Chapter Thirty Four:

It had taken over twenty minutes for the pair to find their way to what was left of Griddy's Donuts. The building was no longer standing, all that remained was soot covered rubble and ash.

"It's a shame." Lotus had placed her hands on her hips, staring at the mess behind caution tape. "They made good donuts."

"How would you know when you spent all your time attempting to rob the place?" Five had asked, ducking underneath the tape, making his way to the greater area of chaos.

Lotus huffed, watching him inspect the area. "I'm surprised you'd had anything remotely 'fatting' considering I could snap your tiny body in half. Do you even know what a donut tastes like?"

The boy snorted as he walked back over to her, ducking back underneath the tape and flashed her a smile, "It's been years since I had one. Maybe when we win this for real, we can grab one. Together."

Lotus pursed her lips, nodding slowly as a rumble shook the ground. They shared a look of panic before Five took off, the newspaper crunched from the grip of his hand. She ran after him, up until he came to a stop and turned to face her. He grabbed a hold of her hands and within seconds she saw the blue haze engulf them.

The world warped around them, and when her feet connected with the ground again she had her other hand on his shoulder, bracing herself. She let go of him and stepped back, "You need to warn a girl before you do that." She told him, only receiving a shrug as they took off into a run, shoving past pedestrians. They were close to the Academy now, but she couldn't see the top of the building anymore.

The ground stopped shaking and they had rounded the corner, both stopping in their tracks, staring at where the building should've been. Instead, there was nothing there but rubble. Unlike the donut shop, there was no soot or burnt things. Lotus moved past Five and climbed her way over chunks of cement and shard of glass, hearing familiar voices close by.

Luther, Allison, Klaus and Diego stood upon the wreckage. Diego was kneeling, trying to move things away, looking for something no doubt.

"Where were you guys?" Klaus' worried eyes landed on Lotus and Five, soon they found the blood staining her dress and Five's own clothing along with his hands. "Who did you kill?"

"Nobody." Five huffed, "The world is still ending."

"What?" Luther was quick to answer, and Lotus was ashamed to say she flinched when he whirled around.

"The apocalypse is still on. The world ends today."

"I thought you said it over."

"I was wrong, ok! This newspaper—" He thrusted it at his family, pointing at the ink. "I found it in the future the day I got stuck, the headline hasn't changed."

"No, that doesn't mean anything. The time could've been altered since that newspaper.

"You're not listening to me!" Five shouted, "When I found it, I assumed this place came down with everything else but here we are. The moon's still shining, the earth is in one piece, but not the Academy."

"I'm confused." Someone muttered, but Five was having none of it.

"Then listen to me, idiot!" He seethed, "Vanya destroys the Academy before he apocalypse. I thought Harold Jenkins' was the cause, but he was the fuse."

Lotus raised her head, "Vanya is the bomb. She causes the apocalypse."

"We have to find her then." Diego agreed, "We need go now."

"We regroup at the Super Star."

Klaus slowly climbed down, brushing past Lotus. She turned, watching him go.

"Wait. Where's Grace and Pogo?"

Luther was next to climb down, helping Allison along with him.

"Grace decided to fall with the building. Vanya killed Pogo." Luther snapped, "Now if you would hurry, we need to go stop her."

She shook her head, this was all his fault. She wanted nothing more than to throw him down the hill of what used to be the Academy. But she took a deep breath, shared a look with Five who returned it with rage and followed them down. Five found himself beside her again, "I know he's my brother, but I won't hesitate to stab him a little bit."

Lotus stifled a laugh, "You can't stab anyone a little bit, you moron."

"Fine, I'll let you do it."

She grinned, punching his shoulder lightly. "C'mon, we need serious, less fun Five back."

"I know." He frowned, "See you on the other side?"

"I'm literally following you."

He shrugged, moving out of the way as Klaus shoved himself between them. "Are you ok?"

She looked up at him, his body vibrated with adrenaline, but his eyes looked sad. "Are you?"

"I'm not the one covered in blood."

Lotus shrugged, her eyes landing on the back of Luther's head. A weird feeling settled in her stomach, remembering everything. But what had happened never really did, and he never really shot her. In this timeline, well, she didn't know what exactly happened, just that the man still hated her.

"Are you coming with me and Diego to look for Vanya?"

"She's coming with me." Five's voice snapped, "Sorry Klaus, but we have stuff to talk about."

Lotus frowned but turned when Five did, following him across the street. They walked in silence until he pulled her in between a damp, smelly alley way. Staring at her, with his eyebrows raised.

"Yes?" She questioned staring back at him.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, looking around at everything but Lotus.

"He shot you, Lotus." His jaw clenched, "He freaking shot you!"

She sighed, "We have more important things to worry about—"

"You flinched when he looked at you. I saw it."

Lotus huffed, "Right now, I need you to forgot about that, ok. Right now, we need the Five that's closed off, with only one motive which is to save the world."

"Lotus—"

"I will deal with him in my own way when this is all over, alright? Besides, he hadn't actually done anything to me, not in the timeline and you know that."

He frowned, "Fine, if that's what you want."

"Five—"

Lotus watched as he brushed by her, turning to the right on the sidewalk and disappeared into the crowd. She huffed, rushing after him but he was already lost to the city. Lotus shook her head, realizing she had no idea where or what the Super Star was.