Project IZ*ONE III

Chapter 13- A Not So Clean Getaway

"Ms. Choi, why are you standing still? No one said you could stop yet. We know you still have more energy to give." The scientist says to Yena who was heaving hard. She had been supplying electricity to the facility for hours on end and though it was true she still had power coursing through her body, Yena's eyes were beginning to feel heavy. She was this close to just collapsing and falling asleep on the spot.

"Give me a break... how much more do you even need?" Yena slurs.

"As much as we want. You have no leverage here. Or do you need me to remind you what happens if you don't comply?" Again, the man brings up a camera feed of Yuri's cell. She looked like she was in terrible shape. Her eyes were half shut, but her mouth appeared to be moving as if she was saying something. Yena couldn't discern what it was though because of the mask covering her mouth.

"No... don't-" Before Yena can finish her request, the scientist presses a button and Yuri's body goes limp. Yena's eyes widened in shock and anger at the man's heartlessness.

"Just remember, this is your fault, Ms. Choi." He says with a chuckle.

"YAH! WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, I SWEAR!" Yena screams. She was absolutely livid right now, her hands crackling with electricity that she fired towards the scientist. Unfortunately, her attack was simply absorbed into the walls like they've been the whole time.

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it? Keep at it, and your friend will live." The scientist says before leaving the room again.

"What am I going to do..." Yena mumbles, falling onto her knees. That's when she began to notice something though. As her hands were on the ground, she could feel the slight tingle of electricity flowing through the room.

Huh? Wait a minute... Yena tries absorbing the power herself and was surprised when she began to feel re-energized.

Oh, you messed up big time. She thinks as she starts to siphon all the electricity she'd spent back into her body. It only took a couple minutes before the scientist burst back into the room.

"Yah! What are you doing? The power levels have dropped tremendously!" He says angrily, but when she sees Yena, a feeling of dread rises up within him.

"W-what in the world?" He stammers. Yena was coated in a bright yellow glow and was staring right at him. When she takes a step towards the wall, the man simultaneously takes a step back.

"S-stay back! Your friend's life is still in my hands!" The scientist tries to threaten, but Yena keeps walking closer.

"Then I guess I'm going to have to take it back into mine." Yena says before letting out a defiant yell. The power she'd been absorbing is released all at once and the entire room explodes.

When the dust settled, all that was left was Yena standing in the center of the blast zone. The yellow aura around her had faded, but the anger in her eyes was still very much there.

"I'm coming to save you, Yuri." She says before running down one of the corridors.

~~~~

"You alright, Chae?" Minjoo asks as they make their way down the halls. She'd noticed her girlfriend was a bit jumpier than usual. Every turn they'd make, she'd hide at the back of the line, and when they'd run into a group of soldiers, Chaewon was doing more dodging than hitting. It was as if she was afraid.

"H-huh? Of course I'm fine, Min. Why wouldn't I be? I'm not worried at all." Chaewon replies quickly. The way she rushed and stuttered didn't exactly soothe Minjoo's worries. Before she could prod further though, Eunbi speaks up from the front.

"Alright, it looks like we're getting close to where that explosion was." She says, pointing at the smoke floating in the air from a hall in front of them. Given that Sakura was somewhere here to fix her eyes and she hadn't written the plan down on paper, Eunbi felt comfortable with removing her blindfold for this part of the mission.