Chapter Fifteen
The Institute
T h e I n s t i t u t e
Chapter Fifteen
It was barely five minutes into the flight and already Sungmin was contemplating jumping out of the helicopter. He didn’t know how it happened but for some reason he managed to get stuck in the chopper with the worst people he could think of to share it with at that point. To his left was Yesung who would just not sit still or shut up. Next to him was Shisus and Sungmin had to defiantly repeat the mantra ‘he’s a piece of ’ in his head to stop the feelings of longing and neediness creeping in. Siwon was familiar and comfortable but he was an and it was just the full moon making Sungmin feel like this.
Across from him sat Kibum and the psychic could have been stoned for all Sungmin knew, he certainly looked like it. Apparently he hadn’t slept all night due to working on a project. Regardless of why, Kibum was lolling his head to look out the window with a dreamy expression. That brought Sungmin to the last person in the copter who was Kyuhyun, of course, why wouldn’t it be? The universe was really ing annoying sometimes. It had been five minutes of obviously not looking at each other and obviously thinking about each other that was driving Sungmin insane.
‘Oh my god what if the elf kills Wookie when he realises we’re there?’ Yesung muttered, his eyes going dramatically round. ‘It will! Once there’s a portal, Wookie’s no use to it. Oh god!’
‘Stop panicking for Christ’s sake!’ Kyuhyun groaned. Yesung suddenly turned outraged.
‘How can you be so heartless? How would you feel if this happened to you?’ He cried indignantly. If anything, Kyuhyun had only served to work him up even more than he was before. Sungmin ducked away from his gesticulating arms.
‘Well I wouldn’t be whining…’ Kyuhyun murmured. It really wasn’t a good time to be teasing Yesung and the demon clearly saw the error of his ways when he almost got a kick to the s. Luckily for him, Siwon managed to intercept the attack.
‘You’re a ing Cho Kyuhyun!’
‘And you’re a whiny . Are we done?’ Kyuhyun slouched back in his seat looking the picture of indifference while Yesung started spluttering offences and curses.
‘Guys just stop it. It’s the full moon and we need to concentrate on getting Ryeowook back.’ Sungmin interrupted. He was sick and tired of all the craziness going on that day. The last thing they needed was for everyone to start falling out when one of their own was in danger.
‘Oh so you can speak.’ Kyuhyun then mumbled grouchily. Sungmin narrowed his eyes.
‘What?’ He snapped.
‘You’ve been doing a pretty good impression of a mute recently.’ The others in the chopper exchanged a few apprehensive looks.
‘Only to you.’ Sungmin replied before he could stop himself. As soon as the words left his mouth, he wished he could self-destruct. Kyuhyun’s eyes flashed red.
‘Exactly.’ He said through gritted teeth and then angled his whole body away, casting his vision out of the window.
‘Kyuhyun I-’ Sungmin began and then stopped. What was the point? He didn’t want to drag up their issues in front of three other people, especially not Siwon considering he was partially involved in this mess, especially not Kibum who knew far too much already and especially not Yesung who had a habit of not knowing when to shut up. But, because the full moon was addling his mind and because this evening couldn’t get any worse, he just let rip. ‘You can’t blame me for thinking that you wouldn’t care about us hav…’ He trailed off, catching Yesung’s curious face in his periphery.
Kyuhyun slowly turned back around and snarled. ‘Well you can’t expect me to be some ing mind reader and magically know that you were expecting some kind of heartfelt discussion afterwards.’
‘I thought you would have at least said something if it was as big a deal as you made it out to be the other night!’ Sungmin retaliated. Everyone was staring at them now, even Kibum had sobered up.
‘That’s just it! It was a big deal to me so I didn’t want to say anything stupid and mess it up!’
‘Like what?!’ The two demons stared at each other for a long time, emotions flying between in a raging battle until eventually Kyuhyun slumped back again.
‘I don’t know. Just forget it.’
‘The propellers on the chopper go swish, swish, swish! Swish, swish, swish! Swish, swi-’
‘Donghae!!’
‘Yeeeessss?’
‘If you don’t stop singing I swear I’ll incinerate your Finding Nemo toy!’ Leeteuk blanched when Donghae’s lip started to wobble. ‘Wait, Donghae, don’t…’
‘Teukie, how could you?’ ZhouMi was appalled.
‘I didn’t mean t- Donghae, I’m sorry!’ Leeteuk yelped, trying to prevent the inevitable. But it was too late. After a shaky sigh, the floodgates opened and Donghae started wailing for all of Asia to hear. Shindong reached around and pulled him against his side, wearily accepting the responsibility of being a human tissue. ZhouMi fixed a glare on Leeteuk who just smacked a hand over his face to shield his eyes from the madness. ‘I forgot he turns into a five year old at the full moon.’ He grumbled quietly.
‘Are you alright, Hae?’ Shindong asked, giving the other boy a squeeze. Donghae sobbed a drawn-out ‘no’ and buried himself further into Shindong’s comforting hold. But out of nowhere, Eunhyuk mimicked the same question and ended it with a disgusted snort. He was hunched up in the corner of the copter, arms folded, gaze stony.
‘Don’t make it worse.’ Leeteuk snapped at him though he probably should have adopted a nicer tone because that’s when Eunhyuk let rip a scream of frustration.
‘Why does he get to be treated like a ing baby all the time?!’ He yelled and then Donghae himself. ‘Grow the up!! It’s not cute and it’s not funny so stop being so goddamn immature!’
After a moment’s silence in which all Donghae could do was stare, utterly stunned, at Eunhyuk, his tears broke out anew but this time there was heart-wrenching pain in them. He must have felt completely betrayed by his so-called best friend and now it was Leeteuk’s turn to be dismayed. He rounded on Eunhyuk with the horrified expression that really enhanced his image as a substitute Umma.
‘Apologise. Right now.’ He commanded sharply.
‘ off!’ Eunhyuk snapped back. Leeteuk smacked him. Right across the cheek, the slapping sound reverberating all around the cabin. Everyone was too shocked to move, speak or even breathe. Eunhyuk clutched at his reddening face and shunted back up against the window. ‘Sorry.’ He hissed.
Kangin was secure behind bars. He was sectioned off with something similar to a dog guard for in a car but with much stronger metal. However, much to everyone’s relief, he seemed subdued. It could have been Heechul’s presence in wolf form, the familiar species making him comfortable or perhaps there was still a fraction of Kangin’s true mind at work behind those menacing yellow eyes. Either way, despite the relatively calm atmosphere, Hankyung still felt on edge with a wolf sat across from him and an enormous werewolf on his right.
‘Shame you can’t still talk to me when you’re like this.’ He said to Heechul who sent something of a regretful expression his way. ‘Although maybe it’s a good thing. I can say anything I like and you won’t be able to answer back.’ Hankyung teased. The wolf whined.
Master Lee was the only other presence in the chopper apart from the pilots which did put something of a censorship on Hankyung’s words. Not that he was planning on saying anything incriminating or embarrassing. There was also the worry that Kangin might remember what had transpired. Not that he was going to do anything stupid. Hankyung sighed. Now was not the time or place to be thinking of proving his worth to Heechul.
‘Come here.’ He said instead and beckoned with his fingers, absently reminding himself that Heechul wasn’t actually a dog. Nevertheless, the shifter did get up from his lounging position and trot closer to where Hankyung was sitting. He cocked his head to one side but lay back down again. Hankyung smiled and reached out to the soft fur and scratch behind Heechul’s ears. The wolf’s pale blue eyes started to drift closed under the gentle ministrations.
‘Careful.’ Master Lee suddenly spoke up. ‘If you stop, he’ll have your hand off.’ He joked though his warning was probably true.
‘Wouldn’t dream of it.’ Hankyung replied, meaning every word. He’d sit and Heechul’s downy coat for hours if he could, no matter how weird it was that he was really a human being. Then again, he’d Heechul’s hair for hours if he could as well.
‘They’re dropping us at the airport since there’s nowhere else to land but it does mean that we can sneak up on the elf without the copter noises giving us away.’ Siwon said, flicking through a 3D map of Yongyu Island on his phone.
‘How are we getting from the airport to the beach though?’ Sungmin asked.
‘Master Gong sent agents ahead to get transport from the Institute’s contacts on the island.’ Yesung answered for Siwon. He’d calmed down somewhat now which everyone was grateful for, especially Kyuhyun who didn’t need anything else adding to his migraine.
‘Has anyone come up with a strategy yet? We should radio the others and find out what’s happening.’ Sungmin questioned, pulling out his comlink. Siwon didn’t reply as he was too busy investigating his map, Yesung didn’t seem to have an answer and Kibum had fallen asleep. Kyuhyun sighed inwardly. He could be civil.
‘I think the best way to do this would be to send a small group out to assess the situation and if they can handle it on their own then we let them get the job done. If not, then we’ll have a back-up team. It honestly seems likely that we should prepare for the worst which makes it reassuring that we’ve got the regular agents setting up a perimeter. Our last resort is Kangin. At least, I’m guessing that’s why Heechul insisted on bringing him.’ He detailed, keeping the residual anger from earlier out of his voice. Sungmin nodded.
‘I’m going to see if Leeteuk’s got any instructions.’ He flicked his communication device on and waited for it to establish a signal before he set up the connection between himself and Leeteuk. ‘Teukie?’ He called into the receiver. There was a pause as the comlink crackled and then suddenly, screams and yells shrieked through the speaker at a harsh volume. It was hard to figure out who was saying what but there was definitely a lot of angry shouting going on and somebody, probably Donghae, was crying. Sungmin quickly shut off the connection.
‘Hm…’ The chopper went quiet.
‘Maybe try Heechul instead?’ Yesung suggested. Sungmin didn’t bother with the comlink this time; he took out his own phone and sent a quick text to Heechul.
‘If he’s still a wolf, he probably won’t answer.’ Kyuhyun said.
‘I know that.’ Sungmin snapped at him and the younger demon balked. He’d assumed the argument was over but apparently not. He was about to retaliate until he reminded himself that it wouldn’t solve anything and if Leeteuk and everybody in that helicopter were having a screaming match then it certainly wouldn’t help to start one in his. Instead he sighed and made no further comments.
‘Shut up Donghae!!’
‘Hey leave him alone! You’re the one that made him cry!!’
‘ZhouMi don’t-’
‘It was Leeteuk that started it!!’ Leeteuk growled. Eunhyuk was driving him mad.
‘Why don’t you shut up Hyukjae!!’ He yelled, forgetting that not everyone knew Eunhyuk’s real name. For the brief moment that Henry appeared, Leeteuk caught his bewildered face. Then the youngest vanished again and he felt sorry for him that the full moon was messing with his power so much.
‘Don’t ing tell me what to do!’
‘Just calm down, for god’s sake!’ Shindong cut in, he was getting as furious and frustrated with Eunhyuk as Leeteuk was.
‘ZhouMi can’t you do something about his mood?’ Leeteuk pleaded with his fellow psychic.
‘Don’t you think I would have tried that already?!’ ZhouMi retorted. Great now he was getting annoyed. ‘The full moon affects me too you know!’
‘Alright, don’t get your knickers in a twist!’
‘I want to go back! I hate this! You’re all shouting!!’ Donghae suddenly wailed.
‘Oh for god’s sake! Grow a pair!!!’ Eunhyuk roared. Everyone then started screaming at once, either yelling at Eunhyuk or snapping at each other. Henry remained silent in the corner, flashing in and out of visibility with his fingers in his ears.
Hankyung jumped when he heard Heechul’s phone go off. The chiming noise came from the pile of items stashed on the other side of the chopper that belonged to the shifter which he couldn’t carry in his current physical state. The wolf’s head jerked up, his ears pricking at the sound and Hankyung reluctantly removed his hand from his furry coat. He caught sight of Kangin jolting his attention to the phone as well and tensely waited to see what his reaction would be. When Heechul got up and trotted over to pick up the phone, Hankyung was relieved to note the werewolf quickly losing interest. He then got a surprise when the device was dropped into his lap.
‘Do you want me to check it?’ He asked Heechul dumbly. The answer was obvious but he felt like he should ask anyway; phones were private things. Heechul stuck out his tongue and panted, it looked like he was smiling so Hankyung took it as a yes. He pressed the button to bring the screen back to life and saw that there was a new text message. ‘Sungmin’s texted you.’ Heechul let out a curious whine. Hankyung was surprised to find there wasn’t a lock on the phone so he had no trouble opening up the message.
‘Anything important?’ Master Lee asked, his expression going business-like.
‘He’s just asking if Kangin’s behaving.’ Hankyung replied. He turned the phone around so that Heechul could read it for himself – if he even could as a wolf. Even if he couldn’t, he stared intently at the screen for a few moments. Hankyung took it upon himself to then type out a reply along the lines of ‘Kangin’s fine, how are you’, making sure to show it to Heechul before he sent it. He was mildly impressed when Sungmin fired a message straight back within a minute.
Kyuhyun is an arsehole. – Minnie xXx
Hankyung sniggered at the response. Heechul repositioned himself next to the Chinaman so that he could read it at the same time and Hankyung found his hand naturally going back to running through the thick grey fur. He was going to leave the phone alone then until he realised that Sungmin probably thought Heechul was the one using it. He couldn’t resist.
Sungmin frowned at his phone. He honestly didn’t know what the correct thing to say to his latest message was exactly. He started to type something out and then deleted it before repeating the same process a few more times. His frown deepened and he let out a noise of desperation in the hopes that some cosmic force would guide him in the right direction. The cosmic force decided to take the shape of Yesung.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Heechul just told me he’s going to stay as a wolf all the time from now on.’ He explained anxiously. Yesung burst out laughing.
‘Really?’ He managed to get out between sniggers.
‘Well he sounds pretty serious.’ Sungmin showed him the text but that just made Yesung laugh even more. ‘He’s joking isn’t he?’ He questioned, trying to laugh as well but still faltering over a genuine worry about Heechul’s state of mind.
‘Actually I think Hankyung’s the one being a joker.’ Kyuhyun voiced. Sungmin raised a confused eyebrow at him. ‘If Heechul’s becoming a full time wolf, how did he manage to send a text?’ Kyuhyun went on.
‘Oooh…’ Sungmin rolled his eyes at his own denseness. He reread the text and abruptly a devilish smile worked its way across his face. ‘Well if Hankyung’s got Heechul’s phone and Heechul’s still stuck as a wolf because of Kangin…’ He trailed off as he got to work on a suitable reply.
Hankyung was in pure and total shock. He had Heechul’s phone held loosely in his hand, the new message from Sungmin quite visible on the screen. His eyes were enormously wide and his mouth was slightly open. His mind was racing from one thing to the next at an alarming rate, almost as fast as the way his heart was pounding violently against his ribcage. He couldn’t even function enough to hide the text from Heechul so that he got a quick jolt back to reality when the wolf yelped loudly.
‘What’s up?’ Master Lee inquired.
‘Err nothing. Just Sungmin being… Sungmin.’ It was the best he could come up with and luckily Master Lee seemed to get what he was saying. Hankyung swallowed and chanced a glance at Heechul. The shifter had knocked the phone out of his hand and was pawing at it in a way that suggested he was trying to erase the message despite how futile the attempt was; Hankyung had already read it.
Well then I hope for your sake that Hankyung’s into – Minnie xXx
Heechul yelped again and began trotting madly about the helicopter but unfortunately, it triggered something in Kangin and the werewolf suddenly jumped up to full height and snarled at Hankyung. The pyrotechnic lurched away from the side of the caged off area and backed up to the other end of the chopper. Master Lee got up and stood more or less in front of him with his stun gun at the ready.
‘He thinks you’ve done something to Heechul.’ Kangin growled again, louder this time. Hankyung could honestly admit he was terrified. Heechul darted towards the metal bars and stood up on his hind legs to try and get eye contact with his old friend but the werewolf was having none of it.
‘How far away are we from landing?’ Hankyung asked worriedly.
‘Not long now!’ One of the pilots called to him. He really, really hoped that was true. Kangin was baring his razor sharp teeth at him and fixing him with a penetrating glare that sent the clear message that Hankyung was about to be dinner.
Sungmin giggled to himself for a while before Yesung demanded to see the text he’d just sent and then he was joining in as well. Kyuhyun wasn’t interested. Or at least he told himself he wasn’t. It probably wasn’t even that funny but he didn’t like being left out of a joke, it made him worry that he was the one being laughed at. When the laughter subsided, Sungmin switched on the comlink once again and readjusted the connection to Heechul’s device.
‘I bet he’s going nuts. I need to hear this.’ Sungmin explained and Yesung eagerly listened in with him. Kyuhyun paled when he heard yelling and thunderous growls. Siwon looked up from his map in surprise and Kibum finally jolted awake. Sungmin switched off the connection even quicker than he had done before. He lowered the comlink to rest in his lap and stared at it for a moment. ‘Do you think that was my fault?’ He asked tentatively. Yesung pondered.
‘It could have been anything.’ He replied evasively. Kyuhyun could see it in the teleporter’s nervous expression that he obviously thought Sungmin was entirely to blame. He suppressed a smirk.
‘Hey guys, I think we’re coming in to land.’ Siwon interrupted. The group all looked out of the windows and through the black sky, they caught sight of the gleaming lights all around Incheon International Airport. Sungmin’s text and Kangin’s growls were pushed to the back of their minds. It was time to find Ryeowook and bring him back home.
The helicopters landed on a private section of the runway where a group of black SUVs and the regular agents were waiting. The special agents quickly disembarked and joined them all, using the time while Master Gong was shouting out instructions to properly equip themselves with weapons. Heechul was not included in all this, he was trying to figure out how to get Kangin out of the chopper and all the way to Seonnyeo Beach whilst simultaneously plotting the many ways he could kill Sungmin.
He, very willingly, stayed in wolf form and watched Hankyung dazedly drift away to stand with the others. Amongst all the panic at what the pyrotechnic might say and the anger directed towards Sungmin, Heechul noticed that aside from being completely stunned, Hankyung hadn’t seemed… unnerved. In fact, if Heechul looked closely and ignored the growling werewolf for a moment, Hankyung was almost certainly and completely inexplicably… smiling to himself.
‘Heechul!’ Master Lee yelled and the shifter was forced back to the task at hand. He barked at Kangin in an attempt at grabbing his attention. Luckily, the werewolf was beginning to calm down – as best as he could now that they were out in the open with the light of the full moon beaming down on them. Master Lee put two fingers in his mouth and whistled, causing one of the vans to rumble into life and then make its way towards them. As it got closer, Heechul noticed it was bigger than the others and had an actual dog guard in the trunk. It reversed up to the side of the copter and Master Lee opened Kangin’s cage. Heechul slowly backed up, locking eyes with his friend so that he would follow him into the SUV. It was a tense few moments but to everyone’s great astonishment and relief, it worked.
‘Heechul!!’ Bloody hell, who was shouting him now? After the boot had been slammed shut, Master Lee went around the vehicle and stuck his head through the passenger side door.
‘Master Gong’s giving out orders. You better change back to normal now.’ He said. If Heechul could, he would have rolled his eyes. Nevertheless, he jumped through the seats and hopped down onto the runway, taking one last glance at Kangin who seemed fine. He trotted over to the rest of the group and smoothly transitioned back to his human self. As soon as he was on two legs, he nearly toppled off them again but someone caught him.
‘You alright?’ Oh Shisus it was Hankyung. Heechul frantically tried to regain his equilibrium and his composure.
‘I just got a head rush. I’m fine.’ He replied, giving what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
‘Chullie, are you going red?’ Heechul jerked his head over to the new voice and his eyes narrowed the second he caught sight of who it was.
‘I’ll be red with your blood, you little !!’ He screeched and started chasing Sungmin who just ran off giggling. ‘Come back here and fight me! You’re dead meat!!’ Sungmin was infuriatingly fast.
‘Oh just stop it!!’ Leeteuk’s sudden yell certainly made them stop running. Heechul gave him an amusedly affronted look.
‘Alright, keep your hair on.’ He teased but apparently it was neither the time nor place.
‘Oh my god! I’ve had enough of this!!’ Leeteuk shrieked, beginning to stomp off. Heechul frowned at him incredulously, it was a bit of an overreaction. But then Eunhyuk and ZhouMi started shouting.
‘Look now you’re the one making everything a big drama!’
‘Eunhyuk, will you shut up already?!!’ And that’s when everyone else started screaming at each other with Heechul and Hankyung in the middle of it all wondering what the hell happened after they left the Institute.
‘Stop fighting! It’s horrible!!’ Donghae was wailing.
‘God I wish we hadn’t brought everyone!’ Shindong then cried.
‘Yeah well I wish Kyuhyun would stop being such an arsehole but I think we’re both going to be disappointed.’ Sungmin joined in.
‘Oh for ’s sake!!’
‘Are you two still arguing?!’
‘It’s none of your ing business!!’
‘Shut up, shut up, shut up!!’
‘Great here come the waterworks again!’
‘Why can’t you just leave him alone?!!’
‘ENOUGH! ALL OF YOU!!’ Master Gong was livid. Heechul looked around at everyone who had frozen at his voice, they all looked like naughty school children. ‘We’re here to rescue Ryeowook, in case you’d all forgotten! Now would you just put aside your differences and behave like adults for once!!’
‘Sorry sir.’ Leeteuk muttered. Some of the others followed suit.
‘Look I want you all to get in the vans and concentrate on what you’re supposed to be doing. We’re running out of time. According to Captain Ok there’s some kind of disturbance going on not far out of the shore at Seonnyeo Beach.’ Panicked expressions darted around, the row from before was already starting to dissipate as more important concerns took precedence. They hurriedly manoeuvred themselves into the black vans, somehow managing to split themselves up from the people they least wanted to travel with again. Master Gong sent them on their way and then went back to organising the regular agents. Heechul stared out of the windscreen with one ear listening in to the conversation going on in the back seat and tried to stop thinking about Hankyung.
The SUV’s were speeding at a rate that would have certainly gotten them pulled over had they been civilians but the Institute had many ways of getting around these caveats. Yesung was thankful that Shindong had made them all wear their seatbelts. They’d already gone over what their plan was once they got to the beach, making sure to include the rest of the special agents through the comlinks. Yesung, Shindong, Henry and ZhouMi were going to investigate on their own initially like Kyuhyun had suggested and then, if necessary, the others would provide back-up. Now it was only a matter of time before they actually reached their destination and Yesung could feel the blood pumping through his veins at an alarming pace.
Ryeowook had been missing for five days now and though the constant panic and fretting had seemed to pass like a whirlwind, the ache for not being with his Wookie made it feel like they’d been apart for more like five months. Yesung was conflicted with the excitement of finally being reunited with him and the despair at the situation they’d found themselves in. It was all sending his stomach into a nauseating spin but he made sure to keep his head on straight because even though the full moon was spreading chaos and the sense of foreboding as they got closer to the beach was getting stronger, Yesung vowed that no matter what it took, there was no way he was going to bed tonight without Ryeowook beside him.
‘I think we’ve arrived.’ Hankyung said from the front seat. Yesung looked out of the window and took in the sights. There wasn’t a lot to see, especially in the dark; no wonder the elf brought Ryeowook here. The vans turned down a straight road with the sea on the left and carried along it until they came past a thicket of trees on the right. The procession came to a halt and the group clambered out. It was a quiet, still night if only for the movement of the waves. Leeteuk beckoned them all over onto the grassy area and began talking in a hushed voice.
‘Master Gong says that the regular agents are in position. He’s got them in the trees over here and then there are a couple of discreet boats out in the ocean. Whoever’s in the boats radioed in saying that there’s definitely two figures on the beach, one of them looking a lot like Ryeowook and then there’s also, err, a whirlpool.’
‘A whirlpool?’ Sungmin repeated in shock.
‘The elf must have made Wookie start up the portal.’ Yesung said, a wash of dread running over him.
‘Exactly. The elf obviously didn’t want to wait until midnight so we need to move fast.’ Leeteuk went on. They didn’t waste any more time after that. Shindong led the way through the trees where they passed many a regular agent. Once they got to the edge of the wooded area, they were able to find a vantage spot and peer out at the sight before them on the sand. Yesung’s heart pounded when his eyes found Ryeowook. The other boy was stood near the water’s edge with his arms outstretched, maintaining the development of the whirlpool.
‘There’s the elf!’ Donghae whisper-shouted. Yesung looked across at the other individual on the beach. The elf was pacing around an odd pattern he’d drawn out in the middle of the stretch of sand and loudly chanting some foul speech. He had the Blue Moonstone held tightly in his hand and it was glowing mystically.
‘Let’s do this.’ Yesung murmured. He nodded to the others and readied himself next to Shindong, Henry and ZhouMi.
‘We’re right behind you.’ Siwon assured. Yesung let out a steadying breath and then took a step forwards.
They approached as silently as possible, Henry casting his disillusionment as far he could manage to keep them from being easily noticed. The chanting got louder as they got nearer. It was unfortunate that Ryeowook was the furthest away otherwise they could have just grabbed him and run off, taking care of the elf afterwards and from a distance. As it was, they kept going with firm grips on their guns and blades; the dead bodies scattered around were highly disconcerting. They were less than twenty feet away, Yesung was getting ready to give the elf a nasty surprise and then, abruptly, tormented howls echoed around the bay. Kangin was calling to the moon.
The elf snapped its head around to the noise and in doing so, spotted the three visible special agents coming towards him. He snarled at them all as the howling got louder. Yesung cocked the trigger on his Desert Eagle as the rest of him froze. All of a sudden the elf started cackling lowly, keeping its piercing blue eyes fixed on them in malicious glee. He began to shake his head mockingly as if to say ‘you’re too late’. Yesung felt his blood run cold as he realised that that was probably very true. Ryeowook hadn’t noticed what was going on, the whirlpool was spinning with abandon.
‘Lunasnyek.’ The elf hissed, clamping the Blue Moonstone between both hands and holding it aloft. Energy pulsated from the rock in a giant wave, sending Yesung, Shindong, ZhouMi and Henry flying backwards onto the sand. A stream of silvery blue light shot up to the moon, disappearing into the atmosphere and then coming shooting back down to the very centre of the whirlpool. The swirling waves started to glow as well and more energy radiated outwards with the raging winds. Yesung jumped back up to his feet as the rest of the group began charging down onto the beach to join him.
But then the worst thing imaginable happened. Dark Elves arose from portal, gliding through the ocean and stepping onto the Earthen shore. They came in hoards, legions of evil creatures entering the world they been banished from. The special agents leapt into action and started taking them out as they progressed further onto the beach but it seemed like no amount of gunfire and furious battling was making a sizable decrease in their numbers. And then they started disappearing – slipping away in flashes of white light.
Yesung teleported this way and that amongst his comrades. Donghae was waist deep in the ocean trying to tackle the whirlpool although it seemed beyond his control. Kibum was telekinetically pulling up rocks and sending them crashing through the elves like a bowling ball knocking down pins. Eunhyuk and Siwon were back to back, forgoing weapons but effortlessly beating down the creatures with their bare hands. Sungmin was flitting about, cracking his whip in every direction whilst he used his evil red energy to pulverise any Dark Elf that got too close.
‘Kangin!!!’ Heechul screamed aloud as he slashed off an elf’s head. His yell was what finally made Ryeowook turn around.
‘Yesung!!’ He cried. Yesung had been trying to get nearer to him but the elves just kept coming and it seemed near impossible at that moment.
‘Wookie stop the whirlpool!!’ He shouted instead.
‘I can’t!! I’m part of the ritual!’ Ryeowook mournfully replied. As he gutted another vile beast, Yesung noticed how Ryeowook’s head was the only thing that had managed to look around in his direction; his arms were somehow held in place. Just then, the whole beach heard the thunderous stomping of wolfish paws. Kangin bolted through the trees, branches hurtling in all directions as he crashed forwards. His razor teeth were bared and drool flung about from his growling mouth. It was dinnertime and elf was on the menu.
As Kangin darted around, taking chunks out of as many bodies as he could, the special agents fought on through the complications that the full moon was bringing and their vast outnumbering. The regular agents were soon dashing in to help but it wasn’t making much difference; the army surged through the portal and flashed away as quickly as they came. Yesung was about to tell Kyuhyun to unleash his demonic energy at full strength when the King decided to step back into Earth.
‘My liege.’ The elf who had caused all this greeted him over the noise of the battle.
‘Yunho.’ The King replied. ‘You have done well.’ He smiled once and then disappeared in white light like all the others. Yesung screamed in frustration and shot an unsuspecting soldier in the side of the head. They needed more backup, they needed to stop the ritual, they needed a bloody ing miracle! Yunho, as he was apparently known, had ensured he was surrounded by elves with shields to keep the Blue Moonstone connected but if they could get to him and take him out then maybe it would be over.
‘Kyuhyun!’ Yesung yelled to the demon and pointed at Yunho. ‘We need to get to him!’ Kyuhyun looked over and nodded. He ran across the sand and took a solid stance before concentrating furiously, building up the blood-coloured energy around him until it sent him hovering into the air. Hankyung had seen what he was doing and quickly rushed nearer so that he could light up the bastards at the same time. In a blinding explosion, demonic energy and a fiery dragon blasted around the circle of Dark Elves protecting Yunho.
As the smoke was clearing, Yesung teleported closer. He wafted away the tendrils of black fog still hanging in the air and tried to focus on his target. He briefly turned back when he heard manic laughter but only saw Hankyung having a weirdly good time sending elves up flames. When he returned his vision to Yunho, he nearly had a heart attack.
It couldn’t be.
But it was.
Yesung gaped, mouth open, eyes wide, as Jay came into view, charging out of the shallow water and across the sand. He picked up an elven blade as he went and brandished it expertly, pointing it at Yunho. The elf was grinning at him evilly, apparently completely unconcerned. Jay kept going but when he reached his adversary, Yunho dropped one hand to unsheathe his own sword and collide it with Jay’s. The resounding clink of metal jolted Yesung back to his senses.
He continued to fight off the warriors still stampeding through the portal but with his eyes constantly flitting back to the combat happening in the middle of the beach. Yunho was managing to keep the Blue Moonstone elevated to the sky whilst keeping Jay’s tricks with a blade at bay. Yesung panicked when he realised that Jay was beginning to tire already. There was sweat running down his forehead and his movements were getting sloppy. But then, in one last fortified push, he jumped and swiped the elf’s raised hand clean off.
The portal zapped closed. Ryeowook dropped to the ground, as did the dismembered hand with the Moonstone still encased within it. The last of Dark Elves to enter Earth that had not become Kangin’s meal, flashed away. Yunho roared. He staggered forwards and plunged his sword straight through Jay’s heart.
Heechul screamed.
oh. my. god.
before I say anything, I must apologise profusely for the blog I wrote claiming that these chapters were going to be uploaded on Christmas Eve or there abouts... I have no excuse other than Christmas kept me rather busy
I hope you all had a good Christmas/Hanukkah/December in general and a happy new year!
I also hope that you enjoyed the last two chapters, the story is really getting somewhere now and I'm looking forward to what will happen next since a lot of things can be revealed - where Jay's been lurking, why Heechul's getting panic attacks, the secret weapon.......
please don't hate me for taking so long with this update, my life has been a Ryeowook-sized whirlpool as of late and I really tried to fit in finishing off these chapters but it was getting impossible at times
but, since its a new year, one of my resolutions shall to be more efficient :)
I love your reviews and your feedback, you've been amazing supporters of this fic
~JC
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