Friendly Fire
EXO and the 12 Maidens: Genesis [HIATUS]
EXO got aboard the Shade Troupe's airship. They were alert and were gripping their weapons and charging up their powers in case a fight would break out. Nothing could be expected with these women.
Falni had told them that she would take the twelve guys to their base after tying all twelve of them up with ropes and secured their wrists with power-nullifying handcuffs.
However, once everyone was on the ship, she released them of their bonds. What was she thinking, leaving them totally free and potentially able to attack her? "She must be insane" proposed Luhan. Still, EXO was still suspicious, so they didn't make a move, but kept their guard up at all times.
If you were to pick the most frightened member, it would definitely be Tao. With that cold stare and seemingly scary demeanor, at first sight he could be pretty intimidating. But after the whole 'Shorty' incident with Falni and meeting Opal, whose aura just gave him the creeps, Tao was...how should I put it.... not so manly anymore.
Falni went up to the pilot's seat, where Opal was, and they proceeded to talk in hushed whispers. Then Opal gave Falni a hand signal and Falni nodded back. No one else noticed this exchange except for the twins, Opal and Falni, and Tao. He was able to see it with his heightened sense of sight, but no other EXO member could see; the exchange took less than a second.
Before Tao could inform the other members, clouds of red gas exploded out from the holes in the sides of the airship. The thick billowing gas obstructed EXO's ability to see and instantly knocked all twelve of them unconscious.
Falni, Opal, Aiden, and Aiven held their breath until the gas dispersed. When all was clear, Falni pressed a button on her earpiece and reported the series of events to Thrimmle.
"Thrimmle?"
"Yeah, I'm here."
"We knocked the targets unconscious. I suspect that we'll arrive at headquarters in about two- no, make that half an hour."
"Hmm... I suppose you used your Sunset Smoke?"
"Of course! We wouldn't want them to know how to get to headquarters, now would we?"
"No, I suppose not. Anyway, seeing that you're going to arrive in roughly half an hour, I take it that Opal is driving at her...er.... normal pace?"
"Ah...yeah....it's pretty horrific if you ask me."
"What do you mean?"
"By horrific, I mean that we literally have twenty buckets of vomit on board...wait, make that twenty one."
"Goodness gracious...once you land, I'll ask Lumia to dispatch some new recruits to dump those for you"
"Yes please....it REEKS in here. Seriously, it smells like dead rats, a month old block of blue cheese, and five years worth of rotting squirrel flesh."
"......"
"Hello?"
"*beep*"
"Okay... She just hung up on me..."
*FAST FORWARD*
"....What...the hell?"
Chanyeol groggily sat up from the floor, rubbing his eyes. His whole body was numb and felt as if it weighed three tons. The view of the room he was in spun around him, and Chanyeol could feel himself getting dizzier and dizzier.
"Aish..." Chen cursed, his hands pressed against his forehead as if he had a huge migraine. "Where are we?"
The EXO members started to drift back into consciousness one by one, until everyone was sitting up. They were inside a prison cell of some sort, with metal walls and no windows. The only thing that gave them light was a floating, glowing orb that hung right below the ceiling and whenever EXO would move, it would follow.
D.O. tried using his earth power to encase his fists with rock and punched one of the metal walls. He pulled away, and saw that the wall was practically unharmed, no dents, no scratches. Right after he withdrew his fist, razor sharp spikes shot out from the wall. "Scary..." muttered D.O.
Sehun tried using the approach of using his bare hands to touch one of the other walls to see what would happen. The wall remained as is for about four seconds, but then a large neon pink lightning bolt struck Sehun, electrocuting him. Chen was now treating a convulsing Sehun, trying to the electrical currents out of his body.
The two other metal walls remained untouched, for EXO was afraid of what they could possibly inflict upon them. What was next? Five eyed monsters would pop out of the walls and attack them? But of course, that didn't happen. [A/N: Duh, this fanfic can't just end at the sixth chapter! What use would EXO be if they died? The story would have no love interests... plus, what good is a story without half the characters (and hot guys)?]
Click. The door, which was actually one the walls that EXO didn't dare to touch, slammed wide open. In walked Thrimmle, with Yve and Xena as back up. "I see you have all woken up" Thrimmle said calmly. "You don't say?" Kai sarcastically replied.
A growl resonated and the echo bounced off the walls of the prison cell. "Watch what you say, pretty boy. You're lucky you're even alive. If I had my way, you'd be dead already" Yve snarled, eyes flashing dangerously at Kai.
Instead of doing what a sensible person who knew how to read the atmosphere would do, which was to sit back down and shut the hell up, Kai teleported in front of Yve. With only half a foot or so between them, Kai leaned forward and punched the area right next to her head. Yve, being Yve, didn't cower even a little bit.
"What did you just say?!" Kai shouted into her face. Yve pushed him away and wiped her face with the back of her hand. "God, could you do me a huge favor and not spit all over my face, pretty boy" Yve grimaced, while using a tone of fake mockery.
"Why you-" Kai began to say while moving to land a punch on Yve's face. He was cut off by Kris's hand covering his mouth and Luhan's telekinetic powers which stopped him from moving forward. "You idiot! Calm down, you're going to get us killed!" Kris scolded, while dragging him away.
Thrimmle spoke after all the chaos had ceased. "Come with us" she ordered. When none of EXO followed her out the door, she added: "If you don't come now, I'll have to use Yve and Xena against you... and you surely don't want that. Isn't that right, Xena?"
Xena smiled an innocent and pure smile, but her eyes told different story. While smiling, she responded, "Yes, Thrimmle. It'd be such a waste..."
Hesitantly, EXO started to follow. Thrimmle and Xena walked in front of the boys, while Yve tailed them. Escape was nowhere in sight and luck was definitely not on EXO's side.
The group walked down what seemed to be a never ending array of doors and an endless hallway. Several of the young female recruits bowed to the three Shade Troupe leaders as the group passed by, but cast hateful looks at EXO.
"What are men doing in here?" one whispered. "Probably got captured. I hope Commander Baise will make them clean the building or something. Seems like a fitting job, you think?" another replied. A third laughed,"Hahaha! Scum cleaning scum, trash dumping trash.... it's a perfect match!"
Xiumin winced inwardly at their words. "Ouch..." He muttered under his breath.
Thrimmle led EXO into a room labeled TR-5H. It's walls were painted a dull white and had a black carpet on the floor. There were no windows. Thrimmle turned around to face EXO while Yve closed the door and locked it with a key.
"Welcome to Training Room 5H. This is where you'll be taking the ESMAD test. As Falni had already told you, the test had already begun. By the looks of what happened leading up till now... I predict that all of you will FAIL. That is, unless you manage to prove me wrong" Thrimmle announced.
Xena took over, "The ESMAD test was developed by the Shade Troupe leaders, which you might of guessed that we are a part of, and ensures that all recruits we take in do not have any ill intention against us. The test has five components represented by the letters in ESMAD. E for endurance, S for strength, M for mental stability, A for agility and adaptability, and D for deception and disguise. You guys are right now participating in one of these components as we speak. You got that?"
After Xena spoke, no one said a word. The bewildered expressions on EXO's faces were enough to tell that they had gotten none of what Xena said at all. Sehun, who was now healed from the lightning attack, stepped forward and rubbed the back of his head. "Um...could you repeat that?"
Yve, who was watching from the back of the room facepalmed. It was just like Xena to say things in a way that made things more complicated than they were. "To sum it all up, the ESMAD test will tell us of you can be trusted while examining all necessary skills, like endurance and mental stability" she clarified.
Xena looked away with a scowl. "How is my explanation confusing? Dimwits.." she muttered.
Thrimmle clapped her hands and the lights in the room dimmed. "Good luck" she said, and with another clap, the lights went out.
While EXO was panicking, the lights came on again. The three women were nowhere in sight.
A voice unknown to them spoke through some speakers on the ceiling. "Hello, EXO Elite Task Force. Welcome to Training Room 5H. You will be engaging in the ESMAD test under Phase One today. I am your examiner, Immi"
After a pause the voice spoke again. "Please pair up with another EXO member. You guys will be doing some fighting, so be prepared". Fighting? Yes!, thought Chanyeol, Finally, we get to kick some !
After all of them paired up, this is how the pairs were set:
Sehun/Chanyeol
Suho/Chen
D.O./Xiumin
Kris/Baekhyun
Luhan/Lay
Tao/Kai
*In Control Room*
All the Shade Troupe leaders were gathered in the control room. Monitors displayed on the walls displayed the view of every room through a CCTV. Immi sat on one end of the room where there was a microphone and a headset. She, as the ESMAD test examiner for Phase One, had to give EXO orders. The other eleven leaders were watching TR-5H on one if the monitors.
"Hmm... I think I can understand their mindset" Thrimmle said aloud. "What do you mean?" asked Sydri. "When Immi said they'd be fighting, those boys partnered up with the person they thought would compliment their power. For example, take Sehun and Chanyeol. Fire becomes stronger if there's more wind, so that's why they partnered up. Sehun and Luhan are best buds, but Sehun decided it'd be best if he paired up with Chanyeol instead" Thrimmle thoroughly explained. "Oh...I get it",Sydri said, now able to understand, "But I guess that's too bad for them, right? Poor guys, they're in for Immi's nasty surprise"
And Immi's surprise was something EXO would NOT like. Then again, anything the Shade Troupe did was never favorable for EXO. "Alright! We're done Ms. Examiner Lady!! Send out the monsters!!!" screamed an excited Tao. Tao loved to spar and have matches with his hyungs because he was quite energetic as a child. He was taught various types of martial arts, and that resulted in his love for fighting. Whenever there was a fight, Tao would jump right in. This was no exception.
"First, it's 'Immi', not 'Ms. Examiner Lady'. Second, I have a little surprise for you all. Take the black carpet and move it aside. There are five designated areas outlined in white marker. Each pair, please stand on one area"
Once the carpet was cleared and the pairs were on the spot they were designated to, Immi spoke through the speaker again. "Hold on to anything you can find"
There was a loud rumbling and the areas the pairs stood on started to elevate. Up, up, up it went, when it finally stopped moving at a very steep height. The flat areas that were once imprinted on the floor turned into five whopping twenty meter platforms. The ceiling had turned into a dome shape to make room for the platforms and their immense height. The door through which they entered was nothing but a black speck. "Now for your surprise-" Immi started to speak, but was cut off by an outburst from Kai:"That wasn't the surprise?!?!"
"Oh that elevating platform thing? No, that wasn't my surprise. I have something much more....impactful and exciting than that" Immi's voice rang through the speakers. A long pause followed, and then an evil chuckle. "Get ready to meet your opponent"
EXO looked around them, down at the platform floor, up at the ceiling, and in every direction, but didn't see anything unusual. Another evil chuckle sounded through the speakers. "Idiots..hahaha...YOUR OPPONENT IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!!!"
Heads whipped forward, eyes widened in disbelief, and looks of confusion turned into expressions of absolute horror. Particularly, D.O. was sweating profusely while looking at his partner, Xiumin. "We...have to fight our own partners...?"
"YES!!! Finally!!! After I pointed that out, none of you moved an inch; I thought my monitor screen froze" Immi stated exasperatedly. Back at the control room, the leaders broke out in laughter. Lumia and Baise discussed the turn of events.
"Oi, Baise, are you sure it's okay to let Immi just do whatever she wants?" Lumia asked. "Yeah, we're killing two birds with one stone. Not only will we see their fighting ability and strength, we can test their mental stability by pitting them against their fellow members." Baise reasoned. Celestia, who had been listening in quietly, interjected her opinion. "But wouldn't that mean that they might just go easy on each other? We wouldn't be able to see their full strength". Baise considered that ahead of time. "I know, that's why we have to add in the fear factor"
"Oh and one more thing. The loser gets dropped twenty feet down as a punishment. Okay, now that that's over, lets the battles BEGIN!" announced Immi. However, EXO refused to move. "Oh? Trying to a avoid the fight all together? WELL, TOO BAD! If none of you move in ten seconds, you'll be disqualified and EVERYONE, yes all twelve of you, will drop down and DIE. Now, BEGIN!!!" she hollered at the top of her lungs.
"Oh, I see. So since the rule that the loser falls to his death is added, they'd have no choice but to engage in friendly fire?" Celestia asked. "Yes. It's not exactly fool-proof, but its pretty damn clever if you ask me. Thank Immi and Thrimmle. It was their idea" Baise replied.
"Very interesting, Thrimmle. I'm impressed", complimented Opal, "I feel like I want to join their little fight". Xena rolled her eyes. "Control your bloodlust, Opal. You'll get your chance to fight them when Phase Two comes"
*In Training Room 5H*
Suho was having a mental breakdown. He was practically useless against Chen. If they had worked in pairs to beat a monster, Suho would douse the beast in water and Chen would electrocute it. The beast would be shocked to death and everything would work out. Lightning travels through water very easily. But now that he had to battle Chen, all Chen had to do was send a electrical current at Suho and he'll successfully paralyze Suho for eternity.
Sehun was in a similar situation as Suho. Between Chanyeol and he, Chanyeol had the more dominating power. Wind was just an amplifier to help the fire become more powerful. So unless a miracle occurred and the wind could somehow overpower the fire, Sehun could possibly triumph. However, it was very unlikely.
Baekhyun and Kris weren't having much of a mighty fine time either. It all came down down to speed; which was faster? The speed of light or Kris's flight? Kris held the record in Therlym for the fastest moving living beingEVER. Screw Ferraris and cheetahs, we have Kris. On the other hand, science has proven that the speed of light moved incredibly fast. You could say that Kris and Baekhyun were almost equal in terms of speed.
Luhan and Lay could both crush each other-literally. Luhan could use telekinetic force to crush a person's body, while Lay could render it impossible to function by stopping the heart or popping an artery or two and causing the skin to cave in on the victim's body. Anatomy and Physics could do some scary things.
D.O. was up against Xiumin, which was actually quite an unusual pair. Both ice and earth were somewhat related on some weird level. If D.O. could trap Xiumin inside of an earth wall without Xiumin using ice spikes to escape, he could win. If Xiumin could get D.O. to slip on his ice and freeze D.O. in an ice block without the guy breaking out with his rock and brute strength, then Xiumin could win. It could go either way.
Lastly, there was Tao and Kai. They weren't nervous at all; no, the maknaes were fired up. Their cockiness level was at an all-time high. Tao was the first to provoke Kai. Kai returned the favor.
"Ready to get pulverized, Kkamjong?"
"Don't call me that, Wushu freak!!!"
"How dare you talk back to me!!!! Bow down, you peasant!!!"
"Excuse me?!?! We're basically the same age, give or take some!!! Why the hell should I bow down to you?!"
There was much more arguing and bickering than fighting between them. However, things quickly got serious when they saw their hyungs start to fight.
Everyone was in the zone. Yes, most of them would probably mourn over the loss of their partners, but none would back down and surrender. If they were going to fight for survival, they wanted to be the ones to win. It was a matter of pride and who had the stronger will. Every EXO member thought the same thing: "I need to beat this guy"
Forget about "I will back down gracefully and let my partner win so they can accomplish their mission." That had been thrown out the window. Who will come up short? Who will prevail? It was all in Fate's hands.
Little did they now, Immi had other plans for EXO. There was only one outcome of how the ESMAD exam was going to turn out. Screw Fate, Immi was going to take matters into her own hands.
And it wasn't going to be pretty.
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Hey! Just a heads up, I did in fact take the concept of friend fighting their own friends from an anime/manga called Prince of Tennis (love the anime!!!!KYA!!!!!). The scene was I believe in season 2 of the anime. So, I didn't complete plagiarize, but it wasn't entirely my original idea either. Just throwing that out there.
This chapter was edited roughly 5-6 times, so I apologize for the wait.
Anywho, I hope I left you wanting to know more about what happened next! :)
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