???: Welcome to EXO Tower… Miss Park!

The voice said with an arrogant tone. You all began to look in every direction, trying to find the source of the voice. The man spoke again.

???: You won’t find me in here, so it’s useless to search… Well, Miss Park, I see what the other have been saying about you is true; your progress has been amazing so far. But I’m sure that will stop here. You see, your fate is in my hands; I can do whatever I want to prevent you from leaving this building victoriously….or alive.

MJ: LISTEN HERE YOU MOTHER FUC… (I screamed to the ceiling with anger, but got interrupted).

???: Take it easy there missy! I wouldn’t get your attitude on if I were you. You wouldn’t want poor baby Luhan to break another bone… right?

I covered my mouth with both hands, trying to control my anger, and at the same time diminish my unconscious sobs. Kai put an arm around me as we heard the unknown man’s explanations.

???: That’s better. Well, as I was saying before I got interrupted, I’m the one in charge here. So, it’s my duty to tell you the rules of the game in this particular stage. This is EXO Tower, the one and only modern-day skyscraper in Exotica. It has a total of 20 floors, including the Penthouse, which is where I’m always at. There are Exotic henchmen scattered throughout all the floors, waiting to attack when the time is right. Opposite to the other Exotics you’ve encountered up to now, the men in here wear a special garment, which makes hand-to-hand combat much easier for them. Some of them might use short range weapons too. As you saw earlier, the lights to this room went from white to blue. You will be attacked when the lights are white. When the lights are blue you are safe. You are also safe in complete darkness, but that will make your progress much difficult and slower. As for the blue lights, I wouldn’t use them too much if I were you people… I’ll leave it at that… Well, that’s all! I’ll be “patiently” waiting for you… that is, if you actually pass the first floors… Tooruls!

MJ: WAIT! What do you mean you’ll be waiting for us?

???: Isn’t it obvious?!... I thought Kris had given you the inside scoop on this place… I guess not. Well Miss Park, this is one of the hardest stages in the game; the thing that actually makes it hard is the fact that you have a “Boss Battle”.

MJ: Boos Battle!? This isn’t an RPG to be having Boss battles! (I said with a scornful tone)

???: Calm your , toots. The thing is, the only way for you to exit this place is by defeating me. Yes; I am your boss battle.  

Just then, Lay took me by the shoulders and turned me around. When I look at him he showed me his forearm; it was reddish, like a sort of rash. Kai inspect it too, and I saw how his eyes widen in horror. He looked at Lay, and interchanged worried expressions. JongIn then looked at me and signaled that we had to leave.

???: I see your friends got the “bright” idea….get it?! Bright! Hehhe… uhum… Anyways, I’ll let you kids go on now. Don’t take long, I get bored very easily.

MJ: What’s going on? What happening to Lay? (My voice broke)

The man didn’t answer. Kai was already looking for a way out of the room, while Lay helped HaeRi get on her feet again.

MJ: HEY! How do we know who you are? Have we met before? (after a moment the man spoke again)

???: No, we haven’t met before. I’m in charge of this area, so I can’t leave unless I receive order from above. But don’t worry; you’ll know it’s me when you see me. I’m OBVIOUSLY better looking than Kris. I’m also more COMPETENT than him! SHEES! Don’t know why I’m stuck with 3^rd in-command and he’s with 2^nd position… I’m a better strategist than him. He’s always giving me orders! It pisses me off! “Baekhyun do this! Baekhyun to that! Baekhyun, you greasy meat!”…

MJ: Baekhyun?! Is that your name?

BH: Yeah. Byun Baekhyun, that’s me. Problem?

MJ: No… It’s just that… Now I get the greasy meat joke. Your name sounds like the English word “Bac…

BH: SHUT UP! I HATE THAT STUPID JOKE! I’m through with you people. Just get up here so I can kick your asses and we can end the game.

I heard as the connection went off. I cleared my view from the tears and ran towards Kai. Lay and HaeRi were already there. They had found a stairway that lead out of the room, and most likely to the next floor.

Kai grabbed me by an elbow and dragged me up them, followed by YiXing and HaeRi. It was a 30 step flight. I reached the second floor. It was dark, and I knew that it meant the lights could turn on and off at any second. Stress filled my body, but still, I remembered what Lay was going through.

MJ: YiXing oppa, what was that reaction in your arm? Are you allergic to something?

I searched for his arm and took it, touching the affected area to have a better image of it. The poor light source coming from the first floor wasn’t enough to see clearly. Kai explained that, since Lay is REALLY white, every time he was exposed to too much sunlight he would become reddish.

MJ: Well, that’s kind of a normal reaction for people with that kind of skin tone…

Kai shook his head from side to side; he continued his explanation, or what seemed to be his new discovery. YiXing got red-colored when he was in the SUN for a LONG time, but he had just been inside a room with LIGHTS for a SHORT period.

MJ: I see were your going with this JongIn…

I looked at Lay’s forearm again, this time I touched it, I noticed it was heating up. It was like he had a temperature. I started to get worried.

MJ: YiXing, are you feeling okay? (I pressed my un-wounded palm against his sweaty forehead). Lay! You’re getting a fever! Kai, touch him!

Kai came and did the same. He looked at me worried. Lay motioned he did feel weak…at least weaker than a while ago, before entering the blue-lit room…Then it hit me…

MJ: This can’t be… this is illegal! People need special licenses to maneuver such things! You guys! We can’t go into the blue lights anymore, it’s far too dangerous! Those lights are  ULTRA VIOLET RAYS! You see, if it were a stronger shade of blue, then it should be classified as part of the visible light spectrum, with a reasonable lambda, and there for it wouldn’t cause any reactions. BUT, in this case, the light is very clear and it did cause something, meaning it leans more to the ultra violet area, with a far smaller wavelength. UV rays can be found in small proportions coming from the Sun, that’s why it takes longer to develop a reaction. But because these were PURE UV RAYS, it took less time. An overdose of UV can cause mutations of any type depending on the quantity of exposure. Pyrimidine dimmers must be roaming your genes by now, Lay. In this case, I think your defenses were the ones to be affected. Since you’re so white, which means you lack great part of melanin, which is the protective pigment in our bodies , you were the most affected; that also means Kai was the least affected. (Kai glared at me)… The thing is, the easiest way to eliminate this radiation is to actually get some Sun. Not directly or in big quantities, just moderately; enough to make the photolyases in a body react. But right now… finding the Sun in here is a little difficult…

I felt the atmosphere too quiet. When I turn my eyes toward the trio, they were all giving me weird faces. Confusion ruled their brains. Their expressions were priceless.

MJ: What?!....Oh! I forgot…You’ve been here a while. Chemistry? Physics? Genetics? No!? No one took them before? (They all shook their heads slowly, still with wide eyes) I’m guessing Junior High doesn’t give those kinds of classes. Anyways! IN SUMMARY, we can’t be under the blue lights for too long or we could develop weird, and bad, diseases. As for Lay, the reaction on your forearm should fade away slowly. Once were out of here, a good dose of pure light will do the trick. Meanwhile, here; drink some water. Maybe the overdose dehydrated you.

I gave him the canteen so he could drink. I also ordered Kai to take HaeRi for a while, so Lay could have rest from her weight. At some point we had to start moving away from the dim light coming from below. Even if it was in complete darkness, we needed to keep going; it’s not like we can walk in lights anyways. Just then, the lights went on and we could see for the first time the area.

It was different from the 1^st floor; it looked more modern. Some of the walls were made out of crystal, so we could see the entire floor from different places. It somehow gave the feeling of being in a hotel. If you looked up, you could see the rest of the floors, going upward with a spiral staircase circling each floor.

…Wait…THE LIGHTS WERE ON! That same instant, figures began to appear throughout the floor, wearing different outfit than before; they looked like ninjas.

MJ: Run!

Kai gave HaeRi to Lay, and then positioned himself in front of us, spear in hand, ready to fight back. He glanced at me and firmly nodded. I’m guessing that was a signal, and so I just did what I thought was best.

MJ: Gimme here! (I took HaeRi from Lay’s arm and put her on my back. She was motioning me to let her down, but now wasn’t the time to be worrying about things like that). YiXing, take the dagger from Kai! You defend from the back and JongIn from the front! Let’s just move around the floor until we can find something useful. GO GO GO!

The men had come in close range of us, ready to begin the fight. The boys were in position, and I was ready to move.

MJ: NOW!

We all began to run, as Kai led the way to who knows where. Exotics came from all directions, but luckily the boys managed to stop them and knock them out. It was far better than long range weapons like before. Kai took a turn and there was a long corridor. We ran down it without encounters, and as we kept moving closer a door appeared at the end. Correction: an elevator appeared! HaeRi was the first to notice and motioned us to keep running forth. Just as we were about to reach it a mob of 5 men landed from the floor above and blocked our way. They looked at us with their cutting-edge eyes before leaning towards us. Both Kai and Lay now battled from the front, while I kept watch from behind. Suddenly, a 6^th man appeared from above, yanking HaeRi out of my back and tumbling me to the floor.

MJ: LET HER GO YOU BIG-EYED ELEPHANT!

The man looked at me sarcastically before throwing his head back to laugh at my un-hurtful insult. I felt like I needed to protect RiRi, I promised her nothing bad would happen to her again… I can’t let her down… I felt stronger with my thoughts. I yelled as I head budded the man in the stomach. He bent forward holding his stomach with one hand, while holding HaeRi with the other. I took advantage of his position and hit him hard in the face with my knee. He finally let go of the girl as he held his face with both hands. RiRi got behind me, and the man straightened up, nose and lip bleeding. He was mad; REALLY MAD. He threw himself towards us, but before he could reach us, I threw a sharp kick straight to his “lower Nations”. The man fell on his knees as he held his hurtful pride. Just then, I heard Lay gasp and turned around. One of the Exotics had taken the dagger. I also felt a “bad vibe” in front of me. I was turning over to witness my enemy again, when I find him still kneeling, taking out a knife. Before I could react, he attacks me with the weapon, but HaeRi appeared from behind me and kicked the man in the neck. We heard the bones brake, and 2 seconds later, the body of the man went falling back. RiRi and I interchange looks, and finish with a firm nod; we were proud of eachother. We turn around to help the guys, but they had finished the mob already; Lay took the dagger back. Suddenly, we hear a noise from afar. As we look through the corridor, we see another mob making its way towards us.

MJ: GUYS! THE ELEVATOR NOW!

We all ran to the elevator and pressed the buttons to make it open. The reader above said it was in the 20^th floor.

MJ: NOOOO!!!! They’re going to get here before the elevator!!!!

Kai and Lay once again positioned themselves in front of us, as we kept hitting the buttons to see if the machine moved faster. I took a glance at the boys and they had some black and blues here and there, plus a few scratches. But above all, they looked very tired and exhausted… The elevator read it was in the 10th floor. The Exotics were only a few meters away.

MJ: HURRY UP YOU STUPID THING!... Lay! Kai!

They just nodded, not looking at me. Their only concern was to protect HaeRi and me. They were patiently waiting for the mob to arrive so they could defend us with their hearts… The elevator read the 5^th floor… And the Exotics would arrive in 3…2…1…Ping! The elevator opened! We all entered at the speed of light, hitting the #20 inside so the doors would close. Just as the doors were closing, an Exotic was running towards us. As he was about to get in, the doors shut closed, and the elevator began to move…