Gyalzen POV

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He turned away, saying "I'm sure you learned this when you fought my brother, but the human soul is indeed a mysterious thing. The moment someone admits defeat, their soul loses almost all its vitality. At that very moment, I can rip out a person's soul. That is our Stand's fundamental mechanism!" He closed the cabinet before slamming his hand on it.

At this, we'd all heard enough. All four of us summoned our Stand as Joseph snapped "I've heard enough! No more Mr Nice Guy! We'll knock the living daylights out of you, and get on our way!" I added "That's right. I have no patience for a swine like you!"

Even in the face of this though, D'Arby grinned, his Stand appeared once again and he spoke through it, saying "But you MUST listen! Jotaro! You already know you're under my control!"

Against our better judgement, we halted our attack and instead, listened. Remember, Jotaro, when you tried to attack me, and I knew exactly which arm you would use. You still haven't figured it out. In that moment, only slightly, I was able to touch your soul. What do you think I did, when I did that?"

Jotaro wasted no time rolling up his sleeve and we were surprised to see a huge handprint, in the shape of Atum's hand, gripped around it! I snapped "What have you done?!"

To which D'Arby had his Stand raise its left arm, the hand of which had vanished! He explained "I embedded Atum's hand in your soul. I could crush your right arm and make Master DIO very happy. If I did that, I wouldn't be able to defend myself from Joseph, Kakyoin and Gyalzen and I would perish. I certainly don't want that. So, I have a suggestion gentlemen."

He approached the table and slammed his hand down on it. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the televisions were all hooked up to a gaming console. It was here that D'Arby proposed.

"Let's play a game and bet our souls! If you beat me, I'll let go of your arm." He spoke as if betting souls was a trivial matter. Jotaro growled angrily "You'll regret this D'Arby!" Leaning forward, he grinned, saying.

"I'd love to hear you say 'I'll bet my soul on this game'. And I have another humble request." Looking up, he said "Kakyoin, you shall be my first opponent." Jotaro interjected, fair enough, it was his arm on the line.

D'Arby however interjected, explaining "Mr Joestar and you are family, Kakyoin and Gyalzen are not. I'd rather neither of them attack me with their Stand after I have taken both your souls." Joseph muttered under this breath. "Asshole thinks he's already won." 

Surprisingly, Kakyoin stepped forward, stating "Fine, I'll be your opponent." I asked cautiously "Are you sure?" Jotaro warned "Kakyoin!" However he assured us. "It's fine, I'm not worried. I've played more video games than anyone here."

Approaching the table, before picking up one of the cartridges. He declared "I challenge you to F-Mega! I'll bet my soul!" To this, D'Arby simply responded "Good."

Joseph and Jotaro both tried to dissuade him, however he stood by his decision. Instead asking D'Arby. "How do I know you'll release Jotaro if you lose?" Instead of giving a verbal answer, he simply walked over to the doll cabinet and held up a doll resembling Kakyoin.

With that, the game was plugged in. Joseph's Hermit Purple was able to confirm that it hadn't been tampered with in any way. D'Arby claimed that unlike his brother, he didn't cheat. Kakyoin sat down and D'Arby spoke "Now, let's begin." Kakyoin replied "Yes."

With a push of a button, a voice called out "F-MEGA!" It seemed to be some sort of racing video game. Both players selected their cars. D'Arby went for a red one, Kakyoin, fittingly, went for a green one. Once that was done, a voice spoke again.

"Race start! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!"

D'Arby rocketed into the lead due to hitting the accelerator really fast as the countdown had been going.  He even resorted to cutting Kakyoin's car off, preventing an overtake. Not a good start to things.

Seems I'd underestimated Kakyoin though, as he soon found a way around this, and an abstract one at that. Using Hierophant Green, he managed to hit each direction button rapidly which in turn made his car SPIN!

With this, he was able to knock D'Arby's car into the wall. Causing Joseph to celebrate and me to say "Well done Kakyoin." From there it was just a matter of both players desperately trying to get their vehicles back on track.

This time both took advantage of their boosts, rocketing off neck and neck with one another. Even though Kakyoin was on the outside of the track, he managed to find a way around the corner that kept them equal with one another.

D'Arby stated "I like you Kakyoin, you'll make a worthy addition to my collection." For a moment Kakyoin seemed lost in thought, however he quickly returned focus to the game at hand. 

The two cars flew off a ramp, remaining at equal pacing with one another constantly, even as they rounded the third corner of the track, then the fourth, then the fifth. Even on the outside, he managed to remain in sync with D'Arby's movements.

I was honestly fascinated with the level of focus he was showing. Some of my students failed to stay focused on the simple of things, whether chores or recreational. Yet here, I saw perfect concentration.

As they went around the sixth turn, they approached a tunnel. Big enough for only one car. The two desperately tried to shove each other aside. To which D'Arby ridiculed "Do you really think you can push me aside? Look at your power metre."

Having never played this game before, I hadn't noticed that. However Kakyoin clearly had less power! I had my doubts in that moment, they got closer and closer to the tunnel. Again though, Kakyoin managed to surprise me.

He was able to go on ONE WHEEL! Using this to inch his way into the tunnel. He rode around on the wall and ceiling of the tunnel, as Joseph cheered, D'Arby snapped "Shut up! You're ruining my concentration!"

Kakyoin tried getting back onto the track however D'Arby proceeded to relentlessly slam into him. Soon the screen plunged into darkness. Kakyoin explained that they'd have to make the rest of their way through the tunnel in the dark.

According to him though, in that tunnel, there were eight turns, a land mine and even a CANNON?! What kind of game was this?!

From here, we only had Kakyoin and D'Arby's gestures to go off of when the cars were turning. Both counted, "Three, two, ONE! CANNON ATTACK!" And in that moment there was a flash of light from the presumed cannon briefly lit up the cars, we were able to see them dodging.

However we could tell that Kakyoin was slightly behind as they both came flying out of  the tunnel and light returned. As they did, we saw just how far ahead D'Arby was. One whole car's worth!

Not that this seemed to matter, Kakyoin declared "I still have more power than you D'Arby!" It was like before, with Hierophant's assistance, he was able to spin his car around, this time slamming into D'Arby and sending it flying from the track!

My eyes widened as I complimented "Yes! Excellent strategy Kakyoin!" As he turned to D'Arby, he said "Losing your power to ram me was a mistake. You didn't realize that I intentionally stayed one car's length behind so I could spin and knock you off course." For a moment, D'Arby was silent, however he soon looked up and grinned.

"Is that so? Seems you're the one who's missed something. Losing power was no accident. I planned it so you would knock me off course." 

His face twisted into a sadistic grin as he continued "Everything rests on this one moment. Look where my car is going!"  Looking at his screen, my eyes widened in shock!

In being sent flying, he'd landed on the opposite side of the track! Kakyoin's efforts hadn't closed the gap, but rather only increased drastically! 

D'Arby explained "Normally it's impossible. Normally an attempt to make it to the opposite track would result in an abrupt collision with terra firma even at 850 kilometres an hour. You can't make it by jumping over the curves. But Kakyoin, it's another story if you're catapulted over them. All I needed was your help! I sacrificed my power so you would hit me. It was all part of my plan! Now then, shall we proceed Kakyoin?"

Turning to Kakyoin, he was as pale as a ghost. He couldn't even speak. However my eyes widened when the Stand Atum appeared behind him. Kakyoin didn't even react as the Stand proceeded to seemingly pull what I believe was his soul out of him.

I snapped "PAGE OF CUPS!" Preparing to attack, however D'Arby warned "You can't do anything for him now. His soul is mine! He admitted defeat, he knew it was pointless to continue racing."

As Kakyoin collapsed, D'Arby complimented "I must say Kakyoin, you are the first opponent to ever make me perspire. This Kakyoin doll will make the most exquisite addition to my collection. He was my first opponent to conquer his fears and not crack under pressure."

Joseph mumbled "Kakyoin..." As he cradled the boy's soulless body. Jotaro stepped forward only for D'Arby to warn. "I advise you to remain calm and not attack me. That's not all, I could slip on a banana peel and hit my head. Or die of something as simple as popping a bag of popcorn. Kakyoin's soul would go straight to heaven with me."

At this, I asked "I was absent for the confrontation with your brother. So I have to ask. Is there a way to win his soul back?" Joseph and Jotaro both looked at me confused at D'Arby grinned.

"Of course. Another game. If I win, I get another soul, you win, I'll gladly hand Kakyoin back to you. AND release Jotaro's arm. But I think video games are a bit too 'modern' for an old timer like you. Don't you agree?"

I could have backed down then and there. However instead, I stepped forward and said. "No, I can do it. If you're willing to accept my challenge..."

Author's Note: And that's it for this chapter. The next one will be the conclusion of the younger D'Arby arc. From there, we will only have two more arcs to go, of course the DIO arc itself will be much longer than any that came before it. I really hope you enjoyed and as always, thanks for reading.