HI GUYS!!! I'VE FINALLY UPDATED!!

I've actually had this written for AGES but I have been wanting to write more chapters in advance.... lol fail I've only written one more, and to be honest it was actually this chapter split into two parts.... But I'll upload that in about a week so you guys can have at least two weeks of updates including this one.

So I'm super sorry to everyone for not updating in over half a year... so I guess you guys should either re-read the last chapter or I'll just put a quick summary here to refresh your brains :)

Summary of book 2- 

The Dark has used its power to create 6 evil-protectors (BAP members)

The BAP members have convinced the media/public that the EXO members are evil terrorists

They decided to fly to Cambodia to escape, also because Yixing was being flown there to help landmine victims (hes a celebrity)

Yixing + Chen + Sehun were on the plane to Cambodia, the others were teleported

Yongguk was on the plane, and he approached Yixing, saying that since he wasnt a threat he will not hurt Yixing, only put him under surveillance

Chen tried to protect Yixing but was instead outed as a protector and captured.

also Sehun got his hair dyed rainbow :3

Hope you guys enjoy!

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Kyungsoo

“I don’t see why we couldn’t have gone to a hotel or somewhere comfortable, this is absolute .” Chanyeol whinges, throwing his lighter up and catching it with one hand absentmindedly.

“Because we have to take precautions.” Suho answered “We don’t know how close behind the B.A.P are to us, and they would probably have ways of monitoring people who book hotels and guestrooms, especially for twelve young men like us. Besides, do you really think I would voluntarily choose to stay somewhere where my socks are always wet with mud?”

Our current ‘meet up’ place was at the side of the road near the centre of Cambodia, waiting for Sehun, Chen and Yixing. It was far from glamorous; a homeless man could’ve found a patch of pavement much more luxurious than the pile of mud and smashed cement we were sitting on at the side of the road.

“I spoke with the Tree,” Suho said, looking at the dirt and addressing nobody in particular. “She is losing her power. She says that the stronger the Dark gets, the more bad things will happen in the world. People will start to get grumpy. The weather will be terrible. Unlucky things will happen. As the Dark grows bigger, the problems will get worse. The world will turn into paranoid murderers and thieves. Typhoons, hurricanes, floods droughts and earthquakes will be as common as rain. People will die from disease and starvation. The reason why we haven’t seen much of the slight unbalance recently is because we are focal points of the Tree’s power. Around us, people will be affected by the Light in us and become happier people. The Dark aims to kill the Tree’s roots, a special tree that is somewhere on Earth. It’s like the Tree’s source of power, a link between her and the mortal world.”

Baekhyun sat up, ears pricking at the sound of the Tree’s physical connection to Earth. “You mean all those years that Xiumin and I searched for a tree were not in vain? Yixing found the Tree as a little girl, but there was an actual, physical tree somewhere?”

“Exactly. The Tree told me where it is, and we have to protect it at all costs. If B.A.P manage to find this tree and destroy it, the Tree of Life is gone forever.”

“So where is the Tree?” Chanyeol asks.

Suho hesitates before continuing. “In a national park south of Seoul. Taeanhaean National Park. Apparently the actual tree itself isn’t that important looking, but it radiates with Life energy.”

“We have to stop B.A.P from finding it! We should capture them and put them in a rock-prison” Kai says emotively.

“B.A.P are going to be hunting us. We are a threat, and together we are strong enough to prove as worthy opponents. If I were B.A.P, I would also be trying to kill us, so that there is less protection over the tree.”

“We should still do something.” Kai mumbles.

“I agree, Kai.” Suho says “But for now, let’s just wait for the others to return.”

I had made a quick shelter out of mud and dirt, disguising it as an abnormal mound of earth dug from some past roadwork. In contrast to Seoul, the countryside in Cambodia didn’t worry about finishing the edges of their roads, resulting in a mess of crumbled asphalt and piles of filth throughout the side of the road. It was a welcome mess, knowing that it would be difficult for anyone to find us.

We were lazing about, finding something to do to keep us entertained.

Suho was writing in his journal, obsessed with the limitations of his powers and what he could do if he managed to achieve the ‘enlightened’ state which some of us had. I don’t believe that he could discover the enlightened state without the aid of the Dark, although Suho believes strongly that he could find the enlightened stage easily. 

Chanyeol was engaged in a conversation with Tao about martial arts, watching intently as Tao mimed different stances and attacks with his hands. His shirt had been discarded hours ago, soaking up as much of the heat that he craves. Even without doing much physical activity, Tao’s hair was glistening and sticking to his forehead, the heat affecting him heavily.

Kai had left twenty minutes ago to see if Yixing’s plane had landed yet. Among us, he was the only one free, able to escape easily. He used his freedom to help us, going out to steal food, drinks or clean underwear. He’d began to believe that he had become quite the thief, even once attempting to steal Chanyeol’s lighter from his pocket without him noticing.

Kris sat off to the side quietly, like usual, watching from a distance as Baekhyun practised his illusion powers. Baekhyun had created a tiny dinosaur and was letting it splash in the puddles, creating no ripple or sound but looking as lifelike as a miniature brontosaurus could be.

Xiumin and Luhan were busy trying to use their powers to create towers of pebbles and ice, quickly melting and falling apart in the hot weather.

“It’s so hot here, I can barely hold an ice cube for more than a minute! What is it, like 40 degrees?” Xiumin hated the weather here. It affected his power heaps, melting snow and ice way too quickly. 

I sit up straight, feeling a bus pull up near the shelter and let a passenger step off.

“Someone is here.” I alert the others, causing them to quickly shuffle around to defensive positions.

“Yixing and co?” Chanyeol asks.

“Just one person.” I reply, lifting two chunks of asphalt in preparation to fight back.

“Hello? Suho? Anyone?” A voice pokes through our shelter.

“Sehunnie!” Baekhyun recognises the voice and runs outside, throwing his arms around the youngest protector.

“Where’s Yixing?” Suho asked, noticing that Sehun arrived alone.

“They know he’s a protector. They won’t kill him while he’s not a physical threat, but he couldn’t lead them to us.”

“And Chen?” Suho continued to ask

Sehun looks down at his boots, letting out a deep breath.

“I think I know where they’re holding him hostage.”

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Our bikes roll silently through the wet dirt roads, splattering our clothes and faces with flecks of mud. Internally, I laugh at the others as they try to spit the dirt out of their mouths and wipe it away from their eyes.

“What’s the matter guys, don’t like the mud?” I taunt as I let the mud hit my cheeks.

“Well I’m not some earth-beast like you.” Baekhyun said, spitting mud from his mouth. “I prefer to keep clean, thank you.”

The bikes were a great idea. They were silent, cheap and fast, shooting through the messy dirt roads between villages. Luhan telekinetically trailed along an extra bike behind him, in preparation for Chen’s escape.

So the plan is simple, Suho’s voice still echoed in my mind. We try to silently make our way through the military headquarters until we find wherever Chen is being held. We break him out and escape on bikes. Smooth and silent, it’ll be easy.

I look to the skies, searching for Kris, but he can’t be seen.

“He’ll be there, you know,” Kai said, noticing me looking to the skies. “Kris is a good flyer, and I saw the plane we found for him. It’s a rough job, but if anyone could get it into the sky, it’ll be Kris.”

“It’s true,” Tao interjected “Kris is the best pilot in Korea, the world even. I swear it.”

“And he’ll be protected,” Baekhyun continued “He’s got all that fancy gear and Chanyeol with him. I think we can rely on Kris arriving when he’s supposed to.”

“Shh guys, I think we’re close.” Sehun called from the front of the pack.

With a couple of strong, quick of my feet, I zoomed to the front of the pack. Using my power, I created a smooth, quiet path off the road, in single-file we ducked off the road and into the jungle.

We stopped about 100 meters from the military compound, stashing our bikes in the heavy vines and undergrowth. Crouched down in the ferns and bushes, we took a minute to prepare ourselves. Our team of twelve people was already looking too small; Yixing was stuck healing people on his tight, heavily surveyed schedule, Kris and Chanyeol were in an airfield nearby, preparing to fly in case of an emergency. Chen was somewhere inside the military compound, possibly tortured, bleeding or even killed.

The compound was located near a large lake, much too big to see the other side of the water’s edge. There were a few bumpy dirt roads leading away from the compound, spreading out in different directions and winding around villages and jungles until they meet well-travelled bitumen roads. According to Sehun, this is the only location that the military personnel on the flight went to, besides the few guards who tailed Yixing. This had to be where Chen is.

With silent signals passing between them, Suho and Sehun got to work. Fine mist lifted from the lake, slowly breezing over until it started to shroud the compound in thick fog. Quickly, we scampered over to the wall, our backs pressed to the military headquarters.

Without a sound, I felt myself be lifted up over the wall. Luhan kept me balanced upright, letting me quietly drop down onto my boots on the other side. Quickly, I lifted a small wall of bricks from the ground, creating a quick camouflage that blended me into the background. Without much sound, the others dropped beside me.

We continued along, noting where the armed guards were and the major doors and exits. Baekhyun conjured a quick disguise with his illusion power, shrouding us in mist.

‘That way’ Suho mouthed, signalling to a large door at the side of the main building.

I almost reach the door, my hand reaching out to turn the large round knob when I felt Tao push me down into the ground with his super speed. Moments later, the vibrating ring of bullets hit the wall beside me, splintering the concrete wall with chips of broken cement and bullets.

“They’ve noticed us!” Sehun yells as he ducks for cover. A high-pitched alarm sounded across the military base.

Plan B, I thought to myself, my mind changing from one well-rehearsed plan to the other.

Rolling over and standing up quickly, I ushered everyone inside the building. Lifting bricks from the floor, I fling them blindly into the mist, trying to provide some cover fire. The spray of bullets slowed down as the gunners ducked under cover from my attacks.

Suho, the last to enter the building before me, sprints into the centre of the courtyard, away from the door. I feel a great thundering vibration in the ground as he pulls a giant wave from the nearby lake.

I hear low guttural screams as the gunners are washed off their posts from the tall tidal wave. Water crashes over the thick fence, breaking off large chunks of the cement wall and washing down the gunmen. The sound of bullets rings heavily in the mist, ricocheting off of walls and the floor or firing up into the air.

Swirling the water around him, Suho gathers up a large rope of water and spirals the weapon out from his body, knocking more of the men off of their feet. Swivelling on the heel of his boot, he reaches behind him for more water, lifting a large wave out of the puddles and directing it towards another group of men before they reassemble.

I sprint over to my leader, scooping downwards as I run to lift a heavy mass of cement to throw at a stray gunner. I spin on my back foot as I reach Suho, planting myself back-to-back to the water controller, forming a familiar structure during our training sessions, protecting each other’s backs.

“We have to go Suho, everyone’s inside.” I yell over the crashing of waves and pounding of rocks.

“Go without me! They’ll just lock you all inside, I’ll stop them from assembling outside! I don’t know if there’s going to be water inside, I might be useless. There’s none of those super powered evil freaks here, I’ll be fine!”

Feeling conflicted, I feel Suho push me towards the door. Convinced to go follow the others, I take a last minute scan around the courtyard.

I lift my arms, feeling the earth rumble through my legs. I stretch out my mind, searching through the underground until I found what I need. Clenching my fist, I squeeze the earth centred on a certain area, forcing a thick water pipe embedded in the ground to burst open and fountain upwards.

Suho gives me a quick nod of thanks, delving his power into the thick fountain of water and spiralling the jet around himself.

Quickly, I run to the door and close it behind me. Panting, I rest my back on the metal door as the others look back at me.

“Why are you all wet?”

“Where’s Suho?”

“Outside. He’s going to make sure we don’t get locked in, and he didn’t want to leave a place where there’s a lot of water.”

“The plan goes ahead,” I continue, “We keep searching for Chen.”

There were seven of us, the only ones that made it through to the indoors; Sehun, Luhan, Xiumin and I were to be the ‘hard-hitters’, while Tao, Baekhyun and Kai were the ‘stealth’. If anything were to go wrong, we would split up into these two groups. The hard-hitters would divert the attention away while the stealthy group would work on locating and releasing Chen.

We wait for a few minutes while Baekhyun turns invisible and scouts ahead. Loud alarms blare and echo through the corridors, and in the distance we can hear the thumping of heavy feet and the clatter of guns against belts.

Baekhyun returns five minutes later with news of the layout.

“This level of the building people are going crazy, it was difficult to walk without bumping into people. I found some stairs that lead downwards, I think the entire compound is underground. Down the stairs it’s a bit quieter though, I think that would be where Chen is.”

We take it in turns to make our way to the stairs; Xiumin, Sehun, Luhan and I rotating the lead position after each corner.

We round a corner to come face to face with a small line of armed men, black helmets and face masks covering their faces making them look like aliens from Star Wars. Sehun quickly blows a strong gust of wind down the corridor, throwing the men upwards forcefully into the roof. Releasing his hold on the men against the roof, he creates a wider burst of air, sending the men flying against the back wall of the corridor. We keep running.

At the corner, Sehun drops back and allows the rest of us to pass, allowing Xiumin to take the lead. Kai crouches down near the pile of unconscious men and rifles through their pockets, taking their grenades and fancy gear with numerous gears and buttons.

In the next corridor, Xiumin takes no time to check if there are any guards. Without looking down the passageway, he slides on his knees, ice spreading down the shiny floor and under the guard’s feet. Ice creeps up their boots, biting into their legs and freezing their knees in place. Tao jumps up from the group, bouncing off the walls to avoid the icy floor. Tao’s blur leaps onto the closest man, and no sooner has he knocked the guy unconscious, the next person is already reeling from a heavy kick to the chin.

Tao and Xiumin leave the corridor with groaning, unconscious men slumped at bizarre angles and frozen feet. Xiumin quickly clears a path and we all run through.

We continue on, taking down the various guards before they can react. I pull bricks from the wall and slam them against helmets, Luhan lifts men into the air or batters them with their own weapons. Eventually, we reach the stairs to the next underground level.

This level is a lot quieter. The echoing sirens barely pierce through the ceiling, and our footsteps seem louder, reverberating off the walls. Red lights still flash on and off, illuminating the pathway in a haze of crimson before turning to the dull white of the fluoro lights.

“Right! Baekhyun, which way now?” I ask, my voice lowered instinctively.

“Uh… I’m not sure, I didn’t get this far.” Baekhyun responds, looking around him for a sign or painted arrows that said ‘lightning-controlling Korean boy holding room’ or ‘protectors go this way’.

We decide to continue on slowly, checking the doors around us for traces of containment rooms. We occasionally come across guards, ones less rushed and frantic than the men we encountered upstairs. When this occurs, we leave it up to Kai to teleport behind them and take them out, or Baekhyun to conceal himself while he steals pins from grenades, or a rushed but precise attack from Tao in super-speed mode.

“Aha!” Xiumin exclaims, “There’s a sign on the wall over here. We have to go that way.” He points down a corridor veering off to the left.

No sooner had we started walking, a man bursts through the wall and tackles Baekhyun. With Baekhyun wrapped in his arms, he charges the other side of the corridor and phases through the bricks.

“B.A.P are here!” someone calls out.

Quickly our strategy changes. I burst open the wall where Baekhyun disappeared to like I was ripping through wrapping paper, swirling bricks around myself in case I need to defend myself.

Kai appears beside me, looking down each direction of the new corridor to see where Jongup had taken Baekhyun.

“There!” He points down the passageway to where Jongup carries Baekhyun like a sack of potatoes away from us.

I whirl bricks at him, but they pass through Jongup’s head harmlessly. At the end of the corridor, he jumps through another wall, disappearing onto the other side. We race after him, pulling the bricks out of the wall to continue the chase.

I take a look behind us as we turn a corner. The others weren’t following, they are too busy fighting thick green tentacles, slashing with knives and trying to fight the moving mass of green. It’s not until the tentacles start to grow back that I realise they are vines. The plant-controller, Daehyun, must also be here.

Kai teleports to my side after a failed attempt at stabbing Jongup.

“It’s no use! None of our attacks can hit him!” He pants, jogging to keep up.

“We have to think of things he might not be able to phase through. Temperatures, or something.”

“Chanyeol isn’t here Soo!” Kai whines. “Watch out!”

I look up just in time to rip through another wall of bricks to follow Jongup.

“Try teleporting Baekhyun, maybe you can catch him off guard.”

Kai nods, then focuses on following Jongup. We race him for a while, tearing apart the brick walls to follow him and dodging surprised guards. Just as Jongup prepares to phase through another wall, Kai teleports ahead, waiting for the B.A.P member to come racing through. As he jumps to the other side, Jongup comes face to face with the angry teleporter. Moments later, Kai and Baekhyun land at my side.

“Watch it, he’s coming back.” Kai warns.

Jongup phases back through the wall, charging towards us with a wicked knife drawn. He phases through the bricks that I hurl in his direction, refusing to change course.

Baekhyun lifts his hand, a glowing light emitting from his palm like Iron Man. The light glows brighter and brighter, until I’m afraid my eyeballs will be melted out of their sockets. Jongup raises his hands to shield himself from the blinding light and misses the yellow can Kai rolls towards his feet. Green smoke billows out of the grenade, reaching the walls and ceiling until it starts to rush towards us.

I pull bricks out of the walls beside us and create another wall to separate Jongup from the three of us. Opening another hole in the wall to our left, I usher everyone through and close the gap.

We find ourselves in a small office, strangely normal for a compound run by evil super powered men. A tall green plant stood in the corner, and the Windows logo bounced across a computer screen.

Satisfied that we were no longer being chased by Jongup, we sit down and prepare ourselves for a new plan.

“We know that the others will be looking for Chen. If we can find where he’s being held, we can meet the others there.” Kai says

“The other B.A.P members are in here somewhere, I saw the others battling giant plants which means Daehyun was there too.” I add.

“We need to be extra careful, we don’t even know what some of their powers are.” Baekhyun mentions.

“I know one of their powers.” Kai says, and we all look at him questioningly. “I hoped that we could sneak away and eliminate him before Kris found out.”

“Kai,” Baekhyun says warily “What do you know that we don’t?”

Kai sighs and looks down at his feet, shifting uncomfortably.

“I didn’t want to tell you guys, I hoped I could get it over and done with without everyone finding out. I fought Zelo, the teenager, when we were all leaving for the airport. I almost had him too, a couple of times, but I just wanted to find out what his power was so we could get more information. Turns out, he does have a power, it’s just not a good one. I’m worried how people will react. I don’t want to kill anyone, but I’m worried about what the others might do. Someone else might kill the kid in rage, or worse.”

“Kai,” I murmur, placing my hand on his “you’re skirting the topic. What is the boy’s power?”

Kai looks up to me, meeting my eyes with his own, wet and close to tears.

“Zelo’s power, well, its Kris’s.”

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