It was a relief really that the general-man and his sidekick--namely YunHo and ChangMin--had a sense of humor.

They warmed up to ChanYeol and his antics easily and invited the duo back to their house to talk while Victoria and Amber were taken care of by the town's women and Krunchy was taking a nap at their back yard. Kris had been explaining their mission to them for the past 15 minutes while ChanYeol was wolfing down the tidbits they had offered.

"So you have friends waiting at Border Stadium then?" YunHo asked, taking a sip of his tea.

"Yes," Kris nodded.

"And supposedly all of us are going to be saved and the planet is just going to be left to rot in the hands of the Evil?" ChangMin questioned, his eyebrows disappearing behind his bangs. "They didn't even follow through on their last deal what makes you think they'll save us now?"

Kris bit his lip. He's been participating actively in his assignment... But did anyone of them really ever think of what was going to happen to ExoPlanet after?

YunHo leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "As you can see, my partner and I highly doubt this SooMan person's words. We also believe that there is safety in numbers...." He sighed. "But we'll trust you to bring all the women and children of this town to Border Stadium so that they can be evacuated on the day of the eclipse.... But on one condition."

ChanYeol and Kris looked at each other. "Whut is dat condeeshun?" ChanYeol asked, biscuit crumbs spilling out of his stuffed mouth.

"Males between the ages of 18 to 21 have been disappearing from our camp since the whole hooha around a week ago," ChangMin began. "We've assigned sentry duties but most of our men have yet to see what's been taking our boys or have been attacked and provide barely-helpful information. There are no specific patterns and not to mention this is a big town so we don't know where or when they will strike next."

"We need to learn to trust you before leaving our town's women and children in your hands," YunHo continued. "Find our men and bring them back. Any needed resources or manpower, just come to one of us and we'll cover it."

The duo nodded, taking in the new information. "Is there a time limit?"

"Nope," YunHo smiled.

"Ees der ah pan?"

Kris and YunHo had a hard time deciphering ChanYeol's words but ChangMin chuckled and answered, obviously understanding. "I sure hope so, kiddo. But the plan's up to you two to decide."

* * * * *

BaekHyun stirred and his eyes fluttered open. His eyes had a hard time adjusting to his bright surroundings but when it did, he found himself in another stark white room.... Except this one looked more like a hospital room more than anything.

He was lying down on a hospital bed, his heart rate was being monitored by a machine much like the one he saw on his first test and a needle was stuck to the back of his hand. Following the tube attached, he found a bag of what looked like plain water hanging next to his bed, releasing a drop of the fluid into his system ever so often.

BaekHyun sat up and attempted to pull out the needle.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

BaekHyun released the needle and looked around, his heart speeding up. There was no one in the room but on the bedside table next to the humidifier, there was a speaker. He looked up for a monitoring device and found a camera.

"It's an IV nutrient therapy. You lost quite a bit from the Extraction... Just one of the unwanted side effects."

BaekHyun took down the IV drip from its hook and walked over to the door across his bed. The door knob jiggled when he turned it but the door wouldn't open. It was locked. He elbowed the door roughly and cringed as it did him no good.

At times like this, he cursed himself for only being able to give out light.

He tried another door next to his bed and it opened up to show a bathroom. He sighed.

The voice in the speaker chuckled. "Do you really think we'd leave you in an unsecured room because you're injured?"

"What do you want from me? What have you extracted from me?!" BaekHyun yelled.

"No need to yell, Byun BaekHyun," the voice tsk-ed. "We have extracted your pour powers but oh don't worry you still have the ability to control light. It's just too bad it's not at it's full potential. You would have made a useful addition to my team."

BaekHyun looked up at the camera with wide eyes, a plan formulating. "So why didn't you train me? Why didn't you offer me a position?"

The voice huffed. "I would have. The original source of power is always better before it is passed through Extraction... But Ryeowook was always loyal to his friends and I am clearly not your friend so who's to say you won't turn your back on me?"

And just like that, the plan was shot down. Wow this guy is good, BaekHyun thought. But... "Who's RyeoWook?" BaekHyun could almost hear the man smirk, followed by a 'click'.

That was the only reply he got for his question.

* * * * *

“Come on, Krunchy boy, fire up! Just a small little ‘hoo’,” ChanYeol coaxed, blowing out air as if to demonstrate that it was how fire was given out. Krunchy lifted up his head and made an ‘O’ with his lips. ChanYeol leaned forward in anticipation.

Krunchy let out a gush of air, then let his head drop back onto his legs. ChanYeol’s head drooped with a groan.

Since Kris was the older of the two, he was doing most of the battle plans... Alright, he was doing all of it. With the help of YunHo and ChangMin, of course, who had just taken him out to show him the previous abduction sites. Or rather ChangMin did. YunHo, like ChanYeol, had chosen to stay behind.

While YunHo stayed in the house doing whatever he may have been doing, the pyrokinetic fairy entertained himself by teaching Krunchy how to breathe fire. Obviously, it was not working well.

“Like this Krunchy!” ChanYeol blew at his hand and let out an exaggerated yell, shaking it as if to put out a fire. He held his hand in front of Krunchy’s snout. If it did work, it was a sacrifice he was willing to make. “Your turn!”

Krunchy stared at his hand, then at ChanYeol. He blew at his “umma”’s hand. ChanYeol did not react and that made Krunchy annoyed. He lifted his head and blew harder. Smoke began accompanied his breath and ChanYeol sat up, bringing his hand slightly farther away. Krunchy, though, was not satisfied with his reaction.

With a growl, Krunchy leaned forward and bit ChanYeol’s hand. “AAAAAAAAHH!” ChanYeol yelled, yanking his hand out of Krunchy’s mouth and shaking it. With a satisfied huff, Krunchy rested his head on the ground. ChanYeol looked at the indents in his hand and smacked Krunchy’s head. “What you do that for?! Aaaaaaish!”

Krunchy growled and rolled his eyes as if to say ‘You asked for it’ before closing his eyes again.

ChanYeol blew at his hand. “Well, it’s not like you bit off my hand,” he told the sleeping dragon, patting the space between his eyes. “You tried.”

“Maybe you should demonstrate.”

ChanYeol jumped and looked up where YunHo was standing by the back door with his arms folded. “I can’t--”

YunHo squatted in front of Krunchy and the dragon peeked at him from his left eye. “Like this.” His lips formed a small ‘O’ and he blew. The last thing ChanYeol expected was fire to flow from his lips to the space in front of Krunchy’s face.

Another unexpected fact slapped ChanYeol in the face as Krunchy suddenly sprung back with a roar: Krunchy really really hated fire.

Krunchy snarled at YunHo and smacked the latter onto a garden fence with his claws while blocking ChanYeol with one of his humungous wings.

“Whoa, Krunchy! Down boy!” ChanYeol scolded, attempting to fold his wings. Krunchy backed away from YunHo, letting him fall, but he did not slacken his protective stance beside ChanYeol.

YunHo stood up, a hand on his chest as he exhaled and let out a cough. “That’s weird... Kris told me you’re capable of pyrokinesis too.”

“Huh? What do you mean ‘too’?” ChanYeol asked, still rubbing Krunchy’s side to calm him down.

“Don’t look so surprised, ChanYeol, you may be a special snowflake but there can only be so many abilities in the world,” YunHo chuckled, taking a seat on the crushed bed of flowers since Krunchy was still agitated by his presence.

ChanYeol squinted at the older man. “... are you my father?”

YunHo scoffed and laughed. “No! ChanYeol, think of it this way, it's like how some people can have the same eyes or nose. I can control fire too." He took off his fingerless gloves and opened up his palm where a small flame sat for demonstration. Krunchy bared his teeth with a growl and YunHo closed his fist again. “But how could it be that you and your dragon get along so well?”

“His name is Krunchy,” ChanYeol told him. “And I don’t use my powers unless it is necessary.” YunHo raised an eyebrow. “... Okay, I refrain from using my powers.”

“Try demonstrating to him,” YunHo suggested.

ChanYeol looked away. “I can’t exactly breath fire....”

YunHo laughed. “I figured. I’d actually be really surprised if you could. It took me years to master. Just make a fireball and blow it.”

ChanYeol nodded, lips pursed and eyed Krunchy as he slowly opened up his palm. A small orange ball the size of a pea began piecing itself together from orange sparks that flew in from its surroundings. It steadily grew bigger, beating to a steady, calming rhythm and even Krunchy turned began to examine the growing flame curiously, ignoring YunHo for a moment.

The ball’s steady pulse began beating irregularly and small flares began escaping its perfect sphere as it slowly increased to the size of a golf-ball.

Feeling his control slip, ChanYeol closed his hand immediately, feeling his hand heat up closed over the shrinking ball that disappeared into nothing as his fist clenched around the space where it once was. Krunchy made a sound of confusion and nudged ChanYeol’s hand. “I can’t.”

“Well, you’re clearly the only one who can teach.... Krunchy.” YunHo made a face. “He hasn’t attacked you yet. I guess that means he only wants to learn from you.”

“That would be a very bad idea,” ChanYeol muttered, resting his hand on Krunchy’s snout as the dragon continuously nudged his hand. “I can barely control something so small....” He plopped down on the ground and so did Krunchy, still following his hand.

YunHo cautiously made his way over. Krunchy was to engrossed with ChanYeol’s hand to care. YunHo sat next to ChanYeol with a grunt. “As a fellow pyrokinetic, I can understand your dilemma. And you got the basic right. Keep control. Don't let your emotions get out of hand. That's the problem of most elementally gifted. They have a tendency to act on emotion or impulse. Do not work your abilities when you are experiencing strong emotions. Especially anger or panic.”

ChanYeol nodded, taking each word very seriously. Krunchy, on the other hand, had gotten bored of ChanYeol’s lack of response and went back to sleep. Both males took notice of this.

“Second, like you're wielding a knife, imagine the flame is an extension of your body. It is a part of you." He opened his palm again and a small flame the shape of a mini-boy erupted from it. The fire-boy waved and ChanYeol smiled. "Thirdly, practice your control. Don't hold off your abilities or they may be harder to control. Lastly, stay loose, not too tense."

ChanYeol looked at YunHo, wide eyed. “But that just contradicted the first tip.”

"No. The first tip was to keep control. The last was to stay loose."

"Wha...?"

"Think of it as a rubber-band. The force of you pulling is the amount of control you put. It might strain your abilities--or the rubber-band in this case--and if you pull it too far, it will snap and end up hurting you."

“I don’t get it.... I mean I do but... how?”

YunHo ruffled ChanYeol’s hair with a smirk on his face at the younger boy’s confused look. “You’re a smart boy ChanYeol. I’m sure you’ll figure it out--”

“We’re baaaaack!” ChangMin announced with his booming voice. Krunchy let out an annoyed grunt.

ChangMin and Kris entered the backyard. “Just wanted to let you know that the plans are finalized and begins tonight," Kris told them. "But we need to hurry. We only have a few minutes until the moon comes up."

I feel like I'm missing something here:/ And I feel like this chapter came on a little too quickly.... Feelings feelings feelings.... Oh feelings. And sorry about that. Because of my feelings, I updated a day late. It's Friday now:<

Anyway three more papers to go before my daily updates:D YAAAAAAAYYY!

And dang, did no one see that U-Know or Max bomb in the A/N? TT^TT LOL. I was actually describing their outfits in "Keep Your Head Down" but I guess that didn't really work outT^T

Why do the fonts keep changing size everytime I press enter?O.e Like do you see that? It's bigger now. Anyyyhoooooo~~~

Welcome to the story shineelub, sherl0ck, gatorbitez, meomeo, YeniiCelii, mistyflames, superjuniordbsklover, Juleeyaaa, l4lal4, WhatLostYourVoice, ShineeJONGKEYftw, iheart_kyuhyun, chanshik, shikapham, SnsdFanForever, and digidigidums~~~~ Btw is someone promoting me or smt? Like where are all of you guys coming from?O.e LOL. I love ya'll either way

Now onto comment repliessssss~~~~

Chapter 16:

@Xcutionist: LOL>< DANG! Hey, thanks for showing me your story:D I'll be sure to read it after my exams kay?;D Sorry I still don't exactly got the time><

@AlteaAuroraRia: MINHO HAS APPEARED:D YAAAAAYYYYY! LOL.

@ForeverCellist: Oh don't be modest~~~ I'll get to reading your stories after my exams, kay?;D

@bubblemilkteaahh: LuHan went baaaacccckkkk~~~~ OTL My brainjuice it drained now... What can I saaaayyyTT^TT Here, I'll just let ChanYeol do all the talky talky~~

@nicute24: .......OTL How are you still putting up with all my stupid mistakes>< LOL. Sorry. Extreme lack of clear planning there. I'm sure you know what comes after I say this right? A GIF OF COMPENSATION:D YYYAAAAYYYY!

@fluffcloud: Shall we spazz together;D LOL. Actually NO:< You wait there while I enjoy mah COOOKIIIIEEEEESSSSSS~~~~~

@OccasionalMuse: SeHun ain't forever blind:3 And I actually see Kai as more of MinHo's and TaeMin's love child>< LOL. OTL I was planning to show you this photo of 2min's combined faces that looks like Kai but I can't find itT^T Danggggg... T^T

@BlossomB: B-b-by a year?! Dammit I'm so ooooollldddddddd. LOL. The following SeHun gif is not exactly relevant but this oppar is just so cute I had to put this gif somewhereXD LOL.

@joy-logy: I realized I didn't put a preview for 17D: OTL Nuuuu! But the chapter's here so~~~ HEheheheheheh.

@Nana_Exo: I'll go commit suicide with youT^T I'd never do anything to hurt theeeem:< Or at least, not by that much.... OTL

Chapter 17:

@Kironstree: Thank you!:D Heeeehheeeee^^

@chippawabrike: You're welcome:DDD

@Exolove: Yeaaaaa~~ ChanYeolXD LOL. AND 2MIN FTW~~!!!

@HepHapBBC: WHERE'D YOU GO?! I'VE MISSED YOU SOOOOOO!!!!! FEELS LIKE IT'S BEEN FOREVER SINCE YOU'VE BEEN GONE!T^T Wait that's a song right? OTL I forgot>< And thank you for the good luck^^ Hehehehehe

@meomeo: If you feel like a horrible fan, I might as well be a hater writing thisXD LOL. I don't even know what I'm doing to my own feelingsXD Like one sec it's a HunHan world and suddenly, LuKai is all over the place and I don't know what to dooooooT^T I guess it's contagiousXD LOL

@AlteaAuroraRia: My BaekYeol heart is on the verge of deatttthhhhhhT^T OTL LOL But there has been so much BaekYeol moments in the recent interviews, my heeeeaaaaarrrrtttttt><

@fluffcloud: Who's killing you? ME?O.O I think you mean XiuMin is so here's a gif of LuHan and XiuMin to revive you~~~ LOL

@OccasionalMuse: You look at my authors notes?XD LOL. I feel like a complete doof now>< LOL. ChanYeol, bring forth the giftwrapped TaeBaby~~~ And thanks for the buffaloooo~~ LMAO!

@Baengshin: Yea, B124AP224 (LOL I memorized it alreadyXD) is from Ta-Dah! It's BAP but they're already on earth in this story>< But you get a constalation prize for trying:D

@Nana_Exo: Hehe^^ Our cute evil MaknaeXD Heeeheee~~~

~~~EEEENNNDDD of replies:D~~~

LOL. This A/N feels longer than the chapter itselfXD

So anyway until the next chapter, you can stare at SuHo...

Or read the preview (it ain't in exact order sooooo sorry if it comes out kinda weirdXD):

"Hyung?"

"What?!"

"I need to peeeeee."

"And what do you want me to do? Change your diaper? God dammit ChanYeol, just go to the toilet."

"But... I'm scared of the dark."

"..."

"Hyung?"

"Hah! Three new test subjects without even trying! Jirou, bring me popcorn, this is going to be so much fun."

One more thing: D.O. Speaking English. Arirang Radio. Self Intro. Ovaries. BOOM!

HAVE YOU HEARD KYUNGSOO'S ENGLISH?! GDFVEOFDMVFDSEFDSCRGBDVCEBGRDFS