Daehyun slowly opened his eyes to a dark room, lit only with the light from the moon outside. He was laying on his back on the floor, a massive headache pounding through his head. Jongup sat next to him and looked over as Daehyun sat up.

“So we got caught, huh?” Daehyun groaned when Jongup made an agreeing noise. “Perfect.”

“And we’re stuck. This is an anti-Skill cell.”

“Even better.” Daehyun got up and walked over to the red, darkly glowing bars that kept them in this prison. The boys fell into silence as they waited. Both were hoping to be rescued, of course. But at the same time, they hoped the group wouldn’t sacrifice themselves just for the two of them.

***

“There’s a side door here that will lead to the lower levels.” You led Youngjae and Himchan over to an old service door.

“Hopefully the others won’t take too long to catch up.” Youngjae mumbled. They had left Yongguk, Junhong, and Sae to fight the guards they had encountered when they broke in. Luckily it was only a few that heard the alarm before you were able to turn it off. But you were concerned that by now the whole area was aware of the intruders.

“They’ll be fine. Let’s focus on finding Jongup and Daehyun.” Himchan reminded the two of you.

Youngjae nodded and took the lead, his eyes glowing yellow as he tried to Seek out his friends. A puzzled expression came over his face and you could feel your heart beat faster. “What the hell..?” He grumbled in frustration. “So, there’s these holding cells two levels below. But one of them is all… blurry. I can’t See what’s in there.”

“That’s gotta be them.” You said, looking around for the stairs that you knew were close by.

“Wait, there’s more cells one more level down. One of those is blurry, too.”

“So one is a decoy.” Himchan ran his hand through his hair.

You clenched your fists in frustration. “Let’s split up then. It’ll be faster.” The other exchanged glances. You sighted the stairs and motioned for the boys to follow you.

You went down two levels and paused near the door. Youngjae was getting angrier the longer he tried to find Daehyun and Jongup. “I can’t See through it and it’s so damn frustrating.” He whispered, finally letting his Skill relax. His eyes turned back to brown as he looked at you and Himchan. “You two take this level, I’ll go down one more.”

You stopped him. “Wait, I’ll take this level while you two go down. If we run into trouble I know the layout better. Meet back at the exit if you find them. If no one is in the cell, run.” You turned the door handle and went in, not even giving them a chance to respond.

“Dammit, that is not a good plan.” Himchan and Youngjae both came in after you. The door shut behind them with a resounding thud and the three of you paused.

You wanted to growl in frustration. “We don’t have time for this.” You hissed at them quietly.

Himchan rolled his eyes. “We have all the time in the world if it means keeping all three of us alive.”

“I’ll be fine-”

“You can’t guarantee that.” He argued back.

“What? Do you not trust me to bring them back? Well listen-”

“No, you listen,” Himchan’s authoritarian tone could not be argued against, even in a whisper. “What if a whole legion of robots is in one of those cells? What if you find the two of them, but they’re both knocked out and you can only carry one? I’ve thought this through, believe me.” He gave you a moment to take that in before saying your name quietly. “I know you want to find them just as badly as I do. And yes, splitting up would be faster. But I know we’re better together.”

His argument was solid. “Fine, let’s go through the levels together.” They nodded and you led the way into the jail.

Together, you slinked through the hallway. It was eerily quiet and unguarded. “This feels weird.” Himchan whispered, barely loud enough to be heard.

“I agree…” Youngjae’s eyes lit up again. “But the blurry cell is coming up, so we have to keep going. It’ll be on the left.”

“There.” You pointed to a jail cell with dimly glowing red bars. You glanced around and the coast was clear. You ran to the cell, stopping in front of it. Inside was just a patrol robot. It stood up and . The jail gate opened and you backed up quickly. “Not this one, not this one!!” You ran past the boys toward the door. They turned and were directly behind you as a siren started going off from the robot.

The three of you made it through the door safely, trying to catch your breath. “Now we’ll have to hurry. The next floor will be ready for us.” Himchan pulled out his gun, ready to fight. You and Youngjae did the same.

“Even so, let’s go. We have to find them.” You started down the stairs, feeling the stress of the mission. You were struggling, still feeling the pain that Jongup was feeling. It was as if his Skill wasn’t affected by the dampening effects of the cell. Either that or you were both so closely, intricately connected that there was no stopping his Skill. You shook your head and kept going. You could feel that you were getting closer.

At the next door, the three of you paused one more time. Youngjae looked at you and Himchan before turning the handle and opening the door. The three of you Slipped in quietly this time. As you looked around the corner, you froze. Five patrol bots and a handful of human guards were waiting for you. You, Himchan, and Youngjae exchanged looks, your resolve clear in your eyes.

“Let’s go.” Himchan led the charge, coming out with his gun firing faster than anyone could keep track of. He immediately took out three humans before they could even realize what was going on. Youngjae followed after him, shooting with great accuracy while sirens began to blare from the robots. You watched for a moment, looking for the right cell. Once you had found it, you grit your teeth and brought your gun out.

The robots shot back and the noise was deafening. Your ears rang as you aimed for their weak spots. Joints and the head. You helped disable one before moving a few yards ahead. You shot at the last two humans, taking them down enough to eliminate the threat. Himchan and Youngjae had the rest of the opposition well occupied. You took a chance and ran for the cell.

“Jongup!” You saw him as he ran to the gate, calling out your name. You reached through the bars and when your hand touched his, electricity shot out of the bars like they were being short circuited. A spark equally went through the two of you as you watched Jongup’s eyes become green.

“I’m here, too!” Daehyun said, coming to the bars as well.

You blinked quickly, your entire body humming. So much was happening at once. You could hear two more robots fall behind you and just as you were going to take a glance back, bullets grazed your left arm. You let out a yelp but refused to let go of Jongup’s hand.

You noticed the bars of the gate didn’t let the bullets through. Was it supposed to be impenetrable? You bit your lip and looked at Jongup who was watching the fight with anger and concern clear on his face. Daehyun had the same expression, eager to join the brawl. You looked away and spotted a ring of keys that had fallen to the ground nearby. You reached for it with a shaky, bleeding left arm but you still couldn’t quite reach it.

Suddenly your arm was grabbed and you were yanked abruptly from Jongup’s grasp. You cried out as the robot held you up by the arm, dangling you in the air. All bullets stopped. You were the hostage now. The robot stopped it’s siren and the silence was heavy. “You may take the two men and leave. Do not follow.”

You looked around while desperately trying to escape. The boys were all frozen in place. The robot walked backwards and you screamed as it jerked you one more time, keeping you in front as a shield. You looked at Jongup one more time and it felt like your heart was literally breaking. He was holding his left arm in obvious pain, but his expression brought you to tears. It was a look of defeat. Like he just knew he was losing you. And that there was nothing he could do.

★☆★☆★☆