𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 ~ 𝘚𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴

~ 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙉𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙊𝙛𝙛 ~

"Do you want another chance at living life?" Sloane questioned. "Think about Stanley. If we don't help, he won't be the last of us to disappear," Lila whispered into her boyfriend's ear. "Fine. Whatever," Diego exhaled. Astrid's eyes went back to normal as they walked out of the suite and back to the car. Diego, Lila, and Five all smushed together in the middle seat. While Astrid and Sloane took their seats in the front. "Hey, didn't Luther say he was gonna meet us here?" The gravity girl looked around.

Then suddenly, the car lowered quite a bit by some heavyweight. And as they all looked to the back, they saw Luther crouching on all fours, his head nearly hitting the car roof. "Oh, come on. I've done this before, remember?" Luther caught the five sets of eyes on him, reminding them of the similar situation back in Dallas. Astrid held back a small chuckle as they drove back to the Academy. And as the Umbrellas stepped inside, they followed Astrid and Sloane into the living room, where Grace was waiting for them with a plate of cookies.

The Umbrellas felt a few shivers run down their spines as they caught sight of Grace's face. One of her eyes was missing, and the socket was glowing a light blue. As Astrid grabbed a cookie from her and sat next to the fireplace, Luther looked up at her and mouthed the question, "What happened to her?" Astrid pointed to her eye, making a scooping motion behind the caretaker's back. The Ape-man blinked his eyes in shock before he sat with Diego, Lila, and Five.

"Welcome! Please make yourselves at home," Fei smiled as she and Ben entered the room. "Bitch, this is our home," Allison muttered. Sparrow three looked at her with a questioning look, daring her to say that again. But with the Umbrellas and Sparrows finally together, Astrid, Luther, and Sloane would not let there be a round three of fighting.

"Does anyone want some caramel corn?" Astrid grabbed a nearby bucket and offered it to any of them. "Here, I'll take some!" Luther volunteered, winking to her as he grabbed a handful of the salty yet sweet mix. "Where the hell are Viktor and Klaus?" Diego asked. "With our luck, probably kugelblitzed by now," Five spoke. The Shadow Girl gave him a funny look. Though he had been gone for over 16 years before finally returning to save his siblings from danger, she never quite grasped his sometimes-dark humor.

"Everyone sit down. We don't have for ideal chit-chat," Ben instructed. As the last few guests did as Ben said, and a smirk formed on his face. "Look, I know there's been some bad blood between us. Whatever. Bygones, right?" he started. Diego almost immediately raised his injured hand. "If we kill you, do we get our old Ben back?" He asked. Nearly everyone in the room started glaring at his stupid hypothetical. Is he trying to mess this up? "Keep talking, and your hand won't be the only thing that's bleeding," Ben growled.

Luther stepped in and tried his best to calm the situation, trying to guide everyone back to the task at hand. And just as things started to get back on track, the front doors opened, and Viktor frantically ran into the living room. "Where is he?" He panted. "Hi Viktor," Allison's voice went cold. Everyone watched as Viktor looked at his sister and then Ben before asking where Harlan was and what Ben did to him.

"They didn't do anything. I did," Allison confessed. "I killed Harlan," Viktor's eyes widened with shock, his mouth agape. Was he just hearing things, or did Allison really kill the child he took care of? "I... I don't understand... why?" He stammered. "Because he didn't deserve to live," The Rumor spoke emotionlessly. "What? Because they said so?! You don't have to listen to them!" Viktor protested. Astrid couldn't help but gawk at the people who were grabbing the nearest food item and watching the drama unfold like it was the latest episode of a juicy TV show.