Visions flashed before the girl’s eyes, coming faster than she could comprehend. A wall of zombies stretching further than the horizon. Four girls and seven dogs facing the horde. A pointed rock flying through the air. A scream and a fountain of blood. An eruption. Flashes of white that cut through the sky like a holy blade, revealing-

Wendy jerked awake, lungs emptied, sweat dripping down her face, eyes wild and animalistic. She was in a small room, strongly illuminated by a single fluorescent light. The bed she lay on was very plain, with two layers of white sheets and a thin pillow. The room itself was equally as unassuming, in the shape of a perfect cube with nothing but a toilet to the left of the bed and a door across from it. There was no noise save for the hum of electricity.

When the blonde girl stood, she realized that she was wearing a blue hospital gown and nothing else. Although the temperature of the room was comfortable, she still felt exposed and vulnerable. Wendy walked over to the door and turned the knob. To her pleasant surprise, it was unlocked. She stepped into a brightly lit hallway. All along the hall were doors completely identical to hers, each with a different number. Hers was 104. The numbers were in chronological order. The rooms that preceded hers ended at a blank stretch of wall. Those that succeeded hers continued into the distance, curving so that the ends of the hall disappeared from view. She tried peering through the windows of the other rooms, but they were tinted so that nothing could be made out properly. Wendy began to walk down the hall, heading down from room 104 to see if she could reach the far end, hoping that it would provide some kind of exit. As she walked, she found her mind wandering away from the monotonous scenery and settling on the visions she’d just experienced.

Where had those come from? What did they mean? She had never had nightmares that were so vivid before. They didn’t feel as though they were conjures of her unconscious mind. She had been able to experience everything that was going on in them: the smell of soot in the air, the overwhelming heat, the deafening noise of the explosion, the ravenous moans of the ghouls. And how had she even gotten to this facility? The last thing she remembered was being overtaken by that black mist in the desert. Where were her friends? Wendy could feel anxiety rising in her chest. She could not be sure of anything.

A faint beeping noise broke Wendy out of her thoughts and she looked forward. She could just make out something approaching her. It looked to be a humanoid-shaped creature; it was much taller than Wendy, with slim, spindly limbs. Its body was made entirely out of a sleek, blue-gray metal that looked more liquid than solid. Its only distinguishing feature was a single, illuminated green light in the center of its face. Its movements were neither aggressive nor rushed. It was simply moving in her direction, its head turning back and forth and its light flashing intermittently as if it were scanning the rooms it passed. The girl stopped and waited for it to approach her - she wanted to get a better look before she was forced to confront it. She contemplated trying to hide in one of the rooms, but at this point the robot had already seen her, and it would be foolish to corner herself like that.

When the robot reached Wendy, it ceased its previous motions and stood across from the girl, regarding her with its emerald eye. She stood as still as possible, staring back at the motionless metal man, preparing to run at any moment. This went on for a full minute before Wendy decided to make the first move.

“Um… hi?” she said, shifting her weight onto her back foot in case she had to jump away quickly.

At her words, the robot’s light increased in brightness and flashed several times, causing Wendy to jump back in surprise. When the machine spoke, its voice was an eerily perfect mimic of hers.

“Hello. How may I be of assistance today?”

Wendy paused for a moment. She didn’t expect the thing to be so compliant.

“Uh… yeah. Can you tell me where I am?”

“Of course,” the machine’s manufactured voice was beginning to make Wendy very uncomfortable now, “You are in Facility RV08012014.”

“And how did I get here?”

“You and two other human females were retrieved by me, Model-BP08082016, from just above this facility. You were very close to being drowned in lava due to an increase in volcanic activity in this area.”

At the mention of other humans, Wendy’s ears perked up.

“Two other people? Where are they? Can you take me to them?” she said desperately, forgetting that she was supposed to be on her guard.

“Yes. Please follow me.”

***

Lisa sat on her bed, chin resting on her knees, watching for signs of the other girl awakening. Yerim was dreaming peacefully, her breaths coming slowly and her eyelids remaining relatively still. Her temptingly adorable lips were slightly parted and her doll-like face was framed just right by her fading red hair. She looked like a character from a fantasy novel; so delicate and pure and perfect that she simply couldn’t be real. But she was, and she was sleeping mere feet away from Lisa.

It was funny that Lisa felt such strong anxiety brewing in her stomach now that she was alone with the redhead. Before, when Jisoo had been around her and she’d had an audience, it was easy to laugh and joke and flirt with Yerim. But now, the poor blonde couldn’t even open to speak around her crush. Judging by the fading love bites on the older girl’s neck, it was clear that Lisa’s efforts to court her would be futile anyway; it should’ve been expected that such a perfect girl would already be taken.

It was funnier that Lisa was more nervous about talking to Yerim than she was about just where they’d ended up. Of course, she had spent a good deal of time already panicking over her location, the potential location of her friends and family, and just what had actually gone on. In the end, Lisa had decided that it was for the best just to wait for Yerim to wake up before doing anything else (never mind that she could have just woken up the girl herself). Lisa reasoned that if whoever put them here was nice enough to give them beds, they probably weren’t going to be harmed.

When Yerim finally stirred, her body wiggling and arms stretching out before her eyes opened, Lisa felt her adrenaline spike and began searching frantically for something to say. The redhead looked around in confusion before settling her worried stare on the girl in the bed beside hers.

“H-hi Yeri!” Lisa said in a small, excited voice. She mentally kicked herself at her stupidity.

“Hi… where are we?” Yerim asked in that silkily soothing voice of hers.

“I don’t know. I woke up a little before you and I’m just as lost.” Lisa said, glancing around the plain, square room.

“Didn’t you go outside and look around?”

“No, I wanted to wait for you to wake up.” Lisa almost cringed at her own awkward honesty, but felt a blossom of warmth in her stomach when Yerim smiled.

“You don’t have to pretend,” the older girl said, and Lisa’s stomach did another fearful backflip, “You were just staying around so I wouldn’t wake up alone and be scared. You’re sweet.”

Lisa masked her confusion by smiling back, hoping that the other girl was unable to process the intense rollercoaster of emotions that she’d been riding during the entire conversation.

“Haha, maybe,” Lisa said, standing up from her bed, “Anyway, we should get going. See if we can find out what’s going on.”

“Definitely,” Yerim said, looking down at her feet, “You lead the way, okay?”

Lisa steeled all of her courage and reached her hand back for Yerim to hold.

“We should hold hands so we can stick together, you know? I mean, if you want to…”

“Okay.”

The feeling of Yerim’s hand in her own threatened to make Lisa vomit with giddiness. She found herself wondering why, of all the things to be worried about in this situation, she would be concerned about how soft and delicate Yerim’s hand felt in hers, or how close the redhead was walking behind her as they stepped out of the door.

They stepped into the hallway together and looked around.

“Room 377…” Yerim said thoughtfully, “This place kind of reminds me of a hospital.”

“Lotta rooms. Let’s try to find an elevator or something.”

The blonde girl guided Yerim in the direction of the descending room numbers, hoping to find some sort of exit.

Lisa couldn’t help but enjoy the way that Yerim’s hand clung a little tighter to hers as she picked up the pace.

***

Wendy stepped into the small elevator, following BP08082016 (whom she had dubbed “BP” for short) closely. The robot was naturally much quicker than she was, so she found herself lightly jogging to keep up with the machine’s long strides.

“What is this place exactly?” Wendy asked, watching the robot type in some combination of codes into the wall-mounted keypad.

“This facility was built three-thousand, four-hundred and sixty four years, seven months, two weeks, and three days ago. It was originally designed as a monitoring and eruption suppression site for the super volcano nearby. However, since the Great War, this facility has been dormant, and most of its capacities have regretfully entered a state of disrepair.”

As the robot finished speaking, the lift made a subtle, almost unnoticeable movement, and within seconds the door opened again. The hallway before them looked almost identical to previous floor. When they stepped out of the elevator, Wendy checked the room numbers; they were on the 3rd floor, or whatever floor that “300” numbers designated here.

As they walked, Wendy decided to get as much information out of the knowledgeable robot as possible.

“Could this place stop that volcano from erupting?”

“In its fully operational state, yes.” the robot said, its copy of Wendy’s voice becoming regretful, “Now, it is no longer capable of doing so.”

“Is that volcano going to erupt soon?”

“Yes. In anywhere from fifty hours to one-hundred and five hours’ time, it will erupt, destroy this facility, and most likely cause a large-scale apocalyptic scenario.” BP’s sadness only intensified, leaving Wendy perplexed as to just how much emotion the machine was capable of experiencing.

As the pair reached the door marked “320”, Wendy suddenly began to feel a trembling beneath her feet. The tremor started gradually but soon intensified into a full earthquake, causing the overhead lights to rattle and the girl to almost lose her balance. BP’s hands clamped around her own securely, holding her in place. As the earthquake reached its crescendo, Wendy felt her head beginning to fill with an odd pain. It wasn’t specific to any part of her brain. She was unable to think or move, and her vision was soon replaced by a stretch of white, as if she had all of a sudden gone completely blind.

The white was quickly replaced by another burst of images, similar to her previous dreams but more coherent this time.

The first vision was of Joy and Rosé supporting a weak-looking Jennie, Irene by their side, walking with the same pack of dogs from Wendy’s previous vision. The group was stepping out of a what looked to be a jungle and into what could only be described as an utter wasteland; the atramentous soil was filled with cracks and scars, the usual blackness of the sky was deepened to a sinister hue, and the volcano at the center of it all cast its deadly glow across the faces of the four girls. Between the volcano and the girls was a long metallic tube that seemed to encapsulate the entirety of the geological anomaly’s base. Irene pointed a finger at the tube, and the group began to move in that direction.

The second vision was that of Seulgi and Jisoo standing hand in hand, looking up at a gigantic lava-covered mountain. They too stood in that same wasteland, though the angle they were approaching the volcano from was the opposite. The metal tube that wrapped around the mountain was covered in lava at this location, but pieces of it were visible through the thick curtain of molten rock. The two girls seemed reluctant to stray any closer to the intense heat, and instead opted to walk around the side of the structure.

Wendy’s own vision returned to her as abruptly as it had left, and she found herself still being supported by BP. When she displayed signs of being able to stand on her own again, the robot released her. BP did not ask about her condition, and instead returned to walking. Wendy did the same, a palm pressed to her throbbing temple. Although the pain had been overwhelming when she’d returned to her normal state, it was quickly receding.

“Seismic events have been occurring with more and more frequency in this area lately, due to an increase in volcanic activity.”

Wendy ignored the robot, lost in her own thoughts. What was happening to her? Why was she able to see the activities of the other girls? And why did it coincide with that tremor?

When the robot came to a stop at room 377, Wendy almost walked right past it. Upon opening the door, the pair were greeted by two empty beds. The sheets were wrinkled and overturned as if someone had been sleeping in them recently.

“The other humans must have regained consciousness.” BP said, turning around and moving out of the doorway, “And they seem to possess that same adventurous curiosity that you do.”

Wendy frowned. Had the robot just made a joke?

As she was about to inquire about where the girls could have gone, another wave of dizziness overcame her and she had to grab BP’s arm to support herself. The robot latched onto her forearm, this time with only enough force to keep her standing as she was met with yet another vision. This one “felt” more far away, and somehow Wendy knew that it was a future image again. It came in fragments, similar to how the ones in her dreams had been.

The first fragment was an image of a hand holding a crystal. The next was the volcano, covered in lava, with five people standing on its peak. There was a podium directly in front of the massive volcanic crater, and the five people seemed to be running towards it. Black mist obscured everything else, and from that black mist came a large, hulking shape. The shape swiped its arm forward towards the people, and a wave of projectiles hurled towards them. Then, the black mist obscured all vision and all Wendy was able to experience was a loud, piercing scream.

***

When Lisa and Yerim arrived at room 399, they were met with a dead end. The former girl huffed in annoyance.

“Looks like the exit’s at the other end. Come on.”

The two girls moved to turn around, and once they did, they noticed two figures standing next to the room they had just left. One appeared to be a large robot, and the other was a petite blonde girl. The girl’s body was slumped, supported only by the robot, who was holding on to her by her forearm.

“Is that Wendy?” Yerim asked, squinting and trying to get a better look.

“It is… and that robot’s holding her. It looks like its hurting her!” Lisa exclaimed. Without another word, she began to run towards Wendy, dragging an unprepared Yerim behind her.

As they drew closer, the robot turned to look at them with its single eye. It was at this point that Lisa realized that the robot appeared to be supporting Wendy, who looked to be having some kind of seizure. Her eye were shut, her body limp and her lips pressed into a hard line.

“What’s happening to her?!” Yerim asked, running forward and grabbing Wendy. When Yerim had fully taken Wendy into her arms, the robot released its grip.

“She appears to be having some sort of telepathic episode.” the robot inquired. Lisa and Yerim both jumped in surprise at its exact copy of Wendy’s voice. Yerim looked absolutely horrified, and tucked Wendy behind her as if to shield the pained girl.

“Why do you sound like her?”

“I was under the impression that standard human voices were the most comfortable way to convey messages.”

“Not in this case,” Lisa said, “Could you talk like... not an exact copy of someone we know?”

“Affirmative,” the robot said, its voice shifting from Wendy’s high, feminine one to a cold, deep tone, “Is this preferable?”

Lisa nodded and assisted Yerim in holding Wendy up.

Within minutes, Wendy began to recover. Her face started to relax and she was regaining the ability to stand. Still, Lisa and Yerim stayed on either side of her, each holding one of her thin arms.

“Lisa? Yeri?” Wendy asked groggily, looking back and forth between her two friends. Lisa smiled in relief.

“We came to rescue you.” the youngest girl said, encircling Wendy in a tight hug, “We thought that robot was trying to attack you.”

“No, no, BP is nice,” Wendy said, “He was helping me find you when I started to have these weird visions… speaking of which, I think the other girls are nearby.”

Yerim and Lisa’s faces instantly lit up.

“The other girls? How do you know?” the redhead asked.

“Rosé and Jennie and Jisoo too?” Lisa added.

“Yes, all of the girls. In my visions, I saw some things,” Wendy looked away now, staring intently at the wall to their left. If Lisa didn’t know any better, she would almost think that the older girl was hiding something, “One of the things I saw was all the girls coming up on the base of the volcano and seeing a big tubular structure that ran around it. I think that’s where we are, right, BP?”

“Correct. When you mentioned that your friends were at the base of the mountain, did you mean directly outside of the our facility?” The robot moved forward so that it was directly facing Wendy. BP’s voice sounded concerned now, a stark contrast from the steady coolness that it displayed normally.

“Um, yeah, more or less.” Wendy said, confused, “Why?”

“Then they are in grave danger. We must hurry to the weapons station.”

And with that, the robot took off at a blindingly fast pace down the hallway. The three girls looked at each other, unable to process the events that had just occurred.

“You must hurry!” BP called, disappearing around the curve of the hallway.

Lisa moved first, her heart thumping with anxiety as she began sprinting after the robot. Yerim and Wendy followed.

***

The already high air temperature continued to steadily rise as Irene’s group made their way across the barren land. There was a constant flurry of ashes in the air, drifting down like snow from the Living Mountain’s peak, which was hidden by clouds of smoke high above them. It was odd that the jungle just seemed to end so abruptly; they’d come out from a thick patch of bushes directly into this hellish-looking landscape. As they moved, the girls were careful to avoid the large fissures and holes that dotted the dead earth.

“What do you think that is?” Joy asked, nodding to the machinery they were headed for.

“Not sure,” Rosé answered, shifting her hold on Jennie, who was still weak from her previous episode, “But it’s worth checking out before we start scaling the mountain.”

Irene felt a pit in her stomach at the prospect of the final leg of their journey. At the top of that mountain was a spot where she had to put the crystal in, and supposedly that would fix everything. What exactly that meant was a mystery to her, as was most everything she dealt with these days. And what would happen to her and her friends when everything was “fixed”? Would they be transported home? Would they remain in this world? She pushed away this distressing line of thoughts and returned to the present.

“You know you don’t need to hold me up like this, right?” Jennie said, unsuccessfully trying to wriggle her way out of Joy and Rosé’s grips.

“Yes we do, Jennie.” Rosé said sternly, and to Irene’s surprise, Jennie relented immediately, laying her head on Rosé’s shoulder in defeat. It was almost amazing at how drastically different the confrontational girl’s personality became when she was speaking to her significant other. In fact, Irene found that the two made the perfect couple, and she inwardly scolded herself for being so flirty with Rosé before. Not that it was her fault or anything, she had just been offering comfort, but she still should have refrained from kissing the violet-haired girl. After all, she’d only done it to annoy that insufferable, judgemental Joy.

Irene turned to ask what exactly the plan was once they arrived at the structure ahead. As she did, she realized that Dalgom’s entire pack had stopped moving and were standing in a defensive formation, huddled together and looking up at the sky with anticipation.

“Guys,” Irene said, pointing back at the pack, “Look.”

The other girls turned to look, and as they did so, a large shadow swept over the group, momentarily blocking the light from the mountain and causing the wolves to begin barking in fear. The girls looked up simultaneously.

“Is that a ing dragon?” Joy said, her voice on the brink of breaking.

The beast was a deep ruby color, with a white underbelly, a long, slender neck and a short, stunted body. The dragon sported a pair of skinny legs that were tucked under its body. Its wingspan looked close to thirty feet, and it moved through the sky with ease and quickness.

“Maybe it didn’t see us.” Irene said, “Maybe if we just slowly retreat into the jungle-”

Just then, the dragon performed a swooping turn in the air, letting out a piercing screech as it did so, its long, beak-like mouth opening wide. It was aiming right for them.

“! DUCK!” Jennie yelled, and all four girls dropped to the dirt. The wolves scattered in several different directions, although they didn’t retreat into the forest. The dragon passed the prone girls overhead, leaving a gust of powerful wind in its wake. As the dragon was finishing its swoop and preparing to turn around for another dive, Irene and Joy stood up and began sprinting towards the jungle.

Rosé and Jennie were having a more difficult time. Jennie still didn’t have the energy to keep herself completely upright, and she was forced to use Rosé as a crutch in order to prevent herself from falling. Irene could see that the dragon had completed its turn and was now headed right for the two easy targets.

Irene turned to Joy and was shocked to see the younger girl standing beside her, frozen in fear, looking on in horror as the dragon closed in on Jennie and Rosé.

“JOY! SHOOT THE DRAGON!” Irene yelled, slapping the younger girl as hard as she could on the arm.

Joy came to her senses at Irene’s touch and drew her borrowed pistol. She dropped to one knee, trained the gun on the underside of the behemoth, and emptied her entire clip. She fired in an arc, aiming first at its center and then at its left wing. The dragon let out a pained cry and dropped away from Rosé and Jennie, several bullet holes tracing a bloody line across the path Joy had created. It crashed onto its side, its injured wing further crumbling beneath it. Unfortunately, the proximity of the monster’s landing caused a mild tremor that knocked Jennie and Rosé over.

Irene and Joy both began to run back towards their injured comrades, along with Dalgom, who managed to overtake the two girls within seconds. The dragon was now crawling its way over to Jennie and Rosé as they were recovering. Irene sprinted harder, trying to keep up with Joy and the white wolf in front of her. She had no idea what she would do to stop the dragon from devouring her friends once she got there, but she knew she had to try something. Anything.

***

Seulgi and Jisoo made their way around the thick lava flows, hand-in-hand. Their movements were casual, as if the two black-haired girls were on a pleasant stroll on a sunny afternoon. Seulgi had to admit that, after so much time being alone, it was almost overwhelming being with Jisoo. The younger girl was so full of energy that it was infectious. The short time they’d spent together was easily the best time that Seulgi had had since she’d woken up in this world. Despite how amazing the girl next to her was, however, Seulgi couldn’t help but feel a deep dread every time she looked up at the Living Mountain.

Regardless of what happened, this world was close to ending. On one hand, if they met up with Irene and the others quick enough, they could scale the mountain and use the crystal to stop the eruption. Of what would happen next Seulgi couldn’t be sure, but she had a feeling that the girls either wouldn’t survive, or they would be separated. And being separated from the perfect, sweet, amazing girl beside her was the last thing Seulgi wanted. On the other hand, if they couldn’t reach Irene and the others in time, and they were unable to use the crystal, it would be the end for everyone. There was something poetic about dying with the one you loved, but Seulgi would quite like to survive a bit longer, if she could.

“What are you thinking about?” Jisoo asked suddenly, breaking Seulgi out of her reverie. The older girl knew better than to lie to Jisoo about these kinds of things now; she always seemed to know when Seulgi was hiding something.

“What’s gonna happen next?” the monolidded girl blurted out, unable to effectively convey what she wanted. Jisoo seemed to understand anyway.

“I don’t know. But most of it is out of our hands. We’re kind of counting on Irene, or at least the crystal, to find their way back to us before the world ends. It’s scary, but it’s probably best to just roll with whatever comes our way right now.”

Seulgi smiled and stopped walking for a moment to give Jisoo a light kiss on the cheek.

“How do you always have the right answer for everything?”

“Because I’m amazing.”

Seulgi gave Jisoo a playful punch on the arm, and the two stood staring at each other for a brief moment before continuing on.

As they were rounding the side of the mountain, they began to hear noises. They were subtle at first, and indistinguishable. Jisoo and Seulgi picked up their pace, following the curve of the mechanical structure beside them, which was gradually becoming more visible. The lava flows were not nearly as heavy on this side of the mountain. The vague noises soon turned into a series of screeches, barks, and yells. Familiar yells. The two girls broke into an all out sprint at the sound of their friends’ voices.

***

Yerim shifted back and forth in place, trying to keep her mind focused and her breaths steady. Lisa, Wendy and BP stood in close proximity to her in the elevator. The ride felt like it was taking an eternity; they were thousands of feet underground, so it made sense that the lift would take awhile, but that didn’t make the wait any easier. Lisa seemed to notice Yerim’s discomfort and wrapped her arms around the shorter girl’s shoulders. Although Yerim immediately felt guilty about what Irene would think, the redhead couldn’t help but feel slightly at ease from Lisa’s reassuring embrace.

When they’d arrived in the weapons room prior to taking this lift to the surface, it had been stocked from wall to wall with high-tech looking arms. Lisa had been awestruck, immediately zipping from rack to rack and inspecting each weapon with the trained eye of a connoisseur. BP had activated some kind of scanner system and had confirmed Wendy’s vision; there were several life forms outside, six of them human, seven of them wolves, and the last was a gigantic, dinosaur-like bird. Yerim had no idea how the girls were able to keep up with fighting against so many enemies at once, but she knew that they wouldn’t last long.

After changing out of their hospital gowns and into formfitting, jet-black bodysuits, the three girls had stocked up on whatever weapons they wanted to; Lisa procured some kind of advanced laser-rifle that was now slung over her shoulder, along with a retractable light sword that reminded Yerim of a lightsaber. Wendy sported two laser pistols at her side, citing her small stature as the main reason that she took such low-power weapons. Yerim had agreed with the blonde girl and taken two similar pistols for herself. BP held a laser-rifle that was similar to Lisa’s, though it had an elongated barrel that indicated it was more of a long-range weapon.

Yerim’s main concern was that she had never fired a gun before. BP had assured them that the weapons did not have much recoil, and that the complex-looking sights they were equipped with allowed precision aiming. Still, she had a feeling that she would manage to mess it all up somehow.

The lift finally ceased its subtle movements and opened up. The door was a series of odd arches that retracted one by one in a painfully slow fashion. It opened onto the wasteland before them. Directly ahead was some kind of jungle environment, which was somehow bordered by a very snowy area to the right. To the left of the jungle was what appeared to be a desert, and Yerim would have spent more time marveling at these oddities if there wasn’t a literal battle playing out before her.

The dragon they had detected earlier appeared to be injured, and was crawling its way over to Rosé and Jennie, who were desperately trying to get away from it. The beast was moving slow enough that under normal circumstances, the two girls could have escaped. However, Jennie appeared to be injured in some way, as Rosé seemed to be doing most of the footwork. Irene and Joy were sprinting alongside a group of dogs toward their friends, but they certainly weren’t going to be able to reach them before the dinosaur. Yerim registered all of these things as she ran as fast as she could to reach the monster. She drew both pistols from her belt but knew that it would only further endanger her friends to fire from this distance.

Several blasts of light caught her eye and she turned to see BP and Lisa both firing their guns. The shots were directly on target, hitting the attacking dinosaur in the face and vaporizing wherever they touched. The monster gave a roar of pain and turned its attention to the newcomers, half of its face melted and disfigured from the lasers. This gave Jennie and Rosé enough time to escape to safety, at least for the moment.

As Yerim was preparing to relax, there was another screech, this time from directly above her. She looked up to see another one of the dragons emerging from the smoke-filled sky, diving straight towards her. She felt a body slam into her and knock her to the ground. The monster swooped back into the air, recovering from its missed attack and circling around for another.

Yerim saw that it was Lisa who had pushed her out of the way, and the position in which they’d fallen in left them lying face to face on the ground. The blonde girl’s face was overcome by a blush, and she quickly stood up, pulling Yerim with her.

They had no opportunity to enjoy the relief of their successful brush with death as the injured dragon was now closing in on them. The two girls both turned and opened fire on the monster, barraging its head with flashes of light. Yerim found that firing the pistols was easy, almost like when she’d used the toys in an arcade when she was a kid. The dragon was able to move forward a few more feet before collapsing, its head completely missing and its neck severely charred.

The airborne dragon, however, was still fully capable of attacking. It was headed right for Wendy, who was only able to graze the monster with her shots. BP was missing as well, as this dragon had learned from its comrade’s mistakes and was now rolling through the air to avoid being targeted. Wendy and BP scurried out of the way to avoid the dragon’s attack. As they did so, several loud shots rang out across the area, and Yerim turned to see Seulgi (accompanied by a tire-iron wielding Jisoo) unloading her revolver at the beast. She was able to clip its wing, causing the beast to back off and begin flying lopsidedly towards Irene and her group. Lisa bolted after it at a shockingly high speed, and Yerim tried to follow, both girls firing at the zigzagging monster. The dragon was getting too close to the other girls now for their shots to be safe anymore, so Yerim took Lisa’s lead and stopped firing.

Lisa dropped her weapon and pulled the powered-down laser sword from her belt.

“USE THIS!” she yelled throwing the hilt with all her might.

Yerim’s stomach dropped. There was no way that Lisa could throw the weapon with any type of accuracy from this distance, at this speed. Additionally, none of the girls would be focused enough to grab the weapon, or even benefit from it at all.

Yerim was correct. The hilt landed too far away for any of the girls to access. Rosé, Jennie, and the wolves had scattered at this point and were out of harm’s way. Joy was next to Irene, both still very much in danger. The shorter girl was fast enough to roll to avoid the dragon’s low-flying attack. Joy was not so lucky, however, as the monster’s wing managed to knock her over, leaving a long, bloody cut on her back.

“Joy!” Yerim yelled, trying to run harder, but her muscles were beginning to fail her.

Wendy overtook her then, firing fruitlessly toward the dragon. The monster had landed and was now turning around to catch its injured prey. Joy sat up and tried to move, but the pain was too much for her; she wasn’t getting anywhere on her own. As fast as Wendy and Lisa were moving, there was simply no time.

Then, Yerim saw a streak of violet accompanied by the flash of a laser. The dragon roared in pain and recoiled from Rosé. She held the sword as if she had used it every day of her life, bounding forward and delivering a series of devastating strikes to the creature’s neck and face. Her final slash decapitated the monster, and its head rolled to a stop inches from Joy’s foot.

Jennie, supported by the largest wolf of the pack, let out a cheer of victory.

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

EVERYONE'S BACK TOGETHER! YAY! Wenjoy really can't catch a break, huh? ): Well I guess Joy kinda got off easy, considering she was attacked by a dragon and all... Wendy's really gotta get her together with her aiming skils. Got some LisaxYerim flirting going on and some more of Seulgi and Jisoo just completely being in love. Didn't focus much on the relationships in this chapter, cus I wanted this to be more about plot development than character development (I think we were kinda overdue for that).

Yeah so as you can see, we're nearing the end of the album now. Only four more chapters to go! There's gonna be plenty of content in those chapters, though, don't worry. Thanks for reading<3