Three days later.

Breakfast was made with smaller portions this time, since there wasn’t much to cook with. No complaints had been uttered as the kids went with it and understood the food shortage situation. After that, morning routines deviated from the norm; everyone woke up early and determined, then soon got to training once more, aiming to hone their abilities to the fullest. Some still passed out from overexerting, but many others were still standing strong. Blues moved larger objects like mere feathers, while Golds began to harvest electrical currents in their hands with more ease. Greens, on the other hand, just became borderline galaxy brains, which helped with the training. As they documented the processes down, it was simpler to figure out how to better manage the Blues and Golds’ recovery period. Once Zoa had given directions on detecting the specific location of the mysterious person’s message, many Greens looked to her for advice, help with radio stuff, etc. She was like the leader of their group and had no idea how to feel about that. The girls encouraged her to be some sort of mentor for them, to which Zoa reluctantly agreed. Soon enough, Ruann basically appointed her as the ‘mayor’ of town, and as great as that may have sounded, she definitely wasn’t looking forward to dealing with making difficult decisions for everyone. That particular stress only bloomed when thirty new kids arrived in town three days ago, after having heard of the girls’ radio message. 

Other than that, Soeun and Jiyoon were also training on their own at the beach, with the help of their friends, of course. They tested out many techniques for them to try, for example, seeing how far Jiyoon’s fiery trail of flames could travel. Zoa taught her breathing exercises, which actually worked out as Jiyoon was able to exhale a blazing path that stretched out another half a mile, her monstrous roaring of an actual flamethrower being much louder as well. The girls were her cheerleading squad, shouting in joy whenever something new was accomplished. Later in the day Soeun decided to test out her powers on some kids. She hid behind buildings and far enough away so that she couldn’t be spotted. Her friends were casually hanging around to seem less suspicious as they waited for something to happen. The first thing Soeun did was mind control a random Green who was busy tending some crops, before slipping into a blank state, dropping all of her tools on the dirt. Other kids around immediately grew confused, trying to shake the girl out of it. As her eyes turned bright orange, Soeun quickly made her think about watering the plants, as they began drying up, just like Zoa advised. She then slipped out of the girl’s mind, then watched the kids being told to grab their watering pots. The rest chuckled at how Soeun easily made all of that happen.

“That was so cool!” Soojin exclaimed while holding her hand, while Monday added on.

“Keep up that mind power and you’ll be like Emma Frost.” 

“She’s a villain though.” Jaehee corrected.

“I know that, I meant like she’ll be as powerful as her, but as a hero instead.” 

“‘A hero?” Soeun raised an eyebrow as Soojin practically swooned. 

“You’d be totally amazing as a superhero! Saving the world and all that cool stuff.” 

The younger girl faintly blushed, but tried to hide it with a cough. “T-thanks.” 

Zoa playfully rolled her eyes at them. “Cringey couple things aside, why don’t we all take a break for the day? Need to get as much rest before the time comes.”

“Ruann unnie is initiating the mission tomorrow, right?” Jihan asked to make sure as they all nodded. Jaehee was also worried, questioning her friends some more. 

“You guys have everything prepared?” 

“Yes, you two just have to worry about protecting our house.” Monday informed the kids, but Jiyoon didn’t let go of one important task. 

“Please do not eat all of my chips like last time, Lays are very essential to survival!” 

“Ok, ok we promise.” The two giggled as Jihan answered. 

“Anywho, let’s hang out at the carnival again. You guys have to try the new pinball machine.” Monday asked.

“W-wait, that life-sized one??” Soojin stared in shock. 

“Yeah, that one! It’s really fun, trust me. Once you get used to it at least.”

Truth be told, by the time they all got inside the gladiator-like arena, many other kids were already crowding and watched from above. The girls looked gazed down at the bottom pit as everyone cheered on. Since the game didn’t allow any power uses, the player had to manually move the enormous flippers, hitting back a giant beach ball that Greens had crafted for this. He did his best to keep it from slipping through, earning lots of points along the way, until the inevitable happened. The player wasn’t fast enough this time, thus the flippers didn’t hit the ball back before getting past them. Everyone ‘awed’, having rooted for him about an hour now, so seeing the player lose was like losing the game themselves. Shortly afterwards, May walked up to the microphone booth to announce the next person in line to play the game. And to Soeun and Soojin’s surprise, Yedam appeared behind the curtains as the crowd cheered on for him. They quickly, but subtly scowled at the boy as he got ready to move the pinballs. About several minutes later, the crowd cheered even louder for him since he turned out to be really good at the game. His friend group constantly hyped Yedam up nonstop, which earned concerned side eyes from other kids. But this ended as quickly as it started when the whistle abruptly sounded to stop the game. Everyone in the building grew confused and wondered what was wrong until one of the referee’s shouted.

“He’s using his powers!” Shocked gasps and murmurs immediately erupted around, while some loudly accused Yedam of cheating. 

May shook her head in disappointment. She knew there had to be a reason why Yedam was too good at pinball. “Disqualified!” 

“Wh—wait! I didn't use my powers at all! Honest!” 

“The game is being projected, wise guy. How can you explain this then?” Another referee pointed towards a giant television screen, clearly displaying Yedam using telekinesis to control the flippers in slow motion. All of the kids around him and his friends collectively booed, ordering him off the stage. He could only scowl, hanging his head down in embarrassment before disappearing behind the curtains. 

“Sorry, everyone, for the short round. This will conclude our game time for now, we’ll be back tomorrow.”

May sighed, then put her mic away as the rest of the referees followed her. Everyone exited the building while talking amongst themselves. The girls simply shrugged at this and decided to head towards the radio station, while Jihan and Jaehee decided to go home. There, Ruann was currently jotting down notes in her book from the white board, to keep it as a reminder. Upon seeing them entering, she had them all sit at the round table like last time. They went over the various individual tasks one more time using a layout of the whole camp, where to go and regroup at, and most importantly, where to hide bodies. Things were going smoothly and soon everyone decided to hang out, discussing random topics that came to mind. Eventually, the girls began talking amongst themselves as Jiyoon, Monday and Ruann were drawing everywhere on the board, May and Zoa looking at the radar together, while Soeun and Soojin were still sitting at the table. They had plenty of time to do whatever now before the big day tomorrow. That is, until the news caught someone’s attention as one of the Greens rushed inside the radio station declaring there was trouble. And truth be told, headlines everywhere reported about all of the camps forming into one so then no more kids could be able to escape. In other words, this was going to happen tomorrow morning, which meant the girls had to head out for their mission now.

“You’re kidding!” Ruann exclaimed in frustration, followed by everyone else. 

“Man, it’s gonna take us hours to get to this person’s camp, I’m gonna be tired as hell by the time I arrive.” Monday slumped on her chair. 

“Hey, we don’t have to worry too much. This plan was just looked over multiple times so we’ll be fine as long as it’s followed. Also the cars found a few days ago have been modified to allow for and withstand greater acceleration, so we might arrive at their camp in just about an hour.” Zoa informed them as they nodded their heads agreeing.

“Oh yeah! She’s right, Monday and I finished testing out these engines on one of the vans, not gonna lie, that thing is ridiculously fast.” Jiyoon said excitedly as May added on. 

“Also, I gave our weapons some enhancements, more so now our batons are concealing daggers. Best of all, the machines fire at higher, more dangerous speeds and travel longer distances.” May boasted. 

“Then what are we waiting for girls? Let’s get this done!”

Ruann declared as they all nodded, hastily skating towards the police station to put on their gear. Telling everyone in town was difficult, especially Jihan and Jaehee, since they didn’t want them to leave out of fear. After hearing the news though, things were taken to a whole new level of dire. If the military had peaked, what could exceed their cruelty? The kids were in disbelief watching the news reporting peers being dragged, shoved, and essentially ragdolled everywhere by soldiers, who didn’t have an ounce of remorse left in them. At the center of the town was the plaza where they’d set up a gigantic television, which most of them gathered around to hear. Many held each other while viewing the horror unfold, their happy expressions morphed into scorns and frowns within seconds. News anchors talked about this as if it was the daily weather, as if it was normal to them. Even simple adults couldn’t give a single crap about this nightmare, all because they were able to live their lives. At home, Jihan and Jaehee were in the living room, watching from the TV while embracing each other. A lone tear left the younger girl’s eye; not only was she worried about the ones already suffering, but also her friends who were going back to help them. Who knew what kind of strict security measures the soldiers set up? Just imagining it sent chills down everyone’s spine. Thankfully, the crew was done with putting on their bullet proof vests and ear pieces. After making sure they had everything to bring along, it was time to go at last. Many kids from town came to their SWAT truck to bid them a safe journey.

“Thank you, everyone. We promise to return with more friends, as well as rations to refill our stocks. Please take care of yourselves and look out for each other. We will return before you know it.”

Ruann announced before hopping inside with everyone else. Getting the cue, Soeun started the truck, which zoomed out of the gate and back into the outside world. The vehicle was faster than she was used to, but she got the hang of it. Soojin sat in the passenger seat to keep her company, which Soeun greatly appreciated. Meanwhile, Ruann, Jiyoon, Monday and Zoa all stayed in the back where they kept in contact with May, Lucy and the other kids who were going to help check their locations. All of six of them kept trackers to monitor where they would go on the camp’s map. After driving for some time, Soojin decided to turn on the radio, constantly switching channels until reaching another news report. She then opened the small window behind her so then her friends could hear as they leaned in. It was more live reporting that revealed the military was going to gather children soon, thus Soeun quickly stomped the gas pedal. If they were going to save as many lives as possible, the truck needed to be there soon. Soojin clung to her seatbelt while placing a hand on Soeun’s shoulder to calm her down. The others were screaming at the sudden speed, or well, just Jiyoon and Zoa as they fell to the ground, clinging to each other. Ruann and Monday gripped the side bars, silently viewing from the window as Soeun traveled at reckless speeds. Ten minutes later, she finally slowed down upon seeing more light up ahead, stopping about three miles from the campsite so they wouldn’t get spotted by cameras. Everyone hopped out of the SWAT truck before tiptoeing into a forest and crouching down in large bushes.

Zoa looked through her phone to message May about their arrival, who informed her that the place was filled to the brim with CCTV. Therefore, they were going to take some time to disable the feed, making it look like some type of outage. “Ok, there’s like five cameras at the gate. Destroying them means we have to find a wire that connects all of them together.” 

“Should we split up individually or go in small groups?”

“Groups sound good, I’ll go with Ruann unnie.” Zoa said. 

Afterwards, the crew separated to help search for hidden wires around the somewhat large forest. They might have been underestimating them too much, but judging by how they failed to keep kids in these prison camps, what made them think they could hide wire? This was proven true when Soojin tripped over it, Soeun catching her before she hit the ground. After the rest were notified, they followed it to make sure the wire was indeed connected to the cameras. “Wait, isn’t the outer shell made out of rubber?” Soojin asked.

“Yeah.” 

“Then how will Monday disable it?”

“Don’t worry.” Zoa bent down to check the texture. She was sure that just by sight, it was a different kind and her suspicions were confirmed after feeling the wire. “This type of rubber is the manufactured ones to specifically conduct electricity.” 

“That’s pretty bizarre.” Soeun marveled, but felt relieved.

Ruann smiled in joy. “Wanna do the honors then, Monday?” 

The older girl smirked in amusement. “Don’t mind if I do.” She grabbed the rubber string, then her eyes glowed a bright gold color as electricity crackled through it. Soon enough, the cameras all shorted out, powering down when the surge hit them. 

“Awesome! May just disabled the cameras by the back exits as well, so now we need to find some soldiers for Monday and Soeun.” 

“We can handle that, you guys go on ahead.” 

“Yeah we’ll cover.” Both of them then approached the back door, being as careful as possible, while everyone else hid behind a large dumpster. Without wasting anymore time, Soeun mind controlled them, allowing them to be electrocuted and pass out. Afterwards, the two quickly changed in porta potties, then walked out in soldier gear minutes later. The others reappeared, impressed by their quick actions. 

“Not bad, you two.”

“Thanks! These things feel kind of heavy though.”

“We’ll manage.” Soeun said. 

“Alright, let’s do our tasks, guys. Everyone at home depends on us.” 

They all nodded before going their separate ways, or at least they were about to. Soeun and Soojin had a moment to themselves before splitting up again. “Hey. Stay safe, ok? Monday and I will catch up with you right after we’re done..” 

“We will, too. Please be careful.” Soojin placed a soft kiss on her cheek, then rushed off with Jiyoon.

Soeun stood there frozen once more, blushing like a tomato until Monday snapped her out of it. “Come on you simp, we have work to do.” She chuckled.

Just like any other camps, this one was practically a maze, numerous corridors of bolted rooms and labs. Additionally, as stated from the news, soldiers filled the perimeter, guarding every corner of the prison. There was almost too much roaming around, making for a crowded area. Despite this seeming like some setback to their plan, Zoa and Ruann were still able to hide in unlocked rooms, using a keycard they took after knocking out a soldier. Upon finding the locker room, they disguised themselves and a second later, Soojin messaged Zoa to inform her that she and Jiyoon just reached their temporary spot. On cue, a noise blared in the distance, luring all soldiers towards it, giving the two a chance to dash towards the electricity room without any surveillance spotting them. Once inside, Ruann let Zoa tamper with things while she guarded the door. The younger girl hastily unloaded her backpack, fishing out many tools to disable the prison’s alarm. After doing tense research on all of the camps, there was one unifying factor: keeping the alarm’s functions in the electric room. Zoa clipped all of the right wires, before testing it by pressing the large red button. To her relief, nothing happened and they were finally safe without having to worry too much. 

Meanwhile, all of the soldiers were busy sprinting to the sound Soojin had caused by knocking down a locker. Thankfully, both her and Jiyoon escaped through the vents right before getting caught. Two men barged into the room they were in, searching around for only a few minutes, then getting shoved towards walls and knocked out cold. From the ceiling, she high fived Jiyoon as they continued on to the cafeteria. It didn’t take long before arriving at the storage room and hopped down inside, quickly peeking out of the door to see if anyone was guarding. After seeing no one, the two walked out searching for something that would complete their mischievous prank. Jiyoon gasped aloud after finding gallons of it in the cupboards as Soojin helped her take all of them out. They both poured the contents into enormous metal pots, then the younger girl the mic to make an announcement with the most professional voice she could pull off.

“All soldiers. Please report to the cafeteria.”

Hastily getting everything set and ready, many burst through doors, looking around to see who’d used the speakers. Then without further ado, Soojin poured the giant pot of oil over them, causing the soldiers to slip and slide everywhere. But that wasn’t all they’d planned. Shortly after, Soojin levitated large bags of flour just to add the toppings. Seeing these monsters struggle was hilarious, but they were sure to not laugh too loud before quickly running back inside the cold storage room, grabbing a ladder to help boost them up to the vents again. Making sure no would be able to follow them, Soojin tore it apart and left pieces of the ladder behind like trash. Now their next plan was to go into the lab to fetch some things for their town, then wait in the weapons room for everyone else. Meanwhile, Monday and Soeun were pretending to be on duty, mindlessly walking around as the older girl subtly shorted out several security cameras. During their ‘patrolling’, Soeun had used her powers to manipulate the captains to turn against their own teammates, then head into the camera room to shut it down completely. And right on time, all CCTV turned off permanently in ten minutes after Jiyoon and Soojin pulled their stunt. While the rest were kept busy, the captains would then bare the cafeteria doors, not letting a single soul out. However, if one were to somehow slip through, Soeun made sure they didn’t escape alive, effectively keeping the soldiers in check: exactly like how their sorry asses treated these poor kids. Speaking of which, it was about time Zoa and Ruann finally reached the security room to poke around. After finding what they were looking for, all it took was a flick of the switch, simultaneously unlocking every single cell door. Both of them arrived in time to see many confused peers glancing around, amused when they immediately became shocked after laying eyes on the two.

Ruann carefully stepped forward. “Greetings, my friends and I are here to save you guys. Please tell me who sent us a message crying for help.” The kids looked behind them as a tall, lanky boy in a green prison suit cautiously approached to center. 

“D-did you get my name?” 

“Sort of. It stopped at ‘Ji’ and everything else glitched out.” Zoa informed, which made him perk up. 

“That’s me! My name is Jisung. I’m so glad to see you guys! I honestly didn’t think anyone outside of here would get the message.”

“It’s a fine, noble thing you did, my friend. All of the kids here are lucky to have you.”

“T-thanks….” Jisung blushed slightly at the compliment.

“How many kids are here?”

“About eighty.” 

Holy crap. “Then that would increase our town population to a hundred and seventy seven.” Zoa marveled as Ruann smiled.

“My team and I are currently in the middle of tearing this camp apart. Would you all like to join us in this revolution?” Immediately, all of them shouted in agreement, more excited than ever to finally be able to free. “Then let’s all gather in the weapons room, everyone is going to need as much protection as possible to fend for themselves. Follow me.”

Like herded sheep, the kids marched towards the designated location, being even more glad to see Jiyoon and Soojin waiting, both of whom were equally excited upon seeing all of them. Hearing Ruann’s encouragement, the kids grabbed their own machine guns and bullet proof vests, now ready to protect themselves. Now they just needed to head towards the parking lot where the buses were, which was where Monday and Soeun would meet up with them. After manipulating some soldiers to guard the outer perimeters, they made sure no reinforcements were called, forcing them to tell their buddies from a different base that everything was just fine. While the two guarded the front doors to the camp, a particular knock let them know that it was their friends. Upon seeing Soojin again, Soeun quickly took her helmet and smiled at the older girl before embracing her tightly. On the other hand, Monday and Jiyoon excitedly hugged each other as well, making playfully Zoa roll her eyes at these four idiots.

“Alright, guys. Now let's get out of here.” Ruann agreed. 

“Yeah. We need to find a bus that has a key in it.” With that being said, everyone quickly helped with searching, peeking through every window. Well, almost everyone. When Soeun turned around and made eye contact with Jisung, they both immediately scowled at each other in a comical shock. 

“YOU!” The two shouted simultaneously, which no one surprisingly noticed. 

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Soeun exclaimed. 

“I could ask the same to you, !”

Soojin was utterly bewildered by this abrupt tension between them. “Uh…you know him?” 

“Yeah, that thing is my cousin.” 

“Be a little more dramatic, why don’t you?” 

“Don’t think that because I’m here to save your means I forgive you.”

Jisung was offended. “‘Forgive me’?? You started it!”

“Did not! I wasn’t the one who made you slip during the competition.”

“Oh, but you did. Which is why you’ve yet to declare that I’m a better dancer than you.”

“Oh, but I don’t. Know why? Because I’m better than you!” 

This escalated to an unrelated topic within seconds and Soojin had no idea what to do at all. Thankfully, Ruann heard their banter and broke them up. “Do I need to kick both of your asses? Because I will if I have to. Lives are at stake, so we have more pressing matters than this pointless bickering.”

As Ruann walked away, Soeun turned back to Jisung, still glaring at him. “This isn’t over yet. When we get back to my town, you best behave accordingly.” 

“Like you’ve ever listened to what I say.” 

“Like she said, lives are at stake. Either help or stay behind.”

Soeun and Soojin walked away before Jisung could say anything in return, thus a scowl remained. Minutes later, Jiyoon shouted for everyone’s attention, finally discovering that still had a key. Excited, all of the kids hastily boarded inside with Monday being the designated driver. She and Jiyoon decided to take all of the kids back to town first, which prompted everyone else to meet them there after stealing another cargo truck full of food from the city. Since this had already been done before, Ruann determined that this was certainly going to be easy, so if they’re lucky enough, the crew would be able to take two cargos back home. They all nodded agreeing before hopping inside the SWAT truck, with Soojin driving this time as Soeun sat in the passenger seat. In the back, Jisung got to know Ruann and Zoa more, learning about their powers, the town, their friends, etc. The three made jokes here and there to lighten up the mood, easing the bottling stress after a long night. This went on for about half an hour until Soojin parked two miles away from a food supermarket. And to their great luck, two trucks were just pulling into the back parking lot as the drivers hopped out to speak with other employees inside the building, thus leaving their vehicles quite vulnerable. The crew sought their opportunity while it was loose, as Zoa and Soojin snuck up to a fuze box, tampering with the wires which shut off the security camera in the sight. Soeun peeked through the door slightly, enough to hear the two men wanting to show someone the food cargo, thus telling the others to hurry. Ruann and Jisung ripped off the license plates, then checked inside to see just how much food there was. Their eyes practically grew in size, almost tearing up seeing so much rations. They both hopped into the cargo trucks, starting them up and peeling out of the parking lot just as quickly as it'd arrived. Then with that, the others wasted no more time to rush back into their vehicle, speeding close behind her. Immediately right after, the same previous driver and his supervisor walked out of the door to see the food cargo for themselves…only there was nothing. He'd been in the middle of talking and was cut immediately upon seeing that his truck disappeared. She simply looked at him like he was some kind of lunatic, adjusting her glasses before speaking.

“‘A brand new cargo’, you say?”

“I-i-it was just—right here!”

“That’s great, maybe the police will believe you.” Poor guy was not getting a promotion after this.