It was pitch black. Yuri knew this might happen. The closer they got to Busan, the more her memories flooded back. She was hearing voices that she was all too familiar with.

"You'll never make a difference! Your powers are what will take you anywhere!"  The voice of Yuri's father rang in her head.

"You good for nothing excuse for a daughter, why can't you just make yourself useful!" Her mother had yelled. It was too real to handle. Yuri felt the walls closing in. The scars she'd covered up had reopened. 

"Yuri...are you okay? Yuri...wake up...I'm here..." The soothing voice of a familiar duck whispers from somewhere, as if a ray of light had shone above her, ready to take her away from the darkness she was in.

"Yena..."

"Yuri...I'm here for you.." Yena's voice was starting to cut through the darkness, but was suddenly silenced. The darkness dissipated just a bit to show Yuri the worst part of her nightmares- her father approaching with the duct tape in his hand, her mother glaring at her as if she were a monster.

"No...No...No..."

"NO!" Yuri bursts out of her sleep, breathing heavily, in a cold sweat. She looks around frantically and sees the concerned looks of her friends. Yena in particular looked very worried. She takes a longer look around and remembered where she was- in the bus on the way to save their friends. It was already evening, the moon starting to appear in the sky. They were still on the road, but from the landmarks they were passing, she knew they'd arrived in Busan at least.

"Yuri! Are you okay? You started mumbling in your sleep and I didn't know what to do." Yena says to her. Everything had been smooth sailing since the gas station incident, but once they'd gotten into the city of Busan, she noticed Yuri begin to fidget around, as if her body sensed they'd crossed the border. She'd tried to calm her down, but nothing seemed to work until she finally woke up screaming.

Yuri reaches for her head, feeling an ache from what just happened. She thought she was ready to come back, but she was wrong.

"I'm sorry for worrying you all..." Yuri says apologetically.

"It's okay Yuri, trauma doesn't get fixed overnight. We're in this together. You're not going to be alone." Yena says, the others joining in giving encouraging remarks. So this is what family feels like, huh? Yuri thinks to herself.

"We'll arrive at Yongho-dong in maybe half an hour. Get some last minute rest if you girls want." Eunbi advises. This was it. Somewhere in this city is an underground base holding their friends captives. There wouldn't be much time to relax once they get into the belly of the beast.

~~~~

"I think we should go on foot from here..." Hyewon says motioning Eunbi to turn off the headlights and stop the bus. The group had finally managed to get to where they thought the base was most likely to be. They were on the edge of a forest, large oak trees towering above them. It was around 9pm, and the visibility was very low aside from the occasional fireflies hovering around, a stark contrast from the bright lights of the city they'd passed to get here.

"Are you sure, Hyewon-unnie?" Wonyoung asks, trying to mask her uneasiness of the situation. She'd only ever been on hiking trips with paid guides in the day time, so one at night towards an enemy base loaded with weapons was certainly not something she'd wanted to do.

"Yes, if they're really here, then stealth will be of the essence." The younger ones nod in understanding at Hyewon's explanation.

"Alright, this is a big forest, so I think we'll have to split up to cover more ground." Eunbi says.

"Because that always works in the horror movies..." Chaewon mumbles.

"I heard that, Chaewon." Eunbi responds with a glare. "But it's our best bet."

"What'll we do if a group gets captured though?" Chaewon continues. "Isn't there safety in numbers?"

"We have Sakura's mental link, remember?"

"Yeah, but if she's the one taken out, that cuts us all off." Eunbi's words didn't seem to assuage Chaewon's concerns which were actually very valid.

"Unnie, since when were you a fan of numbers anyway? I thought you were fine just splitting yourself into your own scout team." Yujin jokes. She may have meant it jokingly, but a glint appeared in Eunbi's eyes as if she'd realized something.

"Wait...I may have a solution." She says, but the look the older girl gives Chaewon was telling her that she wasn't gonna like it.

~~~~

After a couple more minutes of loud arguing within the bus, causing a few late-night joggers to wonder what was going on in there, the group had begun to get off in their assigned teams. Yuri, Yena, Chaewon and Minjoo would be the first team. Chaeyeon, Sakura, Nako and Hitomi would be the second while Eunbi, Hyewon, Yujin and Wonyoung would be the third. The group of twelve was facing the dark woods knowing that their friends were in there somewhere.

"So, the mental link is established now, right? C'mon, let's go already." Chaewon says in a rush.

"Chaewon, we can hear you thinking, remember? Just so we have double insurance, we gotta go through with it." Eunbi chastises. Chaewon slumps her shoulders and splits herself into three.

"Here...a Chaewon for everyone." She says with a sigh. If there was a clone with each group, she could hear and see everything they did just in case the worst happens. The only reason she didn't like it was that her senses weren't as sharp as when she cloned.

"Alright, are you sure your group can handle being just four? Well, with Chaewon's consciousness split up, technical less." Chaeyeon asks worriedly.

"It'll be fine, unnie. We'll let you know the second something comes up." Yuri assures.

"Okay, now that that's settled, Sakura, got any leads?" Eunbi asks. Sakura places a hand on the ground, feeling for anything technological, like a metal detector.

"There's a large network of tunnels below the forest." She says before turning to Yuri. "The entrance we saw isn't the only one that exists. There's another in the east, and one in the west."

"Well, we should get a move on. Stay in touch girls. Sakura, you don't have to focus too much energy on the mental link as long as Chaewon is with us." Sakura nods along with the others as they begin to split up and go off in different directions.

~~~~

"I guess I won't have your undivided attention this time, huh?" Minjoo jokes to the older girl, after they'd separated from the other groups.

"Aish don't worry about it. There's enough of me to go around~ Just don't go disappearing on me~" Chaewon coos back, causing Minjoo to blush. Lucky for the latter, it was hidden by the darkness.

"That was just gross...do you two always flirt with puns?" Yuri says making a gagging expression.

"You say that as if you two aren't the most lovey-dovey pair we have." Chaewon rebuts.

"I can't really argue with her there, Yul." Yena says nonchalantly.

"I don't think we've ever done anything like that though!" Yuri argues.

"But you'd like to? What do you want me to say, 'I don't need to be charmed for me to follow what you say'?" Chaewon and Minjoo crack up at that while Yuri glares at the duck.

"Can you all just be quiet for five minutes?" Yuri commands, walking ahead of the three who had found themselves at a literal loss for words.

~~~~

"Ugh, do I tell Yuri and the others that I can still hear them even if I've weakened the link?" Sakura asks Chaeyeon walking next to her. As per Eunbi's instruction, Sakura had lessened her focus on the group's mental link to preserve her energy, but that just meant that only she could hear them while the rest remained oblivious. The spiderweb of thoughts flowing through her would be contained in the center where she was.

"What exactly have they been yelling about?" Chaeyeon asks back curiously.

"You don't want to know..." She murmurs.

"Don't want to know what?" A familiar voice intrudes. Sakura turns surprised suddenly remembering that Chaewon had a clone accompanying them as well. She sighs, taking a deep breath before responding.

"It seems we have your undivided attention. I thought Yuri told you all to be quiet for a while." Sakura says bluntly.

"I don't know what you're talking about..." Chaewon responds, trying to act casual. She herself was surprised that she could still talk. She supposes Yuri's powers only applied to those within earshot. Even still, realizing that Sakura had heard everything had definitely been embarrassing. The way she was with Minjoo was nothing like the way she was with anyone else. She'd been embarrassed by her own actions towards the girl more times than she could count by now.

Chaeyeon tries to follow along, confused as to what exactly they were referring to. From both Sakura and Chaewon's expression though, it sounded like another lover's quarrel. She'd been pondering how to confess her feelings to Sakura properly for quite a while now, but just couldn't find the right moment. Yena and Chaewon seemed to do it so unapologetically. They didn't hide their emotions at all with Yuri and Minjoo. It was tough for her because of the type of person she knew Sakura was. She wasn't as open as the others, her actions bordered on robotic at times with how analytical she was. What if she rejected Chaeyeon because of that, trying to put an equation to love and coming up with nothing. Chaeyeon was so worried about it that she continued to just act calm and reserved, only leaving a few hints here and there. Knowing what the stakes of this mission though, maybe she was running out of time to actually do anything. All this while Sakura was actually waiting for the younger to make the first move.

"Hey guys, I think I'm onto something." Hitomi says out of the blue. While the others were talking, her and Nako had been scouring for signs of where the base entrance could be hidden. Somewhere along the way, Hitomi began to feel a tingling feeling in herself, as if the trees around her were signaling towards the right path. Though the tunnels burrowed everywhere under them, they were like plants in the sense that all roots led to the surface eventually. She could feel the disturbance in the woods; something was there that shouldn't have been.

"We're close...but we're not alone." She warns.

"Stick together girls, things could get messy. Chaewon, alert the others; they're expecting us..." Chaeyeon orders. She'd had a bad feeling the second they'd stepped into the forest, too much foliage and cover, too much room for an ambush.

After a couple more minutes of trekking, they walk into the edge clearing with the building Sakura had seen through the files. It looked deserted, but Chaeyeon knew better. They take cover behind the bushes to try and come up with a plan.

"Hii-chan, how many are there?" She whispers.

"At least 20 in our area." Hitomi replies.

"Here's the plan: Nako, you and Chaewon get Sakura to the entrance so she can hack in. Hii-chan and I will keep these guys busy." Nako nods eagerly. She'd been itching for a fight. "When I say go, you guys make a break for it, keep the door open long enough for us to catch up."

"Wait..." Hitomi mumbles. "Something feels off."

"Was that not you moving the plant roots underground?" Nako asks gingerly.

"No..." There were tremors beneath them, as if the ground wasn't stable. Before Chaeyeon could say anything, she realizes that the floor's gotten muddy, and it hits her almost too late.

"Girls! Move! Now!" She yells causing the group to jump into action just before the ground they were standing on turns into complete mush...quicksand.

"There they are! Take them alive! The doctors want more subjects!" The guards come out from their hiding spots as well, shouting orders as Chaeyeon and the others split up to execute the plan. Nako bullies her way through the soldiers like they were made of paper mache, Chaewon and Sakura running behind her.

Chaeyeon began speeding around, dodging and weaving the gunfire and baton swings, taking quick punches at them. Hitomi took matters into her own hands and commanded the trees to snag any enemy who came near them. The trees were easy to control, these soldiers were the interlopers to their forest, and it would make it better with them gone. It was clear that there was no way these regular guards could take them head on, but just as Chaeyeon had finished knocking out her sixth adversary, the ground begins to shake again. A large stone spire appears from the ground, nearly missing her. On top, there was a familiar figure...Yamada Noe. She looked perfectly normal except for a strange red tint in her eyes.

"Noe-chan, is that you?" Hitomi asks in their native language. Noe only glares at the two. It's like she didn't even recognize them.

"This can't be good..." She mumbles. Noe doesn't give them any time to think more as she forces stone slabs into the air and throws them at Chaeyeon and Hitomi.

~~~~

"Haven't we passed that tree five times already?" Yujin complains. They've been looking for the base entrance for a while with no luck. With how dense the forest was, it was hard to tell if they'd been going in circles or not.

"Yah, they're all the same, how can you tell any of the trees apart?" Eunbi chides.

"Just be patient, will you?" Wonyoung adds, grabbing a hold of Yujin's arm and pulling her to her side. Yujin, surprised by this, couldn't even muster the courage to whine back at Wonyoung taking Eunbi's side.

"Those kids..." Hyewon sighs as she and Eunbi had fallen a few paces behind.

"Jealous?" Eunbi jokes. In truth, it was incredibly sweet seeing the two maknaes getting along so well. They fought all the time like Yena and Yuri, but they always got back together in the end.

"Hardly." Hyewon scoffs. "I'm happy for them. When you're young with powers, it gets tough with no one around you." It was well known that it was incredibly difficult to survive as a mutant on your own. Most ended up captured or dead before they can reach any safe haven.

"It'll feel like you're all alone, and the world's against you." Hyewon continues. "When I was on the run, I couldn't trust anybody. It was so easy to just freeze someone in place and get away." Eunbi considers this. Being the only regular human in the group, she wanted to be able to empathize with everyone more. These girls all had rough backgrounds and stories of their own, and it seems like this team that they'd been put on was a breath of fresh air to many of them- a family they could rely on.

"Well, I'm glad we're a team now because we have each other." Eunbi finally says in response.

"Cheesy much" Hyewon says pretending to gag. It's the most expressive Eunbi's seen her be in a while.

"GUYS!" A voice shouts out of nowhere.

"Oh my god, Chaewon, I forgot you were with us! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Eunbi says flustered, wondering if the younger's clone had heard any of that.

"Yah, you're the one who told me to tag along! This clone's just been a mindless drone before I checked in now." She says, causing Eunbi to breathe a sigh of relief. "Enough of that though, we have a big problem." Before she can warn them though, the two younger ones called their attention.

"Eunbi-unnie! Hyewon-unnie! We finally found the entrance!" Yujin whisper-shouts over. She and Wonyoung had found a large metal hatch in the ground, and were about to go closer and examine it.  "I think the coast is clear." Ominous thunder was heard in the distance, drowning out all the noise except for an owl hooting overhead.

"Nope, they're here. There's probably twenty hiding around here somewhere expecting us if what's going on over with Chaeyeon's group is any indication." Chaewon refutes. Suddenly a clicking noise like the sound of a gun being loaded catches their leader's attention.

"Guys, take cover!" Eunbi yells as a shot whistles past Wonyoung's ear. Luckily, Yujin had tackled her to the ground to avoid it. The group finds themselves surrounded with red beams of light aiming at them through the darkness.

"Well...I guess it's time to get to work." Hyewon says coolly, and with that, the chaos ensues.

She starts it off by shooting down some ice in a circle around them, creating some cover. From there, it was target practice for Hyewon, firing bolts of ice right back to where the red pointers were coming from.

Wonyoung, on the other hand, focuses herself, raising her hands as she tries to pull the enemy soldiers out of the bushes and trees and out into the open where Hyewon could hit them easier.

"We're clearing a path for you three!" The youngest yells. "Get that hatch open!" Yujin, Eunbi and Chaewon nodded, and made a break for the entrance. The soldiers were dropping like flies, but Hyewon couldn't keep the ice going forever. Eunbi tries her best to pull on the hatch, but it wouldn't budge.

"A little help guys?" She asks Chaewon and Yujin, and with the three of them pulling, they started to make some progress. Around them, Wonyoung and Hyewon were doing their best to keep the attention on them.

"I could really use some liquid right now." Yujin complains. The ocean was too far, and she couldn't detect any rivers or ponds in the area. The training they put in for combat back at base was helpful, but nothing could really replace her powers. She felt useless, her most important skill unable to be utilized.

"Yujin-unnie, look out!" Wonyoung shrieks as she uses her force to grab a soldier aiming to stab Yujin with a knife into the air and throws him away. Yujin feels her back, realizing she was this close to being killed.

"Yah, Yujin, snap out of it!" Eunbi says. "You don't need powers to defend yourself. Just remember your training and stay vigilant."  She then turns just in time to knock out another soldier sneaking up on her that time.

"Right...our training..." She mumbles to herself. Yujin straightens herself and looks around, a new group of soldiers surrounding her, Eunbi, and Chaewon. Hyewon and Wonyoung were too busy with the others to help this time, so it was up to them. She manages to dodge and weave past her assailants' attacks, landing her own counter punches in the process. With Yujin fighting with them, the trio had the attackers down in no time. Despite this, the hatch they were trying to open was still too tough to open. Wait...

"Wait, Hyewon! Freeze the hatch, so we can just crack it!" Eunbi yells. Hyewon manages to aim right at it and do what she was asked. The three now worked on smashing the hatch open, using the ends of the guns they'd picked up from knocked-out soldiers. Eventually, it gave in and shattered revealing a ladder leading deep into darkness below.

"We're not going to be able to climb down that without being shot." Chaewon warns.

"We don't really have a choice!" Yujin says back. Just before she can call Hyewon and Wonyoung over, a shrill squawk is heard overhead. The owl they'd heard from earlier lands gracefully in the middle of the battleground. Strangely enough, the soldiers stop shooting for a second as the owl begins to change shape into a human figure...Juri.

"Juri-unnie?" Wonyoung asks towards her former roommate. When the figure looks up, she was sure it was Juri, but there was something wrong...her eyes were a shade of red and there seemed to be no hint of emotion in them. Without answering, she shifts into a rhino and barrels straight for them.

"Oh no...this was what I was gonna say before we got ambushed. Noe is here too, and she's fighting Chaeyeon and Hii-chan." Chaewon says. The eyes...they looked the same as Noe's. They had to do something quick.

Hyewon tried her best, creating ice walls to block Juri's path, but she just shattered through them and kept charging. Wonyoung, with a defiant yell, pushes her hands forward trying to push Juri back. It was a struggle for the youngest. She'd never had to exert this much force before. It was like two walls pushing towards each other, neither wanting to concede.

"Guys! Go!" She yells, her nose starting to bleed from the effort, Juri beginning to overpower her force.

"Not without you!" Yujin responds.

"It's too dangerous, you can come back for me later!" Amidst the struggle, the soldiers had begun to aim once again, but this time, Wonyoung couldn't just jump out of the way. Hyewon was exhausted, and she knew she wasn't gonna be able to take out the last ones.

Yujin couldn't bear to watch. She wanted to help, but she couldn't do anything without...water. She feels a drop from the sky land on her shoulder. It was rain, beginning to pile up, and Yujin could feel the water flowing through her. Enough was enough. She uses the water from the rain to raise herself up as she directs all the droplets around her into a tornado-like form, pulling all the soldiers in and tossing them around. When she's done with that, she turns to Wonyoung, who seemed to be on her last legs. Yujin uses all her power to condense the water into a ball  which she tosses straight at Juri, trapping her in a liquid bubble gasping for air. Eventually, the rhino stops struggling and begins to shift back into the form of their friend. Yujin lets the water bubble dissipate and lays her on the ground. At the same time, Wonyoung falls to her knees in exhaustion. Yujin runs up to her, leaving Juri in the care of Eunbi and Hyewon.

"Wonnie! Wonnie! Are you okay? Stay with me!" She pleads as Wonyoung leans onto her shoulder, the rain still pouring around them. The youngest coughs, looking up at Yujin with a smile.

"I'll be fine...we still have a job to do." Wonyoung tries to stand up, staggering a bit, trying to shake everything off, but falters needing to use Yujin as support.

"Are you sure?" Yujin asks with a look of concern.

"You're the one who almost got stabbed." She jokes. "We can rest when this mess is over."

"Alright then." The determined look in her makes Yujin smile. "Let's finish this."

Across the clearing, Eunbi and Hyewon examine Juri's unconscious body. She looked way stronger than she normally was at base, and the look in her eyes definitely wasn't natural.

"Don't worry, Juri. We'll get you help soon." Eunbi whispers. They'd already sent a signal to Seunggi to send someone to pick her up.

"This feels familiar..." Hyewon says.

"What does?" Eunbi asks back.

"Back when we interrogated the scientist, Chaeyeon got up close to her and then went ballistic for a second. I remember there being a shade of red in her eyes too, but it went away fast. Then, the scientist even said that it had a few 'bugs' to work out..." Hyewon speculates.

"We need to get down there quick." Eunbi says after hearing that bit of information. "Chaewon, can you stick here till Seunggi's help arrives? Tell Sakura to establish the mental link now because we're about to go in."

"Understood. From what I can tell, Hii-chan, Nako and Chaeyeon are handling Noe well enough right now." She responds

"What about your group?"

"I think we just found the entrance too. If it's going to be like any of these two ambushes, I should war-" Before she can finish her sentence, Chaewon grabs at her head, as if someone had just smacked her.

"Chaewon! Are you okay?" Eunbi asks.

"Yeahp...I'm...fine." Chaewon says, coughing in between each word, falling down on one knee.

"You don't sound good at all. We can go help!"

"No! I...can handle this. I already told Kkura-unnie to reestablish the link. Just leave me here to take care of Juri, then I can merge back to my original body. Trust me." Eunbi knew she couldn't argue more, so she simply nods, and leads her group of four down the hatch.

"Well, Juri...looks like we got a lot of catching up to do." Chaewon says with a small laugh as she sits down next to her unconscious friend surrounded by a ring of incapacitated soldiers.

~~~~

"I think we've made it." Yuri says without turning towards the others. The entrance actually wouldn't have been obvious if it weren't for the guards standing around a large rock formation in front of them. They probably came up after the commotion the others caused. Before Yuri's group arrived, they'd already begun to hear gunshots and yelling. Yuri hoped everyone was okay over there.

"Guys?" She asks again after not getting a response. The silence continued until she finally turned to look at her friends who were glaring at her with annoyance. Yena takes out a phone from one of their supply bags and lifts it up to Yuri showing a timer counting down with ten seconds left. Oh yeah...that.

When the timer runs to zero, all three take a deep sigh, having a mute conversation about who would speak first. As expected, it was Yena.

"You really do have a way with words, don't you, Yul?" She says.

"I'm sorry...I kind of forgot. Besides, I was getting used to the quiet. Hadn't had that in a while." She says sheepishly.

"Well, there are some reports that I could've been relaying to you if you hadn't shut me up." Chaewon says. "Do I have to remind you that I'm our link with the others and that they're both in some big fights right now?"

"Yeah, I said I'm sorry already. Is it my fault everyone just got so cheesy?" Yuri argues, trying to defend herself. "What about you, Minjoo? Had anything on your mind too?"

"You know, I'm gonna agree with you there. We kind of did deserve it." She says quietly.

"Really, Min? You aren't gonna defend me? You're way too nice for your own good." Chaewon interjects, feigning being irritated.

Meanwhile, Yena pulls Yuri aside, taking her hand. "Yeah, I'm sorry too, Yul. We kind of did go a bit overboard." Yena admits. "It was quite funny though, I'd definitely do it again." She continues, earning a smack from the younger.

"Well, I will say, you really sparked my interest in you even more with that." Yuri jokes.

"Yah...and you shut us up for being corny." Yena says while shaking her head. Yuri's glad that she'd managed to get Yena a bit looser during missions than she used to be, and coincidentally, she's fallen for the duck as those missions have gone by.

"Wait, Yuri..." Chaewon whispers for the younger girl's attention. "Didn't you say there were guards there?" You don't think-" She got her answer before finishing the question. While they were all bickering, the guards had managed to call on reinforcements and surround the four girls.

"Hands where I can see them!" The lead guard yelled.

"So much for subtlety..." Yena mumbles as she steps in front of her friends, arms raised. Before they could react, she calls lightning from the sky, chaining it to hit all the soldiers around them. Her group was the least combat inclined, so she knew she'd have to do more of the heavy-lifting. They were all toast in no time.

"You know, I was just going to talk them into letting us in, right?" Yuri comments at the knocked out ring of enemies around them.

"We can do that when we get inside. Besides, seeing as how the others have their own fights to handle, these guys were definitely expecting us." Yena says calmly. Her serious side really loved to jump out during actual combat. She just knew how to channel her energy in the right way and focus when she needed to. Yuri may have disapproved the violence, but she was definitely swooning over how cool Yena looked doing it.

"Uh, guys. I don't think it's over. Something very unexpected just happened with the others." Chaewon reports.

"What is it?" Minjoo asks.

"Our friends...they're..." Chaewon was trying to find the right words but was struggling to get them out. "Noe and Juri are out there fighting Chaeyeon and Eunbi's groups."

"You're kidding." Yuri says, not believing.

"Well, it looks like they're under control or something...and that might mean we're about to meet one of them too." As if to add on to the drama, storm clouds begin to appear overhead, making Chaewon's statement feel heavier. Yena's lighting strikes may have had something to do with it. The rain was now starting to pour.

"Yah, let's get in first then. This mission only succeeds if at least one of our groups gets in. We can try to get Yuri to talk them back to our side." Yena suggests. The others nod in agreement as they walked towards the rock formation the guards had been defending. Yena puts her hand on it, feeling for an electrical current, and finds one, although something felt off about it.

"Someone's coming up..." She warns. As the elevator continues to rise, Yena clenches her fists harder, preparing for the worst. "Guys, hide, I have an idea." She says.

"No way!" You aren't doing this without me!" Yuri argues after hearing it.

"We don't have much time to mix it up. I'll be fine, promise." Chaewon and Minjoo had already agreed with the plan, knowing that they couldn't dissuade the eldest in their group, but Yuri would not let Yena have her way.

"It'll still work out with me staying with you. I'll make it easier, you can't argue against that! It'll be like last time with Chaewon and Minjoo! I will not leave you alone." Yuri puts her foot down, not needing to use her powers to sound convincing. She remembered what Wonyoung had told her in what felt like years ago. During the finals of capture the flag, she had managed to fight against Yuri's commands. She'd told her how if she wanted to get someone resisting her powers to listen, she had to have full conviction in herself as well, and this was one of those moments. Yuri did not want Yena to go through with her plan alone at all, and she let her know that.

Yena looks to Chaewon and Minjoo for support, but they just shrug, knowing Yuri was right. "Alright, you're in too, but don't leave my side for even a second." She orders.

"That's exactly what I wanted." Yuri smiles smugly. At that moment, they heard the sound of the rock formation moving to reveal door. Whoever was coming up was almost there.

"Chaewon, Minjoo, hide now!" They'd spent so much time arguing again that they'd lost track of time. There was no good cover. At the last second, Minjoo grabs a hold of Chaewon, hugging her tight, willing herself to become invisible with her. "Be quiet." She whispers.

When the elevator finally arrived up top, the rock wall parted, revealing a single figure...Goeun, who opens wide and screeching with so much force, it blew the four off their feet. Minjoo was sweating; they'd managed to get out of the major blast zone, but there was nothing left around them as all the trees within a twenty foot radius had been knocked over. Yuri and Yena weren't so lucky, having taken the brunt of the attack and getting knocked out. Goeun approaches them, and looks around, probably checking if it was just them. She was looking right at her and Chaewon, and Minjoo was hoping and hoping that her invisibility had managed to shield Chaewon as well. The look in Goeun's eyes was scary. They'd gone red, and looked emotionless.

After a few more agonizingly long seconds, Goeun turns and grabs Yena and Yuri, dragging them back towards the elevator. When the doors close, Minjoo falls to the ground in exhaustion. Chaewon puts her hands on her shoulders looking at her with admiration. "They took the bait, I can't believe you pulled that off." She says to the younger.

"Now here's to hoping Yena's plan works." Chaewon had seen how the other battles unfolded, and was relieved to see everyone else doing just fine.

"Chaewon? Status report? We're currently descending into the base. Chaeyeon's team managed to get through as well." Eunbi checks in meaning Sakura's mental link had finally been reestablished.

"Uh...let's just say Yena deviated from the plan." She says, or well, thinks as quietly as she could to avoid Eunbi nagging, which she did.

"Let's trust her, we're all gonna meet up in the end anyway." Minjoo adds, trying to mediate the situation.

"Fine, but I better not hear any more problems from your group, okay? Contact us the second you see trouble." Eunbi says in a worried tone.

"Yes, Eunbi-unnie. We'll try our best." Chaewon responds.

"Well, Min. Now we gotta wait for the elevator again. Do you think your new trick is gonna hold up through this next part?" She asks the younger.

"I'm not sure...but I'll try my best." Minjoo says determinedly. There was still a long way to go.