—𝙃𝙀𝙀𝙇𝙎!

❛❛ 𝙄 𝙎𝙒𝙀𝘼𝙍 𝙏𝙊 𝙂𝙊𝘿, 𝙄 𝙃𝘼𝙏𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙎𝙀 𝙁𝙐𝘾𝙆𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙎𝙃𝙊𝙀𝙎. ❜❜

~ ☂︎︎ ~

𝙒𝙀 𝙌𝙐𝙄𝙀𝙏𝙇𝙔 followed a group of men up the stairs. They walked into a secluded room and locked the door. I nodded at Five and we teleported inside. Landing in a closet, we began to listen in on their conversation.

"The president is continuing to make inquiries into Roswell and the other crash sites, gentlemen. And, as you know, we cannot allow him to get his nose into our business. I've confirmed the motorcade will indeed be turning left on Elm Street. We'll have our people in place."

While the man was talking, Five and I were listening intently. The closet was definitely a little small for comfort. We were pushed against each other and struggled to adjust to the small space. Moving around a little bit, Five bumped into something. There was a soft clatter, and the room went silent. Looking carefully, I saw Dad turn his head to the closet we were hiding him.

"Dad?" Five whispered softly. I glared at him as if telling him to shut up. Reginald shushed the rest of the men and walked up to the fireplace. Picking up an iron poker, he came up to us. I saw the stick coming straight at us, but managed to travel us away. We landed in the hallway and both let out a sigh of relief. I felt a presence behind me and immediately knew who it was. We turned around to see one of the Swedes.

"Shit."

He grabbed Five by the collar and slammed him against the wall. He was about to slam Five against the other wall but, he teleported behind him and kicked him. Five grabbed him by the neck and attempted to hold him in a head lock. Not being easily swayed, the Swede flipped him over. He teleported away before the Swede could punch him, and landed behind him again. Five tried to use his powers, but he was out of juice.

"Oh, shit."

I took this moment to cut in. I punched the man and appeared behind him. He came at me but I blasted him back, knocking him down. I drew at his shadow, slowly, and hopefully enough to knock him out. But, he quickly recovered.

"That's new," I muttered. He stood up and I attempted to run at him. Note the word attempt. Of course, I tripped and fell. "I swear to God, I hate these fucking shoes," I muttered, trying to get back up. But, the Swede was already over me and started to punch. Five attempted to help me and managed to distract the man long enough for me to get up.

I hit him a couple more times and tired to draw at his shadow once more, but it seemed I was out of juice too.

You would think two trained fighters could take on this man, but it wasn't as easy as it looked. Especially at our size. He continued to beat both of us. We even got a couple of hits in, but this man did not seem to want to go down.

"Lila!" I heard someone call out. Looking across the hall, I saw Diego now being held by two of the Swedes. "Help me! Lila, help..."

She stood in the middle of the hall, seeming to debate on who she should help. Giving Diego one last look, she grabbed a knife I assume Diego threw earlier and came to our aid. She kicked off her heels and ran at us. Grabbing the chandelier, she wrapped her legs around the Swedes neck, giving me and Five a moment to evade him. Panting, we both got out of the way for her.

I quickly kicked off my heels, because if this fight continued, I would need them gone. Lila flipped the Swede down, and looked at us. I could see Five was confused. The Swede was recovering behind her. Before he could do anything, with my refueled powers, I blasted him out the window.

Five walked towards the window. I came up behind him and saw Dad leaving. He quickly teleported away. Lila glanced Diego, who was still facing two of the three, picked up her shoes, and ran off. Yeah, that's not right. I came to Diego's side after he knocked out one of the Swedes.

"Oh, yeah, mofo," Diego said after seeing me come up beside him. "It's us against you. Show me what you got." And with that, another round. Diego and I took turns landing blows on the Swede. Diego pushed his head against the window. I pulled him back and kicked him against the other wall. We moved down and Diego grabbed a vase, hitting it over the man's head.

We both punched him a few more times before Diego gave him a kick to the gut and the chin. The Swede tried to punch back, but he was over powered. I twisted his arm around, kicked him in the face, and let Diego deliver the final blow.

I looked at the window the see Reggie about to leave. I traveled outside and landed beside Five. Dad was about to get in the car, but I tapped Five's shoulder. "Homer," I let out. Five spoke the Ancient Greek as best as he could remember.

"Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways on contending, the wanderer, harried for years on end, after he plundered the stronghold on the proud height of Troy."

It was enough to get Reggie to pause and look back at us. Grace called to him from the car, and he shook his head and stepped inside.

Diego and Lila finally came up behind us. "Was that him?" Diego asked. "Yeah," I confirmed, and we watched him drive off.

"You know, I'm starting to get the feeling Dad's avoiding us," Five said. Lila sighed. "Hate to be the boring one, guys, but uh, it's time we get the hell out of here," she said, starting to walk away. "When you say we," Five started, stopping her, "Who exactly are you referring to?" He asked. "Not a lot of ambiguity in that sentence," she replied.

"Listen, I don't know who you are or where you came from, but whatever it is, I'd advise you to return posthaste."

"She's right, Five," Diego butted in, "We gotta get out of here." Lila scoffed. "I just saved your life, you little kinder-shit. If I hadn't stepped in, all that would be left of you it's a blazer and some bloody socks."

"And that's the problem. You're too good. You ask too many questions. You know too much. And you fight like you know what you're doing," Five stated. Lila turned towards Diego. "He's got a point," he said. "So I know how to handle myself, and that makes me the bad guy?" She asked. Five turned to her. "Whoever you are, you're in my way. If I see you again, I will kill you. Diego, (Y/N), we need to go." With that, he walked off.

Lila looked at me. "You gonna back me up here?" I thought back to that moment in the hallway. She knew Diego was struggling, yet she left. "I want to trust you, I really do. But, I trust Five more. You know we could have easily recovered, and yet, you came to us instead of Diego. I don't know if I can believe you." I gave her one last look and followed Five away.

~ ☂︎︎ ~

"𝙉𝙊, 𝙉𝙊, 𝙉𝙊, I don't understand. They keep following me."

When we returned to Elliot's, we discovered Luther waiting for us. We were currently recounting the events at the consulate. "Wait, who?" Luther asked. He was currently scrambling some eggs on Elliot's stove. "Those Dutch sociopaths."

"They're Swedish, you idiot," Five and I said in unison. "Hired guns paid to eradicate us before we do any more damage to this timeline." Diego turned to us. "Yeah, but why now? I mean I'm," he stopped and snapped his fingers three times, "fine for three months until you showed up."

"Yeah, (Y/N) and I were here for a year and no one messed with us," Luther said to Five. "Even if it was my fault, which it isn't, we only have six days before the end of the world and the closest anyone's gotten to Dad was that driveway at the consulate."

"Well," Luther sighed, "That's not exactly true."

"Do you really wanna do this now?" I asked. Diego and Five looked at us. "What do you mean?" I sighed. "We saw him."

Luther began to tell Diego and Five what happened after we landed.

~ ☂︎︎ ~

𝙒𝙀 𝙃𝘼𝘿 𝘾𝙊𝙇𝙇𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙀𝘿 enough, or hopefully enough, lose change to get us a bus fare. "Five-ninety-three..." Luther walked up to the driver and showed him the money. "Hey, um, we're seven cents short." The driver looked between us, pity for me, fright for Luther.

"Uh...give me what you got." Luther turned the cup over, a couple of coins falling on the ground. "Oh shit. Damn it. Sorry about that. Thanks," Luther muttered, stepping inside. Before anyone else could see, I pressed a five dollar bill I had saved into the man's hand. "This should cover the rest of the fee. And keep the change." He smiled at me as I stepped in beside Luther.

I sat down beside Luther. No one approached us, scared that Luther might beat them up. "So, where are we going again?" I asked. "Back to Canada," he responded. "Hopefully to find Dad." I turned to him. "Find Dad? What do you mean? He's not gonna help us." Luther scoffed. "I'm sure he will." I sighed and leaned back in my seat. "If you're wrong, we head straight back to Dallas and see if we can locate the rest of our family. Deal?" He looked at my hand for a moment, and then shook it. "Deal."

We ended up in Toronto and made it to the old Academy. "Home," Luther said. I let out a sigh. "This is gonna sound crazy, but, Reginald Hargreeves, I am your son," Luther repeated what he had been practicing in the car. "It's not gonna work," I said, following him in. "Trust me, it'll work."

We walked into the Academy, and it was completely different. Partygoers filled the room and moved past us to dance. We walked into the main room and spotted the person we were looking for. "Dad?" Luther whispered. He seemed to be entertaining a group of people.

"Please, the world's never going to end in such a cliché. Believe me, I know how endings feel," he stated. A man in a sharp suit with sunglasses spoke to him. "Reg, with all these bombs and big red buttons, we're bloody close to the end of the world. Even a fool can see that," the man said.

"I will give you this: the physics of numerous quanta tells us that we cannot be certain about anything, especially if time is concerned. Even if you knew everything there is to know about right now, you could never predict what will happen next. We don't live in a universe of rules, we live in a universe of chances. Some events, however, are more likely than others. For instance, it is a near certainty that in the next few minutes, I am going to get another glass of champagne."

The group laughed in response. He moved to grab another drink, but Luther stepped in front of him. "No, Luther!" I whispered shouted, but it was already too late. "This is gonna sound crazy, but, uh...I'm your son." Reggie looked him up and down.

"No, you're not."

He moved past him, but Luther followed. "But, no, I'm...I'm from the future," Luther insisted. "No, you're not," Dad said, continuing to walk. "You adopted me and six other children in 1989." He got to the bar. "No, I didn't." Luther kept trying.

"I...I know about the moon base. I know about your experiments with monkeys!" Luther tried. "Apes," Reginald corrected. "Look, I know everything about you. Please...I need your help," Luther begged.

"Listen, I don't know who sent you or what you want, but you can run back to your masters at CIA or KGB and tell them that this is the most ridiculous gambit in spycraft history."

Luther was shocked. "What? Why? Why is it ridiculous? You know time travel is possible."

"Time travel isn't the problem. I have a deep dislike of children. I do not have them, nor do I intend to have them, but if for some reason I did, I would expect more from them than a scruffy face, poor hygiene, and your grotesque,

simian proportions," Reginald stated.

"But...I took a bus," Luther said sadly. "I don't care. Now, take yourself and the stench of failure that encircles you and get out of my house." With his head down, Luther walked out. "Luther!" I shouted, following him out.

~ ☂︎︎ ~

"𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏'𝙎 𝙋𝘼𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙏𝙄𝘾."

"Yeah, well, at least he didn't shank my ass," Luther responded to Diego.

"No, bro, he shanked your heart."

"Mm." Elliot walked in on our conversation. "Is that my bathrobe?" He asked Luther. Luther stared at him. "No." Five sighed. "Look, who cares what he shanked? He knows something about time travel."

"Um, why don't you just do your thing and, uh, time travel us out?" Elliot asked. Diego scoffed as Five stood up. "Anyone care to explain?" He asked. "First time he tried, he got lost in the apocalypse," Luther began. "Second time, he ended up without hair on his balls," Diego continued. "Last time he tried, he scattered all of us across three years in Dallas, Texas, possibly triggering a doomsday," I completed. Five turned to the man after pouring his coffee. "Any more questions, Elliot?"

"Uh, no."

"You're missing the big picture. Dad is the ringleader of a sinister cabal that's planning to kill the president," Diego interrupted. "A cabal?" Luther asked. I waved it off. "Ignore him."

"Look, the way I see it, we only have one option," Five said. "Oh, yeah? And what's that?" Luther asked.

"It's time to get the Umbrella Academy back together."

"Hell yeah, family meeting," Diego said. "Okay then, can one of you get Allison, please?" Luther asked. "You two still a thing?" Luther shrugged halfheartedly. Diego leaned forward. "Do we need to talk?" He asked. "No, she's married," Luther responded. "Woah. Dude, that's rough."

"I can handle it," Luther chuckled, though he sadly shoveled more eggs in his mouth.

"I'll get her," Five interrupted. "Can you get Vanya without, uh, squeezing her to death?" Luther looked up. "I'll try," he said sarcastically. Five teleported away.

"Wait! D-"

Elliot sighed. "Uh...What should I do?" Diego looked at us.

"Prepare for company."

—𝘼𝙐𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙍'𝙎 𝙉𝙊𝙏𝙀!

My writing said

📈📈📈 today. did I

start this ?

I seriously even know.

We got an update !!

, not a specific

, just on .