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6 Months Later

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Half a year had passed, and Ethora was still without its number one hero.

Many days and nights passed where the three kids were without their loving father. Xinya and Nitro missed Renjun a lot, but Xinrei missed him most of a all. As time continued to pass, both of their conditions only seemed to worsen.

Xinrei used to go out on missions with his siblings and other teammates, but he eventually stopped and refused to leave the underground lab at all. He still hadn't said a single word to anyone, but often wrote letters for Renjun for him to read once he would wake up. But eventually, he stopped taking care of himself all together, and the only thing he would want to do was watch over Renjun and write his letters. He managed to lose a lot of weight, and eventually stopped doing the things he loved. Everyone in Force 127 took over taking care of him, making sure he'd eat, bathe, sleep, and helped with everything he needed to do and take to stay healthy. The Paramounts would keep him company as well, but they left him alone whenever they realized he didn't want to be bothered.

As for Renjun, to keep him healthy in his coma, they supplied nutrients to him intravenously while he was still in his cryostasis capsule. His vitals only deteriorated more overtime, and his body only continued to decompose. But they would find ways to work around it, especially with the help of Luoyang. Using her power of Purification, she was able to keep her son's body from completely decomposing and keep his body from dying out before he would have the chance to wake up. All of the immediate members of Renjun's family came to check up on him and his kids from time to time, especially Suko since Taeyong helped to safely escort her to and from their home. Even Yoonho and Zuho showed up, despite their conditions deteriorating as well, because of Renjun's current status. But despite everything, Renjun seemed to hold on when times were rough, which gave everyone a great deal of hope.

All of the friends and allies that Renjun made in the past visited the group, with Niha and Fasa being two of the few that visited them the most. This gave all of the kids the chance to meet everyone that Renjun was able to help or save in his past adventures. Xinrei would secretly take notes of all of the people he met, insuring that he would be able to call on them if he needed any type of help. All of the students and staff at Redwood Academy also came to visit, as well as fans, and NCT and their other allies on Earth and other planets and universes. Zachary even showed up and apologized to Xinrei and his family, also bringing gifts and showing up often to show his support and respect.

This went on for a while, until something finally happened that involved Tristin.

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Reports had flooded in about another copy of Renjun wrecking havoc on Ethora. By now, everyone already knew that it was neither the real Renjun or Robin, and that it was most likely a version of Renjun from another world or dimension in some way shape or form. The copy had powers closely identical to Tristin, and it was just too bizarre to just be a coincidence. They all knew that his target was Renjun when it got even closer to Haeju City. But in the midst of their sudden stress, another made a return. For the first time in six months, they once again felt the power of their dear teammate, Nakamoto Yuta.

When he suddenly appeared though a warp gate in the main room of the lab, everyone immediately noticed how much longer his black hair had gotten. They also noticed how his power felt stronger than before, and he already had Whitesnake at his side with Renjun's disks in hand. The Stand Disk had an almost transparent image of Gold Experience's side profile, while the Memory Disk had an almost transparent image of Renjun's side profile.

After quickly reuniting with their beloved teammate, they led Yuta to where Xinrei was in the infirmary room, where he was seated on one of the beds. After laying eyes on Yuta, some of the life and shimmer in Xinrei's eyes seemed to return, because he knew that the time had come to save Renjun. He carefully got up and approached Yuta, but instead of trying to hurt him like the older once thought he would, Xinrei hugged him with the little strength he had. But once he hugged him, Yuta realized the terrible condition that Xinrei was in.

"Xinrei... What happened to you..?"

Yuta got down on one knee and gently rested his hand on one of the boy's shoulders, immediately seeing the dull look on his face, as well as how much weight he had lost.

"Things haven't been the best for Rei since the incident hyung.. He just stopped taking care of himself and he stopped fighting all together. He hasn't even said a word to any of us this whole time"

Mark explained, breaking the older's heart.

"Xinrei.. I'm truly sorry that I put you all through this.. I wish I didn't have to, but Renjun insisted that I did this to keep all of you safe.."

Xinrei only smiled at Yuta and nodded, showing that he wasn't mad at him anymore in the slightest and that he understood.

Niha then came into the room, with Fasa carrying Renjun in his arms after Junsung helped him out of his cryostasis capsule. Niha gently laid him down on one of the infirmary beds, allowing them to take their next steps to bring Renjun back.

"Once the disks are put back where they rightfully belong, Renjun will recover from his coma and finally wake up"

Yuta explained, taking the disks from Whitesnake before it dematerialized.

"His recovery will most likely be at a quick or moderate pace, but he might not have the required strength to wake up. So, I'm here to offer my assistance, and transfer some of my energy to him once again"

Niha added, ready to aid his friend again after so many years.

"But how are we gonna get this whole situation with Tristin under control?"

"He's most likely coming to get Renjun after we revive him, so that he can control him again. But this time, I'm going to have one of us place this tracking device on him. We'll foil his plan once again, and this time, we'll have a way to track him"

"Additionally, I got all of the data I needed on the place that Renjun and I escaped from months ago. If we get the tracker on him and that place ends up being the first he retreats to, then that'll be more than enough confirmation that it's his hideout. We'll be able to find him easily and end all of this once were all ready"

Yuta added, in relation to Doyoung's tracking device.

They all heard a loud crash nearby, indicating that Renjun's copy and Tristin were closing in and that they had to hurry.

"Here goes nothing.."

Yuta gently placed the disks against Renjun's face, and just as they ejected months before, they inserted themselves back into his body.

Niha then proceeded to help restore Renjun's lost energy, a blue energy aura rising from his chest as the energy flowed into him. Xinrei held one of Renjun's hands, while Xinya and Nitro stood behind him. And for the first time in what seemed like forever, Renjun finally moved. His hand moved to hold Xinrei's, and his eyes twitched as if he was trying to wake up.

Xinrei looked as if he was on the verge of tears while his siblings celebrated, but he did his best to keep his composure. But in the midst of their happy moment, they heard another loud bang that shook the ground, and heard the sounds of the lab being broken into. The copy of Renjun had broken through, but it wasn't a copy at all. Tristin had managed to disguise himself as a copy of Renjun using a cloaking device he had created. He changed back to his normal self as soon as he entered the lab, ready to wreck havoc on the preoccupied heroes.

"Damn it, he's here! We'll keep him away from Renjun while he wakes up!"

"Rei, stay here with dad! You're in no shape to fight right now!"

Taeyong and Xinya insisted, everyone leaving the room aside from Yuta, Niha, and Xinrei.

They all heard the ruckus that was unfolding, and they immediately knew that they were having a much harder time taking care of Tristin, unlike the last few times.

"I knew that he was training and working on his plan all this time, but this is ridiculous.. I didn't think he'd get this much stronger... I've got to go help them..!"

Yuta ran out of the room to help his struggling teammates, and Niha eventually left to help as well after he finished his energy transfer.

But in a matter of minutes, they were feeling Tristin's wrath just as the others were. In the blink of an eye, another explosion went off at the entrance of the infirmary room. But it was so powerful, that the ceiling and everything above the lab was destroyed, exposing the underground lab to the world outside.

"Where the hell are you two hiding..? Come on out"

Tristin used his sheer aura alone to move all of the surrounding rubble out of the way to find Renjun and Xinrei.

But after moving the rubble, he found a dark barrier that had protected the two from the blast. However, it wasn't Renjun that put up the barrier, but Xinrei instead with his own Keyblade.

The barrier stayed up with Renjun still inside of it, but Xinrei walked out of it with ease. This time, he had somewhat changed again. Though his current weight remained the same, a good amount of his power had returned. A dark aura encased him, reigniting his animosity towards Tristin, as well as everything he had lost during his rough six months. The smoke around them eventually cleared, and Tristin was finally able to look Xinrei in the eyes.

"Hmph. You're nowhere near strong enough to even approach me anymore, and yet you still want to fight me? Don't waste my time. You might as well beg me to kill you right now boy. At least then I'll put you out of your misery"

Tristin frowned, King Crimson appearing behind him ready to attack.

Despite his current condition, Xinrei stood his ground to protect his father. D4C materialized beside him to aid the boy, and Xinrei finally spoke up for the first time in months, the sparkle in his eyes completely returning to him knowing that his father was alive once again.

"...I have no intention of fighting you. But even though I'm like this, I won't let you get your hands on my father. I will protect him, no matter how much you hurt me. Come at me as much as you like; you're not getting taking my father away from me..."

Tristin only smiled at the boy, and erased time to appear in front of him before he attacked.

"Let's have some fun then, Huang Xinrei"