Guilty Parties [ NoRenMin ] | ✓

- Sixty Two -

Jaemin's back was the last thing Renjun was able to see as the others exited the building, tears of frustration flowing down his face.

Jaemin inhaled sharply at Renjun's vulnerable face.

They had lied to him, telling him that he was going to be in the fight, to help them.

But they weren't going to let him play into Abigail's hands. They didn't want Abigail to have the satisfaction of seeing him, of being near him, and they'd be damned if they let her lay a finger on him.

Jaemin steeled himself against the guilt that flooded himself.

We're doing it to protect him.

He nodded to himself in self-reassurance.

This has to be the right way.

He stole a glance at Jeno, who he had caught up to in their walk to the Cliffs, the soft grass bending underneath their shoes.

He held a straight face, no emotion showing anywhere, other than the tight hold on Jaemin's own hand.

They followed the rest, who all had auras surrounding themselves. Auras of power.

In front of them were the rest of the Dream project, all consoling themselves.

They felt the same way about Renjun, wanting him to stay protected, but still couldn't get past the heartbreaking pleas the boy had released earlier.

They thought about Renjun's pleas, wondering what he could've meant by saying what he did, but before they knew it, the night sky lit up with the same white flash.

Lightning.

So they knew part of what they were dealing with.

There was a clearing that the boys found eerily silent.

They stood for a second, before men were rushing at all angles towards them.

Jaemin watched in shock as the others of Neo City didn't even falter in attacking the men who had appeared from the dark.

He watched as Johnny and Ten fought the four men surrounding them, not quite tapping into their full Defect power, but deflecting attacks, and lunged with intent of incapacitating the men they were against.

He watched in awe as Jaehyun body slammed one of the men into Lucas who didn't hesitate in reflecting the texture of the rock not too far away from them.

Jaemin was grabbed by the shoulders, before he finally realized what they were doing, and quickly flipped the man over his body, the older man releasing a groan at the landing, where he stayed on his back, before the body seemed to glitch.

Jaemin cocked his head in confusion, before the body of the man seemed to burst into little bits of blue lights, drifting in the wind's currents.

Jaemin's eyes widened, before there was another man grabbing him from behind.

Slightly getting frustrated with the same attack, he flipped his attacker once again, only to see the same face of the man before.

"Guys!" he yelled, the man trying to get ahold of his throat, as he deflected it, and stuck the other into a headlock, his attacker's arms unusable.

The attention he wanted came, and the others, although not all, looked or listened to his words.

"They're not real!" he said, struggling slightly to hold the man down that was continuously thrashing in his arms.

"They're holograms!" he hollered at the others once again, before tightening his hold on the man, before the attacker glitched once more, and turned into the little bits of blue light again.

The others were curious, before each attacking the other men that attacked themselves, and watching as their opponents turned into the same blue light.

But there was one problem.

You can't use powers on holograms. No matter how real they feel.

There was a crack of lightning once more, in the center of the somewhat circle that Neo City had created, before a loud laugh was heard.

Taeyong's gaze turned hard, eyes flashing an unfamiliar red before they landed on the sight of Abigail Carthwright.

She was wearing all black, clashing with her almost white hair, smirking at all the boys as she turned around, scanning through them all.

She met Taeyong's eyes, glaring hard into his red orbs, as he returned the favor.

"You really think you can defeat me? I'm the abomination of all abominations. I'm special," was the first thing she said, standing right in front of Taeyong.

"You are nothing of the sort," he spat back at the older woman.

"You're just a scientific freak who couldn't let go of their obsession of Defects when they came to the age to grow up," Jaehyun snarled at the woman, who's intense gaze reached him as he stood behind Taeyong, his posture straight, without any hesitation.

"This isn't a mere obsession," she answered, her voice reaching a lighter level, feigning innocence, "It's your end."

Taeyong couldn't hold back the flinch at her words.

She smiled sinisterly at Taeyong once more, her now black eyes scanning through the boys once more, before she raised her hand and flicked it at the holographic men, making them come back to life once more.

Jaemin almost screamed as the man who could not harm him before, wrapped his arms around him, the holographic man's arm holding firm on his throat, a knife now in his hands.

Jaemin wheezed slightly in the grasp, panic flooding through his system as he watched the others were constricted themselves, before Jeno stood right in front of him.

His body was stiff, trying to find the best case scenario as to how he would safely get Jaemin out of the hologram's hold.

So focused that he didn't see the man sneaking up behind him.

Jaemin wanted to scream to him to watch out, but the man holding him dragged his blade against his forearm so abruptly and so quick, that the burning feeling of pain made him scream nonsense instead.

He cried out once more as the hologram caught up to Jeno, who was now concerned about Jaemin, before finding himself in a similar hold.

Their eyes met, one in surprise, the other in agony.

Before Abigail's eyes cockily scanning the boys' inability to move.

"Now," she started, "Where's our little Renjunnie? Hm?"

. . .

i'm not dead!

yayy!

so, here's this...

i hope you enjoyed!

thank you so much for reading!

tell me your thoughts and predictions for the next chapter!

(i already have some of it written out, and i want to see who gets the closest!)

until next time~!

started : 2019.7.25
finished : 2019.7.30