Take Me to the Sky | BTS+

War Games

Taehyung leaned into the controls of the tiny fighter jet he was now piloting through the friendly Era sky. He glanced through his visor screen and saw Jungkook's own triangular fighter jet zooming through the sky in tandem to his own. He grinned.

It'd been a while since he'd gotten to get his hands dirty. Well, since before Yoongi and Hoseok's departure. He forgot how thrilling it was to fly...how alive it made him feel.

"Alright, you're coming up on Essem Fortress. Look alive." It was Joon's voice coming through their system speakers today.

Jungkook's voice crackled in response, "Alive and ready."

Taehyung chuckled, "Ready to throw. Down."

It was showtime.

Tae and Jungkook's fighter jets began to lose altitude. Lower, lower they descended as they got closer to that glistening metallic tower protruding through the clouds.

"The eighth ring," Joon's voice echoed.

"I see it," Tae answered, his hands gripping tighter as he leaned into the curves of his steering wheel.

"Same," Jungkook's reply echoed.

Tae's ship leaned down and around the tower; Jungkook's jet mirrored him from the opposite side.

Tae and Jungkook let out whoops and screams of exhileration as they swerved and dove.

Suddenly, their two tiny fighter jets were looping infinities in a slow spiral, up and around the metallic tower of Essem Fortress. The spiraling sped up, tiny smoke trailing like a double helix winding behind them and around that enemy tower. Up, up, and away.

Their raucous hollering climaxed as their jets zoomed past the very top of Essem Fortress and both of their jets dropped...not bombs.

Fireworks.

Bursts of red and orange flowered and crackled around the top of that tower of Essem Fortress. The streams of colored light rained down over their top's landing platform before fading from sight.

Taehyung cackled into his steering wheel as he did a backflip in his jet, righted himself, and curved his jet once again around Essem Fortress. He was close enough to see that at least two faceless figures had come to the top of their landing platform to see just what the heck was going on.

Joon's voice questioned, "No contact, right? Success?"

Jungkook cackled back, "Success! We didn't hit anything!"

Tae giggled, "Should we go in for another round?" His and Jungkook's jets continued their buzzard-like circling of the enemy fortress.

Joon said sternly, "One round was enough, let's not push our luck."

Still riding the high of the moment, Jungkook and Tae kept grinning into their steering wheels. They curved their jets around and started their homeward bound flight.

A minute into their retreat, and a red light began flashing on Tae's dashboard. He tapped the surface, thinking maybe it was a glitch.

Jungkook's voice echoed, "Looks like the bees didn't like us rattling the hive."

Joon clarified, "They won't strike first. Not unless they're idiots."

"So, they might then," Tae said, a sly half-smile on his mouth. His left hand fumbled over the front of his dash like a blind man reading brail, as he let his fingers remember the triggers for combat mode.

Just in case.

Three Essem crafts coasted quickly up to Jungkook and Taehyung's ships, until they were flying in a triangular formation around the two Noon Mool pilots.

"They're not trying to hail us," Jungkook commented.

"Cowards!" Tae spoke through a bold grin.

Tae was surprised to hear the sound of Joon's laughter in his speakers.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

Joon replied, "I'm just imagining the look on Dee-Oh's face right now."

Tae chuckled too, thinking of the lead member of Essem Fortress: a short and typically unemotional man who, when his fuse ignited, raged with explosive force.

"Hey Kookie!" Tae loved when he was struck with a crazy idea. And struck, he suddenly was. "Why don't we test out our Wave Formation on these goons? For the heck of it? It's been a while, I could use the practice."

"You're on!"

Joon said, "Now wait a second...."

"READY WHEN YOU ARE!" Tae shouted.

"READY!"

"GUYS, HOLD ON--"

Kim Taehyung and Jeon Jungkook started the countdown over Joon's voice, "ONE. TWO. THREE. GO!"

Tae and Jungkook went parallel. Tae nose dived into cloud. Kookie climbed up towards sky and sun.

The three Essem pilots didn't know what to do for a split second--then two dove down after Tae, and one buzzed up after Jungkook.

Taehyung cackled into his steering wheel when he saw two pilots in his rearview sights. He wove and wound through clouds thick enough to be spun cotton, with the two pilots in his wake.

Jungkook was enjoying outmaneuvering this poor Essem pilot on his tail as he dipped, spun, fainted and wove circles around them. Then he made a nose dive.

Tae rocketed back up, out of the cloud cover.

The two Noon Mool pilots blasted straight towards each other.

Then, at the perfect moment, Tae backflipped his jet one direction, Jungkook peeled his jet in level flight in the opposite direction, and they both sailed safely away from each other.

The faint had worked.

The Essem pilots weren't as quick on the uptake.

Two of their fighter jets blasted at top speed...right into each other.

Tae didn't realize he was panting. He dove back into cloud cover and peeled his jet around, veering after Jungkook and for home once again. More than adrenaline raced through his veins as he felt the explosive wave ripple through his ship. He pushed forward on the accelerator.

"You alright, Tae?" Jungkook sounded...panicked.

"Yeah, you?"

"Yeah."

Joon's voice growled deep and low through Taehyung's cockpit. "They collided, didn't they?"

"Just two of them," Tae answered, quickly realizing the weight of his own words.

There was a moment of silence in which the hum of his craft and the heaving of his breaths were like a hurricane in Tae's ears.

"You two better get back here in one piece." Tae didn't think he'd ever heard Joon's voice sound so deadly. "Because I plan to kill you myself, and I don't want those Essem assholes to beat me to the punchline."