Jongdae had nearly freed all of them by now, only Minseok and one of Namjoon's friends were left. And Chanyeol, of course.

There hadn't been many other opportunities for him to talk to the strangers, but Junmyeon hadn't lost any time. He had told the others about his conversation with Namjoon, and he had thanked Yifan for distracting the guards. His body still hurt from the countless shocks he had received for that, but at least he was able to move again.

Jongdae was freeing the last stranger from his metal cuff when the soldiers came back. He looked up and noticed Junmyeon's inquiring look. He nodded.

He would have to disable Minseok's and Chanyeol's power restrictions during their escape, but it was now or never, and they all knew it. Who knew what they would do to them once they were complete again.

Staying where they were and acting as if nothing special would happen wasn't too difficult considering all of them were still weak. The food they received here was nothing better than what he had gotten during his torture.

Tao and Yifan tensed at their places near the door. When they came into sight, everyone stopped moving around.

As soon as the cell opened, Yifan charged like he had done before. They were prepared this time and one of them immediately pressed the button to activate his handcuff. As a response, Yifan knocked him out.

The other soldiers started shouting in confusion and one started running to call for backup. He didn't get far, though. Jongin appeared in front of him. The soldier stopped abruptly only to be knocked out cold as well.

"Be careful with using your power!" Luhan shouted at him, his face still directed towards the man he was strangling without touching him. "We'll need you the most!"

Junmyeon used the chance to get one of the blank cards from the soldier Yifan had punched. He ran towards the cell next to theirs and opened it. The seven guys, who had already been waiting at the door, watched in awe how the soldiers were taken care of. Even though this was hardly the time and place for it, Junmyeon couldn't help but be proud of the progress everyone had made in using their powers.

But of course, everything took longer than Junmyeon had hoped. Luhan and Jongin had no problems using their powers, but some of the others were struggling. The time they had spent in captivity had left its scars. At least half of them had problems just with walking, some didn't manage to use their powers.

When the last soldier was unconscious, everyone was breathing heavily.

"We don't have any time," Minseok warned them. "Let's go."

Junmyeon ran next to Luhan with their arms touching in case his power hadn’t come back completely yet. Even if it had, it would be hard to deal with all the sensations since he hadn’t used his power for so long. Luhan didn’t complain and didn’t back off, so he guessed it had been a good decision.

They didn't get far. Somehow, one of the Patrol members had alerted the facility, and an alarm started shrilling above them. As soon as they were near something that looked like an exit, they were surrounded by the Patrol.

"No. This can't be our only way out!" Jongdae shouted in disbelief.

Junmyeon was trying to think of something so desperately that dizziness took over him. He watched as Baekhyun hugged Taehyung, whispering something into his ear and nodding as if they were saying goodbye. When Baekhyun's gaze met Junmyeon's, he understood.

"Alright," he said, catching everyone's attention. "The longer we wait, the more will come. We are the bigger threat to them. We will provoke them and take the fight into the building. Namjoon, as soon as you see a clearing, you take your people out and you run until you're outside the city."

"You know about the tunnels, take them to the closest one," Baekhyun reminded his brother. The younger guy nodded, but didn't look happy with this decision.

"How are we supposed to get out, then?" Sehun whispered hopelessly. His eyes never once left the threat in front of him.

Junmyeon didn't answer. But he saw that the others understood.

Namjoon's friends didn't have any powers. The soldiers could attack any second and if they did, they wouldn't be able to protect themselves. And in their current state, the twelve of them couldn't take care of them.

"The Red Force will concentrate on the people with powers," he emphasized. "We'll manage this. You focus on running."

The seven guys nodded and got ready. The others formed a circle around them to at least keep them safe at the beginning. The first soldiers in red and white charged at them.

Junmyeon tried to make use of his power several times during the fight, but something seemed off. He knew it was there, he felt his power flowing through his veins. The restriction was gone, but now it felt as if he himself was working against it. In whichever way that was possible.

He had never liked the one-on-one fighting lessons Yifan had insisted on, but now he was incredibly thankful for them. They each took out one or two guys before the circle started dissolving. They slowly started to back off farther into the building.

"Follow them!" a Patrol member screamed, seemingly sure of their superiority.

He would lie if he said he had thought of the seven strangers during the fight. At one moment, a part of him noticed that they seemed to have gotten away, but that was it. His thoughts consisted of avoiding bullets, dodging fists and punching back. They were now backing off involuntarily, more and more soldiers joining the fight. They had already descended several staircases and were now in some kind of cellar. The positive aspect of this was that the soldiers didn't have enough space to fight properly, the negative one was that the same applied for them as well.

At one point, the soldiers stopped advancing. They retreated as if there had been a silent command.

"What are they doing?" Kyungsoo was panting and clutching his thigh where he had been shot. "They're not giving up, are they?"

"Maybe they don't want us to go down that way." Luhan was standing with his back leaned against the wall and turned his head towards the tunnel they had backed off into. "I wonder, why."

"Let's look into it," Jongin suggested. Everyone looked at Junmyeon. He shrugged.

"I guess we don't have many alternatives."

He hadn't even turned around when the ceiling above them started rumbling.

"Kyungsoo.” He couldn't start panicking now. He couldn't.

"They're trying to bury us alive," Kyungsoo exclaimed, both of his hands pressed against the wall. With wide eyes, he backed off immediately. "I can't stop it. I can’t control my power anymore!"

"Jongin, get us out of here!" Luhan shouted over the rumbling. Dust, and then small stones started falling from the ceiling.

"Where?" the teleporter screamed helplessly while everyone assembled around him.

"Does that matter?" shouted Chanyeol, hands protectively raised over his head. "Just out! Out of this mess!"

The next thing Junmyeon felt was something he had gone through before. This feeling as if everything around him was suddenly rotating... Only this time, it didn't seem as if it wanted to stop. He was pretty sure he threw up somewhere on the way, and his whole body protested when he finally landed on the harsh ground.