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The Next Day
Planet Oimia

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"I call dibs on this one~"

Donghyuck immediately cheered once the next planet came into view.

"Jisung, Jaemin, and I are coming with you. There's only two members of the Gang Stars that we haven't seen yet, and that's our doubles. If we're up against Damian, Jisung and I will possibly be able to help combat his ice with ours. And if it's Marshall, then Jaemin and Jisung can use their water to help combat his flames"

Mark insisted.

"And I'll be on standby if you need help~"

Suyun cheered.

"Sounds like a plan then~"

"The hero that you have to find once we land is named Woo Jiho, with the hero name of ZICO"

Xinya informed them.

"Ah~. ZICO-hyung~. This should be fun~"

Donghyuck excitedly looked out the window as they descended.

-

BBC City

-

"I forgot how cool and different this world was!"

Donghyuck excitedly looked around at the many fish flying around above them.

"This world often gets confused for an underwater world, but in reality, those are air fish. And the atmosphere of this planet gives off the illusion that we're underwater"

Jisung explained as they approached the tallest building in the city.

"But even still, the troposphere still contains water-like properties. It's possible to stay afloat in the air instead of being pulled down by gravity. And even with that knowledge, this planet still has the gravity to keep everything on this planet in place. That's why it amazes me every time we come here"

Jaemin smiled, admiring the scenery.

The three of them found the entrance to the towering building, and took an elevator to the top. It took a short while for them to arrive at the top floor, thanks to the elevator's speed.

Once they exited the elevator, they found ZICO staring out of a window, looking out at the city.

"Knock knock"

Jisung made their presence known, startling ZICO a bit.

"S-Sorry, I didn't hear you guys come in.."

"That's no problem hyung~. It's great to see you again~"

Donghyuck immediately hugged the older, making him smile.

"We came to pick you up hyung. You'll help us all save Ethora right?"

Jaemin inquired.

"Of course I will! There's no way that I would ever say no! We can leave as soon as we get to your ship right?"

"That's right hyung, but first we have to fight with someone while we're here. Once we beat him, we can leave"

Jisung explained.

"Someone like who??"

"Someone like me"

Donghyuck's double suddenly walked in, exiting the elevator.

"Damian"

"Nice to see you too Donghyuck. I see that you're all doing alright, as usual.."

Damian frowned, as they all readied their weapons.

"Hey, we only have one more planet to go. Once we're done there, we'll be able to come for you guys"

Jisung reassured him.

"Do you really believe that you can help us?"

"Do you really believe that we can't help you?"

Mark answered his question with another question as playful banter.

"If you can't even keep a hold on your weapons, then of course you can't help us"

He sighed, holding Mark's Twin Ice Blades in his hands.

"What the?!"

Mark was alarmed, knowing he was holding onto them just seconds before.

"One of my powers has to do with my skin. It's so soft that I'm able to steal anything from anyone without them knowing it"

Damian explained.

"I see.. That's really cool.."

"Give me a break.. We're not friends. Don't let your guard down, or I might just end up hurting you.."

He sighed, tossing the blades back to Mark.

"And here I thought you were going to use them"

Donghyuck mumbled.

"Don't be stupid. I've got a weapon of my own. Now let's get this over with"

Damian insisted, summoning his own Blight Sword.

"Hey. Do you guys mind if I join the fight?"

ZICO offered his assistance.

"I don't see why not. Our psychic abilities together might do some great damage~"

Jisung approved for him to join their fight, ready to see what he could do.

-

2 Hours Later

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Donghyuck soon learned that his flames had no effect on Damian's ice, so he helped in other ways instead of attacking him head on.

Though Jaemin decided to aid his teammates from the sidelines, he helped a lot by empowering Mark with light from his Keyblade. Mark in turn used that light to manipulate Pure Ice, able to counter and cancel out Damian's black ice.

Though Jisung was stuck fighting against Damian's Stand, he was still able to work with ZICO to help Mark. They combined their psychic abilities to trap Damian in place for a few seconds at a time.

This gave Mark the chance to attack Damian with Phantom Haze, but it had almost no effect on him after he covered himself in a thin layer of black ice. However, the Stand was only a decoy to let Donghyuck charge up his next attack.

Phantom Haze moved out of the way for Mark to attack Damian with his Twin Pure Ice Blades, destroying the layer of black ice.

Damian tried to escape any other attacks, but Jisung and ZICO managed to trap him again. This in turn gave Donghyuck the chance to deliver the final blow.

Using the power of his Adolla Burst, he gathered his flames to his feet, and propelled himself towards Damian. He kicked him in his back, so fast that Damian had no time to form another layer of black ice to protect himself.

The force of the kick increased upon contact as Donghyuck added more heat to his fire. The added heat, along with the force of the kick, created an explosion that engulfed all six of them within it.

-

When the smoke finally cleared, miraculously, they were all unharmed.

"What happened..?"

Damian was the first to question it, exhausted from the fight.

"This is why it pays to have a Keyblade wielder present in these types of battles. Reflect Magic comes in handy when you want to cancel out certain attacks. I used it to keep us safe and unharmed from within that explosion"

Jaemin explained.

"I see.. So then there definitely is more to all of you than just looking like us. Hmph... Not bad"

Damian tried to hide the smirk on his face

He threw a piece of paper at Donghyuck that only had one word written on it: "Going".

"Thanks a lot Damian~"

Donghyuck cheered, catching the paper.

"Whatever... Don't say that I never gave you anything...... Listen, I have a piece of information that I'm only going to tell you"

Damian and Donghyuck floated over to one of the whales flying around, while the others escorted ZICO to the ship.

Once they landed on the whale, Damian sighed as he tried to get his words together.

"I wasn't always like this"

"You mean you weren't always so uptight, brooding, and blunt"

"Bingo. I freed myself from my abusive household, but I lost someone very close to me in the process. I lost my best friend... Ever since that day, I've never been the same"

He frowned, petting the whale they stood on.

Donghyuck then noticed a small soul floating around Damian, noticing how it seemed to be trying to either comfort him or get his attention.

'That must be the soul of his best friend that he mentioned..'

Donghyuck thought to himself.

"...But, I guess it couldn't be helped. I do have six good friends now. They may not be able to replace him, but I care about them a lot"

"...You mean the other Gang Stars"

Damian nodded.

"Not including The Boss"

"Hell no! Not anymore! I'll never forgive him for what he did!"

Damian seemed to lose his cool after Donghyuck mentioned him, becoming more vulnerable in that moment.

"Listen to me Donghyuck. We can't continue to stay on Ethora much longer. We're on our own out here, unprotected. If we were with you guys, we might be safe from him. But we're in the dark here, we're on our own, and..."

"You're scared.."

Damian didn't want to admit it, but he knew that Donghyuck was right.

"You won't be for long, I promise"

He raised his pinky, immediately catching Damian's attention.

"What's that mean..?"

"You've really never seen this before?! Have the other Gang Stars never seen this either??"

Damian only shook his head, still confused.

"Oh... Well that's ok~. I'll teach you~. Basically, this is called a pinky promise. When you lock your pinky with someone, it signifies that a promise has been made~"

"Ooooh. So..., like this???"

He asked, locking their pinkies.

"That's it~. Now the promise has been made~. We'll save you guys so that you won't be scared anymore~"

Donghyuck cheered.

Damian was still perplexed by the concept of a pinky promise, but he seemed pleased about Donghyuck's promise.

"So.., what happens if you break the promise?"

"That won't happen. But if by chance it does happen, you get to break my finger~"

Donghyuck didn't like the idea of it, but he still kept a smile on his face.

Damian finally smiled, opening a portal and unlocking their fingers.

"...It won't happen, but I like the sound of that~"