✓ | NO NUMBER, ben hargreeves (EDITING)

chapter twenty four

"To Dad? No, I've heard enough about— Luther cut him off," He sacrificed everything to bring us back together"

"Oh, yeah?" Diego retaliated, evidently still upset with Luther. "Just a moment ago, you hated him and even called Prime a liar." He continued.

"I— you," Luther seethed, "you don't even know how horrible I feel about that, Diego."

"Sure," Diego said sarcastically, "now you think it?" He added, walking up to Luther, clearly outraged by his attempts to make amends.

Meanwhile, Diego and Luther were silently engaged in a heated staring contest, their glares locked on each other. Prime tilted her head and frowned. "Oh man," she added, "I just realized my ashes are buried in the rubble of the house." Klaus and Ben glanced at her with baffled expressions on their faces, seemingly unsure of what to say in response.

"I'm with Luther on this one," Five spoke up. "We can't give her a chance to fight back. There are billions of lives at stake. We're past trying to save just one."

Ben and Prime shared looks, and then they turned to Klaus, who was the next to speak. "Hey, you know, guys, uh maybe I could help," he said hesitatingly and a bit awkwardly.

Luther and Five rolled their eyes, indicating their impatience with Klaus. "Now's not the time," Luther said, irritated

Diego narrowed his eyes and spoke up in defense of Klaus. "No, let him finish." Luther was surprised by Diego's defense of Klaus. "He saved my life today," Diego added, giving Klaus the chance to continue sharing whatever it was that he had planned to say.

"Really?" Ben and Prime said simultaneously

"Is that true?" asked Luther and Ben and Prime; they all stared at Klaus with varying levels of surprise. "Yeah, yeah, I did take credit for it," he admitted, but he added, "In fact, the real heroes were Ben and Prime."

"Today," Klaus spoke, and added, "Listen. Today, he punched me in the face." He continued,  "And at the house earlier," he said, referring to the incident that took place earlier in the day, "he and Prime were the ones who saved Diego's and my life, not me."

"You are unbelievable, Klaus," Luther added. He was clearly struggling to believe what Klaus had said, and it showed in his voice and his expression.

"You want proof?" Klaus asked, walking over to the bowling ball display. "All right," he conceded, "I'll give you proof." He picked up a bowling ball and lifted it, then Ben lifted his hands, prepared to catch it. "All right, it's showtime, baby," Klaus announced as he threw the ball with all his strength and precision. However, it sailed straight through Ben instead of hitting him and hitting the ground.

Prime walked over to Luther and raised her fist, punching him as he grunted and nearly fell from the punch.

"YES!" Prime shouted, a mixture of relief and jubilation evident in her voice. "IT WORKED!" She proclaimed triumphantly, raising a fist in the air, "TAKE THAT, ASSHOLE!" She added to her celebratory outburst, clearly glad to be free of the nagging feeling of wanting to hit Luther.

"Wha-What the fuck was that?" Luther asked, utterly puzzled. He rubbed his cheek, clearly feeling the pain of the punch as he tried to process his disbelief.

"That was Prime punching you," Klaus responded, grinning ear-to-ear. "And you should be grateful she only did that, or else it may have been something far worse." Luther glared at him, clearly upset with his newfound confidence. "You know," he said, his smile fading, "I liked you a lot better before you got laid."

Prime snorted in amusement as everyone went silent and the mood shifted. She looked over at Allison and then Klaus, who quickly realized that the comment he made was inappropriate. "Which was a complete..." he muttered to himself but didn't finish his sentiment, as he was still processing the fallout of the situation. "It wasn't his fault," he added, "because he was ridiculously high, right? And the girl, she thought he was a furry..."