Himchan led the way through the shadows as the four men made their way through the city. Every now and then they had to pause as a patrol squad passed by. The night was pleasantly clear and they didn't have any trouble making it to the warehouse.

Youngjae was the first to notice the orange flag tied discreetly on a nearby fence. Their supplier had already been there and delivered what they needed. They relaxed slightly but were still keeping an eye out for danger. Himchan motioned for the group to follow him in as he quickly entered through a back door.

The medical supplies were set in bags, stacked neatly near a wall. As Jongup picked one up, he frowned. “Do these feel a little light to you?”

Everyone came over and opened the bags only to find about half the supplies they needed. “What the hell?” Daehyun sighed but began to put the bags into his backpack. They would take what they could get.

“That's really weird…” Youngjae felt on edge, glancing around. Suddenly he spotted the vague outline of a patrol robot in the corner. His heart practically stopped. Immediately after being noticed, the robot stood up. Floodlights from its shoulders illuminated the group, who all turned around quickly.

Himchan swore before pushing the boys behind some industrial crates. “We were set up.” He pulled his gun out as they heard the main doors open. Suddenly the crate in front of them exploded, sending all of them flying.

Daehyun and Youngjae hit the wall hard and slid to the ground. Jongup crashed against some boxes but managed to land on his back. He got up and brought his gun out. Aiming quickly, he began firing at the squad that was entering the warehouse. Himchan was doing the same as the other two began to gather the supplies they came for. Otherwise this whole trip would have been a waste.

The whole front wall of the building was abruptly blown to pieces, knocking them all back again.

A whole army was on the other side of the dust. “Damn, you weren't who I was expecting.” All four of the men froze, as did the robots as one walked forward. This one's midsection had a screen. Tera was pictured there, coming in through a live video feed.

While they were distracted, enemies were sneaking behind them. Daehyun was the first to notice but just as he turned to fight, metal pipes came down on his head. Daehyun lay unconscious on the floor as the other boys became aware of the danger. Jongup moved in quickly, knocking back several attackers. He moved smoothly and Himchan joined him while Youngjae pulled Daehyun off to the side.

Suddenly there was an attack from behind. A metal bar slammed down onto Jongup’s collarbone. He dropped to one knee, biting his lip against the pain. His attacker grabbed him from behind and Jongup couldn’t even resist without feeling searing pain. Himchan was apprehended in a similar way, though with a bit more of a struggle.

Finally, their enemies turned them toward the front of the building. Tera was smiling down at them, amused at their struggles.

Himchan looked up at the dictator’s robot. “Just who the hell were you expecting?”

“I've been looking for an old friend.”

“Well I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

Jongup continued to struggle. He had heard bits of your thoughts whenever the dictator was mentioned. He had a pretty good idea of who Tera was after and it made him all the more anxious to escape. The more he struggled, the tighter the person held onto him. He swore under his breath before looking up at the robot in front of him.

“I suppose you’ll make good hostages, though.” Tera smiled, tilting her head to the side. “But I need at least one of you to scurry back and relay the news to my dear friend.” Two robots came and picked up Jongup and the unconscious Daehyun. “You might want to hurry. If they don’t meet me within 24 hours, I’ll have these two killed.” Her sickening cat-like smile made all of the men shiver.

Himchan looked at the two still held captive as he tried to come up with a solution. “We’ll be back for you.” With that, he and Youngjae turned and sprinted away.

“Wow, what a great leader. Just leaving his men behind like that.” Tera clicked her tongue, a smile still on her lips.

“Himchan doesn’t break his promises. He’ll be back for us.” Jongup leveled a glare at the dictator’s screen in front of him.

“Yeah, yeah, well in the meantime, I have a lovely little anti-Skill cell for you two to stay in.” With that, her robot turned away and started to walk back to her skyscraper castle. Jongup looked over at Daehyun in worry but otherwise decided to be silent as he was roughly dragged along.

******

You knelt on the floor, shaking as your head ran through all of the possibilities of what could be happening out there right now. Junhong was next to you, asking questions, but you couldn’t hear him over the loud thoughts in your head.

Suddenly the door burst open and Himchan and Youngjae ran inside. They slammed the door shut behind them, breathing heavily. As they turned to look at the others in the room, you were sure that your worst thoughts would be confirmed.

“It was a setup.” Himchan said, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

“No way…” Junhong stood up, his eyes wide.

Youngjae nodded, falling into a chair with his head in his hands. “Tera’s army showed up and practically blew the warehouse apart. She said she was looking for her ‘old friend’ but ended up taking Jongup and Daehyun hostage.” Tears pricked your eyes as you put all the pieces together.

Himchan was looking at you when he spoke next. “She said that if her ‘friend’ doesn’t show up within 24 hours, she’ll kill both of them.”

Your eyes widened and you stood up dizzily. “I have to go.”

“What does this have to do with you?” Yongguk asked, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned against the wall.

You balled your hands into fists. “I don’t have to tell you-”

Sae touched your shoulder. “It’s better if you just tell them. Then we can help you and ensure everyone’s safety.”

You sighed, but agreed, deciding that it would be best to at least give them the highlight of your story with Tera...

Mr. Kim lay on the ground, dragging himself backwards as you advanced on the President. You were shaking. The blood of the others was splattered across your body. You trembled as you leveled your gun at his head. You wanted to stop, to just get out of here and forget everything. You weren’t being you. She was controlling you again.

“Please, put the gun down. We can talk this out.” The man on the floor begged.

You used both shaking hands to try to get the gun down, but it wouldn’t budge. The stress of the day and the situation caught up with you and tears began to stream down your face. “Mr. Kim… I’m.. I’m so sorry.” You closed your eyes tightly and the gun fired.

***

You dragged your body up the stairs, taking care to not further injure yourself. You knew there were probably a few broken ribs and sprains. The cut into your shoulder was still steadily bleeding but there was nothing you could do at this point.

Finally, you made it to the main office where Tera was looking out the shattered windows behind the President’s desk. She didn’t seem injured at all besides a few scrapes. She wasn’t covered in the blood of her enemies like you were. She wasn’t in a state of shock like you were.

“Oh, you survived. Excellent.” Tera turned to look at you. She made no mention of your state; she didn’t even care. “We need to focus on our next step. There’s likely going to be some rebels that try to challenge my authority-”

“Your authority??” You leaned against the desk.

She raised her eyebrows. “Yes, my authority. Do you have a problem with that?”

“I have a few problems, yeah!” You realized that she had just used you as a weapon to get to the top; to keep herself clean. Once you had killed the President, her control over you was removed and you had slowly become even more aware of your situation.

Tera’s eyes shifted to the red of Truth. Her defenses were going up. “We can address your issues later. Or will that be a problem, too?” You felt the familiar tingling going through your body as she used her powers against you.

“I thought we were friends.” You said, fighting against her Skill. You clenched your fists on the table.

“We are. And friends help each other.” Her menacing tone was setting you on edge. Her eyes changed to orange as she used both Truth and Trick on you. The tingling became sharper as you fought against it. She was going to control you again, you just knew it. Your heart rate accelerated and adrenaline coursed through you.

“You won’t control me anymore, Tera.” You could feel a change come over you as your whole vision turned purple. You Slipped out of her control, turned, and ran. Her livid expression terrified you and encouraged you to move that much faster, despite your injuries.

You heard her scream in frustration and bullets flew past you, hitting the door frame just as you ran through it.

You sighed. “So I helped. I didn’t want to. I thought I was safe because we were friends, but I was wrong; I was coerced by her Skills. She has both Truth and Trick, and when she uses them together she can make you do practically anything.” Your heart pounded, fearing the judgement that the group in front of you was likely thinking at the moment. You averted your eyes and kept going. “Anyway, That was when I learned how to Slip out of Skills. She tried to control me again, but I Slipped away. I ran away. I’ve been on the run ever since.”

It was silent for a few moments before Yongguk pushed away from the wall. “Well I guess we better go find her.” He gave you a nod and left to get ready. The air was heavy and you couldn’t bring yourself to look up at them.

Youngjae stood up and came over to you. He took your hand in one of his and shook it a little. “It wasn’t your fault-” You gave a shaky half-laugh, “I’m not done yet. It wasn’t your fault, but this is your chance to redeem yourself. Get back at her. She betrayed you. She wants you dead. The friend she used to be is long gone.”

You had tears in your eyes as you finally looked up and met his gaze. You nodded slowly. “You’re right…” He smiled at you, squeezing your hand in reassurance.

Junhong came up on your other side. “Do you know the capitol building’s layout, then?” He asked, holding your other hand.

You nodded again. “Yes. And with Youngjae’s help, we should be able to to get to the boys fairly quickly.” Youngjae nodded in agreement and the three of you took a deep breath. “Alright, let’s do this.”

★☆★☆★☆