4. Project IZ*ONE III

Chapter 26- Hold the Line

Maybe I can buy everyone time to escape... She thinks, but just as she was about to fire, another gun fires from behind her and strikes an android right between the eyes.

"Unnie! We're here!" Chaeyoung calls, Nagyung and Jiheon right behind her with pistols drawn.

"No! Stay back! They're not after you!" Saerom says, holding her palm out to tell them to stop.

"I'm assuming these three aren't mutants then. Speaking of your team, I don't see Hayoung around, so she must be one as well." Hwang then turns to Saerom's friends and continues. "You three, I'm willing to overlook your involvement if you forget any of this happened. We can appoint a new leader afterwards."

Saerom wouldn't blame them for turning on her now. There wasn't really a benefit in siding with her given the situation. She might've even encouraged them to do it if Jiheon didn't speak up first.

"Yeah, right. Do you have any idea how much Saerom-unnie and Hayoung-unnie's powers have helped us solve cases over the months? They're also our friends. Eat dirt!" The youngest says.

"I guess you're all complicit then. I'm taking you all in!" Hwang yells before ordering his androids to fire. Given that Fromis' team was the top squad in the station, they were skilled enough to dodge the attacks. They countered by firing their weapons, but as expected, the bullets just ricochet off the androids' bodies. All around them, the crowd was in panic as stray shots would occasionally go their way.

"Hwang! The civilians! Are you crazy?" Chaeyoung shouts, and these words seem to finally get through to the chief. He takes a good look around for the first time, seeing the androids cause carnage.

"Wait, what am I doing... this isn't what I wanted!" He says, pressing a button to shut down the machines, but it wouldn't work. It appeared the remote control had already been overridden.

"I-It won't work!" Hwang trills, shock written all over his face. While this is all happening, Saerom finally has a misstep and gets hit in the leg by an attack.

"Unnie!" Nagyung yells, too far away to help.

So, this is it? Saerom thinks, realizing that there wasn't anything she could do as the android walked up to her. Her only solace was that the androids might leave her friends alone once she was taken out. She didn't close her eyes and decided to stare down the android defiantly as it held up its cannon to her face. Just as it was about to fire though, a new figure jumps in the way and absorbs the attack.

"Who are you?" Saerom asks the woman whose back was facing her, hands emanating with energy. The aforementioned girl turns and smiles at her.

"My name is Jang Gyuri." She replies before blasting the android with an energy attack of her own.

~~~~

"I hear something..." Hayoung says. She and her group had been scouring Myeong-dong for any sign of the upcoming attack until Hayoung heard the faint sound of motors humming and gears calibrating.

"Androids?" Jiwon asks.

"Yeah, they must be scanning the area for mutants." The older girl replies.

"We need to get their attention away from this area." Seoyeon says, gesturing to all the people around them. If the androids scanned a mutant near them, they might cause a lot of chaos. Hayoung thinks before her eyes land on a convenience store near them.

"No, unnie. Don't do what I think you're going to do." Jisun says after following Hayoung's gaze.

"Trust me. It'll be fine." She says before running in and buying a bottle of Jirisan Spring water. The second Hayoung took a sip, she could tell something about the water was different. There was a metallic tang to it that stuck out compared to a regular bottle.