Being able to phase through objects would probably sound like a cool ability to have, but as Yujin and the others fell through the flooring, they realized it was quite a jarring experience. It was completely dark for a couple seconds, everyone holding on to each other tightly in fear of being left stuck in the floor if they let go. Admittedly, Liz didn't know if her powers could be shared or how deep they'd be falling, but with Geun charging at them head on, she decided to trust her instincts.
Eventually, the four do end up exiting the darkness into the lab area below. Liz made sure to resolidify herself to keep them from falling any further, but that forced everyone to brace themselves as they crashed into some tables below.
"Ow..." Yujin groans as she slowly gets up and dusts herself off.
"You girls okay?" The puppy asks, seeing the others also trying to regain their bearings.
"Well, we're still alive, and isn't that what matters?" Wonyoung replies sarcastically. With her telekinesis weakened, she couldn't completely stop herself from hitting the ground, but she at least managed to slow herself before crashing. As the bunny looks around, she realizes they were now right in front of the cells Dr. Jeong had said their friends were in.
"Gaeul-unnie!" Rei suddenly says when she sees one of the cell occupants walk up to the glass to see what the commotion was.
"Rei? Is that you?" The short haired girl says in surprise.
"Yes, we're here to get you out." The Japanese girl replies. She turns to call Liz over, but realizes the blonde girl was still exhausted on the ground.
"I think she used up a bunch of energy phasing us through the ground. We'll work on getting everyone out. You stay with her." Yujin says, seeing the worried look on Rei's face.
"So, you must be Gaeul. Ah, I remember seeing in your file that you're older than me. Sorry, unnie." The puppy says with a laugh.
"Wait, are you the one who was there the other night?" Gaeul replies, recognizing Yujin's voice from when she was captured by Hunter Geun.
"Mhm, me and Wonyoung were passing by when we heard you fighting at the school. Anyway, no time to waste. Let's get you out of here." Before she could call over Wonyoung, who was unlocking Chaeyeon and Sakura's cells, to hand the security key though, a loud crash is heard overhead. A figure had jumped through the glass in the control room above and landed right in the middle of the cell area.
"You mutants have officially upset me. No more playing nice now." Hunter Geun, now sporting what appeared to be a type of armor. The burly man was covered with black scaly plating, and on his head was a spiky looking roman helmet. Meanwhile, on his back was some type of glowing battery.
"Didn't I say Halloween wasn't until October?" Yujin quips, getting into a fighting stance.
"I'm tired of this insolence. I would kill you like I did the weaker mutants if the deal permitted me, but I'll have to settle for beating you to a pulp instead."
"Weaker mutants? Are you saying you actually killed the other missing people." Yujin asks, rage starting to build within her.
"The scientists wanted to experiment on only the strongest ones. Everyone else we captured was of no use." He says with a shrug.
"Yah, you talk about taking lives so easily! You're crazy!" The puppy's emotions get the best of her, all the water flowing through the lab's pipes blasting towards Geun.
"Not this time." He replies, raising his hands forward to block the attack. His armor glowed and an energy shield was formed in front of him.
"What...?" Yujin mumbles in shock.
"You like that? Mutants aren't the only ones who can pack a punch now!" The man says with a laugh. He then takes out his pistol and fires at Yujin who manages to duck behind cover just in time to avoid it.
With Yujin out of sight, Geun shifts his attention to Rei who was still tending to Liz. The Japanese girl tried to rip his armor off, but it didn't appear that it was made of metal.
"Oh, I know about your powers, kid. Had this stuff made from non-magnetic polymers beforehand." Hunter Geun continues his attack, firing bullets at the group who couldn't do anything but hide behind tables and desks.
"Yujin-unnie! What're we going to do? Chaeyeon and Kkura-unnie are still unconscious." Wonyoung says worriedly. Yujin was racking her brain for any kind of plan, but was coming up with blanks.
"I think I can stop him!" Gaeul's voice suddenly interjects. "If you can get me out and cause a distraction that can get me close, I can shut him down."
"Alright, unnie. Wonyoung, you unlock her cell. Me and Rei will keep him busy." Yujin says before jumping out of cover and calling Geun out.
"Hey, ugly! Your aim's as ugly as your getup!l" The puppy shouts, firing another torrent of water that Geun easily blocks again. Rei then jumps in and sends a steel chair flying his way. The duo clearly had his attention now.
Meanwhile, Wonyoung carefully levitated the card key over Gaeul's cell until it reached the scanner. With a satisfying clink, the door slides open, giving Wonyoung the opportunity to break the short haired girl's handcuffs. Gaeul then gives the bunny a thumbs up before making her way towards Geun.
At this point, Yujin had launched so much water that the room was basically power washed. Rei had molded one of the broken metal pipes into a spear and launched it towards their adversary, but Geun simply grabbed it midair.
"I'm afraid you two are out of tricks." He says, snapping the metal spear like a twig. Yujin tried to blast more H2O, but the pipes had officially run out of water.
"Don't count us out yet!" Wonyoung then interjects, using all her remaining strength to try and lift Geun up, but his special boots were gripping to the ground. He was immovable right now.
"Don't you mutants see? Your time is coming, and you just don't want to accept it. You evolved to develop these powers, but we real humans are countering. This is only the beginning." Geun says, but in the middle of his monologue, Gaeul had finally managed to tiptoe her way around the edge of the room and get behind him.
"If this is just the beginning, maybe we should fast forward to the end then." Gaeul whispers before placing both of her hands on Geun's battery which promptly begins to deteriorate.
"Wait! No!!!" Geun tries to reach around and grab Gaeul, but she is too nimble. One downside to the man's suit was a lack of close range mobility. With his power source now corroded, Geun was left motionless, the weight of the armor too heavy for him to move on his own.
"If you can't see after everything you've done that the real problem in this world is people like you, then you must truly be lost." Yujin says while walking up to him with a smug face.
"Yah, you act like I'm the only one against you mutants. You will never be accepted in this world. I'll be back to-" Before he could finish his sentence, the puppy throws a right hook that immediately knocks the big man down which elicits a laugh from the other girls.
"What? I am so tired of his boring monologues." Yujin says with a shrug. Just when they think they're in the clear though the doors to the room suddenly open, about 20 soldiers sprinting in and taking aim at them.
"Oh, crud..." The puppy says, but in the blink of an eye, all of them are on the ground, writhing in pain.
"Thanks for leaving some baddies for us, Yuj." Chaeyeon jokes as she dusts herself off. She and Sakura had just woken up by the time Geun was taken out, and they couldn't have picked a better time to do so. Yujin and the others were completely tuckered out from the fight.
"Sorry for worrying you girls. We got a bit complacent and got gassed while downloading files from the control room. I see you managed to avoid the same fate." Sakura says apologetically.
"You can thank Liz for that!" Wonyoung says, pointing at the blonde girl who was being supported by Rei. She could finally walk now, but the Japanese girl wasn't taking any chances. After a quick round of introductions, Chaeyeon calls Yujin's attention.
"Yujin, can you and your team finish securing this room and make sure we didn't miss anything while Kkura and I go finish downloading and deleting the data upstairs? " The older girl asks.
"Wait, my team?" Yujin responds in confusion.
"Yes, your team. You managed to lead all of these girls well. Eunbi would be proud." Chaeyeon says with a big smile.
"Alright, unnie. I will." The puppy nods. "'Team leader', that had a nice ring to it." She thinks. When Sakura and Chaeyeon go off on their own again (after promising to be more careful), Yujin and her group finish restraining Geun and his soldiers.
"Wait, isn't there one more locked cell here? There might still be someone inside." Liz suddenly says, remembering seeing four silhouettes when she and Rei had looked down towards the cells earlier. Yujin makes her way over to the leftmost cell being referred to, peering inside to see that there was in fact a young girl in there who was curled up, clearly afraid of what had gone on outside.
"Oh my god, are you okay?" Wonyoung asks the girl after unlocking the door and walking up to her. The young girl only sniffles, pointing at a metal chain attached to her foot that Rei easily breaks off. When she does though, the girl begins floating into the air. Gaeul and Yujin quickly run to her side and keep her grounded.
"What's your name? I'm Yujin, and this is Wonyoung, Gaeul, Rei, and Liz." The puppy says calmly.
"My name is Lee Hyunseo, but you can call me Leeseo." She replies quietly.
"Okay, Leeseo, let's get you out of here and somewhere safe." Yujin says, taking the younger girl's hand and walking back to the control room with the others.
~~~~
"Sorry we were late, Kkura. We had one more person to rescue." Yujin says to the older girl when they arrive. At this, Leeseo pops up from behind Yujin and greets Sakura and Chaeyeon. The feather girl immediately runs up to the new arrival and starts babying her.
"I can't believe those people kept you down here all alone. We'll protect you from now on." Chaeyeon says, ruffling Leeseo's hair.
"I thought I was the maknae..." Wonyoung says with a pout.
"Oh don't worry, Wonyoungie. You'll always be IZ*ONE's baby." The older girl says before pinching the bunny's cheeks.
While this was going on, Yujin was in conversation with Sakura.
"We managed to delete a bunch of the anti-mutant weapon data, so hopefully this is the last time we hear about it." The tech-girl says with a tired sigh.
"Thanks, Kkura-unnie." The puppy says, but Sakura holds up her hand in protest.
"No, I should be the one thanking you and Wonyoung. We wouldn't have gotten out without you and your new friends. Now, let's get out of here. I sent a call to the police, and they should be here to arrest Geun soon. "
"I thought you said the police in this area were in league with him." The puppy says questioningly, but of course, Sakura had thought one step ahead.
"I called the main Seoul Police department to report corruption in the precinct first. Once Geun's cases are exposed, he'll probably be locked up for a long time." The older girl says with a smirk.
With that information out of the way, the group makes their way to the exit. They were in for a surprise though because once they opened the control room door, Dr. Yang was standing in front of them looking through the hallway.
"I can't believe I lost my ID. Where in the world could it be?" He asks himself absentmindedly.
"I think this is yours." Wonyoung then says, handing him the card they'd stolen.
"Oh, thanks- WAIT. The mutants???" He says, but before he could speak more, Chaeyeon swiftly knocks him out and restrains him.
~~~~
A few days later...
"This is SBS Morning News here to report updates on the arrest of Geun Kangdae earlier this week. Geun, the current head of the anti-mutant association was charged with several crimes including murder and conspiring with police. All parties involved in the illegal underground base in the Chungnam area were also arrested and charged. We will continue to provide new information as this case develops." Wonyoung smiles as she closes her laptop, hoping that was a good omen for today. When she woke up, Yujin was already gone, but she had a feeling she'd be seeing her quite soon as she heard a knock on her dorm room.
"Who is it?" She asks with a giggle. When no response comes though, she approaches the door and opens it to see a long white envelope on the ground.
"Hmm? What's this?" When she opened it, she saw what appeared to be a certificate, and once she read it, the bunny burst out laughing.
"'Your Birthday means my Birthday is coming soon' Award. Because your birthday is on August 31 today and my birthday is on September 1 tomorrow, I give you this award. I'm just kidding, from your Yujin-unnie who sincerely congratulates you on your birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! <3 P.S. Meet me at the cafeteria once you read this!"
"What a dork~" She says, still laughing before making her way to the aforementioned meeting place.
~~~~~
When Wonyoung entered the cafeteria, the lights were turned off and the windows were covered. She could definitely hear giggling in the background, but decided to play along. Once she arrived in the center, the lights all turned on to reveal all of her friends.
"Happy birthday, Wonyoungie!!!" Yujin greets, running up to the girl and putting a party hat on her head.
"You get my gift?" The puppy asks with a sly smile. Instead of words, the bunny replies first by planting a kiss on the older girl's cheek.
"Yeahp, and it was the best gift ever." Wonyoung had gotten many birthday gifts in her life that usually consisted of designer brands, but that gag gift of Yujin was the first to really move her heart.
"C'mon, you love birds, hurry up so we can cut the cake!" Yuri teases, causing the rest of the attendees to laugh. All of the IZ*ONE members were there, even Nako and Hitomi who had finally made the trip following Yujin's request a couple days ago. In addition, their new friends, Gaeul, Liz, Rei, and Leeseo were there as well. Since the events with Hunter Geun, Seunggi had offered the four refuge at the campus and even a chance to transfer from their schools over to continue their studies without prejudiced classmates.
"Thank you, everyone! I really mean it. This is the best birthday ever!" Wonyoung says cheerfully.
"That means my party tomorrow is going to have to be even better, alright guys?" Yujin jokes which elicited a mix of sarcastic groans and giggles. It was left to Eunbi again to settle everyone down.
"You and Yujin have shown a lot of growth in the past couple days. You both helped lead a new crew of mutants to a successful mission. I couldn't be more proud of you girls. Of course, you'll still always be a part of IZ*ONE, but I think it'd be good for you to continue training with the new recruits. Seunggi-sunbae did always say we had to start creating sub-teams." The leader says to the surprise of Wonyoung and Yujin. The eldest had finally given them full trust, which was another great gift to receive.
"So, what'll you call the team?" Chaeyeon asks curiously.
"How about Stargirls?" Yena suggests which only gets laughs.
"How about IVE? Like, 'I Have'." Wonyoung says. "Even if we're young, we still have a lot of skills we can show."
"Sounds cool to me." Gaeul replies, the others nodding in agreement.
"Well, that settles it. Congratulations to our new team, IVE." Eunbi announces with a proud smile.
"We won't let you down, unnie, and we'll always be here if you need us to." Yujin says before clearing her throat. "Alright, girls, are you ready to party?!?"
~~~~
For the rest of the day, everyone had fun, partied, and ate a lot of good food. Somewhere around the afternoon though, the IZ*ONE maknaes managed to sneak off and find some alone time.
"Are you excited about our new team?" Wonyoung asks as the two sit on a bench by the campus forest side by side.
"Mhm, it's gonna be a new experience, but I'm sure we'll be able to help a lot more people by leading Gaeul-unnie and the others." Yujin replies. IZ*ONE was only a group of 12, and there were only so many problems they could handle before being spread too thin. Yujin took this new task as a challenge, and she wouldn't let it go to waste.
"Oh, by the way, what do you wanna do for your birthday, unnie?" Wonyoung then asks to change the topic. She would miss being with Eunbi and the others all the time, but she did always want to feel what it was like being an unnie.
"Anything that involves you will be perfect for me, Wonnie~" The older girl says which earns her a playful smack for the cheesiness. "Okay, I'd definitely like to have another party with the others, but I actually wanted to visit my mother since it's been a while... would you like to come?"
"Of course, silly. I'd be honored to meet her. We can go there tomorrow afternoon." The bunny says with a smile, snuggling up next to the puppy. It was only the beginning for the two young girls.
A/N: Aaand that's a wrap for Venator, the Annyeongz story! It was fun to try and incorporate the IVE members into this AU. This definitely won't be the last time you've heard from them. Next up is either KkuChaen or KangBi, but I haven't decided which one yet.
Hopefully you guys enjoyed this story! It's been nice seeing how this story has attracted new people to start reading the prequels to catch up. I appreciate all the likes and comments a lot! Also, since I found out some people on twt didn't know this story was mine, I'll put it here again: @TofuBeagle22.
Just in case anyone has any questions they're shy to ask, i also made a CC: (https://curiouscat.live/TofuBeagle22) that is also on my twt.
Thank you all so much again, and I'll see you in the next one!