I squeeze my eyes shut and brace myself for the stomach-dropping sensation of falling.
That, and the sensation of hitting the ground.
One second passes.
Two seconds.
Three.
The sensation never comes.
What?
I slowly open my right eye.
I look around us, astonished. We're gliding - slowly making our way down to the ground like we're in an elevator ride. I feel a strange and unnatural shift in the air around us as we're lowered.
J-Hope is just as stunned as I am. I turn to Jungkook.
Jungkook's eyes are closed tightly and his hands are up to his temples.
Understanding dawns upon me - Jungkook must be using his wind ability to keep us from crashing into the ground.
"Oh thank goodness!" J-Hope exclaims. I'm just as relieved as him. "Jungkook you're the best, I'm going to personally take you out for lamb skewers since I know Yoongi-hyung has been busy with his music and whatev- OH HECK NO JUNGKOOK MOVEEEEE! THEY'RE SHOOTING AT US -"
"DODGE IT!" A big shadowy mass of earth blocking the view behind us scares me into screaming along with J-Hope.
The truck shifts a little as Jungkook wrestles with the air, but it's no use. Jungkook seems to realize the same thing because he lets go completely.
"AAAAAAHHHH!!"
The three of us are screaming in unison once again when the truck is sent falling the rest of the way. The stomach-dropping sensation makes me sick.
The earth ball skims the top of the truck, missing us. Barely.
We land on the ground with a deafening THUMP.
I catch my breath in a daze.
J-Hope recovers the fastest. The next moment we're off, and J-Hope is swerving and drifting around the road like a madman while more (albeit smaller) masses of rocks and dirt are shot at us.
"That was... tiring..."
I can barely hear Jungkook mumbling in the midst of the chaos.
Alarmed, I turn around to face him. He looks dangerously pale and his eyes are half-closed.
"Jungkook-ah, can you make the truck go any faster?" J-Hope asks, oblivious.
"Uh, J-Hope..." I say. "He looks..."
Jungkook shakes his head. "No energy," he says simply.
"None at all?"
Jungkook doesn't respond.
"He looks half-dead." I exclaim. "What's happened to him?!"
"Hmm. Must be energy exhaustion," J-Hope says thoughtfully.
I turn to face him. "What?"
J-Hope swerves sharply again to avoid a particularly large and jagged rock. "I'll explain later. For now, Jungkook is out. Can you use your powers Y/n?"
I blink. "Mine?"
"YES Y/N! There's no one else in the truck!!" Another sharp swerve.
I search around my trembling hands for the golden threads of light. I can feel them there, but they're too weak...
The earth rumbles loudly. A thick wall of stone rises from the ground ahead of us and blocks the road. J-Hope looks quickly to the sides to find a way around, but guards are already stationed there.
I briefly recall what the walkie talkie man had said - that we would be surrounded. And, true to his word, the pack of guards behind us had spread out around us to do just that.
We're completely surrounded.
"Quick Y/n! Think of something!"
I shakily look down at my hands and see that the threads have grown stronger - but there still isn't enough energy. There must be a way to make this faster...
The earth rumbles again. The threads on my hands immediately respond and glow.
I narrow my eyes. Wait a second-
"They're putting up walls behind us too!" J-hope yells. "HURRY!"
Think, Y/n, think...
"PLAY MUSIC!" I yell back. "MAKE IT LOUD!"
"How's that gonna help?!"
"DO IT!!"
J-Hope reaches for the dashboard and turns the volume up.
"Dollar dollar,
Spending it all in one day,
Run run,
I make and waste my own money~"
The threads are growing, but not fast enough. I shake my head nervously. "Something more intense!"
J-Hope quickly changes the music.
"Waiting for you Anpanmannn... "
Oh for goodness sake-
I lean over myself and vigorously press the 'next' button, fingers shaking in fear.
"A day may come when we lose.
But that day is not today.
Today. We. FIGHT!"
There it is. I desperately grab onto the music and watch the threads around my hands grow at a faster rate.
"Y/n HURRY!"
"I'm trying!"
The wall in front of us gets closer and closer. There are guards behind us, so J-Hope has no choice but to speed up.
I concentrate on the energy building up in golden threads.
The world around me blurs.
Almost in a trance-like state, I remember what I did back in the white testing room. I'd made a fist with my right hand and I'd used the built-up energy to push the white walls backwards.
Perhaps I could do the same here.
"If you can't fly, run.
Today we will survive~"
I raise my fist into the air in preparation and grab onto each word in the lyrics.
"If you can't run, walk.
Today we will survive~"
There are so many things going on - chaos is in the air, rocks are being shot at us, we're running straight into a stone wall, the truck is blasting music, Jungkook is unresponsive - so many things.
"Y/N QUICK!"
I snap back into reality and realize that we're about to hit the wall.
It's so close.
There's suddenly so much stress in me that something in the air just snaps.
CRACK!
It happens like last time. I use the golden threads to push outward. My eyes are squeezed shut from fear and shock.
Protect my friends.
I can feel the explosion of sound waves make an impact in the air.
Then I open my eyes.
It was enough to throw the guards nearby off their feet. It was enough to give J-Hope some leeway - he makes a sharp turn, nearly still crashing into the wall in the process, before making his way around it.
It was enough for him to finish the turn.
It was enough for us to make it to the other side of the wall.
I take a deep breath. Crisis avoided.
Jungkook and J-Hope are safe.
We're safe now.
Safe.
J-Hope whoops when we get back onto the main road. "Nice one Y/n!"
"Thanks!"
Then it was a peaceful drive for the rest of the journey.
Nope.
We're still being chased.
My little sound wave explosion was enough to blast the nearest few guards off their feet. But it wasn't enough to do much else.
I quickly focus back on the music for more energy.
"Hey! No not today~
Hey! No not today~
총 (Point)! 조준 (Aim)! 발사 (Shoot)!"
The song hits the chorus.
But even when the song is at its strongest, the threads on my hands aren't coming back as strong as before. The connection between my energy and the music feels skewed.
Could it be energy exhaustion?
I grab at the air as if I could physically hold onto the sound waves, but that doesn't help at all.
The hyped up excitement in me falters.
I thought we had a chance.
But now Jungkook is out, J-Hope still doesn't have any energy, and I've just used up all of mine. We're left with nothing - we're only as powerful as a craftsman without their tools.
I stare at my hands, unsure of what to do.
"Uh... J-Hope...?"
"Yeah?"
I reluctantly admit the truth. "I'm not regenerating energy anymore."