Namjoon shifted the boulder to his other hand, rolling his shoulder and groaning slightly. He watched as Hoseok kissed Jia's cheek before slowly floating upwards, until he rose to the sky and nearly disappeared, then Emily pulled Jia to the side, where her safety was ensured. You and Yoongi shuffled, stationing themselves to each side of the ogre as Yoongi summoned flames on the ground around him.
Glancing behind him, Namjoon saw both Jin and Jimin staring at him while batting their eyelashes like a pair of princesses. "What?"
"We're sticking with you," Jin shrugged as the ogre roared in the background, Jungkook screaming complaints because of the amount of ogre saliva on his wings.
"Why—"
"Watch out!"
Namjoon turned around upon hearing Jimin's warning, freezing a bit when he saw some boulders, those he was controlling some time ago, heading towards him. He blinked once, twice, hearing Jimin and Jin brace themselves then threw a punch, one which completely shattered the boulder into tiny bits. He simply rubbed his knuckles, not at all faced by the sudden scenario.
"That's why. I doubt that we'd get killed around you, unless you destroy us yourself," Jimin released a breath and a light laugh, letting the ball of electricity on his palm slowly disappear, Namjoon not really being amused by his joke. Running a hand through his orange hair, he glanced around, wondering why the skyscrapers surrounding them were somehow unharmed. It was understandable, since they were still in outskirts of Seoul, but it still confused him greatly. "Namjoon, what did you mean by if the ogre does something low?"
Namjoon didn't think his words through that much, really, but he somehow knew instinctively that the ogre had something up its sleeve, something that would catch all of them off-guard, that not even the strongest of them all could comprehend. He didn't know why but he thought it was possible, after all so many surprising things have happened in such a short amount of time.
As if on cue, the ogre made a low kick, smashing everything on the ground. Namjoon instantly followed his instincts and jumped, followed by both Jimin and Jin, dodging the hairy foot as it smashed into small buildings at the side. Thankfully, the civilians were evacuated and nobody was harmed.
Expecting to land on the ground, Namjoon yelped when he landed on something soft instead, and he had to hold on to prevent himself from flying off it. After inhaling a putrid smell for a good minute, he released that he was on the ogre's foot, which was still swinging around to try and injure those on the ground — including some civilians who were still shuffling away out of panic.
"Namjoon!," Jimin yelled from below, still dodging the ogre's smelly foot.
Somehow, despite the chaos and the bile rising in his throat, Namjoon came up with an idea. Whilst his nails dug into the soft flesh of the ogre's foot, he realized that there was a way to stop the ogre from moving around, making it easier for them to rescue Jungkook and eventually kill the ogre itself.
Clinging onto the foot with one arm, Namjoon raised his free hand, his eyes brown and pointed teeth gritted. The ground beneath the ogre's feet started to shake, nearly making the monster fall, then boulders started to rise, sticking onto the ogre's feet and forcing it to place. Namjoon crawled up the monster's leg as the rocks formed around it.
Emily blinked at the sight of the struggling ogre. "Namjoon, what are you doing?!"
"He's trapping the ogre in its place. It won't be swinging it's feet around any time soon," Hearing Hoseok's voice, Namjoon saw him floating just above him, his green eyes wide behind his glasses, although he had a sly smirk on his face. "Touchè, you grape."
"Don't call me a grape," Namjoon snapped, hopping off the ogre's leg and finally landing on the ground safely. "Go get Jungkook!"
"Aye, aye, captain!," Hoseok did a salute before he floated higher and disappeared.
Namjoon flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder, throwing a punch and only pausing when he realized that he was looking at Yoongi's pale face. Yoongi didn't look worried at how he almost lost his teeth. "It's just me. Sky and I made sure that the civilians are safe. We're the only ones left in this area with that stinky thing."
"We have to hurry up before the government acts and sends troops here," You said as you walked in, whistling with your sword placed on your shoulder, Yoongi staring at you as you did. "We don't want anyone else to get involved in this fight— what?"
Namjoon felt nauseous when your expression shifted drastically, eyes wide and head tilted upwards. Yoongi had the same face on, so Namjoon turned around, gulping when he saw what exactly had made the two of you so baffled.
The ogre's mouth was wide open but instead of saliva, huge insects were spilling out of his jaw. Cockroach-like creatures, with eight legs, a hard shell and a horrible. The insects landed on the ground in a mountain, the pile growing until it reached the ogre's knees, all squealing as they attempted to stand and walk. All of them froze, staring at everyone standing around in silence. Namjoon noticed that you, Yoongi and Jin in particular had horrified expressions.
"Uhm," Jia, who was standing behind Emily with trembling legs, shivered as she made direct eye contact with one of the insects. "What the heck are those?"
"Those are Kerns!," Jungkook's voice boomed from up high. "Those things can turn you into a monster like this ogre if you let it attach to your back! Stay away from them!"
"We have to kill them," Jin seethed, opposing Jungkook's statement, teeth gritted, eyes ocean blue and scales slowly appearing on his face. Namjoon and Jimin stepped backwards, a bit terrified at how Jin was starting to look like some kind of fish. He was angry, Namjoon could tell by how the water around his feet was boiling and smoking. "Now."
"W-What can kill it?," Jimin sttuttered when the insect near him started to move towards him.
"Fire can't, neither water, nor thunder. Slicing it in half can, but the shell is as hard as a rock," Everyone faced you as you stared at the ground, trying to remember a certain moment, when you saw a certain someone kill the insect within a blink of eye. "But Taehyung can."
"Taehyung? But he isn't here."
-
Jungkook was tired of wiggling so damn much, so he leaned on the ogre's finger, trying to catch his breath, beads of sweat making his blonde hair flat and stick on his forehead. To be honest, he nearly threw up in multiple occasions because of how the ogre would move so much, so he was glad that Namjoon stuck its feet to the ground. At the same time, he was worried about the others, with the overwhelming number of Kerns, it was possible for one of them to be transformed, and they definitely couldn't afford that to happen.
With frustrated groan, Jungkook closed his eyes, his head spinning at the multiple voices he could hear. So, he closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on one voice, one different voice.
But, instead of hearing someone's thoughts, he heard an actual person speak. "Yo, Jungkook."
Jungkook opened his eyes, seeing Hoseok squatting and holding onto one of the ogre's fingers, head tilted slightly to the side. "How long were you there?"
"A while."
"Not creepy at all. How are you planning to set me free?"
Hoseok jumped, floating, raising a brow and tapping his chin as he thought of the best way to free the angel. Jungkook watched, his patience slowly drying up with every minute passing. Since he was slowly getting angry, the light gem shot out a beam of light, Hoseok screaming as he dodged it and spun in the air for a good minute. Jungkook cackled out loud, one that sounded like an evil witch's laughter.
"Alright, fine," Hoseok puffed his cheeks and stood on the ogre's fingers, gritting his teeth as he grabbed one, trying to pull it open, but to no avail. The wind picked up as Hoseok continued to struggle. "Damn, this thing is strong."
"I suggest you take Namjoon."
"Hush, I'm the smart one here, angel." Wow, no need to be sassy.
Suddenly, the ogre made a grunt, facing towards both Jungkook and Hoseok. Based on its expression, it almost looked like it had forgotten that Jungkook was still in its hand. It roared out loud, the horrid smell of its breath making Hoseok release a string of curses that were so quick that he sounded like he was rapping them out.
"That smells, you little—," Filled with fury, Hoseok roared back, which sounded pathetic compared to the ogre's, but he released a strong gust of wind from his mouth that made the ogre shut its eyes tightly. "Well, okay, I didn't mean to do that—"
Jungkook felt the fingers loosen around him so he wiggled, finally being able to feel his arms, but it still wasn't enough to get himself free. "Hoseok, just keep distracting it!"
Hoseok fell silent, taking him a few seconds to realize what Jungkook was telling him to do. Instead of roaring, he blew a gust of wind from his mouth, which was so strong that it blocked Jungkook's hearing for a moment. The ogre screamed, swatting both of its hands around to try and get rid of the wind.
Both. Jungkook gasped softly when the ogre finally released him. He was happy, because his limbs and wings were free but there was one, huge problem — he couldn't fly.
Jungkook wasn't sure why but he couldn't move his wings, though his arms and legs were responding slightly. His eyes were wide when he couldn't feel his wings at all, realizing that they had turned numb due to how tight the ogre's grip on him was.
Hoseok cursed when he realized that Jungkook wasn't going to be flying. He turned downwards, attempting to swoop down and rescue the angel. "I'm coming—"
However, Hoseok was cut off when the ogre suddenly with him with its hand, making him crash into one of the buildings, possibly knocking him unconscious. Jia screamed at the sight, especially because she couldn't see where Hoseok had landed.
"Oh God, Jungkook!"
Jungkook desperately tried flapping his wings as he continued to fall but nothing was happening. At this rate, with Hoseok gone, he would hit the ground and possibly die before he could feel his wings again. He could hear screams in the background, screams of terror, screams of his name.
So, Jungkook closed his eyes, but instead of hitting his head on the ground, he was caught by a pair of strong arms.
"Whoops. I guess I'm a bit late. Sorry about that, Kook."
Jungkook blinked rapidly, flicking his baby blue eyes towards the person who had saved him. There Taehyung was, in all his glory, wearing a black hoodie over a white shirt, a sly smirk on his face and eyes glowing powerfully purple. He was flying, purple mist wrapped around his legs, elevating him from the ground. This time, he was no longer hiding his face, his brown hair exposed to all. All the Kerns were also inside a giant purple dome.
Something was definitely different about Taehyung and Jungkook noticed in an instant. He was stronger, more confident. It was in his expression, his body language and even his gem — which was glowing a lot brighter than he remembered.
After doing a double take, Jungkook playfully hit Taehyung's chest, finally regaining control of his wings shortly after, which would have ended in him on the ground with a broken back if Taehyung hadn't appeared. "You could have come sooner?!"
"I was busy," Taehyung shrugged, gracefully tapping his feet on the ground and helping Jungkook stand. "Besides, you guys are doing a good job at keeping this thing at bay."
Jungkook glanced at the ogre, which was flailing its arms around frantically, feet buried into thick rock. He crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at Taehyung. "You think this is a good job?"
Taehyung chuckled, tilting his head a bit, making his bangs sway to the side. His smirk was cocky, something Jungkook hadn't seen on him for a long time. "Well, nobody got hurt, right? At least, none of the civilians."
Jungkook was about to ask if it was a rhetorical question or not but paused when you ran into view, pausing and staring at Taehyung with eyes wide like two ceramic plates, silver hair all over your face. There was a silence as everyone — minus Hoseok — came into view, throwing unanswered questions around in the air.
"You must be the famous Taehyung," Namjoon smiled, showing off his deep dimples, and raised a hand. "I'm Kim Namjoom, earth gem bearer."
Taehyung stared at Namjoon's hand for a few moments and Jungkook expected every possibility except him shaking it. This made him confirm that something definitely changed about Taehyung while he was gone. "Taehyung, darkness gem bearer. I'm famous because...?"
"Jimin and Sky, those two won't shut up about you, they say you're cool because of your powers," Yoongi mumbled under his breath, barely loud enough for them to hear, and Jungkook knew that there was jealousy involved, especially because you were blushing at his words.
"...Is that so?," Taehyung smirked, his pointed teeth glinting under the sunlight, glancing at both you and Jimin. He stared at you much longer, which made Jungkook extremely uncomfortable, which only broke when Yoongi stepped in front of you with squinted eyes.
The tension, wow.
"Is nobody worried about Hoseok—," Jimin suddenly shrieked when he felt a pair of arms around his chest, turning around with a sparkling ball of electricity in his hand, pausing when he realized that it was just Hoseok. "How in—"
"Hobi!," Jia ran towards Hoseok, despite warnings from Emily that it was dangerous for her to do so, and crushed her boyfriend in a giant bear hug, sobbing as he rubbed her back to comfort her. "Oh God, I thought I lost you."
"I'm fine, Jia, just fainted for a while," Hoseok revealed a toothy grin as Jia continued to sob on his chest. Both Jimin and Taehyung cringed and stuck out their tongues in disgust, nearly making Jungkook burst out in laughter.
"You are not okay, Hoseok. Look at all these scratches—," Jin froze when Hoseok threw a burning glare, even with a bright smile on his face.
Once Emily was ready to give Jia a good scolding for suddenly running off like that, she ran a hand through her brown hair and scanned the area, realizing that Taehyung was present, realizing something very important.
And you had realized it too because tears were already streaming down your face. When Yoongi noticed that you were dabbing your cheeks with your sleeves, he instantly came to your aid. "Babe, what's wrong?"
"Babe?," Jungkook heard Taehyung whisper at him questionably, sounding slightly concerned, but the angel shrugged him off, making a gesture with his fingers that you and Yoongi were a thing now. Of course, Taehyung rolled his eyes at this.
"I guess you realized it too, huh, Sky," Emily smirked, her eyes glossy with tears, so Jin placed a hand on her shoulder as she placed her own hand on his. "We— You did it. You found and gathered the seven wonders."
The statement itself sent a shiver down everyone's spines, Jungkook glancing at the circle of people upon realizing. Standing to next to your crying figure was Yoongi, who was next to Jimin, Hoseok (embracing a crying Jia), Namjoon, Jin (comforting Emily, who looked as if she would burst into tears any second) and lastly, a very unamused Taehyung, who was next to himself, shoulders brushing together. Seven boys and three girls in a circle. Seven. The seven wonders were together, finally.
"I'm sorry for crying like this, it's just— it feels so surreal," You wiped your remaining tears away, Yoongi giving you a side-hug and whispering words to your ear. Taehyung scrunched his nose at the sight, making Jungkook look. "I know that we barely know each other but this is my job, finding you all, and seeing you here together just... I'm sorry."
"Hey~ Don't cry like that, Sky, you're making me cry too!," Jimin squeaked with teary eyes and Jungkook couldn't really tell if he was acting or not.
Then, Jungkook noticed it. Taehyung's eyes were glossy like glass and he was turning away so that the others couldn't see it. Was he... touched? The Taehyung was touched. Jungkook's expression turned sly and he was about to tease the darkness bearer than the ogre suddenly released a loud roar, making everyone's heads turn.
"Whoops, looks like we forgot about that," Namjoon muttered and pointed a finger behind him. Once again, the seven wonders huddle together. "Back to the plan. Hoseok, the tornado. Jimin, the lightning. Jungkook, assist Jimin. The rest fend off the ogre and Taehyung—"
Taehyung looked up at Namjoon, eyebrows scrunched together and lips turned downwards into a scowl. Ah, this was the personality Jungkook had known for so long. "What."
"I'm basing my assumptions off the others' speculations but I can say that you are the most powerful wonder among the seven of us," Taehyung smirked at Namjoon's remark, Jungkook rolling his eyes at his friend's arrogance. "Can you get rid of the Kerns? Then help us out with the ogre afterwards."
Taehyung looked over his shoulder and stared at the purple dome, which contained all of the Kerns, thank goodness they weren't too scattered. He twirled his fingers, purple mist dancing around them, and the Kerns squealed as the purple dome started to burn the insects inside. "Of course, I can do both at the same time, if you want me to."
"Even better," Namjoon nodded and cracked his knuckles. He smirked. "Let's do this."
Just like in a movie, Taehyung, Hoseok and Jungkook jumped in the air and flew. Yoongi spun in a circle, flames flying around him as he darted towards the ogre, Jin following behind while surfing on a wave of water and Jimin with balls of electricity in his hands. Both Sky and Emily guided Jia to the side, giving her double protection.
Taehyung landed on the purple dome, finding it amusing that the insects inside tumbled and screamed in pain. He pressed his palms on the dome, making it spark, his eyes glowing even more purple. The insects screamed as they sizzled until they eventually exploded, the black goo of their blood dripping inside. He merely jumped off it, staring at the carcasses with a very disturbing smile on his face.
Jungkook was in the air, staring at his friend with worry. Indeed, something did change about Taehyung.
"Jungkook," Jimin's voice snapped Jungkook back to reality, especially when he felt him tapping his forearms. The angel was currently carrying the thunder bearer, holding his arms as he brought him above the clouds. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah... yeah, I'm okay."
-
Meanwhile, Hoseok was in the air as well, finding the right height, computing the feet and approximate distance between him and the ogre in his head. He looked down, seeing Yoongi and Jim below him, awaiting his signal.
"What are you waiting for," Hoseok nearly screamed when Taehyung suddenly spoke from behind him, a twisted smile frozen on his face, arms crossed over his chest.
"Jimin and Jungkook," Hoseok replied meekly. "Can't make a good storm without some lightning."
Taehyung fell silent for a moment before he raised a hand, purple mist appearing on the ogre's wrists and binding them together. Hoseok watched in awe as the ogre struggled, now that all of its limbs were bounded. Some purple mist also materialized around the ogre's mouth, preventing it from spitting out any more Kerns. "Hoseok, why do you think does Vrede send monsters like this here?"
"To kill us, of course," Hoseok replied in a heartbeat, gathering air around his hands to brace himself for Jimin's signal. He could see water and fire below, the bearers making them swirl around their feet.
"Not just that," Hoseok questionably stared at Taehyung, whose legs were crossed, whistling as if he wasn't floating in mid-air and was about to kill a giant ogre. "The gems. They want your gems. After all, they're more precious than your lives."
Hoseok was about to question why Taehyung said such things, then he realized that he said your. Your? Why not our? He opened his mouth to speak but his voice was blocked by a rumble of thunder. The signal.
"Well, there it is. Go," Taehyung floated somewhere, Hoseok didn't really care enough to check.
Hoseok raised his hands, eyes bright green as the strong wind blew around him in a circular motion, paired with thunder, lightning and even rain, which assisted Jin greatly. Soon, a tornado formed and Yoongi shot out pillars of flames from his palms, turning it into a flaming tornado.
Namjoon stomped on the ground, creating a wall of rock before him and all the girls, protecting them against the winds of the tornado.
Taehyung also materialized purple mist around the ogre to restrain it even more, which was a bit too much since his nose was starting to bleed. Being on the ground, Namjoon pulled him and tossed him behind the wall of rock. You shrieked at all the blood Taehyung had all over his face.
Hoseok screamed as the flaming tornado continued to rise around the ogre, his hair being swept away by the gust of wind. "Jimin, strike the ogre with the most powerful bolt of lightning you can harness!"
Unsure if Jimin heard his pleas, Hoseok's question was answered when a giant bolt of lightning crackled from the sky and struck the ogre in the head. Blood-curdling screams and the sound of sizzling flesh filled the air before everything turned quiet.
Hoseok suddenly felt extremely exhausted as he landed on the ground, catching his breath. He couldn't see what had happened to the ogre because of the thick fog caused by the rain mixed with smoke from fire. He turned around when he heard the flapping of wings, seeing Jungkook set Jimin, who looked just as tired, on the ground. "That took a while."
"At least it's over, thank God," Jimin sighed, sprawling on the ground, Jungkook staring at him with a very unamused expression. "What happened to it, anyway?"
"Obliterated. Turned into ashes, dissolved into nothingness," Taehyung recited whilst walking in, still wiping blood off his face. You were tailing behind him in worry and Yoongi frowned when he saw your expression. "In other words, you guys killed it."
"Hey, are you okay, Taehyung?," Namjoon was rubbing his forearm, brown eyes slowly turning back to their original color, before he ruffled his own purple hair. "You're, uh, bleeding."
"It happens," Taehyung shrugged and Hoseok noticed how Jungkook was frowning.
"Guys, I think we should get out of here," Jin was looking at the destroyed buildings, smoke pillars rising to the sky, roads cracked and shattered boulders everywhere.
"Blondie is right," Yoongi slurred, stepping on a small flame until it was finally put out. "We never know until government troops come so we gotta skedaddle."
"B-But exactly how are we going to skedaddle," Jia stuttered out.
"It's easy," Everyone faced Taehyung, who once again had a cocky smile on his face. "We teleport."
-
A/N - 7/7 woot also 4K words 🤷🏻♀️