IGNIS FATUUS- V. Hargreeves ¹

013. MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO.

For once, she didn't find herself irked by the gargantuan man. He'd genuinely helped her and Diego back in the living room, saving them from becoming target practice to Hazel and Cha-Cha, and now he had attempted to rescue Vanya, who was, other than perhaps Klaus (where was he, anyway? Nadine hoped he'd gone out to buy drugs or something, and had not been present during this mess), the most susceptible to attacks. Sure, Vanya was his sister, and therefore he had an obligation to go after her, especially as the leader, but Luther did seem genuinely worried about her safety. Which Nadine definitely appreciated.

She staggered her way over to his prone form, continuing to shake her head as the ringing in her ears quieted. She could feel blood clotting on the side of her head and plastering to her chin, but she didn't spare any time to wipe the muck away, merely knelt beside Luther and shook him. His eyes were closed, and it was apparent to Nadine that he'd taken a more brutal beating than she had. She took a moment to marvel at the fact that the blue bear had enough force to take down someone with super strength before Luther was groaning, his eyes opening halfway.

"Fuck," she hissed. "Are you okay, man?"

Before Luther could respond (and Nadine wasn't even sure he could) a new voice rang across the room. "Luther!"

Allison and Diego sprinted up to Nadine and Luther, attempting to help the latter get to his feet. "Come on, Luther, get up," Allison pleaded, exchanging a worried glance with Nadine. The three of them—Nadine, Diego, and Allison—all dug their hands under Luther's hefty frame, attempting to get him to his feet. Obviously, it was a heavy load, and Nadine's arms strained with the weight.

Diego seemed to be having similar difficulties. "Ah, you gotta cut down on that fast food, soldier," he said, teeth gritted as they finally helped the injured man rise to his feet. Luther swayed a little, and that was when Nadine felt the pressure of eyes boring into her. She looked up.

The pink dog stared back at her, its pitless black eyes lasering holes into her soul. Nadine had barely the time to take a sharp breath before there was a clanging of metal on metal, a collision of sparks. Then, with the force of a freight train, she was being shoved aside. "Get out of the way!" Luther was shouting as Nadine slammed into the ground once more, pain lancing up her body yet again. She had a mere second to wonder what was happening before the chandelier, that had been hanging docilely above them for the entire fight, suddenly collapsed.

"Luther!" Allison yelled, but it was too late. The chandelier collapsed, crashing right into Luther and sending him to the ground yet again. Bulbs burst and Nadine let out a cry of shock, her hands curling into fists. Anger coursed through her, and her eyes flitted up, searching for the pink dog mask, but the assassin had vanished.

Just then, the chandelier began to rattle, and Nadine looked back to it, her eyes widening. Luther was slowly rising to his feet, even as blood spilled from his head and he breathed heavily, clearly in pain. There was a ripping noise as his shirt burst, and as he finally stood up straight, Nadine couldn't help but find her jaw slackening. Obviously, she hadn't seen Luther shirtless before, but subconsciously, she'd pictured a well-built, toned body like a wrestler on steroids.

Instead, Luther's upper body was covered in hair, his skin oddly discoloured and stretching. It wasn't the body of a warrior. Instead, impossibly, it was the body of a monkey. A chimpanzee, maybe. Or an ape. Nadine wasn't really sure, but it didn't matter, anyway, because Luther was half-monkey.

Her lips parted. What the fuck?

Luther was staring at Allison, who stared back, her eyes full of confusion and, Nadine noticed, even in this dim light, a little bit of repulsion. Nadine just shook her head. She'd thought that a fifty-eight-year-old man stuck in the body of a thirteen-year-old would've been the weirdest part of the Hargreeves family, but of course, they kept surprising her. At this point, she wouldn't be shocked if Diego was a vampire or something.