"Ugh...what happened?" Yuri opens her eyes groggily. The last thing she remembered was Goeun appearing in front of her and Yena and attacking them. She finds herself in a cell much like the one she'd been kept in in Myeong-dong. Next to her, Yena was sitting cross-legged, eyes closed, as if she was meditating. She doesn't know how much time has passed.

"Quiet, prisoner!" A guard's voice scolded. Yuri was about to get up and order him to knock himself out, but Yena pulled her back.

"Be patient, Yul." She whispers, surprising the younger as normally Yena was never one to shy away from a fight.

"Remember we still have Sakura's mental link." She says to Yuri telepathically. "We can't reveal what our powers are if we can help it because it keeps them in the dark."

"If Goeun and the others are here under their control, wouldn't she have told them by now?" Yuri argues.

"If what Chaewon reported was true, it seems like they're acting like mindless attack machines. I don't think they could've disclosed any important information. Besides, I don't think we have the power to break ourselves out without getting overwhelmed anyway." She replies. Yuri nods her head, putting the pieces together. Yena could be quite the strategist when she wanted to.

"So, what do we do?" Yuri asks.

"Wait for Sakura's signal." As if on cue, The Japanese girl speaks into their minds.

"Yuri, Yena, we cut their communications. Now do your team's job and take over their surveillance systems."

Yuri's memory starts to come back to her as she recalls Eunbi's initial plans. Sakura's team would take out the comms, Eunbi's team would lead the charge to central control, and her team had to take control of the cameras. Looking back on it, Eunbi really knew how to split the teams for specific tasks. Sakura's needed muscle to protect her while she hacked, Yuri's needed stealth, and the rest were supporting the main attack. She was a genius leader.

"No 'hello'? or a 'are you two okay?' Straight to the point, huh?" Yena jokes as if they weren't underground in a heavily defended base on an important mission.

"No time for pleasantries, Choi. We gotta move before they send reinforcements here. It took a lot of work to get into this place." Sakura adds a tone of urgency to her request.

"Alright, we got it. Just needed to get a feel for the place first. Can you patch us back in with the others? Our connection was broken when Goeun attacked." Yena says.

"Sure, good luck, Yena, Yuri. We're counting on you."

"Don't worry, unnie! I've got a plan and I know where to go. You're not the only one who can map an underground base." Yena teases one more time before sending her off. When Sakura's eyes flutter open, she's greeted by the sound of yelling and gunfire.

"Yah, Sakura! Stay hidden, their backup has arrived!" Chaeyeon says over the loud background noise. She had a nasty gash on her right arm, but Chaeyeon insisted that she'd be fine. That battle with Noe and their subsequent efforts to make it to this point were just as difficult. Nako and Hitomi were starting to tire as well. They needed Yuri and the others to move faster.

~~~~

30 minutes ago...

Noe was showing no mercy to her friends, chucking boulder after boulder at them. Chaeyeon and Hitomi were only barely dodging the projectiles.

"Noe! We're here to help you! We're on your side!" Chaeyeon yells over in Japanese, but it was like she didn't hear them at all.

"Chaeyeon-unnie, look out!" Hitomi shouts, controlling a tree branch to yank her out of the way just as another boulder landed where she just was.

"I don't think there's any reasoning with her, unnie! We have to take her down the hard way!" Hitomi didn't know what was going on with Noe, but she knew the only way to help was getting her under control first.

Noe attacks again, and this time, Chaeyeon wasn't so lucky. The rock only barely grazes her arm, but the sensation burned. She winced in pain but kept running around, looking for an opening.

"Kkura, how's the hacking going?" Chaeyeon asks for an update as she and Hitomi had been pushed back to where the entrance was.

"Almost there! Nako, you get in there and help them. Chaewon can guard me from here." Sakura says, sifting through the circuit board with her mind, shifting wires around like pieces on a puzzle board. Chaeyeon and the others were counting on her to get them in, and she had to deliver.

Nako tries to assess the situation, seeing Hitomi shield herself with trees and Chaeyeon dashing around. The two were clearly tiring, and Chaeyeon was injured. She had to do something quick. She watches more intently, looking for a weakness. Noe was sitting on her stone spire blocking any of the two girls attacks before they could even get close. It was like she was in her own personal fortress. Looks like we need to sneak up on her to get the upper hand. She thinks.

"Yah, Chaeyeon-unnie! Lead her to me, I have a plan!" She yells. Chaeyeon despite grimacing, heeds Nako's instructions, and makes her way over, Noe's attacks not too far behind. By the time she arrives in front of the smaller girl, Chaeyeon sees another large rock heading towards her, too fast to dodge this time. She closes her eyes, but the impact doesn't come. When she opens them, she sees Nako in front of her, the rock secured in her hands before crushing it.

"Sneak up behind while I distract. Hitomi can finish it off if you can catch Noe by surprise." Chaeyeon nods, mustering her strength and disappearing in a flash, waiting for the right opportunity to strike. Nako slaps away the incoming boulders one by one without much effort. Her strength was truly out of this world.

"C'mon Noe-chan! I thought you were better than this!" Nako taunts, easily getting the other girl's attention. This time, Noe forces up stalagmites from the ground, sharp as knives, and throws them all at once. Nako appears to take this as a challenge and runs straight towards them. Chaewon watches in awe of Nako's courage or arrogance; she couldn't discern which. When the impact was supposed to happen, Nako braced herself and pushed forward, crushing the incoming projectiles, some even just bouncing off her as if she were invincible.

"It's gonna take a lot more than pointy rocks to beat me!" She yells as she breaks right through the stone spire with Noe toppling to the ground. When the dust settles, Nako moves in for the finishing blow, but Noe placed her palms on the ground and it began to soften, the quicksand managing to ensnare the shorter girl. Noe wipes a stain of blood off the corner of before bringing up another boulder way bigger than the others. When she throws it forward, Nako couldn't do anything but try to hold the boulder off with sheer strength. The quicksand loosening her footing definitely wasn't helping.

"Yah, guys! Any time would be good!" Nako yells, starting to feel overwhelmed. Just as she was about to run out of stamina, Chaeyeon runs in and smacks Noe across the face, making her lose concentration. Without her stone tower, Chaeyeon found it way easier to circle and aim at Noe. She flashes by time and time again with a punch, jab or kick. When Noe was finally showing exhaustion, Hitomi made her move, commanding the roots within the ground to hold her down, and getting Nako to safety. Hitomi strengthens her hold on Noe until she was out cold.

"Sorry, Noe. We'll make sure to get you back safely, okay?" Nako says. Despite Noe clearly wanting to kill them, Nako and the others did their best so that she wouldn't be too hurt. She was a fellow mutant, under control of this organization. It wasn't her fault for attacking them.

"Got it!" Sakura finally announces as the door unlocks and opens, turning around and seeing the chaos for the first time, soldiers littering the ground, debris and uprooted trees as well. But, amidst it all, the second she notices Chaeyeon's injury, Sakura bolts towards her, trying to patch her up with the limited supplies they had.

"Are you okay?" She asks worriedly.

"Evidently not." Chaeyeon says with a chuckle.

"This was supposed to be the easy part. Are you sure you're up for the next stage? You could stay here and guard Noe if you want." Sakura offers.

"Aish, don't get so worried. I'll be fine. Besides, you're gonna need me in there." She responds.

"I'll stay behind then." Chaewon's clone speaks up.

"I'm already guarding Juri's unconscious body. I might as well take care of Noe too. The transports are on their way to our position to take them in. You guys need to keep moving."

"Chaewon's right. We need all the strength we have for the next phase." Hitomi says.

"Understood." Chaeyeon nods. "Let's get in there then."

~~~~

"Eunbi-unnie, look, over there.." Wonyoung whispers over the eldest's shoulder. They'd managed to fight their way past hallways and corridors trying to get to central command, and according to the schematic Sakura had relayed, they were almost there. As Eunbi surveys the open room around the corner, she sees what Wonyoung had pointed out. It was Jurina talking to a Japanese scientist, right in front of the main room. The group can just make out the quiet conversation they were having.

"The new weapon is doing wonders, I see." Jurina mentions.

"We managed to iron out the issues based on Dr. Park Eunseo's report." The older man responds.

"Good, the boss will be very pleased. We'll be able to have control of South Korea within the month with these." The way she says it sends a shiver down Eunbi's spine. She had a sneaking suspicion on what the new weapon was, and the next exchange confirmed it for her.

"The test subjects responded very well, but we've lost contact with mutants 3 and 5."

"Their little team is here. We have to apprehend them quick and take Miyawaki in alive. The rest..." She trails off as a beeping sound from a device in her pocket catches her attention. Jurina takes a quick glance and smirks before continuing. "...should all be killed." She turns towards Eunbi's group and disappears into thin air. The scientist is stunned, looking in the intruders' direction before trying to run off.

"Hyewon, don't let him get away!" Eunbi yells. Hyewon complies shooting a bolt of ice that freezes the man's feet to the ground. Before Eunbi could give her next order, Jurina strikes. Coils of darkness spawn around the group, grabbing at them all. Hyewon is knocked down, but manages to keep the tentacles at bay with her ice. Wonyoung tries to stop them with less effectiveness though as the incoming attacks were not solid. Wonyoung is tangled and squeezed by the darkness.

"NO!" Yujin yells as she forces pipes to burst, allowing the water to act as a whirlpool with them in the middle. The darkness is cut off, but only momentarily as the receding wall of water reveals Jurina waiting.

"Hello there, girls. It's been a while." She muses.

"Not long enough, traitor!" Eunbi yells. She is what's standing between Jurina and her friends and she wasn't about to let her get by.

"Traitor...what an interesting word. A traitor to who exactly? Mutants? I could say the same about you and humans. We are very much alike, you and I..." She says.

"No...I fight for the rights of mutants. You fight for anarchy and chaos. That isn't the same."

"Don't delude yourself with this...idealism. The people will never accept mutants. The best we can do is be feared. They should be afraid of our power. You're just too naïve to see that." Jurina spits back.

"The people you're trying to protect? You're only keeping them in control, keeping their gifts hidden." She continues.

"Then why are you working with humans, huh? What do you hope to accomplish?" Eunbi asks.

"It's a mutual understanding. They get power while I get to liberate all mutants from the fear they've been living in."

"You're twisted..." Hyewon says. "Not all mutants think like you. Some of us actually like normal humans." She glances at Eunbi when she says this. "There can be a balance. This 'liberation' is just another façade to transfer the control to you!"

"Enough talk. You're just getting in the way of our plans. I didn't expect you to understand." Jurina disappears again, the clouds of darkness starting to surround the four girls. Eunbi didn't have time to react before receiving a kick to her side causing her to fall to her knees. Shortly after, Yujin is tripped and Wonyoung is knocked over. They were outmatched. Hyewon was the only one left standing when Jurina rematerializes.

"I thought you were all trained well. Pathetic." She says.

"Takes one to know one." Hyewon barks back as she fires a beam of ice Jurina's way. The Japanese girl counters with her own blast of dark energy, and the two forces meet at a standstill. Hyewon tries her best to stand her ground, but she already feels herself being overpowered.

"It's over..." Jurina says with a smile, and just when it felt like she was gonna win the stalemate, she feels her arms fall to her side unwillingly. Wonyoung slowly gets up forcing Jurina's body to follow her will with telekinesis.

"Unnie, now!" She yells. Hyewon takes the opportunity and strengthens her ice blast. With her concentration broken, Jurina is left helpless as the ice engulfs her.

Hyewon sighs with relief, as that last blast expended a lot of her energy. Wonyoung goes over and helps Eunbi and Yujin up.

"Thanks for the save, Wonnie." Yujin says cheerfully. "I knew you could do it."

"Just returning the favor. You save me, I save you." She responds. "Now, what do we do with her?" Wonyoung points at the ice block containing Jurina.

"Whatever it is, we better figure it out soon." Yujin says as she sees two lines of soldiers heading right for them.

"We gotta get in the control room! Hyewon, ice the door once we're inside!" Eunbi orders as they lock themselves, Jurina and the Japanese scientist in central command.

"What do you know? How do we break this spell?" Wonyoung asks the scientist.

"Spell? This is science, my dear child. Besides, why would I tell your kind anything?" He spits back. Suddenly, he feels himself a loss of breath, as if his throat was closing up. Wonyoung glares at him with a different fire in her eyes, her hand stretched towards him as she clenches her fist.

"Tell us. Now." She orders.

"Wonyoung, no!" Eunbi yells as she runs over to the youngest, shaking her shoulders causing her to loosen her grip on the man, gasping for air.

"It isn't right, and we won't even get any information out of him this way." She advises.

"You're...right. I'm sorry guys. I almost got carried away. I just want this to all be over." Wonyoung mumbles.

"It's alright, Wonnie. We understand." Yujin walks over to her and hugs her tightly. They may be a year apart, but Yujin always felt a sense of responsibility for the youngest's well-being. While she calms Wonyoung down, Eunbi continues the interrogation.

"You don't want a repeat of that, do you?" Eunbi asks emotionlessly. The scientist shakes his head, clearly more cooperative now than he was a minute ago.

"Don't you see what that kid is capable of? If she's willing and capable to kill me, how can we normal humans ever not be afraid." He warns.

"If you treat people with respect, then nothing bad will happen. We're all still humans at heart. Why can't you people see that? There can be a world with peace if we just accept everyone for who they are instead of provoking them." Eunbi responds calmly.

"Now please, how can we save our friends." She pleads. The scientist seems to consider her words, and nods along. Sadly, he shakes his head.

"I don't think we ever developed a fail-safe. The only way you can snap them out of it is by knocking them out. I'm sorry." He says, actually looking regretful of his decisions. Eunbi didn't like that response because the last thing she wanted to do was hurt their friends. Unfortunately, they were left with little choice.

"I must warn you though. If you haven't noticed, the material we used to control them increases their capabilities and strength. It won't be easy to defeat the rest."

"You underestimate our team's abilities. You'll see." She says with confidence.

"Uh, Eunbi-unnie, they're breaking through the ice!" Hyewon says as she sees the wall she's made begin to melt. They had to get out. "I don't think we have the time or energy to carry these two." She says pointing at Jurina's ice block and the scientist.

Eunbi racks her brain thinking of a solution when she receives a mental message from Yena.

"Eunbi-unnie, we found out how they were tracking us. Chaewon and Minjoo managed to sneak us out already. We're about to deal with the security right now." She says.

"Good, because we're gonna need every advantage we can get. Update us on the progress." The leader responds glad to at least have some good news.

"We gotta get out of here. I don't think I can keep them at bay for long." Hyewon warns. She tried her best to make the ice wall as thick as she could, but she was really running out of strength now.

"We can use Jurina as a distraction. They'll spend time freeing her while we escape." Wonyoung suggests.

"Are you sure you want to them to let her out though?" Yujin questions.

"Wonyoung's right. If we could take her out once, we can take her out again, especially when all twelve of us are facing her." Eunbi says quickly in agreement.

"Where to next then?" Yujin continues.

"The labs. That's where we're all supposed to rendezvous."

"Alright then, let's get a move on!" Wonyoung rushes to get everyone moving before it was too late. Eunbi looks back at Jurina frozen in an ice block. Yena's plan better have paid off. She thinks as she follows her group.

~~~~

15 minutes ago...

"Chaewon, are you sure we have to keep holding hands like this?" Minjoo asks, redness creeping upon her cheeks.

"Yes, Min. You see that camera up there?" She points at the elevator camera attached to the ceiling. "They'll know we're coming if we don't do this." Chaewon says nonchalantly.

"If you say so..." She mumbles back. Minjoo wonders if Chaewon can hear her heart beating with their close proximity. The elevator ride felt so much longer because of this. Why did I agree to Yena's plan again? She asks herself.

After what seemed like eternity, they made it to the bottom floor, and when the doors opened, there was only one guard on watch. The man turns in confusion, scratching his head, not understanding why the elevator cart was empty. Minjoo and Chaewon quietly sneak past him and into the hallways ahead.

"C'mon, we gotta bust Yena and Yuri out!" Chaewon says pulling Minjoo along. Sakura had managed to send them a mental image of the schematics of the base and where Yena and Yuri were most likely to be located. Now, they were dashing along the halls invisibly thanks to Minjoo. Most guards they snuck by were too preoccupied with the attack of their other two groups to even notice them. By the time they'd gotten to the detention area, there weren't many guards left. The two sprung into action with Chaewon bursting into four clones and knocking over soldiers left and right. With Sakura's team also knocking out their communications, they figured backup wouldn't be coming any time soon. Minjoo, normally a timid person, tried her best to aid Chaewon, sneaking up behind her opponents and tripping them. It wasn't much of a contest.

When the dust settles, Chaewon picks up a card key from a soldier and scans it on Yuri and Yena's cell.

"Took you long enough." Yena jokes as she touches the wall sending an electrical current to shut down the security cameras in the room.

"Jeez, I guess we should've left you in there then." Chaewon jests back.

"Guys, we don't have time to delay, we have to complete the mission." Yuri butts in before the two mess around more. "Okay, genius. What's the rest of the plan?" She asks Yena sarcastically.

"Well, I had a feeling Sakura would be busy taking care of their mission, so I spent the time mapping this place out myself." She says proudly.

"Wait, how? That sounds crazy. So, you know where the surveillance room is?" Minjoo says in awe.

"Uh, I wasn't exactly...exact. I pathed out a map using the electrical currents in the base. I just assume the places with high electricity usage are the important places we have to check." The duck responds sheepishly.

"So...we're gonna be guessing?" Chaewon asks, trying to look unimpressed.

"Yeahp, but don't worry. I got this under control."

"That's what you always say." Yuri says. As the four were about to move out, they realize that both ends of the hallway have become blocked by enemies. "Huh? I thought Kkura-unnie cut the comms."

"She did. They must have another way...." Minjoo says.

"Welp, looks like there's no easy way out." Yena sighs while stretching her arms. "Everyone get down!" She then shouts as she lets tendrils of electricity chain throughout the incoming attackers from both sides.

"Damn, Yena. At least give them a chance next time." Chaewon says, clearly in awe at the feat. Just like earlier, Yena effortlessly defeated a whole battalion of soldiers on her own.

"Guys, I found something!" Minjoo announces, holding up a radar she'd picked up from a downed soldier. "It looks like we're showing up as targets. I think Chaeyeon, and Eunbi-unnies' teams are here too." She says pointing at seven red dots on the machine.

"Why only seven?" Chaewon asks.

"Eunbi's not a mutant, remember?" Minjoo reminds her.

"Oh yeah, my bad." Chaewon's known the longest, but sometimes it's easy for her to forget that Eunbi was just a normal human with the way she fights and leads the team.

"What about the blues ones?" Yena inquires, noticing five other markers.

"Not sure, maybe it's Goeun and the others?" Minjoo speculates

"When'd they even get the ability for tracking mutants in general?" Yuri questions.

"I think I have an idea on where the surveillance room is, and if my hunch is right, I'll be really mad.." Yena says. She then grabs the radar Minjoo had found and feels it. "It has the same frequency as something in this direction." She points south.

"I know where we're going then." Chaewon says to the others as Yena begins sprinting ahead down the hall.

~~~~

Yena wasted no time heading to her destination. It was like she was a metal being pulled by a magnet. Yuri and the others had to run to keep up because Yena wasn't slowing down. Every time they would run into a small group of soldiers, she'd knock them out with little effort. She was so precise with her movements, Yuri notes, like a born fighter. Finally, they arrive at a locked room. Yena had made quick work of the guards as she waited for them to catch up.

"Yena, what's going on? I know we're short on time, but what's your hunch?" Yuri asks.

"She's in here, I just know it." Yena says quietly.

"Who's in there?"

"Sihyeon, she's how they're tracking us. I'm sure of it." Yena finally answers. Crushing the little radar she'd been carrying.

"Well, let's open the door and find out then." Chaewon says, seeing the look of concern on Yena's face.

Yena nods and places her hand on the door scanner and fries it. When it opens, they see their friend Sihyeon in a glass container with machines attached to it. It appeared as though they were using her as a human sonar.

Yena sprung into action again along with the others, knocking out the guards and scientists. Just as they were about to get Sihyeon out, a loud screech booms towards them, knocking the whole group off balance. When Yuri manages to come around, she looks up and sees Goeun by the door.

"Goeun, it's us! Your friends!" Yuri yells to Goeun who seems unmoved and emotionless.

"Yuri, get behind me!" Yena tries to say, but Yuri turns towards her shaking her head.

"I can do this. You save your friend, I'll save mine." She says, conviction in her voice. Yena warily agrees and goes over to Chaewon and Minjoo to detach Sihyeon from the machine she was in.

"Goeun! Goeun! Snap out of it! We're not gonna hurt you." Yuri continues to reason. Goeun hesitates for a second, but slowly pushes forward, opening wide for another sonic screech.

"STOP!" Yuri puts all her power into that one word. Goeun finally stops, her eyes shutting as she collapses onto the ground. Yuri runs towards her, feeling for a pulse, and releases a sigh of relief when she finds it.

"Good job, Yuri! You did it!" Yena compliments ecstatically, walking over to her and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, making the younger girl freeze.

"Get a room, you two!" Chaewon teases. "You can fool around all you want after we finish this mission." She continues, causing the four girls to burst out laughing.

"Yeah, Chaewon is right." Yuri says, fanning her face. Why did Yena always have to surprise her like that? "We're almost there. Our friends are almost all safe."

"And because we have Sihyeon, it looks like we have the element of surprise from here." Chaewon adds.

"Mhm, and since we have her and Goeun, only Gaeun-unnie's left!" Minjoo says excitedly.

"And Seoyoung..." Yena reminds. "We might not be friends with her, but we can't just leave her here."

"Ah, right." Minjoo says, embarrassed. "Where to next then?"

"Eunbi-unnie said when we finished our missions to go to the labs, didn't she?" Chaewon asks.

"Yes, but we have to figure out what to do with Sihyeon and Goeun." Yuri responds.

"I can handle that too. Just gotta leave another clone here until they wake up and get them to the elevator." Chaewon says.

"You sure? Aren't your clones spread a little to thin?" Minjoo says, concern etched on her face.

"I'll be fineee" She says as she splits into two. "See? I'm still okay." Chaewon continues putting on a brave face, hoping her friends didn't notice the way she winced when she split.

"Alright, let's move everyone. Eunbi-unnie's waiting for us!" Yena announces, and the group moves off.

~~~~

"Kkura, are we close?" Chaeyeon whispers to the group. They'd managed to sneak around more freely knowing they cut the communications and surveillance. The group had just gotten into a large open white room which was uncharacteristically empty.

"According to the map, the labs are two rooms away." Sakura reports. "We just need to open this door first." She then goes to work on the door lock while the others wait.

"Really, that seems pretty easy." Nako says.

"I wouldn't say that." Hitomi responds quietly. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Don't get so anxious, Hii-chan. We already managed to get Goeun, Sihyeon, Juri and Noe. We can handle anyone." Nako jests.

"How's the lock coming along?" Chaeyeon asks as she walks away from the two girls bickering.

"Should be open soon...wait." She pauses.

"What's wrong?" Chaeyeon knows the look Sakura has on right now. It's the one she makes when she finds some critical information within a database.

"Gas...control...trap...Everyone don't breathe, it's a trap!" She yells as valves in the ceiling open up to release green gas. It definitely wasn't the nullifying white gas they'd come into contact with before. The group was quick to react, but they couldn't hold out for long.

"Kkura! Get that door open before it's too late!" Chaeyeon says through their mental link.

"I'm trying, but I just activated a security firewall. I need more time." She responds. Chaeyeon was starting to lose breath thinking of a solution when it comes to her. She begins to run around the room. She increases her speed as much as she can slowly funneling the gas around them into a smaller area.

"Got it!" Sakura announces as the door opens and the group runs through, shutting it before the gas could leak out again.

"That gas...that's how they controlled Noe and the others." Sakura says.

"No way. You mean, we would've become their puppets too if we breathed that in?" Nako asks.

"Yes, it's the same one that scientist must've used on Chaeyeon when she got up close to her." She responds.

"We gotta tell the others!" Hitomi says.

"One step ahead of you. I sent it to Eunbi-unnie and Yena, but I think Eunbi-unnie's team already knew because they met Jurina-san and captured a scientist."

"Jurina? Did they beat her?" Hitomi asks back.

"Yes, but they had to leave her because they were being chased. We have to get to the labs now to regroup and get new information." Sakura says, but before they move, she looks over at Chaeyeon who seemed exhausted due to protecting them from the gas. "You good to go?"

"Yeah, finding out they were trying to control my mind is really giving me the energy I need to end this once and for all." Chaeyeon jokes.

"Well, if the last room was a trap, what's this one supposed to be?" Hitomi asks seeing that the room is similarly structured. It was another white open room with vacated computers or equipment tables.

"Hmm." Sakura plugs into this room's database on one of the computers to check. Yes, if the last room was a trap, I'm assuming this room has a 90% chance to be one as well. She thinks to herself. As she scans the files she finds another disturbing one sent to this room.

"Hey, who the air-conditioning?" Nako says aloud. True enough, the room was starting to feel a bit windy.

"Okay guys, we're going to have to be ready to fight for this next one." Sakura quietly announces as she sees a panel in the ground open up bringing up a cloaked figure.

"Gaeun-unnie..." Chaeyeon says shocked. The winds were picking up, and when the figure opened her eyes, they were red. The group was barely able to hold their ground as tables, computers and anything else not held down was blown back towards the walls.

Gaeun didn't have a hint of empathy in her as she increases the power of wind, creating a tornado in the room. Sakura, not being as strong as the others was beginning to lose her grip. "Chaeyeon!" She yells, but it was Hitomi who saves her, throwing seeds on the ground forcing them to root themselves and grow vines to grab her.

"Nako, my turn to be a distraction. Wait for my signal! Use the wind" Chaeyeon sends a telepathic message as it was beginning to be difficult to hear anything over the raging tornado.

"What does that even mean, 'use the wind'" Nako asks understandably confused.

"Like this." Chaeyeon lets go of the ground to be carried into the air to the shock of everyone, and to their shock again, she begins to run in mid-air, using her speed to run on the currents of the wind. It was a sight to see. "Yah, Gaeun-unnie! Over here!" She yells as she speeds in and lands a powerful punch at the older woman.

Gaeun was unfazed, recovering quickly enough to stop Chaeyeon's second strike, blowing her back with such force that she leaves a dent in the wall.

"NO!" Sakura shouts. At that moment the wind stops only for Gaeun to redirect it to carry Chaeyeon towards herself and give a final blow.

"NOW!" Chaeyeon messages, and Nako understands. She jumps into the vacuum being created by Gaeun, staying in front of Chaeyeon, and focuses her strength into a lethal punch, the current giving her the speed to increase her power even more. Gaeun is launched back into the opposite wall, unconscious.

"Nice work, Nako-chan..." Chaeyeon manages to say before she collapses on the floor. She doesn't look so good, her injuries catching up to her. It didn't help that Gaeun was under the syndicate's control and had no reservations of killing them compared to how they wanted to save her. Nako's punch could've very well killed her if she hadn't held back just a tiny bit.

"Chaeyeon, are you alright? Can you walk?" Sakura asks. These were the times she felt the most powerless. She couldn't do anything to help them in that fight and watched as her friends got hurt.

"Yeah, we're almost there anyway. What's a few more bruises?" Chaeyeon jokes as she tries to get up, but staggers. Sakura and the others were clearly worried about her, but they understood her sentiment. Chaeyeon had been getting battered and bruised along the way, but it was for a cause. It was to stop this syndicate's plans to take over. Despite this, Sakura wanted to stop her.

"I know you're capable, but we'll have all the help we need when we get to the labs. You can afford to sit out." Sakura argues.

"Kkura...I have to." Chaeyeon really didn't want to leave her friends like this. She wanted to protect them no matter what, but Sakura's next word convinced her.

"Please..." Sakura pleads, tears forming in her eyes. She knew in her analytical mind that it would be really dangerous, and Chaeyeon's condition would only hinder the group, but more than that, Sakura couldn't bear to see Chaeyeon hurt any more. She'd always put herself in danger to save her, and she didn't want to take any chances this time.

Chaeyeon was well aware that Sakura rarely showed her emotions, so she knew to respect them whenever she did. She wasn't happy about it, but she knew Sakura cared a lot for her.

"I guess I'll get Gaeun and rendezvous with Chaewon so we can bring her and the others back up top, sound good?" Chaeyeon offers to which Sakura nods in agreement.

"Just stay safe." She says, squeezing Chaeyeon's shoulders. "Leave the rest to us." And with that, the three Japanese girls walk into the hall towards their final objective. Chaeyeon looks on, definitely worried, but she knew that the rest of the group was good enough to complete the mission.

"Chaewon, you there?" She asks in her head.

"Yeahp, what's up? Run into complications?" The younger responds.

"Well, we got Gaeun, but Kkura said I should go meet with your clone that has Goeun and Sihyeon." Chaeyeon reports.

"I think I'd rather be the one to meet up with you. Yena has a rough map of this place, so I should be able to find you."

"Sure, I'll just rest up here then." The older says.

"Don't worry, unnie. I'll be there as quick as I can...well not 'me' but, ugh, you know what I mean." Chaewon ends with a laugh.

~~~~

"All right, we've made it. You think the others will be here too?" Hyewon asks as their group had finally arrived at the main laboratory. Like many of the rooms they'd come across it was open and white with machinery everywhere.

"Yes, we're gonna need them too if we're going to succeed." The eldest responds.

"What exactly are we looking for anyway, unnie? What's here that would require all of us?" Wonyoung interjects.

"Our mission from Seunggi-sunbaenim was extract key information and destroy this place, but our other mission is to find those abducted, including Seoyoung. Chaeyeon and Yena already reported saying they got Gaeun, Goeun and Sihyeon, so we got one more to save. If we're going by the assumption that she's under control too, then we're really going to need everyone to beat her." She responds.

"Why though, Seoyoung and Jurina are made for each other, aren't they? Can't we just leave if we know we have our friends already?" Yujin jokes earning a smack from the eldest.

"Whether we're on good terms with her or not, she's still a prisoner who they're going to torture and experiment on. Besides, better for us to try and reform her to be good than Jurina corrupt her even more." Eunbi responds sternly.

"Point taken. Let's wait for the others and get in there then."

This was it, one more hurdle left to jump over. It was tough to beat Seoyoung the first time, but now, she apparently had more strength. Eunbi clenches her fists, breathing slowly to try and calm herself. She looks around at her group, and thinks about the others- the friends she's made along the way. There's  no other group of people she'd rather be fighting next to for this cause.