◃ Battle #8 ▹

Taeyong vs The Boss

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"How long are you going to prolong your fate, Lee Taeyong?"

The Boss asked, having overpowered Taeyong multiple times.

"You're only avoiding the inevitable. Your struggle against me is futile"

"You know, Boss... The way I see it..., you can't get rid of me anyway. You yourself should know that gods won't die unless they've been completely forgotten. We'll continue to live on, even if our bodies are close to perishing. And since we're both gods..., that goes for both of us"

Taeyong explained, still getting back up.

"Even if that's the case, I can still make sure that you won't get in my way again. My Gang Stars will take care of the Fighting Dreamers, and I'll take care of you"

"I see... But, there's still a couple things I want to know.. I don't know why, but I just feel something familiar about you.. So, for my first question..., if I'm a god of fortune and war, are you any other kind of god besides a god of destruction?"

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but...I'd rather not answer that"

The Boss clenched his fists, seeming to be hurt about something.

Taeyong noticed in that moment that he hand one ring on each of his ring fingers, as well as something shiny around his neck that was slightly hidden by his clothes.

"Fine.. I'll respect that.. As for my next question, it has to do with our god status. If we disappear from being forgotten, does that mean you still have friends and family that remember you?"

"My... My family is dead, all of them. They all died by my hand.., my immediate one anyway. It may seem hard to believe for you and your family, but mine betrayed me in a way that you could never imagine. They took something from me that can never be replaced. I only repaid them for what they've done, and the pain they caused me.. And..., I don't have friends, not anymore"

"But if that's the case and there's no one left to remember you, then....how is it that you're still alive..?"

"..."

The Boss hadn't thought about it, but Taeyong brought that revelation to him.

"Idiot... If you and all of my victims are still alive, then of course I'm still here. Though no one may know my true identity, that doesn't mean that you and everyone else can't remember me by this mask and my title"

"Yes, I get that.. But..., I feel like there's more to your story than what you're telling me.. If... If we could just find a way to help you-"

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT HEROIC BULLSHIT!!"

The Boss became angry once again, and used both of his Stands against Taeyong.

He used King Crimson to punch him so hard that he flew into a nearby pillar, and used Tubular Bells to blow up five nails, one of which was bigger than the other four.

The balloons flew over to Taeyong, and impaled themselves into him. Two stuck each of his feet to the ground, two stuck each of his shoulders to the pillar, and the largest one impaled him in his torso to keep him stuck to the pillar.

"You know what...? The longer I'm around you, the more you piss me off"

The Boss finally summoned a weapon that surprised Taeyong greatly: a Keyblade.

"Don't act like you know me Lee Taeyong! You don't know, nor will any of you ever know or be able to understand what I've went through, or my pain! Don't you get that?! There's no way you can help me! You may be able to help anyone else, but you can't help me!"

The Boss angrily charged at him, but Taeyong was suddenly able to block the attack before he could attack him.

But instead of a normal weapon, Taeyong had manifested a Keyblade of his own to protect himself.

"What?!"

Before The Boss could react to Taeyong's Keyblade, he was suddenly lifted up off the ground and slammed into a nearby pillar.

Right after, four protrusions with miniature propellers on their ends protruded from The Boss' feet, shoulders, and torso, mirroring the damage done to Taeyong perfectly.

It took Taeyong a second to understand what had just happened, but he realized that he had just manifested a second Stand, just like The Boss.

Not only that, when he was slammed into the pillar, his mask fell off of his face, exposing his true facial identity for Taeyong to see.

"...Now I understand. The story of you losing your family.. Our ability to posses two Stands, and our ability to wield Keyblades... Even us both being two types of gods... You've been me from another dimension this whole time.."

"..."

The Boss tried getting himself out of his current position, ignoring Taeyong completely.

But he was able to stand up after Taeyong pulled the nails out of him and deactivated his Stand.

"...You're right. I may not know who you are. And despite me now knowing your face, I don't know your name or anything else really. But there is one thing I do know... I do know your story, because your story is mine"

Right when Taeyong was able to stand upright, he used Weather Report to make a rope of clouds wrap tightly around his neck and lift him off the ground.

He activated his new Stand again, and more propellers protruded from The Boss, but this time, they were only around his throat.

'This Stand seems to be able to share my damage with my target, and even puts their bodies in the same position that mine is in at that given moment. If I use this Stand alongside Weather Report, then maybe...I can make him surrender since I can't kill him or myself...'

Taeyong thought to himself.

"D-Damn...it..."

The Boss felt all of the pain that Taeyong was feeling, and couldn't breathe from the pressure he felt around his throat.

Before either of them passed out from the lack of air, The Boss gave up and snapped his fingers, transporting them back to their last location.

-

Back at Force 127 HQ

-

The two doubles returned to the now rainy Haeju City, The Boss' army having dematerialized from his power being weakened.

"Damn you Taeyong... I would've never suspected that you would manifest a Keyblade, as well as another Stand... You really have become more of a pain in my ass.. Don't think you've won this round.. I may have been delayed, but I will destroy you and everything you know and love"

The Boss swore, creating a new mask for himself and covering his face.

"Boss"

The Gang Stars showed up on the scene, stopping behind Taeyong.

"Ah, good. You all won. I guess you're all still useful to me after all"

"What's our next move?"

"We're retreating for now. But before we go, I want you to break every single one of Taeyong's bones until they can't possibly hope to be repaired. You can do that, right Robin?"

"Of course"

The other Gang Stars went to The Boss' side, while he held Taeyong up by the collar of his shirt.

But instead of attacking, he turned the tables.

"Gold Experience!"

The Stand suddenly appeared and punched the ground under Taeyong, causing wood to sprout from the ground and form a huge sphere that built itself around the man.

The ball protected him, while he approached The Boss instead.

"It's over Boss"
"You're no longer Robin's master"

The mysterious fellow spoke up, alarming The Boss once more.

"What?!"

"Moody Blues!"

"Sticky Fingers!"

Two more of the mysterious fellows summoned two other Stands, unleashing a barrage of attacks on the man.

"URYAAAAA!"

"ARRIVEDERCI!"

The two both yelled, sending the man flying into the side of a nearby fountain, zippers appearing to render him unable to use his hands.

"This..is impossible.. You fused together..."

"That's right. For this moment, you can call us Renin, Mall, Jenah, Dami, Jaemie, Cassle, and Jisan. The Gang Stars no longer belong to you. They've joined our side now"

Renin explained, causing The Boss to become more angry.

"Don't get cocky..!"

Out of nowhere, multiple beams of red energy suddenly appeared above all seven of them, but before they could hit them, they suddenly deflected away from them regardless of them not touching anything.

Renin has used Renjun's Absolute Unpredictability to deflect all of the lasers by putting up an impenetrable invisible barrier.

"You know, you tried to kill Robin first Boss. It's only fair that he try to kill you now. Wouldn't you agree?"

Dami angrily asked the man.

"We have every right to end you, but it's impossible to kill a god unless you're completely forgotten. So I guess, we'll just have to improvise"

Jenah smirked, wanting very much to hurt The Boss.

"You can hurt me all you like.. But know this, Taeyong has already seen what I look like, but I can't kill him because of his god status. But if any of you ever get remotely close to figuring out my identity, I'll kill you. That especially goes for Jaemin, and his Stand Moody Blues"

"What was that, Boss?"

Johnny sudden appeared behind him, he and his Stand angrily staring down at the man.

"Let me make one thing clear, if you kill anyone from my family, especially the kids, I'll take it upon myself to torture you like you've tortured all of us!"

Johnny then picked up the man, and roughly threw him into the air.

When he fell back down close enough to his Stand's range, he used Kiss to attack him with the same rush technique that Jaemie and Jenah used.

"USHAAAAAAA!"

The Stand cried out, sending him flying into the air with one final punch.

What none of them were able to see was that Johnny cracked his mask, and it fell apart as he fell.

"..This isn't...over.."

The Boss opened a portal in the air that he eventually fell into, escaping his beatdown all together.

"Are you guys alright? All fourteen of you I mean"

Seeing that Johnny was worried about all of them, they unfused with each other to answer his question.

"We're fine hyung~"

Chenle cheered, hugging Johnny immediately.

"We may not have given him the beatdown he deserved, but we'll get to eventually. Right Renjun?"

"Right. For now, it's best that we focus on resting and making sure everyone is alright. Then there's the matter of saving all the possessed heroes"

Renjun confirmed for Robin, helping Taeyong out of the wooden sphere as he spoke.

"What are you gonna do Nana?"

Jeno asked, seeing that Jaemin had something on his mind.

"...I'll hold off on revealing The Boss' facial identity for now. Moody Blues can broadcast past events at any time, so I can just come back later. I don't want Taeyong-hyung to tell us either. He might just continuously come after us if he does"

"Renjun should accompany you when you come back here. He's bound to use King Crimson to kill you if he can somehow get close enough. I wouldn't want that to happen"

Robin advised, concerned for his new friend's safety.

"O-Oh wait. What about your ship? It got destroyed didn't it..?"

Cassidy asked, seeing a lot of broken ship parts resting far away.

"It got shot down when we arrived, but we have someone that can fix it so don't you worry. Wooyoung-hyung's Stand is Crazy Diamond, and he can use it to fix anything that's been broken. I could of course fix it myself with a hard drive I made that holds all the data of the ship and everything on it, but I rather not waste resources if we don't have to"

"Does that mean he can fix everything in the HQ too?"

Jean asked to clarify.

"That's right~. But I don't want to pressure him into fixing everything that The Boss destroyed. I rather we take care of most of that destruction ourselves"

"We'll help in any way that we can. It's the least we can do after all we've done"

Jonah insisted, helping Robin remember what he wanted to say to Renjun earlier.

"Renjun... We're really sorry for what we did to your family, and for what we did to you before we helped you escape.."

"Hey, there's no need to apologize. You were all misguided and manipulated because of what you each went through in the past. Those who are misguided and manipulated can't always be held accountable for their actions, especially if they were lied to from the start. This is our chance to help you get back on the right path that you were destined to walk. We did keep our promise to save you guys after all. Now it's time for you to experience what comes after~"

Renjun smiled, reassuring the repentant group.

"We should head inside the HQ. We can let Wooyoung fix the ship later. For now, let's all just get some rest for a bit"

Johnny advised, leading the fourteen back to the HQ while carrying Taeyong in his arms.

Though the Gang Stars still felt a bit upset about not being with The Boss after so many years, they still followed their new friends without question.