Fatality | T.U.A

fourteen. right i killed you

November 25, 1963

Five watches as his own portal shuts behind him. The alley he lands in is covered with rubble and water. Tanks pass by as he stumbles out of the alleyway, his eyes on the destroyed town.

Soldiers carrying the Soviet flag race past him as bullets knock them down; fighter jets shoot through the air as Russian orders fill his ears. Five races forward, tumbling to his knees in front of a ripped newspaper that reads: "Soviets attack U.S."

"No, this can't be right." Five looks around and walks through the fighting, his eyes bouncing all around.

Beside him, a soldier and a fatally wounded businessman sit against some rubble. "Gonna get you out," the soldier says. "Keep your head down."

"Five! Get down!" Someone shouts, but Five ignores them.

"What the hell did we do now?" Five asks. A body glowing blue barrels into him as the blast of the tank from behind him answers his question. He and the blue blur fly to the side. The blue woman covers him with her body as the blast explodes outward only for a glowing woman to stop it.

Vanya thrusts her hands out, watching the casing explode slowly, the explosion stopping mid-air. Soldiers run up to her, but a shaggy-haired Klaus throws his hands forward and dead soldiers shrouded in blue charge at the Russians. He sighs in relief only to hear a war cry come from Luther as the man lands between him and a bazooka. Blue tentacles reach down, plucking soldiers off one by one as Ben stands atop a building.

Five stares in amazement as the body on top of him jumps off, rushing towards the tentacles. Bodies multiply off of Margo, surrounding the soldiers as Allison approaches. "I heard a rumor, I blew your minds," Allison says as more duplicates begin to take down lone soldiers, ripping them from the tank.

Standing atop a car, Diego smirks as soldiers surround him, their guns going off. He jumps forward, willing each bullet to swerve away from him and fly right back into the ones who shot them. "Five! You sick son of a bitch, where the hell have you been?"

As he runs forward, a burst of energy clouds his vision. "If you wanna live, come with me," Hazel says, his hair now grey and his skin dotted with lines.

"Hazel, what the hell is going on here?" Five demands.

"There's no time to explain." Hazel points at the sky. "Those are nukes, old-timer."

"What about my family?"

"Five, go!" He turns to see Margo standing there, blue wisps of energy glowing on her body. "If they have any chance in hell of surviving this, it's you. You can't save them if you're dead."

With a nod, Five takes Hazel's hand, disappearing from the destroyed timeline. When he opens his eyes once more, he and Hazel stand in the same place with people walking around like nothing ever happened. "Ok, what the hell was that?" Five asks.

"The end of the world, November 25, 1963."

Five repeats the year with a chuckle. "You know, Hazel, I'm no history buff, but I don't recall there being a nuclear holocaust."

Hazel nods. "No shit."

"What about my family? And 23?"

"Dead, like everyone else."

He feels himself nod, but the words drag daggers through his heart. "And where am I now?"

"Dallas. Same street. Ten days earlier." Hazel settles on the nearby bench. "Plenty of time to restore the timeline and save them."

"Ok." Five claps his sweaty palms together and sits next to him. "So, where do we start?"

"We? You're on your own, pal. I'm just here to keep a promise to Agnes."

Five's expression falters. "Is she..."

"Cancer. Took her quick. But we had a good twenty years together. I guess forever just wasn't in the cards." He hangs his head, sadness clear on his face.

"I'm sorry, Hazel," Five says. "What about the Commission?"

"I quit those assholes, remember? I don't owe them the fuzz off my peaches."

Five sighs, facing forward as three men walk into view, guns in their hands. "Then who the hell are those guys?"

"Shit," Hazel breathes before slipping two cartridges into Five's pocket as the men aim their guns. "Run!" He shoves the briefcase into Five's hands, activating it quickly.

Five hears the shots go off as he drops behind a car, the briefcase smocking from the bullets now lodged in it. "How many times did I say bulletproof briefcases?" He checks over the trunk to see the three men stalking towards him with their guns ready. As they start to shoot once more, he disappears from behind the car, reappearing on top of the building he saw Ben on.

Groaning, he waits until he hears the men disappear before he teleports back to the alley he dropped into, straightening his jacket as he tries to think. He hits his head as he looks up; one of the curtains falls closed quickly as a shadow disappears. His eyes drift upward towards the satellites running along the roof. "Interesting," he says to himself. "Well, why don't we—" When he turns around to find nothing, his shoulders deflate.

"Right," he mutters. "I killed you."

X X X X

I don't really know what to say...

Stay safe, everyone!

-L