Now here they were, there was no turning back, they had all arrived at the head quarters as fast as possible after sending brief messages to their counterparts “See you there”

They put on their ceremonial tunics and descended to the basement of their head quarters, the place they called “Sanctuary”. They hadn’t been there in a long time…

As they walked towards the center of the sanctuary the legend symbols engraved on the walls shone in a blue light briefly when the right legend passed next to it. Those symbols always gave them more power and strength but also an identity; even though they had changed a lot since they were torn apart, their symbols always stayed the same, they symbolized their unchanging selves.

Both sanctuaries were exactly the same, because they were the only places that had never changed even after the worlds had separated. They had a circle hole in the ceiling in the middle of the sanctuary, that let them see the sky even though the place was a basement and it was faintly illuminated by the moon shining from above but also by pillars of white light that surrounded the circle. They had an intricate design and were wider at the top than at the bottom, with bars to decorate them.

Even a slight mist seemed to engulf them as they took their positions under the moonlight and looked up to see the eclipse. Kai stood in the center, because he was the one with the teleportation powers, the one that would receive the combined strength of everyone and finally teleport EXO-K’s world to the location of EXO-M, where they would fuse.

Even in EXO-M’s own sanctuary they left a space in the middle for Kai. The formation was strict, because if the worlds fused with two of them in the same place who knew what could happen; so there were empty spaces in both formations. They closed their eyes shut to concentrate and with the connections they had previously established between worlds, the power transfusion began.

Careless, careless. Shoot anonymous, anonymous.

Heartless, mindless. No one who cares about me?

They all chanted, exactly at the same time as they looked up to the sky. The eclipse was about to complete. Kai’s eyes basked in the light of the moon as it covered the sun from view. He felt the power transfer to him and not just from his companions but also from the legends of EXO-M; it was too much power to handle, he felt like his body was on fire, he felt like going insane and berserk; like he could explode if he didn’t release all of it now.

So he did. He took everything and everyone and they all disappeared into thin air with only his trademark black smoke to prove that they ever existed.

=======

The legends slowly opened their eyes. Fearful, worried but a part of them was excited. It was time.

Their eyes saw the same sanctuary they had known since the beginning of times and also the same people they had seen since forever but after that, they finally saw them: the legends from another world. The worlds had fused but they remained separate entities that were also together at the same time.

They had never seen each other face to face –with the exception of Kai and Luhan- so they only stared for a whole minute, recognizing their counterparts easily.

D.O. who had never seen Chen face to face (not even in a mirror like Suho and Baekhyun could see Xiumin and Lay) knew immediately that it was Chen his counterpart since they were standing face to face the moment they appeared in this new world. Static flowed through both of them coming from the ground as they connected their eyes. In their usual, silent conversation that only they could understand, they greeted each other.

For Sehun and Tao it was slightly difficult, since they didn’t have their trusty butterflies anymore but something about the other just seemed familiar. It wasn’t the way they looked, obviously, as they didn’t know it before hand but it was the overall aura, something about the way they stood perfectly erect, with their chin high; they were sure of it the moment they saw each other’s eyes: alert, observant but soft nonetheless.

Kris and Chanyeol had a different kind of connection as they both felt their bodies flare up. Chanyeol always had the most difficult power to control: fire and now that he was finally in the same room with all of the legends he felt like he could burn up at any moment, his ring with his legend symbol engraved was ignited in red, but the moment he crossed eyes with Kris, everything was easier. His body relaxed, seeing the person that understood him and his fire; he wasn’t only destruction and Kris reminded him of that as he showed him his own legend bracelet ignited in the same fire.

That was the first time that Baekhyun saw Lay smile, too. Through their connections in the mirror he had seen that he was a passive, composed man but he actually smiled at the sight of him, which made Baekhyun smile back. Maybe having the power of light could light up somebody’s day. Baekhyun didn’t know this but Lay felt more alive than ever, his sickness that he had had ever since the dark forces took over felt almost gone now that he was in the presence of the power of light.

Suho and Xiumin also smiled but it was a knowing smile. “I know you, you know me. We’re in this together.” They both knew that their powers worked together and felt a new force building up inside of them. They felt confident, strong, unbeatable… but Suho forced himself to not widen his smile even more. He was supposed to be shocked by the experience but he couldn’t help but feel at home, like things were finally the way that they were supposed to be.

On the other hand, Kai was busy panting heavily as he put his hands in his knees, trying to catch his breath. He had just used the hugest amount of power ever and he needed to rest…

Luhan was the first one to move as he walked towards Kai, but was still hesitant to touch him, afraid that he would disappear like the last time they tried. Kai looked at him and Luhan faintly smiled as he gathered up his courage and offered Kai a hand. They would eventually have to touch anyway so it was better now than later.

“Welcome to EXO-M”

Kai looked at him with the same doubt that had passed by Luhan’s mind earlier but seeing the same dubious eyes in the boy he felt like he needed to man up for both of them, for all of them.

With determination, he took his hand firmly.

“There’s no K or M anymore. We are one, at last.” Said Kai, not once looking away from Luhan’s eyes but at that very moment, before the others could even hear the names of the persons they were so deeply bonded with they heard an explosion outside.

“What was that?!” asked an alarmed Chen as they all looked up to the hole that let them see the sky but they a thick cloud of smoke blocked their view.

“That can’t be good…” said Xiumin as he looked over at Suho, to see the same alarm in his eyes.

“Let’s go up!” said Kris as he flied through the hole at a high speed, disappearing before they could even grasp the situation.

“Kris! It’s dangerous!” yelled Lay but he was unable to stop him and grunted, displeased.

The others probably didn’t know it, but Chanyeol did. Kris was eager to finish it, to fight already and end it. He had a determination and impatience equal to the fire he felt inside of him, the fire that always wanted to go out and destroy. Chanyeol could understand, but he knew that even though he did it for the right reasons he could end up destroying himself in the process.

“We can’t let him be out there alone” said D.O. as he looked over at Suho for orders.

“Of course not. Everyone, to the top!” he yelled as they all ran to the stairs without even time to take off their ceremonial tunics.

Everyone but Kai.

He, as said earlier, couldn’t even withstand his own weight and needed a rest urgently. He was struggling to even stand still so he couldn’t gather up enough strength to teleport even three feet away, Luhan noticed that he hadn’t followed and back tracked to meet him. Kai was still hunched as he leaned on a wall, he didn’t want anyone to see him like that but Luhan did when he reentered the sanctuary.

“I can’t move right now” said Kai as he slid from the wall all the way to the floor. “I’m sorry I can’t be of help” he said as he threw his head back and closed his eyes, trying to gain back as much energy as possible quickly. They could be under a serious attack and he was useless.

“I know, but we can’t leave you here alone either. Aren’t we a team? You said it yourself already, ‘we are one’” said Luhan and Kai suddenly felt himself being lifted up in the air, he opened his eyes in surprise and saw that Luhan was using his telekinetic powers to carry him.

“Let me down” but it wasn’t an order or a plea, just a request. Because they were both equal, not one higher or lower.

“I’ll just take you upstairs were we can watch over you.” Said Luhan as he half-walked half-ran  to the stairs, careful to not bump Kai on anything.

Kai sighed. He couldn’t really struggle; he didn’t even have the energy for that. Before he knew it, he had drifted off to sleep.

======

Upstairs, things were different. A room from their head quarters had lost almost an entire wall and things were scattered and broken inside of it.

“This is the work of a bomb, no doubt” said Xiumin looking at the destruction it had caused.

“I wouldn’t be so sure” said observant Sehun “Where was it planted? I don’t see any kind of detonator or device that could have caused this.”

“I agree.” Said Chanyeol as he inspected the burn marks on the wall “The destruction was too precise, the fire of a bomb is usually more erratic” he obviously knew about fire

“They didn’t want to blow up the whole head quarters,” concluded Baekhyun “just this part, it’s like… they wanted to lure us out.”

After he said the last part they all became alert at the realization and assumed a circle position with their backs facing the center and their fronts the outer part. It was the natural thing to do, to protect everyone and not leave their backs unattended.

“Where’s Kris?!” asked Lay suddenly anxious. He wouldn’t normally worry about him because he packed one hell of a punch and could flee if things got rough but the wind was strong and dark clouds started to cover the sky. Why was the weather suddenly like that?!

“We can’t let him roam around in this situation. It isn’t any normal person following us if it was able to find our head quarters” said Suho, worrying about his safety too.

Just then Luhan arrived carrying Kai and was shocked when he heard Suho’s statement.

“What happened?!” asked a worried D.O. seeing Kai like that.

“He just fainted, remember he just teleported a whole planet… he’s alright I think” said Luhan gently laying him down on the floor in the middle of their circle formation so he would be protected.

Suho felt guilty. He was the “guardian” of s but he didn’t notice that he had left behind, he felt inadequate as a leader for the first time in ages.

Just then a thunder erupted from the sky, silencing everyone. EXO-M members and D.O. (the ones that knew he had the power of thunder) turned to look at Chen, shocked.

“Concentrate” he said “Kris is lost somewhere. The fact that he isn’t back yet and that we haven’t heard about him worries me and should also worry all of you. You do understand that we’re not invincible, right? That thing, the intruder, could be about to kill Kris and we’re here worrying about the sleepy baby”

“Watch what you say Chen” said Tao with a severe expression.

“No, he’s right. Let’s move out now.” Said Suho, who knew that they couldn’t lose any more time. “I’ll stay with Kai. Go look for him”

Everyone nodded and went out to look for him, not taking their eyes off of the sky in case they saw him but it was mostly useless because the sky was so dark and clouds covered their vision.

Suho stayed and looked at Kai’s face. So young and he had already, literally in some sense , carried the weight of the world. He felt horrible to have left all of that burden on Kai alone and then abandoning him in the basement. If Luhan hadn’t gone back for him they might have all gone to look for Kris, not noticing the lack of his presence and he might have been killed by the intruder without any chance of fighting back.

The thought made him shiver but he figured that the only thing he could do now was protect him. He would have to apologize later.

He watched all directions, alert but a strong wind blew in his eyes and he felt little droplets fall on his face. He looked up to the skies and saw that it was starting to rain, but not just any rain, he knew a storm was coming.

That couldn’t be good, the storm was too sudden and he didn’t have anything to do with it. Unfortunately for him, he was never able to mess with Mother Nature, he could make it rain harder but not stop it; never. Same went for the rest of the legends; Mother Nature was the absolute rule over their powers.

======

Baekhyun was lighting their way using his light powers and he occasionally tried to light up the sky to look for Kris but the darkness was too overwhelming up there, almost as if something was creating it but it was a silly thought, none of them possessed the power of darkness...

Then it hit him: the intruder.

“Guys, I think—“

But he was interrupted by an explosion but it wasn’t on the ground this time, it was in midair. It lighted the sky long enough for them to see that Kris had barely missed it as he flew with difficulty through the darkness and the rain. He flew fast and escaped another explosion and another one but that couldn’t last forever.

“Who’s causing this?!” asked Tao anxiously looking around but he couldn’t see anything or anyone.

“Who else?” asked Baekhyun with a severe face and everyone gasped. The red forces where attacking them? But why? They usually let them alone even in the city, so why come to their head quarters?

“Kris is in serious trouble then!” said Xiumin “We have to help!”

“The darkness is too strong for me to use my light, the red forces have been feeding their powers for thousands of years, we stand no chance…” said Baekhyun. He wasn’t usually this pessimistic but he was the most affected one when it came to the red forces; they were his total opposite and he felt like he could get engulfed in the darkness forever if he let go of his only light to attack them.

“Well, we can’t just stand here and do nothing!” yelled Sehun and moved his arms, preparing to launch a wind attack.

“Wait! Can’t you see? Kris hasn’t come back for a reason. He’s distracting them, they still don’t know where we are but if they find us we’re all dead” said Lay without taking his eyes off of Kris. That leader… always trying to do things his way.

“I could strike them down if we had an opponent, someone must be controlling this” said Chen looking around for a target.

“The red forces always use human pawns to take care of their deeds. If it’s human it should be the only one in the mountain.” Said D.O. as he put his hands on the wet soil, to find the human pawn but the water was interfering with his powers. “I could track him down if it wasn’t for this stupid water!” he yelled, frustrated and trying to concentrate.

“, he won’t make it” said Chanyeol and then proceeded to chew on his lip as he watched his counterpart flee. That last explosion was way too close and Kris was looking tired already, way too tired. ”He’ll die…”

“Let me help!” yelled Chen hurriedly as he put a hand on D.O.’s shoulder. He didn’t even know what he was doing and he didn’t know if it would work, but it was their last resort.

An electric current passed through him and into the soil. The water in it made the current go light speed through the mountain and finally they both knew the position of the human pawn. With a strong hand movement, Chen hit the person with a thunder.

But it was too late, Kris had been hit.

__________

*image not mine

Thank you all for subscribing and commenting <3 your constant support makes me happy and eager to continue! I think nobody ever complimented my writing the way you guys do, not even when I write in my native language :’D *throws shirtless EXO members at everyone :D* as always, comment replies in the comment section ^^

Yesterday there was a huge storm full of thunders in my house and I couldn’t help but think about Chen and Suho <3 :D and it inspired this whole scene.

Comments, constructive criticisms, suggestions, subscriptions and EXO members are loved <3

Question of the day: Who’s your EXO bias? Impossible to choose

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