In the Court of the Blind King

Chapter 5 - In Which the Lizards Feed

"Could it be that he has 2 stands?"

   Doppio looked at him from afar, as multiple invisible objects flew directly at Diavolo. Ruche had revealed his stand to them, but its ability did not seem to match its appearance. Not only that, but he had referred to it by 2 similar, yet different names.

   "Cirkus Lizard... and Lizard Cirkus... what is the difference between them?" Doppio tried hard to understand their enemy, as to find a solution for that situation.

   "When the Boss hit one of the puppets, I'm sure I saw blood in his hands! Maybe this really is the case..."

   Diavolo was still trying to defend himself from the invisible onslaught, unable to avoid all the attacks.

   "I don't see why he would have used only one of his abilities at a time, if he could have simply thrown the puppets at us while attacking with his stand. Maybe he can't..."

   Diavolo fell to the ground, still smashing as many puppets as possible with King Crimson, focusing all his energy in not losing his own consciousness.

   "Maybe..." Doppio looked at a fallen broken puppet near him "Maybe he can't even use both of them at the same time..."

   He grabbed a knife from the puppet's hand
   "And if I attack him while he's focusing on the Boss, he won't have a choice but to stop the attack and defend himself!"

   Doppio ran into the seats, hiding while he approached the balcony where Ruche stood. The man was too focused on Diavolo to notice his absence. He approached the staircases and slowly got near the man. Holding the knife in the hand, Doppio stabbed Ruche in the neck.

   Ruche was shocked and surprised, as the blood started to pour from his neck, where a sharp pain had suddenly begun. He turned around and saw Doppio, preparing another attack.

   "Monsieur Loyal!"

   Before Doppio could strike, the green arm of Ruche's stand reached the knife, punching it away. Doppio avoided tried using Epitaph to avoid his subsequent attacks but his stand was fast, landing a few hits and badly injuring Doppio.

   As he rose up, Diavolo noticed the loud sound of multiple objects falling to the ground at once, while realizing that the attack on him had stopped. He looked around, confused, until he heard the commotion coming from the balcony. He ran towards the structure when suddenly, Doppio was thrown from the balcony, hitting the ground next to Diavolo. Ruche revealed himself, looking down at both men.

   "Looks like I have underestimated you, Dopp-"

   Before he could finish his sentence Diavolo disappeared from his line of sight. He turned back, and tried to defend himself with Cirkus Lizard, only avoiding being instantly killed by King Crimson, but being thrown far away from the balcony, hitting the floor hard on his back with a loud gasp.

   "I can't give you much time to perform your tricks."

   Diavolo said before jumping down and checking on Doppio, who was now sitting on the floor, trying to ignore the pain.

   "Are you ok, Doppio."

   "I guess so..."

   Ruche was out of air because of the impact. He could hardly think, but tried his best to rise before he was attacked by Diavolo again.

   Diavolo used King Crimson's ability, suddenly appearing near him. With a furious expression, King Crimson threw a powerful hand chop in Ruche's direction. But before it could hit, Ruche disappeared again.