Hongjoong and San joined the group at the hideout the next day. On their way there, Jongho had accidentally bruised Yeosang's arm when he had yanked the librarian into a dark building entrance too brusquely upon spotting two passing guards. He had apologised profusely during their way there, but Yeosang had brushed it off with a laugh. By the time they cramped into the little room Mingi used for tinkering with all of their friends, the topic was already forgotten. Sometimes, Jongho merely rubbed his shoulder in apology.

"I think taking Mingi with us is out of the question. Does anybody want to stay with him here in case anything happens?" Hongjoong's eyes instinctively found Seonghwa. The prince's arm was patched up once more where some shards had ripped deep wounds into his body upon the Puppeteer's impact with the castle. Despite being so close to the throne, he had been lucky to get away with a few bruises, but Hongjoong was still worried about him. Since he was their key figure, there was no way he would stay, though.

"I want to nominate Yunho. If he gets worse, you know how to help him, and you can fend off anybody who might come in here," Jongho suggested. Mingi's eyes lit up at the idea, but Yunho drew his eyebrows together. When he crossed his arms, Jongho knew he had lost.

"No, I have been working towards this day for too long and command the rebels. As much as they would also obey Seonghwa's orders, I won't abide the storm here. My apologies, Mingi."

The redhair waved it off casually. With his injured leg stretched out in front of him, he sat on the bed and tinkered with another weapon. Bricky hopped around on his thigh to watch him curiously from brass eyes. For now, both of them were safer staying here.

"We need Wooyoung, too, and Yeosang is trying to use telepathy on me so I won't even mention him." Hongjoong's amused voice had Yeosang lower his eyes from his face shyly. Jongho brushed their shoulders together. Since Yeosang had been the one to get the cogs running for their endeavours, it would be unfair to leave him behind on such an important day.

"I could stay. I think Yunho will fill in any purpose I accomplish in the palace. If he gives me a rundown of the procedure, I can definitely take care of Mingi, as well." At the many pairs of eyes that found him, San just shrugged. Then, he glanced between Seonghwa and Hongjoong.

"That is an option, yes. While we are gone, Mingi can tell you how to contact the guilds and ask for their alert. We need them to hold up any issues within Zey while the rebels take care of Asora," Seonghwa agreed in place of Hongjoong. In the few weeks they had known each other, they had become a machine that worked fluidly and without any hitches. All the screws were in place in their bond.

San nodded, agreeable, and moved over to sit down next to Mingi. His long legs stretched out alongside him as he motioned Bricky to come to play with him.

"Then what is our next bet?" Expectant, Yunho leaned against the wall. At his sudden shift of attention, Hongjoong grinned brightly underneath his goggles.

"I had a theory that I need affirmation for. Do we know what lies beneath the throne room? I believe that the king might have fallen with the rubble of the throne." Hongjoong played with the dirty scarf that he wore around his neck at all times. It tangled with his multiple necklaces he donned in addition to them, and that seemed incredibly impractical in Jongho's eyes, but they suited the eccentric man.

"Just the entrance hall, I believe. If he did fall, then we'd spot him right away if we used the main entrance." Wooyoung received affirmation from Seonghwa.

"So chances are high that they already moved him, right? Which places in the palace are considered safe for him?" Hongjoong's question had all of them scratch their heads.

Jongho spoke up, instantly gathering the attention of everyone.

"Actually, it could be that they aren't able to access him. When he fell from the second floor, he disconnected from the cables that filled him with energy. No doubt, the machinery in his body is currently fickle and unstable. They need an expert to hook him up again without it discharging and killing anybody in touch with it instantly. Nethicite is fragile, and I was already surprised that he didn't explode upon impact."

Hence why Mingi had built the gun to confuse the magnetic domain. If attacked directly, the Bishops would probably have the same explosive properties as Yunho's squad had three years ago.

Impressed, Hongjoong nodded at him. Mingi cheered quietly from the bed and without moving his leg too much.

"True words, master mechanic. I might have an idea, then."

Silence spread between them when his eyes glinted suspiciously. Then, Seonghwa tiredly rubbed his face in an attempt to hide the grin that spread upon it.

"You want to crash your ship in the building again, don't you?"

"I won't lie, it was a benjo last time, and I need a new one anyway. Might as well utilise it until the last minute."

Seonghwa looked slightly concerned at the maniac tendencies of his lover, but he agreed easily enough. Another attack of that kind would certainly be the last thing the enemy expected. Jongho also appreciated the speed and utility of that technique. Once Seonghwa nodded, a plan started to develop in front of their eyes gradually.

"So what is beneath that floor? In case we need to dip deeper?" Yeosang's question had all of them await Seonghwa's jurisdiction, but this time, it was Yunho who replied.

"The breeding ground. It's where they build their darned automatons." Dark and chilly, his voice reached even the darkest corners of the room. San shifted on the bed uncomfortably, but Hongjoong took it with ease.

"A deserving place for him to die in. I'll try to angle the ship to destroy as much of them as possible. Once the nightmare is over, the city can work together in their disassembly."

Jongho's curiosity had spiked. His love for machines went deep, and he wouldn't mind collecting some inspiration and blueprints from down there. Not to build killer machines, but to get behind the system they used for new inventions. Once they had assigned all their roles, he would ask Yunho about it.

For now, it was time for Seonghwa to become a concerned boyfriend. His hand rose to grasp Hongjoong's shoulder and turn the man towards him with gentle pressure.

"Joong. That's dangerous. I know you have your rules and ideas concerning your help in this mission, but I don't want to collect your individual pieces from the ground after we're done there."

While they sorted out their requirements, Jongho wandered over to sit on the ground next to Mingi. As the mechanic babbled about his injury and how he felt, Jongho found his gaze stuck on Yeosang and Yunho, who laughed together about something Yunho had said. Seeing the two of them together rose Jongho's spirits considerably. Also - but he wouldn't tell Yeosang that - as broad as the prince might be, he still looked tiny next to Jongho's tall brother.

"I already have ideas! You know how some nobles with major illnesses have those chairs with wheels on them? We could build one while they are gone!"

San inclined his head just how Bricky would with hesitation written all over his face.

"Do you have that skill? Besides, we still wouldn't be able to get you across. There aren't exactly bridges over the canyon."

The grin on Mingi's face was infectious and had both Jongho and San listen to his every word.

"But there will be! And you and I will roll over it the very first and show people that there is nothing to fear!" Like a mastermind planning his ultimate evil plan, Mingi rubbed his hands. The action also reminded Jongho of a fly.

"We can try. Better than fretting over whatever might be going on with the rest of the lads on the other side. The castle was terrifying, and I'm far less invested than the rest of you." When his slippery jacket gradually brushed off his shoulder to show off the naked skin of a muscular arm, Jongho heard someone trip behind them. Wooyoung, probably. Funnily enough, San never got bored of seeing people blow gaskets over the same few properties of him again and again.

Jongho left them to their planning when Seonghwa and Hongjoong came back over. The worried wrinkles on Seonghwa's forehead had yet to smooth out, but Hongjoong had wrapped an arm around his waist by now to hold him close reassuringly.

"So, are we going to ram the airship in the poor palace once more?" Wooyoung fiddled with his thumbs as he asked. When his eyes flickered over to San, Jongho caught them knowingly. When the guard blushed and concentrated on his hands again, Jongho nudged San to nod his chin at him. In inaudible coo fell from San's lips.

"I'm going to ram the airship in the poor palace while the rest of you will follow on foot. Long live anarchy," Hongjoong grinned smugly.

"And then you jump off before you get caught up in the crash." Seonghwa's reminder garnered another round of Hongjoong's fingers brushing over his side. The whole rest of them observed their struggle mightily amused. Unruly Hongjoong just wanted to be wild, and Seonghwa disliked the countless brushes with death that the man's risky lifestyle brought with it.

"Yeah, and then I jump off to join you guys." With more nods than still believable, Hongjoong nodded along to Seonghwa's words.

When silence settled, Jongho looked around searchingly. Everybody had readied their stance, and the equipment was near.

"Then, do we have anything else to wait for? Or should we set out already?"

When nobody had any other complaint, he rose to his feet and patted Mingi's shoulder.

"Good luck with your wheeled chair. We'll be back in no time, so you better hurry and make an expert engineer out of San."

-

Jongho squatted in a corner between two houses with Yeosang at his side. Both of them had leaned their heads back to watch the sneaky descend of a dark shadow above Asora. The airship crossed the nightly skies above the sleeping bodies of the unsuspecting people, and the few who heard it probably brushed it off as yet another ship that travelled the air.

Seconds before the Puppeteer connected with the still open walls of the castle, a warning yell came from somewhere within the castle walls. Two automatons shot at the impending doom, but the ship had already lost control. Hongjoong's winged body smoothly descended onto the ground near the place he was supposed to meet with Seonghwa.

When the ship connected with the wall, a thunderous boom that startled the city awake resounded in the spacious streets. As confusion enveloped all of them in doubt and hesitation, Jongho and Yeosang sprung from their spot to run. Like an enormous fallen angel, the Puppeteer tumbled from the skies and took the palace wall and bits of the fence with it. All materials, those of the ship and the castle folded like thin paper under the weight.

When they ran directly into the cloud of dust and alarmed yells that the ship provided, Jongho pulled his goggles up over his face. The squad and the rebels that Yunho had gathered to join them once more all stormed the castle through the big gaping hole in the wall. Careful where he stepped, Jongho led the way for himself and Yeosang as they stumbled through the compartments of the broken airship.

Just as Hongjoong had predicted, the crash had left a gaping hole in the floor of the lower entrance area. While the rebels stormed inside and up into the castle to fend off the guards, their little group of misfits gathered around the drop. Heat and the screaming of metal and machines travelled up from it.

After a nod from Seonghwa, Jongho used both his and Mingi's grappling guns to fire two ropes into the broken and splintered hull of Hongjoong's ship. When they anchored tightly, he threw both strings down the new path they had created. Instantly, Hongjoong and Wooyoung swung down on them. Once they were gone, the next followed, and within a few minutes, they all descended into the guts of the palace quietly. No trace was left behind, and nobody searched for them, for the airship rallied all of their attention.