-

The Next Day
Planet Loturn

-

"Jisung, Jaemin, Hyuck, and Suyun. You guys are coming with me. Who do we have find on this planet?"

Mark asked Xinya.

"We're going to three separate areas actually. Our first stop is a wasteland, our second stop is a city, and our third stop is an island civilization. The first person we have to find is in the wasteland. His name is Kim Hyunwoong, but he mostly goes by his hero name, BLOO"

"Wait. Did you say BLOO?"

BM questioned.

"You know him hyung?"

"Yeah. He's the last of my six closest friends. His power is called Sloshed, and it's an impressive yet broken power"

"Why so?"

"His power causes anyone who approaches him to lose their sense of balance, falling into a state similar to inebriation. Basically, he gives them the sense of being drunk, which can greatly turn the tables against any foe in his favor for victory. The power has no effect on him, because he himself is an experienced and heavy drinker"

"He's right. Not only that, but BLOO lives and rides on his special beast companion from the wasteland. He calls it Cosmopolitan, named after a type of liquor. If we find that beast, we find him. However, that beast is very dangerous and will attack anyone that it thinks is a treat, in order to protect BLOO"

Henry explained, reorganizing his deck.

"Hmm... In that case, we'll approach him with the ship. Jisung, Jaemin, Hyuck, Suyun, and I will stand at the roof of the ship, to approach him while keeping an eye out for Marshall. BM-hyung, will you come with us to show him that we're not a threat?"

Mark inquired.

"That's a good idea... If he sees me, then he'll stop Cosmopolitan from attacking us, which will make our job a whole lot easier. I'll come with you"

BM agreed.

"Great. Now, let's get moving"

-

MKIT RAIN Badlands

-

Soon after entering the breezy wasteland, they found a huge beast that roamed the land.

"That's it! That's Cosmopolitan!"

BM exclaimed.

'Xinrei. Pull up alongside that beast. That's Cosmopolitan'

Jisung telepathically informed.

'Roger. Hang on'

They slowly approached the beast, being careful not to accidentally alarm it.

They all soon noticed how big the beast was, compared to their ships, minus Samuel's.

"Jeez, if that thing hit us we'd most definitely be done for"

Jisung mumbled, keeping a close eye on the beast.

"Yo BLOO!!!"

BM suddenly yelled.

He not only successfully got BLOO's attention, he also got the beast's attention too.

"Matthew-hyung?! Is that you~?!"

"You bet it is~!! Tell Cosmo not to attack! I need to talk to you!"

"Got you~!"

In a matter of seconds, the beast stopped in its tracks.

It let them pull up close to it without engaging, making their job much easier.

"It's so nice to see you again hyung~"

BLOO wasted no time and hugged BM once he landed on the beast.

"That really is a remarkable creature"

The other five suddenly heard a familiar voice approach them, as well as the sound of growling.

"Nice to see that you could make it Marshall"

Mark smiled.

"It's nice to know that you were anticipating my arrival. I don't think I've introduced you to my companions. This is Leon, and this is Daegal"

He introduced them as they obediently sat on either side of him.

"Do you mind if I pet them?"

"Go ahead. They won't be fighting today anyway"

Mark immediately approached the three and gently pet them.

Leon and Daegal were a bit confused, seeing that Mark and Marshall were identical, but they still seemed happy with his kind gestures.

"How come they won't be fighting today hyung?"

Jisung asked.

"I just don't want them getting hurt in a place like this, especially with that beast around. I know that I'm not as powerful without them, but sacrifices are meant to be made sometimes. I really love these two, and I would hate for anything bad to happen to them"

Marshall pet them as well, and they nuzzled themselves against his legs.

"That makes sense. I'll watch them while the rest of you fight"

Jaemin volunteered.

"Are you sure Nana???"

Donghyuck questioned.

"Sure~. I can always help from the sidelines anyway. Is that alright with you Marshall-hyung?"

"I'll accept that. I really appreciate that Jaemin"

He smiled a bit, knowing his companions would be safe.

While Jaemin stayed with Leon and Daegal, the other five jumped down from the ship, venturing a fair distance to commence their battle.

-

1 1/2 Hours Later

-

Midway through the battle, Donghyuck and Mark ended up fusing, and Fluorite joined the battle.

But this time, Mark and Donghyuck changed his look a bit as they fused.

Now, Jisung, Fluorite, and Suyun were fighting against Marshall. Though Marshall was surprised to see that they had fused, he kept his focus on their battle.

Marshall did his best to avoid Fluorite's and Jisung's attacks, and went for Suyun instead. He covered his hands and arms with his flames to attack her, but Suyun did the same to counter this.

They locked hands, trying to overpower each other with their flames. Marshall was surprised to find that his flames had almost no effect on her whatsoever. She could feel the heat from them, but it didn't seem to bother her in the slightest.

"This...is impossible. No one's ever matched my flames before.. Everyone and everything that's ever come in contact with them have been disintegrated..!"

"Tough luck. My flames are so intense that they can't be extinguished. Now, try all you like, but your flames can't and will never destroy me!"

"...Don't forget you brat, I can always turn up the heat!"

Marshall seemed to lose his cool in that very moment.

Not only did the intensity of his flames increase, but small white flames appeared on random parts of his body. Upon seeing this, Fluorite immediately unfused.

Mark saw this and panicked a bit, feeling as though he had seen something like this somewhere before. He quickly tried cooling him off with Jisung's help by creating a wave of frost.

The wave flowed to the two of them, hitting Marshall from his rear. The frost not only put out the small flames, but they also began to put out the flames on his arms as well.

Marshall became even more enraged, and tried attacking them as well, but Jisung prevented him from doing so by using his Psychokinesis to trap him in place.

"Damn you..."

He angrily mumbled.

Suyun then did the unexpected.

She backed up a fair distance, and the black flames in her hand soon started to look more purple in most areas.

"Wait.. No way!"

Donghyuck exclaimed.

"All of you step aside!"

She warned them, and they quickly moved out of her way.

"Poison Dragon of the Darkness Flame!"

Suyun used this new variation of her flames to unleash a brand new attack.

Her flames became a mix of black and purple flames, forming a special dragon, composed of darkness and poisonous properties, that struck Marshall head on.

The dragon struck him and seemingly fazed right through him completely before it eventually disappeared.

"What a prodigy..."

Marshall mumbled, falling to his knees.

"You alright Marshall?"

Mark asked, as they all immediately flocked to his side.

"Yeah.. Just a bit hot..."

He mumbled.

"You should be fine after a while. I only used a small portion of purple flames to poison you a tiny bit, just to calm you down"

Suyun explained.

Mark made a small patch of snow flurries rain down on him to cool him off some more.

"This is your first time using either of those flames in combat right..? This next generation of heroes are true prodigies.. I never saw that kind of attack coming, let alone you possessing that powerful combination of flames.."

"I'll say! You're becoming so powerful and you're still a total rookie at this! Not only are you adorable, but you're also so very talented~! I couldn't be a more proud father~!"

Donghyuck smothered Suyun with love and compliments.

"Aww, thanks dad~"

"Do you want Jaemin-hyung to heal you Marshall-hyung?"

Jisung asked, helping him stand up as they made their way back to the ship.

"No, I'm fine.. At least I'll definitely be able to show The Boss that I was bested in my battle. And besides, my battle is the most recent one, so this will definitely show for it"

Marshall explained.

Jisung made sure to inform Jaemin of this before they made it back to the ship.

-

Marshall wanted to speak to all of the Fighting Dreamers and their kids, so Jisung telepathically informed each of the ones that weren't present, except for Renjun so he could rest.

Once they were all gathered on the roof of the ship, Marshall began to speak.

"As of this moment, each and every one of you have beaten me and my team. I want to be the first to say well done to all of you"

He smiled and handed Mark a piece of paper that only had one word written on it: "Us".

"You should all have the pieces to complete the puzzle. Now, it's time for them to be connected"

He informed them and the brothers nodded.

Jaemin had the piece that he, Jisung, and Chenle had combined days before, as well as the piece that Renjun was supposed to hold on to. Donghyuck, Jeno, and Mark combined their three pieces with the other two, revealing the full secret message.

"The Boss Is Going To Kill Us..."

As soon as they all read that sentence out loud, the pieces formed together, finally creating the secret letter.

The seven brothers became extremely worried, while the kids were a bit confused.

"So that's why all of you are so scared..."

Chenle mumbled, feeling himself getting riled up with anger and sadness.

The seven brothers each remembered in that moment when they first realized that something was wrong with their doubles.

Jisung remembered how Jean began to shiver upon the very mention of The Boss.

Chenle remembered seeing Cassidy cry, not wanting to fight or kill anyone anymore.

Jaemin remembered seeing how exhausted Jamie looked, despite him not acting like it. He also remembered how sad Robin seemed after their fight, realizing he had to return to his comrades.

Donghyuck remembered how scared and infuriated Damian became after mentioning The Boss.

Jeno remembered seeing the hatred in Jonah's eyes change to adoration, as well as his sudden playful and friendly demeanor.

And Mark noticed how Marshall lost his calm and collected composure, and what happened as a result that seemed so familiar to him.

"I'd suggest that you all read our letter as you're venturing to your next location. I... I should head back now. The Boss will be checking in on us soon enough after I go back. Jaemin, thank you for looking after Leon and Daegal for me. I'll remember that"

Marshall then opened a portal for them to leave through.

"Hey! Just wait a moment Mars! Hang on a second!"

Mark grabbed his wrist to stop him, but the two wolf dogs started growling at him.

Marshall didn't seem so friendly anymore either.

"Let go of me Mark"

Mark suddenly retracted his hand after feeling the heat coming off of Marshall burn his hand.

"And...don't call me that"

"Marshall... I know we may not completely understand what's going on yet, and we may not completely see eye-to-eye, but please continue to have faith in us"

"...Are you kidding me? Have faith?? Give me a break. The Boss completely outmatches all of us. He didn't even hesitate to hurt us the last time we failed him. You have no idea what he's going to do to us now. Do you all actually believe that you can beat him and save us? Do you??"

They all grew silent after Marshall's outburst.

"It's not a matter of whether or not we can do it"

Everyone's eyes immediately widened once they suddenly heard Renjun's voice.

They all turned around to find him coming closer to speak to Marshall.

"Dad?! What are you doing out of bed??!"

"Dad.. You're supposed to be resting..."

"Reirei and Nitro are right! You should go back to sleep.."

The three siblings were exceptionally worried for their father, holding onto him to make sure he wouldn't fall.

"You three don't have to worry about me. I'm actually feeling a lot better~"

He made sure to comfort and reassure his kids first before returning his attention to Marshall.

"Renjun..."

"Listen Marshall. A hero's job is to risk their life to turn their promises into a reality. So, we're going to save all of you from The Boss, even if it costs us our lives, regardless if you have faith in us or not"

"..."

Marshall ordered his wolf dogs to go through the portal, and then approached Renjun, stopping only a couple inches away from him as he stared him down.

"Are you for certain that you want to try and take him on? No one knows his true identity, and you have no idea how immense his power is. What makes you think you'll stand a chance?"

"Have you forgotten who we are? And more importantly, have you forgotten who I am? You've all seen what we've done to save the worlds before, and you know that I lost my own life in the process. But I'm still here, aren't I?"

"You are..."

"And besides, when I died, I died by my own hand. My own power was too much for me to handle back then, and I got carried away the first time I used it. But with help from my friends and family, I was able to come back to this world. If we're all here for each other, anything is possible, even saving you from The Boss"

They both continued to stare each other down, until Marshall finally sighed before returning to the portal.

"...I'll give it a shot, having faith in you I mean. But as of right now...... We're running out of time..."

Marshall left that final remark before leaving through the portal.

"...We should get moving. Let's put the ship in autopilot to our next location and read that letter"

Renjun advised.

"Hey wait a minute! Is there a way that Cosmopolitan can come along? He has separation anxiety when it comes to me"

BLOO suddenly asked, peaking out from inside the ship.

"Leave that to me"

Jeno smiled at the older.

-

10 Minutes Later

-

Jeno used his Compress power to keep Cosmopolitan contained in a marble for BLOO to take it with him.

Afterwards, they put the ship on autopilot for their next location, and the Fighting Dreamers and their kids gathered together to read the Gang Stars' letter.

As it was rolled up before, Renjun carefully opened it up and placed it down. Immediately upon opening it, they noticed the special seal on the front side, emitting a mysterious mist.

"What is that seal?"

Minkyu questioned.

"This seal holds the message of the letter. And this mist will translate the writing, and project it for us to read"

Renjun explained.

Just as he said that, words from the letter appeared in the air for them to read from within the mist. The words rose up fast enough for them to read, and then disappeared not long after.

"To the Fighting Dreamers and The Paramounts.."

Renjun began to read.

"The Paramounts?"

"I think it's supposed to be the nine of us"

Jeongho concluded, answering Minkyu's question.

The nine kids seemed to be happy with that name for their group, and Renjun continued to read.

"If you're reading this, you've successfully acquired all of the pieces of the puzzle, and completed this letter. First off, well done. Now, onto business. We know that you're all wondering the meaning behind the secret message: The Boss Is Going To Kill Us. So, now is the time that you find out what happened and what's going to happen"

"Here we go.."

Jisung made sure to pay extra close attention, anxious to know what happened.

"The Boss didn't take the news about Renjun's escape too well. He doesn't know that we helped him escape, but that didn't change a thing. He became incredibly enraged at us. Even though he was in a completely different location on our video call, he appeared behind us in less than a second without us even realizing it. His aura alone blasted us into the wall. That wouldn't have mattered to us too much, but as you all know, Jean is incapable of using his legs. Not only did The Boss hurt him, Jean wasn't able to get up. We could clearly see the fear he had in his eyes after he realized what happened..."

"So that's why Jean was so scared..."

Jisung became very sad upon hearing the news, which soon changed to anger.

"Afterwards, he gave us three strikes. Him blasting us into the wall was the first strike. That was his way of going easy on us, seeing as it was our first time failing him. By the time you all complete this letter, we'll have used up our second strike. This time will be different. He warned us that if we failed a second time, that there would be immense pain unlike any pain we have ever experienced before.."

"So that's why none of them wanted to go back to the HQ..."

Jeno angrily mumbled.

"Please listen carefully. We'll most likely have to fight you all again once you come back to Ethora, meaning we just might have to fight at the HQ. If one or many of you has to fight The Boss, know this. He has six powers, and two Stands. You all know his mind control ability. That power is called Bondage, but he needs those earrings in order for it to work. Additionally, he's a God of Destruction. That alone should tell you about his great power. One of those Stands is called King Crimson, but we have no idea what his other Stand or other four powers are. We believe that's the main reason he has carrying out his dirty work. He wants people to know as little about him as possible, including us"

"That may not be much information, but that helps a lot. I hope that they know that"

"King Crimson......"

Sungmin frowned and Jaemin mumbled, as Renjun continued to read.

"There's a few more things. Now that we've used our second strike to help you, we're now on our third strike. The Boss warned us that if we failed him a third time, he'll take us out"

"Strike three, they're out..."

Donghyuck became saddened at this realization.

"As if to make us feel worse, he said himself that he was going to start with Jean, or as he called him, the cripple..."

"WHAT?!"

Jisung angrily shouted.

"Calm down dad. It would be best to hold onto that rage until we can finally get to The Boss"

"Junsung is right Jwi. Getting releasing that anger now won't help us at all"

Chenle and Junsung did their best to calm Jisung down.

Renjun tried to mask his own emotions as he continued reading.

"Renjun... Please keep this in mind. Like you, I'm my team's leader, so I'm going face the repercussions the most. There's no telling what The Boss is going to do to me, especially since I'm an Android that he created. Unfortunately, I might just end up wanting to kill you the next time we meet. Don't get me wrong Renjun, I hated your guts before, but now...I'm not so sure anymore. I don't know what to think or what to feel anymore. After seeing who you and your brothers really are and what you've done for us and others, none of us knows what to feel anymore. However, I'm afraid that the next time we all meet, that fact just might change. So before that happens, we want to apologize for putting you all in this situation, and for what happens in our future encounter. We really wish that we could've prevented all of this from happening. We never meant for any of this to happen. At this point we're starting to lose all hope.."

"..."

"But, knowing that you're all here for us makes us hopeful for the future, our future. Maybe you'll be able to save us, but then again, maybe you won't. Only time will tell. Either way, we're glad that we got to know you and meet you all in person. So..., we'll see you soon. Sincerely, Marshall Lea, Robin Hyo, Jonah Lyee, Damian Leone, Jamie Naomi, Cassidy Zhakata, and Jean Parc: The Gang Stars..."

They were all speechless after Renjun finished reading, but before they could say anything, the seal glowed and more words appeared.

"Oh wait, there's more. P.S., here's a list of all of our powers and Stands. Hopefully, this will help you when you face us again when we're fighting for real"

"They're really counting on us... Even if they kinda hate us, and even if they don't have that much hope or faith in us, they're still counting on us to help them..."

Junsung felt very guilty, realizing that they were their only hope.

Knowing that none of them wanted to see Junsung upset, they immediately dropped the negative emotions they felt to comfort him.

"This isn't the end for them Junsung. We'll save them no matter what"

Xuefen reassured him.

"That's right. And besides, they called us The Paramounts. Paramount is defined as more important than anything else, supreme, and having supreme power. They gave us that name because they acknowledge us and our power as supreme. We're the next generation, and with all of us combined, we can do anything"

Sungmin reassured everyone with her small speech, making Jaemin a very proud father.

"That's right. And it's like dad said before: a hero's job is to risk their life to turn their promises into a reality. This is our chance to learn that. If we stick together, we can save them, without a doubt"

"Precisely~. We're already on our way to our next location, and it's one of our last two stops before we can go back to Ethora. This will give us a bit more time to train, so we'll definitely be ready to save them~"

"But for now, let's be sure to get some rest. Trying to save others without having enough rest will only result in our downfall"

"Man... All three of you sound just like Renjun did when we were younger. You guys really are his kids..."

Mark was simply astonished by how much they sounded like their father.

"Well of course we are! What did you expect??"

The three siblings asked at the same time.

They were surprised by this, but they simply laughed together, amused at how in unison they were.

Everyone's mood was immediately brightened seeing the three siblings happy and laughing together.

"This is why I love you guys~"

"Same here~"

"Ditto~"