(22) LAUNCH

“You’re kidding, right?”

Kai squints at Sehun who looks a little too proud of his destructive plan. He shakes his head confidently, arms crossed with a smirk on his lips.

“It will work,” he says, swaying his body from side to side. “Trust me. You can make it work, right? Chanyeol?”

Nervously twiddling his fingers behind his back, Chanyeol rocks and balances between the heel and the ball of his feet. He’d just gotten his powers, and every time he had used them before, it only created chaos. If anything, he’d been finding the excuse not to use his powers, because he became certain that his powers were dangerous and would always be dangerous.

Nevertheless, Sehun continues to bug him about it, even if Chanyeol had lost belief in himself long, long ago.

“It’ll be fine,” Sehun reassures him.

Chanyeol would have agreed with him, too, if only the constant fear had disappeared along with all of the worries that Sehun had, which was close to nothing. The boy seemed so sure of what he was doing and it almost felt like too much for Chanyeol to handle. As if this plan would fall apart if he messed up.

Fast forwarding a bit, he was standing on top of a bike shop, spotlight on him as multiple cameras and guns pointed his way. He was still nervous and prayed to the heavens that what he was about to do would work. And it did- partially, anyways.

The sudden flash in his vision grew bright, and he was able to see the world so much more vividly, taking in the exotic colors as his fire grew bigger and much brighter. A surge of excitement ran through Chanyeol’s being and he almost laughed if the pressure hadn’t gotten so intense. At first, he felt as though he was flying and enjoyed the lightweight feel. After time went on, something pushed him around and caused his flames to become shaky and unbalanced. He lost control from there. No longer was there a signal for his friends to see, but in its place bloomed a familiar creature as it took to the skies. Chanyeol looks up, flaming eyes glistening with a coat of fear.

The phoenix was back, and he was losing control of it all over again. Putting pressure on his stomach and forcing himself to slide down onto his knees, the bad memories of Baekhyun were the only thing that came to mind. The scared look on his face intensified the closer Chanyeol got to him. The charred bodies on the pavement, too burned to be recognizable as human beings. Chanyeol does not register the flames that ghost his hands and he keeps on reaching out, even if he forgets that he’s the danger all the while. It all flooded his mind, and the panging in his chest grew too much for him, so he lets out a strangled cry once it began to ache. His heart hurt and he knew what would happen next. Everyone would be gone. He wouldn’t be able to see the others again and he’d be alone, again, never to see their faces as he rotted in solitary.

Chanyeol let out a scared whimper before he felt a hand gently cover his shoulder with a small squeeze.

“Don’t worry, hyung. We got you this time.” Was all he heard Sehun say before his vision went dark. The last thing he sees are the fierce faces of his old friends with smirks and possibly excitement, looking down at the officers who ready their guns.

Light teemed through his eyelids once Chanyeol had woken up again, and he felt sore all over, especially his stomach and his head. Orange skies greeted Chanyeol with scattered pink clouds, and the sight would have been beautiful if his head didn’t start to spin. The sharp pains made him dizzy, and he slumped over to the side while emptying the contents of his stomach out onto the floor.

“Gross.”

Sehun took a step back and glanced over to Kai who had a similar expression. Neither of them wanted to clean that up and they were glad that they didn’t have to either. Now located back at the lake, they had Chanyeol laying down in a makeshift bed of leaves and grass while he slept.

“You did good, hyung.” Kai carefully sat next to the boy after making extra sure he wouldn’t throw up again. “Need anything else?”

Chanyeol shook his head and spit out the excess vomit in his mouth, cringing at the aftertaste on his tongue.

“You could go and relieve some stress or something.” Sehun looked towards the lake and tossed a rock in, watching as the water rippled the more he did it.

“I’m fine, I just…” Chanyeol trailed off. He looks up to the forest again.

“You didn’t kill anyone. Everyone was safe.”

That’s what he was waiting to hear. It almost made him cry knowing that something good had finally happened to him after so long, but another thought had come to mind before he could celebrate. “What about the others?”

Kai grinned and stood up to stretch his stiff limbs. “We were just on our way to go and meet them! It’s been a couple hours, but I think they should all be there.”

“You ready?” Sehun asked curiously, watching as Chanyeol tried to stand on his own. His legs wobbled like a newborn fawn and the sight would’ve been hilarious to watch if only Sehun wasn’t so worried about the boy. “Like, are you sure?”

“Yeah, I think so…” The frightened image of Baekhyun faintly appeared in Chanyeol’s mind, but he shook it off while wandering over to Kai. “Lets go and meet our brothers.”

--

“Your breath stinks, Yeol.” Baekhyun muttered, unaware of the events that lead up to their meeting.

Chanyeol laughed and looked over at Kai and Sehun, who weren’t present at the moment. They disappeared along with Kris to go and do something, while the others kicked back and caught up with one another. Baekhyun felt a little bad since Kyungsoo was kind of awkward, but he ended up mingling with Xiumin, who was telling him all about his training in faction A.

Kyungsoo was the last, and he wondered where Kai and Sehun had gone.

--

“Let go of me, damn it!”

Kris tried pushing the blonde boy away, but it was hard with the other one, randomly appearing to help his friend. Before he knew it, they were in one of the lookout towers that oversaw the ocean in faction A.

“What do you want with me?” Kris hissed, backing away and automatically going for his gun. He was disappointed to find his holster empty and realized what had happened after seeing Sehun chuck his gun over the railing. “ing kid…”

“You better soap up that mouth of yours before Suho hyung ends up beating the out of you.” Sehun scoffed, unaware that his own judgement broke the rules.

Kai shook his head and stepped between the two, holding his outstretched palm towards Sehun while beckoning him with his fingers. “Cut it out Sehun, or Kris will be the one to skin you alive when he gets his memories back. Give me the bracelet.”

“Stop talking like you know me.” Kris glared at the obnoxious teens before trailing down towards the ladder. Since they were blocking off his exit, the only other route that wouldn’t kill him would be to swing off the railing over the side and grab onto the ladder below.

“Look! He’s trying to get away from us!” Sehun growled. Kris jumped a little, growing somewhat anxious as he peers down from the tower at the crashing waves. Before Kris could go down any further, something grabbed at the back of his collar and pulled backwards. He loses his grip, legs turning wobbly as he’s held up by a fist full of his jacket and the mere force he’s putting on the side of the tower with his toes.

“Damn it Kris, pull yourself together already.” Kai sighed, yanking him back in before he fell. “Can you at least hear us out before you try to kill yourself?”

“You should just let him if he’s going to keep acting like a kid.” Sehun huffed.

Kai glared at the bitter Sehun and looked back at Kris to see him at least paying attention to him now without trying to find some sort of escape. “Okay, so. Your name is Kris, aka Yifan, do you remember that?”

“Well, of course. I’m not an idiot.” Kris scoffed.

“Yeah, sure.” Sehun muttered under his breath.

“Alright good. Now, do you remember us? Or any of the others you saw?”

Kris thought back and only really recognized Xiumin,