Lemme just say, after not logging in for a long time, AFF changed, and it looks awesome! I personally like the design of the website now - the old AFF was great too, both were great(:

but now, for the title, i have to add more than 3 characters long? ; A ;?? ah, thats okay. :3

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

Tao continued to run down the hallway; he just had to check up on Joonmyun. ‘That was such a brutal defeat,’ he felt his heart beat from worry, ‘the competition now is getting tougher...Joonmyun would have won, but that Joonyoung was smart in his attacks….’

The Panda made it to Doctor Zhang office; he knocked, but no response was made. ‘H-he is probably devastated.’ “D-Doctor Zhang...I’m coming in.” Tao opened the door more, seeing the Doctor leaning his head against the bed, his hand holding the Angel’s.

Doctor Zhang looked over, his eyes a bit glassy. He blinked, and immediately, tears started to fall on his face. “T-Tao,” he wiped his cheeks and chin, “s-sorry, I didn’t hear the door open.”

“N-no, its fine.” Tao gulped. “J-Joonmyun…”

Doctor Zhang stood up and gestured towards the Angel that was sleeping peacefully. Tao made his way over, feeling himself shake at the bandages that wrapped the other. ‘H-he got beat pretty bad.’ “He will be fine right?”

“He will, hm, it...i-its just that even though I can heal any wounds...everytime I see Joonmyun like that, it hurts. I don’t like seeing him in such a state...or anyone in that matter.” He sighed. “Right now, he is resting...he will be up soon before night time hits.”

“Okay…”

It was silent for a bit until Doctor Zhang spoke again. “Was it bad?”

“H-huh?”

“The fight?”

Tao bit his lip before he spoke. “I-It was...in my perspective. It was a tough fight.”

The Doctor said nothing; he sat down in his seat, grabbing a hold on Joonmyun’s hands, kissing them. Tao decided that it was time to leave. He bid farewell, and started to exit Doctor Zhang’s office. He let out a soft sigh as he leaned against the door. ‘Joonmyun is out of the competition...’ He blinked. “Chanyeol.” He turned his heel and started to run back to the seating area. He just has to watch his friend fight, and hoped that Chanyeol won’t be defeated.

Not even in his radar, Tao ran passed the Dragon, who was again hiding from him. Tao was too much absorbed with the fact that Chanyeol might be brutally defeated just like Joonmyun.

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

“D-did I miss anything?” Tao huffed, as he sat down next to Baekhyun, who shook his head.

“No, actually, they are just getting started.” Baekhyun pointed out; both turned their attention back to the fight. “He is up against Yeseul…”

“Oh?”

“Spider manipulation.”

Quickly, Tao looked at the other. “Spi -- did you say spider m-manipulation?!”

Baekhyun wiggled his fingers at him. “Spiders.”

“S-so, she brought a spider to the arena or --”

“Hm, n-not really.”

Baekhyun decided to stop, and let the other see for himself. There in the arena, Chanyeol did a backflip, away from Yeseul. As he landed on his feet, he quickly wiped his lips with his forefinger and middle; he inhaled deeply, and soon he blew fire, much like a flamethrower towards the spider manipulator.

‘That must’ve gotten her.’ Tao thought as he bit his lips. However, he was proven wrong, when he saw Yeseul coming towards Chanyeol in high speed. She jumped once she was close, and round kicked the other on the face.

Chanyeol stumbled back, cursing at the hit that he just took. He turned to his side immediately before Yeseul could use her now elongated nails to stab him. He quickly got up, and started to run far from her.

“Chanyeol could defeat her right?” Tao asked, glancing over at Baekhyun. “I mean...fire can kill bugs, right?”

Baekhyun bit his lip before answering. “Yeseul is the type that can manipulate, and morph.”

Tao widen his eyes. “M-morph?” ‘Isn’t that...changing or shifting?’ “So, she --”

“She can grow spider legs on her back.”

“Ugh! Holy ,” Tao shivered at the thought. “You are telling me that she can grow a pair of spider legs -- oh my god, that is just too creepy, I can’t even!!”

Baekhyun nodded his head. “Yeah.” He said softly.

They continued to watch, seeing Yeseul dodging every attack Chanyeol gave out; not even his fire attacks or his hand-to-hand combat worked, and it started to irritate the other greatly. However, for Yeseul, she found great joy in making Chanyeol infuriated. To her, it just caused Chanyeol to slow down. ‘Soon, he will be too exhausted to even attack me anymore. Stupid, he is just wasting energy!!’ She dodged the other’s attack once again, and this time, punched him hard against the face, causing Chanyeol to stumble back.

“I am surely getting tired of this,” she said with a sense of tiredness in her voice, “I’ll end this now. To bad for you Chanyeol.” Her eyes then started to shift in color, a ruby red; she gave a terrifying grin, showing her razor sharp teeth.

In a blink of an eye, the back of her fighting dress ripped apart, letting her hairy, elongated, spider legs emerged from her back. She started to swing back and forth as she got higher; now overlooking at Chanyeol, his expression frighten got Yeseul excited.

Chanyeol got up, started to run once more, this time really thinking on what he should do now. He looked over his shoulder, and soon, his eyes widen at seeing Yeseul coming towards him with full speed.

Yeseul was able to knock off Chanyeol, causing him to tumble around, hitting the arena multiple times, to the point where he got cuts on the side of his forehead. Baekhyun leaned forward in his seat, worried about the taller. He balled up his hands tightly as he watched Chanyeol losing against Yeseul. He hated how the taller was being tossed around like a rag doll, causing him to bleed even more.

As Chanyeol landed on his stomach, coughing up some blood, he screamed in pain as Yeseul whipped him from the back with one of her elongated, spider legs. Streaks of lash marks started to become prominent, and bleed profusely.

Baekhyun couldn’t stand it; he stood up, holding onto the railing. “Chanyeol! Get up!!” He screamed.

Chanyeol felt a rush of energy; he rolled to the side, avoiding another lash from Yeseul. He got up on his legs, trying to catch his breath. He leaped, and grabbed a hold of Yeseul’s waist.

“Get off of me!!” She roared, as she tried to push him off of her; not even her punches worked. She flashed her razor sharp teeth, and bit onto Chanyeol’s arm that was currently against . Chanyeol pulled back, ripping parts of his skin off. With some of his strength left, he punched her stomach hard.

Chanyeol didn’t waste anytime; he snapped his fingers, and quickly, the phoenix bird that was on his marked on his back, emerged, immediately, giving his screeching roar. Its flamed wings flared out, emitting excruciating heat. Chanyeol wasted no time, and commanded it to burn them both, despite him being enveloped himself. The phoenix did exactly what his commander told him to do. It wrapped his flamed wings around and increased its heat.

The screams from Yeseul screeched, causing Chanyeol to let go of her waist. He dropped onto the ground, quickly rolling to get rid of some of the fire that he caught. However, it didn’t hide the burn marks that he received. He watched as Yeseul’s spider legs started to stumble backwards, swaying back and forth as it did. With the snap of his fingers, the phoenix roared. The sound of explosions caused the spectators to jump in their seats, yet Baekhyun leaned more onto the railing.

‘Chanyeol?!!’

A booming sound echoed in the arena, as if something hit the wall. Tao stood up from his seat, to see if it was either Yeseul or Chanyeol that went out of bounds. The bell rang, and it was a bloody and burned Yeseul that passed the boundary lines.

“C-Chanyeol made it.” Baekhyun said under his breath. Tao was about to speak, when Baekhyun said ‘excuse me’ and exited the seating area.

Tao sighed, leaning back in his seat. “Wow…” ‘I thought that Chanyeol would...have lost...but what he did was slightly dangerous too.’ He stood up, and started to make his way over to Doctor Zhang’s office to see both his friends.

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

“That was utterly stupid of you!” Baekhyun started to scold the winner once Tao entered Doctor Zhang’s office. “Why -- didn’t you even feel that you were losing energy?! You have to be smart! You know Yeseul is all about speed! She has those freakishly, long spider legs on her back!”

“I know, but I still won -- ow!!” Chanyeol pulled back from the Doctor, who told him that it was expected that it would burn a bit.

“That poison that Yesuel did...that bite is useful.” Doctor Zhang said, pulling Chanyeol’s arm back in front of him. He placed his hand above the other’s wound; a light blue glow formed under his palm. Baekhyun watched as the Doctor started to mumble some healing chants. Tao peeked over, seeing the purple and black color on his arm started to disappear.

“Thats so cool…” Tao said in a hush tone, yet the three looked up. “C-Congratulations….Chanyeol. Thank god.”

Chanyeol nodded. “Yeseul is pretty tough...and scary.” He chuckled.

“Don’t laugh so easily like that!” Baekhyun crossed his arms. “Chanyeol, seriously, you have to be smart about this…”

“I am being smart...besides…what if we go up against each other...what will you say to me then? ‘I have to be smart about this’?”

Baekhyun hummed. “Yes...because I am twice as strong.” He huffed, crossing his arms once again.

“We will see about that.”

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

Tao hummed as he overlooking the lake that was in front of him. It was already the end of the day, the sun was about to set. Beside him was none other than the Dragon, who ended up sitting quite a distance from him. As the Panda looked over to his right, he was taken back at how far they were. “Why are you way,” stressing out the word ‘way’, “Over there?” He patted at the patch of green next to him. “Sit right next to me.”

“I-I’m okay over here.” The Dragon said, pulling his knees up together against his chest.

“Um, okay.” Tao rubbed the back of his head, and continued look in front of him. He cleared his throat.

“Your friend...the one that manipulates water… --”

“Yeah...he...he is out of the competition.” Tao sighed, “It was brutal...you saw it right?” A nod came from Kris. “I really thought that Joonmyun would have won, but I was so proven wrong.”

“Hm.”

“That Joonyoung played it smart.” Tao stretched out his legs out, laying his hands in front of his lap. “Water beats fire...it is common sense...s-so I was shocked.”

“That is why...playing smart can be worked in your advantage. It doesn’t matter if it is fire versus water...people have to be smart to win…”

“I get that.” He sighed. “I get that…”

Kris rested his cheek on top of his knees, staring at Tao. “Sorry about your friend.”

“I just feel bad for Doctor Zhang though.”

“Hu? Why?”

“O-Oh! Um, they are...you know.” He said, feeling his cheeks heat up a bit. Yet, the Dragon blinked, a bit confused at what Tao meant. “Seriously? They are you know…”

“Friends?”

“N-No, they are an item.”

It took awhile until the other widen his eyes. “O-Oh, I see.”

“Yeah.”

It ended up being awkward once again that it became silent between the two. Tao looked towards to the left, while Kris looked at the right. It was killing Tao, the silence, that he decided to speak. “I’m sure it hurt Doctor Zhang a lot,” Tao said. “I mean, I would have been worried...and a bit heartbroken seeing my Jia like that.”

Kris blinked, and quickly turned his head to face the Panda. “W-who?”

“Oh, Jia is my girlfriend back home.” Tao beamed.

“Girl…friend.”

“N-not as friends, but we have what Joonmyun and Doctor Zhang has.” He said nervously.

Kris glanced down at the grass in front of him, avoiding the other’s gaze. ‘Girlfriend...’

“Yeah, she lives a couple towns from where I live. She used to live right next me...so it was easy to meet up with her, and go around the town, but since she lives quite aways, we take turns going to each other’s places.” Tao hummed a bit before speaking again. “I was...at that time, before I was teleported I guess to come here, I was on my way over to her place.”

Kris didn’t say a word as the Panda continued talking about his girlfriend back home. Instead he continued to listen even though he was feeling depressed inside. His crush has someone already.

‘Is she pretty? Erm, well, I’m pretty -- handsome!!’ He blushed to himself. ‘I-I mean handsome...I am handsome too…are they the same age? Is she Chinese too? Or… --’

“Hey.”

Kris jumped a bit in his place, and glanced back at Tao. “H-huh?”

“Well, I said that I was gunna head back to the dorms.” Kris was about to speak, when Tao lent his hand for the other. The Dragon froze a bit, seeing how Tao was smiling sweetly at him. It brought a thump in Kris’ heart. Right then and there, his cheeks flushed. “Hu?” Tao raised his eyebrow. “Are you --”

“Okay, see ya!!” Kris stood up and started to run. However, in the process, he ended up falling flat on his face. ‘Gah!! Stupid grass!!’

“Jeez, are you okay?” Tao tried to make his way over, but Kris quickly stood up.

“I’m fine!! Bye!!” With that, Kris ran quickly, away from Tao.

As Tao watched, he scratched the back of his neck. “That was...interesting.” Despite being confused, Tao chuckled. ‘He is so weird, but funny too.’

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

Kris exhaled a bit after his speedy run. Even though he ran, it still didn’t let him forget about Tao and his girlfriend back home. He still felt dejected.

He let out a sigh, as he continued to walk back to his housing. ‘So...he is straight after all...’ He let his head hang low. ‘Thats not fair...’

As he entered his housing quarters, he made his way up the steps. He opened his door, only to jump when he saw someone standing in front of his large window panes that overlooked the main walkways. He stood up straight, almost as if he was speaking with the commander.

Kris felt himself shaking a bit, small drop of sweat sliding down the side of his face.

It was a man that Kris himself didn’t want to see.

The man turned around, stoic and poised. He was a Chinese man, looking around at the age of 84, yet he still looked healthy enough to run a marathon. He wore robes that resembled imperial garments, colored with gold and red. His intense stare gazed upon the Dragon, as if disgusted with him. He his colorless, strands of his beard.

“Jiaheng.” The man said with a cold voice.

Kris stood straight up once again. “Y-yes,” He swallowed a lump. “G-Grandfather.”

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

Tao opened his door to his dorm, and was greeted by a well-Chanyeol and Joonmyun. He beamed. “Thank god.” He said, closing the door behind him. “You two are good looking.”

Chanyeol was about to speak, when the comment made him stop. “Wow, thanks, Tao. I thought I was good looking before.”

“You are! It-s just that...Yeseul really hurt you -- and you too, Joonmyun!” Tao turned his attention to the Angel, who gave a nod.

“Yes, I’m okay.”

Tao relaxed a bit. “Doctor Zhang was so...worried about you.”

“Hu? Oh, he was?”

“Well, yeah I mean...it must be hard for him to see you like that.”

Joonmyun nodded. “He does that...even though he knows that he can heal me right away, like that,” he said with a snap of his fingers, “I guess, it still hurts…I mean, I would be too if I saw Yixing like that.” He said softly. “No one really wants to see their lovers hurt.”

Tao nodded in understanding.

“Well, since none of us are going to up against anyone tomorrow. Lets just relax.” Kyungsoo said, yawning a bit.

“Oh? You don’t want to see Jongin fight?” Chanyeol asked, with a smirk, which caused Kyungsoo to blush.

“Like hell I care!” Kyungsoo started to go into his room. He slammed the door behind him, causing Chanyeol to laugh.

“For sure he wants to go.” The taller wiped a tear from his eye. “Even though he is like this.”

“He does like him...right?” Tao asked. “I mean, he is always so…,” he started to wave his hand around, trying to find the right word, “Angry. Unless he is like that 100%, 24 hours a day…”

Joonmyun chuckled. “Kyungsoo looks like he would have trouble...you know, expressing that certain type of emotion.”

“Anger?”

“No,” Chanyeol shook his head. “Love. Surely, we all can see that Kyungsoo --”

Just then, the door opened, revealing an angry Kyungsoo, yet blushing hard. “I do not love that hare-brained, deviant!”

“Oh?” Chanyeol rolled his eyes. “Sure, yeah, sure you do hate him. That , poor Jongin...his heart is going to break when I tell him the news about that.”

Kyungsoo froze; he waited a few seconds before speaking. “Go ahead and tell him! As if I care. Hmpt!” With that, he closed the door. Chanyeol and Joonmyun chuckled, while Tao let out a soft chuckle himself.

“Surely, you aren’t going to do that, right?” Tao asked.

“No way, he likes him.” Chanyeol said. “I was trying to be a nuisance.” With that, Chanyeol stood up, dusting his pant legs. “We should head to bed...if you guys want, I’m heading to bed.” He laughed. “I’m pooped out.”

“Hm, night.” Tao said.

Chanyeol made his way to his room, while Joonmyun stood up as well. “I’m gunna turn in. I hope you don’t mind.”

“N-no, I don’t mind.”

Joonmyun smiled. “Night, Tao.”

“Night.”

Joonmyun made his way to the door, while Tao decided to sit on the couch. He inhaled deeply, and exhaled out. ‘We are down to...well, more than 10.’ He bit the inside of his cheek. ‘I want to win so badly. It would be really cool if I won.’ He tapped his cheek with his index finger.

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

Chanyeol yawned, as he laid his arms around both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo’s back seats. It was another day, it was Jongin’s turn to fight. Tao sat right beside Kyungsoo; he glanced at him, seeing Kyungsoo with an indifferent expression, yet his fumbling with his fingers said otherwise. Tao smiled, and placed his hand on Kyungsoo’s knee.

“Don’t worry.”

“Hu?”

“You’re worried right? About Jongin?” Kyungsoo slowly started to shake his head back and forth, but Tao quickly responded that it was okay to feel worried. “He will advance.”

As the two turned back to the arena, there was Jongin walking to his side, cracking his neck, as if trying to loosen himself. Going to the opposite side, was a male with an apprehensive look. Tao squinted, seeing that Jongin’s opponent had red headphones. “Huh, headphones?”

“Hm,” Kyungsoo nodded. “That is Hoseok…”

“Hoseok? Okay…”

“He is able to infect you by his voice...his songs or screams are his offensive mode...that and they sometimes, have effects in them. Those headphones...help him...to block out any noise that is around him, so he can concentrate only on his voice.” He pointed towards Hoseok. “His headphones are just plain...it isn’t connected to any device.”

“What if like, Jongin grabs them and destroys them?” Tao asked, in which Kyungsoo explained that it would be the wrong move.

“Hoseok’s sonic screams are so strong, that your ears will bleed...that and they can really leave you deaf. Without Dr. Zhang here...you could really losing your hearing.”

“Will we be okay?” Tao asked with worry. ‘I don’t want to lose my hearing...’

“Hm,” he nodded, “We will be fine.”

With the bell ringing, the arena changed from its default setting to glass pillars emerging from the ground, aligning exactly 4.5 meters away from each other, and bordering the area. Jongin raised his eyebrow, confused at the arena change. ‘It is just glass…’ Just then, ropes of thorns, emerged from the open space between the pillars, crossed hatched as it filled up the space. There would be no way to get out, unless through the thorns, or over the glass pillars. ‘Ah, there we go...’

Jongin glanced over at his opponent, who jumped when their gaze met. ‘Hoseok...3rd marks...sonic screams are his deadliest offensive attack...he doesn’t move right?’ Jongin stepped back, and started to casually walk to the left. ‘I never really paid attention to his guy...I don’t even know if he has new techniques.’

Hoseok nervously placed his headphones on his ears. He took a deep breath and his lips. Before he could even say one word, Jongin appeared before him, and kicked him hard on the stomach, causing him to fly off to one of the glass pillars. Hoseok gasped as his back hit the glass, causing chips of the glass to fall from the pillars.

Even before Hoseok could even touch the ground, Jongin picked him up by the hair, and threw him towards the middle of the arena. The sonic user rolled over, until he was laying on his stomach. He coughed a bit of blood, letting it drip from his lips.

Jongin sighed. ‘This is easy.’ He thought as he casually walked up to Hoseok. ‘He must be weak now --’ “Ah!!” He covered his ears, as Hoseok screamed. The slightly sharp tone of Hoseok voice, caused Jongin to teleport away from the other. “God damn!” Jongin shook his head; he snapped his fingers near his ears, and was relieved to know that his hearing was still good. “That shocked me.” He turned around, only have the opponent's fist hit him on the cheek.

Jongin bangged his head against the glass pillar, which gave Hoseok the opportunity to land another punch before he could even teleport away. Hoseok kneed him in the stomach hard, causing Jongin to choke up a bit from the hit.

“Hoseok’s hand to hand is strong.” Chanyeol commented. “Interesting…he usually distances himself...his hand to hand was always low, ya know?”

“Low...so he never approaches anyone...until now.” Tao leaned forward in his seat so he could look at his taller friend more properly.

“Hm, yeah. He could usually scream from where is standing. Never before have I seen him fight like that, up until now.”

“Yeah.” Baekhyun nodded. “I think he knows that Jongin’s power will just exhaust him. So, he is trying to quickly knock him out before Jongin uses his power.”

‘Hm, well, thats true,’ Tao nodded his head, ‘Jongin has one of god’s powers so...Hoseok is trying to be smart in fighting with him. Since his hand to hand is strong, he could really K.O Jongin with just his fists.’

Hoseok grabbed a hold of Jongin’s hair, hearing him groaning a bit at the pain a bit. Now the tables turned. “S-Sorry.” Hoseok said nervously.

‘Sorry? The hell?’ Jongin felt Hoseok inhaled deeply through his mouth. Before he knew it, a deafening scream was made, right near his ears. Jongin widen his eyes, shocked from the scream. He placed his hands against his ears and teleported away from Hoseok.

The ringing in his ears kept ringing; Jongin winced at the pain. He placed his hand on his right ear, though, he couldn't make out what was on his hand. He tried to shake out of it, but it made his head ache and his vision started to get blurry. ‘That son of a ...that scream had some sort of effect in it...my vision is getting hazy.’ He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. He came to realize that it was blood. He was bleeding from the ear.

Jongin lost two of his senses, hearing and his sight.

Kyungsoo leaned forward in his seat, knowing that something was wrong. “Jongin…?” He whispered. ‘What is going on?’

The teleporter was breathing abnormally; he was in panic mode. Never before he had lost both his sight and hearing in a match before. There would be no way for him to know where the opponent is.

“Jongin is panicking.” Baekhyun bit his lip. “He lost both his sight and hearing...this would be bad for Jongin...he won’t be able to know where he is teleporting.”

Tao looked over at Baekhyun. ‘Jongin’s limit...that must be one of them...if he can’t see or hear he could teleport himself out of bounds or right into Hoseok...those are the two most important senses...Baekhyun is right, it would be as if Jongin is stepping on landmines here.’ Tao turned his attention back to Jongin, who was still down, looking back and forth.

Hoseok came running right towards Jongin; he grabbed the back of his head, and pulled it back. He smashed Jongin’s head forward towards the ground as hard as he could.

“Jongin!” Kyungsoo yelled stood up, holding onto the railing.

Jongin didn’t move. Hoseok stepped back, still with his apprehensive expression. He kept mumbling ‘sorry’ multiple times. Though, it didn’t help; Jongin looked at if he passed out.

‘Oh, god --’ “Jongin!” Kyungsoo leaned over to the point Tao quickly grabbed a hold of his back to prevent him from falling over. “Get up!!”

“Kyungsoo, calm down. People --” Tao bit his lip before he proceeded. “Kyungsoo, please, you might fall forward...Jongin can be healed, but he won’t like the fact that you got hurt yourself!”

Kyungsoo felt the tug behind him, but he didn’t budge. His attention and energy was fixated on Jongin. ‘Jongin.’

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

Kris sat on his seat, watching the match between Jongin and Hoseok. He started to feel bad for the teleporter. ‘He is going to lose’ He thought with a straight face on.

He lowered his head, folding his hands on his lap. Despite the match happening he remembered his grandfather’s visit. Never before his grandfather came to visit him, until now.

Kris rubbed the back of his neck. ‘It still hurts.’

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

The fight, surprisingly, was able to stay for more than 20 minutes. Jongin had blunt hits here and there, mostly due to his lack of sight and hearing. Couple of times, he was in front of Hoseok, and other times he landed straight on the thorny fence.

‘Damn it, it is useless to be even fight...what am I going to do?’ Jongin felt himself stagger. ‘I can’t hear a damn thing...or see anything. Everything is still too blurry.’

Jongin fell onto the ground, losing his balance. ‘So this is how I loose, huh?’ He let out a low chuckle. ‘If I was going to loose...I would rather lose to someone else.’ Despite not seeing, he closed his eyes. ‘What other senses do I have...smell, touch, and taste...taste is out of the question, so smell and touch is all I have.’ He inhaled deeply. ‘I can’t smell anything, but the thorns...Touch?’ He let his hand graze on the ground. ‘I can’t really -- huh?’ he started to feel the vibrations on the ground, ‘Hoseok is close.’

Just before Hoseok could knock him out once again, Jongin dodge it by luck. He rolled over, now on his knees. ‘I can feel the vibration of the ground! I just have to aim it right.’

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

“It looks like Jongin found an edge!” Tao said, pointing at him. “That is good, right?”

Chanyeol and Baekhyun nodded at the same time. “Yeah,” Baekhyun said, “I think so too! Thats good!”

“I wonder what it was.” Chanyeol asked to no one in particular.

“There are 5 senses,” Kyungsoo said, “Sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. There are only 3 senses that Jongin could use.” ‘Smell and taste will be out of the question. The sense of touch? But how?’

They continued to watch, and eventually Jongin was able to break away the pattern. In time, Jongin was able to hit Hoseok right in the stomach, causing him to fall onto the ground. The sonic user gasped, but quickly felt his headphones slip off from his ears. Immediately, a rush of ear-splitting sounds went through his ears. Hoseok was in a panic that he quickly covered his ears with his hands.

Tao took notice, and raised his eyebrow. ‘What is happening?’

“Looks like Hoseok, being covered like that for so long,” Chanyeol cleared his throat, “He is in complete shock from the sounds he is hearing.”

The Panda looked back, now understanding why Hoseok was like that. “I-I see.”

Jongin didn’t just wait for Hoseok to get up and recover; he started to land punches and kicked towards the other, as hard as Hoseok did it to him. It was now payback. He grabbed his opponent by the back of his hair and the back of his fighting uniform. ‘This is taking a chance, but it is worth a shot!’ Jongin jumped and teleported himself high enough to overlook the glass pillars.

Once he thought that he was above them, with all his might, Jongin knocked Hoseok on the head with his fist, and quickly threw him down. He was falling himself, but he just didn’t want to teleport just yet, in fearing that he might land out of bounds before Hoseok could even land down on the ground.

As for Hoseok, he was thrown right at the top of the glass pillar. At the impact, the glass pillar started to break. Hoseok then fell once more, hitting the ground. By then Jongin felt that he was close to the ground, that he teleported himself, and lucky for him, it was on the ground, inside the lines.

Kyungsoo widen his eyes. “H-Hoseok...he landed over the line! J-Jongin won!”

The bell rang, indicating that the match was over. Jongin blinked. “I-I can see now!” The effect of Hoseok's scream started to pass away. He waved his hands in front of him, but it wasn’t as clear as before. ‘Still blurry, but way better than before...’ Soon, noises were now a bit audible for him, but he knew that it wasn’t 100% clear for him.

Off in the distance, he could barely hear a voice calling out to him. He looked around in the crowd, at the source, but with his hearing still fuzzy, he squinted. Despite his lacking sense, he felt warm inside, comforted. ‘Kyung…soo...where are you?’ His vision started to clear up more a bit; a slight thistle color glow were on his hands. ‘Uh, wha --’

Just then, in front of him floating was Kyungsoo, in the same thistle color glow, outlining him. “What the -- Kyung -- oof!”

The other threw himself at the teleporter, hugging him tightly. It knocked both of them on the ground, yet Kyungsoo didn’t care. “You won, thank god.”

Jongin widen his eyes, before a blush formed on his face. ‘Oh my god! I could just die right now!!’ Before he could even wrap his arms around the other, he fainted on the arena.

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

“Well that was interesting,” Joonmyun nodded, “Congratulations, Jongin for winning!”

The rest were in Doctor Zhang’s office, watching Jongin getting healed. Jongin thanked them, while he looked down at his hands. Of course, they knew he was thinking about the glow that he had on his hands right after the match.

“Care to explain?” Baekhyun asked, crossing his arms together. “About the teleportation and Kyungsoo thing.”

“Uh...I dunno…”

“It must be like a power up right?” Tao asked, folding his hands behind him. “Right? You can feel those power ups? You feel warm inside and stuff like that.”

“Hm,” he nodded, “I did feel warm.”

“What exactly happened?” Doctor Zhang asked, as he placed his hand on the back of Jongin’s neck.

“My hands glowed in a light purple color…then before I knew it, Kyungsoo was in front of me...glowing the same way -- or color I mean.”

“Hm,” the doctor thought for a minute. “Teleportation...how Jongin described it just now, it sounds that it is more of an aid sorta thing.”

“What do you mean?” Chanyeol asked.

“What Jongin unlocked was --”

“Oh, I like using that term! ‘Unlock’ instead of ‘power up’!” Tao beamed, yet the others gave confused looks. “Um...s-so anyway, he unlocked…” He said with a blush on his face.

“Um,” he cleared his throat, “he unlocked the power of empathy teleportation.”

“Empathy?” Kyungsoo raised his eyebrow, “b-but that --”

“Empathy...that means,” Baekhyun looked over at Kyungsoo, who was now displaying a blush on his face. “You care for him! You do like him!”

Joonmyun looked over at the Doctor with a tilt of his head. Doctor Zhang chuckled. “Empathic teleportation means that the teleporter can teleport another person to their presence. Hm, by having strong feelings...whether it is love or hate...it could even be ual appetite for the person. Their feelings for another person can teleport them to that person's location as well...so its like vice versa. In this case, Jongin actually teleported Kyungsoo to him right after the match because he -- and I am just speculating here -- that he wanted to see Kyungsoo, or wanted him to be near him.”

Everyone looked at Jongin for an explanation. “W-well, I was thinking of Kyungsoo…” he blushed.

“Hm,” Tao smiled. “Ya know, Kyungsoo was worried, he was almost standing over the railing. So, he was thinking of you too.”

“Tao!”

“Even if you deny, Kyung-Owl, you two were on the same wavelength.”

“Just date already, my god.” Baekhyun threw his hands up in the air.

Everyone beside the two on topic, laughed. Kyungsoo’s cheeks burned, and quickly left the office. Jongin watched as the other left, a bit disappointed. He was starting to wonder if he shouldn’t have said anything at all. “Don’t worry about it,” Baekhyun said patting the teleporter on the shoulder, “Kyungsoo is bound to come around. He can’t hide the fact that he likes you. We saw it…everyone saw him calling out to you out of worry. He is really a stubborn Owl.”

“Hm,” he sighed, “I was…so excited when I saw him in front of me...and he hugged me.” He glanced down on his lap. “I was so happy that now I can die happy...”

Tao felt bad for the other. “Give Kyungsoo time. Like what Baekhyun said, he is such a stubborn Owl.” He joked, which got Jongin to smile a bit.

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

Three weeks passed, and match after match, it just made Tao realized how much closer it was to the end. ‘One more month right?’ Tao asked himself, as he walked down the main walkways. He yawned, rubbing his left eye. During the past weeks, he has been having some awful nightmares. Tao never really told his friends about it, thinking that it was one or two time things, but it kept coming back. He was unsure why, but every dream had the Dragon in it. Tao shivered at the memory.

Destruction. Everyone injured, and some died. Fire all around, while painful screams were heard. The contenders, his friends, and even the Dragon himself, were all in pain. Every morning he would wake up crying.

“Tao,” the said person looked over, seeing Baekhyun coming over to him. “what are you doing here? We have to get to the arena.”

“Hu?”

“Didn’t you get the note in your dorm?”

“Um, well I didn’t really know -- I snuck out actually while Chanyeol and Joonmyun were talking to each other, so I don’t think they see me.”

“Oh, well, we are suppose to go to the arena...erm, about something. It’s weird.” Baekhyun said, now that he was thinking about it. “We never had something like this happen before, so I can’t really tell you anything about this.”

“Oh it’s fine.” Tao made his way over to Baekhyun; he yawned.

“You tired?” He placed his hand on Tao’s shoulder, which caused a shock. Tao widen his eyes, as a memory from his night terrors. It was Baekhyun laying on the ground, in a pool of blood; slash marks on his back and his uniform all torn and ripped apart. Tao slapped Baekhyun’s hand away which shocked him. “I-I’m sorry.” Baekhyun retrieved his hand, placing it near his chest.

“U-Um, s-sorry -- I didn’t mean too.”

“It’s okay, Tao.” Baekhyun was debating on whether or not if he should pat Tao again. “We should get going.”

“O-okay.” Tao started to follow the other. The were close to the arena, when Tao felt a tug behind him. He looked over his shoulder, seeing that it was the Dragon. What confused Tao was how he looked. “Kris?”

Baekhyun looked over his shoulder, widening his eyes. “Hey, get away from him!” Baekhyun pushed his way in front of Tao, and pushed the Devil away from him. He knew that it was dangerous to pull such action, especially towards the Devil himself. “What do you want with Tao?”

“I need to tell him something.” Kris said, which shocked Baekhyun.

“Oh god, you talk.”

“Baekhyun, stop that.” He gently pushed the other away. “I’ll just catch up with you.”

“Are you blind?!”

“I,” he started to stress out the word, “will catch up with you.”

Baekhyun bit his lip; he backed up, and nodded his head towards the Panda. “Fine.” With that, he eyed the Devil, before leaving two alone.

“Hm,” Tao scratched the back of his head, “So,” he turned around to face the Dragon, “what is up?” Kris didn’t say anything, yet stood in worry. With him being worried, it started to make him worry. “Kris?” Tao called again. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“T-Tao, I need to tell you something.”

“Erm, well, yeah, that is why you stopped me, right?” Tao scratched the back of his head.

“Hm, you...you know that my power is --”

“Well, a dragon of course.” Tao nodded, “What about it?”

Kris lowered his head. He just had to tell Tao. Afterall, he was now in danger. “Tao, I come from a long line of...o-of dragons.”

Tao raised his eyebrow. He tried to imagine what Kris meant, but it just didn’t make sense. “Oh...’kay?”

The Dragon shook his head. “What runs through my veins is dragon’s blood. U-um, do you even know who started this whole competition? His power?”

“Uh, I think Kyungsoo mentioned it before...like it was a dragon user right?”

“Tao, my family has been in his competition for years. My dad, my grandfather, my great-grandfather, going way back there, and we are title holders as the...t-the reigning king of the competition. Every son born in the family are born with dragon’s blood in them. Only a special few of females can born with it, but usually, males.”

“You guys...are like unstoppable, but that is cool that your power is born in the family.” Tao said in awe, but Kris didn’t think so.

“We always made it to the top. T-though, we always made sure that people would know who has the strongest power. We are brutal...power hungry...we are --”

“Well, your dad and grandfather and the rest might be, but you are not.” Tao beamed, “you are quite different. Shy and really funny!”

Kris started to blush, but quickly shook it off. He must not get out of track. “Tao you are in danger!” He blurted out, which caused his smile to falter.

“W-what?”

“M-My grandfather came to visit me couple weeks ago...he knows that there is a Multifarious fighter in this competition...a m-multifarious fighter that holds one of god’s powers. Tao you have to get out of here,” he grabbed Tao’s hand, and once again, a shock ran through Tao’s body. A scene from his night terrors, this time, it was a tired, bloody, half transformed Dragon-Kris in front of him. His razor sharp claws scraping the ground below him as he hissed at the rustic-red dragon in front of them both. He looked like a cat getting ready to attack. Tao slapped Kris’ hand away from him, thus the image quickly disappeared. It shocked Kris, pulling his hand back.

“I-I’m sorry, I-I,” Tao started to breath abnormally. The image Kris beaten and tired like that made him worry, “u-um, sorry.”

Kris waved it off. “Tao you have to get out of here.”

“H-how can I? There is no exit from --”

“There is.”

“What? There is -- okay, hold up, you aren’t even making any sense anymore. First, you start off telling me about your family, then here you are, about your grandfather knowing that there is a Multifarious fighter, which is me, and now I have to go?”

“Tao, my grandfather wants you dead!!”

Tao felt his stomach drop. “Beg p-pardon…?”

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

any mistakes? Sorry about that...comment if you like~

CAMEO(S):

wanna know which group they are in? --- > [x]