𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 ~ 𝘚𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴

~ 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣: 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙄𝙨 𝘼 𝙆𝙪𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙯? ~

The Rumor questioned her brother about the cut on his cheek, and they both quickly dismissed the amount of pain they were in, claiming they were fine. Diego glanced at Luther and Astrid with a slight smirk and side eyes. They both looked at him wondering what his problem was. Without expressing it verbally, it seemed like he was telling them some serious shit went down, and he couldn't wait to bring them up to speed.

Suddenly, a bright burst of blue and shockwaves burst through one of the pillars and everyone staggered back, surprised to see Five and Lila burst from the portal, landing on the ground with their clothes smoldering. "Where have you two been?" Astrid inquired. "Facing my mortality, Trid. I don't recommend it," Five groaned, pulling himself off the floor. "You had the briefcase the whole time? We've been looking for this!" Allison gasped and grabbed the smoking briefcase, now bent out of shape.

Allison threw it back on the floor and stormed over to the staircase, angrily sitting on the steps and glaring at everyone. Astrid hadn't seen her sister this upset in a long time. As Diego and Lila embraced, seemingly making up after their breakup back in Dallas, Luther pulled Diego to the side, seriously concerned about Allison. "Did you and Allison get into a fight last night?" Luther asked. 

"Hell yeah, we kicked some serious ass last night," Diego responded. "What the hell has gotten into this family?" Astrid muttered. "I don't know, Ast. But it was awesome! I've never seen her do things like she did yesterday. She was brutal," Number Two said as he described in detail how they beat a group of racists and homophobes nearly to death. And although they definitely deserved the karma they got for being so judgmental, Astrid feared the wrath of Allison and worried that now her relationship with Sloane was exposed, she would be the next target of her explosive temper.

"Hey, Chatty Cathy's, cut the chit-chat, alright? I'm calling a family meeting here," Five whistled, getting all their attention. The time traveler looked around and made sure everyone was accounted for, but one member of the Hargreeves family was missing. "Where's Klaus?" He questioned. Everyone shrugged their shoulders, assuming that maybe he was still asleep or wandered off doing who knows what. 

But suddenly, Diego took off, claiming he needed to check on Stanley. Five bit back a sigh, but let him proceed. "Spit it out, Five!' Allison growled, tired of the constant stalling. "Well, since you asked so nicely, sister of mine. Our little paradox brought forth a freaking kugelblitz!" Five said with a hint of sarcasm. "What the hell is a kugelblitz?" Viktor questioned. 

Five bit his lip and looked to Lila, silently asking for her help. "Maybe something to drink will help you cope after we tell you?" She suggested, gesturing her head towards the bar. The Hargreeves followed her and Five to the bar. As the drinks were poured, Five explained how the kugelblitz was an extra kinky black hole. One that kept growing bigger with every energy wave and one that could suck up entire timelines. It was the end of the world all over again.

"So... this kugelblitz could mean the end? Just like the apocalypse and doomsday?" Astrid blinked. "Every rock, every star, every atom sucked into a radiant black hole," Five nodded. "Randomly collapsing matter every moment in time across all existences until there's nothing left," Lila added. "I hate to say I told you so, but..." Five trailed off as he poured himself a shot. "You know you love to say I told you so," Viktor shook his head.

"You know, it's impressive," Lila spoke up. "Whoever knocked off your mums, hated you all enough to end the universe," Number Seven shook his head, saying they didn't know that. All their enemies had either been killed during the battle between the Hargreeves and the Commission or vaporized during the apocalypse. Besides the Sparrows, who else would want to kill their mothers? "You know what, it doesn't matter who created this thing. We just have to kick its ass," Allison sighed.

Luther squinted, asking her sarcastically if she was going to "punch it in the kugelblitz" and Astrid couldn't help but choke back a laugh. "The best plan is to go back in time and eliminate the paradox and destroy whatever it was that took our mothers and stop the kugelblitz before it starts. But we can't do that since the briefcase is kaput," Five calculated. Allison gulped down her shot before scoffing at him. "And why the hell can't you just jump us out of here?"

"Last time I tried that, we got trapped in time. Do you really want to risk that again?" Five questioned. Allison stayed silent as Five stared at her as she pondered that thought. But eventually, she gave up and went back to overindulging. "So, since Plan A is pretty much impossible, what's your Plan B?" Astrid queried. Five looked at the counter, his mind trying to come up with a new plan. But his train of thought derailed, and his lips thinned as he tried to think harder.

The sounds of conversation came from one of the side elevators, and as Astrid looked over to her left, she could see Diego, Stanley, and Klaus stumble out of the elevator, Klaus continuously touching the center of his chest. She couldn't tell what he was pointing to from that distance, but from the few phrases she heard from Stanley, her eyes widened at the mention of him being shot.

"What happened to you?" Astrid questioned as Klaus grabbed one of the larger bottles of rum. "Oh, just a speargun to the chest. No big deal!" the junkie dismissed before drinking straight from the bottle. "What did we miss?" Diego looked to Five and Lila. Lila, resting her head on her hand, didn't hesitate with giving him an answer. "The universe is ending, and we're all going to die," Suddenly, a wave of wind and blue light blew through the hotel, and the Hargreeves all looked back to see it exit the building and continue blowing through the streets.

And as that wave came back, the remaining guests and hotel workers were vaporized by the wave. Everyone except for the siblings and Chet. "What the hell was that?" Diego looked around, his hand reaching for one of his knives. "That was a Kugel wave. It's getting worse," Five spoke with the tiniest hint of worry. "How long do we have, Five?" Luther looked towards the time traveler as he continued muttering to himself, calculating the time they had left if they were to even attempt to solve this problem.

But the Ape-man was growing impatient with the stalled answer. "How long, Five?!" He shouted, finally ending Five's quiet but frantic muttering. "Four, maybe five days before the rest of existence is blitzed," Five finally replied. This answer caused Allison to rise from her seat and run off, trying to hold back her incoming anxiety attack. All Astrid could do was worry not only for herself and the rest of her family, but also for Sloane. The thought of the next kugelwave ripping her from this existence made the Shadow Girl desperate to see her again.

 The moment they could all agree on a set-in-stone plan, Astrid would return to her girlfriend's warm embrace.