BACKTRACK 

[Before the explosion...]

“Where the hell is Jongin?!” Kris muttered angrily as they ran down the stairs.

“Has he shown up yet?” Kyungsoo panted behind him.

“Nope.” Tao answered.

Once they were down, a chaotic scene of men running away from Chanyeol’s flames came into view. Chanyeol seemed to be enjoying the chase like a thrilled little cat hunting down a bunch of mice. He hasn’t used his powers in quite a long time. He felt a little too happy at the moment.

“Chanyeol, that’s enough.” Joonmyun said looking a little relieved. “There’s no one left. They all ran away.”

“OOh?” Chanyeol looked a tiny bit disappointed. “Okay.” He stopped then.

“W-Woahh..” Himchan said in awe. “That was awesome.” He’s never seen something that amusing in his entire life. He realized these guys would be very bad as his enemies, and he was glad they were on the same side.

“Is everyone here now?” Kris asked.

“Jongin is still missing in action.” Chen answered.

“I sense him.” Joonmyun said. “Jongin is close…”

Baekhyun turned to look at Luhan. Luhan seemed to be a bit preoccupied. “Hyung, are you hurt?” He asked.

“No.” Luhan mumbled. “I… I have this bad feeling. S-Something bad is about to happen…”

Everyone heard what he said. Luhan’s instincts weren’t something to be taken lightly. This didn’t help improve the mood. “H-Hyung..” Baekhyun couldn’t utter a response.

“Everyone, quiet.” Youngjae’s expression suddenly darkened.

“What is it?” Bang asked.

Youngjae was concentrating on something. It was obvious. He seemed baffled and frightened at the same time. And then his eye’s grew wide like he’d just seen a ghost. “W-We have to get out of here! There’s a bomb… I-I sensed it earlier. W-We have to get out now!!”

Everyone froze for a second. Panic crept up on each one of them.

Chanyeol almost peed on his pants when Jongin pooped out of no where out of thin air. “Kyahhhh!!” His bass voice boomed in shock.

“I saw the bomb. We only have five minutes!” Jongin grabbed the closest guy he could grab. “Everyone hold each other! I’m teleporting us fifty feet above this house. The ground isn’t safe!”

“W-What??” Everyone chorused.

“Chanyeol, I need you to create a fire asylum! Luhan, I need you to levitate us once were up there. Can you do it?” Jongin had no time to explain.

“An asylum? You mean like a barrier?”

“Yes. Just enough to fit us all inside!” Jongin grew tense. He turned to Luhan. “Luhan?”

“Levitate us.. fifty feet?” It was impossible and dangerous. He thought. But Luhan nodded. “I’ll do it.” This was a life and death situation. Luhan threw all the hesitation aside.

“Everyone, hold onto each other. Now!” Jongin summoned all his strength and everyone into teleportation. It was like carrying a hundred ton truck on his shoulders. His muscles ached. But the hardest part was concentrating on imagining they were fifty feet on the atmosphere. Any mistake and they could end up somewhere else below, if that happens they’d be blown up into bits.  

Jongin opened his eyes and they were perfectly where he wanted them to be. But gravity acted fast. They were falling to their deaths. Everyone screamed.

Kris, who was the only one who could fly, grabbed Luhan and Chanyeol. “Chanyeol! The ASYLUM!!” Kris struggled to pull them up, he was getting dragged back down. “Luhan!! LEVITATE US!!” Kris yelled at the top of his lungs.

Luhan cried. He couldn’t let everyone die. Not like this. He closed his eyes and beckoned all his powers. He levitated everyone back up slowly. Like a magnet he pulled everyone back to him. They hung suspended fifty feet in the air. The air was thin and hard to breath. Not to mention it was freezing too.

Jongin opened his eyes. There was no ground. He wasn’t dead. His plan miraculously worked. But the bomb was still a threat. “Chanyeol, now!”

Chanyeol thought he was about to die. He had tears in his eyes. But he did as he was told. He summoned the fire phoenix from within him. Chanyeol’s whole body burned in red flames. Kris who was still flying was holding onto him and Luhan, endured the sting of the fire and held onto the boys with all his might, afraid that if he lets go, they might fall. Chanyeol opened his arms and fiery wings made of flames sprung from his back. This was the power of the phoenix. Chanyeol’s eyes burned. “Let go, Kris.” He said.

Kris understood. He released Chanyeol. But Chanyeol did not fall. His wings grew brighter and bigger, gradually curving into a ball, covering everyone.

BOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The lethal bomb had finally exploded. Thanks to Jongin’s teleportation, Luhan’s levitation, and Chanyeol’s fire barrier, a spherical asylum floated like a sun above the eruption from below.  

But Jongin wasted to time. After the bomb had gone off, and it was safe. He teleported everyone back down to the ground. They landed with a thud. Everyone laid perfectly still on the ground—still in a state of shock after staring death in the face.

The mansion was still burning but they couldn’t care any less.

Any longer up there and Luhan could have drain all his powers. Levitating seventeen people up by fiftee feet could have easily weakened Luhan, or worse, he could have given all his life essence and died. And Jongin knew perfectly well that they could only last minutes inside Chanyeol’s fire ball. All the oxygen would have burnt out by then and they would have all suffocated.

Jongin must have been feeling so lucky they were still alive. Even he himself thought it was a dangerous gamble. Although he was exhausted, Jongin stood up and told everyone. “I have to go.” Without turning back he disappeared into clouds of dust.

Hyunjae was waiting. It was her idea in the first place. They were supposed to do an ambush attack on the enemy. But Hyunjae had the feeling there was something else the general planned. Hyunjae quickly sent Jongin to check up on the others. (Jongin made a mental note not to ever question Hyunjae's instincts... She always turns out right.) She told him to be as quick as he could. Sunghee and Sehun needed help. And Jongin didn’t disappoint her.

Meanwhile, Everyone was still speechless, laying on their backs on the burnt ground. It was like none of them wanted to get up or was just too shaken up to even move a muscle.

Jongup was the first one to speak. “Well…….. that was some scary .”

“I thought I was going to die!” Xiumin breathed deeply.

Tao sat up looking at everyone. “Lay!” He suddenly called out. “Luhan isn’t moving!”

Lay scrambled to get up and ran to Luhan’s side. Everyone else gathered around Luhan. “Luhan?” Lay held Luhan’s pale angelic face, then checked his pulse. With a sigh of relief, Lay almost cried. “H-He’s breathing.”

Kris’ hands were as cold as ice. He thought Luhan had died. He cried. “That’s…. a relief.” He sighed and wiped his eyes.

“Lay, aren’t you the one that has the power to heal?” Daehyun asked.

“Yes. Why?”

“But you seem tired.” Daehyun did not hesitate to point it out. “If you heal him, won’t you get drained too?”

“I…” It left Lay speechless.

“He’s right.” Tao said. “We need to at least get everyone who’s injured into the nearest hospital.”

“Who else is injured?” Yongguk asked everyone.

 “Chanyeol, are you alright?” Baekhyun asked, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. “Are you hurt?”

Chanyeol smirked. “Of course I am. I’m alright.”

“Dude!” Himchan smacked him enthusiastically. “That was amazing! The wings made of flames and all that! It was so cool!”

Chanyeol’s smile grew big. “Ehe. Well yeah, it was no biggy!”

“Okay, that’s enough. Don’t flatter him too much.” Kyungsoo said. “Let’s not make his head swell up, shall we?”

In the end, Joonmyun, Kris, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Kyunsoo and Daehyun insisted to stay and continue the search for Sunghee. The rest had minor injuries and wanted to join, but both Kris and Joonmyun, as leaders, insisted that everyone must take medical treatments.

Yongguk was the only one strong enough to carry Luhan on his back. “I’ll take care of him.” He said with a grin.

“Thank you.” Joonmyun bowed.

“I’ll call you guys as soon as we reach the hospital.” Chen said.

Kris turned to Tao. “Take care of them, Tao.”

“I will duizhang.”