Jisoo sat Indian-style atop the tower she called her home. A bottle of whiskey hung from her right hand. The breeze that kissed her cheeks and exposed arms was unthreatening and humid.

Many stories below, the city of Plastic Beach twittered and twinkled in different hues, giving an lively appearance to the artificial construct. The girls knew that, at some point, humans must have inhabited the place; there were signs advertising clothing shops and restaurants all throughout, in strange languages that seemed very similar to their own but altered in ways that made some words indiscernible. Now, however, those not-quite-neon signs flashed their welcoming messages onto a population of spindly steel androids as they went about their mysterious, secretive labor.

Jisoo acknowledged that she had to wake up early tomorrow in order to get her work done, but found that there was too much on her mind to sleep. Ever since the events of the past few days, she had felt as though something was amiss. The love of her life had been returned to her, but there were still so many loose ends that she couldn’t help but experience a measure of anxiety for what the future might hold. She craned her neck back and stared out at the sky, into the distance where the blackness of night and ocean were uninterrupted by the island’s light pollution. The patterns of stars in this new world were different from the old ones she’d known, overlooked by a smaller, more insignificant moon that seemed to be a passive observer rather than a looming presence. It made Jisoo’s heart ache in a bitter, reminiscent way that didn’t entirely make sense to her.

After a time, she cracked open the bottle and began to drink. The whiskey was of the same brand that she had shared with Seulgi and Lisa long ago, its sharp, woody flavor eliciting tingles of nostalgia at the base of her skull. Despite how “horrible” things had been back then, they were at least consistent. She had her father, her home, a sense of belonging. The world might have been crumbling, but it had still been her world. Now, it was different. The world had changed, and while she knew that it was for the better, for the good of every living being that inhabited it, a tiny part of her missed that dangerous wasteland. A small, nagging section of her soul missed the times when her daily routine consisted of farming crops that somehow managed to grow without sunlight, when she and the other girls would venture out of the desert and into the abandoned villages to the west in search of supplies (and maybe a few drops of alcohol, if they could find it), when hunting man-eating scorpions was a fun way to relax and blow off some steam, when things made sense and there were no robots, no love triangles, no grandiose quests to save a world that she didn’t know needed saving to begin with.

And then, towards the end of her life in that purportedly bleak landscape that she was so content to inhabit, there was Seulgi.

Seulgi Kang, her savior. Seulgi with the chocolate-hair and the dancing, loving hands.

Jisoo's unconscious mind opened up, throwing a series of vivid images and sensations for her to lose herself within. A towering, rickety metal bridge, illuminated by the angry red lava of a distant mountain, shaken by a violent tremor that was akin to the roar of some great beast as it awoke from its slumber.

Pure, unyielding terror.

And then, salvation. A pair of thin, strong arms pressing her in place, holding her, healing her.

Though the earth seemed to be tearing itself apart at the seams, Jisoo was held together on island of dreamlike calmness.

“You’re okay.”

The statement was short yet perfect, sending chills up and down Jisoo’s spine as she’d spun around to meet her heroine with a kiss.

Engrossed as she was in her recollection, Jisoo didn’t notice a figure approaching her from behind until she was met by a touch on the shoulder. She spun around to see Jennie squatting down, inches away, a quizzical look on her face as a lit cigarette hung lazily between her lips.

“, Jennie, you scared the out of me.”

“Good,” Jennie said, smiling and tapping at the thin, jagged scar scar on her temple, “That’ll be part of my revenge for what your ty ex-girlfriend did to me.”

“She’s not my ex-girlfriend. She was never my girlfriend to begin with.”

“Sure,” Jennie dismissed, taking a seat beside Jisoo, “So are you gonna have that bottle all to yourself or are you gonna share?”

“Didn’t Rosie forbid you from drinking?”

Jennie’s smirk disappeared, replaced by an ashamed frown as her cheeks flooded with color. Jisoo immediately regretted her joke and held the bottle out to the brunette.

“I’m just joking. Here, drink. I won’t tell her about it.”

“No… you were right, Rosie doesn’t want me to,” Jennie said, pushing the bottle away, “I already get her mad enough by smoking.”

Jisoo shrugged and took another swig.

“You’re too loyal,” the older girl said, smacking her lips as the drink made its way down to her stomach, “I mean, clearly I’m at the opposite end of that spectrum but, ...  her word isn’t law.”

“I know,” Jennie said, looking away, “But she knows what’s best for me.”

“I will never understand your relationship. By the way, you mind if I have a cigarette?”

Jennie produced the small paper box from her pocket and handed it to Jisoo.

“So what’s your plan with Taeyeon?” the brunette inquired, cupping her hands around the sputtering lighter as Jisoo futilely attempted to spark it.

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I guess I’ll tell her the truth the next time she comes by. Whenever that is.”

“But what about Seulgi? She’ll have to know that Seulgi came here. Especially since their submarine is crashed on our island. And like Seulgi said, Irene is gonna be worried. What’s our next step?”

Jisoo drank again in order to allow herself to think of a proper response.

“I don’t know, Jennie. I talked it over with Seulgi after we told everyone the truth, but she didn’t really know either. She wants to go get Irene, and I think everyone agrees with that. But we all know it’s not that simple.”

“Do you want to go get Irene?”

Jisoo hesitated She looked down, taking a long drag from the cigarette, enjoying the feeling of the hot smoke filling her lungs, sending a rush through her already spinning head and giving her further excuse not to respond.

“Of course… why would you even ask me that?” she finally muttered, her voice conveying a sort of forced indignation that she knew Jennie would see right through.

“I don’t know,” Jennie shrugged and glanced away, “If it were me, I wouldn’t wanna go looking for my girlfriend’s ex. But we do owe Irene a lot, regardless of our feelings towards her.”

“Even without what she did for us, Irene is a close friend of ours,” Jisoo said seriously.

“She probably doesn’t know that Seulgi’s back with you. They spent an entire year together. She’s going to be crushed when she finds out.”

Jennie’s eyes were hard and calm, much like her tone.

“That’s… a really good point. I’m surprised you thought of that.”

The brunette gave a huff of annoyance.

“I’m not a ing idiot.”

“I know,” Jisoo placated, smiling drunkenly, “But you’re not the most emotionally ‘in-tune’.”

“Eat my ,” Jennie spat, standing and turning to leave.

“Jennie, wait, I’m sorry,” Jisoo said, jogging after her friend, her footfalls punctuated by light metal pangs as she moved across the surface of the roof, “I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that you just don’t normally get into these emotional conversations. Can you stay up here with me for awhile? I don’t wanna be alone yet.”

Jennie ran a hand through her hair before turning around.

“Then gimme that bottle. I’m gonna need something to help drown out your bull. Rosie won’t notice if I just drink a little bit.”

Jisoo smiled and handed the bottle over.

***

Tiffany stood on the main deck of the flagship submarine, pretending to observe the workers below her as they went about their preparations for departure. Her wife stood beside her, leaning against her shoulder and absentmindedly playing with the ends of her hair. As the workers walked by, they shot quick, sideways glances that Tiffany could practically feel the intensity of, compounding to the already thick blanket of anticipation that was laid over the room.

They had a few more hours before they’d embark on their mission to retrieve Seulgi. The brunt of the invasion force was mechanised; despite Tiffany’s thirst for revenge, she still attempted to put as little of her people’s lives in danger as possible. She glanced over at her somber-looking wife, wondering what the orange-haired harlot was thinking of at that moment.

Probably Jisoo.

Tiffany felt disgust rising in her again, and made an effort to resist the urge to throw Taeyeon off of her. She took a deep breath, focusing on the task at hand. Once Jisoo was dead, this would all be over. Her and Taeyeon could go back to their happy lives, and everything would be fixed.

“Ma’am,” a timid voice said from behind, “Everything’s pretty much set and ready to go. We can move out within the hour, if you desire.”

Tiffany turned to Seohyun. The younger girl always seemed to shrink away when addressed, a trait that Tiffany saw as weak and unfitting for someone who was supposed to be a future council member. The older girl had no clue what sort of potential Taeyeon saw in her.

“We’ll leave in two hours instead. I want to be sure that we have the element of surprise.”

“Of course, ma’am. And one other thing,” Seohyun said anxiously, taking a brief pause before continuing, “I know it’s customary for me to travel with Taeyeon, but would it be possible for me to travel with the 080507 submarine?”

“The one that Bae is traveling on, you mean?” Tiffany asked, smirking.

Seohyun’s face reddened and she grew quiet.

Taeyeon seemed to take some interest in the conversation now, turning around to meet her junior’s eyes.

“It’s fine,” she said lazily, “There isn’t anything on here that we can’t handle ourselves. Just meet up with us when we make landfall on the island.”

Seohyun beamed.

“Thank you, ma’am!” she said, bowing several times, “I-I’ll see you at Plastic Beach!”

The younger girl scampered away towards to exit.

“I should probably prepare as well.” Tiffany said, detaching from her wife, “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Taeyeon nodded listlessly, to which Tiffany responded by giving her a kiss on the forehead and a tight squeeze. The orange-haired girl looked up at her wife, and briefly, Tiffany saw the woman she’d married, the doe-eyed, smiling goddess that had once blessed her days and nights with absolute serenity.

“I’ll see you in a bit.” she said, smiling.

Tiffany followed the same path Seohyun had, diverging down a steep ramp into the depths of the flagship submarine, walking through the matte black hallways, giving each passersby a wave or smile as needed. The sub was more of a second colony than a battleship; it was nearly a half-mile long, and was outfitted with the most high-end technology they had. Although it was manned by many pilots and workers, the onboard AI could easily return the giant vehicle back home, so long as it was still in the water; all it would take was the push of a button. This function was more of a comfort feature than anything else. Her crew would be exhausted after having reclaimed the island of Plastic Beach.

Tiffany walked for a few minutes before stopping in front of one of the many handleless doors lining the hall, taking a moment to procure her key card to open the entrance.

She stepped into the room she shared with her wife. It was a simple living area, the same black plaster-esque hue as the rest of the ship, with little more than a double bed and a storage shelf that was secured to the wall. The place wasn’t meant for long-term stay. Tiffany walked over to the shelves, digging through the various items until she came upon a small wooden box. She removed the box and took a seat on the bed, undoing the golden clasps as she did so.

The inside of the box was inlaid with a sheet of black velvet. At the center of this sheet was an indentation, one that housed a thin, long rod of metal with several buttons on it. Tiffany picked up the rod, rolling the cold steel in her palm, enjoying the familiarity of it. She held the safety lock down with her thumb while simultaneously pressing the topmost red button, causing a beam of pure, dazzling white energy to noiselessly spring from the hole at the top of the device. She waved the weapon in the air, watching as the blade blurred with each movement. Although she constantly practiced with the deadly weapon, it had been a long time since she’d been able to use it on a live target.

It would be some consolation to Taeyeon that Jisoo’s death would be quick and painless.

***

“So how do I put this thing in reverse?” Lisa asked, looking over at the brunette beside her for assistance.

Yerim turned away from the console she was fiddling with, replying only with an exaggerated shrug.

“Guess I just gotta play around with it, huh?” Lisa said, beginning to operate the many levers and dials in front of her.

“Maybe we should wait for Seulgi… she’s the one who drove this thing to begin with,” Yerim said, unsurety dripping from her words.

If Lisa was being honest with herself, it wasn’t a good idea to be messing around with the submarine that Seulgi had crashed onto the shore of Plastic Beach. However, she felt that the older girl had been through enough to get here, so the least they could do is move it back into the bay for her. What they’d be doing with it after hadn’t been decided, but getting it into deep enough water so that it was at least halfway submerged was a good first step.

“Nah, I can handle this. Grab onto something though. I don’t want you getting thrown around.”

Yerim bit her lip worriedly but offered no resistance, grabbing onto the back of the pilot’s chair and locking her feet beneath it. Lisa continued to meddle with the machinery until there was a palpable lurch backwards, at which both girls let out startled yelps, followed by relieved laughter.

“Okay, so I think it’s in reverse, maybe?”

“Feels like it.”

“Alright, so I’ll just hit the-”

“Hey, what’s that?” Yerim asked, walking around the side of the chair, pointing at one of the radars on the console.

Lisa looked over and saw a growing number of blinking white dots, each gradually moving towards the large green dot that represented their own location. The dots were in a ring-like formation that expanded as more of them came into view, as if they were moving to surround something. Realization dawned on Lisa and she frantically grabbed Yerim by the arm.

“Pirates. Those have to be pirates.”

“What?” Yerim returned Lisa’s grip, urgently grasping at the younger girl’s hand.

“They must be coming for Seulgi. There’s so many of them… holy ,” Lisa could feel herself beginning to panic. The pirates had never wielded such a large attack fleet before. The dots continued to appear on screen, blinking into existence as more and more of them came within the radar’s limits, “… what do we do?”

“Lisa,” Yerim whispered sternly, using her free hand to bring Lisa’s face close to her own, pressing their foreheads together, “Lisa, it’s okay. Relax. We have to go warn everyone. Come on. I can’t drive, so you’ll need to do it. You’ve dealt with crazier before. This is nothing.”

“You’re right… you’re right.” Lisa replied, holding Yerim’s free hand now as well, “Let’s go. We have to rally all the robots in the city. We’ll need their help.”

Yerim nodded and moved to open the hatch on top of the submarine. Lisa followed, and both girls headed off into the night.

***

Jennie’s awareness of what was happening around her had become decidedly limited. She allowed Jisoo to lead her along, her unsteady gait threatening to send her tumbling forward with each step, saved only by the older girl’s grip on her torso.

“Why did you let me drink so much?” Jennie asked, her words slurring.

“I didn’t know you were such a lightweight...” Jisoo replied, opening the door to their apartment.

They stopped, but Jennie’s feet betrayed her, sending her stumbling forward toward the doorway. Luckily, another pair of arms were prepared to catch her.

Jennie looked up at her partner, who was wearing a deep, concerned frown on her face as she held up the drunken brunette.

“I’m sorry, Rosie…”

Rosé gave no response, instead turning her face up to look at Jisoo. Jennie was unable to see the look on her lover’s face, as she was too enthralled by Rosé’s wonderful scent and warm skin.

“How much did she have to drink?”

“Only like four shots at the most,” Jisoo explained apologetically, “I thought she was fine until she stood up.”

“Okay,” Rosé’s voice was calm and even, “Jennie-pie, do you feel sick at all?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Alright sweetie,” Rosé whispered, pulling Jennie up a little more in order to secure her grip, “Let’s go to bed. Come on. Thanks for bringing her here, Jisoo.”

“Hey, listen, don’t be mad at her, okay? I kinda convinced her to drink. She didn’t want to.”

“It’s fine, I’m not mad. It’s not a big deal.”

Jennie could feel a flood of surprised relief filling her body at Rosé’s words.

Rosé led Jennie to their room, holding the older girl to her side as if she would try to escape at any moment. She shut the door behind them, leading Jennie over to the bed and laying her down with utmost care and gentleness.

“Rosie, I didn’t mean to, I didn’t know that I’d get drunk off so little… I’m sorry Rosie.”

Rosé placed a finger to Jennie’s lips, silencing her.

“It’s okay, really.”

“But you told me not to drink!”

Rosé smiled and bent over to grace both of Jennie’s cheeks with kisses, eliciting a series of high-pitched giggles from the brunette.

“And I’m glad you remembered that. But every once in awhile is fine. Just don’t make it a habit, like smoking.”

“Ugh, you’re so sweet to me, Rosie,” Jennie said, throwing her arms around Rosé, pulling her onto the bed, “Why aren’t we married yet?”

“From the amount of times you’ve brought that up, it seems like you actually wanna marry me.” Rosé said jokingly, settling into Jennie’s embrace.

“But I do. I wanna marry you.”

“We don’t need to get married, Jennie. We both already know that we’re going to be spending the rest of our lives together. And it’s not like we have a bunch of people to invite or anything.”

Jennie nuzzled her face into the younger girl’s chest, holding her as tightly as possible without hurting her.

“I don’t know how you deal with me. You’re the perfect soulmate, Rosie.”

“It’s not work for me,” Rosé said plainly, “When I’m with you, I’m always enjoying myself.”

Jennie tried, and failed, to hold back the intense emotions that were building up within her. She began to cry into Rosé’s chest.

The violet-haired girl Jennie’s hair and planted soft kisses at the top of her head, in just the way that she knew Jennie loved.

***

Jisoo tiptoed into her room, shutting the door behind her with a tender click. The sprawled out, snoring figure that took up most of her bed slept on without flinching. Unfortunately for the tipsy Jisoo, Seulgi’s limbs occupied a large chunk of the mattress. She tried her best to crawl into one of the few empty spaces without waking her partner, but it was a futile effort; Seulgi shifted in her sleep, and although she didn’t awake fully, she wrapped her arms around Jisoo’s midsection and pulled her close, pressing the side of her own face against Jisoo’s back and cuddling her like a child with a stuffed animal.

“Where did you go? I was lonely...” Seulgi whined groggily.

“I was drinking with Jennie,” Jisoo whispered, reaching back to give Seulgi’s thigh a soothing pat, “And don’t lie, you slept the whole time. You had no idea I was gone.”

“You didn’t even invite me? You’re such a mean girlfriend…”

“I didn’t wanna wake you up. You were exhausted.”

“Never mind… love you…” Seulgi murmured before falling back into her slumber.

Jisoo chuckled lightly and adjusted herself so that she was in a comfortable position.

In spite of everything that was going on, in spite of the tangled complexity of her life at the moment, Jisoo couldn’t help but feel blessed that at the end of the day, she was lying beside Seulgi Kang.

***

Joy was yanked out of her sleep by a violent pulling of the blankets above her. She shot up frantically, turning over to check on Wendy.

The petite blonde was sitting up as well, teeth clenched, eyes clamped shut, shaky palms rubbing at her temples.

“Wen?” Joy asked, placing a hand on her partner’s slim shoulder, “What’s wrong? Are you about to teleport again?”

“No… Joy, just please, be quiet for a second,” Wendy snapped.

“O-okay…” Joy said sheepishly, removing her hand from Wendy’s shoulder, feeling hurt.

Wendy sat for a while, increasing the rubbing at her temples and muttering to herself, until she suddenly lifted her head up, turned, and pulled Joy’s face down to hers for a long kiss.

“Huh?” Joy gasped as the older girl released her.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you like that,” Wendy said ruefully, “But I was having a vision… the first one I’ve had in a long time. About Irene. And Jennie.”

Joy sat up straight, a solemn look coming upon her face.

“What was it?”

“It was… weird,” Wendy murmured, staring off into the distance, “Jennie and Irene were standing in some sort of control room… with a bunch of levers and dials and things like that. And Jennie looked weird. Disheveled. Her clothes were covered in blood. It looked like they were about to fight or something…”

“Well,” Joy said, running a hand through her hair, “How could that even be happening? What’s going on?”

“I wish I knew,” Wendy muttered, “But… maybe we can try something. If I focus hard enough on that image, maybe I can teleport to that spot.”

“That’s a great idea… but this might be much farther away. In another world, even. Are you sure you’re up to it?”

Wendy frowned deeply.

“I have to try. I have a bad feeling about what I saw. A really bad feeling.”

***

   Rosé slid into the driver’s seat of her pickup. Dalgom was already sprawled out in the back, his massive white form taking up a large section of the tray. She started the vehicle, lamenting on the fact that Jennie had chosen tonight to get drunk; she would have been an immense help in moving the crashed submarine back into the bay. Rosé herself hadn’t been able to sleep. Under normal circumstances, Jennie’s reassuring weight and caresses would lull her into unknowingness without much effort. However, Rosé found herself on edge that night, her mind coiled and ready to pounce at a moment’s notice, a sensation that was coupled with a cold anxiety that was unpleasant and intrusive.

The violet-haired girl figured that since she was up anyway, she might as well make herself useful. As was her habit, she’d taken both of her swords with her, just in case she ran into any aggressive, evening jungle flora. Lisa and Yerim had already gotten a head start, but she assumed that they hadn’t gotten the submarine into the water yet, as it had only been an hour or so since their departure.

Rosé hummed to herself idly while driving, zoning out slightly and thinking about the impromptu marriage proposal that Jennie had offered her earlier. She decided to take the longer, more scenic route to the bay. She had the time, anyway.

***

“We’re about to make landfall, Irene.” Seohyun said quietly, nudging the dozing older girl’s shoulder. Irene shot up into alertness.

   “How long was I asleep for?” she asked, looking around.

   They were in Seohyun’s cabin. It was a small room that was curved along with the submarine’s hull, tucked away into the back of the larger-than-normal aquatic vehicle. There was only one bed, which Irene was sprawled out in. Seohyun stood above her, and for once, the younger girl seemed at ease.

   “A few hours. Not long at all,” Seohyun said, “You haven’t missed anything important. Tiffany’s sub is going to dock at the point where Taeyeon said Seulgi was last seen. They’re sending recon drones out to assess the situation, I’m pretty sure. We’re headed around to the opposite side, near the city.”

   “The city?” Irene inquired.

   “Come,” Seohyun said, taking Irene’s hand in hers (an unusually bold move by the meek woman), “I’ll show you.”

   Irene allowed herself to be led into the main cabin of the submarine, groggy as she was from her abrupt awakening. As they went, she remembered that the only other inhabitants of their sub were robots. These robots were of a different design than the ones Irene had previously encountered; they were stout and thick, with cubed, gray-hued bodies. They seemed to be designed solely for operating the submarine, which they were doing with complete disregard for any other happenings around them.

   Seohyun brought Irene to the main console, which was unmanned. She typed in a few commands. The largest screen located at the center of the console lit up and began flashing a murky blue color.

   “Give it a sec,” Seohyun hadn’t released Irene’s hand, but the older girl found that she didn’t mind.

   “There.”

   The view of the camera broke through the surface, popping up and revealing an island that dominated most of the screen. The tropical landmark’s most distinguishing feature was a large, mushroom-shaped structure, upon which was a large, futuristic-looking city. The buildings cast a powerful yellow-blue glow that reflected off of the blackness of the water. It was quite the magnificent sight, a marvel of technology rivaled only by the appearance of the underwater colony they had recently departed from.

   “Yep, that’s my old home…” Seohyun whispered. Irene noted a sort of needful hunger in her voice, “Besides a few humans that showed up there only recently, it’s all robots that live there now.”

   “I wonder what these humans are like. Or if they even know the history behind everything here.”

   “I don’t know… but either way, we’re going to have to fight them. I have a feeling this isn’t a situation where talking things out is going to be a viable solution.”

Seohyun released Irene’s hand and wiped her own forehead. It seemed that the younger girl was steeling herself for something, and Irene had a pretty good idea of what it was.

   “We should probably get our weapons together then,” Irene said, “Did you guys bring those throwing knives I requested?”

   “Yeah, we did. But before you go get them, I have to talk to you about something.”

   Irene turned fully to face the taller girl then. The shy Seohyun had returned. She looked down at the ground, and despite her incessant wiping, there was a sheen of sweat that had accumulated on her temples. She folded both of her hands in front of her, shifting her stance so that her feet were pressed firmly together, as if wanting to take up as minimal space as possible. Her cheeks were alight with a pink blush.

   “I don’t know what’s gonna happen at Plastic Beach. Honestly, I’m terrified that some of us might not make it back home today. I just have a bad feeling. And I don’t want to leave anything unsaid, so-”

   Irene cut off the taller girl with a kiss, wrapping her arms around Seohyun’s shoulders and pressing their lips together. She gave Seohyun opportunity to respond, to envelop Irene in her own embrace, even to deepen the kiss. When Irene felt their tongues starting to touch, she detached, firmly but gently stepping out of Seohyun’s arms, taking both of the girl’s hands in hers as she did so.

   The younger girl had a slack-jawed, bewildered look on her face, as if her entire world had just been turned upside down.

   “I won’t let anything happen to you, Seohyun,” Irene promised, “I’ll protect you with my life. I owe you that much.”

   She didn’t give Seohyun time to respond, instead releasing both of the younger girl’s moist palms and walking away, headed for the weapons room.

***

Jennie was ripped out of her slumber by the blaring of an alarm. She was still half-drunk, causing her to roll off of her bed and slam onto the floor in a tangled mess of blankets. She wrestled her way to her feet and looked around.

   “Rosie?” she called weakly, turning away from the unoccupied bed and looking around the room, “Rosie? Where are you?”

   Jennie stumbled her way to the door, the hallways now painted a deep red by the flashing overhead lights. As she did, Seulgi and Jisoo burst from their own room, looking equally as confused and disoriented.

   “What the ?” Jisoo yelled over the sirens.

   “Something’s going down,” Jennie said solemnly, “Something big. The robots only use that alarm when the pirates are attacking.”

   “Pirates? You mean-”

   “Yeah,” Jennie cut Seulgi off, “Looks like your friends stopped by to pick you up.”

   “. Why didn’t anyone wake us up?”

   “I don’t know. Doesn’t matter. We have to go help.”

   The three girls frantically began preparing themselves.

   ***

   “We’ve detected a vehicle heading towards the city, with two humans in it. It seems to be a small pickup truck, with no built-in weapons. Approximately a half-mile away.”

   Tiffany stepped down from the main podium of the command submarine, striding over to Yuri, attempting to quell the rumbling anxiety that was swirling around in her stomach. Tiffany leaned over Yuri’s shoulder, brushing some of her own hair out of her face in order to obtain a better view of the screen before them.

   “There aren’t many humans that inhabit this island,” Yuri said evenly, “One of them could be Jisoo. Should I send out attack drones?”

   “Yes,” Tiffany said, scanning the small red dot as it weaved its way through what was presumably jungle, “As well as a manned drone for yourself. But set the automated ones to capture mode. And do it quickly. I want to be on the ground as soon as possible.”

   Yuri nodded and began typing in the proper codes.

   Tiffany glanced back for a moment to look at her wife. The orange-haired woman was staring up at the main display, which showed the large, curved bay that they were currently docking in front of. She was biting her nails, her attention fully focused on the massive screen.

Of course. She was worried for Jisoo. As she should be.

   ***

   Yerim held on as tightly as possible to the small plastic handle above the pickup truck’s window. Her knuckles white, her body covered in sweat, her stomach churning, her head spinning, she kept her eyes shut as Lisa pushed the vehicle to its absolute limit, flying through the jungle much faster than Yerim would have thought possible. As they twisted and turned through the dirt roads, the sound of their pursuers grew closer.

   “Yeri!” Lisa yelled, causing the brunette’s eyes to fly open, “You gotta grab one of the guns from the back and start shooting at them! They’re too fast!”

   Yerim turned around and peered through the back window of the truck; sure enough, there were two sleek, metallic hovercrafts zooming their way down the winding path. They looked like legless silver turtles, each outfitted with black bubbles on the forefront of its chassis. The brunette wrenched open the window and reached through, her efforts to grab at any of the weapons constantly being impeded by the roughness of the ride. Luckily, one of the laser rifles slid backwards directly into Yerim’s hand, and she was able to snatch it up before momentum carried it away again. She pulled herself back into the cab.

   “Sunroof!” Lisa commanded without taking her eyes off the road.

   “Got it!”

   Yerim opened the sunroof and poked out, securing her foot onto the space between the passenger seat and the center console. It was a precarious position, but this way, it was possible for her to control her body if she began to fall.

   She brought the gun to her shoulder, muscle memory taking over as she attempted to draw a proper bead on the closest of her targets. Eventually, she came to the conclusion that it was virtually impossible to properly aim in such conditions; she pulled the trigger just as Lisa took a particularly sharp turn, causing what little accuracy she would have had to be nullified.

   The rifle released a series of glowing yellow orbs, flashing through the night, scorching their way through anything that was unlucky enough to be in their path. A few of the shots were able to graze their mark, leaving long, red-hot streaks across the first hovercraft’s chassis. It zoomed forward at the same rate without so much as a pause.

   Lisa directed the pickup onto a straighter road, one that Yerim recognized as a road that led to the the eastern tip of the island, away from the city. Yerim chose not to question this, instead seizing the opportunity and firing the rifle once again, with much greater precision. Although a handful of the shots were off, most of them made direct contact with the black orb on the front of the craft. Yerim was pleased to find that her hunch was correct; the large bubble was made of a thinner, less-reinforced material than the rest of the craft, and it melted inwards easily as the plasma bullets ate away at it.

   To Yerim’s immediate dismay, the vehicle reacted to this damage by speeding up further and producing small twin cannons on each side of its now burnt front. The brunette ducked back into the car.

   “It’s gonna shoot at us!” she yelled, abandoning the rifle.

   “Buckle your seatbelt!” Lisa replied frantically, glancing up at the rearview mirror.

   Yerim did so, pulling the belt as tightly as possible around herself. Just as she finished, there was a loud, high-pitched whining noise, followed by a pulsing blast. Lisa jerked the steering wheel to the right, sending the truck off the road and into the low bushes.

She wasn’t fast enough.

The truck was hit on Yerim’s side, causing it to spin out, crashing its way down the incline that lay beside the road and into the dense woods of the jungle below.

An airbag deployed, striking Yerim hard in the face. They spun out of control with no sense of direction. Yerim’s hand shielded her wounded visage as she fought back a wave of nausea. The truck came skidding to a halt in the center of a narrow stream, somehow still upright, covered in dents and gashes from its journey off the dirt path.

Yerim’s senses came back sluggishly. In the distance, she could hear more sounds of plasma cannons, though it didn’t seem as though they were being shot at any longer. In her dazed state, she was somehow able to push open the door, rolling out onto the wet ground and retching into the water. She collapsed onto her side immediately after, her body unwilling to support her any longer, her mind slipping in and out of consciousness as she struggled to regain control. Some vague, small part of her brain screamed at her to get up, screamed that something was seriously wrong, that she was forgetting a matter of vital importance, but she couldn’t remember. All she could think was how wonderful it would be to just lay there in the cool, comfortable mud, to close her eyes and drift off into a long, permanent slumber.

“Yeri,” a voice hissed from what sounded like a light years away, “Yeri, please get up. We have to go.”

Yerim’s eyes fluttered open. The face of a very pretty blonde girl appeared before her, a grimace fixed on her bloodied mouth, her bruised eyes filled with pained moisture.

“Come on, snap out of it,” Lisa pleaded, “We have to keep moving.”

Yerim flopped a lazy arm out to drape around Lisa’s shoulder. She performed the gesture without reason, more because it simply felt like the right thing to do. To the brunette’s surprise, Lisa was able to scoop her up from that position with little difficulty. Yerim willed her legs to assist in holding them up, and she was able to regain some of her balance, albeit with Lisa still providing most of the support. The blonde shifted Yerim so that she was able to get a good look at her entire body. Judging by the tiny smile that came upon Lisa’s lips, Yerim’s injuries were less severe than she’d feared.

“Nothing broken?” Yerim asked groggily.

“No,” Lisa whispered, returning to a position in which they could start walking together, “Just a little beat up. We were lucky. How’s your head?”

Yerim reached up to the top of her skull, rubbing one of the sorer spots. Upon inspection, she was unsurprised to see that her hand was coated in crimson.

“It’s hard to think…”

“It’s okay,” Lisa assured, “We’re gonna get you some help, just hang tight.”

Yerim nodded, and they limped off into the darkness of the jungle.

A mile behind them, up the ruined slope that they had just impromptuly traversed, Yuri stepped out of the partially-melted front of her vehicle, frowning down at the path of destruction that the pickup had made.

***

As Jennie stepped out of the tower, her senses were assaulted by a slew of stimuli. The alarms continued to blare, now accompanied by the distant sounds of laser bullets zipping through the air. Robots scrambled between buildings, most armed with rifles or pistols, all headed towards the elevators or loading bays.

The battle had already begun.

Jisoo and Seulgi joined her just as she’d finished taking in the chaotic scene.

“We have to go find the other girls…” Seulgi said, her voice distant and amazed.

Jennie nodded, making a beeline for the nearest set of emergency lifts. Her two companions followed, unable to match her near-sprinting pace. As Jennie ran, ducking between robots and narrowly avoiding what would have been highly injurious collisions, the panic growing in her chest crashed into her in waves, coming and going, threatening to overwhelm her as she ran.

Rosie. Rosie. Rosie. Rosie.

The name rang through her mind at every step. She heard Jisoo call out that she was moving too fast, but she didn’t care. Nothing else mattered right now. She had to get into one of the trucks, to start scouring the island, to find her love.

***

   Rosé threw her vehicle into park and stepped out into the cool night air. The breeze was starting to pick up, and she was forced to tie her hair back into a ponytail before beginning the walk over to the bay. Dalgom followed her, listlessly sniffing at the ground as he went.

   As they were about halfway across the narrow strip of land that connected the bay to the rest of the island, Dalgom began to bark. Rosé turned around to see the wolf crouching in the sand, hackles raised, fangs bared, facing the direction of the bay.

   “What’s wrong, Dalgom?” Rosé asked, her hands moving to the two laser swords that were clipped to her belt.

Were Lisa and Yerim in danger?

   The violet-haired girl began stepping forward, causing Dalgom to let out a long whine. Rosé gave the dog a reassuring pat before continuing her way to the edge of the strip, hugging the nearest tree in order to provide herself with sufficient cover. She peered out and began scanning the area.

   Seulgi’s submarine remained crashed in the sand, and there was no sign of Yerim, Lisa, or their truck. But these things were only secondary to the main event of the scene; at the center of the bay, there was a behemoth of a submarine poking out from beneath the waves, one that stretched so far in the distance that its end was obscured by the rocks that formed the mouth of the bay. Its top was rounded, similar to how a normal submarine would be, but its roof was covered in many sensory devices that poked up out of its shadowy form like grotesque appendages. The nose of the vehicle was wide open, and from it came several crafts along with some bulky-looking robots. Most of the robots had already made landfall, and were dispersing through the jungle, moving in a pattern that indicated they were searching for something.

   As Rosé was about to pull herself back behind the tree, intending on turning around and driving back to the city in order to warn everyone, she noticed something. Two of the figures that were moving around on the beach were significantly slimmer and more human-shaped than the others. She squinted hard, just making out the form of women, one with black hair and the other with orange, who seemed to be giving orders to the automatons around them. They had to be pirates, and they had to be here for Seulgi. That meant that Irene should have been there, as well. Rosé took another step forward (a step that was punctuated by Dalgom’s whining) in order to get a closer look, to see if the black-haired girl was who she thought it was.

   Unfortunately, this movement was enough for one of the closer robots to notice, its head spinning around to point at Rosé. The others did the same almost immediately after. Rosé didn’t stick around to see the reaction from the two women, instead opting to turn around completely and run back the way she came, followed close behind by Dalgom.

***

Jennie fully acknowledged that she was the most reckless driver in the group. She cut corners just a little too close, braked too hard, and generally drove in the least straight line possible. It was mainly due to impatience; Jennie preferred to burn gas instead of time.

   In this situation, a situation where the love of her life was in an unknown, dangerous predicament, the brunette had no regard for anything but Rosé. Her pickup truck barreled through the jungle at dangerous speeds, wheels occasionally lifting off of the road at sharp turns, a cloud of thick dust and gravel kicking up behind the vehicle as it went.

   She approached the side of the island that Rosé was most likely to be on, braking into her turns in order to get a glimpse of what was to come through the trees. She noticed an alarming phenomenon; as the headlights of her truck would illuminate the distant shoreline, there would be a series of silver flashes, separated by minutely brief, yet starkly present, pauses of shadow. Individually, they appeared to be cubes of metal, clustered together in a shifting circle that appeared to moving inwards.

Jennie rounded one final bend before she was able to see them in full: a few dozen androids marching with awkward shuffles in a jagged formation. They weren’t the same robots that inhabited Plastic Beach. They were far too primitive and slow-moving. Jennie craned her neck to try and get a glimpse of what they were converging on.

Although the brunette was unable to see much through the combined shroud of darkness and foliage, she made out one thing specifically, one that caused her heart to fling itself into frantic rhythms and her body to tense up as she pressed the accelerator to the floor. The robots were converging on what looked like a pickup truck, and if she wasn’t mistaken, there was a tiny spot of violet adjacent to the vehicle.

***

Rosé found herself surrounded. She had no idea where they’d come from, or how they’d gotten the jump on her, but she was caught. The stubby, box-like robots formed a neat circle around her, the pickup truck, and Dalgom. The wolf stood in front of her, crouching low and growling as his head darted back and forth, ready to fight off any of the machines that got too close. The violet-haired girl had both swords drawn, crossed in front of her in a defensive stance. She pressed her back up against the side of the truck so that she could keep as many of their foes in sight as possible.

“It’s okay, Dalgomie… only attack if I do. Just relax for now,” she whispered soothingly, hoping the robots wouldn’t pick up on her words.

Truthfully, that was easier said than done. Rosé could feel her heart racing, her muscles twitching, ordering her to start fighting; it was instinct. Once they’d formed a thick, impassable ring of bodies around the pair, the robots around them became immobile aside from the various flashing lights that covered their bodies. Rosé contemplated jumping into the truck and attempting to mow them all down, but she scrapped the idea as soon as she realized that some of the robots were wielding energy weapons. The only option she had was to wait.

It wasn’t long before the machines began to clear a path, moving to the side and creating a  vertical part in their wall. The women from the beach approached down this aisle. The black-haired girl wore a smug expression. She stepped forward, her arms crossed lazily over the black leather of her bodysuit. Dalgom let out a whine, and Rosé glanced over at him momentarily. The wolf was staring at the orange-haired woman with what looked like a mixture of uncertainty and sadness. She noted that the woman refused to even look at him, staring at the ground or at her companion; anywhere but at the wolf.

“Is this her?” she asked. Though her dark eyes were fixed on Rosé, the question was meant for her partner.

“No,” she replied, “But the dog is Jisoo’s.”

   “Who are you? And what do you want with Jisoo?” The mention of Jisoo’s name forced Rosé  to respond. Dalgom added a bark and a low growl to Rosé’s already threateningly intonated question.

   The black-haired girl released a condescending chuckle.

   “We’re the rightful owners of this island. That’s all you have to know. And as for Jisoo, I only want to have a little chat with her.” the grin that came upon the black-haired girl’s face caused the already roiling rage within Rosé’s body to further increase, threatening to spill over completely.

   No, Rosé thought to herself, clenching her teeth hard,  My only option is to wait for backup, or wait for an opening to escape.

   To the violet-haired girl’s surprise, the shorter girl seemed just as disturbed by her partner’s declaration as Rosé was, her small, child-like lips set into a horrified “o”.

   The three girls were too preoccupied to hear, but in the distance, the low drone of an engine was growing louder.

   “We’re probably better off searching other parts of the island,” the shorter girl said uncertainly, “She’s clearly not anywhere over here.”

   “Shut up,” the black-haired girl said harshly, causing her partner to flinch backwards, “You’re just trying to protect her. This is was inevitable, we had to-”

   “You’re Taeyeon,” Rosé realized in awe, “You’re the one Jisoo’s been hooking up with, right?”

   Taeyeon’s eyes widened and she shook her head vigorously, her actions betraying her weak attempt at lying. The black-haired girl pulled something from her belt, and in one motion a beam of whitish-yellow light sprang from her clenched fist. She stepped forward, holding the sword level with her hip. Rosé’s swordplay-oriented mind immediately began to look for openings, and she found several; if the black-haired girl were to come at her, she knew exactly how to retaliate. The issue wasn’t the angry-looking woman who was approaching her, but rather the army of robots that surrounded her and Dalgom.

   As the taller woman closed the distance between them, Dalgom leapt between the two swordswoman, hackles raised, growls now booming and dangerous. Taeyeon flinched backwards, but her partner did not. It was enough to cease her advance, however.

   “Call your dog off, or I’ll strike him down.”

   “If you do, I’ll cut both of you to pieces,” Rosé said dangerously, “Your robots can kill me, but you won’t survive.”

   The black-haired girl opened to say something, but Taeyeon cut her off.

   “Please, Tiffany,” she pleaded, “Leave Dalgom alone. He’s just trying to protect-”

   “I said SHUT UP!” Tiffany screamed, raising her blade to attack the large wolf before her.

   Dalgom dodged to the left, narrowing avoiding the whizzing beam of energy. Rosé took his place, lunging forward with enough strength to knock Tiffany backwards. The robots around them began to ready their weapons, but before they could fire, the dull, booming sound of metal clunking on metal filled the air, and they froze. All three of the girls turned towards the sound. And then, all hell broke loose.

   A large red pickup truck mowed through the robots wantonly, cutting into the crowd and smashing the box-like machines, sending them flying in several different directions. Taeyeon scrambled to get out of the way as the truck drifted back and forth across the sand, disappearing into the nearby jungle in her search for safety.

   Tiffany used this opening to strike at Rosé, who barely managed to parry her blow. Dalgom charged forward and knocked over one of the robots that remained standing, its plasma weapon firing futilely in the air, a shot that surely would have been aimed directly at Rosé. The screeching pickup truck was now occupying most of the robots’ attention. Between blocking Tiffany’s blows Rosé was able to just make out the brown-haired, deeply frowning, baby-faced angel who piloted the rapidly denting pickup truck: it was none other than her Jennie-pie.

   “What are you smiling at?” Tiffany growled, missing yet another stab at Rosé’s side.

   “Oh nothing,” Rosé said loftily, “Just thinking about how easy this fight is.”

   Tiffany’s face reddened and her snarl deepened as she increased the speed and intensity of her attacks. This was fine, as Rosé wanted to remain on the defensive in order to lure her into a false sense of security. Though the violet-haired girl hated to leave Dalgom and Jennie behind, she needed to handle Tiffany, who was clearly some sort of leader here. She allowed Tiffany to push her back, careful to put a measure of unevenness into each step in order to make it seem more like a clumsy retreat than a calculated movement.

   “Still easy?” Tiffany asked, though her words came more strained now as she put all of her physical effort into attacking.

   Rosé provided no response, instead taking another step back onto the small strip of sand that led back to the bay. The rising tide nipped at the two girls’ boots, though they paid no attention to it; both were far too focused on the battle at hand. Tiffany was playing right into her hand, separating herself from her army, and it would only be a few more steps before Rosé could go on the offensive.

***

   Yerim crashed through the jungle, clinging to Lisa as they fumbled in the dark. They could still hear the high-pitched whines of plasma bursts to their rear. The nature of the sound made it impossible to tell how far away the shots came from, lending to a frantic, charging limp that the two girls took on. Luckily for them, the denseness of the flora provided sufficient cover with its thick leaves and sprawling branches. Both girls were still shaken from their previous crash, especially Yerim, who had only a vague idea of what was going on. The brunette was aware that Lisa was doing most of the work, half-dragging her along, offering words of encouragement and comfort even as she herself was on the verge of collapsing. Their pursuer was silent but persistent, firing increasingly accurate shots that flashed their way through the bushes, vaporizing everything in their path, leaving piles of ash and tiny fires that flickered out as quickly as they’d come. Yerim felt as though she were drowning in the sheer terror of it all. She wanted it to end. She wanted to wake up from this horrible nightmare, this horrible nightmare that was all too real. She wanted to be safely tucked away in bed, wrapped around Lisa’s form, with Lisa holding her tight…

   “Yerim,” Lisa said, her voice coming abrupt, jerking the brunette out of her semi-conscious state, “You can’t pass out now, we’re almost there.”

   “Wh-where?”

   Lisa huffed in response before pointing forward. Yerim jerked her head up, willing herself into alertness, trying her best to focus as another blast of energy splashed across the trunk of a tree several meters to her left.

   In the distance, there was some sort of commotion going on. Although Yerim had heard the noises prior, she had simply chalked them up to their pursuer. However, now she could see that there was much more happening. There were flashes of metal flying through the air, the sounds of weapons being fired, the revving of an engine, and, if she wasn’t mistaken, the bark of a dog.

   “There’s a lot going on there,” Lisa gasped as they hurried along, her muscles beginning to burn incessantly now, “If we can get over there, get the person behind us distracted…”

   “Got it,” Yerim growled, a newfound vigour filling her bones as she began to take over, shifting the weight over to herself and trying her best to carry Lisa along now. She refused to be dead weight any longer. Now that there was a clear goal in sight, she was able to pull her thoughts together more efficiently, to focus on getting to that specific point. Her tunnel-vision-like state allowed her to ignore the pain in her skull and trudge forward, the two girls’ movements becoming much more efficient as they contributed equally.

   Not far behind them, Yuri continued her pursuit, stumbling through the unfamiliar terrain of the jungle while occasionally firing whenever she caught a glimpse of blonde or a flash of pale skin. Despite the trouble she was having, she grinned to herself, knowing that the two girls before her were headed right for the direction they were originally running from.

***

   Jennie knew the exact moment that the pickup truck reached the end of its capabilities. She braked hard, sending the already traction-less vehicle into another spin that took several more of the already dwindling number of robots down, pinning them up against a few trees and simultaneously cushioning the blow for herself. Although the sudden lurch caused her a bit of pain where the seatbelt dug into her skin, she ignored it, scooping up an energy rifle from the passenger seat, kicking the door open, and launching herself directly into the fray. She absorbed the situation within a split second, her instincts allowing her to react to the several bursts of plasma that threatened to strike her.

   Rosé was the first thing she noticed. The violet-haired girl was removed from the fight, along with a black-haired woman whom she was engaged in combat with. The two of them were near that small strip of sand that led to the bay; Rosé easily had the upper hand, and was forcing the older girl back with a vicious assault. There were very few of the enemy robots left (Jennie acknowledged this with a certain measure of proudness in herself). The ones that remained standing were focused on Dalgom, who was dancing about, a blur of white as he dodged the robots’ bullets. Although the dog was doing relatively well at evading the shots, he was forced into complete defense, and Jennie knew he would tire soon. As much as it pained her to waste time that she could be assisting Rosé, Dalgom had to be helped.

   The brunette popped up from behind the side of the truck, firing her weapon in the general direction of the robots as she went in order to get their attention. Only a few of the shots connected, but the effect was as desired; they turned and began firing at her instead of the wolf. Jennie sprinted into a patch of bushes, throwing herself onto the ground and narrowly escaping getting hit. She raised her weapon and blind-fired to ensure that the machines’ attention remained on her. Meanwhile, Dalgom switched to offense, using his massive weight and crushing jaws to tear the robots apart, piece by piece. Each time they tried to refocus their attention on the wolf, Jennie would pop out from cover, running to a different location to keep them confused.

   This system worked well up until there were five of the robots left. Jennie was about to dash from her cover behind the pickup once again (the truck was now more of a pile of molten metal than anything else) when she saw movement from the bushes near the coastline. Two closely intertwined forms were hurrying their way through the jungle, heading directly for the fight. Jennie had no idea whether they were friend or foe, but she had no concern for that; she knew that Dalgom could handle the remainder of the robots on his own, and her priority switched back to helping her love.

Rosé and the black-haired woman were now out of sight, presumably continuing their battle at the bay. Jennie sprinted in the direction she last saw them in, but was halted when a bolt of plasma splashed over the sand in front of her. She spun around to see that the two forms emerging from the bushes were Yerim and Lisa, both looking badly damaged, bodies covered in mud and blood, limping forward with haste as they tried to keep their footing on the powdery sand. Close behind them was a girl wearing the same jumpsuit as the woman who Rosé had been fighting. She wielded an energy rifle of her own, which she had turned to fire upon Lisa and Yerim with. Now that the pair were out in the open, her shot was clear.

“Dalgom!” Lisa yelled desperately, “Help!”

Dalgom leapt forward, bounding off of the corpse of the last robot he’d slain, using his side to knock Lisa and Yerim down to the ground and safely out of the way. The plasma bolt that would’ve struck the pair instead grazed his side, and he let out a short whine of pain before rolling onto the sand beside the girls he had just saved. The black-haired girl shifted her attention to the wolf instead, leveling her rifle and aiming directly for his injured form.

“NO!” Yerim yelled, futilely attempting to pull herself up from the ground.

Luckily, Jennie was able to retaliate first. The brunette fired her own rifle as she sprinted forward towards the newcomer, causing her to curse loudly and abandon her assault on Dalgom, sprinting back towards the jungle. Jennie’s final bolt of plasma hit the woman’s rifle directly, causing her to yelp in pain and drop her smoldering weapon before melting backwards into the darkness of the bushes. Jennie fired several shots after her, but she was already gone.

“You two,” Jennie commanded, jogging over to help Lisa and Yerim get back to the their feet, “You’re hurt. Grab Dalgom, get in Rosie’s pickup truck and get the out of here. You need medical attention-”

Jennie was interrupted as the black-haired girl exploded from the bushes behind her, kicking her directly in the center of her back. The brunette fell to the sand, gasping for air.

***

   Yerim toppled back onto the sand, and her foot screamed in a flash of crimson pain. She had just been holding Jennie’s hand, the younger girl attempting to pull her up to a standing position, when suddenly there had been a strong impact, knocking both of them back over. Jennie lay beside Yerim, clutching the center of her back. The older girl could hear the sounds of a scuffle going on directly to her left. Although she wanted to help Jennie, she had to be aware of her surroundings; she suspected that their pursuer from earlier had returned and struck the younger girl in the back.

   Yerim’s intuition was correct. The body-suit clad woman, now wielding a wicked-looking knife, was struggling to attack Lisa while simultaneously holding an injured Dalgom off with her free hand. The dark-haired woman was clearly very skilled at combat, because despite her current state, she was doing a good job of holding off the giant wolf. Lisa was barely able to offer any resistance, lying beneath her assailant and raising her arms futilely without much vigor. The woman straddled her in order to keep her still, swinging the knife dangerously at Dalgom as he tried to knock her off.

Upon absorbing the whole scene, Yerim’s mind began to race, thinking of any possible way to help. The brunette felt as though her entire body was made of jelly. She was unable to even discern what parts of her hurt and what parts didn’t - besides, that is, her madly throbbing foot, which now felt as though it had been cracked open from the inside. She knew that any move she made would have to be all out, as it would be the ultimate risk, and that chances were, she wasn’t going to make it out alive. The thought of dying there, on this island in an unfamiliar world, terrified her. She wasn’t even nineteen-years old yet, and here she was, mustering up the physical strength in order to fight for her life.

Yerim shoved her thoughts away and focused on preparing herself, making her way into a crouching position. To her left, Jennie was still lying in the sand, coughing harshly, one hand reaching out to grab her rifle. Yerim had the fleeting thought of grabbing the weapon, but it was too far away for her broken body to reach in time and would require too precise of a movement. Her sole option was to dive head-on at the woman that was atop Lisa and hope that she could distract her long enough for someone else to take her down.

“Please…” Lisa called suddenly, as if she’d just found the energy to speak, “Help…”

It was these words that caused Yerim to make up her mind. As she did, the dark-haired woman looked up at her, and they locked eyes. The knife came up just as Yerim pushed herself off of the sand. The brunette sprung like a cat, ducking her head down and throwing her arms forward in a desperate, headbutting tackle.

Their bodies collided and Yerim’s vision became a blur. She shut her eyes tight, and prepared for the end. Something stabbed into the meat of her thigh, scooping upwards at an odd angle, as if it were a stab that had originally meant to be a slash. Hot blood dribbled out as her brain overloaded, as if willing itself to shut off before experiencing the pain of a knife buried into its owner’s hip.

Yerim’s final thought before losing consciousness was of Lisa.

***

   Up until that last, crucial second, Yuri had completely forgotten about the large-eyed, brown-haired girl who’d also been in the pickup truck. The pirate was too enamored with the matter at hand: she was mere inches away from finishing the dog and the blonde off. It only would have taken one more swing of her knife each to incapacitate them. However, the brown-haired girl, the weak-looking one, had leapt forward in a frenzy of limbs and weight that knocked her flat onto to the ground. Although Yuri’s weapon was able to make contact with the brunette’s thigh, it gave the wolf all opening he needed.

   The crush of Dalgom’s jaws around was the last thing Yuri ever felt.

------------------------------------

Part 1. Mostly a re-hash of things I already published, but with some minor tweks and edits to improve it.

Thanks for reading<3