Chapter 10
The Great Escape“The safe-house has been compromised,” rings out a loud voice, and Jongdae knows that voice, knows those soothing, familiar tones, and he knows that his mother has been put in charge of telecommunication, using her technopathy, and he scrambles to his feet immediately. “The safe-house has been compromised. Someone will be arriving shortly to bring you all to your new destination.”
“Come on,” says Baekhyun, and he lets Kyungsoo sling an arm around his shoulders, and the other arm around Lu Han’s. “Come on, let’s go, Kyungsoo.”
“Okay,” says Kyungsoo, but he’s wincing every time his foot comes in contact with the ground, and Jongdae wishes they’d had enough time for him to splint up Kyungsoo’s foot properly, but for now, getting out alive is the main priority.
He concentrates on making sure all his friends are in the group, when he spots Joonmyun, leading another group of civilians. “You lead them ahead, I have to watch over them,” he says, nodding at the other Manipulators who have decided to take command as well, and are gathering people in groups.
“Alright,” replies Jongdae, and he heads his ragtag team of friends, the first ones to approach the doors. Chanyeol steps forward, and opens the door cautiously, before glancing out. “It’s clear,” he calls back down, “I see someone coming. Looks like Professor Ha.”
True enough, it’s their wacky teacher from school, and he looks subdued and serious as he gathers all of them out, and does a quick head-count. “You stay in your groups,” he says, “and if anything happens, don’t be afraid to let loose what you have.”
Sure enough, they encounter a few obstacles on the way to the new safe-house.
“Duck,” screams a boy from the back of one of the other groups, and they all dive to the ground, narrowly missing a couple of lasers. “What the . Where is that even coming from?”
“Move! Now!” shouts Joonmyun, and he raises a huge barrier of water, that manages to hold back the lasers only barely, as the rest of them make a move for it. The Ice Manipulator from earlier, Kibum, sends up a freezing blast of air, that hardens the barrier, and the lasers bounce off, but not for long.
“Come on, come on, come on!”
Kyungsoo’s stumbling with every step, and in the end Chanyeol picks him up and surges forward, the adrenaline rush proving to hurry him along even more, and to outside eyes it looks like he’s carrying a feather. “Thanks,” says Kyungsoo weakly, and Chanyeol just grins at him, attempting to allieviate the situation.
There’s a loud whoosh of sound, and a strong gale suddenly descends upon them.
Screams and shouts abound, and Jongdae watches helplessly as a man levitates in the air, obviously the one controlling the strange winds, and he sweeps them all down in one go.
Jongdae falls with a thud, and bites back a groan when his arm his the ground awkwardly, and he immediately brings himself back to the situation at hand, and looks around for the others. “Chanyeol!” he calls, “Baekhyun!”
“Fall back!” yells Baekhyun, who’d fallen further up ahead, and he’s grasping at the grass, trying to hold onto his position, not wanting to fly away. “Jongdae!”
“Don’t let go!”
There’s a piercing shriek.
“What do we have here?” The man is closer to them now, and he’s holding Soojung in a strong one-armed grip, even as she kicks and flails and snarls at him to let her go. “A very pretty little super. Maybe I should keep this one.”
“Let her go,” growls Chanyeol, and he’s practically on fire, the anger in his face evident and clear. “Let her go, or I’m going to ing kill you!”
“You and what army?” The man laughs. “It seems like I’m the most powerful one at the moment.”
At this point, Jongdae is getting terrified. Where is Joonmyun? Where are the other supers? Why isn’t there anyone here to help them?
“On second thought.” The man drops Soojung to the ground, and there’s a sickening crack as she lands on her hand from the ten foot drop, and she chokes out a cry. Chanyeol is there immediately, and even as he reaches where she is, the man is already raising his arm, calling up a huge wind, and Jongdae’s eyes widen.
“Goodbye, children,” he says, and he unleashes it.
And it almost happens in slow motion, what occurs next.
Baekhyun’s directly in the middle of the hit, Jongdae can already see him raising a palm in feeble defense, and Chanyeol and Soojung are only nearby, and the rest of the people scattered around. He’s got to do something. And it’s in that moment, when something inside him grows, and breaks, and there’s an immense feeling that bursts in Jongdae’s chest, and he knows.
“There’s no ing way I’m letting that happen,” he yells, and everyone glances at him in shock, even as he charges forward, and he doesn’t even know what he’s supposed to do, what his power even is, but it’s there, and he knows it’s there, and it’s thrumming, thrumming and alive and ready for him to use.
And Jongdae slashes his palm across the air, and it’s the most amazing thing.
Bolts, bolts and waves of energy, metallic purple and blue, shoot out across the incoming force, and completely absorbs the air that’s been shot forward. Not even deflect. Absorb.
Jongdae staggers back, pulling his arm to his chest, and there’s energy dancing off his skin, waves of ethereal energy twisting and twirling around his hands, and he’s breathing hard.
“Jongdae,” breathes Baekhyun, eyes wide, “how did you—“
“I have no idea,” whispers Jongdae, looking down at his fingers. They crackle and sing with unspent energy, and suddenly, Jongdae recalls a night in his room, going over his notes pre-exam.
Quintessence Force, he’d read, is the power to generate and control limitless amounts of ethereal energy from one’s own body. There have only been three users of this ability in the history of powers.
And now, four.
“Enhancing energy,” says Lu Han, and he scrambles up, and Jongdae barely realises it, but the man is coming back to his senses and getting ready to attack, and Lu Han is shouting, “Enhance one of their powers! Jongdae, it’s enhancing energy!”
And Jongdae whirls around, and Lu Han’s right, and he nearly laughs, because one of the main abilities of his power is to boost the powers of other people!
“Baekhyun,” he says, rushing over, mind racing with the memory of Light Manipulator abilities, “force fields.”
“What?” Baekhyun’s eyes are still wide, and Jongdae grabs his hands, and he’s not sure if he’s even doing it right, but Baekhyun suddenly lets out a shaky gasp, and there’s energy flowing from him to Baekhyun through their palms. “Jongdae, I don’t know how to create force fields!”
“Just try, Baekhyun,” he says, and Baekhyun swallows, and just as another attack of wind appears, Jongdae thinks they’re a few seconds too late, but Baekhyun squeezes his eyes shut, and raises his hands above them, and light bursts from his palms, taking everyone aback.
Jongdae keeps feeding him energy until the light has concentrated into a sizable force field, shimmering and protective, and the man above them shouts in rage. “That’s amazing,” whispers Baekhyun, already straining under the strength required to hold up the shield, and Jongdae has no words. He’d never expected to be able to do something like this.
“Jongdae,” calls Lu Han, and he’s all determination and anticipation. “Chanyeol would be a ing fantastic Fire Manipulator given the chance, wouldn’t he?”
And Chanyeol’s laughing, and so is Jongdae, and this is the worst possible time to laugh, but Soojung just smirks, and breathes, “Give ‘em hell.”
Jongdae pulls back from Baekhyun, and just as the force field weakens, he stands behind Chanyeol, and where is all this energy coming from? It’s deliciously addictive, and he links arms with Chanyeol from behind, energy threading its way from him to the taller boy, and Chanyeol almost cries when his hands blaze with the strongest flame he’s seen in ages.
Kyungsoo’s barely able to stand, but he presses his palms to the ground, and the earth rumbles with the touch of an Earth Manipulator, and the grim smile that flits across his face is unmistakeable. “If that’s what they want.”
“Let’s do this thing,” whispers Jongdae, and the look in all their gazes is true.
They’re going to fight their way through this, with everything they’ve got.
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