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D.O. prepared himself and constantly kept sending me glances that seemed to say, I'm not so sure about this anymore, get me out of here! But I nodded at him encouragingly, and finally he knelt down. In one hand, he was gripping his marble, while the other he pressed flatly against the cold grass. As we all held in our breaths, he pushed it into the ground.

Our feet began wobbling as the ground shook beneath us. Unconsciously, I grabbed the arm of whoever was next to me - Kai. He didn't seem to notice either though, as his eyes were focused on D.O.. The circle we were forming separated into two groups when the ground between us split in half. In a matter of seconds, we were standing over a deep chasm, half of us on one side, half on the other. D.O. stood up next to me, his legs shaking worse than mine. He looked at the hole and frowned.

"G-good job, D.O.," I told him.

"Yeah, Kyungsoo, this is... pretty insane," Suho agreed and D.O. nodded. But the scowl on his face made it seem like he was about to throw up.

"Are you feeling sick?" I asked him, letting go of Kai's arm and taking his instead. He shook his head.

"No, I just... can't believe this happened," he pointed at the hole with his chin. "This is too scary for me..."

"Well, get used to it, kid," Kris smiled creepily. "And welcome to our group," he added after a moment. We all looked at him.

"Yes, Kris?" I urged him to go on. "Anything else you'd like to say?"

"Nope," he answered right away.

"Kris!" Baekhyun grew irritated. "Don't think it's up to you to decide who joins your group. Maybe D.O. wants to join my group."

I gaped at him. HIS group? There was such a thing?

"Your group, huh? And who would be a part of that?" Kris challenged.

"Me," Suho said softly.

"And me," Kai spoke up.

Luhan and Sehun walked over to Baekhyun as well. Chanyeol already had his arm around him a long time ago. A couple more hands went up, Xiumin and D.O.'s. Finally, I added with a sigh, "And me."

Kris looked at me in disbelief.

"You dare betray me?!"

"Kris, quit the drama, I swear," I told him with a scoff. "And just try to work together, would you? We can all get out of here together. What's the point of leaving some people behind?"
"Because, Romi," he took a step forward. "When these people become your comrades, you have to trust each other. You will depend on them whole-heartedly and if they disappoint you, your life might end. And vice versa. You have to pick wisely."

"I did," I approached him as well. "And I pick all twelve of you."

He scrutinized me for a moment, but noticed I wasn't going to back down. He narrowed his eyes. I stared up (very high up) into his face with a stubborn expression.

"Come on, Kris," I insisted. "Just give it a try. You're already here anyways. You saw them all... well, except for Xiumin," I scowled. "I don't want any more dead birds," I said and he pouted apologetically. "But these guys can all save your life some day."

I couldn't tell whether Kris was taking me seriously or not, but after some time, he nodded. His skeptic expression was still in place, but at least physically, he was willing to participate.

"Sooo," I linked my arm through his. "You mind sharing that little plan of yours with us?"

And so our training began. Kris promised to tell us everything in detail once we were ready to carry out the plan. Until then, he urged that we all practice ("You need the most practice, so don't you dare tell us what to do!" Baekhyun growled) until we have mastered our powers. So every day the thirteen of us would head out into the woods and set up challenges for each other. Although I learned to trust them entirely, it was still an incredibly frightening experience. Finally the day came when it was my turn to be challenged.

"Starting with me," Suho smiled at me innocently and I returned it. "Alright. I have water. Water is all about speed. It will come rushing at you without hesitation, and you have to react accordingly," he told me matter-of-factly, and I nodded as if I knew exactly what he meant. "So. I'll stand straight across from you. I'll send the stream your way. You deflect it in whatever means you can. Got it?" he challenged. I gulped, but said, "Always."

He stood twenty feet in front of me and held out his hands.

"Prepare," he called and I did. Not sure what I was going to do, but I took a breath and tried to focus.

It's about speed. You have to be quick, agile. Don't get distracted. Don't get-

"Romiiiiii!!!" Baekhyun called my name in an annoying voice the moment Suho sent ten gallons of water sprawling through the air in my direction. I looked to the side at Bacon and was suddenly hit by a wave of freezing water, which sent me flying back, straight into Chanyeol. He grinned at me.

"YAH! BYUN BAEKHYUN!" I roared, spitting out water. The guys burst out laughing. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

"Paying you back for making me lose against Chanyeol during our Flames vs Lasers battle," he stuck out his tongue. I growled and tried to scramble out of Chanyeol's grip, but he held on tight.

"You're shivering!" he stated.

"No freaking joke. I'm soaked!"

"I'll warm you up!" he said with a wise smile, raising his hands oddly over my head and wiggling his fingers. I punched his stomach and hid behind Tao, who was the closest.

"You creeper! Tao, kick his !"

Chanyeol looked at his hands, then at me with a confused face.

"I was going to make a fire so you could warm up..."

"Romi," Suho called with a laugh. "Can we please continue?"

And so we did. It went... surprisingly well. I formed a black sphere between my hands, and all of Suho's water flew straight into it. I closed my hands together, and the sphere disappeared into nothingness, as if it didn't just swallow a whole lake-worth of water. I also managed to put out Chanyeol's fire with a mere thought and defeat Chen's threatening lightning bolts by out all his energy into my black hole. All Kai managed to do was annoy the crap out of me as he appeared on my left with a, "Hello there, Romi!" then on my right with a, "Did you miss me?"

"You teleport one more time and I swear your smirking face will end up crushed by gravity with these hands," I held up my hands threateningly. He teleported in front of me and grabbed them.

"I'd like to see you try," he winked and disappeared. I kicked a tree in anger and D.O. looked at me in disapproval.

"This is stupid," I murmured. "It's not like the scientists will be throwing spells at us anyway. Whether they're psychos obsessed with fantasy or not, this is still the 21st century. They will be pointing guns at our heads the moment we try to step outside the gate," I said in dismay. "Kris, you don't happen to have anything for that, do you?"

He smiled.

"It's alllll part of the plan, Romi. Have faith in me, would you? Just work on your reflexes, on your strategies, and your self-control. Whatever they throw at us, you'll be able to take it with your developed skills."

"And what are you doing?" Baekhyun asked with distaste. "I still didn't see you fly, dude."

Kris looked to the side.

"I'm working on it."

Finally, a week had passed. I went downstairs and headed for breakfast, when I heard a high-pitched scream from the kitchen. I broke into a sprint and stopped at the door.

"What's wrong?" I exhaled. Chanyeol ran up to me with tears in his eyes.

"We're out of food!"

"Wha?"

"WE'RE OUT OF FOOD, ROMI OMG WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" he proceeded into one of his fits. I frowned at Baekhyun, who was standing by the fridge with a scowl.

"It's true, unfortunately. We didn't even notice it was happening, but slowly we ate everything this kitchen had to offer."

"I mean, there is thirteen of us, so no wonder," Xiumin pointed out and Suho laughed.

"You probably ate most of it, though," he teased and Xiumin turned red.

"F-for your information, the wonderful cook of yours eats more than I do! He just... doesn't get fat."

D.O. entered the kitchen.

"What's going on?" he asked me quietly.

I smiled. D.O. and I had gotten closer over the past several days. He started trusting me much more and wasn't afraid to show it. If he needed help with anything (from warming up his powers to cooking) or if he wanted to talk about anything, he'd head to me. Suho was a bit irritated at first since they used to be very close, but he doesn't hold grudges, and concluded that as long as D.O.'s opening up, it's alright.

I told him what the guys were wailing about. He rolled his eyes.

"They're going to refill it, obviously. They wouldn't let us starve."

Luhan and Sehun walked in.

"Yep, but they do it at night, when we're all sleeping," Sehun said.

"And since it's morning, we have to wait all day without food," Luhan added.

My eyes grew.

"How do you guys know that?"

"You didn't notice? They come in every other night to check if we need anything," Luhan pointed out. We all looked at them in surprise.

"I never saw anybody..."
"You guys are so busy focusing on each other, you're missing your enemies," Sehun murmured. "How did you think the huge pile of clothes appeared in your room?"

I thought about it. It was true, of course, that the first night I came here, there were no clothes in my closet, while the day after I settled in my new room, I found a whole bunch of things to wear that fit me perfectly. But somehow, I never thought about how it happened. I was too distracted.

"I want to see them," I said suddenly. "The scientists."

"I'm sure you do," Baekhyun replied. "But then not only will you have to make it all day without starving, but also stay awake all night."

"I'm up for it," I insisted.

But already at noon, I was dying. I couldn't move an inch without my stomach letting out a warning. I was hungry and weak and pale and so was everyone else. Except for Xiumin. I grew suspicious. Finally, I couldn't stand it any more and decided to follow him to his room. I glanced in through the door and saw him opening his closet. A whole bunch of bags fell out - cookies, chips, and other snacks. He grabbed an open one, shoved some food into his mouth, and quickly closed the closet. Then he turned around to leave. I was standing in front of him with my arms crossed, eyebrows raised. He gulped down his food quickly and whimpered, "Romi, it's not what you think..."

But I strode past him and opened the closet. It was filled to the brim with snacks from the kitchen.

"When did you get all of this in here?" I asked him in shock.

"E-every day, I sneaked a little bit out... I get hungry at night! This was my emergency food, as I didn't want to go all the way downstairs to get food... I'm sorry, I..."

"WOW. You know, if Kris doesn't realize how epic you people are, then he needs to wear glasses. This is amazing," I grabbed a chocolate bar with a huge smile.

"What?"

"You managed to sneak all of this food past D.O., who practically lives in the kitchen, and Chanyeol, with the wolf-like nose?" I laughed. "You're a genius. Your sneakiness will definitely be valuable in our escape, Xiumin."

He smiled slowly.

"Sooo you're not angry that I can't control my powers well?"

"Hell no," I swallowed. "Half of us can't. But," I gave him a glare. "I'm disappointed you wouldn't share this with us. The guys are practically dying downstairs, you know."

"Sorry," he hung his head in shame. "I was scared they'd kill me."

"They'll be too busy inhaling all this," I pointed at the food. "Let's go feed them, shall we?"

We carried a whole bunch of snacks downstairs. The boys were so hungry, they didn't even question us. Even Kris joined our little party. After we finished all the chocolate, we lay down on the floor, feeling a bit sick. It was stuffing and not the least bit healthy.

"I can't.. move..." Lay murmured to my left.

"Me either..." Luhan grumbled. One person, however, had more than enough energy.

"WHAAAHAHAHAHA THAT WAS SO TASTY OH MY GOOOOSH, XIUMIN WHERE'D YOU GET ALL THAT CHOCOLATE FROM EEHEEHEEEHEEEHEEEEE I'M IN HEAVEN YOU GUYS I LOVE YOU I BELIEVE YOU NOW WE CAN DEFINITELY GET OUT OF HERE AND I'LL SEE MY BROTHERS AGAIN A HA HA HA . HA. YOU'RE GENIUSES YOU KNOW THAT?! HE HE. *hiccup* I GOTTA PEE." With that, Chanyeol left the living room.

"Chocolate makes him a bit hyper," Chen pointed out the obvious.

"If that's 'a bit hyper Chanyeol', I don't want to meet 'drunk Chanyeol'," Sehun said and we laughed. Then, I rolled over to my stomach and looked at the guys around me.

"So tonight we stalk whoever comes to restore our food, yes?" I asked.

"You know, they're going to know that we're watching them," Kris said, pointing to the camera.

"Let them know. We don't care," I shrugged. "They won't chicken out just because we'll be able to see them. Eventually, it would have happened anyway... I want to meet whoever  put us in here..." I mumbled before fall asleep on the floor.