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Back at Force 127 HQ

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Despite all of my efforts in this fight, I ended up losing.

I refused to use my full power, but only because I didn't want to destroy this place, and I couldn't bring myself to hurt my brothers. So because I've lost, a number things have happened.

The enemy, who I've come to find out call themselves The Gang Stars, have taken over this HQ. All of my teammates are under their control, and are forced to do their bidding.

Their leader had taken control of every hero at the HDJ, and is trying to take control of every other hero on Ethora. Because of this, the citizens can't fight back, and are forced to live under the rule of The Gang Stars.

As for me, I've become their prisoner and victim of torture. Despite all of this, I can feel that all of the citizens are rooting for me. Knowing that they still believe in me is enough encouragement to keep me going.

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In the Training Room

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I've come to learn that the leader of The Gang Stars momentarily left Ethora in his group's hands, and went off to another world to find his own place to settle.

This leaves me in the hands of our doubles, so they can do as they please with me.

They brought me into our old training room, and roughly threw me to the ground. I tried using my powers to try and attack them, but none of them worked and one of them knocked me back down.

"Don't even try to fight back. I used my power to turn off all of your powers completely. It's not so fun being powerless once again, is it?"

My double mocked me.

"You won't get away with this..."

"Ah. The classic hero line. Your desperation is sickening. I thought you were supposed to be the number one hero of this planet, but you barely even put up a fight against your brothers back there"

Jeno's double folded his arms.

I took this moment to get a good look at all of them.

Mark's double had bleached hair similar to his, almost covered by a beanie, and he was accompanied by his two wolf dog companions. Unlike Mark, he has a warm aura instead of cold.

My double had bleached hair with purple tips, opposed to my curly brown hair, and a piercing under his right eye. He may look just like me, but he's definitely not a Nephalem like me. I would've sensed that from miles away if that was the case.

Jeno's double had blonde hair with an undercut on the right side of his head, opposed to Jeno's dark brown hair. He looks exactly like Jeno, but he's completely given in to the darkness within him.

Donghyuck's double is kind of hard to distinguish from him, since they both have the same curly brown hair. But unlike Donghyuck, he has a cold aura instead of warm.

Jaemin's double has pink hair that opposes his blue hair, and unlike the others, he wears goggles that hide his eyes. I don't know what it is, but I feel a slightly similar aura from him that I feel with Jaemin. I just can't tell what feels different about it.

Chenle's double has one blue eye and one brown eye, orange hair, and a muzzle strapped to his face. He also appears to be a hybrid like Chenle, a fox hybrid. I don't know why, but unlike the others, he actually looks a bit scared.

And Jisung's double has light pink-brown hair, but that's not what sets him apart. He doesn't seem to be able to use his legs, and because of that, he sits in and operates a weaponized wheelchair.

Despite our differences, I can sense that all of them are Stand users, even their leader.

But, there's something about them that just makes me want to be nice to them and help them. To me, they look like they've been suffering, or have suffered, in some way.

"What is it that you want from us? What reason did you have to do this"

"Wouldn't you like to know? I'm surprised that you haven't figured it out by now"

Jisung's twin frowned.

He pressed a button on the arm of his wheelchair, and a swarm of robotic mosquitos flew out of one of the compartments.

They immediately swarmed me and I frantically tried destroying most of them.

But despite my efforts, just about all of them landed on me and bit me. It wasn't until then that I noticed that they weren't sucking out my blood, but were injecting a green liquid into me.

I did my best to destroy them while they were perched onto me, but they had already completed their task by the time I did destroy them.

Almost instantly, I started feeling incredibly dizzy, and my whole body started feeling weak. Not long after, I started coughing up blood, and my vision became blurry.

They poisoned me, with a large dose too.

I collapsed, but Jeno's double caught me. They carried me throughout the HQ, until we entered a very familiar room.

My old bedroom.

My brothers were already in here, waiting for us. Well, most of them. Mark and Donghyuck are missing.

"Prepare the Strappado method"

My double ordered them.

I know exactly what he means by that.

The Strappado is a form of torture where the victim's hands are tied behind their back and suspended by a rope attached to the wrists, typically resulting in dislocated shoulders. Sometimes, weights are added to the body to intensify the effect and increase the pain. This kind of torture generally wouldn't last more than an hour without rest, as it would likely result in death. Another commonly used name for Strappado is "reverse hanging".

The four of them had already installed a pulley system to raise and lower me with. They tied my hands behind my back and attached shackles to my ankles that had a weight attached to them.

They used the pulley to raise me off of the ground, and not even a minute later, my shoulders dislocated under the pressure. It was excruciatingly painful, but I didn't scream.

I didn't want to amused them by expressing my pain and suffering, and I'm used to having parts of my body severed from past battles, so it's not as bad.

Apart from that, I'm far too weak and tired to even let out a peep. I know that this is just the beginning of them torturing and toying with me, but I'm already formulating a plan to escape.

I know that Nitro stayed behind after all, and I know that he's hiding out very close by. He's my biggest chance of getting out of here.

All we have to do is wait for the right moment, and we can escape and meet up with the others.