“Now do you see why it’s all hopeless? You’ve played right into my hand. Did you really think you could escape the prison that easily?” KYB says as the camera feeds continue to play. Though their friends and some mutants they couldn’t recognize were putting up a good fight, there were just too many androids. Eunbi was frozen in place. They were supposed to protect everyone, but now, they were miles and miles away.

With the silence starting to become deafening, Yena decided to strike first, shooting a lightning bolt right at KYB. To everyone’s shock though, the man bats it away like it was nothing.

“Cheap shot. You’ll find I’m not the feeble human I once was.” He says, the grin on his face becoming wider.

“What did you do to yourself?” Hyewon asks, eyes still darting around at the androids beginning to surround them.

“Ahn Joon-young was too shortsighted. He thought the answer to defeating mutants was to become one of you. I, on the other hand, saw beyond that. Altering your DNA? We know what happened to him as a result of that. In an age of technology, why rely on natural solutions when I could create one myself?” KYB replies, and it was now that the group realized what he had done.

“He… uploaded your consciousness into an android?” Sakura murmurs.

“I thought he already did that back at the party.” Yujin says, but the tech-girl shakes her head.

“No, that was different. Back then, he was just projecting his voice through one and controlling it remotely. This one… it’s definitely him.”

“You were always the smart one, Miyawaki! Although, not smart enough to see my plan fully. I should be thanking you, really. Your blueprints were a big help to my cause.” KYB taunts, making sure to put a bit more emphasis on the last few words.

“If you think we’re going to give up just because the odds are stacked against us, then you’re in for a big surprise!” Chaewon says, preemptively splitting herself into three copies for the upcoming battle. Everyone else follows her example and gets into a fighting stance.

“Oh, your stubbornness is what I’m counting on.” He replies, and at those words, all the androids begin closing in.

~~~~

Unbeknownst to KYB, the team had a plan. While they let him monologue, Sakura was having telepathic conversations with the others.

Minjoo, cloak Yuri, Chaeyeon and Eunbi once the fight starts. You see that door there at the back? There might be an answer behind it. Everyone else, cover for them. Sakura says just as KYB finished his little speech.

As the androids attacked, Hitomi drops some seeds on the ground and creates a huge plant wall around the group.

Though the barrier was shot through, it gave just enough time for Minjoo to go invisible with the others. By the time the wall was down, Chaewon had cloned herself more to cover for the missing members. The hope was KYB wouldn’t realize they were gone in all the chaos, and from the start, it looked like their hunch was right.

Projectiles were being launched from everywhere like a warzone. The androids’ energy attacks were countered by Yujin’s water torrents, Hyewon’s ice beams, Yena’s electric shocks, and Hitomi’s vines. Up close, it was Nako throwing punches, running through the machines like they were made of paper. Chaewon used her clones to distract and take fire away from her friends. Unlike before where here copies would be a liability in this scenario, this time, she would make them disappear like mirages before they would get hit. Wonyoung used her telekinesis to redirect the androids’ aims towards each other. Finally, Sakura, who usually wasn’t a fan of hand-to-hand combat, was in her element. Every time she managed to get close to an android, all she had to do was place her hand on it to deactivate it.

It actually looked like the group was making progress, but something was off in the way KYB just sat in his chair and watched the battle unfold.

“Impressive. It appears my androids cannot prevail using their basic capabilities. Let’s see how you deal with that.” He says, and as if he had given a silent order, all the androids’ eyes go red.

“That can’t be good…” Yujin says before getting struck in the back by one of the androids that had gotten a sudden speed boost.

The next time Sakura tried to touch one of the machines to deactivate, she was met with an incredibly hot surface that made her recoil in pain.

It was now the androids’ turn to push back. Suddenly their armor was strong enough to withstand Nako’s blows. The heat they were emitting was also enough to burn through Hitomi’s vines that were entangling them, and melt through the ice that Hyewon had trapped them in. Only Yena’s electricity and Yujin’s water seemed to be doing anything now.

We need Minjoo’s group to pull through with a clue soon… Sakura thinks as she was now on the defense, dodging away from fire balls and energy blasts.

~~~~

“You think he saw us?” Minjoo asks the others after shutting the door behind them. With her improved invisibility, they weren’t creating any sound, but the brunette was still anxious.

“I don’t think so. There might be too many heat signatures for him to track too if he has that modification installed.” Yuri replies.

“Okay, there must be some other human in this base, right? With all his forces focused on his room, it might be easier to sweep the place. We just have to do it fast.” Chaeyeon says before turning to Eunbi. “What do you think, unnie?”

“H-huh, w-what? I-I don’t know…” The leader stammers uncharacteristically. Ever since she saw the camera feeds, she’d been quieter.

“It’s about the others back home, right?” Yuri guesses. “Unnie, they’re fighting their butts off because they’re counting on us to figure something out. Yena-unnie and the others are fighting tooth and nail back in there too to give us a chance. They’re all counting on us, so snap out of it!”

Whether there was a hint of charmspeak in there or not, those words seemed to jolt Eunbi back into reality. They still had time, and she was wasting it by standing here moping.

“You’re right. Let’s go. Split up so we can cover more ground. The second you find anything, use the mental link or the comm devices.” Eunbi says more confidently before darting off down the west hall, taking Chaeyeon with her.

~~~~

“Minjoo, shh. I hear someone.” Yuri whispers after about a minute of running down the east hall. Sure enough, there was a room whose door was slightly ajar, lights shining through the tiny gap.

Minjoo nods and cloaks them, so they could get in closer. Inside the room was an empty gurney with all sorts of machines surrounding it, and sitting on a chair in the back was a woman in a lab coat. It looked like she was monitoring some charts on the computer in front of her. Yuri and Minjoo silently snuck in, and once they were right behind her, the latter dropped the cloak.

“Are those KYB’s vitals?” Yuri asks.

“W-who are you and how did you get in?” The scientist replies in a panicked tone.

“Just some people who want to stop this whole mess.” Yuri replies.

“Listen, I was just following orders! I tried to talk the president out of it, but he insisted!” The woman says.

“You should’ve tried harder. You see what's going on, right? You have a chance here to do the right thing, so I hope you take it.” Yuri says, and Minjoo was lucky it wasn’t her who Yuri was staring daggers into.

“Okay! Okay! I don’t know how to stop the androids, promise! All I know is that it’s the president who calls the shots.”

“And is there a way to stop him?” Minjoo asks, and at this, the scientist shakes her head.

“I’m not sure. I didn’t design his suit. I was just the one who put his mind in there. I swear!” Minjoo was almost convinced by the woman’s desperation, but Yuri still wanted to make sure.

“Really? I’m going to ask you one more time then. How do we take KYB down?” This time, Yuri had put in some charmspeak into her words, and it appeared to work.

“There is a string of code I was told would eject him into another special android if his current body failed.” The scientist says in a neutral tone.

“And would you happen to know how to stop this from happening and where the other bodies are?”

“That knowledge lies with the mechanic who designed them. They’re somewhere on this island, but you won’t actually be able to deactivate that code unless you manage to connect a computer to him.” She replies.

“Anything else?” Yuri continued to ask.

“Yes, one last thing. I wasn’t lying when I said the boss called the shots. To be specific, I meant he is controlling all the androids from inside his head.”

“That’s good info. Thank you for that. Now, sleep.” Yuri commands, putting a finger to the scientist’s forehead and nudging her back into her seat.

“How did you know?” Minjoo asks.

“You just never know with the people you run into in these places.” Yuri replies with a shrug before sending a message to Eunbi and Chaeyeon.

There’s a mechanic around here keeping backups of KYB’s body. We need to destroy those. She says.

One step ahead of you. We’ve already found him. Chaeyeon replies in a rush which definitely meant they were in combat.

“Let’s go, Minjoo. They might need our help.”

~~~~

Five minutes ago…

“What in the world is this place?” Eunbi wonders after she and Chaeyeon step into a large unlit garage space.

“I don’t know, but it’s giving me the chills. There must be a light switch somewhere.” The younger girl says, turning towards the side of the entrance and feeling around for one. Eventually, she does, and when the lights , both girls were in shock.

“Uh… this can’t be what I think it is.” Eunbi mutters, staring up at the ceiling and seeing about five rows of androids that looked exactly like the KYB they saw in the room earlier.

“We need to destroy this place.” Chaeyeon says before a new voice interjects.

“Now, why would you want to go and do that? These are my life’s work after all.” A middle-aged man now steps into view with a button in his hand.

“What KYB’s doing is wrong. These robots can pose more of a threat than any mutant!” Eunbi tries to reason.

“Really? Androids, unlike you mutants, can be controlled. They also have fail safes for when they go off the grid. They can be tracked too! What better way to police mutants than with an army that doesn’t sleep?” The man says.

“You only say that because you’re not a mutant. Someone like you who can create dangerous machines should be kept in check too, right? How would you feel about having to look over your shoulder every day for the rest of your life.” Eunbi replies, but it didn’t seem to be getting through to the mechanic.

“Enough wasting time, you’re going to tell us how to terminate these androids now.” Chaeyeon says before dashing in. Unfortunately, the man had just managed to press on the button he was holding to activate one of the backup bodies above.

The machine drops down to the ground and immediately starts blasting projectiles at the duo.

“Unnie, Yuri just sent a message. These are KYB’s backups in case he’s defeated by the others. I think they’re relaying that information to Sakura now.” Chaeyeon says while hiding behind a steel beam.

Eunbi nods and takes a look around her until she spots a gasoline container.

“Chaeyeon, cover me!” The leader says before making a run for the barrel. The younger girl does as asked and spins circles around the android. This was all she could do though as any punch she’d throw felt like she was hitting a brick wall.

Meanwhile, Eunbi opens up the gasoline container and starts emptying it around the garage.

“Yah! Stop that!” The mechanic shouts, running towards her only to slip on the stream of gas on the ground.

“If you don’t want to die, you’d better get out of here soon.” Eunbi says, almost pitying the guy for that display. Like a coward, he appeared to take that message to heart and began scrambling in the opposite direction.

“Alright, Chaeyeon! Light the fire!” Eunbi shouts after lathering most of the room with the liquid.

Chaeyeon gives a thumbs up before shifting the android’s attention to the area Eunbi had trapped. With the elegance of a swan, Chaeyeon deftly avoided the slippery bits while the android would slide and fall, clearly not as effective without a human mind controlling it. Chaeyeon had to thank the slime she had to navigate earlier for her improved agility.

When the feather girl sees the machine was also now covered in gasoline, she speeds up even more, the velocity managing to create a spark that ignites the fire which begins spreading all around the room.

“Nice! Now, let’s get out of here!” Eunbi says, already waiting by the exit which she promptly closes once Chaeyeon was through. The duo silently counted the seconds away in their head as the android inside continued to blindly fire energy blasts that only gave more fuel to the fire. After they had made it halfway back to KYB’s room, an explosion rocks the base from behind them. Eventually, the two run back into Yuri and Minjoo.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re both alright!” Minjoo says with a sigh of relief. “I was worried when I heard the explosion.”

“Yeah, we torched KYB’s backups. All we need to do now is take down the main one.” Eunbi replies.

“I actually told Kkura-unnie about it. KYB is actually in control of all the androids. We should go help out before-” Yuri’s words were cut short as another explosion, even bigger than the last one, rocked the facility.

“That came from KYB’s room…” Chaeyeon murmurs, a sense of dread rising up in her as she bolts up ahead.

~~~~

Girls, Yuri just told me something really important! Clear me a path towards KYB! Sakura says telepathically.

Easier said than done, unnie. We’re still outnumbered. Nako replies while using her forearms to take the brunt of another energy attack.

Just do it! It’s the only way! Sakura argues back. Once Yuri told her that the source controlling everything was in KYB’s mind, she knew what she had to do.

We gotcha, Kkura! C’mon girls! One last push! Yujin says to motivate everyone.

Just don’t do anything stupid, unnie. Yena adds, charging up a huge EMP attack that shuts down the androids in her vicinity. From afar Sakura gives Yena an expression the duck hadn’t seen from the tech-girl before.

Coming from you? She jokes before running towards KYB.

With one last burst of energy, the members try their best to do what Sakura had asked. Hitomi strengthened her vines to hold back the androids. Yujin did a combo attack with Hyewon, the puppy dousing the androids’ heated bodies to lower their temperature enough for the older girl to freeze them all with a powered-up ice beam. Wonyoung used her telekinesis to grab all the androids around her and swing them around like rag dolls. Finally, Nako, stubborn as always, just launched herself towards her foes, taking all their attention and projectile away from Sakura who was bobbing and weaving through a sea of machine parts.

When she finally arrives at KYB’s table, he gives her a curious look.

“What final gambit are you looking to pull here? Out of all your friends, you’re the last I’d expect to be standing in front of me now.” He says, unamused.

“Well, that’s another reason I know you can’t beat us. Every one of my teammates could take you on if they wanted.” Sakura replies, trying to get KYB to talk to have more time to calculate her next decision. It had to be quick and decisive.

“Even you can’t believe that!” KYB laughs. “Do you seriously think that somebody like your human leader or the siren girl can defeat me?”

“You think stubbornness is our flaw? Well…” The Japanese girl says, finally spotting a tiny USB port on the side of KYB’s head. “Your arrogance is about to be the end of you.”

Sakura makes her move, sliding on the ground to avoid a swing by KYB and spinning to place her palm right on the USB port she’d seen.

~~~~

Sakura didn’t really know what to expect. She’d sent her consciousness into machines many times, but she wasn’t sure what it would look like now given that KYB was still part human.

“Very bold move…” She suddenly hears the man say, and when she opened her eyes, she was facing him, or at least, the original version of him in an empty version of the room they were in from the physical world. This man was shorter, a bit stouter and noticeably older looking.

“Maybe look at yourself in the mirror before saying that.” Sakura replies, and at this, KYB stares at his hands for the first time, and realizes he was not in his android body.

“W-what is this???” He asks aloud.

“The android body you’ve placed yourself in may be powerful, but on the inside, you’re nothing.” The Japanese girl says coldly, taking a step forward.

“You still have to hope that none of my androids kill your friends while you’re in here, or worse, shoot you while you’re defenseless.” KYB replies, trying to muster as much confidence as he can.

“I can trust my friends. You should be worried about yourself because, in here? This is my domain.” Sakura places both hands on the ground, causing the room to shift until there are two openings now visible next to them. It took KYB a second to realize, but what they were looking through were his android’s eyes.

“I was told you were the one pulling all the strings, and we all know that the only way to cut a weed is from the roots.” At this, KYB watches in horror as all of his androids begin to deactivate one by one. He could only assume the same was happening across Seoul.

“No… NO! I will not allow myself to be beaten. I still have one more card to play!” KYB shouts, willing his mind to produce a red button at his side.

“This self-destruct button will trigger an overheat in the cores across all of my androids, and if you try to disconnect it, this body blows up with you inside.” He says, the tone of his voice bordering on hysterical. Sakura, though, was stoic.

“You don’t think we know you have backup bodies to send your consciousness to?” She says, at those words, KYB’s face goes slack. If they’d already taken care of them, he would now die when this body was destroyed.

“You would really risk your life to save all of them? What have they done for you that I can’t give? I have the money and power to put you in a good position.” KYB tried to bargain, but the Japanese girl’s face was unreadable.

“What have they given me that you can’t? How about a family.” Sakura says before cutting the connection between KYB and all of his androids. KYB’s screams were drowned out by the explosion that was engulfing the room they were in.

~~~~

“No… no, no, no…” Chaeyeon says as soon as she enters KYB’s room. Just before the explosion happened, she heard a familiar voice whisper in her head.

I love you, Chaeyeon… She was praying that what she thought happened wouldn’t be the case, but what she saw in front of her were her friends all huddled over someone. They all looked injured themselves, likely from the blast, but it seemed like there was someone who got it worse.

“Yah! You said you wouldn’t do anything stupid!” She hears Yena yell through a sob.

Wonyoung spots Chaeyeon first, and the expression on her face told Chaeyeon all she needed to know.

“I’m sorry, Chaeyeon… we should’ve stopped her.” She says with tears running down her face before stepping aside to reveal Sakura unresponsive on the ground, parts of her body burned through.

Eunbi and the others finally reach the room, and all they see is Chaeyeon on her knees hugging her motionless girlfriend.

“No…” Eunbi murmurs. She’d promised to protect everyone, and she’d failed. The guilt she was feeling right now was like a knife twisting through her heart. Everyone was silent, the sounds of Chaeyeon’s sobs the only noise in the room. They’d won, but at what cost?

Chaeyeon was devastated. Sakura was her everything, and she wasn’t there to protect her when she needed it the most. Everything that had happened to get here was done with the goal of ultimately living a normal life with everyone, but now, how could they? Eunbi had mentioned how the death of Yeonjung had shaken the members of I.O.I, and that was suddenly a reality IZ*ONE had to live with… unless.

“Wait, I sense something moving.” Yena suddenly says, and when she looks down at where the slight electric disruption had come from, she sees a piece of KYB’s android wriggling towards Sakura’s body.

“Kkura’s always been good with machines, right?” Yena asks as she picks up the metal arm and places it next to the Japanese girl. The second it was close, the arm began to latch onto Sakura’s, the wires taking over the wounded areas. Everyone suddenly gets the same idea at the same time.

“We need to move quickly.” Eunbi says, running over to find a piece of a destroyed android and placing it next to Sakura’s head. That piece also slowly begins to integrate itself with the tech-girl. The group was now in full action to save their friend, picking up scraps of metal and wiring and bringing them back over.

After a couple minutes, all of Sakura’s injuries and wounds were replaced by android parts, and all she needed now was a little jolt which Yena supplies. The sound of gears and parts whirring fills the room until Sakura’s eyes, one normal and one metal, finally open.

“W-what… happened?” She asks. “What’s with all the funny looks?”

“You’re alive, and that’s all that matters.” Chaeyeon says, her tears now from joy instead of sorrow, as she runs up to her girlfriend and hugs her tightly.

Sakura turns to one of the still intact windows and sees her reflection for the first time.

“I’m… part robot now?”

“Now more than ever.” Yujin jokes, only to get her ear pinched by Wonyoung.

“Yah, I’m just happy she’s still with us!”

“Are you… okay with that?” Sakura asks Chaeyeon, slightly afraid that her new look was a bit too much.

“I’m still hugging you, aren’t I?” Chaeyeon laughs, and it was that addictive laugh that got everyone to join in.

“I just got a call from Seunggi, girls! All the androids in Seoul are now out of commission too!” Eunbi says, causing even more cheers.

Sakura heaves a sigh of relief. She’d been a part in starting this mess, and now she had ended it. Not alone though. She knew she wouldn’t have been able to get to this point without the friends who she’d grown to call family. To her, it was just a ten-minute blackout, but she’d actually been dead, and without her friends' love for her, she might’ve stayed that way.

The job wasn’t completely done though. While waiting for Seunggi to send a transport over, the group had fanned out to search the rest of the base for information and data to use to finally expose KYB and the corruption around them.

Once they were on the plane going back, Sakura looked over to the girl next to her that she was lucky enough to call her girlfriend.

“Thank you. For everything.” She whispers as she lays her head on Chaeyeon’s shoulder.

“Heh, we should be the ones thanking you, Kkura.” The younger girl says with a chuckle before planting a kiss on her forehead.

“I cannot wait to get back!” Yena cheers.

“Yeah! It’s going to be a party for sure!” Yujin concurs.

“Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, you two. We still have to finish cleaning up KYB’s mess.” Eunbi says, though she also couldn’t hide the relief flowing through her.

As she looked behind her at the eleven girls she’d gone on this journey with, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of pride in how much everyone had grown. They did this together, not just for themselves, but for every mutant back home.

 

A/N: Hi! HAHA did I scare you with that part? I had been figuring how to write it for a while because I knew Kkura had to be the one to end things, and I hope the final product was nice. I just refuse to have any major character deaths in this series LMAO.

Anyway, the final battle is over and all that's left is the aftermath and ending. We're almost there, and I still kinda can't believe it. I'll save my thoughts for the finale though.

For now, I hope you all anticipate it! #ProjectIZONE_AU is a tag on twitter you can use so I can see reactions, or you can comment your thoughts here or on my CC.

As we approach the final chapter though, I must ask, what have been your guys' favorite parts across the entire series? Favorite mutant powers I used? 

Thank you all once again for supporting this series. Whether it's likes, upvotes, comments or simply silently reading, I appreciate you all!

I hope everyone has a great week ahead, and I'll see y'all in the last one!