Ongoing: Resonance [Ch. 3]
“I can’t believe Taeyeon calls this a package! It’s a crate for God’s sake!” Yoona exclaimed, as she walked beside the cart in which the crate sat upon.
At least you’re not the one pulling it. Hyoyeon retorted, shaking her head irritably at the reigns attached to her black-striped, orange furred body.
Jessica scanned the landscape: a rocky desert, to put it simply. No signs of vegetation were seen except for far up ahead, where the forest back to Hangulia city was. Her fingers curled and uncurled nervously, feeling antsy from the open terrain.
“God, how long is this walk? I’m getting tired! And how come Sunny and Tiffany don’t have to walk?!” Yuri whined childishly, as she slugged behind the rest of the group.
Sunny, who sat upon Hyoyeon’s tiger form, happily chirped as she swung her legs up and down, “Because Hyoyeon is the one that’s hauling this massive crate, which she probably wouldn’t had agreed to do if it weren’t for my convincing skills. Besides, Hyo says I weigh as much as a feather, isn’t that right, Hyo?”
Hyoyeon remained silent, though soon emitted a soft sound similar to purring as the petite girl affectionately petted the large feline’s head.
Yuri nodded her head, and then pointed an accusing finger at Tiffany, who sat on the cart, right beside the crate.
“Then why does Tiffany get to sit on the cart? I want to sit on the cart, too!”
“She’s guarding the crate, got a problem with it?” Jessica said harshly.
“Someone’s a little bit snappy…” The tanned girl dejected before scurrying over to Yoona’s side.
Tiffany eyed the crate curiously, running her hand over the coarse texture of wood. She noticed a hole on the side of the box, and pondered over whether to peek or not.
“Don’t even think about looking inside that crate.” The blonde girl scolded.
“Hey, don’t read my mind like that.”
“I’m serious Fany, you have no idea what’s in there.”
Yoona cocked her head towards the sky, and let out a sigh. “It’s kind of weird though, that we haven’t seen any Noises yet-“
At that moment, a fiery ball of flames came bolting from the sky, and towards the cart.
“Get out of the way!” Jessica yelled as she attempted to run away from the soon-to-be disaster.
The heated flames made impact with the cart, sending the crate flying off to the side, and making the cart skid, tumble, and crumble. The girls who had been on the cart were also ejected from the wreckage, and landed nearly a few feet from the crate.
Way to jinx it. Hyoyeon growled as she shook herself free from the burning wood, and assisted her partner to her feet.
Jessica whirled around to find no more than three Noises climbing over rocky hills. However, what caught her attention was a faux-hawked man who led the monsters over the terrain. She turned her head to face the group, and rashly explained, “Me and Fany will guard the crate. The rest of you guys try to fend them off.”
Within seconds, Tiffany had shifted into wolf form, and leaped in front of the crate, crouching in defensive position. Yuri ran past the blonde girl, adorning Yoona has a *Tekagi-Shuko, while Sunny lead her tiger partner behind them.
The group of Noises with the mysterious man was now only several yards away from the defensive position of the group of girls. The faux-hawked man took a step forward, a smug grin on his face. His words were dripping with a taunting tone.
“So that’s where our special cargo went. Thanks so much for finding it for us, but we’ll kindly take it back now.”
Yuri readied her weapon-worn hands into her offensive stance. “Who the hell are you?”
“Oh, where are my manners?” The man slowly gave a 90-degree bow, and then straightened up once more, “The name is Taeyang. Don’t trouble yourselves with your introductions though; I’m sure it won’t matter. Now, the package, please?”
Taeyang stuck out an open hand, which caused the Noises to start up in yowling and growling at the girls.
“Go, Hyoyeon!”
The tiger emitted a deafening roar before lunging towards Taeyang. However, within a claw-length away, the man took a step back, and suddenly evaporated into flames. Hyoyeon quickly stopped her stampede just in time, and snarled as she circled around in confusion.
A ball of flames took shape behind the Noises, until Taeyang re-appeared once more.
“After the crate!”
All three Noises charged towards the direction of the crate. Before Hyoyeon could even move to intercept, she yowled in pain as a fireball crashed into her side.
“Pay attention, Hyo!” Sunny commanded as a red magic circle slowly grew underneath her feet.
You don’t even have to tell me that. Hyoyeon said as she bared her fangs at the faux-hawked man, her position awkward from her singed fur.
“Not so fast, Kitty. You’re my opponent.”
Right back at you.
“Hyo! Fire Bolt! Go!”
The tiger’s eyes glowed a fiery red, as she began to dash towards her opponent. As each millisecond passed, every fiber of fur on Hyoyeon’s body formed into flames. Picking up her speed, the tiger looked like a speeding, red blur. She soon approached the man, bracing for the harsh impact. However, Hyoyeon was completely caught off-guard when she felt nothing. Within the timeframe of the supposed crash, she barely saw her tiger form passing through Taeyang’s fire body.
It happened in mere seconds: Hyoyeon passing through his body, Taeyang swirling around, revealing his arm that had contorted into a fire-consumed sword, the blade breaking the tiger’s hind leg skin, the bloodcurdling yowl, and finally the down fall of the feline.
“Hyo!” Sunny quickly ran to Hyoyeon’s fallen side, ignoring the fact that her enemy was only a foot away. The tiger body soon shifted back to a human, Hyoyeon gripping the wound on her thigh as blood began to spill out.
On the other side of the field, Yuri stabbed one of the Noises right in the gut, and recoiled from its painful howl.
Yuri, behind you!
Yuri saw another Noise charging towards her on her other side from the corner of her eye. Quickly, she pointed her free hand to the oncoming monster. With her weapon’s blades emanating a silver glow, she cried out, “Air Canon!”
The silver wisps shot out of Yoona’s blades at tremendous speeds, blasting right through both Noises; disintegrating one and leaving a gaping hole in the other. In the end, they both evaporated into dust. Before Yuri could flare a smile, the third Noise charge passed her, missing her by merely centimeters. Whipping around, the raven-haired girl’s eyes caught the monster heading towards Jessica.
“Sica! Don’t let the Noise get the crate.”
“I’m not stupid…” Jessica muttered under her breath as she stood in front of the crate protectively, hands on her hips as a blue magic circle appeared below both hers and Tiffany’s feet. The wolf-shaped Tiffany dashed straight for the monster, who in turn yowled a battle cry.
“Ice Venom.”
Before the two beasts made contact, Tiffany quickly duck, her whole body sliding on the loose sand and underneath the beast. The Noise halted in confusion, whirling around to meet her opponent. However the monster was too late. Wolf fangs suck deep into the monster’s abdomen. From the marks of the bite, ice began to form, engulfing the Noise’s body until it became frozen alive; five seconds later the ice, along with its contents, shattered into particles.
Taeyang observed the battle from afar, ignoring the death glares both Hyoyeon and Sunny were giving him. Finally, as the last Noise died, he disappointedly sighed.
“Those Noises could never get the job done right…” walking off, he faced Hyoyeon and smirked, “Looks like we’ll have to continue this another day, kitty.”
Within seconds the man was engulfed in flames, and then disappeared.
“Hyoyeon, are you ok?!” Yuri shouted, as she dashed towards the injured girl, with Yoona and Tiffany shifting back to human form and following suit.
Jessica took one step forward to follow as well, but then stopped. Eyes widened, she turned to face the crate. She had a bad feeling all of a sudden; the noise she had heard disturbed her.
Was that laughing?
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
“A man with a faux-hawk who could combust into flames, and shape shift his arm into a sword…” Taeyeon nonchalantly read from the report in her hand.
“Is it even possible for a human to be able to do that?” Yuri half-complained half-asked.
“Well maybe he’s not human.” Yoona stated.
“You’re right.” Taeyeon placed the paper onto the desk, and folded her arms, eyes closed. “Dong Young-bae, alias Taeyang, is an Armed Resonator, but does not need a Commander to use his powers. He left K-P Organization in search of power; his heart eventually went dark and now fights for the side of the Noises.”
“Well at least the crate was secured safely.” Tiffany interjected weakly.
Taeyeon nodded, and then eyed the blonde girl beside Tiffany. “Jessica.”
“Y-Yes?” she answered, escaping her daze.
“Something on your mind?”
Jessica stared at the office floor, figuring out how to put her thoughts into words. “What… What was in that crate?”
The short girl’s eyes wandered and examined each Resonator in front of her, before standing up from her chair. Standing in front of her desk, she placed her weight onto the edge of the desk.
“Rather than telling you, how about I show you?”
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
The group walked down a long, narrow hallway, both Taeyeon and Jessica leading. Several of them eyed the door ahead of them, a loud ruckus emitting from the other side.
“Ah! Hyoyeon, your wound isn’t fully healed yet; you can’t stand!”
At that moment, the door slammed open, revealing Sunny trying to pull back a resisting Hyoyeon by the waist.
“Hyo! Seungri said your wound isn’t healed yet; get back in bed!”
“I DON’T GIVE A MOTHER FUCKING DAMN. I’M GONNA DOUSE THAT PRETTY BOY’S FLAMES AND RIP HIM TO SHREDS NEXT TIME I SEE HIM.”
A short-spiked haired man with heavy dark circles under his eyes wearing a doctor’s robe hurried outside, attempting to assist Sunny, until he saw the crowd of girls behind them.
“Taeyeon! How can I help you?”
“Taking good care of our Resonators, Doctor Seungri?” Taeyeon questioned teasingly, “Would it be ok if I borrowed these two quickly? After all, they have the right see what got them injured.”
Eyeing the gauze wrapped around Hyoyeon’s leg, and then back at the leader, he nodded.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
“Jessica, do you know what happens when Noises feasts on a Human’s or Weapon’s fears?” The leader asked, not turning to face the blonde girl as she led the group towards the basement.
“They become infected with madness…”
“And do you know what happens when the infected cannot maintain their sanity?”
“…Another Noise is born.”
“Yes, but recently we’ve the Research Center of K-P Organization has raised thoughts of being able to reverse the effects of madness infection.”
“What? That’s possible?” Sunny interrupted.
“Well, it’s what we’re trying to test.” Taeyeon stopped in front of a large dungeon-like door, to which the group gawked at, “Seohyun, the key.”
Seohyun emerged from the back of the group, handing the shorter girl a brass key. Taeyeon took the object, and placed it in the keyhole of the door. Unlocking the door, the metal harshly creaked as the door swung open slowly. As Taeyeon descended the stairs, everyone followed.
“The crate contained a perfect specimen for experimentations. The subject was infected with madness for nearly 3 years, and yet was never converted into a Noise. The Research Center wanted their hands on this subject, because after all, no one has the capability to hold their sanity for that long.”
The leader soon stopped in front of a jail cell. Taeyeon turned to face the group. “The subject is in here.”
Everyone looked into the enclosed room. However, Yuri had gaped in shock, Tiffany gasped into her hand, and Jessica, with her eyes wide and shaking, fell to the floor on her knees. A tall girl sat in the corner, curled up into a ball. The girl’s short hair was frizzed and messed up. As she gnawed on all her fingers with a wild look in her eyes, she emitted the most wicked and insane laugh all of them have ever heard.
“Sooyoung...?”
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
*Tekagi-Shuko - click
Man I'm sooooooooooo rusty on writing I don't even. :T Anyways....so it's been a while, hasn't it? xD Idk, I've been losing my motivation for writing for some time now. However, I've received many comments from readers, who asked me to keep writing (which is a wild thought to me). Now, don't anticipate an update on this fic for a while (hopefully sooner than 8 months lol), but I'll definitely try to throw myself back into writing!
Penny for your thoughts? :3