Nako had spent the past several minutes banging on the cell door, but it just wouldn’t budge. Never had she felt this powerless before. She’d heard stories from some of the other members about what these inhibitor rooms were like, and if this was what it felt like to have regular strength, she wanted no part of it.

“Nako-chan!” A familiar voice suddenly calls, and when Nako sees who it was, relief starts to flood her system.

“Hii-chan, thank goodness you’re safe. How’d you manage to get out?” The short girl asks as Hitomi unlocks the cell.

“That would be because of me. You’re welcome by the way.” Jurina interjects, stepping out from Hitomi’s shadow.

“Wait, you? Don’t tell me you’re behind the attack right now!” Nako replies, stepping in front of Hitomi and getting into a fighting stance. The older girl could only pinch the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

“I swear, you IZ*ONE members all think the same way. Having Sakura in your brains all day must’ve permanently made you one.” Jurina quips. Nako was just about to pounce on her for that joke until a new explosion rocked the facility.

“Listen, Nako-chan. I hate to admit, but Jurina is here to help. She’s after Koyama too.” Hitomi says, trying to mediate between the two adversaries.

“You want to know what project zozi is, right? Well, I know what it is, and it isn’t a good thing.” Jurina says. Nako huffs, but eventually relaxes herself.

“Fine, truce.” The short girl reluctantly extends her hand, and Jurina shakes it.

“Okay, now tell us what you know.” Hitomi says, but the older girl clicks her tongue in response.

“I think it’s better to show you first.” And with that, Jurina disappears into the shadows.

“Yah, we can’t exactly follow your shadows, Matsui.” Nako grumbles.

“Hmm…I don't think it’ll be that hard.” Hitomi says, pointing down the hall where the lights were flickering. It was the same area where the soldiers were moving earlier.

“Great, out of the frying pan and into the oven.” The short girl says as the two begin making their way down the hall, the sound of fighting only getting louder.

~~~~

After following Jurina, the duo eventually reach a locked door which Nako easily breaks through to reveal a sentry tower overseeing the main hall, or whatever was left of it.

“Who is that?” Hitomi asks as they see what appears to be a young dark haired woman in a white bodysuit flying through the air and firing energy blasts at the guards and AKB mutants trying to defend the base.

“That would be project zozi. She was a failsafe that Koyama was developing behind the scenes with the other directors in case the mutants started to rebel. Because it was top secret, they hid the data in different bases. Once Koyama was outed as a traitor though, she went around using her connections to claim that data and finish the project on her own.” Jurina explains.

“Wait, so you’re saying that person out there is an enhanced mutant?” Nako queries.

“I think the better term would be android.” The older girl clarifies. The short girl was about to question how androids could even exist when she remembered she had super strength. The world was truly a crazy place.

“Alright, so let’s go and destroy it.” Hitomi says, about to go down and join the fight.

“Do you have a death wish? That android was made to eliminate us. We can’t just jump in without knowing how to beat it.” As if to prove her point, Zozi fires another energy blast towards a platoon of AKB mutants that sends many of them flying.

“We won’t know how to beat it if we stand here in the distance! Besides, those mutants down there need our help. We can’t just let them die!” The peach-cheeked girl argues before breaking a window and jumping out.

“When did your girl become so reckless?” Jurina asks before reluctantly following.

“I wonder the same thing.” Nako mutters to herself before also jumping down.

~~~~

Normally leaping out of a two-story tower would be a bad idea, but Hitomi had surveyed the area and seen various plants placed around the main hall likely for aesthetic purposes. As she fell, she commanded the leaves and vines to reach out and catch her, letting her land gracefully next to her old friend, Yui, who had been caught in the last blast.

“Yah, what are you doing here? You should be in your cell!” The younger girl says through a cough.

“Hello to you too, Yui. I’m here to help you out.” Before Hitomi could get her out of the way though, the android fired another energy attack their way. Yui closes her eyes, preparing for the worst, but Hitomi forms a plant shield just in time that barely holds it off.

“Hii-chan! Gimme a path!” Nako calls from above, still falling down. Hitomi nods and shifts the vines into a big slide that the short girl uses to launch herself right towards the android for a huge punch. The impact sent the android straight towards the ground, and it would’ve knocked out any human or even mutant for that matter. To Nako’s shock though, when the smoke cleared, the android had gotten back up, not a scratch on her.

“What in the world…” In the blink of an eye, Zozi closes the distance and counters Nako with a strike of her own that sends the short girl through a metal wall.

“Nako-chan!!!” Hitomi shrieks, sending her vines to constrict the android, but Zozi easily cuts them all down with energy blasts. She then tries having roots shoot up from the ground to entangle her, but the android simply flies into the air to avoid them.

“Hitomi, we have to go.” Jurina says suddenly, surprising the younger girl.

“Shouldn’t you be helping us fight that thing? We can’t just run away now.” Hitomi argues, but the older woman shakes her head.

“I told you this was a bad idea, and you didn’t listen. Also we’re not running away. This is a strategic retreat.” Jurina then looks to the rest of the mutants around them before speaking again.

“When I give the signal, book it.” Just before anyone could question what that signal would be though, the older woman throws a ball of shadows right towards the android. Once it made contact, it exploded and plunged the hall into darkness.

“Okay, let’s get Nako and go.” Jurina grabs Hitomi’s hand and pulls her along. How the older girl could find her way in the darkness was a mystery to her, but eventually they made it to Nako who was groaning in pain.

“Hold on to your lunch.” Jurina then announces before grabbing Hitomi and Nako’s shoulders and taking them into the shadows.

~~~~

Hitomi had never shadow-traveled before, and frankly, she was hoping to never experience it again. First of all, it was so dark that she wondered if her eyes were even open. Second, and even worse, they were going so fast that it did, in fact, feel like her stomach was left behind in the AKB base.

“Ugh… that .” Nako mumbles after the shadows cough the trio out into a forest. From looking at the sky, it looked late in the afternoon already.

“You’re both still alive, and isn’t that what matters?” Jurina replies sarcastically.

“Alright, what’s the plan now then? Hitomi asks. “The longer that android is on the rampage, the more people will get hurt.”

“Well, my original plan was to follow the android after the battle to find out where Koyama was, but that’s already off the table thanks to you.” The older girl says in a disappointed tone.

“Letting all those mutants get killed hardly sounds like a good plan.” The peach-cheeked girl argues.

“Sacrifices must be made to reach the end goal.” Jurina replies flatly.

“And what end goal is that? Revenge? This is about more than your desires, Jurina.”

“What about yours? Are you sure revenge hasn’t been driving you either? I know Koyama was in charge of Chuo Ward where your parents were locked up. Don’t lecture me about morals when your recklessness has been driven by the same thing.” At this, Hitomi takes a step back, guilt starting to arise in her. Of course, she wanted to catch Koyama in order to protect her fellow mutants, but were her decisions recently influenced by her dislike towards the doctor?

“Okay you two, knock it off. You’re a really good instigator, Jurina, you know that?” Nako interjects when it looked like the older girl was going to throw more verbal daggers.

“Did you not agree with me that jumping in was a bad idea? How are we going to find the android and Koyama now?” Jurina says, the first statement causing Hitomi to look at Nako with a confused expression. The short girl quietly mouths, “Later”, before responding.

“Actually, if you two weren’t so busy arguing, I did find out some info when I got up close to the android.” Nako replies, giving a reassuring smile to her girlfriend. “There was a logo on her clothing, SKE48.” The sudden mention of that group caused Jurina’s expression to falter.

“Yes, Jurina, it’s your old base in Nagoya. If we were really at the AKB base, that means we’re in Tokyo. We can get to Nagoya by nightfall if we catch the next train.”

“We could probably get there in half the time though if we shadow-traveled.” The older girl says after regaining her composure. Out of all the places, her old base was the last place she wanted to be, but if Koyama was there, she needed to it up and go.

“Uh…no thanks. You can go ahead to scout the place if you really want. Hii-chan and I can catch up.” Nako phrased it like a suggestion, but her eyes told Jurina that there was no negotiating.

“Fine, just don’t be too far behind.” The older girl says reluctantly, not wanting to get into another trivial argument. After quickly discussing a new plan, Jurina turns and jumps into a tree’s shadow.

“C’mon, we don’t want to keep Jurina waiting.” Nako cheerfully says to Hitomi who had been quiet since hearing Jurina’s words. When the peach-cheeked girl doesn’t move, the older girl frowns.

“Listen, Hii-chan, we can talk more on the train, but I want to let you know that I was just worried about you. I want to help and support you, but I can’t do that without you telling me what’s wrong. Why did you want to find Koyama so badly?”

“Jurina was right…” Hitomi finally admits with clenched fists. “When we met my parents a couple months ago and I was recounting our missions, they stopped me when I mentioned Dr. Koyama. It turns out that the one who reported my powers to AKB…was her. She was on assignment there to study reactors for their new base and just happened to notice me.” As the younger girl talked, it felt like the forest around them was reacting to her emotions. The trees were starting to shake, and the grass on the ground began to grow sharper. Nako notices this and closes the distance between her and Hitomi, engulfing her in a hug.

“It’s okay, Hii-chan. It’s going to be alright. Let it all out.” The short girl says, reaching her hand up to her partner’s hair to calm her down.

“That doctor almost ruined my life…” Hitomi sobs. Ever since she found out the truth, she’d desperately wanted to find Koyama and put her behind bars. She sobbed even harder though realizing that her vendetta that she’d try to disguise as helping others had put Nako and others in dangerous situations. “I’m sorry, Nako-chan.” She says weakly, but the older girl only hugs her tighter.

“Yah, don’t be sorry. I just want you to be okay. Are you still up for heading to Nagoya? I can go alone with Jurina if you want to rest with your parents.” Nako offers, but stumbles a bit after letting go of Hitomi.

“That punch from Zozi hurt her more than she’d let on.” The younger girl realizes. Nako’s super strength may have given her some extra durability, but that didn’t mean she was completely invincible. That attack was definitely not the same as the bullets and elemental projectiles that have been fired at her before.

“What kind of partner would I be if I let you go into battle with Jurina like that?” Hitomi says with a small smile. “Let’s go already. I’ll patch you up on the way there.” And with that, the duo start making their way towards the closest train station.

A/N: Welcome to part 2 of ZOZI! I told y'all it'd come soon HAHA. I hope the story's been cohesive and enjoyable because I had to do a bit of extra research on locations and other characters to include since this story is in Japan and i wasn't super familiar with the AKB system. I also hope y'all like that call back to the first story, i don't know how many people remember that part of Hitomi's backstory lol.

Anyways, thanks for the support so far! I always enjoy going through comments to see what people think. I'll see y'all in the next chapter which should be the final chapter of ZOZI if my framing is right.