“Circus freaks?” D.O’s eyes widened at the words he read.

“Like, the weird people? In fairs and stuff?” Xiumin added.

“Looks like it.” Lay said. He heard D.O and Chen give out a small yelp. “Don’t worry guys. They’re usually the ones people bully!”

Tiffany floated down to the ground, just in front of the sign. She waved her right hand and a rod appeared. She took the rod and waved it above her head. The sign behind her disappeared.

“So, what now?” Xiumin asked, hand still to his chest. He looked around, worried the circus freaks might attack them all of a sudden.

“Now, the games begin. There are seven of you, so you’ll be facing off against seven as well.”

Luhan gulped. “S-seven freakish people!?” Kris put a hand on his shoulder while Suho did the same on his other shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Luhan.” Suho said calmly. “We can do this. Remember, they’re just robots.”

“We’ll take care of this, then save the others, then we’ll go back for Majesty.” Kris said. Suho and Luhan had almost forgotten about her, what being worried about Sehun and the others being captured.

Luhan shook his head vigorously. “You guys are right. We can do this.”

Tiffany smiled, eyeing the boys in front of her.

“I imagine you guys are ready?” she waved her rod and gravestones popped out of the ground all around them. “For this stage, you fight against: The Strong Man!” she announced in a shrill voice. She then began floating upwards.

“Remember, you guys have to incapacitate your enemy! Once you do that, the next stage will open up automatically!” she giggled. “You can do whatever you want to win! Good luck!”

The boys huddled close together. Countless gravestones surrounded them.

“Let’s be thankful we’re not going to face off seven of them at the same time.” Kris said.

“But doesn’t that mean that one is strong enough to take us all on?” Lay said. “Let’s not put our guards down.”

They all formed a circle, their backs facing the others, and waited. Tiffany was gone. No one else was around except for the seven of them.

“I don’t like this. It’s too quiet.” Kris said, his eyes darting side to side, looking for any sign of movement.

“What did she say we were facing off against?” Chen whispered.

“The strong man…” Luhan whispered back. Just then, the earth beneath their feet started to move. It was like an earthquake and the epicenter was where they were. Kris immediately floated upwards. Some fell, sitting on the ground.

“W-w-what’s h-happen-n-ning?” Lay tried to say.

“It’s underneath u-u-us!” D.O said, alarmed. He pounded the earth with the palm of his hand and the boys were shot skywards by columns of earth. Where they were a few seconds ago, a hand had erupted from the ground.

“Ow!” Xiumin groaned as he rubbed his , standing up. He looked around. The others were also in the same situation, rubbing aching body parts.

“What is this?” Kris said, watching as the hand continued to push out of the earth. The hand was huge. If D.O had not launched them away from their previous position, the hand would have easily squished them all. A second hand erupted from the earth somewhere near Lay. The healer scrambled up to his feet and ran towards Suho.

The boys watched as a colossal man dug its way out of the earth. The head had no eyes, nose or mouth. It was blank.

Everyone gaped in awe and fear at the giant that they were about to face, but D.O snapped out of it and ran forward.

“No time than the present!” he jumped and slammed his fist into the ground. The earth around the giant man formed large columns and attacked from all sides. The giant stopped moving, hindered by the columns of earth that now trapped him.

“Great work, Dee!” Suho shouted. Kris flew down towards the others who were regrouping near D.O.

“Quick thinking. I swear, I could have just watched him until he was free.” Xiumin said, patting D.O in the back. “That’s one down, six more to go!”

“I don’t think we’re out of this one yet, guys.” Luhan said. He watched as the columns of earth started shaking. With sheer brute force, the giant broke free from his confines and continued to unearth himself. He was going at a faster rate now.

D.O formed a dome around them, shielding them from the debris that the giant shook out.

“Anyone got plans?” he asked.

“Why don’t we kill it? It’s just a robot.” Suho suggested. “Instead of columns, maybe we could pierce it instead. I’m sure it’ll just disappear after we’re done with it.”

“Let’s go with that. It’s not like we have anything else to go with.” Kris nodded and ran out of the dome. The giant was now free. It was towering over them. It was as high as a 4-storey building and its muscles were hard and toned. “Dee, I think you should do it now.”

“Let me just…” D.O went out to look at the giant and stood there, mouth open, gaping at the height of their opponent. “How are we going… to defeat that…?”

“Snap out of it!” Lay ran outside and grabbed D.O. “I’ll support you!” He held D.O’s head with both his hands and let his energy flow.

“Oh, yeah! Lay pills! That’s the stuff!” D.O felt his energy multiply ten fold and felt euphoria swell inside him. “Let’s do this!!!” he shouted. He slammed the ground and two huge spikes erupted from the earth. The giant grabbed hold of the spikes and broke off the tops as if they were toothpicks.

“Okay, I didn't expect that…” D.O said.

“Guys, we’re going to have to work together!” Lay shouted.

“Right.” Kris flew upwards towards the giant. Suho and Chen ran out of the dome and headed for the giant’s feet. Luhan and Xiumin followed them.

“Let’s see how strong you really are!” Kris punched the strong man in the chest. The giant stumbled back a little, groaning. Xiumin created a sheet of ice on the ground just behind the giant’s feet and as he stumbled, he slipped, falling backwards

“Dee, now! Trap him!” Luhan shouted.

“Don’t need to tell me twice!” D.O ran towards the fallen giant and called for the earth to restrict the strong man’s legs and arms. The giant struggled and groaned and after a few seconds of thrashing, he broke free.

“This is impossible!” Xiumin shouted. “How are we going to beat this thing!?”

The strong man stood up and let out a roar. The boys wondered where it came from seeing as he has no mouth but they all started running away as soon as the strong man threw its arms upwards and then sent it down, slamming the ground. The sound that came from the impact was like an explosion. The ground shook violently and a wave of earth was sent outwards from the impact site.

Kris flew down and snatched up Chen, who was nearest him. Luhan created a psychic platform and jumped on it. D.O scooped up some earth and created a floating earthen platform. He took Lay with him. Suho and Xiumin tried to outrun the wave of earth but it was futile. The both of them were thrown upwards and landed feet away.

“Suho!” D.O shouted.

“Xiumin!” Luhan shouted.

The two boys lay unmoving amidst broken earth and tombstones.

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[A/N]

I am so sorry my beloved readers. I got sick and I've only been able to write a few times during the week because I'm starting to look for a job now.

Ugh, life is hard. TAT

Thank you so much to those who wished me well and wished I get well soon. I am well now! Just.. jobless..

I hope everyone is okay. And I hope you enjoy this chapter!! <3 Much love!! <3