Mouthing a string of colourful swear words, I waited two beats before glancing around the corner. What I saw made my stomach drop. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I grabbed Jack's wrist and we sprinted down the alley. Probably due to the grim expression I had on my face, he didn't say a word.

For a while anyway.

"Mind explaining what's going on, Hazura?"

"I may or may not have insulted some King or what-not of theirs." I replied, chuckling weakly.

"Some King?!"

We finally made it back to the hideout and unfortunately, everyone was already lingering around the main door inside.

"What about the King?" Brian questioned, tilting his head.

"Did you do something bad again Hazura?" teased Steve, "You know, for our squad leader you can be really-"

"Steve, shut it." I sighed.

"Yes, ma'am."

"It looks like we're being hunted again."

"What?! The MPs are out again?" Soph exclaimed, rushing up to me. I held out a hand for her to keep her distance.

"No, another type of human is hunting us. Thing is, they only hunt in the UnderGround."

"I think you should clarify what exactly we're up against, Hazura. It's only fair." Jack suggested, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I blew out a breath of air in defeat.

"I know, I know. Look, long story short, I ran in different circles before I joined the Scouting Legions. One of my circles ran UnderGround and I had managed to use that old connection, even after I joined the Corps. When I did my stunt in the MP as an investigator, I got in contact with the UnderGround. Specifically, with John Mizuka. Things went around and eventually, Mizuka got arrested and put into prison, most likely because of me. Jack and I saw Mizuka's right-hand men in the streets and it seems like they want to take me down. Using you guys."

There was bout of silence as that sunk in. Guilt slowly crept over me. I had put my team in danger. Again.

"So," Linda spoke up, breaking my focus. I looked up at her and the gentle smile she had on her face forced all my self-guilt away. "When do we leave?"

I narrowed my eyes as my brain landed on the best, yet the worst, decision to make. My team waited patiently, almost eagerly.

"Tonight."

"The UnderGround has multiple exits out but the ones that are closest enough for us to travel are limited down to 3. Doc and Linda are, quite frankly, out of the picture to fight anyone head on." Jack glanced over at the two, to which they shrugged in acknowledgement. "Also, myself, Brian and Soph are out of 3DMG gas cannisters so moving quickly and by air is out of the question."

"Obviously, our aim is to get out of the UnderGround. Once we're out, those thugs will have no jurisdiction. By sheer luck, we're right underneath the location of a massive night market happening in the Wall Rose area." I pointed right above us, quite literally emphasizing where we were relative to the market. "Once we make it out of any of the 3 exits, blend in with the crowd and rendezvous at this location."

I spread out a map which Soph had acquired and stabbed my finger at a building.

"Escaping during the day would allow us more crowd to disperse into, however these Mizuka thugs will be setting up tunnel blocks as we speak. Getting out after the blocks are set up during the day will be much harder than getting out before they're set up at night. Hence why we're moving tonight." Steve mused, also getting into it.

"They don't know where we're currently hiding and so will need road blocks at every exit. Based on my memory of where their main base is, we're assuming they'll be closing those exits closest to them before wrapping around the outer edges. That leaves us with Exit 2 as the best one to leave through."

"So you and I will watch and act as decoys?"

I nodded at Steve as confirmation. "If necessary, we'll draw them away from Exit 2, long enough for the group to get out."

"And the Maze? How do we navigate ourselves out there?" Soph questioned, eyeing the map.

"Once you enter it, take 2 lefts and then a right. That should take you to a four-way crossroads. Stay there and Steve and I will come lead you out. We'll give you guys roughly 15 minutes to at least get through the exit before we come for you – just enough time from here to the exit, even with Linda."

"Shouldn't we stay together?" the Doc piped up, uncertain.

"Without Hazura and Steve, our group is already large enough to attract the eye. We need some sort of distraction to take that attention off of us. They're the loudest out of the group." Brian shrugged.

I blinked at him, pointedly raising an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Point is, we should split up to some degree."

"What if someone discovers us in the Maze?" Soph questioned, raising her hand. I chuckled at the action.

"Then I'm sure you guys can take care of it."

"Understood." She grinned.

I clapped my hands, rubbing them together. Jack rolled up the map and handed it over to Soph. My team fidgeted in their places and I couldn't blame them. We were trained to constantly move and work on our feet, so hiding in one spot could not have been easy for them. Even Linda stood up on her feet, supported by the Doc and with a determined look on her. I nodded to the entire room.

"Let's begin."