"Today's schedule will be different from the usual. Because I'm new here, I'd like to see how well you've all been training for the past few months under Seunggi's direction." Principal Ahn continues. "As such, I'm making a request for a few capture-the-flag exercises to be able to observe tomorrow morning." The crowd begins to murmur in excitement at this statement. Aside from the incidents involving Park Seoyoung, many of the trainees actually enjoyed capture-the-flag. You could say they've begun treating it like a recreational activity now more than a mission.

"Alright! I love that game. I've never lost a single match!" Yena cheers.

"Except for that one time where we beat you in the finals." Yujin interjects.

"You know that one ended in a draw, and even if it wasn't, Chaewon clearly crossed the finish line first!" The duck answers back.

"Yah, don't you drag me into this one too!" Chaewon says. Yuri, Wonyoung, and Minjoo could only sigh as the three began arguing.

"YOU THREE AT THE BACK!" Principal Ahn yells from the podium. The auditorium quickly becomes silent at this. Yena, Chaewon, and Yujin's arguing had finally been noticed, and they were trying to shrink into their seats to hide.

"Yes, you three. Stand up. Dish duty for a week! Has Seunggi taught you anything about respecting your superiors?" He chides. "Everyone else, you are free to go. Remember to prepare for tomorrow. Trainer Yoon-jeong will be posting your groups by the afternoon. Dismissed." As the trainees began filing out of the auditorium, Yuri, Minjoo and Wonyoung looked at their friends with sympathy, but had to follow the crowd out.

"This is your fault, Yena..." Yujin grumbles as the three make their way to the front.

"Yah, you're the one who brought it up- ouch!" Yena replies before catching an elbow to the side from Chaewon.

"I agree with the puppy. You gotta stop starting trouble because you know we're going to follow." Chaewon says with a smirk.

~~~~

"And who might these three be, Yoon-jeong-ssi?" Principal Ahn asks as the trainees in question line up in front of them.

"These are Choi Yena, Kim Chaewon, and Ahn Yujin, sir. They are members of the facility's lead group, IZ*ONE." She responds.

"I see..." He says as he looks at each of them before stopping at Yena. "You're the one who was on the news the other day, aren't you?"

"Yes, ssaem." Yena replies, bowing formally.

"You caused the facility a lot of trouble with that incident, you know?" He says before looking at trainer Yoon-jeong. "She's supposed to be one of our best mutants, right? Are you sure you trained them correctly?"

"Sir, as I explained to Seunggi-sunbaenim, it was a coordinated ambush and we were outnumbered." Yena interjects.

"I still don't see why that was a problem if you're one of the best of the best." Yena grits her teeth at this, trying to hold back her irritation. This man was nothing like Seunggi.

"Yah, that isn't fair to her at all-" Chaewon tries to defend her friend but is cut off swiftly.

"Excuse me, was I talking to you? The mutants here really need to learn how to respect people of authority. Only speak when spoken to." He chides pointing a finger at Chaewon. Yujin was about to speak up next, but trainer Yoon-jeong beat her to it.

"I think that's enough, sir. I'm sure they've all learned their lesson and will not do it again, right kids?" She says, giving the three a knowing look to which they nod to in agreement.

"Fair enough. I expect to see you to be on dish duty all week. Am I clear?" When the three all nod, principal Ahn begins to make his way to the exit. "I'll be watching you three. You best stay out of trouble." And with that, he was gone.

"Slimy son of a..." Yena begins cursing, kicking the chairs around her in frustration.

"We apologize for the mess, ssaem." Yujin says to trainer Yoon-jeong apologetically.

"It's no problem. Everyone's still trying to get used to the new principal." She responds with a sigh.

"Who even put him in charge anyway? The second everyone was gone, he just kept referring to us as mutants. It's obvious he doesn't like our kind." Chaewon says with a huff.

"All I know is that he was government assigned. We had no say in this. Otherwise, I'm sure we would've all voted Seunggi to stay.

"That guy seems really fishy to me. There has to be something else going on." Yena jumps in, finally calming down a bit after messing up the front row.

"Just keep an eye on him then. There's nothing we can do right now." Yoon-jeong advises. "For now, just focus on capture-the-flag tomorrow."

"Oh yeah, that's still a thing. I mean, we'll probably still win, Yuri and I make the perfect team." Yena says confidently with Chaewon and Yujin pretending to throw up.

"Bold of you to assume I'll be letting you team up with her." The older woman replies. "I think it's time to mix it up a bit, don't you think?" She says with a smirk. The other two girls began to laugh at Yena's shocked expression.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you two either. I'll make sure to separate you from your...partners as well."

"But ssaem..." The three begin to complain, but Yoon-jeong wasn't having it.

"You'll see the groupings by the afternoon like everyone else. Until then, I hope you enjoy dish duty." And with that, the trainer exits the auditorium leaving Yena, Chaewon and Yujin to argue again.

~~~~

"Pft...those airheads, always getting themselves in trouble." Yuri whines to Minjoo and Wonyoung. The three girls were hanging out in Minjoo's room while waiting for the others to get back from their scolding.

"Yeah, I swear. They don't ever stop arguing. It's always a mess waiting to happen." Wonyoung concurs.

"C'mon guys. It's not that bad. They just like to joke around." Minjoo says, trying to be a bit kinder though secretly agreeing on the inside. Chaewon, Yena, and Yujin were a really chaotic combo for sure. Most of the time that would lead to laughs and fun, in other cases like the one in the auditorium, it could lead to trouble.

"Yah, Kim Minjoo, don't tell me you've gotten soft on Chaewon now." Yuri teases, causing her to blush. "You two should just go out alreadyyy"

"Easy for you to say, Yuri. Your girlfriend always has so much initiative. Unlike that clueless puppy." Wonyoung interjects. Yuri shrugs in response. It was no secret that Yena was very outspoken about her feelings for Yuri, but that didn't mean she stopped being as dense as a rock. The younger girl hadn't forgotten about what transpired on their mission before they were ambushed.

"Don't worry, girls. I'm sure they'll come around eventually." Yuri eventually says before an alert begins ringing from the room's open laptop.

"Who could that be?" Minjoo asks while approaching.

"It could be Nako-unnie and the others! Open it right now!" Wonyoung shouts, recalling Hitomi and Nako's message from the other day. Eunbi had told them all to keep their eyes and ears open for a sudden message after they relayed the information to her. It hadn't been 48 hours yet, so Wonyoung was hoping it'd be good news.

"Hello? Is this thing working?" A voice asks as the screen begins to connect revealing Sakura, Chaeyeon, Nako, and Hitomi gathering together trying to fit in their view.

"Guys! You're all safe!" Wonyoung cheers, the others sighing with relief.

"Yes, we managed to break out Saku-chan and Chaeyeon-unnie out last night. Hii-chan's parents were there too, so we managed to get them out as well. Right now, we're just trying to find them a good place to hide out for the meantime." Nako reports.

"That's wonderful!" Minjoo says. "Is there anything you want us to pass along to Eunbi-unnie?"

"Yeah, tell her and Seunggi-sunbaenim that we'll be back in Korea soon. We got some important information, but we'll mention it in person. Just wire us some funds to be able to get on a transport." Sakura says. The three girls in Korea look to each other in silence, trying to figure out how to tell them about the recent changes.

"Hello? Is our connection unstable? We're running out of time, guys. Do you read me?" Sakura asks.

"Yes, unnie. We read you." Yuri finally responds. "There's an issue back here. Seunggi-sunbaenim was transferred today, and his replacement seems like trouble." This new information shocks the four in Japan. Seunggi had sent them on this mission, and any more complications could lead to trouble.

"...understood. We'll figure something out from here. Just stay in one piece until we find our way back." Sakura relays.

"You too! If anything comes up, make sure to contact us asap. Please don't get captured again, unnies." Wonyoung says.

"Don't worry, Wonyoungie. We'll be back soon. We promise." Chaeyeon says, giving her a pinky-promise hand gesture. With that, the screen goes blank again.

"Oh my godddd! This is way too stressful. What're we gonna do about this mess??? We need to help the others somehow!" Yuri shouts after a couple minutes.

"Calm down, Yuri. Saku-chan and the others are strong. I believe they'll be back soon." Minjoo says, trying to assuage her worries.

"I agree. For now, the best we can do is tell Eunbi-unnie about it so she can try to figure out a plan." Wonyoung adds.

"What about, principal Ahn? Shouldn't he be informed about them too?" Minjoo asks.

"Absolutely not! I don't trust him. I think it'd be best if we kept this on the down-low until we find out more information." Yuri responds. There was just something about the new principal that felt off. They had to be more careful. At that moment, the door bursts open as Yena, Chaewon, and Yujin finally return from the auditorium.

"What's going on over here? Why the long faces?" Yena asks. Yuri, Minjoo, and Wonyoung just look at each other before responding.

"It's a long story..." Yuri answers as she begins to inform the three of the new information they had just received.

~~~~

"I got the info on our new principal now." Hyewon says to Eunbi as they settle into a corner of the campus' newly furnished library. With the facility's transition to becoming more of a school, several of the buildings had been converted to fit that need. The building they were in used to be one of the training rooms, but because more trainees had chosen to leave and return to their old facilities, it wasn't being used as much. There weren't that many books on the shelves yet, but there were computers available to be reserved.

"Let's see here.." Eunbi says as she begins skimming the files. "In government for the past 5 years...previously the head of a scientific firm specialized in genetics...has several charities supporting mutant relocation...that's about it."

"If you just went by that, you'd have me believe he was a saint. If he's really dirty, they probably scrubbed his resume clean." Hyewon replies. "The juicy stuff is probably locked behind some encryption somewhere."

"Sounds like a Sakura job." Eunbi says, the younger girl nodding in agreement. "For now, we have to just keep an eye on him until he pulls something." She continues.

"Don't you think it's strange how he wants to have some capture-the-flag exercises though?" Hyewon asks.

"I mean, it makes sense to me. He said he wanted to see how Seunggi-sunbae and the other trainers have been teaching us. If he's from government, he probably just wants to see if the money they've invested is doing anything." Eunbi responds.

"I just have a bad feeling...last time there was a big event like this, it didn't go over very well." Hyewon says, recalling Jurina and Seoyoung's betrayals.

"Just stay focused and treat it like any other mission. We'll be prepared for anything if we don't let our guards down." At this, a bell begins to ring from the loud speakers placed around the campus signaling lunch time.

"Let's go meet up with the others now. Maybe Yena and the others have some new insight after being up close with the principal."

~~~~

"So, Sakura and the others are coming back soon?" Eunbi asks again to make sure she got that right. The group of eight were sitting around a cafeteria table now discussing all the new information they've each acquired. It may have been lunch time, but they hadn't really touched their food for the most part aside from Hyewon.

"Yes, but like I said, I don't think it'd be a good idea to let Principal Ahn know about it." Yuri says.

"I agree. I think for now we should act as if they aren't coming back yet so they can be our secret backup if things go south." The older girl responds.

"I still can't believe I have the same last name as that guy." Yujin whines.

"Stay on topic, Yujin-unnie. This is important." Wonyoung chides. There was something ironic about how the youngest in the group was one of the only ones capable of keeping the puppy under control, but Hyewon decided against bringing that up.

"Anyway, how about you guys, Yena? Can you describe what the principal was like?" Eunbi changes topics.

"Yeah, a real jerk, that's for sure. I don't know where you got that info about him caring about mutant relocation, but that's all garbage." Yena says.

"We could tell he hated us by the way he kept calling us mutants instead of students or trainees." Chaewon adds. "Also, dish duty as a punishment? Are we in the 90s or something?"

"Being a two-faced politician to move up the ranks and earn connections and wealth? Classic..." Hyewon grumbles.

"So what's the plan for now?" Minjoo asks.

"I think we play along and wait for him to slip up. Our primary focus should be identifying the mutants who attacked Yuri and Yena the other day." Eunbi replies.

"Oh! Speaking of which. I did more digging into the places they robbed." Wonyoung jumps in. "Some of those labs had confiscated weapons from the Busan base we took down." This sends a chill down the table as the members remember what went down in Yongho-dong.

"That can't be good. Sakura deleted all the files there too, so maybe someone is trying to reengineer the weapons." Chaewon guesses.

"Wait, there's more." Wonyoung says. "Looks like they stole some genetics technology from Principal Ahn's companies as well." This bit of information catches the group by surprise more than the last one.

"He's probably aware of this. Maybe we should ask him for any leads or information about these rogue mutants." Hyewon proposes in between bites of kimchi fried rice. "This could be a test too. If he cooperates, maybe that's a sign that he isn't all bad." The group clearly was not enamored by the idea, but ultimately nodded in agreement knowing it was there best bet.

"I get why they want the old anti-mutant weapons, but why the genetics? Are they planning on another supercharged Seoyoung?" Minjoo wonders.

"Whatever it may be, I think it'd be better to wait for Chaeyeon and the others to have reinforcements." Yuri says.

"Yes, for now. Let's prepare for capture the flag. No sense in rushing into danger without a plan." Eunbi adds.

"Oh yeah, speaking of which, Trainer Bae said that she'd shuffle around the teams for once." Yena says dejectedly.

"Aww, looks like you can't pair with your precious Yuri." Yujin teases, earning a smack on the head from the aforementioned girl.

"That means you aren't pairing with Wonyoung, dummy." Yuri says. Before Yujin could bark back though, an announcement plays on the loud speaker.

"Choi Yena, Kim Chaewon, and Ahn Yujin. Please report to the kitchen for dish duty, thank you." It projects for everyone to hear.

"Really?" Chaewon asks out loud, as if talking back to the speaker. "Couldn't have made it more discrete?" Many of the trainees had already begun glancing at their table trying to hide their laughs and giggles. The three mentioned girls slowly get out of their chairs, bidding farewell to their friends before heading to the kitchen.

"Those idiots, they're really asking about being more discrete?" Wonyoung jokes causing Yuri and Minjoo to laugh. Eunbi and Hyewon could only watch at the scene with grins, seeing their friends' interactions.

~~~~

Later in the afternoon...

"This'll certainly be interesting..." Yuri says as she looks at the list of teams Trainer Bae had made for the exercise. Due to less people being on campus, they'd decided to group them by fives instead of the usual six. In addition, because this was just a demonstration for the new principal, there would only be one versus one team matches based on skill level. Over the past couple months, the campus had decided that it would be better for overall development to keep trainees with similar skill levels together for training. On Yuri's team were Hyewon, Minjoo, Wonyoung and Gaeun. It was a pretty solid team, and Yuri couldn't wait for their matchup against Yena's team, which included Eunbi, Chaewon, Yujin, and Yunjin. Seeing how they were finally on opposing teams, Yuri began to hatch an idea.

"Glad to be on the same team as you for once, Yuri." Gaeun says suddenly from behind, surprising the younger girl.

"Ah, yes, unnie. Me too!" Yuri responds.

"Don't let your emotions get in the way of winning, okay? This is for bragging rights." The older girl says jokingly with her signature eye smiles.

"Don't worry, unnie. I'm sure our group will be fine. I can't say the same for them though." She says with a sly grin as she sees a familiar duck walking towards the bulletin board, still in her apron from cleaning duty.

"Yuri-ya!" Yena greets and waves cheerfully. Yuri simply walks towards her before boldly grabbing her by the shoulder and whispering into her ear.

"Good luck with the match, love. You'll need it." Yena was dumbstruck and borderline malfunctioning at the younger girl's action. Before she could say anything back, Yuri gives her a peck on the cheek and walks away back to her dorm laughing.

"Wow...you got yourself a keeper, Yena." Gaeun says to her, equally surprised by Yuri's change in demeanor. It looked like she really wanted to win this one. Yena was still frozen and at a loss for words at what just happened. She wanted to melt on the spot right there. We're gonna be matching up with her? Yena asks herself.

Little did they know that the second Yuri stepped out of the main hall, she bolted back, hiding her face in embarrassment at what had just gotten into her. When Yuri arrives back into her dorm room, she sits on her bed, fanning her reddening face. She'd never tried anything like that her entire life, and only realized now how many people were in their vicinity.

"What's up with you, unnie?" Wonyoung asks.

"Oh, nothing much." She replies, trying to play it off nonchalantly.

"Okay...well, you saw the teams, right? We're up against Eunbi-unnie. I'm not trying to be mean, but I think we got this one." The young girl says confidently.

"Yeah, I agree. Let's go meet up with the others at dinner to plan, I guess. Oh, I actually ran into Gaeun-unnie at the bulletin board earlier. She seems excited. All in all, I think this'll be a fun matchup." Yuri says remembering her conversation with Yena during their mission a couple days ago. Yena had always gone on about how she always wants to do what Yuri wanted, but now that they were on opposite sides, she was hoping the duck would finally try to think for herself again.

~~~~

The next day...

It was early in the morning when the matches had begun with the beginner level trainees going first. The trainers would observe along with any other students who wanted to watch and would give each team pointers after every match was completed. Principal Ahn was sitting amongst the trainers in the observation room with an apparent lack of interest on what was going on even if he was the one who ordered this exercise in the first place. That all changed though once the main event rolled around.

This was the matchup of the campus' ace students. By then, everyone was already gathered around in anticipation around the training building. Eunbi was the obvious leader representative for her team, while Gaeun led the other due to her seniority.

"So, this is the final matchup of the day?" Principal Ahn asks, getting out of his chair to stand and address the 10 trainees in front of him, "Let's see how well you've really been trained. To your positions." He orders. Down at the actual arena, the two groups turn to each other to size each other up.

"We're not going to go easy on you, girls!" Chaewon taunts.

"Are you sure?" Minjoo asks quietly, before catching an elbow from Yuri. "I mean, you're going down!" She ends up shouting with faux bravado.

"Good luck, Yuri!" Yena yells. The younger girl, still trying to keep a serious expression on her face, just winks back. Yah, what's going on with her lately. She thinks to herself. Yuri looked very determined that Yena almost considered asking Eunbi if they should throw the match, but she knew the eldest would just scold her.

"Remember what we talked about, Yena? Be strong. Do what you want. Yuri will understand." Chaewon says to her as they began to make their way to their spot.

~~~~

Last night...

"What's wrong, Yena?" Chaewon had asked. She along with Yujin had become very close with Yena in the past few weeks that the older girl allowed them to drop the honorifics when it wasn't a formal setting. Right now, the two were sitting and relaxing in Chaewon's dorm room waiting for their teammates to have a discussion. They were originally planning to have it in Yena's dorm but Yuri had kicked them out.

"What am I gonna do with Yuri?" Yena says in response. Chaewon sighs as this wasn't the first time Yena had overthought about the hamster.

"She told me that we shouldn't always be doing what she wants, and instead do something I want." Yena continues.

"And what's the big deal? Just listen to her. Isn't it that easy? I know you have a lot of interests like dancing and gaming." The younger girl says.

"But...what if she doesn't have fun doing those things. I just want to do things that make her happy, you know?"

"Yah, don't you think she feels the same way as you? I'm sure she'd be happy as long as you were happy too." Chaewon chides. "Like, tomorrow for capture-the-flag. Are you just going to let her win because she wants to?"

"Maybe?" Yena says, Chaewon facepalming in response.

"I know you hate losing, Yena. Don't kid yourself. I don't think Yuri would be happy if she finds out you threw the match either. Just be yourself and see if it goes well."

"Yeah...I guess you're right."

"Of course, I'm right. When have I ever been wrong?"

"Do you need me to bring out the list?" Yena says with a slight laugh.

"You know I was being rhetorical!" Chaewon argues back jokingly.

"By the way, how about you and Minjoo? What's been happening?" The older girl asks to change the subject.

"We've been good, but nothing's been set in stone yet."

"How come?"

"Actually, now that you mention it, we had a little bet going. Who confessed first between you and Yuri? Definitely you, right?" Chaewon asks eagerly. Yena though, scratches the back of her head with a smile.

"Yeah, about that..."

~~~~

Back to present...

Just as it did during every match, the training room randomly selects a terrain and shifts the area to fit it to a realistic level. The trainees have seen it many times, but the process still always left them in awe. This time, the terrain selected was a collection of apartment rooftops set at night. Buildings were connected by wooden planks and steel wires similar to a jungle gym but high above the ground.

"Woah...this place really has everything." Wonyoung says looking down at the projected people walking along the streets. "Is the drop real?"

"Well, this wind certainly is." Minjoo complains while blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Don't worry, girls. Just remember the plan. Hyewon and Minjoo on offense, Yuri and Wonyoung on defense, and I'll be at the very center just in case someone falls." Gaeun says. She always did have that calming sense of authority similar to Eunbi.

"Trainees, the countdown will commence shortly." Bae Yoon-jeong says as a bright red timer begins flashing in front of them. 10...9...8.... Yuri takes a deep breathe and focuses. Come one, Yena-unnie. Don't hold back.

~~~~