Inequality

Chapter 16 – Unexpected

A/N: I kept telling myself I'll update and all I did was watch more Dream Team. .___.; I'm sorry guys. LOL

“V,” Akari glared at him and he smiled sheepishly and said, “We'll be fine, I swear!”

“Okay, don't fly them then, straight after you find Jungkook, come back here okay?”

V nodded eagerly and saluted her and took Lay's shoulder, pushing him toward the bathroom.

“Let's go!”

Kris stared at them dumbfounded and he said, “Why do I have a feeling one of us are going to get caught..?”

Akari shot him a glare and he placed his hands in the air in defeat and said, “I'm just saying.”

Her gaze softened and she mumbled, “I'm scared too.”

Kris glanced over to her, and he gave her a small smile.

“You're not alone this time.”

Akari nodded and she sighed. I can't help but be worried though.. This is a risk, but... for Dongjun and Jungkook. I have to at least do this much.

Suddenly, the felt all felt a tremor originating from the bathroom and Chen immediately rushed over.

“V! Lay hyung! Are you guys okay!?”

“They're fine,” Luhan mumbled with a small smile, “I can feel Lay's laughter and excitement radiating off of him even if he's miles away.”

Luhan pouted and whined, “I want to shadow travel too.”

“It probably drains a lot of energy from V though,” Xiumin insisted. Everyone nodded and Akari said, “He should know his limits.”

“Emphasis on should,” Chen mumbled. Akari gave them a weak smile and said, “He knows his limits better than I know my own.”

V and Lay successfully traveled from the restroom to the darkness within the dungeon cell and immediately Dongjun lifted his head away from Jungkook. Someone had entered their cell. He narrowed his eyes as he could sense the magic radiating off of V and Lay and he calmly asked, “Who's there?”

“It's me hyung!” V softly replied. He peeked his head out from the shadows, his brown hair contrasted sharply with the dull background and Dongjun smiled, “Taehyung.”

V and Lay glanced around before nodding to each other and running over to his hyung and maknae. V saw the bruises and he felt his heart clench at the sight of his best friend in so much pain. Dongjun saw and he whispered, “The faster you get him to safety, the better.”

V nodded and Dongjun broke the chains as though they were made out of paper. He stretched and sighed, “Now I know how Akari felt. Poor thing.”

Dongjun glanced around and he expanded his mental range and he said, “You guys have back up right?”

V nodded and he said, “Kris hyung and Xiumin hyung are being distractions.”

“How will they get back?” Dongjun asked, somewhat taken aback. Last time he remembered, Kris only had the flying ability and Xiumin was an ice user.

“... Noona will take care of that,” V mumbled softly. He wasn't too sure he liked the idea of the other four being distractions, but suddenly the alarms sounded and Dongjun pushed V and Lay forward as they rushed towards the shadows. Many guards began rushing in, only to be frozen in place by Xiumin. Kris smirked from above as he carried Xiumin on his back.

“So that's what Akari meant by in-air combat!” Lay exclaimed in awe. Dongjun chuckled as he strained his mental capacity to the entire dungeon and negated everyone's abilities excluding his current comrades. He sighed as he felt the guards lose their ability for the next couple of minutes and his legs almost gave way until another arm wrapped around his waist and his arm was slung over that person's shoulder.

“Akari,” he softly mumbled. He smiled and she returned the small but sweet gesture and she said, “Pushing yourself to the extremes?”

He laughed softly and he said, “Yeah, so.. how are you going to deal with this?”

“First thing firsts, go with V, back to our safe haven, and we'll follow you right after.”

Dongjun gave her a weary smile and said, “I can't just leave you here like last time.”

Akari smiled and she said, “I'll be fine.”

Dongjun nodded hesitantly and Akari left him with V before rushing over to the center of the dungeon, joining Tao in the center as he fought off the few guards that had escaped Xiumin's ice prison.

“How much longer?” Tao asked. He seemed a bit tired and Akari gently patted his back before back flipping off some random guard and launching into another guard's face.

“A little bit more, I'm waiting for Luhan to give me the okay that V is back.”

“With all of them?”

Akari nodded and Tao sighed, “You owe me more martial arts lessons.”

Akari laughed and nodded before suddenly the guards increased and she heard a soft landing as Kris and Xiumin joined the duo on the ground floor.

“How much longer?” Kris asked. Akari shrugged before using Kris as back support to kick some random guard in the head and she said, “Cover me.”

The three nodded as Akari quickly linked to Luhan.

Time yet?

They haven't arrived. It must be slower traveling through the shadows with more people.

Akari sighed, Tell me when.

Luhan felt the connection cut as he and Chen waited impatiently back at base. They were nervous, and anxious, for their friends. It was their first official fight... or perhaps not.

On the other hand, Akari opened her eyes, and immediately released a pressure of wind, pushing the guards back and she said, “Not yet.”

The boys nodded as they continued fending them off until the alarms suddenly stopped and the guards paused, confused. They didn't hear it yet, but Akari did. She forcefully took the boys' hands, taking them by surprise as the teleported them onto a different entrance to the dungeon far above the ground level.

Suddenly, the entire ground level broke as crevices and cracks formed, swallowing the guards as though the earth was asking for sacrifices. The three males looked at Akari in surprise as she tensed, the only person with skill this strong other than Clovis was L. The familiar energy that filled the air didn't comfort her at all. It only made her tense.

“No,” she softly mumbled. The three boys looked at her and asked, “Akari?”

“L.”

“What?” Kris asked, before suddenly seeing a crack forming on their right. It raced towards them and Akari jumped, taking Tao with her as Kris took Xiumin. The wall collapsed and suddenly reformed into a cliff of some sort as L gently and calmly walked across it.

“Mizuhara Akari,” L called out. She looked at him, slightly bewildered, as he gave her a small smile, “You're still as beautiful as ever even if your hair is dyed. Did you come to save Dongjun?”

L's smile curved into a smirk before tossing a different boy in front of them and she gasped, “TAEHYUNG!”

“I.. I got them away safely, but..”

Akari! Akari! Where's V!? Luhan shouted at her. Akari's thoughts were jumbled, but she properly answered. Here...

V was trapped, his entire body was encased in hard, solid, rock. L smiled and he said, “You didn't come for me, I'm upset.”

“L, I –”

“I don't want to hear your excuses anymore. You always liked them more than me. I don't understand why... I'm just as strong, just as good-looking, just as talented as they are, but you never looked at me once. Did you even consider coming back for me?”

Akari's mouth was opening and closing before she clenched her fist and she shouted, “I did! I came back to save all of you. But I didn't know where you were!”

L narrowed his eyes and he growled, “Never thought of mentally connecting with me? Oh wait, that's right, you never ing bothered to make a mental link with me. All. Because. Of. Hyung.”

“Woo-”

“Speak his name in front of me and I'll kill Taehyung.”

Akari snarled and pushed Tao back towards Kris, who struggled to keep both of them in air before landing opposite from L. In a short burst of light and heat, Akari's formed changed and L was thrown back, pinned against the wall of the dungeon by dozens of swords, keeping him in place and at death lock as she had a knife to his throat.

“You haven't changed one bit,” she hissed. Her eyes were glowing golden and L flinched. “You always wanted yourself at the center of everyone's attention. Sure you were talented, strong, and perhaps even the most handsome one in the entire freaking army, but you never – never – considered the situations that others were in.”

L narrowed his eyes and growled, “What do you know about me anyways, huh!? We never got along anyways, the only time we ever communicated was when the hyungs had left us alone. Even then... you never looked at me. You treated everyone else equally, but me.”

Akari's eyes softened, but her anger was radiating from her entire being as no one dared to move. Her presence in her form was already scary enough, but the fact that her wings were flapping at rapid speed, the sword tips swirled around in the air, threatening to pierce the unlucky one to catch her temper.

“I tried to.. but you're the one who avoided me. You avoided everyone Soo.”

L wavered at the familiar pet name. He lowered his gaze away from hers and stuttered, “Don't.”

“Kim Myungsoo.”

L looked up, his eyes watery and he softly said, “I'm sorry.”

“It's okay. It's the side effects... isn't it?”

L nodded and the blades vanished into thin air. He slumped to the ground.

Soon, the other three males rushed over to V's side as Akari joined them. L slowly got up, following after. He retracted the molding case from V and softly mumbled, “I'm sorry.”

Tao scratched the back of his head as he could of swore he heard something, however he disregarded it as he checked over his dongsaeng for any injuries. Suddenly, Akari felt it, the increasing concentration of energy coming from L. Her eyes widened as she pushed them away and she was encased in the same molding. Except this time, it was worse, L had magically reenforced it.

L cut off the cliff from which the other four males watched helplessly. He had captured Akari.