"Principal Ahn really doesn't want us sneaking out, does he?" Yujin says after peeking out the door. Right before curfew, an announcement was played over the loudspeakers talking about how security would be doubled due to the breach the night before. It was almost dawn, yet the guards were still patrolling the halls like hawks. Yena, Yuri, Yujin, and Wonyoung were simply stuck sitting around, waiting for an opening.

"How many are there?" Yena asks.

"There are a couple on each end of the hallway. I don't think we'll be able to get out that way without creating a mess." Yujin replies.

"Well, there's always plan B." Wonyoung proposes.

"What plan B?" Yuri asks confused. "I thought we were just gonna charm them?"

"We won't be able to charm one side without the other one catching us. Just trust me." Wonyoung says with a sly smile, looking at the windows.

~~~~

"Woah, woah, Wonnie! Don't drop me too fast!" Yujin quietly yelps. Wonyoung's plan was a smart one on paper: levitating her friends down to the ground through the window. She just hadn't calculated the effort it would take to bring them all down one after the other.

"Well, I didn't expect you to be so heavy! Aren't you commercial stars supposed to have diets?" The younger girl quips. Yuri and Yena could only giggle at the two's quarrel from below since they were brought down first.

"I was an eye-wear model, not a fitness model! Don't get me wrong, I could've been if I wanted." The dog barks back. Wonyoung had the last laugh though as just as Yujin was about to step onto the ground, the youngest girl stopped levitating her, causing the puppy to land on her with a thud, much to the amusement of Yena and Yuri.

"Ow! You did that on purpose!" Yujin complains.

"Yah, be quiet, Yuj. The guards will hear." Yena chides playfully as Wonyoung gracefully jumps off from their room on the third floor and stops her momentum just before she hits the ground using her powers.

"Yeah, let's sneak off to meet the others already." The youngest says, stifling a laugh.

~~~~

"What took you girls so long?" Eunbi asks when she sees Yena's group arrive. Eunbi, Hyewon, and Chaewon had arrived at the forest's edge earlier and were waiting.

"It's not as easy to sneak out when there's four of us in a group, not to mention when two of them are the noisiest girls I've met in my life." Yuri responds.

"Well, Seunggi-sunbae's transport should be arriving soon. We just have to sneak past the borders." The eldest says.

"Should be easy, I don't see any guards anywhere." Chaewon says as she walks towards the border wall that disguised the campus from outsiders. Though her clone had managed to do it without issue earlier, this time, an electric shock passes through her causing her to recoil in pain. In addition, a red alarm then began to sound from a nearby tree.

"Really, Chaewon? A little patience would've been nice." Eunbi sighs, facepalming. Normally, the campus' camouflage was enough, so Seunggi never had a reason to turn on the electric current. Principal Ahn, though, was really pulling off all the stops to make sure they didn't leave.

"The guards will be here any minute now. We have to break through fast." Hyewon advises.

"Leave it to me! Just cause a diversion!" Yena declares as she puts both hands the border and tries to absorb the electricity. Yujin and Hyewon work in tandem to form a frozen wall of water around them using the nearby stream to cover them. Meanwhile, Yuri would simply shout 'Go back to the dorms and stick to your patrols' whenever she heard the sound of a guard coming closer.

Eventually, Yena breaks through, causing a hole to rip open. Despite her tiredness from the effort, she frantically motions the others through the gap, while keeping one hand on the wall.

"C'mon, girls! I can't keep this open for much longer!" She yells. By the time Eunbi makes it out, the guards had shown up, weapons drawn and pointed at Yena.

"Freeze!" They yell, and from behind, Hyewon's voice responds. "If you say so." And she blasts a ray of ice towards the squadron, keeping them stuck in place for the time being. Wonyoung then pulls Yena through the hole as it shuts.

"Well...that went well." Chaewon jokes as she fixes her hair that had become frizzy from the electric jolt.

"Yah, I have half a mind to tell Eunbi-unnie about your crazy plan for that..." Yuri mumbles to the short-haired girl in response.

"Tell me what?" The eldest asks as she heard her name get called.

"Oh, it's nothing, nothing!" Chaewon exclaims, jumping in front of the hamster, turning around and apologizing for the trouble she'd caused.

"Well, whatever the case, we have to keep moving. Principal Ahn will likely order security to turn off the current so they can chase us down." Eunbi warns. "Let's go find our ride! Seunggi-sunbae said they just left it lying around near here." After a few minutes, the girls find an unlocked van hidden behind some trees next to the road and get inside.

"Not counting for any delays, it should take us maybe four hours to get to Daegu." The leader says.

"You just had to jinx us, unnie..." Yena says jokingly before receiving a smack from Yuri. With that, Eunbi starts the engines and speeds the group off to Daegu, the campus' sirens still wailing in the distance.

~~~~

A few hours later...

"Home sweet home..." Chaeyeon says as she takes their bags out from the taxi they'd used to get back to base. It was easier to get tickets back to Korea than she thought it'd be. They'd used some of Sakura's connections to wire the cash and gold they got into a special card only she could use. From there, it was about keeping a low profile until they got onto the plane for the flight back.

"Are you sure this is the right spot?" The driver asks, confused as to why this group of girls wanted to be driven out into the middle of the forest.

"Yes. Here's your payment, sir. I'm adding a bit extra, so you'll forget you ever saw us." Sakura responds politely as she taps her special card, which apparently worked with any currency, onto the payment scanner. The driver's eyes widen as the payment he received showed a million won. He quickly shuts the doors and drives off without another word.

"Any contact from the others?" Nako asks. Ever since their last message, they hadn't gotten much information about what was going on back at campus.

"The last thing I remember was them saying Seunggi-sunbae was replaced and that we should watch out for the new principal." Hitomi answers.

"Wait, so where's the secret base you guys were talking about? I don't see it anywhere." Shige asks. It was her first time out of the country, so she let the others do the talking. Luckily for her though, Sakura had been programing another little machine during the trip over from Japan that could work as an auto-translator. She still had to get used to using it though.

"Well, it wouldn't be a secret if you could just find it on a whim." Chaeyeon jokes. "We're close though. Sakura just has to get us in first."

"Why does she have to get us in though? Can't we just ask the guards?" Nako interjects.

"Didn't I just say that Eunbi-unnie and the others said to be careful of the new principal?" Hitomi chides. "We have to make sure we know what we're dealing with first."

"Over here, everyone!" Sakura calls after feeling through the shield system. "I found a weak point. Someone got in...or out, using this spot. I can hack in and open it up in a bit." As the short-haired girl gets to work, Shige begins asking more questions about the place.

"So, what's it supposed to be like in there?" She asks.

"Hmm, well, where to start?" Chaeyeon responds while contemplating. "I think it's a great place to be honest. There's a huge cafeteria, and virtual-reality rooms we use for training. I wonder how much things have changed since we've been gone though."

"Yeah, I remember Eunbi-unnie talking about transitioning it to be more like an actual school." Nako says. "They must have more room since a lot of trainees left after the last attack on campus." Before they could speculate more, Sakura calls them.

"I got it!" She cheers, but her smile is quickly replaced by a frown when she sees the security footage from the area they were entering. "Wait, Yena and the others were here..." She mumbles.

"Huh? What do you mean, Saku-chan? As in, they ran out?" Hitomi asks.

"Yes...it looks like they were running from the guards. We should scout the perimeter first." The older girl replies in a more serious tone as she motions everyone to get inside before the sensors noticed. The group then slowly made their way through the forest while Sakura would short-circuit nearby cameras.

Eventually, they find themselves at the edge of the forest next to the dorms, and the sight they see shocks them. There were guards everywhere who were leading the trainees around like they were prisoners.

"What's going on..." Chaeyeon mutters to herself. Normally the guards wouldn't be that armed unless there was an attack. Seunggi always liked to promote that the campus was a safe environment, but the scene in front of them certainly wasn't the case. Before they could decide on their next move, a strong gust of wind blew through a line of guards, allowing some of the trainees to make a run for it.

"It's her again! Shoot to kill!" One guard yells, but is quickly knocked over by a flying tree branch. Chaos began to break out as the rest of the guards tried to regain their bearings and chase the runners.

"Fancy of you girls showing up." A voice whispers from behind the group, causing them to go into defense mode much to the person's surprise. Hitomi had the figure wrapped up in vines like a cocoon in the blink of an eye.

"Yah, not this again, Hitomi. I told you I was allergic to vines!" The voice whines from behind the vegetation. "It's me, Yunjin!"

"Oh, my bad, Kirin!" The peach-cheeked girl apologizes, letting their friend down.

"Kirin? Haven't heard that one in a while." The tall girl jokes as she dusts herself off. "Anyway, it's not safe here. You gotta follow me!" She then continues, leading the group back into the forest.

"Where are we even going?" Nako asks, still trying to process what they'd just seen.

"This forest is way bigger than we give it credit for. There's a spot within that Eunbi-unnie had told us about before they left. Now, come on!" Yunjin responds as she sees a guard looking their way, quickly casting an illusion to mask them.

~~~~

After a couple minutes of trekking, Yunjin stops at a regular pine tree that looked no different from the rest. Hitomi could tell there was something odd though. This tree wasn't made of wood. On cue, Yunjin pulls on a branch to reveal a stairway leading underground.

"Hurry! Get in!" She urges while creating more illusions to keep the area clear. When they finally get down, they find themselves in a large subterranean hideout. It was well furnished and cleaned up for the most part. There were even other trainees sitting around tables eating food. One of them eventually takes notice of their arrival and greets them, Lee Gaeun.

"Unnie! It must've been you who sent those guards flying!" Chaeyeon cheers as she walks up to them.

"It's been a while, girls. I just wish it were under better circumstances." The tall girl says sadly.

"What's going on up there? Where even are we? Who's responsible for all this?" Nako asks rapidly.

"It's the principal. The others were right. He did have bad intentions. We really should've known better" Gaeun explains. When Eunbi and her group escaped, a huge lockdown was placed on the facility overnight. She and Yunjin had just managed to escape their rooms before guards started spraying that nullifying gas around the dorms, making them all powerless. Many were caught off guard because that gas was thought to have been confiscated after the missions to Busan and Myeong-dong.

"So, I guess that confirms the Principal is in league with that Anti-Mutant group we before." Chaeyeon speculates.

"Where did the others head off to?" Sakura asks next, trying to form a plan as quickly as possible.

"Daegu." The older girl responds. "They were tracking some intruders who broke in here a couple days ago to steal files." Suddenly, a memory clicks in Sakura's brain as she hears the familiar city's name.

"That must be the place the HKT files talked about!" She exclaims.

"The one with the weapon and cloning info?" Chaeyeon asks.

"Yes. If the others are heading there, they'll need our help." The Japanese girl responds.

"Wait, I'm out of the loop with this. What do you mean cloning?" Gaeun steps in to ask. It's Sakura and Chaeyeon's turns to do some explaining now as they decide to give her a quick rundown. By the time they finish, the older girl felt like her head was spinning from all the new information.

"That's...a lot to take in." Gaeun says after processing things. "But, the one thing I do understand is that we need to get you girls to Eunbi's group. You're all gonna have to listen carefully. There's a tunnel system here that leads to an emergency exit outside the campus that you can use. Some of the trainees have already used it to get out, but we're trying not to leave in big numbers or the guards will find out about this place." As if on cue, a rumbling noise is heard above the base.

"That can't be good." Hitomi mumbles.

"Chaeyeon, your group is priority number one. Just follow the path and keep going straight. We'll hold them off." Gaeun orders, pointing at a long dark hallway behind them.

"What? No way! We can help!" Chaeyeon responds.

"You can help us all more if you get to Eunbi and expose the Principal. We'll find some other way out." The older girl responds calmly.

"She's right, Chaeyeon. It won't do us any good if they capture all of us. We have to go." Sakura adds. Chaeyeon begrudgingly nods, and heads off to gather some supplies from around the base.

"You girls might have to go, but I think I'll stay, Saku-chan." The voice of Murashige says suddenly.

"Wait, what do you mean? You came with us all this way, we'll need you." Sakura says back.

"No, you heard what Gaeun-san said. There can't be too many people going out through there or else we'll be caught. Besides, she's the only person here that can speak Japanese it seems, so I can probably help her translate clearer instructions to the Japanese trainees." Shige elaborates. Sakura found her friend's logic to be sound, and that really annoyed her. She wanted to find some explanation to get Shige to come along, but Sakura knew that would be selfish.

"Okay. Good luck, Shige. We'll see you on the other side." Sakura finally manages to say.

"Kkura-chan! Let's go!" Nako calls over to her as another rumble shakes the roof overhead. Sakura hurries over to the group in the hallway, but turns one more time to face Gaeun.

"We'll slow them down for you girls. Just...don't turn back." Gaeun says as one last order before blocking off the entrance, leaving them in pitch black darkness.

~~~~

As the four girls make their way forward through the network of tunnels, they could only hear the echoes of yelling and gunfire. Every once in a while, the roof above them would shake, as if threatening to collapse on them at any second. There weren't any sources of light either, so all they could trust was that they were going in the right direction.

"Gaeun-unnie said to keep going straight, right?" Hitomi asks nervously.

"Yes, Hii-chan. It shouldn't be much longer." Chaeyeon replies. In truth, she didn't know how long it would take to get out, but she wanted to keep some positive energy to keep the group moving.

After travelling more for what felt like hours, Sakura slowly began to doubt herself. Because of the darkness, she couldn't properly judge how far they'd gone, and without any nearby technology, she didn't have a place to tap into to see either. The only thing she could assure herself of was that they were moving forward as with time, the walls surrounding them began shifting from cement to dirt. It felt like the construction of the place hadn't been completed yet.

"Maybe we should've stayed behind and fought. What if they're just waiting at the other side..." Sakura says out of the blue. "Maybe it wasn't smart to leave the others behind and fight for them after all..."

"Yah, there's nothing we can do now, Saku-chan. Gaeun-unnie and the others are fighting to give us a chance, and if we just idle around, their efforts will go to waste." Nako chides, trying to slap some sense back into their normally cool and collected friend.

"Yeah...Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. There's just a lot going on." The older girl apologizes, trying to regain composure. She couldn't see her friends' faces clearly due to the lack of light, but she knew that they were worrying. Despite Chaeyeon being the leader, Sakura also had a responsibility as the oldest to settle the group down and make a solid plan.

"Chaeyeon, can you scout up ahead? See if the exit is locked or not." She eventually says after thinking. The Korean girl nods and speeds up ahead.

"Thanks for setting my head straight, Nako." Sakura says while Chaeyeon was gone.

"That's what friends are for, Kkura-chan. You know what they say, friends keep each other sane when they're in a long dark tunnel trying to escape an evil Principal that wants to capture and kill all mutants." Nako replies.

"I have literally never heard that saying before." Hitomi says with a giggle, glad that the short girl could lift the mood.

~~~~

A couple minutes later, Chaeyeon manages to return. It turned out that Gaeun had been right about the path, and it was just straight ahead. She'd actually gotten to the end in a few seconds, but there was a ladder with a locked hatch at the top that she had to spend time breaking.

After the group steps out of the hatch, they find themselves behind a bus stop by the road at the bottom of the mountain. The group had walked much further than they realized as it was almost noon. When the next bus arrived, Sakura takes out her special card to pay for tickets to get them straight to Daegu. Nako and Hitomi immediately fall asleep next to each other after settling into their seats while Chaeyeon and Sakura remained awake.

"It should take us approximately four hours to get to Daegu using this bus." The Japanese girl says.

"You didn't have to tell me that, Kkura. I've been there before." Chaeyeon responds with a laugh.

"Oh, yeah. My bad." Sakura responds, cheeks flushed.

"Anyway..." She coughs, trying to move on to another topic. "Do you think we'll make it to the others in time? From what Gaeun-unnie said, Eunbi-unnie and the others left earlier at dawn so we're approximately seven to eight hours behind."

"You're right actually. Unless they were stalled, the mission will probably be done by the time we get there." Chaeyeon replies.

As they continued discussing ways on getting to Daegu quicker, a news announcement began playing on the radio which caught the feather girl's attention. It seemed like luck really hasn't been on their side lately.

"We come to you with a live report on the arrest of mutants Choi Yena and Jo Yuri for arson and murder committed at the south side of Seoul's apartment complexes."

"Wait, ahjussi, could you please turn the radio up?" Chaeyeon asks politely.

"What is it?" Sakura asks, not hearing it initially.

"Yuri and Yena got arrested. Keep listening" The younger girl whispers back.

"The two were caught along with several accomplices trying to leave Seoul. Sources say they are all mutant trainees from the PD campus originally run by Lee Seunggi. It is speculated that it was an organized terror effort dating back to closed-cases in Busan and Myeong-dong among others. The suspects are currently being held at Seoul Police Station for questioning..." The reporter went on to talk about how Principal Ahn Joon-young met up with the authorities and claimed that Lee Seunggi had the previous cases covered up and was secretly planning something before he stepped in.

"What a load of garbage..." Chaeyeon says. "The media is buying this?"

"I don't know. This is still breaking news, but I don't think it'll be good for us." Sakura responds.

"Pft. Mutants...serves them right. Their kind shouldn't be allowed to just roam around free. I mean, look at the damage they caused!" The bus driver says out loud. There weren't many people on the bus. In fact, it was just Chaeyeon's group along with a couple other people at the back, so the driver's sentiments were more audible. Sakura had to hold Chaeyeon back before she could do anything rash.

"Looks like we're gonna need to take a detour after all..." Sakura telepathically says to the younger girl.

"Should we wake the others?" Chaeyeon asks.

"No. Let them get their rest first, then fill them in later." The Japanese girl responds, and with that, the two sit in silence as they make a new plan telepathically to make sure no one overheard.

~~~~~