A/N: Rated M for coarse language! DE, DE, DE... Mainly features: Luhan, Sehun, Baekhyun, and Kai.

Last edit: 131011

To be quite honest, Luhan was disappointed. No bubble tea for three years? Then again, who was he kidding. He had labeled Baekhyun childish and immature. It seems as if with bubble tea, Luhan was no different from Baekhyun. In futile frustration, Luhan ruffled his hair and shifted in his sleeping bag. Group A was filled with tall guys, strong guys. These are the people that made it past five meters. Group B consisted of people that made it between three to five meters, C was four point nine down to zero. Luhan was too busy organizing everything to sleep, which resulted him a very tired morning. A loud bell was heard and men burst through the door and stood like army soldiers, hands behind their backs, flawless posture.

          Luhan saw Sehun get up instantly and without complaint. Sehun looked tired too, but he was always emotionless. Baekhyun woke up but Kai slept on. He was the heaviest sleeper among the four. Baekhyun rubbed his eyes and kicked Kai, who groaned and smacked Baekhyun’s leg before going still again. Other boys were having troubles waking up to.

          “YOU ARE AT THE ARMY. WAKE UP!”

          Everyone jolted up. That voice was louder than any alarm, and it was Dan’s. Luhan wasn’t even tired anymore. That’s how loud Dan’s voice was. At the moment, Luhan was more alert than a squirrel. Kai opened his heavy eyelids but remained lying down. Well someone was immune to barking. Baekhyun kicked him once more before hauling him up. They muttered insults to each other but they weren’t fighting, only waking each other up. Kai’s hair was a bird’s nest, and Luhan knew his wasn’t any better. He pinched the inner sides of his eyes before groaning his morning groan.

          “Up you get!” the scarred man hollered. “Salute!”

          This was no joke. The boys got up and got into position. Slack and lazy, but still. Doojun was trying to blink his sleep away. One was still snoring away fearlessly. The room was silent. Dan narrowed his eyes and slowly walked up to the boy, who was still snoring. Dan kicked him hard in the gut and finally, the twelve-year-old woke up. Dan stayed towering over the boy and let him process the situation. And soon enough, the boy’s eyes widened in realization and frantically opened his mouth to say something. But Dan cut him off. “You dare sleep in at the Army?”

          The boy couldn’t find his voice. He just shook his head wildly. Dan narrowed his eyes at him. “Factory.”

          “What?”

          All eyes shifted from the boy and Dan to the voice. Baekhyun.

          “What are you doing,” Kai growled under his breath, hardly moving his mouth. “Shut the up Baek.”

          Baekhyun was staring at Dan in disbelief. “You can’t do that!” Baekhyun went on.

          “Oh?” Dan came closer to Baekhyun and Kai continuously swore inaudibly. Luhan saw Baekhyun’s Adam’s apple bob up and down as the brown-haired moron swallowed. The other boy looked relieved. “Why can’t I?”

          “Because! He made it this far and obviously he’s exhausted. It’s not fair to just send him away after surviving the Journey!”

          Kai clenched his jaw. “Baekhyun you’re a ing idiot. I’m going to kill you later – oh my ing …”

          Dan chuckled and for a second Baekhyun thought he was safe, but Dan’s face changed immediately. Hard and not amused. “Fair? You think the world is fair? No. People lie, people betray, and things aren’t always in your favor. It’s DE and you’re at the Army – and you want to talk about being fair?”

          Baekhyun gulped again. Idiot, Luhan though, shaking his head the slightest bit. Idiot. Baekhyun always tried to do things justice. Idiot. Does that frog-eyed moron ever shut up? Baekhyun sunk back, feeling dejected. “No, sir.”

          Dan narrowed his eyes at Baekhyun in an unfriendly way. Luhan racked his head for an excuse to use if Baekhyun was ordered to be sent to the Factory. Say that he’ll go with Baekhyun? Futile. He’ll mercilessly send him with Baekhyun. Dragging Kai and Sehun down with this was out of the options. It’d be selfish and stupid to assume they’d be okay with working at the Factory. Hardly anyone was. Then what?!

          But his attempts were in vain. Dan looked away as Baekhyun exhaled. Dan hadn’t changed his mind though. “What are you doing? Send him to the Factory.” At ‘him’, Dan was pointing to the boy who had slept in, not Baekhyun. Luhan exhaled. Safe.

          Two men nodded and stepped up to take the boy away. The boy was very awake now. He fought back and protested but he was knocked out. One of the men put the boy over his shoulder and left the room. The other man went back to his position. The whole atmosphere screamed “Army”. The boys could already feel things like inferiority and discipline being rammed down into them.

          Dan spread his legs apart and breathed. “To become a real Army member, you must complete three stages. The first is surviving the Journey. The second is winning The Game. The Game will take place in Shadow Box. How do you play the Game? You will be given proper uniform, which you will be using for the rest of your time here, if you don’t fail. You will also be given guns with paintballs as ammo and a blueprint of the SB, the Shadow Box. Be aware – within the three rounds, the Shadow Box and blueprint will change. Get shot ten times and you’re eliminated. Get shot in a crucial area, you're eliminated. You will be given an extra ‘life’ after each round. Eliminate as many as you can. Your main objective is to reach the center of the maze, the Scape. If you do while keeping your game-health intact, you advance to the next round. You will be put into teams, divided within this training group and not by hood. That being said, you might be forced to eliminate your hoodmate, if not on the same team.” Luhan heard Baekhyun’s breath hitch. Luhan’s eyes narrowed at that last bit from Dan – he might have to go against his friends? “You must ally yourself up with no more and no less than five others within the training group. Not by random, but by your choice. Here, you choose the best by analysis not attachments. Eliminated with your friends, or pass with others? Carrying burdens makes you a burden as well. Keep in mind that there is a time limit.

          “You showed you can work independently on the Journey, temporarily – now demonstrate teamwork. Fail to adhere to any rules given will result in immediate elimination If even one member on your team survives the Game, the whole team advances to the next and final stage of official admittance to the Army. What the final stage is, you'll find out later. Everyone in the infirmaries are now awake. Wing B’s patients are being treated. But be warned – If they fail to recover after twenty-one days, they will be sent to the Factory.”

          Chanyeol raised his hand. “Isn’t that not fair? We’re As here. We made it the farthest. We’re the best. The Bs and Cs –”

          “– are mediocre, yes,” Dan said. “But individual work and teamwork are two different things. And as I said – do you really want to talk about fairness at the Army? In DE?”

          Chanyeol wrinkled his nose. “Well kinda.”

          Kris smacked the back of Chanyeol’s head. “Shut up.”

          Dan narrowed his eyes at Chanyeol. “How does Factory sound to you?”

          Chanyeol gulped. “Not good. Sorry…sir.”

          Dan seems to have a soft spot for the last word, thought Sehun. Sir. It got Baekhyun away from trouble for speaking up. Now Hood 8’s Chanyeol… Sehun kept in mind that if, by some chance, he was in trouble by Dan, he should address Dan as ‘sir’. People are so easily manipulated. How simple, thought Sehun.

          “Kon will lead you all to the Shadow Box. I in the Control Room, and will be managing the Scape of the Box, not your safety. At this time, you should be thinking about five others to ally up with.” Then Dan looked at the scarred man. Kon. “You may begin.”

Within the next thirty minutes, all three training groups were supplied with a gun, electric reload attachment, bulletproof vest, black shoes, and camouflage-patterned uniform which insisted of long pants, large button-up shirt which is worn over the vest, a jacket, and a hat. Before they entered the pre-room, the six boys had to say a few bits of things to the person before they were admitted to the pre-room. There were three different pre-rooms, one for each training group. Each pre-room was split into several stations. One alliance group were at a station.

          Luhan cocked his long, black gun. His blonde hair was hidden by his hat and he felt a lot bigger and thicker. The bulletproof vest was huge and not customized by size. He was one of the smaller boys, along with his friends. Naturally, he grouped together with Sehun, Baekhyun, and Kai. And quite reluctantly, they let Chanyeol in because Suho and Kris were in B. But it didn't take a genius that they needed one more member, and that member was Henry. Luhan hardly knew anything about Henry. In fact, Luhan was so oblivious of his social surroundings, he didn’t even know a Henry existed in his life, let alone his hood. But Sehun knew. Not much, but still. He often saw Henry laughing with a person he failed to find here at the Army. That person was most likely eliminated, then. Sehun didn’t see that person in Wing B either, and by now, everyone in the infirmaries were awake. Sehun had a feeling that Henry wasn't going to be that happy person he was around the other boy. What was his name? Sehun asked himself, but then thought better of it, because, what would he do with that name? If I don’t know his name, it means he’s below worth of consideration.

          His teammates were in the same station as him now. Luhan stood in the middle of the dark and black room while Sehun analyzed with hardly any movement. No windows. Small. Four-walls. No doors. Only an opening at the back, which was the only source of light as of now. Baekhyun was the last to come through. And when he did, the opening closed shut without warning. Then through the speakers, they heard Shu’s voice. “The pre-room is your path to the Shadow Box. As the openings close, you will be sent up –” with a jolt, as if on cue, the boys felt a rising sensation. They were shooting upwards. “– and you will exit once the openings on the other side opens. Also, on a table which you will see soon, will have six gadgets called Kacers. On your Kacer, things like how many times you’ve been shot, how many you eliminated, and your teammates’ status will be accessible. Be warned though – once you get hit ten times or a crucial area, your Kacer will set an alarm and we will send you up. Are you ready?” he paused. Not a person spoke in the pre-room Luhan and his group were in. “The Game will now begin.”

          The pre-room, which was like a very fast elevator, opened again on the opposite side. In front of them was an eerie hallway with thick stoned embedded in the side walls. It was cool but not windy. At the very end was a table and a large circle. None of them had said a word, even when they arrived at the table.

          On it were six devices, a piece of paper, and a rolled up sheet. The flat paper read:

1. Do not forget the rules. You are being watched. Your alliance group is your only alliance group. You are not to form a pact or alliance with any other.

2. For every person you eliminate, your team will result in a bonus point. Reach a certain amount and you can either revive an eliminated member or gain a “life”.

3. You only have one blueprint. Lose it and you will have to make your way through the Game without it. No replacements.

4. Pick up blueprint on the table. Step on the circle when preparations (eg. Analysis of blueprint, team plan, gun reload check, turn on Kacer etc.) are complete.

5. There will be a one-minute countdown by now. You must step on the circle, which will sink, before that time or it will result in elimination of you and your team. When the round ends, Scape will shift. When Game ends, lights will come on.

The Game begins.

Luhan gave it to Sehun, who passed it to Kai after reading, then to Baekhyun, who gave it to Henry and Chanyeol. Luhan looked up and there was a screen that , and the big number was 56, as it changed to 55, and the number confined to decrease. Luhan opened up the rolled up poster, which was the blueprint in a rush. It was blank. But then it began changing. Lines, legends, and drawings formed and were inscribed. The map of the Scape of the Shadow Box. Luhan hit Sehun’s arm, who had been staying back along with the others. Sehun came forward with a slight frown as he watched the map shift. His eye widened a bit – a piece of paper…could do this?

          “Memorize it,” Luhan commanded.

          And Sehun did. Luhan seemed unaffected by the magic that was working. He didn’t question it, just like how Sehun didn't question Luhan's words. Sehun’s eyes darted across the map, analyzing it all. Luhan did too. Henry came up and stared at the map beside him. The map was now slowing down in movement. Hallways, three- and four-, even five-way intersections, paths, corners, traps, and dead ends. It was a confusing maze. Soon, Kai, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun peeked over their shoulders, and just caught the last line being scribbled by an invisible pen.

          Luhan rolled the blueprint back up. He let everything sink in - Army and this Game’s rules, instructions, map, everything. Then the six their Kacers and attached them to their pants. Kai nudged him and pointed to the screen. 11. Now 10. They had ten seconds. The six stepped on the circle. As Chanyeol fumbled with the electric reload, Baekhyun sighed as he quickly helped Chanyeol with it. 6, 5. Luhan and Sehun looked as apathetic. Sehun swallowed. He reviewed the map in his head once more, the one in Luhan’s jacket. 4, 3, 2. A part of Luhan was tugging in his gut – curiosity. Luhan wasn’t a very curious person, but for some reason, he asked himself – what will happen and how will things end? What lays below this ground? 1. Luhan smirked a little. I’m about to find out.

          0.

          The circle descended. They were going down a tube. Above them, the space was closed up. Luhan gulped unnoticeably. Closed up space. Narrow place. He clenched his jaw. Tight area. Suffocating air. He took a shaky breath. Sehun heard it, and Luhan knew Sehun noticed, but neither of the two quiet boys acknowledged that. Suddenly, everything went pitch black and Luhan leaned back against the tube. He had no support, nothing to grab onto. At the stumble, Baekhyun and Kai stopped talking. Xi Luhan, stumble? Impossible. Luhan was very graceful and never clumsy. Something like this was very big. And they knew something was wrong, especially when Luhan told them, “Just dizzy. Must be the dehydration.” Luhan was perfectly fine a moment ago. Henry looked away and Chanyeol shrugged nonchalantly, but the other three could sense something different from Luhan. It made them uneasy, and they had no idea why.

          They stopped moving and another door opened. Dark still, but open. Open means freedom, it means lots of space. No more compaction. No more narrowness. Luhan breathed out a bit as he stepped away from the circle. Luhan took out the map. He looked around and in front of then was a wall, and a path leading to right, another to the left. A fifty/fifty decision right from the start.

          “How many?” Luhan asked.

          “Three,” Sehun whispered, looking at the map too.

          “Three what?” Chanyeol asked.

          Kai shushed him. “You’re too loud.”

          “Three different places with a left and right path and a wall,” Luhan replied. “We need to know where we are to reach the middle, and we can’t stay in one area too long. Time limit. In other words, we have to work effectively and productively. It’s about navigation and –”

          “– survival,” Kai finished, understanding where this was all going.

          The group took their time to analyze their surroundings, especially Sehun. One-colored floor with little squares, perfect and equal. Above was dark with little droplets of water dripping down. The place was dimly lit without lights. It was a green-screen, a computerized place. Sehun put a hand against one of the wall. It was cool and the same color and pattern as the floor. If it wasn't for the inward curve of the wall or the extravagant carvings and drawings on the walls, for all Sehun knew, he could be standing on the side or upside down or something. It’s flawless, he thought. Everything was so realistic. It was like he was actually there – in a pyramid, that is. If the curve above or the carvings on the walls didn’t give it away, Sehun was sure he was inside an ancient tomb of a Pharaoh who once ruled Egypt. Well, a copy of the tomb.

          After considering their situation and circumstances for awhile, Kai said, “Let’s split up.”

          “No,” Henry, who had been silent this whole time, immediately answered.

          “Why? It’ll be faster,” Kai frowned. “Don’t tell me you’re being a .”

          “One map. We have one map. Are you willing to try getting through this – this maze without a map? It’s dangerous,” Henry firmly explained.

          Kai snorted. “It’s not a big deal.”

          “Kai, we’re moving together,” Luhan said, finalizing the discussion.

          Chanyeol grinned. “Let’s go right because it might be the right way.” He laughed at his own joke. While others looked at him weirdly, Baekhyun started to laugh with Chanyeol. “That’s funny,” Baekhyun said in the midst of a light chuckle.

          “You mean it’s lame,” Kai scoffed. “Let’s go left.”

          “No, right.”

          “No. Left.”

          “Right!”     

          “Shut up, left.”

          “We’re going left,” Luhan said. Before Chanyeol could argue right again, Luhan instructed, “Listen.”

         They got quiet. And they listened. They heard voices towards the left. Targets. Bonus points. They’ll need it – Luhan was sure that with Kai’s recklessness, Baekhyun’s carelessness, and Chanyeol’s general idiocy, they were going to have troubles. Luhan quietly put the blueprint in his jacket again. Then he stepped forward and beckoned the rest over without looking back. He leaned against the wall and his teammates did the same. He took a peek. From a certain distance, there was a team fumbling with a map and arguing. Luhan pulled back and turned around. He put his index finger to his mouth, signaling them to be quiet. His intense gaze made no one dare to even think about going against the silent order. Even Chanyeol shut his mouth. Then Luhan whispered to Sehun, “Tell the rest to stay behind. Come with me once you’re done.”

         Sehun nodded and passed on the message to Kai, who frowned a bit. He mouthed ‘why’ and Sehun just shook his head. “Just remember, if we screw up, we’re eliminated.”

        Kai reluctantly acquiesced as Luhan and Sehun dashed to the aide, slowly approaching. Kai told Baekhyun, who had a similar reaction. Chanyeol, dying to know what this was all about, came forward but Baekhyun used the palm of his hand and pushed Chanyeol back, and Chanyeol hit the wall with a thud. The thing was, Luhan and Sehun had already started moving. They stopped dead and the talking stopped too. The other team had heard Chanyeol’s collision with the wall. Chanyeol’s eyes widened and he gulped. Kai and Baekhyun froze. Henry’s eyebrows furrowed as he waited. Luhan and Sehun held their breaths.

         “Who’s there?” a voice said.

         No one answered. A step was heard but a different voice spoke, “Come on, Woohyun. It’s probably nothing.”

         “Shut up, Chen. Do you want to die?”

         “What the – ? I’m saying that what you heard is irrelevant – I never said anything about wanting to die!”

         “Woohyun, Chen, we’re a team. Let’s not,” a soothing voice told them gently. “We should be on guard but we don’t have to question everything.”

         “This is a corrupted world, Lay. Quit thinking you’re in some kind of dreamland or utopia,” Woohyun snapped.

         They went on like that, with unnamed voices added too. And just like that, the incident with Chanyeol was forgotten. No time. Luhan and Sehun had to move fast. Luhan looked over and counted six people. The whole team was stuck and still, bickering like toddlers. In DE, age twelve was a time to mature. Not argue like this. Especially when elimination was at risk. Luhan met eyes with Sehun, who nodded so insignificantly, one would doubt if the nod was a part of their imagination. Taking another quick breath, Luhan spun around and shot. He hit. Of course he did. Not only was the paintball thick and easy to handle, but he was Luhan. Sehun wasn’t surprised as he shot too, and his paintball found its target.

         “What the hell did I tell you?!”

         “Watch out!”

         A paintball came their way and it lightly nicked Luhan’s ear but it could hardly count. Instead, Luhan focused on elimination. He repeatedly aimed for a small-eyed boy with dark brown hair. It was Woohyun, Sehun could tell, from his angry tone and deep voice. Sehun shot too, his teammates were scrambling around in panic and shooting terribly far from them. Woohyun was hit ten times. Woohyun growled and lunged forward but a spotlight came on him. The sudden source of light blinded them all. Most looked away, but Sehun watched. Woohyun was taken away from a force from above. As much as he squirmed, there was no noise. The light died. Woohyun was gone. He was eliminated. Automatically, a black-haired boy with a sharp jaw started shooting and Sehun’s right shoulder was now painted blue. He winced. The impact hurt. And in the second Sehun winced, Luhan saw a gun aimed at Sehun. Luhan pushed Sehun aside and a paintball swished by, just barely missing Luhan’s extended arm. Soon, Kai and Baekhyun burst out and shot wildly. They hit a few people, and the few others hit them.

         Luhan’s back hit the wall and he hastily checked his Kacer.

STATUS

*Life points/Eliminated points*

Self: 0/1

Baekhyun: 3/0

Chanyeol: 5/0

Kai: 1/0

Henry: 0/0

Sehun: 1/0

“Tch.” Luhan saw Chanyeol’s health status. That idiot got hit five times. Sehun’s shoulder was quite obviously hit. Luhan’s ear, however, was wiped off within a second. Even if they were being watched, it didn’t seem like anyone noticed the shot to Luhan’s ear.

         “Let’s not shoot each other, okay?” a voice said from the opposite side. They were behind the walls so they couldn’t see who it was talking. Luhan instantly saw Chanyeol sigh in relief and Baekhyun soften. Were they idiots?! Kai seemed to nod in approval, and Sehun had no expression, as usual. Henry looked blank. Luhan let out a quiet growl. He remembered the rules: no allying up with anyone else. They were being watched. It’s DE.

        Luhan stepped out, surprising them all and shot the guy he saw several times. Splattered in green and blue, the shocked boy was also eliminated. He had smaller eyes than Woohyun and was shorter. But he too, was eliminated. Gone. Taken away by the light. It seems as if Luhan was slowly losing his human side. He could feel it slipping away. And this was only the start. At first, he was shocked by his own action. But he didn’t kill the guy, did he? Only eliminated him. If even one member on his team survives, so does the boy. Then Luhan realized something – he just made an enemy. Surely the boy would come for revenge. Woohyun was no different. Luhan’s status went from 0/1 to 0/2. He had been hit zero times and he eliminated two people.

         Kai’s eyes widened as he took Luhan’s shoulder. “Buddy, I know you’re insanely cold and everything, but was that really necessary?”

        “Yes,” came Luhan’s monotonous reply. “Have you forgotten? We’re not allowed any more -”

         “– alliances,” Henry finished, understanding too.

         Luhan was displeased though. He gave Henry a small frown as he said, “I would appreciate it if you let me finish my own sentence.”

        Henry didn’t say anything.

        Luhan sighed in frustration. He didn’t have time to think about enemies at the moment. He opened up the blueprint since there was no more sign of the other team. He checked out their surroundings and the pattern of walls and such. Behind him, Sehun leaned in and pointed to a spot. “We're there,” Sehun said quietly. Luhan compared the spot and the real thing around them. Sehun, sharp as ever. Luhan nodded as he got up, keeping he blueprint open. “We got lucky. Our way is simple. We just need to make sure we don’t get hit anymore.” He eyed Chanyeol, who blinked innocently.

         Chanyeol frowned a bit. “What?” Sehun silently showed him the screen of his Kacer. Chanyeol’s eyes widened. “Five times?! Wow… I could hardly feel it.”

         “That’s because you got hit near your bulletproof vest, dummy,” Baekhyun said. Then he turned to Luhan, “So where to?”

         He glanced at the map. Then he walked without a word so the rest followed silently. Luhan would hesitate and stop once in awhile, but for the most, they were okay. They checked the blueprints every so often to make sure they were going in the right direction. They didn’t meet with anyone and ended up in the center of the maze with ease. Lots of stopping and confirming, but they made it past the first round of the Game safely. The center was just a square. Other teams that completed this round were here. Kai saw Chunji, Ricky, and their team. Chunji saw them too. Instantly, Kai and Baekhyun pointed their guns to the two, as the other two did the same. They shot but all that were heard were empty clicks. Sehun checked his Kacer. There was a message: ROUND ONE COMPLETED – Oh Sehun. Currently in: Neutral Zone. So that’s why…

         They waited. They waited for another half hour of glaring and muttering. And then the time limit was reached. The last team squeezed just in time before the buzzer went off. Beam of lights appeared in different spots of the maze. Eliminated. To the Factory, unless one or more members arrived at the center. Then the white lights disappeared.

         Suddenly, they were pulled back harshly. It was as if they were in a different dimension, or on the way there. Like fantasy portals, their heads spun and they couldn’t see anything but swirls of black and sudden bright colors that disappeared as fast as it came. They couldn’t grasp anything, get ahold of anything. They couldn’t hear anything either. And they were pulled into complete and absolute darkness.

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ASDFGHJKL IS IT JUST ME OR ARE THESE GETTING LONGER.. ARE YOU GUYS EVEN READING THESE LONGASS BORING STORIES OMFG ;-; I try making them as interesting as possible.. but.. D: idk.. hope you want to see what happens next though! ^^;;

-deardeerhan