◃◃ New Memory #1 pt. 2 ▹▹

Zhong Chenle

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I informed the other five of what happened at the cat café, and they met us front and center at the front door.

They followed us to the front yard, since Jaemin informed us that the training room might get destroyed if Chenle used his Stand's power there.

While we walked, Jaemin explained what Stands are and how they operate, so now Chenle was less scared and confused.

He also brought a coin and three damaged fighting dummies with him for Chenle to use. Before we started, each of us called out or Stands and explained what their names were and what their abilities could do, starting with Mark.

"My Stand is called Phantom Haze. It can generate, create, emit, or otherwise produce chlorine gas, that irritates the respiratory system causing coughing, vomiting, and even lung damage in larger doses. Additionally, it can also burn anyone's skin on contact. The gas is released if Phantom Haze breaks either of the three bulbs on its knuckles, primarily by punching hard surfaces"

"My Stand is called Sticky Fingers. It can create zippers on any surface it touches with its fists, which it can remotely open or close at its leisure. So for an example, Sticky Fingers can hit a wall, unzip it to create an opening and go through it, and then close the zipper"

"My Stand is called Magician's Red. It can generate intense flames that can be freely manipulated by me. We can redirect its flames, give them any shape, control how intense their destructive power is, and even give them other supernatural properties"

"My Stand is called Moody Blues. It can reenact or "replay" past events with utmost precision, allowing me to freely investigate events. Moody Blues can transform into a lookalike of any person of my choosing and then reenact that person's past actions and speech. Moody Blues also has this digital timer on its forehead, which indicates the point in time it is reenacting"

"My Stand is called Clash. It's a fish Stand, so it has to stay inside liquids to persist, but it can instantly teleport into any body of liquid of a minimal size near the one it is occupying at the moment. It can also sink inside and emerge out of bodies of liquid as if they have depth despite being extremely shallow, as well as take anything or anyone along with it when transferring between liquids. But it can't teleport into sealed bodies of liquid, or teleport more than two or three meters away from its current position"

Jisung had water poured in his palm again, in order for us to see Clash.

"And my Stand is called Gold Experience. From what Jaemin has told me, it has multiple abilities that I still haven't uncovered yet, so I'll only explain the ones that I'm aware of. First, it can generate a seemingly endless amount of life energy and endow that life energy into anything its fists touch. Additionally, it can infuse life energy into an already living target. In this case, the influx of life energy causes their thought processes to greatly accelerate, but the target won't be able to keep up with the sudden surge of mental speed and could hardly move, and would cause them to have an out-of-body experience"

That's what I did to Hyuck a few days ago.

"It can also channel life energy into a living target in order to accelerate that target through its life, greatly speeding up the aging process. As an example, I caused a tree to wither away and rot immediately as a result of a greatly shortened lifespan. Lastly, thanks to Gold Experience's mastery over life, I can sense life itself. Life energy to me exists in clusters now. So when I touch someone or something, I can sense other lifeforms from within, allowing me to check if someone is alive. It can even help me determine how many souls there may be inside a given vessel, based on what Jaemin has told me"

Everyone, apart from Jaemin, who looked very proud, was amazed by how many abilities my Stand has.

They were even more surprised since there are still more that I have yet to discover.

"I think I understand what Stands are now. But, do you know what Stand this is Jaemin-hyung?"

Chenle asked.

"You can name it whatever you want, but in the Jojo universe, this Stand is called Killer Queen"

When Jaemin said its name, it rested its hand on Chenle's shoulder, and the malicious aura around them disappeared.

It actually looked friendly now.

"I think it prefers that name, so I'll keep it"

Chenle smiled.

"That's so cute~. Let's see... Killer Queen is a very powerful stand physically, but its main potential lies within its other abilities. Its powers revolve around setting up different kinds of bombs that can annihilate anyone and anything in one blast, making it a very dangerous Stand to face. Not only are the bombs powerful, but it's also able to deploy three different kinds of bombs with different strengths"

"Three?!"

"Yes~. That's exactly why I've brought these props~"

Jaemin placed the first dummy a good distance away from us, and gave Chenle the coin after he came back to us.

"Its first bomb can be any animate or inanimate object. It can charge any object as a bomb simply by touching it. Once a target has touched the object, Killer Queen can detonate the target by pressing its right thumb onto its index finger's middle phalanx, just like pressing a trigger on a handheld detonator. The charge immediately travels through the target's body before exploding, incinerating the target completely"

Chenle nodded attentively.

"For this demonstration, first you must let Killer Queen touch the coin I gave you. But don't worry, it's power has no effect on you, so you won't blow up if you touch it"

Chenle nodded, and Killer Queen lightly tapped the coin.

"Now you just need to place it anywhere on the dummy"

"Right"

Chenle ran over to the dummy and placed it on its shoulder, before scurrying back over to us.

"Now the last step is simple. One of you can do it, or both of you can. Make one of your right hands into a fist, only leaving the thumb up. Then just bring the thumb down like your clicking a pen"

"Right. You wanna do it Killer Queen?"

It immediately nodded, and followed Jaemin's instructions.

It suddenly got serious and the aura reappeared around it, before it detonated the coin.

Once it did, we could see the charge traveling through the dummy before it exploded.

When the smoke cleared, the dummy was completely gone! It had incinerated completely!

The coin however was completely fine! It flew into the air after the explosion, and Chenle easily caught it!

"That's so cool!"

Donghyuck cheered, amazed by this ability.

"Now for the next bomb~"

Jaemin placed the second dummy in the same spot and came back to us.

"Its next bomb is called Sheer Heart Attack, which resides in Killer Queen's left hand. It's an automatic bomb that seeks out the warmest object in the vicinity. So for this demonstration, I'll need Renjun-hyung to set the dummy on fire. I would normally ask Donghyuck-hyung to do it, but green fire is far more intense and hotter than regular fire. Donghyuck-hyung radiates the same amount of heat as the flames he produces, so it would be ineffective"

"Understandable"

Donghyuck complied with that reasoning.

I ran over to the dummy and covered it in green flames before returning.

"Great~. Normally, Sheer Heart Attack won't detonate completely unless it explodes on an actual person. It would just continue to seek out the next hottest thing until it explodes on a person. But since green fire is so intense, it should detonate completely~. So, now you can let Killer Queen release it~"

"Alright~"

Killer Queen followed Chenle's thought command, and a tiny tank appeared out of the back of its hand!

Sheer Heart Attack then locked on to the dummy, and immediately rolled over to it.

"Look over here!"

It spoke before touching the dummy, exploding on impact!

Just like the first bomb, it incinerated the dummy completely! And luckily, Jaemin was right. My flames were intense enough to completely detonate Sheer Heart Attack.

"Fabulous~. Now for the final bomb~"

Jaemin placed the final dummy, and eagerly raced back to us.

"Now~, its last bomb is called Stray Cat, and it should be residing in the little compartment within Killer Queen's abdomen~"

Killer Queen got serious again and opened the compartment on its abdomen, revealing another Stand!

"In the Jojo universe, Stray Cat was originally a normal cat that got killed and reincarnated into a Stand. It's a sentient flower bound Stand with the appearance and personality of a cat. On its own, its ability is to make invisible bubbles of compressed air and shoot them toward its targets, but can also shield itself from attacks with said air. That being said, it only operates in light places, since it relies on photosynthesis like a plant. If it's in the dark, it will remain dormant"

"That's understandable, and cute~"

Chenle gently pet Stray Cat, and it started purring.

"With Killer Queen, Stray Cat can produce air bubbles, and Killer Queen can in turn make them into bombs by touching them. Those bubbles can be detonated automatically through contact, or manually through Killer Queen's switch. Additionally, only Chenle is able to see them completely, so he can change their trajectory at will. All you have to do is give them the command to attack the dummy~"

"Right~! Stray Cat, shoot a shot~!"

Chenle commanded, pointing at the dummy.

The aura appeared around Killer Queen again, and they both immediately got serious and went to work. Stray Cat created an air bubble and Killer Queen touched it, making it a bomb.

With another shot of air, Stray Cat shot the bubble into the dummy's direction.

The bubble floated all the way to the dummy, and as soon as it made contact with it, the dummy exploded.

It too was incinerated completely.

When the job was done, Killer Queen and Stray Cat both calmed down and the aura disappeared once again.

Chenle thanked them both, and pet Stray Cat one last time before the compartment closed. Killer Queen seemed happy when Chenle pet him right after.

"So in the end, Killer Queen is an actual sweetheart since Chenle is an actual fluff ball~. It only seemed like an enemy at first because of how Chenle was feeling. Stands are the reflection of the soul after all. How they appear and act towards others is completely based on the user"

Jaemin explained.

"I'm sorry I got so upset at the café... I just don't understand why my parents decided to abandon me..."

Chenle called back Killer Queen, and sadly sat on the ground.

Donghyuck sighed and sat down next to him. I can understand why. He's the only one that knows how he's feeling.

"My parents couldn't handle me, or my power. They dropped me in an adoption agency the first chance they got, and I never heard from them again. I wonder how they're doing now. I wonder if they're having fun together, without me..."

They remained silent, then he continued.

"After a short while, I started hurting the other kids at the adoption agency. I couldn't control my power, or my temper. And soon enough, they kicked me out too. I was abandoned by everyone, left to fend for myself. It wasn't until that day Taeyong-hyung found me and took me in, that I finally found a place I could call home. That day, I met you and Renjun-hyung for the first. You were both so fragile, in your own ways. You had been abandoned like I was, but you were also badly abused. And hyung didn't have his parents since they died, not to mention he didn't have his powers"

"We were all broken in some way. But we each found our way into each other's lives. Taeyong-hyung lost his family, but found refuge and happiness in my parents, Johnny-hyung, and the others. Then one by one, we appeared into his life. Hyung took me in and took care of me after my parents died. We found Chenle in a nearby alley, saved him, and took him in. Hyung found Donghyuck near that same alley, saved him, and took him in. Poseidon guided Jisung to our doorstep, and hyung took him in. Jaemin ran away from his abusive household, and hyung took him in after finding him asleep on our doorstep. Jeno ran away from his evil clan, Jaemin found him dangling from a tree by his own nunchucks, and hyung took him in once Jaemin got him down. And hyung and Donghyuck saved Mark-hyung when he stumbled on our doorstep, and we took him in with open arms"

I added.

"Some of us were abandoned, and some of us weren't. But together, we're a family that'll always be there for each other. And soon, that family will be even bigger. We'll make up the difference from what we've lost and lived without"

Mark added.

Chenle's once sad expression soon turned joyful. His ears perked up and his tail swayed freely with the light breeze.

"Yeah~!"

"Come on. Let's go inside. We can all watch movies together~"

"With popcorn~"

Jisung and Jeno proposed as Donghyuck excited stood up.

"Let's go then~!"

Chenle got up and immediately jumped on Hyuck's back, playfully ordering him to move onward.

As Hyuck playfully ran off with him, the five of us followed behind them, ready to enjoy our time together as a family.

A family of brothers.

-

🐱💞

'...'

'......'

'.........'

'Never'

'Never in my life'

'Have I met anyone like the six of you'

'Mark Lee'

'Lee Jeno'

'Lee Donghyuck'

'Na Jaemin '

'Park Jisung'

'And Huang Renjun'

'My best friends'

'My brothers'

'My home'

'...'

'And never in my life'

'Have I met anyone like our hyungs'

'Moon Taeil'

'Johnny Seo'

'Nakamoto Yuta'

'Qian Kun'

'Kim Doyoung'

'Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul'

'Jung Jaehyun'

'Dong Sicheng'

'Kim Jungwoo'

'Wong Yukhei'

'Xiao Dejun'

'Wong Kunhang'

'Liu YangYang'

'And Lee Taeyong'

'My caregivers'

'My refuge'

'My everything'

'...'

'I used to be all alone'

'No food'

'No water'

'No clothes'

'No home'

'Nothing'

'...'

'Not even the love of my parents'

'I had nothing'

'And no one'

'I knew nothing but my name'

'Nothing else'

'Not happiness'

'Not compassion'

'Not love'

'Just my name'

'Nothing else'

'Nothing more'

'...'

'Well...'

'There were a few other things I knew'

'How could I forgot them?'

'Fear'

'...'

'Loneliness'

'......'

'Emptiness'

'.........'

'And rage'

'I didn't know it at the time'

'But I was indeed angry'

'That much is certain now'

'But how would I know how to release that rage?'

'I knew so little'

'I was dirty'

'I was lost'

'I could barely even form a sentence'

'Everyone that crossed my path either abused me, or turned the other way'

'No one cared enough to help me'

'So how?'

'The answer is simple'

'I couldn't...'

'...'

'But......'

'......'

'Then.........'

'.........'

'You and Taeyong came along......'

'I was broken and afraid'

'I didn't trust either of you'

'But...'

'There was just something about you...'

'You just felt so...'

'Different'

'Taeyong felt different too'

'But you...'

'You were always...'

'Different'

'You were the difference that healed me, and put me back together'

'Because you are'

'Huang Renjun'

'My demon'

'My angel'

'My brother'

'My friend'

'My hero'