CHAPTER TWO: DANGER

KOOKIE

Kookie was surrounded by senior boys. They laughed at him as one knocked his lunch out of his hands. Another grabbed his backpack and tossed it into the fountain at the center of the front lawn of the high school. The boys took turns shoving him until Kookie lost his balance and landed on the ground.

"Loser... He won't even fight back," the ringleader taunted him. "He's pathetic." He kicked Kookie in his abdomen, making him cry out in pain. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes.

"Aw, look! Baby's gonna cry!" Another boy said with a laugh.

"Stop it..." Kookie said softly.

"What was that, Loser?" One asked. He punched him in his head. It hurt and Kookie's ears were ringing. Another one tried to hit him.

"Stop it!" Kookie shouted.

Suddenly, the closest boy was flung backward by an invisible force. The other boys jumped back, startled.

"When did it get so windy out?" One of them asked. The wind picked up even more, causing some of them to stumble backward from the force of it. Soon, a tornado appeared in the sky. It was headed straight for them.

"Let's get the hell out of here!" Another boy cried. He took off running. The others followed him, fleeing in their panic. Everyone in the area began to scream and run for cover.

Kookie stared at the tornado in shock. It hovered above him, not coming close enough to do any major damage to the area. As his breathing slowly calmed down, the tornado retreated, vanishing into the sky.

"Impressive," a voice said. "I noticed the tornado and followed it here."

Kookie vaguely recognized the man in front of him. He'd been on television. As he extended his hand toward Kookie to help him to his feet, he said, "You have magic."

"What? No I don't!" Kookie protested.

"Kid, you just summoned a tornado. I know it was you because it wasn't me." He smiled. "I'm Seungri. I have Air magic, too. It's okay."

"You work with local politicians to help the community," Kookie said. "I've seen you on the news."

"That's right. I was the only survivor of an attack a while back, and I vowed to do my best to make the world a better place after I couldn't save my friends." He looked a bit sad as he paused. "You really didn't know you had magic?"

"No... I mean... That's never happened before." Kookie shook his head. "Did I really do that?"

"Yeah, you did... What's your name, kid?" Seungri asked.

"Kookie," he replied. "Jungkook, really, but I like to go by Kookie."

"It's nice to meet you, Kookie. Don't worry, I can help you." Seungri pulled a business card out of his pocket. "Call me. We'll set up a better time to meet and work on developing your magic."

"Um... Okay, thanks," Kookie replied awkwardly.

"No problem." Seungri offered him another smile before he walked away.

"Kookie, are you alright?" Jimin asked as he came running toward him. The older boy had started looking out for Kookie recently after witnessing some of the bullying he endured on a daily basis.

"Yeah, hyung," Kookie replied. "I'm fine."

"What are you doing out here? There was a tornado!" Jimin said in horror.

"I... I guess I kind of froze when I saw it... But I'm not hurt."

Jimin studied him with a frown. "You look pretty hurt," he said as he eyed Kookie's injuries and the remnants of his lunch scattered on the grass.

"It's nothing, hyung," Kookie said quickly.

"Who was it this time, Kookie?" Jimin asked knowingly.

"Just some kids... It's not a big deal."

Jimin sighed. "Come on," he said. "Let's get you back inside and cleaned up. I'll buy you something to eat."

"You don't have to, Jimin-hyung."

"I know that," Jimin replied. "I want to." He gently put his hand on Kookie's back and guided him into the school.

LISA

She was bored, but that wasn't unusual. Lisa hated sitting still for too long. She started tapping her foot to the song that was stuck in her head. Soon, she began tapping her pencil on her notebook to the beat.

Lisa was dazing out, losing herself in the song. As she stopped moving her hand, her pencil continued tapping along to the beat. Lisa released the pencil and watched in fascination as it kept moving.

She gasped and knocked her notebook off of her desk. In a panic, she reached toward it and watched in shock as it floated into her hand. Her pencil finally stopped tapping.

"Are you alright, Lisa?" Her math teacher asked.

Lisa shook her head and asked, "May I have the restroom pass?"

"Go ahead," the teacher replied in annoyance.

"Thank you..." Lisa grabbed it and ran out of the room. As soon as she was in the hallway, a ball of fire manifested in her free hand.

Lisa cried out in surprise and the fire vanished. "Whoa," she mumbled.

BamBam came running toward her. "Lisa, what's wrong?" He asked.

"I have superpowers!" Lisa blurted out.

BamBam sighed. "Yeah, I know," he said. "But what are they?"

"You know?" Lisa repeated.

"Someone told me earlier... And then I heard you freaking out."

"You heard me? BamBam, your classroom's all the way on the other side of the floor."

"Lisa... I'm a telepath."

She stared at him. "You're not messing with me, are you?"

"Nope. We've got powers, Lisa... And so does our mentor. We need to talk, but not here. Go back to class and I'll explain... Just listen."

"You have that much control over it already?"

"I think so. I don't know how, but I just sort of know how to use my powers. Go on. We'll talk."

Lisa nodded and headed back to her class. BamBam? She thought. Are you there?

I'm here, he replied.

Okay, spill... What's happening to us?

Buckle up, Little Monkey... This is going to be one heck of a ride.

JAEHYUN

He was trying to focus on class, but it wasn't easy when he noticed the spirit of a student sitting on the teacher's desk. Every time the teacher spoke, the spirit imitated his gestures and mocked him with overdramatic faces and hand motions. It was kind of distracting.

The spirit suddenly seemed to realize that Jaehyun could see him. He frowned and tried to pretend he hadn't seen him, but the spirit flew toward his desk with alarming speed.

Jaehyun jumped up, grabbed his bag, and fled from the classroom. The teacher called after him, but he was running as fast as he could, and the teacher didn't seem to feel like chasing him.

The spirit, however, was another story.

"Hi!" The boy said eagerly, grinning from ear to ear.

"You're not real," Jaehyun whispered.

"I'm not?" The spirit pouted. "That's a shame. I was pretty sure that I was. Oh well. If I'm not real, then I guess this won't hurt."

He clapped his hands together. A locker flew open and hit Jaehyun in the face. Jaehyun cried out in pain and tried to shake off the impact.

"Do you believe I'm real yet?" The spirit mocked him.

"Go away!" Jaehyun shouted.

"Not so loud, buddy. You're the only one who can see me. The other kids might start to think you're nuts."

"I'm starting to think I'm nuts," Jaehyun mumbled.

The spirit grinned at him. "Then you're in good company! I'm not the sanest guy around either."

"Who are you?" Jaehyun asked.

"Nakamoto Yuta," the spirit replied with a grin. "I died last year, and I've been stuck here ever since, completely bored out of my mind. Wanna be friends?"

"Um..."

"What's your name?"

"Jaehyun," he replied uncertainly.

"Are you sure? You don't sound sure. Does your mom sew it into your underwear? I can check!"

"What? No," Jaehyun said in alarm.

"No you're not sure of your name, or no your mom doesn't-"

"No, you can't touch my underwear. And no to the sewing. Yes, I'm sure I'm Jaehyun."

"See? That wasn't so hard!"

"You're hyper, Yuta."

"Yuta-hyung," Yuta corrected him with a smirk. "Or senpai. I'm Japanese, but I moved to Seoul five years ago. And of course I'm hyper! No one's talked to me in almost a year! I've been stuck here with no real way to entertain myself except messing with people."

"I don't really understand what's happening to me," Jaehyun admitted.

"Something amazing, Jae... Because now, you get me as a friend. You're one lucky guy."

"Yeah," Jaehyun mumbled. "Lucky."

G-DRAGON

He sensed the threat before he saw it. Someone was lurking nearby, watching the high school from the shadows. G-Dragon frowned and headed toward the dark energy he was sensing.

A man who was a bit too old to be a student was staring in the direction of the school. "You have ten seconds to tell me what you're doing before I call the cops," G-Dragon said sharply.

The man flipped him off without looking at him in response. "I'm serious," G-Dragon insisted. "Why are you watching the school?"

"That's not really any of your business," the man replied.

"Alright, cops it is..."

"It's a crime scene," the man said sharply.

G-Dragon hesitated. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"My younger cousin was a student there. He died two years ago. They claim it was a freak accident, but he was murdered."

"Murdered?" G-Dragon repeated.

"Yeah. So fuck off and let me do what I came here to do."

"Which is...?"

"Find his killer. Obviously."

G-Dragon knew he shouldn't trust the man, but he had a feeling he was telling the truth. "What's your name?" He asked.

"Min Yoongi."

"Yoongi, I'm G-Dragon. Maybe I can help you."

"I doubt that."

G-Dragon manifested fire in his hands, causing Yoongi to raise an eyebrow in surprise. "Are you offering to set his killer on fire for me?" He finally asked.

"If it's necessary, maybe. I have other skills, too. Let's talk, Yoongi. Tell me what happened to your cousin."

Yoongi hesitated before shrugging. "Fine," he said. "His name was V. Two years ago, he was a student here. He was running late for gym class, and was changing in the locker room. Part of the ceiling caved in on top of him. Some of the debris impaled him right through his heart..."

G-Dragon considered this. "I'm sorry about your cousin," he said. "Why do you think it was murder? It sounds like an accident."

"I just know, alright? His death feels wrong, like it was manipulated. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm positive that someone made the locker room collapse and killed him."

"With magic?" G-Dragon guessed.

"You believe me?" Yoongi asked in surprise.

"After all of the things I've seen, yeah, I do. I'll help you figure this out, Yoongi. If someone did this on purpose, they might still be a threat, and I am trying to keep the school safe."

"Why, exactly, are you protecting the school?"

"It's complicated, but there are some students I need to look after."

"I come here every few days to look for clues," Yoongi said. "Tell me who the students are and I can tell you about them."

G-Dragon decided to take a chance and trust Yoongi. "Bhuwakul BamBam, Monobal Lisa, Jeong Jaehyun, Lee Dami, Jeong Jungkook, Takahashi Juri, and Bang Chan," he said.

"BamBam's a good guy. He's very close to Lisa. They grew up together. He's very smart. The two of them get into mischief together, often because of Lisa's ideas. She's sweet, loves practical jokes, and doesn't like to be serious for too long. Jaehyun's pretty popular. He gets along with almost everyone. He doesn't like seeing people get upset and will do anything to lift the moods of people in distress. Dami's a badass. She's pretty stoic and disciplined. That girl can and will kick your ass without a second thought. Kookie's always getting picked on. He's a nice kid, but he's awkward and doesn't fight back. The bullies don't leave him alone, so my cousin's best friend, Jimin, decided to start looking out for him. Jimin used to get bullied like that, but V stood up for him and protected him, and eventually, it stopped," he paused for a moment.

"That's a nice way to pay tribute to V," G-Dragon said. "At least Kookie has someone watching his back."

"Yeah... Jimin took V's death harder than anyone," Yoongi replied. He took a deep breath and continued. "Juri's one of the most popular girls in school. It's hard to get her alone because her little minions follow her around everywhere. As far as spoiled princesses go, she's actually pretty nice, but you need to get past her friends to see that. She's extremely wealthy, but her mom's not home much and her dad's not in the picture, so she gets lonely. I think that's why she clings to her band of idiots. And Chan... Well, he's had a hard life. He's a foster kid and a complete outcast. The kid has a lot of anger inside of him and he tends to lash out, so be careful when you approach him."

"Thanks, Yoongi... That was helpful," G-Dragon said. "You've really been paying attention to the students, haven't you?"

"If I'm going to figure out who killed my cousin, I need to know everything about this school," he replied.

"That makes sense."

"So, why are you stalking these kids?"

"I need their help," G-Dragon replied. "I have to stop someone extremely evil, and they're meant to help me."

"They're just kids. Can you live with the consequences if something happens to them?"

"I won't let it."

"That's easy to promise, but it's not so easy to keep that promise. Shit happens, G-Dragon. You're hunting for one evil, but another is already inside of the school."

"Then we'll just have to stop them both," G-Dragon replied.

Yoongi smirked. "You make it sound so simple."

"I have to believe that we can do this, Yoongi. I will not lose my team again."

"Again?" Yoongi repeated.

G-Dragon sighed and said, "I was part of a team of people with supernatural gifts. I wasn't the oldest, but I was the leader. I'm pyrokinetic and can turn into a dragon. I've also trained extensively in spell work. My best friend, Top..." His voice cracked slightly with emotion. G-Dragon took a deep breath and tried again. "Top was hydrokinetic and could cause storms. Taeyang had Earth magic. Daesung had control over lightning and was a powerful healer. And Seungri had control over Air."

"What a well-balanced team," Yoongi said.

"We worked really well together, but one day, we were betrayed... We were meant to stop a horrible evil from rising, but we didn't understand how close it was."

"It was one of you?" Yoongi guessed.

"It was Seungri. He killed the others. I was the only one aside from him who made it out alive. Dragons aren't exactly easy to kill..."

"But you think you can keep a bunch of untrained kids alive?" Yoongi asked skeptically.

"It's different this time. I know who the evil one is."

"As I pointed out, you know who one evil person is, but we have at least one more in the school."

"It was two years ago. Are you sure the person who killed V is still here?"

"There was a darkness in this school after my cousin died. It's still here. The person hasn't left yet."

"Then we'll find them, Yoongi. Together... Alright?"

Yoongi shrugged. "I guess having a little help might be nice," he admitted.

G-Dragon smiled and offered him his hand. "To partners," he said.

Yoongi rolled his eyes. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he replied. "By the way, your little team is in trouble."

"What do you mean?" G-Dragon demanded. He followed Yoongi's gaze toward the school.

"Something's stirring... It's about to attack. You might want to go help."

"Are you coming?"

"Not yet. Go save your baby supernaturals, G-Dragon. We'll chat soon."

Left with no other choice, G-Dragon shifted into his dragon form and flew toward the school.

JURI

She had ducked behind the school to get some air. Juri loved her friends, but sometimes, they left her without any breathing room. Since it was her birthday, they were practically stalking her.

She spotted Dami working out in her favorite corner. That didn't bother her, as Dami was so lost in her routine she wouldn't even notice her. When she spotted Chan glaring at her from another corner, however, she sighed.

Time to go back inside, Juri thought.

She would have done that, but a strange, giant bird-like creature suddenly swooped down from the sky and attacked her.

Juri let out a shriek as its talons tried to slash her face open. To her shock, the bird was ripped off of her and flung backward impossibly fast.

Chan stood beside her. How did he reach me so quickly? She wondered, too stunned to speak aloud.

As the bird creature tried to attack her again, Chan put his hands up reflexively. Juri was shocked as a forcefield or something sprang up around them. The bird creature pecked at it and was instantly flung away from them.

Dami ran toward them with a kendo stick in her hands. She swung it at the bird creature. It broke over the creature's back.

"You owe me a new kendo stick, asshole!" Dami declared. She kicked the bird creature in its face. It squawked at her angrily and flew into the air to get away from her.

Kookie came running outside, seemingly fleeing from something. Juri realized a second bird creature was following him. It snapped its beak on his backpack and flew into the air, carrying him into the sky.

"Help!" Kookie screamed in a panic. He struggled to free himself and ended up slipping out of the straps of his backpack. He let out a startled cry as he began falling toward the ground, but he stopped in mid-air and began to float.

"Alright, Yuta, what was so important that I had to come outsi-" Jaehyun began. He froze as he stared at Kookie in confusion. "Holy shit, he's flying!" Jaehyun cried out.

BamBam and Lisa raced outside then. They stared at the scene in shock as more bird creatures showed up.

Lisa shrieked as a bird creature flew toward her. It burst into flames. BamBam was suddenly grabbed by another of them. It flew into the sky, even higher than Kookie had been.

"BamBam!" Lisa screamed.

Juri started to move forward, wanting to help but not sure how she could.

"Stay behind me," Chan said firmly.

"What?" Juri managed to ask.

"You started moving. Stay behind me. I don't know if I can keep this thing around us if you move," he clarified.

"I don't understand what's happening," Juri admitted.

"For once, you and I are on the same page, Princess," Chan replied dryly. "All I know is this shield is protecting us. Let's keep it that way."

Jaehyun moved closer to Lisa as she panicked and started trying to find a way to help BamBam. "I'll cover you," he said. He started physically attacking the bird creatures, kicking them and even punching them to keep them from reaching Lisa.

BamBam squirmed until he could make eye contact with the creature that had captured him. It tensed for a second before releasing him. He began falling toward the ground. Unlike Kookie, he didn't start to fly.

"No!" Lisa shouted. She put her hands up and BamBam froze in the air. Lisa focused and gently guided him back toward the ground.

Lisa ran toward BamBam and flung her arms around him. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, thanks to you," he replied. "I didn't really think it through when I put it in the bird's head to drop me."

Jaehyun and Dami were still beating up the bird creatures. Kookie was battling them in mid-air, and knocking them away from the others with gusts of wind he seemed to be controlling. BamBam and Lisa worked together to keep some of them at bay, with Lisa setting them on fire and BamBam seemingly taking control of some of their minds to make them flee. It still wasn't enough.

As more bird creatures swarmed around them, Chan cursed. "I have to help them," he said. "Stay here, Princess. Keep yourself hidden. I've got this."

"Chan, no! Don't leave me here," Juri begged.

"You'll be okay. I think the shield will hold. They need help."

Chan raced toward the others at an impossible speed. He started flinging what looked like balls of electricity at the bird creatures. They screeched in pain and turned their attention toward him.

"Chan, look out!" Juri screamed in warning. The star necklace she never took off began to glow. She clutched it in her hands and whispered, "Protect him."

As one of the bird creatures tried to bite Chan's throat, it spontaneously combusted. Juri let out a cry of surprise. She released her necklace as it felt boiling hot in her hands.

Suddenly, a dragon flew down from the sky. It released a stream of fire from its mouth, burning several of the creatures to ash.

Juri's eyes widened in confusion as the dragon transformed into a human wearing a red hoodie and blue jeans. "You're a person?" She asked.

"Most of the time," he replied. "Hold on a second." He took a deep breath, moved his hands in the air, and shouted, "Fly no more, do not flee. Your presence here can no longer be. With this spell, I banish thee! As I will it, so shall it be!"

The bird creatures vanished from sight. Kookie slowly glided toward the ground. "Is it over?" He asked nervously.

"For now," the man replied. "Hi, guys... My name is G-Dragon, and we need to talk."