“You can do better than that, D.O.! Remember: speed!” Shindong shouts out into the arena. The boys have begun training to build up their weaknesses over the past few days, and they've changed their practice grounds.

“Nice work, Chen!” Siwon calls to him as he sends a threatening rumble of thunder towards his opponent. D.O. dodges the attack, and retaliates by enclosing Chen in an earthy dome.

Chen attempts to break free, but his lightning is useless against the dirt surrounding him. “I can't get out!” He yells, hopeless.

“There's a weakness in every attack, Chen! You just have to find it,” Siwon says to him, hoping that Chen can figure this one out.

“Okay!” He drawls, looking around. He notices that there are cracks in the soil at the closing point of the dome; he smiles. He conjures up a large lightning bolt, and aims it at the the center of the crack; he releases the electrical energy. The dome comes crumbling down around him as he smiles triumphantly.

“I went easy on you; real battle isn't gonna be like that,” D.O. smirks, preparing to send large chunks of earth at him. Chen dodges a few before realizing that he has to use lightning to stop the blocks.

The two mentors look on proudly, only jumping in to give pointers and advice. Their students have grown in the short period of time they have been teaching them. Chen has gained so much more control of his powers, and he is able to use it to the best of his ability. D.O. has also gained control of his powers, now able to put what he's learned in class to use in his training. Looking down at the practice fight below them, Shindong and Siwon can tell the D.O. and Chen are ready.

**

“Nice work, Kai,” Irene says for the first time. Kai smiles a bit, and continues with his “battle”.

“It's like you're reading my movements before I even make them,” Kai groans, teleporting into another attack.

“That's because you're thinking them before you do them,” Luhan says, eyes closed. What isn't fair to Kai is that Luhan isn't even looking at him; Luhan is just throwing attacks at him whenever he teleports.

“Use your head, Kai!” Irene shouts, irritated. She knows Kai can get in control of the fight, but she wants him to figure it out on his own.

Kai hears her advice, and a lightbulb flickers on above his head; use his head. Kai stops his movements, and Luhan senses this, eyes still shut.

“Why'd you stop? Giving up?” Luhan taunts. Kai smirks at Luhan's cocky attitude.

“Far from it,” Kai declares, then teleports behind his foe. “Why'd you stop? Out of attacks?” Kai taunts back.

“How did you...I couldn't even sense where you were gonna be…?” Luhan is bewildered by the turn of events.

“You see, I realized that you can read my mind, and you used this to your advantage by throwing attacks at the location I was going to teleport to. Well, I figured that putting up a mental block would help me get the upper hand. Your move.”

“That's my boy! Woo!” Irene cheers, applauding Kai’s work. She abruptly stops when Kai is knocked on his by Luhan throwing an elbow to his stomach.

“That's my boy! Woo!” Sungmin teases, applauding obnoxiously to irk Irene.

Kai teleports in front of Luhan, and throws a punch. Luhan dodges it, but only lessens the force. Luhan steps back, shocked, and finally opens his eyes.

“Let's stop playing around, and do this for real,” Luhan proposes, sweeping Kai's legs from underneath him. Kai gets up, and gives a firm nod.

“You just read my mind.” Kai smirks, ready to turn this into a real fight.

**

“This is impossible!” Chanyeol complains as sweat rolls down his face. His current battle is turning the room into a sauna.

“Yeah; either one of us is gonna die from heat or we're gonna be doing this forever!” Suho shouts, just as sweaty as Chanyeol.

“Stop your whining!” Sunny yells, she doesn't look like she wants to be there either. “The fight will end with a victor and a loser, so hurry it up so we can leave!”

“She's right y'know,” Kyuhyun says as he creates a little sprinkler to keep himself and Sunny cool.

Chanyeol rolls his eyes, but sends a large wave of fire towards Suho. Suho counters the attack with an equally large wave of water. The end result of the attacks is, yet again, steam, and Chanyeol decides to try something.

Chanyeol steps back for a second, leaving Suho to give him a questioning look. Chanyeol just smirks, more of a smile really, and creates a ring of fire around himself. This fire is different from his usual attacks; its flames are blue rather than orange. Chanyeol walks, the ring moving with him, and prepares to attack again. Suho isn't really surprised, he assumes that these flames are just hotter and harder to extinguish because of the blue color, and sends a powerful stream of water towards the taller boy. The flames rise, creating a barrier of fire to protect Chanyeol from the spray of water, but do not die out. Instead of being put out, these flames seem to grow with the added water. Suho's eyes widen in shock as Chanyeol gives him a sadistic smile.

“Unlike normal fire, these flames aren't put out by water; in fact they're inextinguishable. This is a special type of fire that is known for creating the ‘blue phoenix’,” Chanyeol explains, receiving a gasp from his opponent.

“Impossible! You can't-” Whatever Suho was going to say next is cut off by a large blue tinted fire phoenix appearing behind Chanyeol. The phoenix engulfs Chanyeol's body, taking over for him.

“Oh, but I can; the nearly indestructible, inextunguishable blue phoenix! I figured a fire blade would be too predictable, so I decided to bring out Marshmallow here,” Chanyeol [or the dragon (Marshmallow???), Suho can't tell] roars. 

“I didn't know he could do that…” Sunny trails off, monitoring Chanyeol.

“Yeah, well, it shows he's ready for battle.” Kyuhyun notices the worrying look Sunny displays while looking at Suho. “Don't worry about him; Suho's got his own blue dragon to show off.” As Kyuhyun finishes his statement, Suho prepares to transform as well.

“Bring it, Park! Let's have a dragon battle!”

**

Baekhyun is basically dodging his own attacks training with Xiumin. With each laser beam he sends, Xiumin places an ice mirror for the light to reflect back. It's an endless game really, well, until Xiumin decides to stop toying with the other boy.

Xiumin throws ice spears towards Baekhyun, and they're hard to dodge because of their speed. Baekhyun yields a lightsaber of sorts, and blocks the attacks. The laser beam he holds as a sword is good for blocking and attacking as Baekhyun elongates the light stick, shooting laser beams at his target: Xiumin. Xiumin creates a sword of his own for defending (he mentally calls it his “icesaber”), and simultaneously sends attacks back.

“Go~ Baekhyunnie~!” Taeyeon calls out, almost sounding like a cheerleader. Baekhyun falters in the steady rhythm of attacking and dodging, and barely avoids a fatal ice spear to the neck, the spear now merely grazing his shoulder.

Amber snorts (though Baekhyun isn't sure it's directed towards him or his mentor), and watches Xiumin silently. Xiumin is visibly slowing down, stamina running thin, and his attacks are getting sloppier. She finally decides to speak up, “You can't pass out on the battlefield, Xiumin! Pull yourself together!”

“Don't be so harsh; kindness helps a student blossom into the flower of potential they are meant to be,” Taeyeon chastises. Amber fake gags, and rolls her eyes.

“Last I checked, Baekhyun hated you?” Amber presses, watching Taeyeon’s happy demeanor falter before returning full blast.

“What? Of course not; Baekkie doesn't hate me.”

“Let's not speak for ‘Baekkie',” Baekhyun calls up to the mentors, still focused on the fight, “if there was a stronger word than ‘hate’ I'd use it to describe my feelings towards you. No offense?” Taeyeon’s smile doesn't disappear as she nearly toasts Baekhyun with a laser beam.

“Oops!” Taeyeon calls, and Xiumin and Amber laugh at Baekhyun's shocked reaction. Baekhyun doesn't even pay it any mind, sending a laser beam right back to her, and also directing one to Xiumin.

**

“You can hit harder than that,” Henry comments, lazily holding the punch and body shield in front of himself. Lay looks about ready to cry as he tries to punch harder.

“I-I can't,” Lay whimpers, dropping his hands to his sides. Henry sighs, but he has to do this for Lay’s wellbeing. Henry throws the shield down, and throws a kick at Lay; Lay jumps back just before getting hit.

“You can; try again,” Henry encourages, this time grabbing the punch mitts and sliding them onto his hands.

Lay fixes his stance and tries to find it in himself to punch Henry's hands as hard as he can, but fails. He is just throwing jabs and hooks without any intent to hurt, and it's not helping him whatsoever. Henry attempts to get him to punch harder by insulting the boy and hitting him with his padded hands, but it's clearly not working.

“Lay, seriously, what are you doing?” Henry stops altogether to look the boy in the eyes.

“I'm trying--really, I am--but I can't bring myself to hurt anyone,” Lay elaborates with a long, suffering sigh.

“Lay,” Henry starts, placing a kind hand on Lay’s shoulder, “that's just an obstacle you must overcome before you enter battle. You can do it; I promise. I had to do it as well.”

“R-Really? How?” Lay asks, eyes full of wonder.

“Oh, you know, like this,” Henry states, regret filling his eyes before punching Lay in the face...hard. Lay doesn't move for a while, and Henry wonders if he's unconscious. When Lay stirs, Henry is filled with relief that he hadn't seriously hurt the boy. He doesn't expect Lay to recover so quickly, and also doesn't expect Lay to punch him back...just as hard.

“Wow...See? I told you that you could do it!” Henry smiles, enthusiastic, ignoring the metallic taste on the tip of his tongue. Lay doesn't return the enthusiasm, however, and actually looks threatening as he glares at Henry. Henry takes that as a sign to pick up the punch and body shield again, and positions it to protect himself. 

“Woah...did you see how hard Lay punched him?” Tao asks Zhou Mi. 

“I did, and I'm positive Lay had been waiting for the perfect moment to display his true strength,” Zhou Mi chuckles at the two before turning back to Tao. “Now, how about we get some training done as well?”

“I couldn't agree more,” Tao breathes out, readying himself for a tough fight.

The mentor and student go at it, but without any protective gear. Their fight is bare fists and feet as they expertly attack and dodge. Tao is a little faster and a little stronger than Zhou Mi, and uses his youth to his advantage with the force of his blows. Zhou Mi may be old (forty-seven isn't that old!!), but he has more experience than Tao with his combat skills.

“Nice work,” Henry praises as he pats Lay's back. Lay lowers the water bottle from his lips.

“I know,” he says cheekily, smile flaunting his dimple. “I'm just kidding; thank you.”

“No problem, kiddo. You really surprised me earlier, too,” Henry says, still feeling the pain in his jaw.

“Sorry about that...I was waiting for the perfect moment to show you how strong I really am.”

“Well, you certainly showed me...again, nice work. The element of surprise is helpful in battle.”

“I'll keep that in mind…” Lay trails off, already planning some surprise attacks.

On the other end of the dojo, Zhou Mi and Tao are on the ground, panting and bruised.

“You're very strong,” Zhou Mi grunts, thinking about their little fistfight. 

“Thanks...you are, too,” Tao says, hoping it didn't come off as offensive as he felt it did.

“I'd hope so to be able to train a pupil like you,” Zhou Mi chuckles. “Unfortunately, your powers aren't too useful on the battlefield, but building up your hand-to-hand combat skills is good to make up for it.”

“Yeah...Who knows? Maybe some day time control will be just as useful as all the other superpowers out there.”

**

“It's difficult to fly in this stupid wind storm!” Kris shouts, dust distorting his vision.

“That must , huh,” Sehun says, voice giving away the smirk on his face.

“Shut up! When I find you-”

“You mean: if you find me-”

“-I'll beat your !” Kris finishes his threat, ignoring the younger boy. This storm has been going on for a long time (read: seven minutes), and Kris has had enough.

Kris stops moving, and concentrates. He gathers enough energy, and throws a fireball in a random direction. The fireball hits nothing, flames burning out as it hurdles into the vast area, but its flames create a path for Kris. As Kris walks further into the storm, he gets an idea.

“Have you ever heard of the ‘red dragon’?”

“No...why? Are you gonna tell me a story?” Sehun asks, sarcastic, and a random tire nearly hits Kris in the head.

“Yeah; it's about the wind user that got burnt to a crisp, and it's a puppet show.”

“...A puppet show?” Sehun isn't going to lie: he's curious about the “red dragon”. He knows that it's probably pretty dangerous to want Kris to bring it out, but he likes to take risks sometimes. “Well then, show me this ‘red dragon’.”

“Gladly,” Kris says, closing his eyes to focus on gathering the energy he needs to complete his red dragon form.

The transformation process is the same as Chanyeol’s; flames appearing behind him in the shape of a dragon, and engulfing his body. The only differences are the mythical creature the fire takes the form of and the color of the flames.This is one of the the few powers fire and flight users share.

Kris is flying above the wind storm, and can now pinpoint Sehun's location. He shoots a fireball at the younger boy. The flames block his vision for a few seconds, and Kris can't tell if he hit him or not. He doesn't, but realizes this a moment too late. He doesn't have time to dodge the strong gust of wind Sehun directs at him, and is hit with it full force. Kris’ stability in the air wavers slightly before he's back to flying normally.

“Your aim is off!” Sehun calls up to him. He isn't sure if this is to help or .

“Yeah, I figured!” He shouts back sarcastically.

“You think we're too far away?” Kangin questions Donghae. They are so far from the fight that their students look like specks in the vast area.

“Nah,” Donghae waves the comment off. “They'll be fine.” Just after he says this, Kris comes crashing down to the ground in a giant, fire-y mess.

“Should we go check that out?” Kangin asks, only half wanting to go see if the no is okay. Donghae thinks for a moment.

“You think he's dying?”

“Nah,” Kangin says. Donghae chuckles at this.

“Yeah, he'll be fine.”

**

The nurse's office is filled with groans of pain later that day. The nurse, Krystal, is only a little flustered at the large number of people she needs to tend to before Lay and Henry offer to help out.

“That sounds painful,” Krystal says, not really listening, in reply to Kai's complaints.

“It was,” he whines. “Ow! That hurt!”

“Oh, sorry,” she smiles (un)apologetically, and loosens the bandage around Kai's head.

Kris is probably the most injured; when he smacked into the ground earlier, he out, and didn't wake up until he got in the nurse's office. Henry is trying to heal the wounds, nothing major, but Kris keeps wincing and moving away.

“This would take a lot less time if you'd keep still.”

“Yeah, but you're hurting me, not healing me,” Kris winces again, snatching his arm from Henry's grasp.

“The healing process isn't all cupcakes and rainbows, y'know. This takes energy from my body to mend your broken bones, so it's not all soft and sweet on my end either.” Kris stops moving away after Henry says this; Henry is pleased to be able to do his job in peace.

“Wow, there is a hole in your shoulder!” Lay gasps, looking at Baekhyun in shock.

“R-Really?!” Baekhyun is beginning to freak out.

“No,” Lay deadpans, “it’s just a gash. It'll take a few minutes to heal, and it might burn a bit.”

“Oh thank the heavens! I seriously thought there was a hole in my--OW WHY?!” Baekhyun screams, this whole body burning as Lay closes the cut.

“I warned you~,” Lay singsongs, and tries to speed up the process. “Hang in there, Baek.”

By the time Krystal gets to D.O., she's healed Suho's burns, Xiumin’s overheated stated, and Luhan's bloody face, and she's surprised to see no physical damage to him. He looks fine; nothing seems visibly wrong with him. She notices the slight tremors he has every minute or two, and assumes she can fix the problem.

“Let me guess: lightning?” She sighs.

“Y-Yeah. Ch-Ch-Chen is a l-l-l-l-little ,” he stutters while he talks as his body continues to be lightly electrocuted, and glares over at the boy. Krystal tries not to laugh at how cute and not-threatening his glare is.

“I could have guessed,” she says as she presses two fingers to his collarbone. “You will feel a slight pinch.” She closes her eyes in concentration to pull the electricity from his body. 

“O-O-Ok-kay,” he mutters as he braces himself. She didn't lie; he only felt a small pinch, and the electrical feeling was gone. “Wow, thanks.”

“It's nothing, kid,” she says as he stands and bows to her. Cute, she thinks as she lowers her head in acknowledgment.

“Chen, what seems to be the problem?” Henry asks, glancing over the boy's smaller figure. Chen coughs up a pile of dirt in response. Henry is shocked for all of two seconds, and whacks Chen on the back a few times.

“Just keep coughing; it will be easier to get it out this way,” Henry says as he continues to -brutally abuse- gently pat Chen's back.

“What's the other way?” Chen asks between hacking and wheezing.

Henry shrugs nonchalantly, “excretion.” Chen pales, ever so faintly, and continues to cough up the dirt.

“Look at you,” Lay chastises as he looks over Sehun's injuries. There are just a few scrapes and scratches, but nothing too major, scattered about his pale skin. Sehun's eyes are downcast for a few seconds before he looks up with a bright expression.

“I won, though!” Sehun says excitedly. Lay cracks a small smile.

“That's good to hear.” Lay hovers his palm over Sehun's body. “Now, I will heal you.”

Chanyeol is one of the few people left in the clinic that night, most of the other boys having scurried off after being treated. The other people there with him are Krystal, Lay, and Baekhyun. Krystal can't actually leave for another twenty minutes because her shift isn't over yet, Lay is passed out on one of the beds (he had worked himself too hard trying to heal the others), and Baekhyun is just sticking around to wait for Chanyeol. The actual reason he's waiting for Chanyeol is because he's too scared to walk home alone in the dark (even though he has the superpower of light he still gets scared), and Chanyeol is strong and tough so he can protect him.

“You're still here?” Chanyeol's voice is raspy and still thick with sleep, and the sound startles Baekhyun.

“Y-Yeah,” Baekhyun says as he shyly looks at Chanyeol. Chanyeol is now sitting up in the bed, upper body mostly wrapped in bandages, and his eyes are squinted.

“What for?” Baekhyun feels like Chanyeol knows the answer to his question by the way his lips twitch into a small smirk.

“Um...I just woke up?” Baekhyun doesn't mean to say that as a question.

“Did you really?” Chanyeol's smirk widens. “Or were you just waiting for me to wake up?”

“...Maybe.”

“Alright then; let's go!”

“Wait...what? Should you even be leaving? You're kinda-”

“Hurt? Yeah I'm hurt, but I'll be fine...plus, I don't want my princess to walk home alone.”

They leave shortly after that, hand-in-hand, and smiling brightly. Chanyeol is walking slightly in front of Baekhyun, pulling him along. Baekhyun tries (and fails) not to look at the way Chanyeol's back muscles work as he walks, still shirtless.

“Um...Chanyeol? You're not wearing a shirt…” Baekhyun trails off with a blush coloring his cheeks.

“Hm? Oh, yeah...I'm not. Why? Does that bother you, or something?” Chanyeol speaks, not even turning to look at Baekhyun (to which Baekhyun thanks every superior being he's ever heard of).

“N-No...I just...Aren't you cold?” Baekhyun only asks because he's at a loss for words at the moment.

“Nope. Are you cold, my princess?” Chanyeol finally turns his head to looks at Baekhyun. “I could set you on fire to warm you up.”

“Um...I'll pass.” They continue walking in a comfortable silence, but Baekhyun speaks up again. “Do you hear that?”

Chanyeol stops to concentrate on listening. “...No...What exactly am I supposed to be hearing?”

“It's a faint, high pitched sound...maybe it's just me?” Baekhyun attempts to explain, but just gives up in the end.

They walk (seriously why does this walk seem to be longer than normal???), the noise only ringing louder with each step. Baekhyun stops and squats down to the ground, covering his ears. His face is contorted in pain, and Chanyeol is leaning down trying to find out what's wrong. Baekhyun's ears begin to bleed, the noise way too loud in his head, and he blacks out. Chanyeol guesses that this must be the work of the enemy, but he's realized too late. Chanyeol is attacked so fast, and is knocked out beside Baekhyun before he could even blink.

When Chanyeol wakes up, it’s about six in the morning, and Baekhyun is no longer by his side.

{3747 words}

Whoa i think this is the longest chapter yet! I ended with another cliffhanger mwahahaha (i'm sorry~)!! Who do you think attacked Baekyeol at the end O.o?? Hope you enjoyed~~

Make sure you take care of your shells and be sure that your yolks aren't too runny, my Chanyolks! (More egg puns!!!!!)

-Byun Baconboy