"I can't believe I'm letting you do this," Himchan muttered grudgingly. 

"Aw, come on, Himchan! I can't just sit at home!" You pleaded, giving him your best puppy-eyes. "We're in this together, aren't we?"

He finally chuckled. "We are, yeobo. Well ... and that idiot."

"HEY! SHUT UP!" Zelo whined. "LINA NOONA, I WANNA SWITCH GENERALS!"

"When we get back to Mato, okay, Zelo?"

To your unamusement, you felt like a harassed mother walking around Seoul with a whiny son and an overly affectionate husband. It was a bit sweet, a bit weird, a bit cute ... and very annoying. You certianly hoped real marriage wasn't like this.

Then again, you might not even survive to have a real marriage ...

NO! No thinking about gloomy, depressing things like that! Youngjae did that enough for the entire group!

You were skipping school today, along with the other aliens. For now, finding Sector Beast and the spaceship they used to travel here was the top priority. You couldn't just let a bunch of murderous Matonians walk around Earth.

There were three groups: Himchan and Zelo, Yongguk and Daehyun, and Youngjae and Jongup. Yongguk had insisted you stay at home for safety reasons (the others agreed), but the second they were gone, you ran after Himchan and Zelo's group, knowing that if you begged long enough they'll most likely cave in and agree. They were the weakest when it came to being strict around you.

Zelo seemed to have forgotten that everyone was on an important, serious mission. He was skipping around excitedly. "Ooh, what's that? Noona, what's THAT? And that! It looks yummy, can we eat it? Please?"

"Maybe some other time, Zelo," you said quietly with a soft smile. Himchan glanced at you, and the two of you locked eyes before looking away.

He knew, just like you did. Even IF this wasn't a crazy suicide mission and you actually succeeded in saving Mato from the Company, Sector B.A.P couldn't return to Earth with you. They'd have to help reestablish the new order on their planet. You would have to return to Earth alone, IF you survived.

That was undeniably depressing. But you tried to stop thinking about it. What was more important was saving their planet, if that was actually going to be possible.

"Himchan?" You asked quietly as the three of you strolled around, trying to look casual while still searching every face in the crowd for an alien. 

"Hmm?"

"What is the probability of us saving your planet and surviving?"

"Are you looking for a percentage? Er, I'd say ... 0.0001%, to be honest."

Your heart sunk low into your stomach. "That bad?"

"I might be exaggerating. Maybe 0.01%. The Company has the entire Army at its disposal, and it has control of every single resource in Mato. Compare that to a small handful of aliens? Yeah, not much chance there, really."

You just got even more depressed. Was this all pointless?

"Wha -- oh, no, yeobo. Hey." Himchan gently touched the side of your face. "Alright, so the circumstances are pretty bad. And our chance is really darn slim. But, however slim, the chance is still there. Until that percentage becomes zero, we are still going to fight, and we aren't going to give up. Okay?"

You couldn't help but smile. "Okay."

"Good. Now where is that pesky robot? Where did he run off to?"

"Uh, I think he went --"

Zelo suddenly shoved through the crowd, a look of complete and utter panic on his face.

"--over--"

The crowd jumped back as another group of people came sprinting after the robot. You recognized their dark clothes.

"--there?"

"GENERAAAAALLLL!!!!!" Zelo shrieked.

"OoohhhhHHHH !!!" Himchan grabbed you around the waist and lifted you off the ground. Before you could even squeak with surprise, he was running, inhumanly fast.

"Himchan -- stop -- wait!" It was hard to speak with all the wind rushing around your ears. "Himchan, people will notice -- this is too fast --"

"We don't have time," Himchan said, his voice somewhere near your ear, tense and low. "It's Sector Beast, Lina. They're after us. We need to get out of here and find the others!"

There was a sudden explosion, and Himchan was forced off the ground, losing his grip on you. You crashed painfully into a nearby patio table, upending several outside a cafe. You felt your arm scrape hard on the ground, your head hit something hard, and you started to flicker in and out of unconsciousness. 

People were screaming. Feet pounding, echoing on the cement. You could hear someone -- Himchan? Zelo? -- shouting your name in panic, trying to find you in the crowd of stampeding pedestrians. Something was hot. You were pretty sure something was on fire.

I can't see I can't see it's hot it's hot someone put it out it hurts it really really hurts I think I'm bleeding where are you guys

You forced yourself to open your eyes. Something wet was trickling from your head, and when you placed your hand on it it came back red and sticky.

Well, .

You realized the tablecloths on the patio tables were the ones that cought fire, and a suspicious crater in the ground several feet away from you was also with flames.

And, emerging from the throngs of screaming people, were the six aliens in black.

Aliens in black.

The absurdity of your words almost made you start laughing out loud. Then you realized you were probably going crazy from shock and blood loss. And also that you should probably shut up, since you were conveniently hidden behind several upturned metal tables and it was in your best interest to stay there.

Himchan had been hit by something too. You could see him through the crack in-between the crashed tables. A gash in his forehead was leaking what looked like black ink.

That's right. Aliens had black blood.

"Himchan of Sector B.A.P?" announced the leader of Sector Beast.

"Hello, Doojoon," Himchan muttered. You couldn't see Zelo in your perspective. Darn it! Where was he?

"Not even bowing to a superior anymore?" One of the aliens spoke up. "I'm shocked, Himchan. Only a few months or so on Planet Earth and already you are forgetting Mato customs and law."

"Not at all, Junhyung," Himchan spat back, his hands clenching into fists. The black blood was seeping into the collar of his shirt. "If you forgot, Sector B.A.P is level two. You're only at level four. Where are YOUR manners?"

"You must have missed the memo," Junhyung sneered. "Sector B.A.P and the entire level two division of the Army has been kicked out of the government. You're all branded traitors and outlaws to the Company, and therefore, all power you once owned is gone."

"Boo-hoo," Himchan said sarcastically back. "Let me just go crawl into an Eu-Ak cave and cry."

"Before you do," Doojoon said, in an almost bored voice, "We need to collect all members of the disbanded Sector and dispose of them. Along with that earthling female you kept yelling for."

You could see all colour drain from Himchan's face. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play games, Former General," one of the aliens said. "You should have been a little more discreet when screaming her name. Not that it matters. We know who she is. All we have to do is find her. This 'Seo Lina'."

You clapped a hand over your mouth so a whimper of fear wouldn't burst through. You knew all about the alien hyperactive senses. You had a feeling they could probably hear your pounding heart, too.

"Don't touch her," Himchan hissed.

"Oh my, getting possessive, aren't we?" The alien smirked. "Tell you what, Ex-Gen, you turn in all your subordinates -- and your Commander -- and we'll be kind enough to save your, er, earthling pet to the mercy of the Company's Council. We won't kill her outright."

" that!" His voice was a shout now, almost a growl. "You aren't screwing with my teammates OR Lina. You can just ... die!"

There was a sudden commotion -- dust -- you couldn't see anything -- you tried not to cough -- and out from the smoke emerged Zelo, who must have been hiding the entire time. He jumped at them, snarling. At that moment, Himchan pulled out something that looked like a gun -- a loud explosion, more smoke.

"LINA!" Himchan yelled. You scrambled out from your hiding place, coughing up dust. "H-Himchan" Your voice was weak, still full of smoke, but Himchan heard you anyway. You felt a firm arm around your waist, and you were gone.

"T-that ..." you couldn't speak, and instead coughed the rest of the smoke out of your lungs. "H-how, where did you get t-that?"

"You seriously thought we'd wander around an enemy foreign planet without any weapons?" Himchan chuckled, his voice tense. "Silly yeobo. We just made sure you'd never find them. Can't risk you accidentally blowing yourself up."

You shivered. What kind of weapons did they have? "Where's Zelo?"

"Keeping them busy. He'll meet up with us soon. We need to make up a better strategy, this one kinda . Who's stupid idea was it anyway to go around in pairs looking for them? Oh, wait, it was mine. Never mind."

"Will he be alright?" Your stomach twisted at the thought of sweet little Zelo fighting them all alone.

"Of course he will, he's a fighter robot. The second best in all of Mato in combat, after Yongguk. We may be only a small number, but with our skills, we have a very good chance of at least beating THEM."

"HIMCHAN!" You heard Youngjae yell. Himchan screeched to a stop, just as Youngjae and Jongup came hurtling down the opposite street.

"What happened?" Youngjae demanded. "We felt the explosion and all that smoke, and earthlings freaking out ... is it them?"

"Yeah," Himchan muttered. "Plans changed. They're a lot stronger than I remembered. We can either go with interrogating them and finding out where they hid their spaceship, or we need to dig up ours."

"If we try to interrogate them we'll run into lots of danger," Jongup mumbled. "But if we try to dig ours back up we'll make ourselves vulnerable."

"What do you think, Lina?" Youngjae asked, turning to you. You stared. "W-what? Me?"

"Yes, you!" He snapped, looking worried. "You're the one that initiated this mission, which essentially means you're technically our leader. What should we do?"

"I'm the leader?" You squeaked. "Y-you're kidding, I can't ... Himchan, you saw me back there! I was useless! I hid behind a freaking table!"

"Running away from danger and running stupidly headlong into it is two completely different kinds of uselessness, yeobo," Himchan said seriously, attempting to staunch the flow of inky black blood on his face. "You are our leader in this mission. This decision is yours to make."

You hesitated, biting your lip. Which one would result in less wounds, less injuries, less pain, less death?

You weren't ready for this kind of responsibility. You weren't ready to bear the weight of your precious friends' lives on your shoulders.

Then again, you also weren't ready for a bunch of hot, kind, sweet aliens to barge into your life. You weren't ready for THAT, either.

You took a deep breath. "We'll dig up your old spaceship. But, um ... I have a request. You said I am the leader, so I, uh, I don't want any interruptions until I finish my plan, okay? Here's what we're going to do ..."