“The pills are the ones giving and curing the headache? Wendy are you high or something? Because that doesn’t make sense!” Jeongyeon rubs her nose bridge trying to understand but Wendy and Mina explain before anyone can speak more.

 “I know! it sounds too crazy but I swear it’s the truth, the only thing I was missing was what it was making the pill react that way.” Wendy starts and Mina continues. “But now that Momo is here, we can know why the pill has those effects.”

“If we discover what we were searching for we might discover why Sunmi gave them those pills and with more luck, her unknown quirk.” Wendy turns to see Momo but Elkie’s voice makes her turn.

“Wait, I have an idea too!”Elkie says with wide eyes, everyone looking at her.”We also want to know that woman’s quirk right? We extracted the poison from Momo and Seulgi’s body, Momo-sshi told us her first quirk was poison, so, if we analyze the extracted poison-”

“We will also know her quirk faster! Elkie you are brilliant” Mina says with a bright smile as she snaps her fingers after hearing the idea.

“How long will it take to analyze the poison?” Tzuyu asks, turning to look at Elkie.

“An hour or two” Elkie sighs. “But if Wendy or Mina helps me, maybe I can reduce that time.”

“I’ll help.” Wendy says quickly as she looks at Mina. “You might have some luck understanding the pills and memories situation since you have your emotions quirk.”

Wendy turns to see Elkie as they both go to a nearby computer, Mina doesn’t waste time and turns to see Momo with questioning and unsure eyes. “ Momo, that day, when I discovered you...you screamed horrifically...did you take pills that day?”

Momo purses her lips at the memory feeling Mina’s sad look on her when she looks up, taking a deep breath. “I stopped taking them, since a few weeks ago, I wanted to hear the voice more...and that day I..” Momo frowns rubbing her temples trying to remember something important. “After the discussion, I just felt a huge pain in my chest because I was hurt...by everything you said to me and I think the shock of my identity revelation didn’t help...the headache happened and it wasn’t like the ones I had before...it was beyond strong, in that moment something broke inside my head and I saw a train of memories.”

“I’m sure about one thing, whatever thing Sunmi did to us stopped functioning in that moment…” Momo says with a sure voice that turns into a confused one with her next words. “But... after Seulgi took me to the lair to cure my wounds and what happened to me, I couldn’t remember my memories.”

Mina and the team listen with attention to what Momo says, Mina frowns trying to create a good hypothesis with everything they have right now, meanwhile, Chaeyoung asks. “Did Seulgi see what our aunt did to you?”

Momo closes her eyes for a moment before answering with an unsure voice. “I don’t think so, Sunmi is really meticulous, she didn’t let any of them approach whenever she treated our wounds.”

“Do you think she may know something or have a clue?” Sana asks and Momo turns to see the room where Seulgi is resting with a questioning look. “It could be, if she’s awake and in a...somewhat good shape, we can talk to her.”

"If she's awake you can talk a little bit with her, she still needs more rest, the poison effect was harder on her" Jihyo says with a soft voice as she looks at Momo and everyone.

Momo and Mina nod, exchanging brief looks before they go to the room, finding Rose and Jisoo giving some medicines to Seulgi who is laying on the bed, her eyes barely open.

Rosé and Jisoo turn to see them, signaling with silent hands they can approach, deciding to give Momo and Seulgi some space, standing beside Mina near the door.

Momo feels a sting in her heart when she sees Seulgi's arms and torso covered with bandages, her face is slightly wounded and a little puffy.

Seulgi blinks slightly when she sees Momo's face with tired eyes. "Momo…?"

"Hi Seul…" Momo says with a sad tone, feeling her heart sting more when Seulgi's lips manage to form a tiny smile, along with her characteristic eye smile. "Why...the sad eyes?"

"Because no one likes to see their friends hurt and lying on a bed." Momo says with a broken tone, gently grabbing Seulgi's hand.

Seulgi squeezes Momo's hand, making Momo look at her, Seulgi's eyes are soft just like her smile. "If you and Nayeon weren't there...I'd be dead already…"

Momo looks at Seulgi with astonished eyes, Seulgi's smile only increases. "So don't look at me with those sad eyes... I'm grateful that I'm alive thanks to you and Nayeon.."

Momo bites her lower lip as she looks at Seulgi with a relieved smile. A smile that changes when Seulgi coughs unexpectedly making Momo look at her worriedly.

Rosé and Jisoo approach along with Mina noticing Seulgi looks more tired but also sleepy since the medicine must've started working.

Seulgi also seems to notice it, feeling her eyes tired, she needs to talk as much as possible before the medicine knocks her out. "Nayeon...is she here?"

"No... I'm sure Sunmi has her..." Momo purses her lips with worry as she looks at Seulgi's tired but surprised and terrified eyes, Momo decides to continue before Seulgi speaks. "We are trying to discover what Sunmi's plan is and her second quirk, once we know, we can stop her and rescue Nayeon"

"Each passing minute is crucial, I want to save Nayeon as soon as possible." Momo looks at Seulgi who purses her lips and blinks fighting with the tiredness. "That's why I want to ask you something, I know you need rest-"

"Nayeon is in danger, my body can rest later" Seulgi says with a determined frown looking at Momo, squeezing her hand "I'll do anything to help!"

Momo looks at Seulgi with surprised eyes when she notices even if she's tired and probably still in some pain, Seulgi fights to remain awake.

Momo cannot help but smile at this, feeling touched by Seulgi's determination. However, even if she wants to let her friend rest, she is not going to throw away Seulgi's efforts.

"When I fought with Mina that night, you took me to the lair and Sunmi cured me but I'm sure she did something else to me, do you have a clue of what she could have done?" Momo asks with hopeful eyes as she notices Seulgi takes a while to process the question looking down for brief moments as if she is trying hard to remember that night.

Long minutes pass, Seulgi keeps looking down, frowning as she tries to remember something that could be useful.

Seulgi's eyes manage to catch someone moving in the door, she completely forgot about everyone else when she started talking to Momo, when she sees Mina and their eyes briefly connect something pops up in her mind making her gasp.

"I didn't have the opportunity to see what she did to you, but," Seulgi points at Mina, making the hero blink with surprise. "Sunmi got really mad and nervous when I mentioned you fought against her..."

"She said her emotions quirk was…" Seulgi closes one eye, even trying to remember something is hard now that she is still injured but she manages. "...Annoying."

Momo and Mina look at Seulgi with wide eyes, even if what Seulgi told them might not seem like big info at least for Jisoo and Rosé who are not experts and don't know a lot of the situation, for Momo and Mina it's different.

Seulgi's eyes start to feel heavy, she smiles a little, sensing that what she said might help, she hopes it will.

"Seul-" Momo turns to see Seulgi but stops talking when she notices her friend sleeping, the blue-eyed woman shows a little smile patting her friend's hand gently. "Thank you, I'll definitely rescue Nayeon-unnie, just wait."

Rose and Jisoo approach checking Seulgi's condition, Rose is the one speaking with a half-smile "She might sleep longer this time. It's the medicine and the antidote effect but you don't have to worry, in a few days she will be okay."

"Thank you, really.." Momo says with a grateful and relieved tone bowing respectfully which takes Rose and Jisoo by surprise, even Mina who can't help but smile.

However, Mina is also the one who decides to remind Momo of the situation even though she doesn't like it. "Momo, we have to tell the others, the clock is ticking."

Momo turns around to meet Mina's calm but expectant eyes, taking a deep breath. "Yes, we don't have time to lose."

Mina returns the nod as she and Momo walk back towards the other, Tzuyu and Chaeyoung notice them, hurriedly approaching them before the others.

"Did you get something!?" Tzuyu asks with anxious eyes, surprising Mina and the team because they rarely see that expression on Tzuyu, but considering Nayeon is possibly kidnapped and god knows what more, it's very very understandable.

“Yes.” Momo is the one speaking, turning to see her sister’s deeply worried eyes, Momo shows a half-smile. “Seulgi told us something useful”

“The night I fought against Mina, Seulgi took me to Sunmi after the huge headache I had, and even if Seulgi couldn’t enter the room where she ‘healed’ me, she noticed something in Sunmi” Momo explains looking at everyone in the room and then she looks at Mina who is also looking at her. “Seulgi told me when she mentioned I fought against Mina, Sunmi got very nervous and said Mina’s emotions quirk was annoying.”

Jeongyeon and Sana frown, looking at them with questioning looks, Mina decides to explain further. “I know what you might be thinking, why the hell it matters how Sunmi feels about me and my quirk?”

“It matters a lot.” Mina continues with a serious voice moving her hands as she explains. “Sunmi’s secret  quirk is a quirk focused on mind, based on what Momo told us, as you might know, mind and emotions quirks are quite related since they are not focused on physical abilities like yours.” 

“Whatever thing Sunmi did to Momo stopped working that night and I didn’t use my quirk on her, so why was Sunmi so nervous about my quirk?” Mina turns to see her friends who are looking at her with wide eyes, Chaeyoung is the one speaking faster.

“Because your quirk might have some effect on aunt Sunmi’s?!” Chaeyoung asks with great surprise taking a few steps closer to Mina and her sister.

Mina smiles nodding as she looks at Chaeyoung for a few moments. “You don’t fail to disappoint Chae, you caught up fast.”

Jeongyeon puts a hand on her jaw looking at Mina with intrigue. “Perhaps your quirk makes her quirk weaker or-”

“It stops it.” Tzuyu’s surprised and serious voice makes everyone turn to look at her, Mina decides to speak again.

“Whether it makes it weaker or stops it, the thing we have to know is why” Mina takes a deep breath running a hand through her hair. “Is it the emotions control? any specific emotion?”

“It might be a specific one?” Momo’s confused voice resounds in the room, the woman frowns even if she dislikes remembering that moment, she remembers again.  “Because that moment I was feeling hurt and no other one”

Mina frowns with discomfort after hearing Momo’s words biting her lip at the memory, she swallows the bitter feeling to concentrate again, looking at Momo with serious and sad eyes.

Sana looks at them obviously noticing the uncomfortable aura between them, so she decides to do the question Mina might ask. “Can you tell us more about what you felt?”

Momo turns to see Mina for a few moments noticing the girl’s sad eyes and how now she is avoiding her look, taking a deep breath, still looking at Mina, her blue eyes shining with sadness just like Mina’s onyx ones. “I... was shocked by everything, I wanted to tell her about my identity but I didn’t have the courage...and then...the moment I feared and anticipated happened just like I imagined, every single word she said to me hurt more than any wound I ever had, and... I knew I deserved those words for not doing things right, for not speaking the truth from the start, after hearing her words and feeling hurt my headache started, I...didn’t have the opportunity to say more, or…”

Momo purses her lips, noticing how Mina is still refusing to look at her, grabbing her arm from her coat tightly, Momo’s next words make Mina tighten the grip on her arm. “Or to apologize properly.”

Chaeyoung frowns with sadness, it pains her to see both women in this situation, she understands how Mina feels but she also wishes she could understand how her sister feels.

Tzuyu looks at Chaeyoung for a few moments, thinking the young girl is the one who understands Mina’s feelings, when she turns to see Momo who is still looking at Mina she takes a deep breath, even if she can partly understand what Momo feels since she also hid the truth from her friends...she cannot help but grimace with sadness when she thinks about the one who has her greatly worried and anxious. “Even if I can understand slightly how Momo feels, the only one who can understand how Momo feels...is Nayeon.”

“But...Nayeon is not here” Tzuyu thinks and puts a hand on her face biting her lower lip with worry. “...where are you?”

“Did you really have to ask that?” Jeongyeon whispers to Sana looking at her with a worried frown signaling Momo and Mina. “Those two already had a weird atmosphere and-”

“Mina was going to ask something like that sooner or later, because of the hypothesis she has about her quirk and Sunmi’s” Sana says with a sigh, scratching her nape, pursing her lips. “That’s why I asked instead of her.”

Joengyeon opens her eyes wide, she forgot about the hypothesis for a moment, she takes a deep breath, rubbing her temples, why is everything so complicated?

Wendy’s loud voice breaks the tense atmosphere suddenly and fast, her hurried steps along with Elkie’s manage to get the team’s attention and shocked gazes.

“WE HAVE IT! WE DISCOVERED HER QUIRK!”

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

“Prison of memories?” Tzuyu asks with a frown as she looks at Wendy and Elkie.

“It’s a common variation of mind control quirk.” Wendy explains briefly as she shows information about the quirk on the display. “However, Sunmi’s quirk is stronger than the common ones.”

“She can trap the memories of three people for a certain time, and it has two abilities.” Wendy taps the display as she starts drawing to make the explanation easier to understand. “The first one is the one we usually see in users of this quirk, it allows her to imprisons selected memories that you have with one person.”

“However, the second one is the surprising one, because there are no registers of other people with this ability.” Wendy takes a deep breath as she keeps drawing. “She imprisons all the memories you have with certain people, the effect doesn’t hit quickly, as time goes by it’s impossible to remember them, although if she wishes, she can make the effect immediate, but it takes a lot of energy to do it”

“And that’s not the most impressive thing about it, she has trained her quirk so much that she overran the usual time limit this quirk has.” Wendy looks at them with astonished eyes. “The usual time a common user has it’s one day and that alone requires a lot of effort, some of them can’t even last one hour!”

“But this woman can make her quirk last a whole month!” Wendy signals Sunmi’s picture with disbelief. “Do you understand how dangerous it is to be under her command for a whole month? In that month she can change everything about you because if she chooses the people you have more memories or the ones that helped you to be who you are today, you won’t be able to remember ! It’s like she makes you have amnesia in the way it favors her better! Which gives her the perfect opportunity to shape you as she wishes.”

“And if you think that’s the scariest thing then prepare.” The whole team and the girls feel a shiver down their spine after they hear Wendy’s words, there’s more?

“To activate her quirk on you she has to dig her five nails on your stomach” Wendy turns to look at Momo. “That’s why when she attacked your family, she dug her nails on your stomach”

“I think she knew she couldn’t either dig her nails on your stomach every month since she attacked your family until today or keep up with the massive energy demand her ability has.” Wendy approaches the table and takes the pills signaling them. “That’s why she must’ve used these pills.”

“Remember we told you these pills provoke and cure the headache Momo and Nayeon had but we didn’t know what make the pills react like that?” Wendy tells them looking at their friend’s astonished expressions. “These pills are not limited to the headache, it’s more than that.”

“They’re a mechanism in charge to maintain Sunmi’s quirk effect for an even longer time.”

Wendy looks at their friends who look at her with shock and Mina looks at her with wide eyes, threading the possible hypothesis Wendy has with everything she has told them. “Momo told us every time she heard the voice talking for a long time, the headache started.”

“The pills gave the headache because they detected the voice as an enemy or some memory that slipped away…Just as when the antibiotic attacks the threat” Mina speaks with disbelief looking at Wendy who nods in response with serious eyes.

“But… Momo stopped taking the pills a few weeks ago because she wanted to hear the voice more, so why the effects remained? Or has the pills become something like a weakness?” Mina asks Wendy who looks at her while she puts a hand on her jaw frowning with a puzzled look, shaking her head after thinking for a few moments. “I don’t think the pills became a weakness…or maybe they did but I still need more time to know the weakness of Sunmi’s quirk…”

“One thing is sure, after taking the pills for such a long time they were probably started to lose effect, that must be the reason why the voice appeared in the first place.” Wendy explains with serious eyes, but she also shows a puzzled frown before she can speak again Jihyo interrupts.

“After taking it for so long, part of the substance of the pills must’ve remained there.” Jihyo’s statement makes Wendy look at her along with everyone. “It’s normal, after taking certain drugs for a long time it leaves traces in your body even if they lose effect after your body got used to them.”

“That or Sunmi dug her nails on Momo when she didn’t see.” Wendy adds turning to look at Momo who is looking at everyone with shocked eyes, she is barely processing every bit of information and doing a great effort trying to remain calm and not succumb to the panic she is feeling, Wendy’s words make her, and Mina widen their eyes when they remember something Seulgi mentioned.

“Seulgi said she couldn’t see what she did to you the day we fought.” Mina whispers as she turns to see Momo surprising herself even more when she sees the shock and fear in Momo’s eyes, even bigger than before. “Momo-“

“That’s what she did to me that day…that’s why I couldn’t hear the voice later and-“Momo puts a hand on , shaking, finally feeling the hit of all the information, the thread connecting the last strands. “All this time… she made us forget about our mother...the memories we had with her…so she could perfectly shape me and Nayeon with HER ideals…HER believing’s...”

“All this time we have been her puppets…” Momo puts her hands on her face, her body shaking like a leaf as she feels a big pressure in her heart, tears rolling down her cheeks fastly as she falls on her knees.

“She never really cared about us…We were never kids who had nowhere else to go…” Momo says with a broken voice filled with fury and hurt, the tears don’t stop, they keep rolling and rolling as if they were endless as she slams a fist hard on the ground, the pain of her bruised and bleeding knuckles cannot compare with the pain she feels in every inch of her.

 “SHE IS THE ONE WHO TOOK THAT FROM US!!!”

“ WHY!!!? WHY DID SHE DO THIS TO US!!?” Momo screams with pain as she keeps crying on the ground, shaking and tightening her fists until they turn white.

Everyone looks at Momo with sad eyes as they keep hearing the girl’s screams and tears, no one dares to approach her, knowing it’s better to let everything out, even if they’re also shocked by everything, they cannot imagine how Momo and Chaeyoung must be feeling right now.

However, Chaeyoung also can only imagine what her sister is feeling at this moment, she was very young to remember the day Sunmi attacked them, even if she tries to remember she can’t. Hell, she can’t even remember her mother’s face.

But after hearing Wendy’s explanation about her aunt’s quirk, the pills…

Does she really not remember because she was young?...

Or Sunmi did something else to her?

The mere thought sends shivers down to Chaeyoung’s spine, she swallows a knot in hardly as she starts shaking, she has never heard a voice…she does not take the pills Momo and Nayeon take. Is it because Sunmi’s quirk is stronger on her? Or Sunmi didn’t do anything to her?

Chaeyoung grabs her head as she starts breathing irregularly, the great doubt and fear about why she doesn’t remember or why she doesn’t hear the voice like her sisters makes her feel a great worry.

Tzuyu who noticed this quickly grabs Chaeyoung’s shoulders making the young girl look at her, her heart breaks when she sees Chaeyoung’s glassy and hopeless eyes, her shaky words make everyone in the room except Momo who is still crying on the ground with Mina beside her widen their eyes with shock.

“Why can’t I understand…? Why do I not hear a voice like them?... I don’t remember because I was young…?”

“Or Sunmi did something else to me?”

 

After a while, the two sisters finally calmed down, both sitting beside each other in the bed where Momo was laying some hours ago, clearly separated from the team and the others since they needed time alone, the two of them looking hopeless and with dull eyes, even puffy after all the tears.

The two must have a lot running in their minds, questions, thoughts, feelings…

However, there is one thing, a question specifically popping on Chaeyoung’s mind continuously.

“How was she?...our mother.” Chaeyoung asks, her voice sounding like a sorrowful whisper.

“She was…kind, she knew the three of us very well.” Momo smiles sadly at the memory. “Nayeon-unnie has her eyes and hair…she also was strict but not a lot…she was cool, even if her quirk didn’t work well, she always tried to look out for us.”

Momo’s voice breaks as she keeps speaking making Chaeyoung feel a twinge in her heart, tears start to form in her eyes.

Momo puts her hands on her face as she starts crying again. “Even if I try to remember more about that night I can’t…I want to know what happened to her…”

“I don’t want to think the worse…” Momo’s voice sounds strangled and sorrowful, Chaeyoung doesn’t have to think much to understand what her sister means, feeling a painful knot in .

“I know Sunmi has Nayeon-unnie but what about our mother?...” Momo sobs with grief as she keeps her hands on her face. “Where is she?... Sunmi did something to her? Is she okay?”

“Why can’t I know the answer to those questions?” Momo’s shoulders shake as she starts crying more, Chaeyoung who was looking and listening to her feels the tears rolling down her cheeks again, she wants to be strong, but she can’t, she desperately wants to say something to make everything better.

But in this situation are there even words to cheer up this?

Chaeyoung can only swallow the knot painfully as she puts her head on her sister’s shoulder also crying silently.

She can only pray for her sister and her mother.

Can only wish they are going to be fine.

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

The team and the girls cannot help but feel a great sting in their hearts by such a sight even if they’re looking at the sisters from the outside of the room from where they are, Chaeyoung who is nothing, but a positive and smiley kid now looks so lifeless…Momo who always has a kind smile and laugh is unrecognizable, curled into a ball in the room where she was as a child scared of a nightmare.

“The cruelty that woman has is…beyond words.” Jeongyeon speaks with seriousness as everyone is looking at the display while Wendy is still trying to open the document and investigate more about Sunmi.

“Why did she make them suffer like this?” Tzuyu frowns with disgust and anger. “She shaped two of them to be villains…lied about everything… took them from their mother and for what?”

Tzuyu’s palms start to get icy and everyone turns to look at her when the lab also starts to feel cold, clearly affected by Tzuyu’s quirk.

“Tzuyu.” Sana calls as she puts a gentle hand on Tzuyu’s making the hero look at her, her eyes filled with silent and cold rage. “I also feel like you…and I know you are worried about them and Nayeon…but even if it’s hard…we have to remain calm, letting free our emotions won’t help right now.”

“You will let them free when we find that woman and beat the out of her.” Jeongyeon says making Tzuyu turn to look at her as the young hero stops using her quirk silently nodding.

Tzuyu turns to look at the sisters again, Momo and Chaeyoung have their eyes closed now, perhaps they’re sleeping now, tired after all the information they discovered and crying their eyes out.

Not that Tzuyu blames them.

“I can FINALLY open this , thank god!!”

Wendy’s voice takes her gaze back to the display with wide eyes, Wendy seems to have finally managed to break the seal or the thing stopping them from opening the document revealing Sunmi’s plan.

The team and Wendy start to read what the document says their eyes filled with great shock the more they read.

“The recipe she robbed…she altered it with her poison and other substances to create the final drug…the one she used on that hero.” Mina whispers with disbelief as Sana gasps with shock, reading the text in the document.

“The drug can kill them in less than ten minutes, three minutes if they use their quirk, instead of busting the effects of their quirk…the poison and the mix with other substance are the ones being busted… making the heroes bodies intolerant to their quirk…”

Jeongyeon reads the next paragraph with a low voice due to the shock. “Just like the experiment showed…the hero in question had a quirk that allowed him to spit acid, the moment he tried to activate it, the acid started to burn him from the inside since his body turned intolerant to it.”

Tzuyu reads the final line, her voice sounding clear and filled with fear.

“The drug will be used in the hero event after Momo and Seulgi destroy the antidote, a day before, the original beverages will be changed for the ones mixed with the drug.”

As soon as Tzuyu ends reading the last line she fastly turns to see her team who is greatly shocked along with Wendy, color draining from their faces when they notice the event start an hour ago.

“QUICK! CALL THE ASSOCIATION AND THE HEROES YOU KNOW FROM THERE!” Tzuyu commands with a loud voice, Wendy and the others don’t waste time, taking out their phones. “WE HAVE TO ALERT EVERYONE!”

Mina and Wendy exchange nervous looks but Wendy is the one speaking first, fear creeping in her eyes. “PLEASE tell me Momo didn’t destroy the antidote! OR WE WILL BE ED!”

“SHE DIDN’T DESTROY IT!” Mina says with quick words, hearing a breath of relief coming from Wendy and her teammates, she starts calling the fabric where the substances are, praying that no villains have attacked it, specifically Sunmi after she realizes Momo didn’t destroy it as she ordered.

Jeongyeon manages to dial Dahyun her voice sounds hurried and deeply worried. “DAHYUN! DON’T DRINK ANYTHING FROM THERE! THE BEVERAGES ARE POISONED! THEY CAN KILL YOU IF YOU DRINK THEM!”

Dahyun who is on the other side of the line widens her eyes as she turns to meet Jennie’s and Lisa’s shocked eyes as they hold their phones close to their ears, also receiving the same message as her.

They were still on the opening ceremony, but they can spot some heroes already falling on the ground due to the poisonous beverage, only a few seconds pass before the event turns into chaos.

Heroes screaming for help, others on the ground coughing blood, normal people invited there screaming and running away…

Jeongyeon clenches her teeth when she starts hearing the chaos from the other line, Dahyun speaks to her fast before hanging up. “I DIDN’T DRINK ANYTHING! I’LL TRY TO HELP EVERYONE! CALL THE ASSOCIATION!”

“!” Jeongyeon runs a hand through her hair as she throws the phone on the table, digging her nails on her hair with great frustration.

“I called the association and Mina is going to send the antidotes as soon as possible.” Wendy informs hurriedly as soon as she hangs up biting her lower lip nervously.

Rose, Elkie, Jisoo, and Jihyo grab their things quickly, Jihyo is the one speaking before they get out of the lab. “WE WILL GO TO HELP! YOU GO AFTER SUNMI BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!” And with that the doctors don’t waste more time, disappearing from the view of the team and Wendy.

“WHAT SHOULD WE DO?! Everything is A DAMN CHAOS, and we need to help the heroes! The villains will appear there for sure!” Jeongyeon says in hurry but Mina intervenes. “NO! We need to go after Sunmi, the association will send more heroes to the event, we need to go after the one who caused all of this.”

Jeongyeon, Sana, and Mina start to debate where they should go until Tzuyu slams her hands on the table, making the three of them along with Wendy jump with surprise. “GIRLS WE DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS! WE HAVE TO-“

Riiiiiing Riiiing

The sound of Tzuyu’s phone stops the ice hero from talking, she quickly takes out her phone, widening her eyes when she reads who is calling her, a hopeful smile forming on her worried face, wasting no time to answer. “NAYEON! WHERE ARE YOU? ARE YOU OK-“

A dry and wicked laugh from the other line makes Tzuyu shut up fastly, her smile dies quickly, everyone goes silent after hearing it, looking at the team leader’s phone with shock.

“How delightful! As I expected your worried and fearful tone is the best!”

Tzuyu grips her phone with great fury as she gasps cold air, she doesn’t need to ask who is calling her, she knows exactly who she is, even if she has never met her, Tzuyu’s voice filled with rage. “…Where is she?”

“Ahhh…the situation is even better than what I imagined.” A pleased sigh coming from the other line, the wicked laugh resounds in the silent lab again making Tzuyu have a hard time not freeze the whole lab, trembling with fury. “But are you really in the position to worry about her? Don’t you have chaos to fix? Or is Nayeon worth more than all the heroes dying right now?”

“I’ll ask for the last time.” Tzuyu asks again ignoring the questions as she exhales cold air again, even if she is creating a cold temperature around her, she feels her body burning with fury. “Where the is Nayeon?”

The wicked laugh resounds again making Tzuyu clench her teeth and her teammates’ frown with anger, Wendy quickly tries to get the location of the phone that is calling Tzuyu, the ice hero holds back her urge to scream at the phone, not wanting to give the woman more satisfaction.

“The mighty team will let the chaos behind to save a mere and insignificant girl! How fun!” The woman on the other line lets out a breathless and pure laugh, filled with wicked joy, a mocking tone in the final words. “Come here then! ice maiden”

The woman’s voice suddenly turns cold and serious, filled with silent but great hate hiding under the dry laugh she lets out. “I cannot wait to see your face when you look at your beloved Nayeon...and guess what?”

“You won’t be able to do anything to save her.”

The woman hangs up and is everything Tzuyu needs to turn her phone into ice as she grits her teeth with fury, throwing it to the wall with a raged breathing, the lab feeling coldest as ever as the team leader turns to see her team who is looking at her with surprise.

“LET’S GO!!” Tzuyu says as she clenches her fists, her knuckles covered with ice, her voice sounding like an angry roar. “WE DON’T HAVE TIME TO WASTE!”

“WAIT! I’LL GO TOO!” Chaeyoung approaches the team with hurried steps making them and Wendy look at her with wide eyes, Sana is the one speaking first. “Chae! Did you hear everything?!”

“Not everything but-“Chaeyoung shakes her head as she turns to meet Tzuyu with determined eyes, taking the leader by surprise. “She has Nayeon-unnie, isn’t it? I heard you asking where she is.”

Tzuyu purses her lips taking a deep breath since she is feeling incredibly angry right now, but her anger mustn’t be directed towards Chaeyoung or her teammates. “Yes...Sunmi has Nayeon.”

Chaeyoung lowers her head and bites her lower lip with anger as she makes a fist, clenching it hard until her knuckles turn white, staying a few moments in silence, moments that feel terribly long for the team who are still looking at the young hero with concerned eyes.

“Let me go with you.” Chaeyoung voice sounds strong but pleading at the same time raising her head again to meet Tzuyu’s surprised eyes with her glazy and determined blue eyes, the young hero grabbing Tzuyu’s shirt with a strong grasp. “Please! Let me go to search for Nayeon-unnie!”

Tzuyu purses her lips as she sighs deeply closing her eyes for a moment before putting her hand on Chaeyoung’s, finding it extremely hard to deny the younger pleads. “Chae we-“

“PLEASE! I NEED TO SEARCH FOR HER TOO! I NEED TO KNOW IF SHE’S OKAY! I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OUR MOTHER!” Chaeyoung grabs Tzuyu’s shirt with both hands digging her fingers in it as she raises her voice unexpectedly, her eyes looking desperate, linking with Tzuyu’s troubled ones. “Please…”

Tzuyu takes a deep breath, exhaling the air with heaviness as she turns to see her team, the girls don’t need to hear what Tzuyu has to say, her eyes, also pleading to explain before opens.

Jeongyeon sighs deeply as she rubs her temples nodding in silence along with Mina, Sana is the only one who speaks, making a big X with her arms. “NO! She is still a novice and we are going against Jessica’s gang!”

“Sana.” Mina calls with a serious voice making the worried steam hero turn to see her with wide eyes when she sees Mina’s calm eyes. “Mina! Are you serious?! I thought you would support me! Chaeyoung is going to be in danger-!”

“She fought against with Jessica who was the strongest in her gang and gave her a difficult time, and her abilities have increased this month, and you know it “Tzuyu points to Chaeyoung’s head, making Sana look at her with a puzzled frown, still not convinced. “Still-“

“I believe Chaeyoung can beat an A class or endure a good time against an S rank. “Tzuyu says with a strong voice, surprising Chaeyoung with her words, the tall leader looking at Sana with firm eyes. “She is not the novice she was months ago, Sana.”

“Exactly, and we will be there with her, she might be a great help for us.” Mina approaches, patting Sana’s shoulder as she starts walking towards the exit. “she is not going to be alone.”

Jeongyeon nods in agreement, sighing as she turns to look at Tzuyu. “If everything is settled, then what are we waiting for? Let’s go” Jeongyeon approaches, also surprising Sana who asks with a gasp. “Are we really letting her go with us?!”

“Even if we don’t, she will go anyway.” Tzuyu says with a half-smile, turning to look at Chaeyoung who is looking at her with big and surprised eyes. “Am I wrong?”

Chaeyoung stops the trance she is in and shakes her head with a small smirk. “I was planning to follow the team if you said no.”

“There’s your answer, Sana.” Jeongyeon says as she starts walking to the exit. “If there’s no more complains we better get going.”

Chaeyoung turns to see Wendy, her eyes soft and pleading. “Please, take care of my older sister, I’ll definitely come back with Nayeon-unnie when she wakes up!”

“You don’t have to worry kid, I have everything clear.” Wendy offers Chaeyoung a small smile, nodding as she gives a few pats to Chaeyoung’s back, urging her to go.

Chaeyoung shows Wendy a big smile as she bows deeply in respect, feeling Tzuyu’s hand on her shoulder, meeting the ice hero’s strong eyes, Tzuyu nods at her. “Let’s go, Chae, we don’t have time.”

“Yes, we better hurry.” Chaeyoung nods with a strong attitude as she and Tzuyu also start to walk towards the exit as Wendy and Sana look at them, Sana turns to see Wendy with a speechless look, Wendy gives her a small smile while she shrugs, pushing Sana’s back with force, almost making the girl fall.

Sana takes a deep breath as she scratches her neck walking towards the exit. “Those idiots…really have no remedy.”

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

The team and Chaeyoung are in front of an abandoned building near the sea, after following Wendy’s instructions since she managed to get the location that matches the location Seulgi saved on the USB, as well as how to get in.

Entering and searching for a metallic secret entrance that is hidden on the ground, and if not were for Seulgi’s info, the team wouldn’t have found the metallic door, but that’s not all.

Once they manage to open the door, they fall into a pipe, which is strangely not connected to the other ones of the city.

As they start walking, they notice it’s like a labyrinth, the information specifically warned them to not go on the ways she didn’t mark because there are dangerous traps.

It’s until they arrive at the main entrance, Tzuyu and Jeongyeon don’t waste time knocking on the door, using their quirks to destroy the metal door.

Everyone enters with careful steps, the echo of their voices resounding in the empty lair, Tzuyu clicks the earphone of her ear along with the other ones when Wendy sends them a message. “I found more in what Seulgi gave to us, along with Sunmi, there must be the remaining of Jessica’s gang”

“The most dangerous ones are Choi Sooyoung and Kwon Yuri, Choi has a powerful electricity quirk and has super strength, Kwon spits acid, Choi weakness is overusing her quirk and someone with an even more powerful electricity quirk, Kwon weakness is water or ice, her acid is very dangerous even with your suits on.” Wendy explains as the team starts looking around noticing the turned off computers, as if the lair was abandoned. “Jessica’s little sister, Krystal is also dangerous but not a lot, she doesn’t have enough control in her quirk, unlike Jessica she cannot turn everything she touches into lava, only her fists, but she is very skilled in hand-to-hand combat.”

“Hyoyeon, she is also frequently fighting along with Choi and Kwon, she creates threads of plants from her fingertips, she can make the threads hard or sharp, depending on what she wants, she is skilled using her quirk but not fighting in hand-to-hand combat.” Wendy continues as the team and Chaeyoung keep looking around not liking the silence in the lair. “Finally, Yoona and Sunny, these ones usually work in the shadows, Yoona literally hides there, she has two quirks one is hiding in her shadow and the other one is making her voice disturbing to her ears, Sunny also has two quirks and is the most valuable one in their team right now, one of her quirks is cellular activation focused on healing, the second one is voice command, if you hear her voice you won’t be able to move for one minute.”

“The earphones will block their quirks but if you lose them even if you cover your ears you won’t be able to avoid it.” Wendy tells them taking a deep breath after talking for so long, pursing her lips with seriousness. “If you get caught by the effect try to resist, in some cases it has worked.”

“Is everything clear?” Wendy asks, also not liking she is not listening much, just the girls breathing, not a sound of unrecognized voices, it feels very unsettling.

“Yes…” Tzuyu confirms quietly, still looking around not letting her guard down as she and Chaeyoung step more into the lair seeing a path towards a deeper part of it. “Girls let’s see he-“

Tzuyu doesn’t end her sentence when a great force breaks the roof, Tzuyu quickly grabs Chaeyoung putting the girl behind her as she creates an ice wall to protect them from the rocks, Jeongyeon on the other side uses her sand hands to protect Mina and Sana.

Once the rocks stop falling Tzuyu and the girls realize the rocks are blocking Tzuyu and Chaeyoung from meeting the girls on the other side, Tzuyu quickly uses her earphone. “Are you guys okay?!”

“Yes!” Jeongyeon and the other confirms. “this must be an ambush, we will fight and keep the attention of a few here, you and Chaeyoung go to search for Nayeon, we will meet you later.”

Chaeyoung who was going to argue against Jeongyeon is stopped by Tzuyu who shakes her head. “Trust them, if Jeongyeon says they will meet us later, they will.”

The young hero bites her lower lip looking at the blocking rocks with a frown until she finally nods turning to see Tzuyu who uses her earphone again, before she starts to run towards the deeper part of the lair with Chaeyoung. “Fulfill your promise girls, meet us later.”

“What do you take us for Tzu? Of course, we will!” Sana says with full confidence as she looks up, squinting her eyes when she notices one figure falling on their direction, she sees the silhouette of a woman, quickly warning her friends. “One coming from the roof!”

Jeongyeon quickly uses one of her sand hands to create a fist, however the woman successfully dodges her quirk, smirking as she throws a kick to Jeongyeon, the sand hero barely has time to cover herself with her sand hands, the impact of the quirk is strong enough to send her to the wall, breaking it in the process as she lands on another room also part of the lair

“JEONGYEON!!” Sana calls along with Mina as they see their friend being thrown by such force, however both are also kicked into different directions by the same woman, Sana lands with a harsh impact on the roof where they were before entering the lair with a harsh impact, Mina ends in another room just like Jeongyeon coughing harshly as she tries to get up, using her earphone. “GIRLS! ARE YOU OKAY?!”

“Asking for your friends before noticing you are in danger? Bold”

Mina turns quickly to notice she is in a room with few light frowning when she realizes who might be talking based on what Wendy said to them. “Talking from shadows is quite rude, why don’t you introduce properly?”

“Oh, I will, why don’t you take off those earphones to hear my lovely voice?”

“And let your voice disturb my ears? No thanks Yoona” Mina says as she starts looking around analyzing from where the voice might be coming only to feel a hand almost touching her back, quickly turning to grab the hand, but the hand is quicker to hide, the woman starts to laugh. “As expected, you are not easy! Why don’t we get some fun?”

Mina stands still on guard quickly giving a look on the direction were Jeongyeon was thrown and the roof, hoping her friends are fine even if they possibly have some broken bones.

Just as she thought, Sana feels the recognizable pain in her shoulder as she stands up, realizing her shoulder is dislocated instead of being broken, but still, it hurts a lot, and it hurts even more when she repositions it letting out a strangled groan taking a deep breath when the pain starts calming down.

“Awww don’t worry, I’ll break it this time.”

Sana looks around, noticing a very familiar woman wearing a mask in front of her, the steam hero narrows her eyes. “I thought Jessica’s gang were the only annoying pieces of here, but you appeared, Park Sooyoung”

“I thought heroes were polite! What’s up with that greeting?” The woman smirks under her mask. “Should I break your hand again to teach you a lesson?”

“We will see who teaches a lesson when I break that mask.” Sana says as she runs towards the woman trying to kick her mask, but the woman avoids her kick, Sana grabs her wrist when she tries to touch her face pulling her close punch the mask gritting her teeth when she feels is harder than the one, she used when they first met.

Sana quickly does a back stunt to avoid the woman’s next move giving a quick look to where Jeongyeon was thrown noticing her sand hands moving.

Jeongyeon is thankful her hands doesn’t electrocute or she would have been in some troubles, the villain’s movements are wild, powerful, and calculated, as expected of one of the most powerful S ranks of Jessica’s gang.

Thankfully, her movements are like Tzuyu’s, sending blasts or whipes of electricity towards her, it is difficult to land a clean hit until Jeongyeon manages to punch her face, making her collide with the wall and even breaking it.

“Payback  before .” Jeongyeon says as she looks at the villain laying on the broken wall, frowning when the villain starts laughing maniacally.

“That’s good! You are strong! Exactly what I was waiting for!”

“Why are some of you so damn crazy?” Jeongyeon looks at the woman with great disgust, opening her eyes wide when the villain gets up fast still laughing and smiling while she punches fights against Jeongyeon’s sand hands. “Let’s make a big mess! Yoo Jeongyeon!”

Jeongyeon manages to grab the villain and hit her against the ground, her disgust only increases. “Seriously, you and your friends are beyond crazy, Choi Sooyoung.”

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

On the other side even if Chaeyoung and Tzuyu keep running they manage to hear sounds of fighting through the walls, Chaeyoung makes a worried expression as she turns to look at Tzuyu who is frowning also quite worried but that doesn’t stop them, trusting the girls’ abilities enough to keep running towards where Sunmi might be.

That until the path divides into two parts, making the two heroes stop abruptly, their breaths are quite irregular but not tired.

“We need to choose-“

“We need to separate-“

Both turn to see each other with wide eyes after hearing the difference in their sentences, Tzuyu quickly shakes her head. “We are NOT going in separate ways, Chaeyoung we have-“

“If we go in different directions, we are going to find Sunmi faster, it’s a good strategy.” Chaeyoung tries to convince Tzuyu but the ice hero shakes her head again, her voice stronger than the last time. “it is a good strategy, but I cannot afford to let you alone, we-“

“WATCH OUT!” Chaeyoung interrupts Tzuyu when she sees a girl with her fist covered in lava trying to hit Tzuyu’s back, from where the hell did she come?!

Tzuyu dodges the punch in time, as she and Chaeyoung jump back when the girl’s fist collides against the ground creating a great impact.

“The one who fought well against my precious sister and the one who defeated her! Sunmi really knows how to get me happy!”

The girl looks at them with a wide and wicked smile as she stands up, running towards them as fast as she can, making Tzuyu and Chaeyoung stay in attack position.

Should they both fight her? Or just one while the other goes where Sunmi might be? Chaeyoung or Tzuyu?

What is the best decision now?

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

Hellooo! *bowing deeply and repeatedly* I tried to update sooner but damn why teachers always leave more homework when I just finished everything? TwT (Someone please save me from this hell)

Aaand OMG you guys don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to write this chapter and the next one, I was dying to reveal Sunmi’s quirk (although I guess some of you already knew or maybe not?)

I hope you liked the chapter although it’s a bit longer and it has a lot of info o,o

The next one will be also a long one since we’re almost hitting the end of this story (Damn time really flies fast) If my teachers and other stuff are kind with me, I will be updating the next week or maybe in two TuT

I’ll see you later! Please remember to eat and sleep well! And Thank you so much for commenting every comment is very appreciated uwu

Happy Valentines day btw! <3