"On your left, unnie!" Hitomi calls out seeing another guard appear from a hallway, a metal baton in his hand. Chaeyeon uses her speed to dodge his first swing and launch a flurry of punches, easily knocking him out. Hitomi was no slouch either. Even with the lack of plant life around, she still had her combat training from AKB and PD. It also helped that she was a cheerleader back in grade school as it helped her gain some acrobatic skills. She'd dodge attacks by backflipping and immediately transition into flying kicks.

"We're almost there, Hii-chan. Just a few more cells!" Chaeyeon says. The four of them had split up once again to make themselves more difficult to track. Nako had gone with Sakura while Chaeyeon went with Hitomi. It had been easier for them to acquire their targets' locations this time with Sakura as she simply placed her hand on a security panel and searched from there. Jurina was being kept on the bottom floor, where the most dangerous prisoners were. She had just found out herself that she and Chaeyeon were scheduled to be moved down there if they managed to capture their other two friends. Hitomi's parents on the other hand were located on the second level, as they were just regular humans.

After a few more fights, Hitomi and Chaeyeon finally arrived at their destination- a cell similar to the one they'd found Sakura and Chaeyeon in, except a bit more worn down. Hitomi realizes now that when HKT first built this prison, they probably only had one floor for prisoners. As time went on, they expanded below to make room for labs and isolation areas for strong mutants. Hitomi approaches the bulletproof barrier and sees two figures, a man and a woman, staring out trying to figure out what the commotion was.

"Mom? Dad?" The peach-cheeked girl asks, catching the two's attention. The man runs up to the barrier when he hears her voice.

"H-Hitomi?!? Is it really you?" He asks in disbelief, tearing up. Behind him, the woman, Hitomi's mother began to cry tears of joy as well.

"Yes, dad...it's me. We're here to break you two out!" Hitomi then brings out their stolen cardkey and tries to scan it.

Error. Access Denied. The screen displayed.

"What? Why isn't it working?" Hitomi asks aloud.

Access Denied. Access Denied Access Denied. It repeated.

"What's wrong, dear?" Her father asks with concern.

"They must've blocked out this card's credentials. Chaeyeon, we're going to need to put in the code manually!" She says while staring at the 4-digit passcode in front of her.

"I'll go ask Saku-chan right now!" Chaeyeon responds. Sakura, what's the passcode? We've been locked out! She projects in her head using the mental link.

We're heading down to the tenth level...i-...might...g-...choppy. The message started off clear, but quickly devolved, becoming unintelligible. It appeared as though they'd gone too deep and were now too far to communicate clearly.

"We're on our own, Hii-chan." Chaeyeon says regretfully.

"Wait, so what're we going to do? Guess?" Hitomi asks frantically, but the worst was yet to come. A new message began to display on the monitor now.

Too many incorrect attempts. Prisoners are being broken out. Commence fail-safe protocol. The words blare in red in front of them as green gas begins to be released from within the cell...poison.

"Hitomi, what's happening?" Her father asks, beginning to cough. The young girl taps at the door, desperately trying to break her parents out to no avail.

Those monsters... Chaeyeon thinks. She knew they had extreme methods, but the Japanese were really willing to do anything to keep the upper hand. She stares at the code panel, thinking of what the code might be. Time was running out, so Chaeyeon decided it was all or nothing now.

"Step aside, Hii-chan. I got this." The older girl says as she steps in front of the door, cracking her knuckles. I can't let Hitomi down...She thinks as she uses her super speed to begin typing code after code after code into the display.

She's trying every combination...? Hitomi realizes as she watches in awe. In a matter of seconds, Chaeyeon strikes on the one code they needed out of the ten thousand it could've been, 1108. The moment the doors open, Chaeyeon rushes inside the cell and creates a cyclone to syphon all the toxic gas and send it back up into the vents where they came from. Hitomi's parents were laying on the ground, but were thankfully still breathing.

"Let's get out of here, Hii-chan!" Chaeyeon yells despite her very evident fatigue as she picks up the younger girl's father and runs. Hitomi follows behind quickly with her mother in hand.

~~~~

Way below Hitomi and Chaeyeon, Sakura and Nako also had their hands full trying to fight their way to their destination, well, Nako had her hands full fighting. Sakura was just dodging and weaving attacks, hacking doors and security systems when needed. The tenth floor of the facility was significantly larger than the others, approximately double the height of the above floors with catwalks lined near the ceiling giving more space for soldiers to aim down at them. Containing the prisoners down here must've been a difficult task.

"Saku-chan, are we getting any closer?" Nako asked, already losing track of the number of guards she'd knocked out.

"Should be a couple more doors!" She responds. "We need to hurry. They might figure out that we're here for Jurina and move her."

"You didn't need to tell me twice!" Nako quips. She had also heard Chaeyeon's mental message asking for the door password. It sounded like they needed help up there, but they had lost contact with them a couple minutes ago.

Eventually, the two arrive at the cell Jurina was supposedly located in. As opposed to the other ones they'd seen, this room seemed to be specially designed to contain the Japanese woman, bright lights projecting from within. They knew Jurina's powers could be mitigated if they kept her out of the dark, and this setup kept it that way. Though all mutant cells had those power-suppressing walls, HKT was not taking any chances.

Sakura places her hand on the door panel until she hears the satisfying click of it opening. Inside, they see Jurina tied down in a straitjacket, blinding lights seeping out into the hallway.

"Took you long enough. I was getting the worst tan from these lights." She says.

"Jeez, if you aren't gonna be grateful, then we might as well leave you down here." Nako bites back.

"Stand down, Nako-chan. We need her." Sakura says, putting a hand on the short girl's shoulder.

"Yeah, shorty. You heard her." Jurina teases, Nako doing everything she could to hold herself back. "I knew you'd come for me sooner or later, Miyawaki. We can talk after you get me out of this thing."

"How'd you even get arrested by HKT?" Sakura asks.

"Like I said, I'll explain later, just get me out."

"And how do we know you won't double cross us the first chance you get?" Nako asks, still wary.

"Freeze!" A voice yells from behind. A new battalion of soldiers had made their way down to reinforce, and now the three were blocked off from the exit. "Put your hands up!"

"Well, kid. You kind of don't have a choice now." Jurina whispers.

"You better not make me regret this..." And with that, Nako claps her hands together, creating a shockwave that shatters all the lights around them, plunging it into darkness. In the chaos, Sakura makes her way over to Jurina and undoes the restraints.

"Open fire! Open fire!" The head guard yells, but it was too late. Jurina slips into the darkness and Sakura could only shudder hearing the grunts and screams of the guards being taken out by the older girl. At least Nako wasn't trying to kill them. She thinks.

When the noises finally stop, Sakura makes her way to a control panel and will the emergency lights to turn on. As the red lights begin shining, she and Nako see Jurina standing in the middle of unconscious bodies.

"What're you two waiting for? Let's get out of here!" She says with a grin before taking off to the elevator.

"This better have been worth it." Nako mumbles just loud enough for Sakura to hear before running after Jurina.

~~~~

It had been a few minutes since Chaeyeon and Hitomi had gotten out of the prison using the elevator they'd used to get down earlier, and now the former was waiting anxiously for her friends to resurface. Hitomi on the other hand was hugging it out with her parents, catching up on things they'd missed. The older girl could make out a few words, but decided not to eavesdrop on the moment. It had been several years since that family had been together, and Chaeyeon didn't want to intrude. She did crack a smile though when she heard Hitomi say something about their group, IZ*ONE.

"You don't have to be sad for me, mom and dad. I found this really good group of people who treated me like family." The Japanese girl said. At this, Hitomi's father walks up to Chaeyeon and bows towards her in thanks.

"I cannot thank you enough for being one of the people here for our daughter. I'm glad she had people like you around her."

"It was nothing, sir." She responds politely.

"Shouldn't we go to the rendezvous point, unnie?" Hitomi asks, seeing the sun starting to set on the horizon. The cover of night was probably their best chance to get away without leaving much of a trail.

"I think you should take your parents up ahead, catch up a little. I'll stay behind and wait for the others. Besides, if they really released Jurina, we have to make sure she doesn't make a run for it the second they reach the surface." The older girl says.

"Okay, Chaeyeon-unnie, stay safe. We'll meet you at the place Saku-chan specified." Hitomi responds as she nods her head, ushering her parents away who were still glancing around the forest in awe. It must have been a long time since they'd seen the world up above.

After about fifteen minutes, just when Chaeyeon had begun to contemplate rushing back inside, the elevator dings. Sakura, Nako and Jurina all spill out of it, trying to catch their breathes. They were battered and bruised, but they looked to be okay.

"Chaeyeon?" Sakura asks aloud. "Where's Hii-chan? Why are you still here?"

"I sent her up ahead to the rendezvous with her parents. I just wanted to wait for you." She responds, causing Jurina to roll her eyes.

"Didn't expect to see you here, Lee Chaeyeon..." The Japanese girl says in an unpleased tone.

"As much as I'd like to stick around and banter, which I don't, we have to get out of the open." Nako interjects. "The guards will be up any minute now."

"Nako-chan is right. We have to get going. Let's move." Sakura orders, and the rest of the group runs off into the shadows.

~~~~

"There you girls are!" Hitomi shouts, waving at her comrades. It had been around half an hour, and though she was happy to talk more with her parents, Hitomi was also worried about her friends. The rendezvous point was an abandoned two-story apartment building a couple of blocks from the park. It wasn't the greatest place to settle for the night, but it was the best Sakura could find on her map database in the short amount of time they had. The place had clearly been empty for a while; paint was peeling off the walls and dust had been covering most of the furniture before Hitomi and her parents arrived and started cleaning it up a bit.

"Glad you made it here safely as well, Hii-chan!" Nako responds. "And you must be her parents. It's nice to meet you!" She then greets before courteously bowing to Hitomi's parents, the others following her example, except Jurina who avoided their gaze.

"We're so thankful that you've all managed to keep our Hitomi safe. We'll make sure to pay you back after the three of us find a better place to hide and settle at." Her father states.

"Excuse me? What do you mean, dad?" Hitomi asks, clearly confused at the sudden announcement.

"You've been through enough, dear. It's a good time for us to hide while everything settles down. We can finally be a family again!" Her mother explains.

"I...I don't know..." The peach-cheeked girl replies, her parents equally surprised by the young girl's lack of enthusiasm.

"Maybe you should all discuss this matter yourselves first, Mr. and Mrs. Honda. Sakura and I still need to ask for information from Jurina." Chaeyeon interjects. "Nako, you can accompany them for now."

"I'm sorry, but this is a family matter." Hitomi's father says, balking at the idea of the shorter girl coming along.

"Dad, if this is a family matter, Nako-chan should come too, because she was part of my family while you two were gone." Hitomi argues to which her parents begrudgingly agree. Nako puts a hand on her friend's shoulder, giving her a supporting glance, before the four of them move on to another room.

~~~~

"Finally...I thought that family drama would never end." Jurina says with a yawn.

"This isn't some television show, Jurina. We broke you out for answers, so you better give them to us." Sakura says with a glare, clearly serious about the matter.

"Where do you want me to start then?" The older girl responds.

"Well, for starters, what were you doing in that jail in the first place? I thought you worked for those people." Chaeyeon asks.

"Loyalty is such a fickle thing, don't you know?" Jurina begins. "Before your little escapade over at Busan, I'd been doing some digging. I found out about this bigger plan that they'd been hiding. You probably know which one I'm referring to, Sakura."

"That clone project?" Sakura responds.

"Yes...aside from creating anti-mutant weapons, the syndicate also collected D.N.A samples from every mutant they'd captured. I think you can put two and two together from there." Sakura and Chaeyeon are taken aback by this new information, now wondering what their next move had to be.

"Has it already begun?" Chaeyeon asks.

"As far as I know, they're still testing things out, but I wouldn't be surprised to find out they were close."

"And I take it you were not in agreement with this new direction?" Sakura assumes.

"You found me in that jail, didn't you? After I got out of Busan, I found out that they were hunting me down next because I knew too much and failed one too many times. At first, I thought that if I made myself useful, they'd give me some power over some decisions, but I realized that I was just another expendable tool. I tried to go back here to Japan, but they were expecting that and cut me off." Jurina explains. "Humans are such an untrustworthy bunch..."

"First, anti-mutant weapons. Now, they want to create their own army to eradicate us? Those people really don't know when to quit." Chaeyeon says with a scoff.

"On that, we can agree." Jurina says with a nod. "In any case, that's all the info I got."

"No location on the labs where they might be working on the project? No names we have to look out for? There was one that stuck out from the file with the initials A.J.Y. Ring any bells?" Sakura continues to interrogate.

"Never heard of that person." She responds bluntly. "All my orders came from either that Korean scientist, Park Eunseo, or doctor Koyama. I'm sure this web of connections spreads out everywhere though. There are probably more people on the Korean side that I wasn't aware of. If you want more information, you're going to have to go back to HKT HQ."

"Okay, that's a lot to take in. Thanks for the help." Sakura says. "Now we can start mapping out the next part of our plan."

"Our plan? You mean your plan, right? I'm not going to be a part of this either. I fulfilled my end of the bargain, and now I'm going to leave. I'm not about to be captured again." Jurina states as she begins walking away towards the exit. "I'm sure natural selection will do its job eventually. Mutants will take over in the end. I'll just sit back first and see how things play out. Goodbye, you two. Thanks for breaking me out. I'll see you around..." And with that, Jurina walks into a shadow and is gone.

"Are we going after her?" Chaeyeon asks.

"No, I'm sure we'll run into her again eventually." Sakura says.

"What makes you so sure?"

"I've known Jurina for many years. She won't just go into the night quietly..."

"Alright then, let's go meet up with Nako and Hitomi. We gotta figure out what our next steps are." Chaeyeon suggests, and the two head to the other room.

~~~~

"No means no, Hitomi. We will not allow you to be put in danger again." Hitomi's father says sternly. The peach-cheeked girl had been arguing with her parents for a few minutes now with Nako observing from the side. The short girl could see how passionate her friend was to continue fighting alongside their group, and she wanted to support Hitomi as much as she could, but Nako didn't know if it would be rude of her to interject.

"I've been doing this sort of stuff for a couple years now, dad. Why can't you trust me?" Hitomi responds.

"Aren't you tired of fighting? You already worked so hard to come here and rescue us. Isn't that enough?" Her mother asks.

"I used to think that was all I wanted. I do love you two very much; I wouldn't have gone here if I didn't. But...the things I went through taught me there was more to fight for. The friends I've made showed me that the world was bigger than myself. Look around. So many people like me are being tortured and experimented on. They have loved ones too. I don't want to live in a world where only a few of us make it out!" Nako had never seen Hitomi this emotional. She admired the younger girl's conviction.

"I'll be fine...I have a family over in Korea now too." Hitomi continues while glancing at Nako. "And besides, I'm a wanted criminal here now. We're certainly going to be more of a focus to capture compared to you two. It would be safer if you two go into hiding first without me. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can." At this point, her parents were at a loss for words. The short girl who had been watching from the background saw this as an opportunity to finally step in.

"Mr. and Mrs. Honda, you don't have to worry about a thing. We've been on several missions with your daughter already and we've had each other's backs the whole way. I personally promise that I'll get her back to you two when all is said and done. I won't let any harm come to her." Nako says while walking up next to Hitomi, who was smiling at her friend's support.

"Okay, Hitomi. We trust you. You're a grown woman now, and we should respect your decisions. Just promise us not to get yourself hurt too much." Hitomi's father finally concedes. It'd been so long since he'd seen his daughter that he didn't realize just how much the peach-cheeked girl had grown as a person. Honestly, he was proud. Hitomi was selfless and cared about others. She reminded him of himself when he had chosen to let himself be arrested to give Hitomi a chance to escape. Hitomi wasn't afraid to stand up for others. "Just remember, we'll be here waiting, and we'll always love you. You have a home to come back to whenever you're ready."

"Thank you, dad!" Hitomi cheers as she runs up to him, giving him a big hug before doing the same with her mother who was shedding tears.

"I guess things went smoothly?" A voice asks, getting Nako's attention who had been watching the scene in front of her with a sense of relief.

"Yeah, Chaeyeon-unnie. You could say that." She responds. "Any good info from Jurina?"

"Yes, we'll discuss it shortly, but to make a long story short, we're heading back to Korea soon. We just have one stop to make." The older girl says.

"Finallyyy, I can't wait!" Nako cheers. "Wait a minute, where even is Jurina?" Chaeyeon and Sakura can only look at each other and shrug.

"It's a part of the long story." Sakura says curtly.

"Then let's hear it already." The short girl presses.

"Hii-chan! We have some things to discuss now. Join us when you're ready." Chaeyeon calls. Before they moved though, the three made sure to bow towards Hitomi's parents as a sign of respect, echoing Nako's sentiment.

"We promise to keep Hitomi safe. She's like a little sister to us!" Chaeyeon says in fluent Japanese, Hitomi's parents nodding in response. The four eventually move back to the main room to discuss their next plan.

~~~~

One night later in Korea...

"Good morning, students. As you all know by now, representative Lee Seunggi has been called in by the government to attend to some matters." Trainer Bae Yoon-jeong announces before rattling off the details of Seunggi's replacement. All the trainees had been gathered into the auditorium to introduce the new principal, but none of them really seemed excited about him. Bae Yoon-jeong herself didn't seem particularly enthused about either.

"So, any information on the lead Wonyoung and Yujin gave us yesterday?" Hyewon asks to Eunbi who was sitting next to her in the crowd.

"None yet. I've still been studying the footage and articles. The only thing I can confirm is that these attacks are coordinated. They're looking for specific things." The eldest responds.

"Yes, I was looking at the same stuff. I'm just wondering where they could've come from and what they were after." Hyewon says.

"Is there anything you two would like to share, Kwon and Kang?" Yoon-jeong's voice calls them out. Even if they were part of the lead team, IZ*ONE, they were still not exempt from Trainer Yoon-jeong's scolding. The two quickly bow in apology, and let her carry on.

"As I was about to say, we would like to welcome PD campus' new principal, Ahn Joon-young." She says, making way for an older man in his early 40s with brown hair, wearing a suit and black-rimmed glasses. Immediately, his whole aura seemed opposite to the warm and welcoming presence that Lee Seunggi had.

"Hello, students. As you have been told, my name is Ahn Joon-young, and I will be in charge of this facility for the foreseeable future." He says with a smile. "I know you are all used to Lee Seunggi, but I hope we can all get along."