Oh, no… I’m doomed! Adele braces herself for the end. And then a flash.

“AAARGH!!!”

Adele gets out of her brace and suddenly saw someone in front of her. It’s someone she doesn’t want to see.

“…UNNIE?!”

Amanda had barely managed to vault herself in front and block the attack. She is panting hard. The Scorn Leader had been blasted back a few meters and struggles to get up.

“You… can throw… anything… at me… You’re… not… hurting… these girls…” Amanda pants.

Just you try, you scum… I can do this all…. OH NO. THERE GOES MY BODY.

A thud. Not even a screech. Amanda collapses right in front of Adele. And everyone else can only watch.

“UNNIE!!!”

-

Alexa has her hands to her face. What on earth just happened?

Aisha was at the bathroom waiting for Ariel to finish. She has her hand to her chest in horror. Ashley, who is with her, grabs onto her arm.

“Unnie…” Ashley says softly, tears forming in her eyes.

Ariel exits the bathroom. “Is… everything okay?”

“Amanda-unnie got hurt… really bad…” Aisha mutters.

-

Andrea, realizing that she is free, scrambles to Amanda and Adele. “Adele, grab hold of Amanda-unnie!”

“What about you?”

“JUST DO AS I SAY!”

Adele puts Amanda’s arm on her shoulder as Andrea sends a stream of fire towards the fallen Scorn Leader, still struggling to gain footing. Andrea then conjures a wall of fire in their hall before rushing to Adele's side.

“LET’S GO!!!”

-

“I’m going out there,” Aisha announces.

“What are you, daft?! Scorn is going to be on their heels!” Alexa yells.

“They need help!”

“And risk yourself getting killed by a rain of bullets?!”

“I don’t think you realize what I’m capable of.”

Alexa sighs. “Alright. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

“I’m going with you.”

The two turn around. It’s Ashley.

“I have to help Amanda-unnie… like she did me.”

Aisha puts her hand out. “Come on, unnie. Let’s go.” The two hold hands together, now with a sense of hope.

-

Andrea frantically set ups fire walls around her, knowing Scorn is hot on their tail, all while protecting Adele, who now holds Amanda alone. They have been running for what seems like forever. For every Scorn member popping up in front of them, Andrea frantically blasts all of them with fire, with Adele occasionally chipping in with a blast of lightning. They all fall like dominoes.

Near the exit for the station, there’s a swarm of Scorn grunts, moving in front like a wave. They all have their guns out. Game over.

Or, once more, so they thought.

Simultaneously, like magic, two girls rise from the shadows holding hands. One raises her hand towards the grunts. The grunts fire their assault rifles, barrels flashing. But that’s it. There are hundreds, maybe thousands bullets frozen in the air. Then the assault rifles are in the air, as if something snatched them away. They then disassemble right in front of everyone, the pieces falling onto the ground.

“Ashley? Aisha? Is that you?” Adele sputters.

One of the girls turns her head slightly, then gives a grin. It’s definitely her.

Andrea uses the chance to blast fire onto the grunts.

“Alright! Down into the station!”

The four girls now scramble into the mall with Amanda in tow. Ashley finds a spot in the shadows, prompting everyone to hold hands. Then, in a split second, everyone aside from Ashley feels like they’re being pulled in. The Scorn members rush by. After a few minutes, everyone gets pushed out.

“Phew… that’s a nifty ability you have, Ashley!” Adele whispers.

Andrea grabs the walkie-talkie from Amanda’s pocket. “Alexa! Is the coast clear?” she whispers.

“All clear. Thank goodness you’re okay. Now get back here with Amanda-unnie!”

-

“Unnie, this isn’t your fault. They had to have planned this…” Aisha says.

“But how could they have known?! We know Woori-unnie isn’t a mole because I saw everything from her end. No one has come close to her!”

“They knew we had escaped, and probably reported our abilities to the boss. They knew that place needed extra security, so they had to plant someone there to keep watch. These had to come together for that to happen. It’s the only plausible explanation.” Andrea sighs.

“Wow… that’s new… Andrea sounding smart…” Adele says.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Andrea retorts, glaring at Adele as she helps her set Amanda gently down on a hospital-like bed.

“Do you know what hit her?” Alexa asks, looking around the hospital-like room for medical supplies.

“No… but I saw… dark energy forming in her palm… before I closed my eyes…” Adele sighs.

Ariel examines Amanda’s arm. There’s a mix of cuts as if someone whipped her continuously. Or perhaps like someone taking a thick rope and running it across her arm in several places. But much of the damage seemed to center around where she took the blast. Why did Amanda-unnie have to get hurt? She thought. If only I could help her arm get better…

Ariel begins to feel a tingling sensation in her hands. She raises them up and sees a bright azure aura suddenly begin to emanate from her hands. The other girls notice this as well.

“Whoa… Ariel, didn’t you say you DIDN’T have powers?” Aisha asks.

“I think she actually does…” Ashley says. “Why don’t you put your hands over Amanda-unnie’s arm?”

Ariel nods as she places follows Ashley’s prompt. “Hey… my hands are feeling funnier…”

“Do you know what’s going on, Ashley?” Adele asks.

“I think I do… Ariel, hold your hands steady, okay?” Ashley replies softly.

“You’re onto something here…” Andrea says.

Ariel holds her hands in place. The girls notice Amanda’s wound slowly begin to heal, as if like magic.

“Whoa… unbelievable…” Alexa says.

Within moments, Amanda’s arm is like brand new.

“What were you thinking before your hands were glowing, Ariel?” Ashley asked.

“Oh… I just wanted to help Amanda-unnie’s arm get better… but I thought I couldn’t help…” Ariel says.

Ashley nods. Adele puts two and two together. “I think Ashley’s suspicions are right! …well at least I think I know what she’s thinking… Ariel’s a Water Adept!”

The other girls gasp. They now had an adept of all six elements.

“That’s so cool!” Aisha says.

“Hey… umm… do y’all see what I’m seeing?” Alexa says.

The rest of the girls then realize they still have an unconscious Amanda. But for some reason, there’s a faint white aura beginning to emanate around her body.

“Ashley, you seem to know quite a bit compared to us…” Adele says. “Any idea on why she’s glowing?”

Ashley pauses for a moment. “I’m not sure exactly… I think her body is healing itself…”

“Didn’t Ariel just heal her arm, though?” Andrea asks.

“This could be something related to the attack… Light and Dark are opposing elements, so she must have been hit hard… her body might be reacting to the energy thrown at her and is trying to readjust…”

Aisha rushes to Ashley’s side, believing that she’s worried for Amanda.

“Let’s have somebody watch over her, unnie. We were going to do the next food run, remember?”

“I’ll watch over her,” Andrea says immediately.

“No. I will. It’s my fault that she’s hurt,” Adele interjects.

“Look, it’s no one’s fault, okay?!” Aisha yells. “Why don’t the both of you watch over her then?!” Andrea and Adele stand in shock as the rest of the girls solemnly return to the main space.

-

8:00 PM.

Scorn is on high alert now that the girls escaped their grasp.

“Attention all passengers. Earlier today, five girls trespassed premises and are now wanted. Our leader as well as dozens of our men were injured during the confrontations. They are considered highly dangerous. If you have any information on them, please direct it to our attention. We appreciate your cooperation.”

Little did they know how there were two others also conspiring with them, one of whom was now in the danger zone for the first time since the whole situation sprouted.

Alexa gallantly led Ashley, Aisha, and Ariel to Woori’s convenience store. Even with the elevated security, they were able to evade detection thanks to Alexa’s direction and Ashley’s powers.

“You must be friends of Adele. Tell me… are she and her friends okay?” Woori asks.

Ashley stirs, head down.

“Adele is fine, but… Amanda-unnie… she… got hurt. Pretty bad, actually,” Aisha says, looking away.

“Oh, no! That’s terrible! Do you need medical supplies! I’ll see if I have some!”

“It’s okay, honestly. She’s in stable condition…” Aisha replies. At least we think she is. “The other unnies are looking after her.”

“Hmm… don’t tell me. She laid a finger on the leader.”

“Actually, that’s what happened,” Ariel says. “She saved Adele-unnie!”

“I knew they’d never go down without a fight. Your unnies are pretty strong.” Woori went to put her hand on Ashley’s shoulder. “She’ll be okay. You girls are always welcome here, just like your unnies.”

“Thank you, Woori-unnie!” Ariel says in a sweet tone.

Aisha holds Ashley’s hand. “Amanda-unnie will be okay. Come, let’s go get our food.”

“Okay…”

-

As Alexa continues to watch the monitors, Adele sits in the medical ward where Amanda lies. If it weren’t for the glowing aura around her body, one would think the elder girl had drifted away to dreamland.

Adele hasn’t spoken for hours. She sits silently next to Amanda, head down, although she occasionally looks up at her unnie. The glow has slowly progressed, as it could now be like a dim light in a room.

Meanwhile, Andrea has been pacing up and down the halls of the medical ward in the hideout. Occasionally giving peaks at Alexa at the monitors and Adele in Amanda’s room. She takes some time to quietly practice her Taekwondo, theorizing how she could implement more of her powers so she can take down more Scorn grunts.

I can’t let what happened to Amanda-unnie happen to the others. I’m now the next ma- err… next in line. Wow that could have been awkward if I said that out loud.

It takes a while before she returns to Adele.

“You okay?”

There’s no response. Andrea grabs a chair and sets it next to Adele. She sighs as she sits down.

“Look. Aisha is right,” she says in a gentle tone. “It really wasn’t your fault. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

In a matter of moments, a tear falls from Adele’s cheek. Andrea pulls Adele in so she could rest her head on her shoulder. At the same time, she holds Adele’s soft hand.

“Don’t worry. She’ll be okay, Adele. I know it.”

Andrea continues to hold Adele’s hand, gently massaging it, all while staring at Amanda. There’s so much she’s learned about her in the past few days. Never could she have thought of seeing her rival here. Never could she have imagined fighting alongside her. Never could she have imagined rescuing her. So much that she could have never thought.

And yet, there they were. Together.

Andrea knows just how tough Amanda was. But she only knew the fighter back then. She now knows how caring Amanda was. How she takes care of the younger kids. How good of a communicator she is. How easily she leads them all. But more importantly, how selfless she is. She put herself at risk just to protect the rest of them.

As much as we fought evenly, you’re clearly the better of us, unnie. I’m glad that you’re still just as tough as you were in the arena, but now I know just how tough you are as a person. You cared for us. You stood up for us. You SAVED us. That’s how I know you’ll pull through… because you’re a FIGHTER. Honestly, I’m so thankful we bumped into each other. Because WE would be NOTHING without YOU.

-

“Wait here.”

“With all the food? You know how dangerous it is that you’re leaving it with me?!”

“You’re not being serious, are you, unnie?”

“No, I’m kidding. But in all honesty, I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“I’m going to see what I can do. Dark Adepts can counter Dark Adepts.”

“I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

Ashley sneaks her way down the stairs to Track 12. There’s nobody around. She can even sense the absence. The leader wasn’t there. No grunts.

Now on the platform, she sneaks her way past several grunts. She then finds the closet that Alexa told her about. Using the shadows, she slips under the doors.

There’s nobody but her in the closet. She then focuses her eyes on the ground. There’s faint writing.

If thou wish to reach the hangar, thou must see the unseen.
If thou wish to seek the armor, thou must root its chamber.
If thou wish to wield the armor, thou must be pure of heart.

Examining the ground further, there’s another hidden message.

Thou must acknowledge light and dark to enter.

-

“So, did you find anything?” Alexa asks.

Ashley tells her of the messages written on the ground. Alexa begins to ponder.

“Acknowledge light and dark… did you fondle for a light switch?”

“No… Scorn was right outside and the light would have seeped through.”

“Hmm… this is an intriguing puzzle. You’ll have to show me by morning. You can take me there. Ariel can look after the hideout and Amanda-unnie.”

“But what about the guards? What if the Scorn Leader is there?” Aisha asks.

“I’ll devise a plan. This time it has to work. Unlike last time. It might as well be all or nothing.”

Alexa ponders for a moment.

“You all will need to show me exactly what you all can do, as in your powers. That should give me a good idea of how to execute our plan of attack.” She then stares at Ashley.

“Especially you, Ashley-unnie… I think you’ve really bailed us out a few times now. I really need to know just how powerful you really are…”

-

Will Amanda recover from the fight with the Scorn Leader? Just how powerful is Ashley? Will we get glimpses of Adele's powers? Find out in the next chapter!

-

A/N: So the situation might have turned grim. You'll have to see how I'm going to play this out...
Also, we now learn that Ariel/Hayoung is the Water Adept... what does that make Alexa/Yookyung if she doesn't have powers?
Hope y'all are still enjoying this, even if things went south in terms of the story. Sorry.
Oh, and the release of the remaining chapters will take a bit more time than usual, so sit tight.

Playlist: Fell on Black Days by Soundgarden