Confident in The World's superiority over Star Platinum, DIO stops time to try and finish Jotaro. However, he discovers that, due to Star Platinum being the same type of Stand as The World, Jotaro appears to be able to both perceive him and move himself, albeit only slightly, while time is stopped. DIO initially assumes this to be trick Jotaro pulled by planting a magnet on him to move his fingers, but this turns out to be a bluff by Jotaro, who uses Star Platinum to counterattack during stopped time. Realising that Jotaro can only move for a brief moment while time is stopped, DIO stays out of his attack range and attacks using time-stopped knives, managing to land some hits on Jotaro. While Jotaro, managing to survive thanks to some magazines he hid under his clothes, is forced to play dead until he recovers, Polnareff attempts to stop DIO from finishing Jotaro off but is knocked out by him. Drawing DIO's attention away from Polnareff, Jotaro continues to play dead, going as far as to use Star Platinum to stop his own heart, until DIO gets close enough, allowing him to bash DIO's skull and paralyse him. However, DIO tricks Jotaro into punching him over to where Joseph is, allowing him to drain his blood and complete his merging with Jonathan's body.