Seonghwa surveyed Hala Hala from the towering shoulder of Yeosang's EXO suit. After escaping the arena he waved Yeosang down and was scooped up by his giant hand. The knight had taken severe damage and was barely operational, but they both hoped it would hold together long enough to get them to the extraction point. He held on tightly to its tattered frame as they ran through the outskirts of the city to make it on time to board the ship.

The glittering cityscape beside them was covered with a dense fog that was impossible to see through. They used this to their advantage as the traversed the lesser known roads to stay a step ahead of Yuyaga's guards. After the fight they'd given chase and Uranaan received the brunt of the gunfire, nearly destroying the suit for good. Yeosang threw himself into the fray and deflected the attacks and then crushed the retreating guards beneath his feet.

The air that whistled around them was freezing cold and Seonghwa shivered, his breath pluming out from between his chattering teeth. He looked at Uranaan who slinked over the ground in front of them, hydraulics hissing as it's ruined armor dragged along the wet pavement beneath his body.

"So who the hell is Uranaan?" Seonghwa called down to Yeosang who was still strapped in the exposed heart. His piercing azure eyes glanced up at him through the blue glow of the inner chamber. He still had dried blood covering his face beneath his hair that was damp with sweat. The navigator's body was completely drained of energy but he continued to push on. It'd been so long that he'd been in a fight that it was taking a huge toll on him physically.

"One of Monster's men," He answered flatly. "The entire fight was staged from the beginning."

Then he explained to Seonghwa that before entering the arena Yoongi had let him in on Monster's plan. He told him to convince the crowds he was fighting hard for his life but Uranaan would throw the fight and let him win. And then he said to be prepared to make an escape when Uranaan started shooting.

"So he did this to have a guaranteed payout no matter who won?" Seonghwa scoffed. He knew greed could be a powerful motivator to weaker minded men but he had a high opinion of the chop shop owner. Monster reminded Seonghwa a lot of their captain in the way he looked after his men. Once he accepted you into his family he would lay down his life to protect yours no matter the cost.

Seonghwa smiled to himself. The eight of them were brothers forged with a bond that ran far deeper than blood.

"The gold was only a small part of it," Yeosang stated as the city lights grew dimmer around them. The EXO pilots veered away from the populated area and ran over the rocky ground. Seonghwa readjusted his grip on the suit as they ran, trying to keep his boots planted firmly on the knight's armor. They followed Uranaan's green lights into the inky black as he guided them to their destination. The navigator knew they must've been getting close. "As far as I knew he had this planned long before Jongho was imprisoned. Long before any of us ever got involved..."

"What plan are you talking about?" Seonghwa asked curiously.

"Monster wanted to kill him," Yeosang replied wincing as exhaustion began taking its toll. The knight was barely keeping together as they neared the extraction point. He saw faint lights in the distance as the crew signaled to them through the fog. "He wanted revenge on Yuyaga..."

~Ten's POV~

Monster's men stood wary at the extraction point guns at the ready and eyes trained on the low lying fog that surrounded the port. San, Wooyoung, and I sat astride Cerber as she trotted into their line of sight, ears pinned to her head as she eyed the men warily. San ran his hands over her russet fur trying to calm the three headed dog down. I saw the three men relax once they recognized us and V let out a low whistle as a signal. My eyes came to rest on a smoking Motorblade lying on its side on the ground. So someone else must've made it here before us, I thought to myself, feeling relief wash over me.

The door swung wide and a battered looking Monster limped out to meet us. He had a fresh black eye and a split lip from the recent fight. He never let go of his gun as he closely surveyed the land around the meeting place. The tension was thick in the air and everyone was thrumming with anxiety, clearly on edge. "Star King and Mingi are waiting for you three inside."

My stomach did and odd flip at the mention of the captain.

"So we're still waiting on Seonghwa and Yeosang?" San asked as he helped a shaking Wooyoung off the back of Cerber. His face was twisted into a grimace when he landed on his feet and San held his arms out to steady him. Monster nodded his head eyes traveling over Cerber's hulking form. "Yes they should be arriving with Jungkook at any moment."

"God I'm fine San." Wooyoung hissed at his friend trying to wave off his hands. "Like I said I'll feel better once we're back at the ATEEZ. I just want to get shitfaced, take a boiling hot shower and maybe even sleep if I'm lucky," Then he sniffed himself hesitantly and shuddered. "Ugh, kill enough of those bottoms dwelling bastards and you start smelling like them..." He gagged limping through the open doorway with San close behind. After a moment Monster turned to look at me with a faint smile on his lips.

"Glad to see you're back from the dead, Ten." He said softly. I smiled remembering how he'd said that to me once before in what felt like a lifetime ago. He looked down at the wound that had begun to seep back onto my shirt and his eyes filled with concern.

"Is that from the ships damage?"

I wrapped my arms around my chest feeling the pain begin to bite back. Yunho had cleaned and bandaged it before I left for Aquaceria but it was still healing far too slowly.

"So has Jin arrived?" I inquired remembering the dark haired man who had smuggled Cerber and I down here in the first place. He was older than the pale haired leader but acted as a loyal second in command to Monster. The chop shop owner studied me for a moment before nodding. "He's close," Monster answered looking over at Cerber who perked all six of her ears up. "We'll take care of the Cerberus and bring her safely to the surface once he arrives."

"Thank you Monster," I said gratefully sidestepping around him through the open doorway. He laid a warm hand over my shoulder to stop me and I gave pause looking up into his brown eyes.

"I want you to know I'm getting close to figuring out how to do a system wipe for you," He said quietly before shooting a look behind him to where Wooyoung and San stood waiting for me. "That is if you're sure you still want it. But remember it's irreversible if you go through with it."

I considered his words and gave him a small nod. The nightmares painfully clouded my mind and now bled over into my waking hours. Ever since they began I could feel myself losing focus and feeling things that were far too human, too vivid. I was terrified of what memory would surface next and what horrible fresh revelation it'd show me. "I'm sure."

When Monster smiled at me again it seemed as though there was another emotion inside of him fighting for dominance. "You're a strong girl, Ten. You remind me of someone I used to know..." His eyes were downcast and he took a deep steadying breath.

My eyebrows drew together at a loss for what to say to Monster who was obviously upset for some reason. "Are you unwell?"

"No I'm feeling fine all things considered," He chuckled mirthlessly squeezing my shoulder once before dropping his hand. "You should head inside and be with your crew." He gripped his gun and look out to the city of Hala Hala, his dark eyes reflecting its faint lights. I knew there was more that he wanted to say but this was neither the place nor the time to do it. I bowed my head slightly and turned back to the two men waiting for me.

The inside of the dock was dark and smelled of mildew. Broken crates and moldy coils of rope sat in piles in the corners of the room. A nearly burned out lightbulb illuminated a glass hull affixed to the scaled back of an enslaved leviathan. The massive beast waited, body bobbing gently in the cold seawater as the hatch opened with a hiss. Wooyoung and San carefully climbed down inside the hole with San waving at me to follow them.

I jogged over the wet cement and climbed in through the open hatch, swinging my leg onto a ladder rung leading down. Once my foot hit the last step I turned and saw San and Wooyoung sitting side by side behind the main controls. Mingi turned and looked at me his scales glittering in the light from a nearby monitor. My eyes came to rest on a very pale Star King that sat behind the controls looking as if he'd fall over at any moment.

"Your vitals show you're under too much stress," I told the Star King as he kept his back turned to me. "My scans also show that you've been injured..." My voice trailed off as I looked at the deep gash in his shoulder. My throat tightened at the sight and I clenched my hands into fists at my sides.

The urge I had to reach out and touch him left me feeling confused.

"I'll be alright," He mumbled while offering me a weak smile over his shoulder before turning his concentration back to the task at hand. "Let's just focus on getting back to the ship."

"Understood," I replied as I went over to sit on the other side of San strapping myself in for departure.

Suddenly we could hear the sounds of popping of distant gunshots and my head shot up to look at the opened latch, a frantic V peeking inside.

"What's happening out there?" The Star King demanded leaping up from his seat and grabbing his gun. He winced and stumbled, gripping the back of his chair for support.

"We were signaling to Jungkook and your men but they brought guards with them," He said quickly disappearing for a second as the sounds of gunfire got closer. "Those bastards were probably tailing them this whole time... Look we'll hold them off and get your men to the surface but you guys need to get the hell out of here!" He demanded urgently. "This leviathan is taking up too much space for Jin to dock!"

Star King looked torn between staying to fight for Yeosang and Seonghwa or getting the rest of us to the surface.

"Hongjoong I can't pilot the leviathan alone," Mingi said firmly gripping the captain's arm who tried to pull away. "Trust in Monster and his men!" He yelled making his beading necklace flare their black light.

Stricken the Star King sat back down with a growl of frustration in the pilot seat and flipped a few switches. We were all flooded in green light as he took control alongside his second in command and V slammed the latch shut to lock it in place. The hull reared up as the leviathan bellowed and black water enveloped the ship as we dropped into the sea.

For a second there was nothing but total darkness and the sound of the crew's panicked breathing. My night vision activated and I could see we were descending to the ocean floor, plumes of sand billowing around the glass and obstructing my view. The only thing visible was the leviathan's scarred back as it slithered through the water, the ship swaying from its movement.

Once the sand cleared I was able to look around the water only to discover we were swimming through a moving mass of seaweed. The roiling green tendrils brushed over the ship like arms trying to stop us from leaving. I scanned multiple heat signatures of different sea creatures that quickly disappeared into the cold waters upon the leviathan's approach.

"We'll stay low to the ocean floor and hopefully we won't be spotted if they decide to chase after us," The captain explained to Mingi swiveling in his chair to view the screens of a monitor. Mingi nodded his head but never broke concentration, his knuckles turning white from gripping the controls.

I swiftly unbuckled myself and walked to the back of the hull to scan through the glass at the back. I didn't spot anything abnormal as I looked carefully over the parted green curtain of seaweed. The sound of the water whooshing over the hull was a constant noise in the background.

"Everything will be alright," I overheard Mingi try and reassure an obviously troubled Star King. "You know a few guards wouldn't stand a chance in a firefight against two experienced EXO suits and Monster's men."

The Star King was silent at his words his eyes never leaving the monitors. His heart rate was steadily increasing and his stress levels spiked. "If they die because I didn't stay behind, Mingi—" He began before roughly clearing his throat.

"I know Hongjoong," Mingi said ruffling his captain's dirty blond hair who loudly protested. "But we've gotten out of far worse scraps than this one."

"And we got Jongho's location," San interjected looking in the direction of control. "We're all going to be together again soon captain. I can feel it..."

Wooyoung grunted in his seat and chuckled. "We're always knee deep in shit no matter where we go but... There's no one else I'd rather fight beside than my brothers, and there's no captain I'd rather follow..." Wooyoung said bashfully leaning his head back against the seat. A flush crept up to his cheeks and San laughed at his side, flashing his crewmate a dimpled smile.

I felt my chest tightening at the scene in front of me and felt my lips turn up at the corners.

At the assurance of his men, the Star King's vitals began to stabilize and dropped down into more normal ranges. He sniffed and turned his attention to look at his crew. "I'd much rather die than let anything ever happen to any of you."

Mingi smiled wide as his eyes turned to two crescents and clapped a hand on the Star King's shoulder. The captain hissed as he touched his wound and his second in command immediately sputtered a hasty apology.

San and Wooyoung laughed raucously as the captain and his second bickered at the controls, the Star King whined and Mingi continued to spew apologies. I looked to the floor suddenly feeling self conscious. Like an outsider that saw something that was not meant for my eyes to see. I was pulled back from my thoughts when the captain cleared his throat.

"And that means you too," The Star King said softly as I glanced up to meet his tender gaze. "I want to keep you safe too. You're one of us now and that also makes you family, Ten."

And in that moment he smiled a smile that never looked so perfect. There was something there that pulled me to him, hidden in the color of his eyes or the bend his lips that left me breathless and aching for something I never knew I wanted. The feeling that came over me was overwhelming and I turned back to the rear window feeling a sudden rush of heat in my face.

What's happening to me?

Then when I looked back out the window I was violently grounded back in reality. There was one heat signature that was rapidly approaching the leviathan from the way we'd come. At the pace it was traveling it was going to be on us in minutes if not seconds.

"What the hell is that?" Mingi shouted as an alarm blared overhead causing everyone to clamp their hands over their ears.

I looked up and saw a small hairline fracture where we'd been hit and blinked as a cold drop plopped onto my forehead.

"They're shooting at us," I whispered turning to the crew. "If we get hit any more we'll take on too much water and the hull will be filled before we reach the surface."

"Yuyaga's guards," The Star King growled. "They've caught up to us..."

"But if they're chasing us that does that mean—" San began before he was interrupted by a second bullet that hit the hull. It tore through the metal in a screech and caused seawater to gush onto the floor in a steady stream near my feet. Even in this situation when we should've been panicking there was a silence as ice cold realization settled over all of us.

"Monster's men didn't hold them back..." The Star King whispered defeated.

~AUTHOR'S NOTE~

We're coming up to the end my friends!! I have a lot of amazing ideas for the next volume and I honestly cannot wait to start writing it.:) There's still going to be a ton of action but we're going to start delving deeper into the crew's pasts and Ten's of course.

As always thank you so much for your votes, comments, and continued support because it honestly keeps me going. And if there's any clarification you need or if you'd like to tell me what you think I invite you to private message me. I love having open communication with the people who read my story!

I hope you guys have a wonderful rest of your week.

-InBrilliantViolet (Jess)❤️