The 8th Sparrow

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I woke up and we were on a long road, I look around and see us turn into the woods where a trailer is. A woman in a leopard tank top, jean shorts, and big earrings sat in the "lawn" smoking a cigarette and reading a book. The trailer had artwork of her and Pogo on a motorcycle together.

"Can I help you?" She asked, holding the cigarette in front of her. 

"Need a word with Pogo." Five replies.

"Ain't no Pogo here, pumpkin." She raises her brows. 

"Okay." Five shrugs, walking up to her as she  

"So I suggest you get your ass off my property before I call a truant officer." She threatens us. She stared at us, crossing her arms until Pogo's voice came from the trailer.

"It's okay, Tammy. Let the kids in." Tammy nods and I give her an awkward smile as we walk past.

We walked into the trailer and I thought it was a homey place, even if it was small. We sat down at the table with Pogo as he cocked the gun underneath the table.

"You're either dumb or desperate. Which is it?" Pogo holds his glass slightly above the table.

"You tell me." Five says, pulling out the slab of skin. After he drops it on the table, he rests his hand on my thigh, caressing it to comfort the both of us. 

"That looks like my work, but I never did that tattoo." Pogo raised his eyebrows at us.

"Not yet, you haven't. I cut it off my 100-year-old self." Five explains. 

"Ah, so desperate it is." Pogo sighed. 

"You would be too if you knew the entire universe were at stake." Five lowly said. 

"So it's happened." Pogo inhaled sharply, pulling out a notebook of sigils as he de-cocked the pistol.

"Hmm. Ah, here it is. Look familiar?" He sat the notebook down and Five let go of my thigh to put the skin on it, the sigil matching perfectly. 

"Reggie was obsessed with these symbols. It's a sigil. A symbol thought to have magical powers." Pogo explained. 

"Dad believed in science, facts. I didn't respect much about the old man, but I respected that. Hoo-ha was not his thing. It's gotta have a rational meaning." Five trailed off. 

"I don't know, but he referred to it as Project Oblivion. 

"Oblivion.." I whispered to myself, remembering how dad trained us for that project. 

"This project. I need to know more." Five looked at Pogo through his brows after remembering what his old self had said. 

"It was a kamikaze mission. He was preparing the Sparrow children with the expectation they might never return. That's why I gave the children those pills, to keep them safe from him." 

"Shit.. I remember those pills you gave to Marcus.. They kept dad sane to try to keep us safe." I groaned.

"Precisely." Pogo sniffed.

"Well, my druggie brother just got him sober. Go figure." Five sighed. 

"Then Project Oblivion is starting again, and you are all in danger." Pogo warned. 

"Then I should probably get that ink. Complete the loop." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Oh, I don't think destiny cares whether I am or not."

"Bitch is cruel, ain't she? Pogo: 

"Well then, let's get started.

"By the way Devon, you had a stomach tattoo, I think I have it too.." Five reaches in his pocket, pulling out my stomach skin.

"Five!? You cut off my stomach skin!?" I exclaimed. 

"You were already dead, darling." He handed it to me for a reference for Tammy to tattoo on me. 

"Wanna complete the loop?" He asked me, making sure I was okay.

"Why not..?" I shrug, walking over to the couch, undressing to only my bra, leaning back so that my stomach was flat. Five was clearly staring as he undid his tie and vest, undressing too, ready to get tattooed. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it to help cope with the pain. 

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"What the hell are you doing? Stanley is gone! We need to face this!" Lila shouts at Diego as me and Five examine the doorway. 

"Just check the chimney!" Diego shouted, checking under the mattress. 

"Idiots.." I muttered under my breath as Five chuckled lightly.

He's not in the bloody chimney! He's been Kugelblitzed!" Lila shouted back.

"Whose fault is that, huh? You're the one that brought him here!" Diego hissed.

"Congratulations. You're both mildly terrible parents. Can we focus? Come on. How did this thing open before?" Five asked the bickering parents. 

"I don't know. It was already kinda open." Diego said, looking under the couch.

"'Already kinda open.' Diego, you should have been an engineer. It's a lost opportunity." Five sarcastically said. 

"Why'd you wanna go in there anyway? It's just sushi and death." Lila dropped her arms. 

"When we met future me in the Commission bunker, I warned myself about Oblivion. Now, Pogo told me--" Five started, but was interrupted. 

"Wait, whoa, whoa! Pogo's alive?" Diego asked, surprised. 

"Different Pogo, but yes. The monkey said Dad spent years training the Sparrows for some kind of super-secret mission into..." Five waited for Lila to finish his sentence.

"Oblivion?" Lila said, taking the hint. 

"So, I come back here and find that you two sentient STDs have actually been in there. Everything's leading to Oblivion. So we have to go in there." Five explained. 

"Hell no! Not happening. No way! We barely got out alive." Lila and Diego both protested. 

"Yeah? So what? This is about more than just you two." Five scoffed while I finally come to take his side and hug his waist.

"Says the guy with all his fingers. I didn't get this by giving a mummy a hand job, all right?" Diego started before I chimed in.

"Yeah 'cause you'd have all of your fingers. I gave Five one and I still have all of mine." I held up my hand with all of my fingers and Diego looked pissed when Five looked flustered, proving it was true. 

"I went in there, and I lost my fingers to this thing with... with a knife and on a chain." Diego continued after he made an 'ugh' noise at me. 

"Hey, look, Diego might be 90% moron and 10% pelvic thrusts, but he's right about Oblivion, okay? We're not just gonna waltz back in there just because you say so." Lila defended Diego as Luther and Sloane walked in. 

"Sloane!" I excitedly shrieked and ran up to hug her and show her the tattoo. She knew why I got a butterfly and nodded in approval.  

"Good. Because you're coming with us." Luther ordered the group. 

"This should be interesting. Where to?" Five sighed. 

"Sparrow Academy." Sloane replied.

"The world's ending, so I think it's time we put our petty bullshit aside and work together on this Kugelblitz." Luther followed.

"Yeah? Or what?" Diego threatened. 

"Or Stanley won't be the last of us to disappear. Come on." She said after Five speed-walked out, grabbing my hand.