Jinwoon reported everything back to Taecyeon and Seulong who joined him in the backroom. The two officers had refused to join Hell on their mission. Jinwoon respected their decision, but he begrudged them both for staying. Jinwoon would have traded anything to be able to join Hell on the field. “They’re safe now.”

“All of them?” Seulong asked, unable to believe anything he heard that past hour.

“All of them,” Jinwoon confirmed. “Rai came for them, bringing along back-up. They’re off to see SM now, I’m sending the others up to the top floor, too.”

“I guess you have the best job,” Taecyeon muttered, “just sitting here waiting for results.”

Jinwoon frowned. “No, I hate my job. I want to be out there with them. I can’t sand sitting here and not being able to help them. Unlike you, Detective, I am willing to give my life for them.”

Taecyeon was taken aback by Jinwoon’s confession. The gravity in his voice was not something he expected. To Taecyeon, Jinwoon was just another smart kid in a wheelchair. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

“Fei has Miss Eunhee safe at the office with Victoria. You should thank her when they drop by here.” Jinwoon ignored the apology on purpose. He didn’t want to hear it.

“So what happens after this?”

Jinwoon shook his head at Seulong. “JYP reinstates all of you, and Hell continues on as always.”

“What do you mean as always?”

Jinwoon didn’t look at Taecyeon, instead he turned back to his monitor. “Evil will never run out, and as long as there are people who believe they are above the law, we will cut them down.”

“But we will know about you.”

“And that wouldn’t change anything. The truth of the matter remains that JYP is our Staunton, and that Umbra will not just vanish into thin air. You may attempt to bring us down, kill those people you now know to be involved, but Umbra isn’t just Seoul’s Main Office. It isn’t just JYP and Hell.”

“It doesn’t matter. We’ll have taken you down.”

Jinwoon laughed. “If you can. Honestly Detective, by now I would have thought you’d have warmed up to us.”

Taecyeon shook his head. “It may have been easy for Wooyoung, even Jay, but I-”

“Shouldn’t that be enough?”

“What?”

“I have learned, that it isn’t the institution you should trust, but the people surrounding you. Your institution is flawed, and for all I know perhaps Umbra is too. But wherever Hell goes, I will too. Shouldn’t you know better than to believe in the people you are willing to bet your lives on? People you know will bet their lives on you?”

“You believe that?” Seuling asked. “You believe that Nichkhun, Chansung, Junsu, Kass, and even Rai will risk their lives for you?”

“Maybe not Kass, but the others I have no doubts.”

“Why?”

Jinwoon turned to face them again. “Why not? Haven’t we gone through enough? Haven’t we been in the same pain enough? You are fortunate to have had good memories with the people on your team. Regardless of what Junho turned out to be, or how easy it had been for Wooyoung to see our side of the story. All we have had was pain and suffering. The flower shop may have taken away some of that, brought a little happiness, made us a family. We’re all each other has. Is that really that hard to understand? Just because you see us as monsters, doesn’t mean we are. Or even if we were, that doesn’t strip us of the right to feel.”

…

Fei leaned back on the wooden walls, relieved to hear that Jia and Suzy were both safe. She had worried about the two and she had wanted to come with them. Orders came first, and she was stuck with the worst kind of job the Office could give her- babysitting two civilians. She was glad Alli and Minji had relocated beforehand, she didn’t need anymore children to look after.

Victoria and Eunhee both sat quietly on the bamboo bench inside one of the break rooms. Both women had not spoken a word since coming here. Fei had expected questions- she didn’t expect them to actually obey her when she said she didn’t want them asking her anything. Getting them both to come with her to the office was almost too easy: Nichkhun/Taecyeon had sent her to look after them. It wasn’t true, and Fei was certain it had been too obvious that it was a blatant lie, yet Victoria and Eunhee easily submitted.

She could hear Kwon’s conversation with JYP concerning the damage control over SM’s death, as well as how to handle Schatten’s affairs from then. It was boring, and she preferred to be out in the field. Fei couldn’t think of anybody who didn’t prefer the field. She was certain even Kwon liked it better outside than in the office.

Bored, she kept her attention on the way Victoria arranged and rearranged the flowers on the glass vase on front of her. It appeared that she picked up a few things from spending too much time at the shop. Unlike Victoria, Eunhee remained still, unmoving, as if she were a statue.

Every now and then Victoria’s long manicured nails would scratch against the surface of the vase, and Fei would reel as the sound it made curled her toes and fingers. It was unbearable, but she didn’t know how to make it known.

The thought vanished the instant the alarm went off. It wailed loudly inside the office, and Fei waited for instructions but it never came. Instead, loud static crackled in her hear and she disposed of the earpiece immediately.

“What’s happening?” Eunhee asked.

Fei kept her lips tightly shut and opened the door to peer outside- nothing seemed to be amiss, until she heard a loud crashing sound from inside.

dropped open as she saw Eunhee’s bleeding skull. Shards of the glass vase clung to her skin and her hair, and Victoria wiped her hands clean on her white jeans. “I think that’s my cue,” she said, saccharinely sweet for the occasion.

Fei had been warned about her, but she had also been told that for the meantime Victoria was harmless. Fighting fans in both her hands, Fei spared no time to ponder. Victoria’s nails grew two inches longer, and the maniacal smile on her face was enough to send Fei one cautionary step back.

“Time to get rid of excess baggage,” Victoria lilted before pushing herself off the floor.

“You’re one of them! But they stilled you at the labs!”

Fei snapped her fans open, and seven finger sized razor blades sprung from the outer spokes and ribs. Fei snapped the fans shut and open in rhythm as she danced around Victoria. Her enemy wasn’t as she had expected either. Rather than an aggressive all out attack, Victoria came at her with a grace rivalling her own. With long sweeping kicks, Victoria flew at Fei, who fell into backflips to avoid her.

Victoria laughed, its pitch high and screeching in the ear. “Idiots. Did you think you could actually reverse the process once it’s begun?!”

“Junsu said you weren’t even incubated that long!”

“I’ve been incubated for years!”

Knowing she couldn’t keep avoiding Victoria for long, Fei launched a series of attacks, combining kicks with the snapping open and close of her fans. With one long sweeping move, Fei’s extended her arm, swiping her fan at Victoria’s neck. The latter bent backwards, folding in half and lifting her feet, kicking Fei off hers.

She landed with a loud thud on the wooden floors, but she quickly recovered and jumped back up. However, Victoria was already a step ahead of her, and a roundhouse sent Fei flying towards the wall. The Fortuna project pinned the Miss A member against the wall, nails digging hard into her flesh. Blood trickled down Fei’s neck, and very slowly, it drained until she hung lifeless.

Victoria dropped her to the floor and wiped her nails clean.  It was time to pay JYP a visit. “Thanks for taking me here, it was easier than I thought.”

…

Somehow, Kwon and Min knew better than to be surprised to see Kass and someone who introduced herself as Yoojin standing before them, demanding to get into JYP’s office. “I don’t see how you think that’s a possibility,” Kwon quipped, pulling out a rapier and pointing it at the two women’s direction.

Min was not one to back down either as she twirled her Emei piercers on her open palm. “You know the drill Kass. You’ll have to get by us first.

Kass smirked. “Yes, well. I always hated that drill.” She unwound the metal wire from her bracelets and whipped it at Kwon.

He easily evaded the first attack. “Since when Kass?”

“Always have been. It was too easy getting in here, and it was just as easy making everyone believe me. Except maybe Rai, but she didn’t hold anything against me either.”

Kwon jumped back as the sharp edges of the wire darted at him at high speeds. “This is why you knew where all the heads were, you betrayed them too? Is that the game Kass?”

She laughed. “Silly Kwon, they were the real pawns. The real mastermind has yet to even reveal himself!”

Yoojin snapped her leather whip hard on the wooden floorboards that led to JYP’s office. Min was doing a good job at hiding her attacks. Piercing metal rods spun around the metal ring around her finger, and Min waited for the right opportunity to attack. They stood there sizing each other up, neither female making a move.

“I heard you were dead,” Min started.

“So was Kass Lee, but see, the dead are starting to rise from their graves. We’re not the only ones the world believes are dead.”

Min surged forward, piercers aimed straight for Yoojin’s heart. Kass was as human as any of Hell, and she was going to make the same assumption of Yoojin. She struck without hesitation, but she missed every single time, only grazing Yoojin’s cheek at the very most.

The whip wrapped around Min’s leg and she skidded on the floor as Yoojin tugged harder. Min resisted, but it was useless. The hard leather dug into her ankle, and Min grit her teeth in pain as she kicked away. It took one last painful tug before she was free from Yoojin’s hold. However it came at a price as Yoojin was quicker to recover, flogging Min with heavy lashes.

Min saw Kwon from the corner of her eye, but she couldn’t even cry out for help from the pain. Raw flesh burned where her skin was torn, but she wasn’t about to give in just yet. With a loud scream, Min lunged for Yoojin again, piercers aimed for the other’s neck. Again, Yoojin dodged the attacks, almost as if with foresight. “That the best you can do?” she mocked.

Min knew better than to let Yoojin’s mocking get the better of her. Despite her injuries, she attacked full force, finally gaining the advantage and stabbing Yoojin’s arms and sides. Still, it wasn’t over yet as Yoojin dropped to the floor and swept her legs in a wide arc causing Min to fall onto her back. The Fortuna spy loomed over the Miss A member, but Min’s piercers were still pointed at the enemy. She rolled back to stand, and continued on with her onslaught, ignoring her bleeding arms and the sharp pain shooting through them.

“Still not giving up?” Yoojin grunted, wiping off the blood from her lips.

“Never,” Min answered, chest heaving.

Once more they engaged in another flurry of attacks. The corridor was narrow, but it was long enough for each fight to go on uninterrupted by the other. Min extended her limbs as much as she could to gain maximum reach. Yoojin’s whip ensured her a good distance from Min, and every lash she landed only increased the distance between them.

After what seemed like hours of fighting, Min finally dropped to the ground.

Kwon stared in horror as he saw Min dead. His state was no better, and Kass was bettering him in the minutes that they fought. JYP was just beyond the door, and Kwon hoped he had managed to escape. It was impossible though, the breach in security had been from the inside- even JYP himself was locked in with nowhere to go.

He couldn’t let that happen. Surrounded by both Yoojin and Kass, Kwon swallowed hard as he gathered what remained of his strength. He lifted his rapier and concentrated hard on his targets, but the women moved faster. Yoojin whipped at his legs, and he was down on his knees staring at Kass whose wire was now wrapped tightly around his neck.

Standing up, Kass dusted herself as she checked on the bodies of the two people blocking her way to JYP’s office. Leaving Yoojin behind, she pushed the heavy oak doors open, and found her target sitting patiently on his desk.

The office was unlike the rest of the building. It was cluttered. Papers were strewn across the tables, three tables in all, and file cases were opened halfway, and wires knotted on the floor. The heavy cherry desk, however, stayed with the theme. Their Staunton had both forearms flat on his desk, as if waiting for his demise.

“You know, I didn’t think it would be you,” Kass said, walking towards him.

“Neither did I. I should have realized sooner when I suddenly got a recommendation.”

Kass laughed. It was shrill, and cutting. “And you made me a measly pawn.”

“It was based on your qualifications.”

“True.”

“So are you going to at least tell me who sent you?”

“I’m not stupid. I know the surveillance here. You’ll just have to trust that kid-wonder is smart enough to figure it out.”

“I have no doubts.”

Kass grit her teeth in annoyance. “You know I’m here to kill you.”

JYP nodded gravely. “I am aware.”

The thin wire gleamed under the lighting in the room. “Well, looks like I’ve reached the end of the chessboard. You know what happens to pawns when they reach the other end?”

The leader remained quiet as he awaited his fate. He knew this day would come. He was never under the impression that he would die an honorable death. Regardless if they targeted the ones that got away, he still believed that what he did and the means he employed were nothing the gods would smile upon. Anyone who took another’s life was did not deserve a death of age, of happiness, of love. Not for JYP and the way he had taken advantage of Nichkhun, of Rai, of Junsu, and their personal feelings for his own revenge against Fortuna, even Jinwoon and Chansung’s kindness. Not the way he watched Kwon and Min die, how he let things come this far. He knew he deserved this. To die at the hands of one of his own. Kass may have been a traitor all along, but she was branded as Hell just the same.

Her green eyes glinted maliciously as she hovered over him. “They becomes queens,” she whispered.

He didn’t fight back as Kass strangled him to death. While she found no joy in a victim who conceded so willingly, Kass felt proud of herself. Her fingers flew to the mole just below her eye- it had been her mark. Her nails dug into her flesh, picking it out. She flicked the bloody skin off her fingers and stared at her reflection on the glass windows of the office.

Her face was ruined, yet she smiled. She was made perfect before, there was no reason for it not to happen again. After all, what she now fought for was a new world order where perfection would rule. It would happen, and she would be queen side by side her king.

…

Jinwoon couldn’t breathe. He had received the incoming warnings on the attack on the Main Office, but everything had been such a blur. Between monitoring Hell’s activities at the main precinct, he had been almost completely unaware of the travesty that had occurred. He couldn’t find his voice even as everyone linked to his connection asked him what was wrong.

“The Main Office was breached,” he croaked.