“The eagle has landed. I repeat, the eagle has landed.”

            There was a short crackle of static before Eunhyuk responded. “Don’t you mean the fish has landed?”

            Donghae rolled his eyes and clicked the two way radio to respond. “Yah, this is not the time for jokes.”

            “You’re about to go meet some crazy person at a remote location. This is totally the time for jokes.” The line went dead for half a second before Eunhyuk’s whispering voice came back through the radio. “I wish I could be there.”

            “Me too.” Donghae was flying high above the building where he and the other members had been summoned. Eunhyuk hadn’t been invited to this secretive gathering and the members all agreed to bring him could cause trouble. But Donghae couldn’t just leave his best friend completely behind. He had dropped Eunhyuk off a mile or so away from the building, without the other member’s permission.

Donghae shivered. It was a cold, cloudless night and he could see the lights of Seoul on the horizon. The building they’d been instructed to meet at was on the outskirts of Seoul, smack in the middle of ­Dream Forest. It hadn’t been hard to find the small, gray concrete building from the air. The rest of the members were on their way, piled into a van they’d rented. Donghae had decided to fly and it had taken him less time to get here than the others. He could see the headlights of their van winding up a small path towards the building. They seemed to be moving at the speed of ants.

Donghae sighed and flew a few circles to try and release some of the tension. Adrenaline was already pumping through his veins in anticipation and he felt electric. He wanted to do something.

Trying to distract himself, he stared at the building below. It was no bigger than their practice room. A single metal door stood on the southern side and above the door was a single light bulb which was flickering eerily in the darkness.

Donghae checked his watch. Five minutes to midnight. Feeling on edge he whispered into the radio, “They’re so slow! We only have five minutes til we’re supposed to meet whoever this is.”

There was no response for what felt like a full minute. Finally Eunhyuk’s voice crackled through the chilly air. “Can you see them?”

“Yes. They’re almost here. I guess I’m just a little wired up.”

He could hear the laugh in Eunhyuk’s voice. “That’s an understatement. You remember the plan?”
            Donghae nodded. Then realizing Eunhyuk couldn’t see him he clicked the radio. “Yeah. We go to the meeting and if anything goes wrong I push the call button twice.”

The dark blue van they’d rented pulled up next to the building and Donghae’s heart started pounding harder. Show time. “Okay, they’re here. I guess I’ll talk to you later.”

“Good luck,” Eunhyuk said. Donghae could hear the sadness in his voice. “Don’t die.”

Donghae laughed out loud. “Bye.”

He flew down to meet the members as they began piling out of the van. Shindong was the first out of the van, followed by Siwon. Heechul crawled out next and eyed the small gray building skeptically. He scoffed. “Seriously? I’ve seen bathrooms bigger than this place.”

Kangin jumped out of the van, glaring at Donghae. “Were these costumes really necessary?” he asked, picking a silver and gray wedgie as he spoke. “I feel like a ballerina or something.”

Donghae shrugged sheepishly. He’d asked the costume noonas to make the rest of the members a suit like his. Not everyone liked it.

“I think they’re comfortable,” Sungmin said, stepping out of the van behind Kyuhyun and Leeteuk. “I can totally see why superheroes wear spandex.”

“I can’t,” Ryeowook said, uncomfortably shuffling away from the van with his black cape wrapped around him. “I feel so exposed!”

“They move well,” Heechul said, doing several squats to demonstrate. “And just look at Siwon. He literally looks like superman.”

“You think?” Siwon asked, a hint of smugness in his voice. He flexed. “Maybe I’ll post a picture of me in this on twitter. Our fans would go crazy!”

“No,” Kyuhyun said sternly. “The costumes help protect our identity. You can’t blow our cover just because you want to make our fans swoon.”

Shindong laughed, gesturing to his costume. “There’s a giant SJ on the front, and my belt says SD. Our fans aren’t stupid. If we ever actually go out in public like this people will realize it’s us.”

“Enough!” Leeteuk said, holding up his hands to keep anyone else from arguing. “Can we focus please? Powers, secret meeting, creepy forest—ringing any bells?”

Sungmin walked up to the door as the single lightbulb above flickered. He frowned. “There’s no doorknob. What are we supposed to do?”

Leeteuk had his ear pressed up against the concrete, concentrating. Finally he shook his head. “This is weird. I can’t hear anything.”

“It’s 1 minute til midnight,” Donghae supplied.

“How about we knock,” Kangin said. Without waiting for a reply he walked up and pounded on the door. “Hey! Hello! We’re here! Open up!”

“What are you doing?!” Heechul shrieked, grabbing Kangin’s wrist. “They’ll know we’re here!”

“That’s kind of the point,” Kangin replied as he resumed pounding. “Hello! Open the door!”

“No, the point is this is a sign that we should leave,” Sungmin said.

“This mysterious person invites us all the way out here and then locks the door,” Ryeowook  mumbled. “How rude.”

Just then, there was a loud bang on the other side of the door that sounded like a gun being fired.

“Whoa!”

Everyone jumped. Donghae shot fifty feet up into the air, his heart hammering in his chest. Looking down at his friends he saw that where Siwon had been there was now a nice, plush looking leather chair. As Donghae’s heart slowed and he lowered himself back to the ground, Shindong and Heechul suddenly appeared in the clearing. Donghae hadn’t even noticed they were gone until they popped up again. Looking around he saw Ryeowook standing back by the trees, brandishing a giant maple tree like a sword. Donghae’s jaw dropped open at the sight. “Whoa, dude!”

Ryeowook was staring at the door with crazed eyes, but seemed to snap back to reality at Donghae’s voice. He looked down at the tree in his hands and his eyes widened. “Oops,” Ryeowook said, a sheepish grin on his face. He delicately lifted the tree and dropped it back into the ground, not even breaking a sweat.

“What was that?” Sungmin asked.

Leeteuk, who stood closest to the door shook his head. “I don’t know. But, look. The door’s open.”

“Creepy,” Shindong whispered. “Are we going in?”

“I don’t see what choice we have,” Leeteuk replied. “Someone snap Siwon out of it. We might need him.”

Heechul ran over to the plush leather chair that was Siwon and plopped himself down. A quiet “oof” came from the chair and Donghae felt like he was going crazy. Was this real? Like, really real?

“Ooo, this is comfortable,” he said, draping his feet off the armrests and placing his hands behind his head.

“Get off!” the chair shouted and Donghae watched in awe as the chair began to twist and writhe. Heechul jumped off as the arms and legs of the chair transformed into Siwon’s lean frame. Siwon stood up and stretched his back, glaring at Heechul. “That hurt. Didn’t your mother teach you not to jump on the furniture?”

Heechul grinned wickedly and clapped his hands together. “Okay, so who’s ready to get cozy in the creepy building?”

Donghae walked over to the door, which was only open about an inch. He peeked into the crack. “It’s too dark,” he said with a sigh. “I can’t see anything.”

“Here.” Ryeowook produced a flashlight and joined Donghae near the door. Donghae gave him a questioning look and Ryeowook shrugged. “I like to be prepared.”

The members all gathered together near the door as Ryeowook clicked his flashlight on. Kangin pulled the door open wider and the team got their first look at inside the building. The room was just as small as it appeared on the outside. It was nothing but a tiny concrete room with concrete floors.

Donghae frowned as they all stepped inside. The room barely fit all nine of them. He ended up against the wall farthest from the door next to Kangin and Ryeowook.

“What now?” Shindong asked.

Suddenly, the metal door swung shut with a loud clang. And everyone erupted into panicked cries.

“This is not good!” Donghae heard Ryeowook crying next to him. “I hate small spaces!”

“Everyone quiet!” Leeteuk’s clear, sure voice cut through the panic and settled everyone. Ryeowook turned the flashlight so it was trained on their leader. “It’s okay. We’re going to get out of here.”

“I think I found a light,” Kyuhyun said. There was a small click and the room became illuminated by fluorescent bulbs on the ceiling.

Donghae sighed in relief. At least now they weren’t trapped in a box in the middle of the woods in the dark. They were trapped in a box in the middle of the woods with lights.

Leeteuk looked relieved as well. “That’s better,” he said. “Okay, so now we just have to find a way out of here. Ryeowook, do you think you could break down the door?”

Ryeowook hesitated a moment, then nodded. “I think so.” He made his way from Donghae’s side up to the metal door. Donghae watched eagerly as Ryeowook studied the door. After finding the right spot, near the hinges, he wound his arm back and then let it fly forward.

A loud thud was quickly followed by a cry of pain. “Oww!”

Donghae could see Ryeowook jumping up and down, cradling his hand. Even from where he stood Donghae could see his hand was beginning to swell.

That shouldn’t have happened, he thought, panic rising in his stomach. Ryeowook is supposed to be super strong.

Immediately, Donghae tried to fly off the floor towards the ceiling. Nothing.

“I can’t fly!” he shouted. He felt like he was going to be sick. “Our powers don’t work in here.”

“Great, just great,” Kangin muttered. “So now we’re trapped in the middle of the forest, in a tiny concrete room, without powers.”

“You forgot to mention that we’re meeting some crazy guy who most likely wants to expose our powers to the world,” Kyuhyun said. Then he added thoughtfully, “Or kill us.”

Kangin rolled his eyes. “Great! Just great! What else could possibly go wrong?”

“Does anyone else feel that?” Sungin asked.

Everyone froze. Donghae couldn’t hear anything, but there was a sinking feeling in his stomach. He’d assumed it was fear, but now that he was focusing he realized that Sungmin was right. They were moving. It was the same feeling he got when he was on an elevator.

“Are we going down?” Leeteuk asked, a perplexed look on his face. He jumped up and down a little bit, but Ryeowook used his good hand to stop him.

“Don’t do that,” Ryeowook said, his face pale.

“There’s no other way we could be going,” Shindong said. “Unless we’re going up. Maybe we’re in a rocket!”

“I’m pretty sure we would have noticed if we were being launched into space,” Siwon said, rolling his eyes.

Just then the room shook slightly and then went completely still. The sick feeling was gone from Donghae’s stomach. “I think we stopped,” he said, looking around the room. It was weird to think that he was in the same room, but not the same location he'd started in.

“Please exit the elevator.”

A voice boomed through the room, speaking English. Donghae caught the word “please”, but didn’t understand the rest. They all looked over at Siwon.

“What did it say?” Leeteuk asked.

“It said to leave the elevator,” Siwon translated, making his way to the door. He stared at it for a moment, and Donghae realized there wasn’t a doorknob on this side of the door either. So finally Siwon simply pushed the door. It swung outward without a sound, revealing a long white hallway.

“Whoa,” Kangin whispered. “We really did move, didn’t we?”

“Looks like we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto,” Donghae replied, in total awe. Where were they?

“Please exit the elevator,” the voice sounded again.

Siwon stepped off first and everyone else slowly trickled out of the door into the hallway. Donghae was near the back of the group and when he went to go up on his tiptoes to get a better look he found himself floating off the ground.

Kangin eyed him jealously. “You got the coolest power,” he said. Then, loud enough for the rest of the group to hear, “Looks like our powers are back.”

“Yes, your powers are back. The elevator is a no power zone. Merely a precaution, you understand.”

Donghae whirled around, still hovering in the air. The doorway they had just walked through was gone, and instead Donghae saw a man. He was a foreigner with blonde hair that was neatly combed and blue eyes that were shocking in the completely white hallway. He wore a black tuxedo that was fitted to his trim body. Donghae wasn’t sure if he looked more like a butler or like James Bond.

The man smiled at the group, showing off a dazzling smile. “My name is Christopher. Welcome to E.L.F: Entertainments League of Fighters. Please follow me.”