-

Center of Haeju City

-

The group eventually reunited with each other after a few minutes, and Xinya made sure to take a head count of each group before they settled down a bit.

Soon after they reunited, two heroes suddenly approached them, but unlike most of the heroes on the planet, they weren't being controlled.

The two heroes just happened to be two that most of them were very familiar with: Lee Donghae and Doyoung's older brother, Kim Donghyun.

Not only were they very popular heroes, but they were also high ranked members of the HDJ's division of police.

"Hyung! It is you! And you're alright~!"

Doyoung happily approached his brother, bringing a smile to the older's face.

"It's nice to see you too Dongyoung~. I'm sorry that I had to bring down your ship with all of you in it"

"What seems to be the problem? You wouldn't have went through all of that if it wasn't something serious"

Yuta questioned him.

"Way to stay sharp. But yes, it's something serious. It would appear that there's a criminal among all of you, and it seems that the bastard is hiding from us"

Donghae explained.

"Criminal?! But-"

"Hang on Taeyong-hyung... Xinya, do Another headcount. But this time, make sure everyone member of each team sounds off"

Xinrei ordered his sister, and she complied.

She went down her list again in the order of who they recruited first, starting with Stray Kids. After all eight members confirmed their presence, even Woojin despite him being exiled from the group, she moved on to the next.

After all seven members of ENHYPEN confirmed their presence, she moved on to the next. After all eight members of ATEEZ and all five members of A.C.E confirmed their presence, she moved on to EXO.

She went on down the list of each of the twelve members. But when she got to Kris, there was no answer.

"Kris-oppa??"

She called out for him again, but he still didn't answer.

"Just as I thought. I knew I didn't see him help out earlier"

"Damn brats!!!"

Kris suddenly emerged from the turtle that was still in Xinrei's hands, looking extremely angry.

His hand was encased with bronze, threatening to touch Xinrei to turn him into the material.

"D4C!"

Before he made contact with the boy, Xinrei called upon his Stand and it struck both of his wrists and ankles, making him fall to the ground.

"Your ability is useless if you can't touch anyone with your hands and feet. You should know by now that I can sense any and all danger. If you're gonna run from the law to continue your crimes, at least try to remember what your victim's abilities are before you attack them! YOU DUMBASS!!"

Xinrei angrily struck the older male in the face, causing his nose to bleed.

"Kris is the criminal??! What exactly did he do?!"

Luhan exclaimed, both he and his team appalled at his new behavior.

"Where do we even begin?"

Donghae sighed.

"Let's see. His convictions include him influencing minors with drugging and drinking, selling illegal drugs and substances, sexually abusing and raping his victims, most of which are minors, continuously scamming people of lesser ranks and financial class, most of which were young female individuals. And let's not forget the icing on the cake. His biggest conviction includes him killing the majority of his victims, turning them into statues made of gold, silver, bronze, and platinum, as well any other material he's capable of turning them into, and selling them in exchange for large lump sums of money on the black market"

Donghyun explained.

"Wait... So that's where all the money you've been making has been coming from..? You told us that you were getting paid to hunt down bad guys, serial killers even, on solo missions! But all this time, you've been a scumbag rapist you piece of shit?!?!"

Chen angrily yelled, pointing one of his guns at him.

"Chen, calm yourself down and put your gun away. Like Yuta said earlier, we wouldn't have brought down your ship if it wasn't something serious. We're here to take him into custody"

Donghyun brought out his Stand, Cream Starter as he explained.

He then used it to spray his own flesh onto Kris' wrists, legs, eyes, and mouth.

The cream-like flesh fused to him, causing various effects to occur. The flesh on his face covered his eyes and mouth, preventing him from speaking or seeing anything. And the flesh on his wrists and legs stuck them to each other, acting as cuffs to prevent him from getting away.

"Considering the fact that he's been doing this for quite some time, he didn't plan on stopping until he brought all of his teammates down with him. EXO would've been history if this went on any longer. Tell me, were any of you aware of any of this up to this point?"

Everyone, including all the members of EXO, answered no as they were completely unaware of the situation.

"I see. We'll be taking him in then. Dongyoung, you can call us if any of you are in need of some extra hands. Remember that"

"...Thank you hyung"

Donghyun pat his brother's shoulder with a smile before returning to Kris.

"One more thing before we go. Take these Senzu Beans. They should help you out on your journey"

Donghae handed Renjun a small bag full of Senzu Beans that he made, used to restore anyone's strength and heal battle injuries.

"Thank you hyung. We'll use them wisely"

Donghae smiled, and then returned to Donghyun and Kris.

They dragged him back to their aircraft that was nearby, and left to return to the HDJ just minutes later.

"...I'll kill him. If he ever shows his face to us again, I'll kill him"

"Salmon..."

Lay angrily stated, to which Yeo One agreed.

"For now, let's focus more on finding The Boss and the Gang Stars. Saving the seven of them will mean less danger in the city. And besides, they've waiting this long. Let's not let them suffer any longer"

Renjun ordered, and they all followed his lead.

-

All of the recruited members were tasked to patrol the city and help out any civilians, while the remaining team members headed for Force 127's HQ.

After a few minutes, they finally found the group they were looking for, standing at the top of the steps that led into the building.

Immediately upon finding them, the seven brothers could already tell that the Gang Stars they promised to save before weren't the same as the last time they saw them.

Jean had bandages that covered both of his legs, both of which looked battered unlike the last time he and Jisung met.

Cassidy not only had his muzzle on, but he definitely wasn't the same as before. He had become more like a feral beast, even standing on all fours instead of just his legs.

Jamie didn't look too different, but Jaemin could already tell that he had seen one or more traumatizing things by the way his demeanor was.

Donghyuck couldn't see all of them, but Damian had multiple scars from all the puncture wounds he had sustained, two of which were on the back of his left hand and on his forehead.

Jeno could already tell that Jonah's heart and spirit had been shattered. He had a completely different sword in his hand instead of the Remorse Sword that Robin gifted to him.

Marshall wasn't standing up straight, indicating that he was still suffering from his recent injury. Additionally, both Leon and Daegal had bandages wrapped around their necks, as if they had been beaten too.

And Robin looked right into Renjun's eyes with nothing but contempt and hatred. Unlike before when Renjun saved his other self, Robin looked as if he wanted nothing more than to kill Renjun on the spot.

Tayden didn't say anything, but something about The Boss sent chills down his spine. But the chills weren't caused by fear at all. Instead, he felt as if he knew the man already, despite not being able to see his face.

"So nice of you all to finally join us. We've been waiting patiently for your arrival"

The Boss suddenly spoke.

"Just wait until we get our hands on you. You'll pay for what you've done"

Xinrei threatened the man, not a sliver of fear laced in his voice.

"Unfortunately for you boy, you won't get the chance to touch me or my team. Here's how this is going to work. The Fighting Dreamers will face off against my seven Gang Stars, one on one, with their respective counterparts in a fight to the death. As me for me, I'll have you all to myself, Lee Taeyong"

"And what makes you think we're going to play by your rules?"

Taeyong inquired.

"You have no choice but to play by my rules. You're the only ones left after all. You've got no backup. You're so called army has been significantly depleted"

No one could tell, but The Boss smiled behind his mask.

It was then that the group realized that something felt completely off. They felt a lot weaker than they did just minutes before, and they felt like they had forgotten multiple things that were important to their mission.

Xinya especially felt as if something was off. She felt like a portion of her Stand's power had been released from something or someone, but she couldn't remember what or who.

"G-GUYS! SOMETHING HAPPENED!! EVERYONE IS GONE!! THEY ALL JUST TURNED TO DUST AND DISAPPEARED!!"

Jonghyun came flying to the disoriented group, confusing them and The Boss.

"Hmph.. It seems that I can't erase this one"

He frowned upon seeing the panicking ghost.

"Jonghyun-hyung..? What are you doing here??"

Jeno asked the older, sending chills down his spine.

"W-What..? What are you talking about??? We all came here together! This is serious! They're all gone! Onew-hyung, Minho, Taemin, and Key..... All of my teammates in SHINee.... Everyone is gone...! All of the heroes we set out to recruit just turned to dust and disappeared, except for me! I c-can't even sense their power anymore!"

"...Hyung, who are you talking about? Who is SHINee? Are you alright? Did you hit your head or something?"

Renjun asked, scaring the ghost even more.

"What the hell are you saying Renjun..? You're not making any sense right now!! Stop playing around!! We have to find everyone! They couldn't have gone far! Stop acting like you don't know who I'm talking about!!"

It was then that Jonghyun realized that all of his remaining comrades had completely serious expressions, and they weren't playing some sick prank on him.

He also noticed how The Boss cockily folded his arms, as if he was amused with what was unfolding.

"You..... W-What did you do to my friends?!"

"I know you've already figured it out Ghost. I've completely wiped them from existence. But unfortunately, you seemed to have survived"

"You w-what..??"

"As a god of destruction, I have the absolute ability to destroy anything, and anyone. Once you all split up, I simply snapped my fingers to put my attack into action. In a matter of minutes, all of the teammates that you've all worked so hard to recruit inevitably bit the dust. I completely wiped them from existence, not just in this world, but on all worlds. That means that everyone they knew or encountered before has absolutely no recollection of them whatsoever. Every memory of them has been wiped clean, which in turn weakens their power. Additionally, everything affected by them has been reversed, meaning that their planets should be perishing right about now. However, it seems that because you've already died and come back as The Ghost, you're immune to my power. I can't erase your existence from this or any world no matter what I do"

Jonghyun was at a loss for words, and floated down to the ground as a river of tears flowed down his face.

"..We may not have a clue of what's going on, but you're going to pay for making him cry"

Xinrei threatened The Boss further.

"I've already made myself clear boy. I'm fighting Taeyong and Taeyong alone, and I will kill him myself"

The Boss snapped his fingers again, and suddenly The Fighting Dreamers and Gang Stars disappeared as well.

"Rei.. Are they...?"

"No, they're not dead. The fact that they didn't turn to dust and we still remember them confirms it. If this bastard says that he erased multiple people from existence that we don't remember, that proves that if he erased them too then not only would we not remember them, but we would also cease to exist. He could've done that easily, but that doesn't seem to be part of his plan"

The boy explained to his sister.

"Smart boy. You catch on fast. I wonder if you'll survive long enough to intrigue me more"

Suddenly, a humongous portal opened up above the HQ, and from it emerged an entire army of monsters.

"These are all demon monsters that are under my control as a destroyer god. They will be your demise"

The Boss snapped his fingers one final time, and this time he and Taeyong both disappeared.

"Hyung isn't dead either. I can still feel his power as well. He wasn't kidding when he said he wanted to kill hyung himself. He left all of us here to fight his demons, right after he weakened all of us by erasing those guys"

Xinrei explained.

"We don't have a choice then it seems. We'll have to do the best we can with what we've got. As long as we work together, we can make it through this"

Johnny stepped up as their leader, and encouraged them to give the current fight all they had.

"Hyung, please fight with us. We may not remember who you're talking about, but I can tell you're telling the truth. We'll need your help"

Nitro did his best to comfort Jonghyun as the demon army finally pursued them.

Though he was heartbroken, he stood up to fight alongside his remaining friends.

"I'll fight...for all of you"