MONACHOPSIS- V. Hargreeves ³

017. THE TROLLEY PROBLEM.

"You love to say 'I told you so'," Viktor muttered.

"Says Mr. 'Oh, This Timeline Is Completely Fine. We're Totally In The Clear'!" Nadine snapped. Nausea was curling in her gut, and though the alcohol was a relief, it probably wasn't helping in this aspect. The thought of not just dying, but completely ceasing to exist, everything that made her her unwound and eaten up by a monster she'd helped create wasn't exactly an easy pill to swallow. It went down like a squirming spoonful of maggots.

"I said that before I learned about the grandfather paradox," Five said. "Sorry I don't get everything right on the first try, Nadine. But as soon as I discerned its existence, I warned all of you. I knew this would be something bad."

"Of course." Allison took a heavy sip of her drink.

"You know, it's impressive," Lila said. It was still strange to Nadine that she was sitting here peacefully without trying to end all of their lives, but then again, these were circumstances even she couldn't avoid. "Whoever knocked off your mums hated you all enough to end the entire universe."

"We don't know that," Viktor argued. Nadine glanced at him, questioning. He met her eyes for a brief second, then looked away.

"It doesn't matter who created the damn thing," Allison said. "We just have to kick its ass."

"Sounds like a piece of cake," Nadine said. Then: "Was that the right phrase?"

"Exactly right," Viktor encouraged. Nadine would've smiled if she wasn't so queasy.

"How are we gonna kick its ass?" Luther asked. "Are you and Diego gonna punch it in the kugel?"

"The best plan is to go back in time and eliminate the paradox and destroy whatever it was that took out our mothers and stop the kugelblitz before it starts, but we can't do that," Five said, all in one breath. "Briefcase is kaput."

"And why the hell can't you just jump us out of here?" Allison asked.

"Last time I tried that, we all got trapped in time," Five said. "Do you really wanna risk that again?"

"Not if the kugelblitz has the opportunity to get to us first," said Nadine. "It's not just happening in 2019, right? It's happening at every moment in time."

"Nadine's right," Five said. "Surprisingly. See, as you all very well know by now, time travel is complicated. Going back in time and stopping the kugelblitz before it has a chance to form would still be our best option, but at the same time, even if we did go back to the day our mothers died, the kugelblitz might already be active there. It would stop if we prevented the paradox, obviously, but we may only have a very limited window of time. Which means that if we got lost in time and separated from each other, it might take us before we ever get the chance."

"Oh, my brain hurts," Luther muttered.

"Well, what's Plan B?" Viktor asked.

Five swallowed. "...I don't know."

Well, it wasn't exactly like Nadine had been hopeful in the first place. Even so, this seemed like another blow.

Allison took the entire bottle. Nadine choked down another two shots.

All of the work she'd done to prevent the first two apocalypses, and she and everyone she ever loved was still going to disappear anyway. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. It was like Nadine and the Umbrella Academy were stuck in a loop, thinking they'd finally kept everything intact before being knocked over the head with the knowledge that no, they'd just gotten right back where they started. Worse, in fact.