"Shit," you and your siblings said in unison.
"Ben," Klaus breathed with an airy chuckle as your throat contracted.
He's back. I haven't seen him in so long.
Luther stepped forward slowly to look at him, his eyes narrowed.
"Is that really you?"
"And who are the weirdos on the balcony?!" Diego bellowed. He then ducked his head slightly in awkward acknowledgment as you glared at him, your ears still sensitive from the earlier explosions.
"They are the Sparrows," Reginald replied indignantly. "My children."
"I'm sorry, what do you mean your children?" Five asked after an awkward silence, striding toward your father. "That's not possible, old man."
"Of course it is! I think I'd know, wouldn't I?"
"Everyone else can s-see Ben, right?" Klaus asked with a smile, and you nodded, sliding your hand into his arm and taking in Ben's features. He definitely looked more... emo.
"Cute hat, Sundance."
Klaus tipped his cowboy hat at him in response, and you eyed Ben curiously. He was definitely acting... weirder.
"They call themselves 'the Umbrella Academy'," Reginald continued. "A group of scheming, perfidious malcontents who accosted me in the fall of 1963 when I was away on business in Dallas. Be warned, they claim to be my spawn."
As he spoke, you examined the so-called 'Sparrow Academy'. The one who seemed to be in charge had dark, cocoa-colored skin and a confident air about him. Then there was Ben, of course, and another man who appeared to have a disfigured face. Three women stood near them, one of whom had on a fierce outfit and sunglasses. Also worth noting, you decided, was that there was an odd floating cube above them.
When your eyes landed on the final person, however, your heart seemed to stop beating.
The same almost perfectly straight blond hair. The same deep blue eyes. Even the same mouth, tilted up ever so slightly.
Except it was a man. He looked exactly like Colleen.
You blinked hard, attempting to chase away the thought. Of course you were going to see your friends in everyone - you were worried about them. You still didn't know why the police had been at there house last night.
No, you realized with a jolt. 56 years ago.
Whatever had happened that night, you had left them on their own to deal with it.
"Claim? Look, Five, what the hell is going on?" Allison asked, drawing you out of your musings. By now, the man had noticed you staring at him, and gave you a disgusted look as you quickly glanced away.
"I don't know yet, but it's concerning."
"Is he telling the truth?" the one who seemed to be in charge asked, and Vanya spoke.
"Not the part about us being perfidious."
"No, we're amateur-fidious at best," Klaus decided, resting an elbow on top of your head.
"But we are his children. This is our house."
"Yeah, yeah," Luther said, seemingly dazed. "We, uh... we grew up here."
"Yeah, we grew up here," the one with the scarred face mocked. The others snickered cruelly, except for one pretty woman, who spoke up next.
"I... kind of think we would have noticed you," she said gently.
"Hi," Luther said, smiling and stepping forward with an outstretched hand as you scoffed. "I'm Luther."
"Okay!" Allison said quickly. "None of you belong here."
"Oh, well then. I guess we'll just pack our bags and move out," said the woman with sunglasses in a sarcastic tone.
Suddenly, the floating cube made a series of odd noises. You and your siblings drew back in concern while the Sparrow Academy laughed.
How was any of this possible?
"You slay me, Chris," said Ben loudly, and you turned your attention back to him. Could it be? Would you finally get to have Ben back? If so, this was all worth it. Every last bit.
"I wasn't expecting company." You turned toward the worried but familiar voice quickly, your eyes widening when you saw Grace.
"Mom!" you said, jogging over to her with wide eyes. "You're, you're back! You're okay!"
"This is the best I could do on short..." She began glitching out, and you stepped back, frightened. "Short... notice."
"Mom," Diego breathed from behind you, and the final girl spoke up with a sigh.
"'Mom'? She's a robot, you pervs."
"It's not a robot," Diego replied seriously as you stared at Grace, unsure whether or not to be glad. Why was she glitching?
"Hey, don't you call them that!" Luther shouted.
"Or what?" Ben taunted.
"Come closer and you'll find out!"
"Luther! Guys, chill!" Vanya shouted.
"Think I'm afraid?"
"Stand down, Ben," the leader said.
"Look at that! She's got a voice!" Luther yelled, increasingly getting louder.
"How about I hide that big Rubik's cube up your ass?" Diego said forcefully.
"Enough!" the leader finally bellowed as the dark-haired girl spit something onto Diego's face. You grimaced, finally turning away from Grace. "I don't know what circus you escaped from or how you got past our security, but we're done here. You got 30 seconds to get out of our house."
"And if we don't?" Allison challenged, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Then we'll have to settle this the old-fashioned way."
Luther stepped forward slowly, getting in his face.
"Agreed."
You and your siblings backed up, Klaus shaking out his hands while you gathered energy at your fingertips. You felt exhausted, but you could pull yourself together for one final fight... right?
"Guys," you argued before things could kick off. "Can't we just... talk this out? We have proof."
"I don't see any," the brunette woman said, giving your face an odd look. You winced, wiping away the dried blood from the word carved into your face self-consciously. "You look like you're twelve. I'd get out of here before things get ugly, kid."
"Look, we just fought a literal army, okay?" Vanya said. "This doesn't need to get ugly. Let's all just calm down and let's talk."
"Psst. Ben-er-ino," Klaus hissed, leaning to the side to see Ben. "You look so much better alive than you do dead."
You sighed, pressing the palm of your hand into your forehead and closing your eyes. Why? Why did he have to do this now?
"Am I right? Except that haircut."
"What the hell did you just say?" Ben demanded, his features tense.
"Come on, come on. Stop with all the hostility, Mr. Grumpy pants. Oh, wow. Nice scar. Muy macho."
"Shut your mouth!"
If the situation weren't so dire, you might have laughed.
"You shut your mouth and just hug your brother alread-" Ben cut him off by swinging a punch to Klaus' face, sending him falling to the floor.
"Hey! What the hell?" Luther bellowed as you ran to Klaus' side, helping him up as your heart twisted. This Ben wasn't like yours. Surely not. "You didn't have to do that!"
"Oh, I'm pretty sure I did!"
"That's right, he did," the man with the scarred face added.
"What the hell, Ben?" you asked as you helped Klaus stand up, a shocked expression on his face.
Luther and the man in charge began arguing, and a moment later, he had shoved your brother back. They started really fighting now, and he kicked Luther back with incredible strength, sending him sailing on top of Klaus.
Gasping, you caught them with a force field before they fell to the ground, dropping them lightly on their feet as the Sparrow Academy looked around for who had made the shield.
A moment later, the place erupted into chaos.
You ran to Five's side as he began fighting Ben.
"You okay?" you managed to gasp, forming a shield around yourself. Ben roared in frustration, slamming his fists against it.
"Yeah, I've got this," Five said confidently, and you nodded, pecking him on the cheek before walking away, aware of his eyes still on you.
You were about to help Luther by forming a shield around the man he was fighting when the blonde man jumped in front of you, looking down on you with disdain.
"Oh," you said, blinking up at him. You were unsure whether he would hurt you or not. "Hey...?"
"Dud," he scoffed, gesturing to your cheek, which you covered quickly. "I'm sure it's fitting."
Before you could respond, he leapt forward, kicking you in the stomach.
"Hey!" you grunted, backing away and clutching your still-healing middle. "I don't wanna fight!"
"Too bad," he said, still advancing on you. "You decided to break into our house, remember? You asked for this." With a sigh, you formed a shield around yourself, leaning against it, when your eyes snapped open in alarm.
A ball of fire hovered above the man's hand.
Immediately, your power fled, as though it were as terrified as you. You suddenly felt as defenseless as you had when your father locked you in the basement with a room full of fire.
"Stop," you said, your voice turning serious. "I mean it."
He laughed almost cheerfully.
"Aww, does the little girl have a phobia?"
Tensing your jaw, you forced yourself to take a step closer. You weren't particularly good at hand-on-hand combat, but in a pinch...
You slid to the ground, sweeping his feet out from under him with a grunt. A moment later, however, he shot a stream of fire toward you, and you screamed as it melted the soles of your shoes. Forcing yourself to focus, you felt a tiny amount of power burn behind your eyelids, but it disappeared the moment he shot more fire at you. Dodging behind a pillar, you pressed your back into the coolness of it, closing your eyes for a moment.
When you spun back around, he was waiting, but you were ready this time. You stretched your hand out, letting electricity spark through your arm and out your fingertips, trapping him in a bubble. You tightened it around him as he struggled and cursed at you, smiling up at him as you let the force field float.
"Never call me little girl again." With a flick of your fingers, the shield turned electric, zapping him. You dropped him to the floor once his eyes closed, gasping for breath.
He had burnt your arm, too. Your knees shook as you leaned on the pillar for support once more, desperately trying to gather yourself. Your siblings needed your help. There was no time for a break.
You used a force field to throw the leader off of Luther, where he had been stomping onto his chest, which emitted horrible cracking sounds.
He spun to look at you when he landed back on the floor, surprisingly on his feet, and began advancing on you.
"Hey, I was just protecting my brother," you said quickly, forming a shield around him again. "I don't want a fight."
He eyed you suspiciously.
"Then leave."
"You're attacking my siblings!" you burst. "I'm not just going to abandon them!"
"You're loyal," he said, raising his eyebrows. "I have a feeling you're the only one out of your siblings."
You scoffed, shaking your head.
"I don't have the time to waste on you." You released the shield and spun around, too terrified to admit he was somewhat right.
When was the last time any of your siblings had even thought about each other until your father's death?
When you finally turned, you saw Ben lifting Klaus in the air with one of his tentacles, and you heard something crash upstairs. You ran into the foyer at the sound of laughing, revealing the pretty girl Luther seemed to like.
"What'd you do?" you asked, looking upstairs where Vanya was laying in a pile of paintings. She turned around, her gaze turning concerned when she saw you.
"Are you really a part of this? You look so young."
You frowned, forming a shield around her.
"Well, I'm not." She looked around at her surroundings, surprised, and you sighed before releasing her. She didn't seem to want to harm you. "Hurt any of my siblings again and I won't be so kind next time," you added.
Diego suddenly dashed through the room, sending knives flying at the cube thing. You groaned, spinning around to help, when you saw Allison flying backward, blood spilling down her face. You gasped, turning to see the man with the scarred face smiling at her.
"You little shit," you hissed, turning toward him.
He stood over Allison, preparing to kick her in the stomach, when Five suddenly appeared and flashed her away. He grunted in frustration before turning to you with an easy smirk, or at least what looked like one.
"What's your power? Whining in people's ears?"
Enraged, you swung your elbow at his face, crying out in pain when your head snapped to the side, blood dribbling down your nose.
You came at him again, this time with your fist, falling to the ground when your cheek felt as though it had been pummeled.
He stood over you now, a smug smile twisted on his lips.
"You're lucky I don't hurt children," he said matter-of-factly. "That last incident was your own fault..." He shifted to the side to look at your cheek. "Dud. Is that your name? Your family's messed up."
When he left, you lay on the ground, clutching your aching face. Rage filtered through you as the girl with sunglasses finally seemed to unfreeze. That had likely been Allison's doing.
Before she could come at you, you formed a shaky shield around her, bringing it up to the ceiling before dropping her to the ground. She roared angrily, but before you could trap her again, dozens of screeching crows descended on you. You gasped, curling into a ball on the floor and desperately trying to shield your face.
Five appeared just in time, flashing you out of the room and upstairs, where Allison was nursing her broken nose.
"You all right?" he asked breathlessly, and you gasped for breath, wiping blood off of your face.
"I'll survive," you told him. "Are you okay?" You brushed his hair out of his face, gripping his chin in your fingers to make sure he didn't have any cuts or scrapes.
"Yeah, fine. I'm okay, Eight." He brushed you off affectionately, catching your hand on his when you frowned and pulled away.
"Hey, short pants!" the dark-haired girl who had spit on Diego called, stalking closer. "What's up?"
"Go help the others," Five said slowly, pushing you behind him. "I'll handle this one."
"Five," you began, but he looked at you pointedly.
"Go!"
You sighed but did as he asked, knowing that the others probably needed you more.
Five's POV
"What are you, their mascot?"
Five smiled, flashing behind her and punching her in the face before tucking his hands in his pockets. "More like their ringer."
She suddenly spit a dark fluid on his forehead, and he wiped at it, disgusted.
"Hey, gross, all right?" When he looked up, however, his vision was blurry and distorted. "The hell?"
As he stared, his eyes finally honed in on the approaching figure.
(Y/N), dressed in her casual gray shirt and pants, smiled at him and waved him over.
"(Y/N)?" he asked, confused. "What... I told you to go downstairs." However, everyone else seemed to be gone, so he walked over to her.
"Five," she said, his eyes snapping to her beautiful (E/C) ones that he always pretended not to be drawn to. "I love you, you know."
Five's eyes widened, surprise rendering him immobile as she wrapped her arms around his sides, pulling him into a hug and resting her cheek on his chest. A moment later, Five embraced her back, pressing a lingering kiss to the top of her head.
"I love you, too," he whispered in disbelief.
Suddenly, he was punched, and tumbled down the stairs with a grunt.
"Sweet," the woman called. "I feel bad for her."