-

3 Days Later
Planet Xochao

-

"Finally, we made it. So which planet is the right one sis?"

"According to the tracker, it's not the smaller one. It's actually the one that looks like an abandoned space colony"

"Should've known... It's always the ones you least expect... Who do we have to locate on this planet?"

"Let's see... We have to find two heroes. They mainly go by the names of Henry and Jay Park"

"Is it alright if I take care of this one?"

"Me too!"

Chenle and BM both volunteered, to which the twins agreed without question.

-

Shortly after Landing

-

"This place is just as beautiful as I remember it"

"You've been here before hyung?"

"Sure have~. Jay-hyung and Henry-hyung are really good buddies of mine~"

"I see. If I remember correctly, they're both Duelists right?"

"They sure are~. That's why they're always together. If I'm right, they should both be off training somewhere"

Just as he said that, they both saw a flash of light in the distance, witnessing the result of a drawn Legendary Egyptian God Card.

Osiris the Heaven Dragon.

"That's definitely Jay-hyung's card~"

The two of them began walking towards where the light came from, and almost ten minutes later, they saw yet another flash of light, revealing the result of another drawn Legendary Egyptian God Card.

Obelisk the Tormentor.

"And that's definitely Henry-hyung's card~"

The two sped up as they got closer to the scene, finding both of them with their Dual Disks and Card Decks.

The two of them decided not to interrupt them, and watched the battle from afar.

-

About 1 Hour Later

-

The battle went on for a while, but every moment had BM and Chenle at the edge of their seats.

Chenle noticed while they were watching the battle that his double showed up. Instead of attacking him, he welcomed him to join them to watch the battle, to which he hesitantly agreed.

The battle began nearing its end, both God Cards off the field and residing in the Graveyard. Henry activated his next magic card, Resurrection of the Dead, and resurrected his third Blue-Eyes White Dragon to join his other two on the field.

He then activated his Reverse Magic Card, Fusion, enabling his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons to become one and become an even stronger monster, the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

Jay then activated his next Reverse Card, Double Magic. This card allowed him to use any of the Magic Cards that Henry used in his turn.

He used Resurrection of the Dead and Fusion. He summoned his Buster Blader to join his Black Magician on the field using Resurrection of the Dead, and then activated Fusion. He combined both monsters to create a monster born of that polymerization that inherits the Special Ability of Buster Blader.

Additionally, It's attack power increases by five-hundred for every Dragon-Type monster on the field.

Henry's Ultimate Dragon was currently on the field, alongside Jay's own Red-Eyes Black Dragon. With this in mind, Jay was able to summon the Mighty Magic Swordsman, Black Paladin.

Since Fusion Monsters can't attack on the same turn that they're summoned, Henry's turn was over. Jay simply set a Reverse Card to add to his other one on the field, and ended his turn.

Henry used his Ultimate Dragon in attack mode with its Ultimate Burst move.

"Reverse Card, open! Magician's Spellbook!"

Henry only smirked at Jay's move.

"I activate Magic Absorption!"

With that card, the moment Jay's monster's attack power went up, those points were absorbed and ejected into his own monster's attack power, increasing it.

Henry's attack continued its course to Jay's monsters, seeming to defeat them, but Jay was prepared for this.

"Nice try! Reverse Card, open! Fusion Cancel!"

The effects of this card canceled out Henry's monster's fusion, splitting up the Ultimate Dragon to return to being three Blue-Eyes White Dragons. Because of this, it's attack also cancelled out.

With now two more Dragon-Types on the field, Black Paladin's attack points increased further, surpassing the attack points of the three dragons. And because the fusion of Ultimate was cancelled, Henry's turn came to an end.

"I activate a Magic Card from my hand! Diffusion Wave Motion!"

With this card, Jay paid a thousand of his Life Points in order to direct his Magician's attack order to cover every monster on Henry's side of the field, meaning that Black Paladin could attack all Blue-Eyes White Dragons at the same time.

"Attack, Black Paladin! Beyond Magic! Fierce Shocking Wave!"

The attack from Black Paladin, successfully destroyed all three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, and also rendered Henry's Life Points to zero.

After all of those twenty-five turns, the battle was finally over.

"I'm left with five-hundred Life Points. I win Xianhua~"

Jay cheered.

"...Well played hyung. That was fun~"

"You guys did so well~!"

BM suddenly blurted out, clapping for them.

"Matthew~. Long time no see~"

"You guys finally came to pick us up~"

The two happily greeted the cheerful younger.

While they were catching up, Chenle and his double walked off to prepare for their fight.

-

"Hey. I don't think I ever got to know your name"

Chenle struck up a conversation as they continued to walk.

"I-I'm Zhakata Cassidy. My code name is Barbarian.."

He stuttered as he answered, but Chenle smiled to make him feel a bit more at ease.

"It's nice to meet you Cassidy~. So, did you enjoy watching the match with us?"

The latter almost immediately nodded.

"It was fun...watching it with you"

"I'm really glad that you had fun Cass~. I know that you've been through a lot, so I wanted you to relax for a bit"

Cassidy stopped in his tracks, not saying a word and only staring at the ground.

"Hey. What's wrong Cass?"

When Chenle stopped to approach him, he noticed the tears that trickled down his face and fell to the ground.

"Cass, don't cry... What's got you so upset all in a sudden..?"

Chenle immediately approached him and gently pet his head to calm him down, which only made him cry more.

"Y-You and your brothers are so nice... I d-don't wanna do this anymore... I don't wanna f-fight you....."

Despite him being scared to, he hugged Chenle as he continued to cry.

Though he was surprised, he gently hugged him back and continued to try and comfort him.

"It's alright Cass.. I know that you and the others have been through hell. I can't even begin to imagine what you're feeling right now"

Cassidy only responded with small little whines as he tried to stop himself from crying.

"...I'll tell you what. We don't have to fight. We can just have a friendly sparring match, and you can introduce your powers to me. That way, you can also let out any frustrations you have on me if you'd like. And getting to know you could help me in the future to save you. How does that sound~?"

Chenle smiled, gently wiping away the latter's tears.

Cassidy looked into his eyes, and it was then that Chenle realized that his eyes were very similar to Donghyuck's.

His left eye was a light blue, and his right eye was a darkish brown.

Cassidy suddenly felt much safer while being with Chenle, so much that simply sparring with him didn't sound so bad.

He soon nodded at the idea, and Chenle pet him once more.

"Alright then~. Let's see... To start off, I wanna get to know you better power wise. How many powers do you have?"

Cassidy thought for a bit, and then held up three fingers.

"I see... And just one Stand right?"

Cassidy nodded again, his tail slowly swaying back and forth.

"Let's see... You and the others probably already know this, but I have a total of five powers, and three Stands that can be combined into one"

Instead of being disinterested like Chenle had presumed, Cassidy seemed very excited and attentive.

"Now... Before you demonstrate your powers, I wanna know something. You're not a cat hybrid like me, are you?"

Cassidy shook his head, immediately shifting into a completely different animal.

"Fox"

He spoke before shifting back.

Chenle couldn't help but find him even cuter as a fox.

"M-My first power is called Pain. I can transfer physical or mental pain from myself to someone else"

Cassidy demonstrated this by locking eyes with Chenle and then roughly flicking his own forehead.

Cassidy didn't feel a thing, but Chenle felt the sting from it. He did it once more, but this time without looking Chenle in the eyes. This time, Chenle didn't feel a thing, but Cassidy did.

"I see.. So that power only works when you lock eyes with someone. That must require a great deal of speed, focus, and precision"

Cassidy immediately nodded at Chenle's analysis.

"My second power is called Altered Sense"

"Oh! I've read about that with Jisung somewhere before. That power gives you complete control over the senses of yourself and others right?"

Cassidy nodded again, happy to see that Chenle was just as excited as he was.

"That's a really incredible power~. It must really come in handy when dealing with opponents or helping your allies~"

Cassidy smiled as he became more excited.

"M-My Stand is called Oasis~"

He immediately let his Stand cover his body, shocking Chenle with its familiar appearance.

"No way~! Minkyu has a Stand very similar to yours~! You two would get along so well~. But what does Oasis do??"

"W-Well, it can turn the ground into liquid, so I can swim through it and make anything sink into it. It also gives me a few physical enhancements~"

Cassidy explained, before making his Stand disappear.

"You really have an amazing set of powers Cass~"

Chenle pet him once more, making him smile even more.

"But wait, you have one more power right?"

"O-Oh. I do.."

Cassidy's smile disappeared, and he lightly tapped the muzzle around his neck before slowly raising it to his face.

However, Chenle stopped him before he could strap it on.

"Cass, what are you doing?"

"You may think I'm just nervous why I stutter a lot right? W-Well.., that's not entirely why.."

"What do you mean?"

"...A lot of things happened to me in my past, so many things that something happened inside of my head. I lost all sense of who I was, and my humanity.. For years, I-I've been dealing with these psychotic thoughts. I used to go around killing anyone who even came close to me, innocent and guilty alike... Even now, I'm so messed up in the head. Those thoughts are still trying to convince me to kill you right here and now.. B-But, I won't, because of what happened after I met Marshall-hyung years ago"

"Mark-hyung's double?"

Cassidy nodded.

"The day I met him, I tried attacking him too. But he gave me one look, and he instantly tamed me, since one of powers is called Tame. T-That's how he's able to keep me and his wolf dogs in check"

"I see.. But then why do you need this muzzle? It looks like it makes you uncomfortable"

"...Even though it scares me, it's also special to me. M-Marshall-hyung gave it to me one day. Even though he tamed me, I would still fly off the handle sometimes. This...is an electric muzzle, so he'd shock me every time I would try to kill someone without his consent"

"Isn't that a bit harsh???"

Cassidy shook his head.

"Every time it shocked me, it would bring back a piece of my humanity. B-But, that also brought back my sense of fear. I became horrified by what I had done, a-and now I don't want to kill anyone anymore, even with these intrusive thoughts. I just want for me and my friends to live a happy life, f-for once..."

"So the reason you put on the muzzle...is because you're afraid that if you use that power while hyung isn't here, then you'll end up losing yourself and attempt to kill me..?"

Cassidy nodded.

"That power is called Feral, isn't it?"

Cassidy looked very surprised that he knew what it was called just by hearing a description.

"H-How did you know??"

"I read about it once. It basically gives you the mindset of a feral animal, which enables you to attack and kill anyone on sight. Based on what you've shared with me, you must've been stuck with that power switched on after what you've been through. But after Marshall-hyung came into play, he managed to switch it off so you could control it again"

"..."

"But if he's not here to help you stay in control, then there's just no point in you forcing yourself to use it"

"B-But, what about our sparring match?"

"Don't worry about it Cass~. I'm sure we'll get another chance later on. But I'd much rather you use that power only when Marshall-hyung is with you. So cheer up, ok~?"

Chenle rested his hand on his shoulder and gave him a warm smile.

Cassidy couldn't comprehend the feeling that had suddenly come over him. He was happy, but also a bit sad. Either way, he immediately hugged the latter to express how he felt.

-

Jay and Henry already made their way back to the ship with BM, and Xinrei flew the ship to Chenle so that he wouldn't have to waste time going back to them.

Once Chenle noticed the ship, he happily waved at them. Cassidy was nervous at first, but he eventually waved too.

"Hey Cass? You alright over there?"

Cassidy suddenly heard Marshall through his ear piece.

"H-Hi hyung. I'm fine. I'm with Chenle"

"Is that Marshall-hyung? Can I talk to him for a second?"

"Sure~. Marshall-hyung, Chenle wants to talk to you"

He took his earpiece out and gave it to Chenle.

"Hi hyung. You don't have to worry about Cass. He's fine"

"He didn't use his power did he..?"

"Nope. I made sure of that. I saw no point in it if he can't control it while you're not here"

"You do know that Feral is his most powerful ability right? How did you two fight without him using it?"

"Simple hyung. We didn't fight at all"

Marshall was silent for a while, but then Chenle suddenly heard him laughing.

"...You two are really cut from the same cloth. Here we all thought that you two would nearly kill each other going toe-to-toe, when we should've known that you'd just have a friendly heart-to-heart chat"

"What can we say~?"

"Anyway, I'm glad that you're both ok. But, Cassidy should head back now"

"Wait hyung! I know I'm probably asking for too much, but can you tell me who's going to come after us next"

"Depends. What planet are you headed to this time?"

"Hey Xinya! What planet are we heading to next?!"

Chenle yelled to get her attention.

"The tracker says we need to head to Planet Bilore next!"

"Thanks~. Hyung, we're headed for Planet Bilore next"

There was a silence for a few seconds, but then someone new came on the line.

"This is Renjun's double. My name is Robin Hyo, code name Devil. I'll be the next one to come after you guys. Is Renjun well enough to fight?"

"Well, not exactly.. He ended up using too much of his strength to save one of us back on Aerus"

"Did he happen to summon a Keyblade by any chance?"

"What?? Yeah! How did you know??"

"We're all the same person from different dimensions. Since he summoned a Keyblade, I was able to get one too. But if he's not in the position to fight, any one of you can fight me in his stead"

"Hmmm.. I guess you'll know who your opponent will be once you come to us hyung"

"I look forward to it. I'll let you talk to Marshall-hyung again"

There was another silence for a moment, but then Marshall returned.

"So, Robin will meet you guys some time after you land. If you don't want to know anything else, I'd like to speak to Cassidy again"

Chenle wanted to ask if they were doing ok, but he hesitated.

"Right. Thanks for listening hyung"

Chenle handed the earpiece back to Cassidy for them to talk once more.

"Cass, you should head back now so that they can proceed to the next planet. See you in a minute?"

"Y-Yeah.. See you in a minute hyung.."

Marshall ended their call, and Cassidy frowned.

"...I have to go"

Cassidy reached into his pocket and pulled out their next piece of the puzzle.

He handed Chenle a piece of paper that only had one word written on it: "Boss".

"So this is our next clue?"

"Yes. Y-You all have three, so there should be a small phrase now"

"Hmm.. Jaemin-hyung! Jisung-ah! Come down with your clues for a minute!"

Not even a minute later, they both came down to see what Chenle needed.

"Guys, this is Cassidy. He's a hybrid like me, but he's a fox~"

"It's nice to meet you Cassidy~"

"Yeah~. You're just as cute as Chenle~"

Cassidy could only smile as he shook their hands.

"So guys, Cass just gave me the third clue. Jean and Jamie-hyung gave you yours, and Cass says they should form a small phrase now"

The two quickly added their clues together with Chenle's, finding the first phrase of the secret message.

"The Boss Is..."

As soon as the three read the phrase out loud, the pieces joined together into a small piece of a letter.

"Don't read it until you've gotten all of the other pieces and joined them to complete the letter. There are four of us left for you to encounter, s-so there are four pieces left for you to collect"

"Right.. Thank you Cass"

Cassidy only smiled, before opening up a portal to head back to Ethora.

However, he stopped before he went through, seeming uneasy about something.

"What's up Cass?"

"...W-What do the people you're the closest to call you?"

The three brothers could only smile at the latter's question.

"They call me Lele. You can call me that any time Cass~"

Cassidy's tail swayed with excitement after hearing Chenle's answer.

"T-Then..., I'll see you soon Lele~"