie looked at the situation and began to lose their temper even more. Their face distorted into anger, and they shouted in frustration.

"FUUUUCKK! MODEL MAN, RUN AWAY FROM HIM! NOW!"

But it was useless, Doppio had already predicted it's movements, and even with the chaotic motion of the staircase labyrinth, he knew exactly which way to go. In a moment, he had already reached the mannequin, and faced it from the bottom of the staircase, as it mindlessly ran down.

The way that Model Man worked made it so it would automatically run away from their target once it touched them, but that made it ignore anyone else in the maze. A weakness that Doppio explored to get close to it. He walked up the stairs, towards Model Man, menacingly. In an act of desperation, Drie decided to change strategies.

"MODEL MAN, IT'S TIMe to change tactics."

Drie's voice started as the angry male tone, but changed mid-sentence to their calm female voice. As soon as the change took place, Model Man changed it's appearance back to it's original form, and started to charge towards Doppio. He jumped down, landing on a staircase right beneath it which gained him some time to run away from the mannequin.

The chase was long, as Doppio desperately ran away from Model Man, going through almost all the staircases, until the thing had him ambushed.

"It seems I have underestimated your ability, little Doppio. But you won't be able to see the future if you're blind."

"But I've already seen it"

Suddenly, Model Man's torso was pierced through the middle by a hand; King Crimson's hand. Behind it stood Diavolo. After Model Man changed it's target, Diavolo started to run along the staircases, not making any noise so he didn't attract Drie's attention. Doppio's prediction showed him the way to Diavolo's staircase, just as Diavolo imagined he would have done.

"I guess I was wrong about you, Doppio. Maybe this can work."

As the two men walked up the stairs together, Drie watched the scene, shocked at the result of their silent teamwork. Dispair took over Drie, and their personality changed back to the aggressive one. Three of a Perfect Pair began to chaotically change the maze of staircases, desperately trying to hold them back, but it was of no use, as Epitaph's prediction made him aware of which stairs went to where, and King Crimson made sure they followed only through the right path, even if that wasn't destiny's course.

They had finally reached the last stair, the one that led directly to Drie and the exit to that dreaded room.

"You are not getting away." Drie said back in her female personality. "Get them, Model Man!"

Model Man manifested on top of the stairs and charged towards Diavolo and Doppio, but they had already expected this, and had planned for it: using Epitaph to predict it's moves, Doppio jumped in front of it and restrained it's movements. Meanwhile Diavolo used King Crimson to safely pass through the restrained Model Man and tossed it out the staircase as soon as time resumed.

They reached the top of the staircase, in front of Drie. Diavolo summoned King Crimson, it's vicious pale face staring at Drie with it's angry green eyes.

"You are not getting away."

Drie's personality changed back to the cowardly persona from the beginning of the trial, and begged to Diavolo with a hoarse voice:

"P-Please don't hurt me.."

Diavolo was unphased.

"Hiding your true intention behind a weaker personality. I have done that before, but I will not fall for it."

As he prepared to strike them down, Drie jumped to the staircase.

"Three of a Perfect Pair!"

Doppio and Diavolo looked down the staircase, it had returned to normal, it was no longer a labyrinth, and Drie was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, that familiar female voice surprised them from above.

"I have to admit you did well. I have no option but to accept my defeat."

Drie stood on a balcony, above their heads and far enough from King Crimson's range. Beside her, the manifested form of Three of a Perfect Pair.

"Congratulations, you have concluded your first trial."

Diavolo noticed something intriguing about Three of a Perfect Pair's appearance: besides the yellow and blue color scheme and it's face, that stand looked remarkably like his own King Crimson.

"Your stand... It's so similar to mine... What is going on here?!"

"You will get your answers in due time, but for now, you better focus on your next trial. Varweel..."

"Wait!"

Before he could do anything, Drie was already gone. He stared at the dark room for a moment, wondering what was this whole situation all about, until Doppio interrupted him.

"Let's go Boss, we don't have time to lose."
He turned back for a moment, looking again at the balcony, then walked towards the exit.

"Yes Doppio. Let's go."

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Stand User: Drie Gekijk (Defeated)
Stand Name: 「Three of a Perfect Pair」

1 out of 6 trials completed

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