Suho and Xiumin lay on the ground, unmoving, among the rubble that the giant had created.

“We have to get to them!” D.O said. “Lay! I’ll accompany you! Let’s go!”

“Roger that!” Lay ran towards the two fainted boys together with D.O. The Strong Man noticed and aimed a punch at them. Kris flew in to intersect the attack, stopping it with both hands in mid-air.

“Aaah! A little…” he grunted. “…help.. here!” He managed to stop the punch but he was slowly being brought to the ground.

Chen directed a blade of lightning at the giant’s punching arm, causing it to withdraw the punch and back away.

“Great! Luhan, give me a psychic push! Now!” Kris flew towards the stumbling giant and cocked an arm, ready for a counter punch. Luhan focused and gave Kris a push, accelerating his flight. Kris connected his fist to the giant’s chest, causing it to fall over.

“We’re almost there!” D.O was controlling the rubble around them, clearing a path towards their fallen comrades. Meters away were Suho and Xiumin.

“I got this.” Lay approached Xiumin first and lay his hand on his back. Almost immediately, Xiumin opened his eyes and jumped up.

“W-what happened?” He asked, dazed but energized. “So this is how your power feels!” he said with a huge smile.

“Don’t smile just yet. We’re still not out of the fire yet.” Lay proceeded to heal Suho while D.O reformed the rubble around them into a giant earthen spear.

“Thank you, Lay.” Suho said, waking up. “I got to say, that power of yours is addicting.”

“So I’ve heard.” Lay looked back at his friends fighting the giant. Kris managed to topple the giant but it was quickly back on its feet and rampaging once again. “There must be a way to stop that thing.” Lay thought out loud.

“Maybe this will.” D.O said, a gigantic spear made of earth hovering above him.

“Maybe. You’ll have to catch him off guard.” Xiumin said. “Right now would be good. The giant’s pre occupied with the others.”

“Agreed.” Suho nodded his head. “Shoot it from here. We’ll go ahead and support the others.”

“Okay.” D.O nodded.

Lay, Xiumin and Suho ran towards the battlefield, leaving D.O behind with his earthen spear.

“Let’s hope this works.” D.O whispered to himself.

Luhan rolled to the right as the giant’s hand slammed onto the ground where he was. He missed getting squished by a few meters. He had launched himself mentally, helping to evade the attack.

As the giant attacked Luhan, Chen sent lightning strikes at the giant’s back. The giant roared. It whirled around and brought it’s fist down on Chen.

“Chen!” Kris tried to zoom in as fast as he could but he was too late. The fist connected with the ground with a loud boom. “NOOOO!!”

Kris’ distressed shout caught Luhan’s attention. Luhan ran towards Kris and saw that there was a huge crater where the giant had struck.

“No…” Luhan whispered. There was no sign of Chen inside the crater. The giant roared in triumph. “No.. no.. no…!!”

“Guys!”

Luhan and Kris whirled around. It was Chen, together with Suho, Xiumin and Lay.

“Suho grabbed me with a water whip just in time! I’ve never been so scared in my whole life! I think I wet my pants!!” he shouted. “Suho… you can do something about my pants… can’t you..?” he added as a whisper to the water guardian. Suho smiled.

Luhan and Kris both clutched their chests and let out a sigh. The other four reached them and they all faced the giant together.

“If he’s a strong man… shouldn’t his brain be weak? Luhan, can’t you attack his brain and make him go crazy?” Xiumin said.

“I tried. I can’t sense a brain. I’m guessing this is just one of those robots. But something’s not right.” Luhan said.

“Well, whatever.” Lay said. “D.O is in the distance, ready with a… let’s say… a nuke.”

“So, we just have to distract this strong man to give D.O the chance to attack.” Suho continued.

“Let’s go!” Xiumin said. The team immobilized. Lay followed Xiumin and headed for a foot. Kris headed for the other foot.

“Juice me up!” Xiumin said, nearing the giant’s left foot. Lay touched his shoulder and Xiumin felt the energy surge through his body. “YEEAAH! That's what I’m talking about!” The air around Xiumin started to appear bluish. Lay started to feel colder and his breath produced fog.

“Hey! Control it!” Lay said with a bit of a stutter.

“Sorry! I can’t help it! Just let me get to that giant! I’ll stop him in his tracks!”

Chen and Suho assaulted the giant with water and electric blades, dragging its attention towards them. Luhan stood on stand by as defense. The giant let out an ear splitting roar, annoyed by the attacks.

Kris reached the right foot and multiplied his strength. He grabbed hold of the foot, trying to restrict its movements. Xiumin and Lay also reached the other foot and touched it. Slowly, frost started to cover encase the foot and leg.

“They did it! Luhan, now!” Suho shouted.

Luhan nodded. He reached out to D.O and gave him the go signal.

In the distance, D.O reared back, bringing the floating spear with him. He then sent it flying forward towards the giant.

It hit its target, piercing the giant right in the chest.

Kris let go of the foot and so did Xiumin. They all backed away as the giant toppled backwards. Everyone ducked for cover as the strong man fell, shaking the ground. After a few seconds, the boys looked at their foe. It lay unmoving.

“We did it.” Luhan whispered.

“Finally…” Xiumin groaned.

“Don’t forget. We still have to battle it out with six more of those things.” Kris said. Everyone’s faces saddened.

“We can’t do this. I thought this was going to be easy… but… I didn’t expect to fight a goliath!” Xiumin said.

“Me neither.” Chen added.

“Hey guys!” D.O approached them, panting. “We finally did it!” he said happily.

“There are six more of those.” Lay said plainly. D.O took on the expressions the other boys had.

Luhan turned around and faced his friends. “We can’t give up. Remember, the lives of our friends are hanging on the line. We have to do this.”

“Luhan’s right.” Suho said. “We have to persevere. We’ll do whatever it takes to get our friends back.”

A shrill voice broke their conversation.

“Bravo! Bravo!” came Tiffany’s voice. “I seriously didn’t think you’d get past the Strong Man!”

Everyone looked around until they spotted Tiffany, standing, tip-toe, on the pointy end of the spear that brought down her warrior. She began clapping dramatically.

“Bring on the next challenge!” Kris said.

“Oh, eager, are we?” Tiffany began to float upwards. “Well, I guess you did earn the right to go to the next level. But are you ready?”

No one answered. They all stared at the robot. Tiffany smiled.

“Mm. I suggest you keep that boy over there safe for this one.” Tiffany pointed towards Suho. “You’re going to need him.”

Everyone looked at Suho.

“Let the next round…” she raised her arms. The place changed once more. The strong man disappeared. The earth beneath their feet disappeared. Suddenly, they were all underwater. There was no bottom in sight and it looked like there was no end to the water above them as well. “Begin!”

The boys all held their breath and started to float helplessly. Suho was the only one who was not having any trouble. He looked around at his comrades. All of them were losing air, and fast.

“And meet your next opponent! The Mermaid!”

Tiffany disappeared as she finished her announcement. In her place, a very beautiful mermaid appeared. Its tail was covered in orange and red hued scales. Her hair was scarlet red and it danced around her in the water. Her face was flawless. She was the size of a human and she looked harmless enough. Then she smiled, revealing a set of sharp shark-like teeth.

[A/T]

I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. I had to make resumes and go out to give them out for the past few days! Gah, today I had an ambush interview. I swear, I must have sounded so stupid. GAH! How am I going to find a job this way!?

Anyways, I hope you all are doing well! Once more I apologize for the VERY late update!

Much love! <3