Project IZ*ONE: Secret Files

Venator: Part 4

Now that they were inside, the two more experienced girls took the lead in looking around for any clues on where the base entrance was. It still did look like a regular pharmacy, medicine and different types of tablets lined up on the storage shelves next to them, but they weren't going to allow themselves to be fooled. There was always more to these places than meets the eye.

"There has to be a hidden button or lever around here." Yujin mumbles while sifting through some drawers, but all she could find were log books that didn't have any important information on them.

"Unnie, I think I found something." Rei suddenly says to get the older girl's attention.

"What is it?"

"I was just sensing around for any metal and felt something different over there." She then points to a blank wall across from the entrance. Wonyoung walks up to it and knocks her hand on it, realizing it was in fact, metal compared to the concrete walls next to it. Rei then quickly uses her powers and pulls the hidden door off its hinges.

"Okay, I was hoping for a little more subtlety, Rei." Yujin says, relieved that no alarms went off because of that.

"Oh, my bad, unnie. I can connect it back good as new once we're inside." The Japanese girl says in an embarrassed tone.

"Don't sweat it. We all make rookie mistakes." Wonyoung reassures, patting Rei on the shoulder before walking through the hidden entrance with the others. Rei then lifts the metal doors and reattaches them to the wall, copper wires melding themselves back to hold it together. The group followed the narrow path until they arrived at what appeared to be an elevator that only had two buttons inside.

"Going down, I guess." Yujin presses the button and the group is lowered below.

~~~~

At this point, Yujin and Wonyoung had been in several of these hidden bases, so they were rather calm as the elevator descended. On the other hand though, the gravity of their mission was only just setting in on the two newbies.

"So, the guards here are going to have weapons, right? Do we just knock them out?" Liz asks nervously. While she and Rei had a level of excitement earlier at using their powers, the prospect of actually fighting people like the ones who attacked them earlier hadn't fully sunk in. Wonyoung and Yujin had dealt with them fairly easily, but if two of their older teammates were captured down here, that meant they'd be facing something much worse.

"I'm gonna be honest. It will be dangerous, but in our lives, when is anything not?" Yujin replies after some silence, sensing their apprehension. She and Wonyoung were lucky to have the older girls to take the lead in their first missions, but they didn't have that luxury this time. The puppy thought about what Eunbi would do in this situation and felt a mix of realism and optimism would be the best course of action.

"We have to trust not only in our powers but each other to keep each other safe. We'll try to sneak around as much as we can to not alert anyone, but when push comes to shove, we will have to fight." Rei and Liz look at each other before returning a nod to the older girl. It wasn't a matter of if they were ready, but more of that they had to be ready. A couple seconds later, the elevator dings, announcing they have arrived at their destination.

Wonyoung peeps around the corridors first, and signals the group to move when the coast is clear. The place didn't seem nearly as guarded as they expected it to be. Then again, if this was just the remnants of Ahn Joon-young's syndicate, it made sense that they'd be understaffed.

"That must be why they're partnering with Hunter Geun and his cronies..." The bunny realizes. Despite the lack of security, they still had to keep their guard up. Sakura and Chaeyeon were caught for a reason.