Warnings: violence, alcohol, death, mentions of violence, racism and death
Word Count: 4701
Beautiful might have been one word to describe the Kugelblitz. Its fiery orange and red swirled together in a bright ball that created a wind around it. The Hargreeves families slowly approached it behind Fei, all in a silence filled with both fear and awe.
"Oh, wow." Diego whispered out. Lila scoffed from beside Fei.
"That's what took Stanley."
Fei nodded. "Along with a few other billion people."
"Yeah, who I didn't know and don't care about."
"Right. So, it's all about you."
Five rolled his eyes as he made his way around the Kugelblitz to inspect it. "All of us are irrelevant. This thing's gonna take the whole damn universe. What is it made of?"
"Micro black holes collapsing at increasingly short intervals." Sloane answered.
"Then why aren't we getting sucked inside?"
"Honestly, we don't know. You shouldn't exist here, and neither should this."
"An impossibility for an impossibility." He shook his head. "The universe is a sucker for balance."
"Grace has been tracking the waves," Fei informed. "Next one is due in three hours."
Diego nodded from behind her. "Alright, so what do we do?"
"We trap it." Sloane responded.
"Dyson sphere?" Five raised a brow.
"Yeah." She nodded.
"Okay," He clicked his tongue and stepped closer to her, crossing his arms over his chest. "Confinement factor?"
She cocked her head, surprised that he questioned her intelligence. "0.98 at peak energy flux."
"Tensile strength?"
"UTS ceiling at ten thousand gigapascals."
Lila grinned. "Should I be finding this hot?"
"No!" Diego and Luther exclaimed.
From where she was standing away from the group, against a wall with her arms crossed, Allison voiced herself. "What do you think, Five?"
He glanced at the Kugelblitz. "Could work. Or we could all die horribly." He thought over what other choices they had, and ultimately he came up with nothing. So, he clicked his tongue again and shrugged. "I'm in."
"You're not the one we need." Ben rudely said.
"Excuse you?" Allison furrowed her brows.
Before anything could get out of hand with Allison's current attitude, Fei explained. "For this to work, we need Sloane, Lila, Christopher and-"
"Viktor." She scoffed, pushing herself off the wall and beginning to head upstairs. "Of course."
The younger (Y/N) watched her go, a sort of annoyance spiking in her. Allison was starting to get on her last nerve and she still had yet to truly talk to her since their argument at the hotel. It possibly was a bad idea going to speak with her, as it would most likely end in a screaming match, but no one but Viktor was talking sense into her. So, with a quiet word to Sparrow (Y/N) that she would return, she followed her sister upstairs. When she found Allison, she was standing at the bar, fishing a flask out of her pocket. When she noticed (Y/N) entering the room, she chuckled and rolled her eyes.
"Come to ask how I'm doing?" She turned to her with a smirk. (Y/N) shifted her jaw and shoved down her anger.
"Uh, no. Last time I did that, I was immediately snapped at."
"Then why did you follow me?"
"Because you're being a bitch right now and it's starting to really piss me off."
Allison raised her brows and quickly moved closer to her. "Oh, I'm being a bitch right now?!"
"Yeah, you are! And you clearly didn't know because no one's telling you, so I'm telling you. Is- Is this all you're gonna do? Are you just gonna keep picking fights with everyone around you until you've got no one fighting alongside you? Because that's what it looks like right now. I come over to you because I'm the only one to do it, a-and you fucking make me a villain."
Eyes widening, Allison leaned down to look (Y/N) in the eye. "Because you are a villain. You don't give shit about me. You don't give a shit about anyone but yourself."
"Oh, really?"
"Oh, really. Ever since Five came back from the future, it's been all about you two. You're always running after him on little side missions while the rest of us wonder where the hell you are, only for Five to make us feel like idiots for not knowing exactly what he's up to. Like we aren't doing shit to help fix a timeline that he brought us to. You two have got to be the most self-centered people I've ever met."
(Y/N) pointed a finger at Allison as if to tell her to back off. "I better not ever hear you utter those words about Five ever again. He has done the most for this family. He went through decades of isolation to find a way to get back to us. He never gave up on us! He watched us die three times and saved all of us, knowing that you all would continue to be the most ungrateful pieces of shit-"
"Ungrateful! You're one to talk." Allison laughed, clapping her hands as she leaned back. "You wanna talk ungrateful? Let's talk about you! I am always by your side. I stand beside you at your wedding, I show up to all of Michael and Jada's birthdays, I hug you and I comfort you at Anthony's funeral. I'm the only one who is there for you our whole lives, even after Five abandoned you-"
"Watch it-"
"And the second I get tired of it, you call me a bitch," Her smile was wild as she shook her head. "Alright! Let's tally all you've done for me. Where were you after Patrick divorced me?"
"At your side-"
"Where were you when I was fighting to get custody of Claire?"
"At your side-"
"Where were you when I found out Claire was gone?"
"Mourning my own kids-"
"When Viktor slit my throat?"
"Now wait a second."
"When I was getting hate-crimed and beaten and humiliated on a daily basis-"
"I didn't know where you were!!!" (Y/N) hollered, completely losing her temper at this point. "I thought you were gone! I thought you were dead! What was I supposed to do?! I waited for you in that alleyway! I was hate-crimed and beaten and humiliated! Stop acting like I didn't go through a single thing in the sixties!"
Allison scoffed and crossed her arms, turning away from her sister. (Y/N) narrowed her eyes and tilted her head as she remembered something.
"Where were you when I was locked in that room, forced to look for Five? You all knew where I was. So, why didn't you try to help me? Where were you when I was making imaginary friends in the dark because I had no one else to talk to? Where were you when I was beating my head into the cement walls just to make sure I was still real?! Where were you when Viktor was beating the shit out of me?! When he gave me these scars!"
"I stopped him!"
"Yeah, after I went unconscious!"
(Y/N) swallowed the lump in her throat. She'd be damned if Allison would see how much she was upsetting her. She would not cry in front of her. When she said she was tired of crying, she meant it. For years, she's cried and cried for something that wasn't coming back. She feared that Allison was one of them, that in this moment, she was losing her sister. Her best friend. But if finally making her feelings known and screaming at someone was what tore them apart, then so be it. (Y/N) was tired of biting her tongue.
With a deep breath, she leaned closer to Allison, a glint in her eye. "Don't make an enemy out of me, Allison." She quietly hissed. "You don't want that."
Allison scoffed with an eye roll. "And why not?"
"Because if I'm not in your corner, you won't know where I'm coming from."
And with that, (Y/N) spun around and walked out of the parlor, back down to the basement. Just as she reached the last step, Lila and Ben were heading upstairs, both with different agendas. She ignored them and went to stand beside Five, who worriedly looked at her.
"Hey." He gently rubbed her shoulder. "You okay?"
"Yeah." She quirked her brows. "Peachy."
"You can talk to me, Starlight." He lowered his voice. "You're upset. What happened?"
(Y/N) took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Allison."
"I see."
"We got into this huge argument. Again. I-I don't know, there's only so much I can do with her. But it's like no matter what I do or say, no matter how nice or how mean I am, it's nothing to her." She shut her eyes tight. "She's hurting, Five. I've never seen her like this. She's... destructive in more ways than one. I think she's really gonna hurt one of us at some point. More than with me and more than with Viktor."
Five exhaled through his nose and nodded in understanding. (Y/N) pecked his cheek with her lips before walking over to her Sparrow self, who was facing a wall, her forehead resting against it. Umbrella (Y/N) gently set a hand on her back, causing her to turn her head in her direction.
"Hey." The Sparrow croaked out.
"What's going on?"
"Just trying not to have a mental breakdown, is all."
"Do you need anything? Is there something I can do-"
"No," She shook her head with a twitching smile. "I'll be alright."
(Y/N) knew herself better than she knew herself, and she could tell when she was lying. Sparrow (Y/N) was doing the same thing she always did, shoving her feelings into her sternum for the benefit of everyone else. She was forcing back tears and telling herself to get over it, that she'll be fine. But she knew better.
Everyone's attention was brought to Viktor, who had made his way to the basement. After him, Five led Allison and Lila down. (Y/N) made sure to keep her eyes away from her sister as Sloane, Lila and Viktor surrounded the Kugelblitz and Christopher hovered above it.
"Okay, how do we start?" Viktor asked Sloane.
"Have you ever moved a nest of bees?"
"No, because that's weird." Lila raised a brow.
"You can't just pick it up. You have to keep the nest calm while you build a box around it, and then you trap it."
From above, Chris spoke. Sloane nodded before holding her arms out to the side and levitating. She activated her power and let it work on the Kugel. "One of those black holes inside is vibrating at a different rate." Fei informed.
"I can feel them." Viktor looked at her.
"Good. Whatever happens, don't let them speed up or change, or everything will blow."
"Don't shake the bees. Got it."
His blue light shone from his chest, summoning his own force field to surround the ball of fire, holding his hands out to keep it still. Fei turned to Lila. "Lila, when you're ready, do exactly like Viktor."
Lila nodded before mimicking his power, her blue light shining and her own force field summoning around his as she held her hands out as well.
"Hey," Luther whispered to Ben as he looked up at Sloane. "What's she doing?"
"Using its own gravity to condense it."
"That's pretty cool, huh?" He grinned. When Ben turned to him in disinterest, his smile fell.
From the stairs, a figure slowly made their way down towards the group.
"You didn't tell me you were building a prison for god."
"Mom?"
"You have no right to do that."
Luther frowned at her. "We're a little busy here, Grace."
"The day of vengeance was in my heart..."
He slowly walked over to her along with Diego. "What are you talking about?"
"...and my year of redemption hath come."
To everyone's shock and horror, Grace aimed a flamethrower straight at them and set it off. Those who weren't working on the Kugel jumped out of the way of the angry flames that threatened to catch them as Grace repeated the bible verse in a more distorted robotic voice.
"The day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption hath come."
Sparrow (Y/N) yelped when she was almost hit, but Five tackled her to the ground before she could be set on fire. His eyes searched for his wife and he found her hidden behind a wall with Diego's arms tightly wrapped around her for safety. When Grace turned the flamethrower solely on Luther, Diego jumped out of cover.
"Hey, Mom, Mom, Mom!" He called out. Grace turned off her weapon and aimed it at him. "It's Diego. Don't make us hurt you."
Grace tilted her head, no sign of the sweet and caring mother she was to them before. "The day of vengeance was in my heart..." She fired her weapon at him, (Y/N) quickly pulling him away. "...and my year of redemption hath come!"
Diego patted out the flames that were on his arm. When Lila had heard his scream, she reverted her focus to him, weakening her hold on the force field. "Lila, I need you." Sloane called out, forcing her to turn back around and continue her work.
Five's eyes locked on Grace and as soon as she wasn't aiming at him, he blinked behind her and grabbed hold of her. Before she could do anything, he blinked them to the entryway of the mansion. He placed one hand atop her head and the other one on her chin.
"Nothing personal."
With a grunt, he snapped her neck until her head had turned in the opposite direction, her one-eyed gaze stuck on one place. Before she could fall to the ground, Five caught her and gently set her on the stairs, watching her in confliction as her robotic voice sang a hymn as her final words.
"Onward
Christian soldiers
Marching
As to war"
He shook his head as her eyes rolled back and she went limp. Downstairs, Sloane had successfully condensed the Kugelblitz into a much smaller size before looking up at her cubed brother. "Christopher, now!"
With a garbled response, he broke apart into several chunks, surrounding Lila and Viktor's force fields. The three others strained as they kept their holds intact. Christopher circled the ball much like planets orbiting the sun before he reformed himself around it. The room went quiet aside from the other three panting as they let go of their powers. Sloane let her feet touch the floor and watched her brother carefully as Five blinked between her and his wife.
"Did it work?"
Sloane sighed out and grasped Luther's hand. "Next Kugel wave in three..."
Everyone backed away.
"Two..."
Five protectively put an arm out in front of (Y/N).
"One."
Christopher shook as they waited for something, anything. They all deflated when he let out a squeak of flatulence, followed by a garbled apology. The Hargreeves all looked around in relief that they had done it. They saved the world.
Within minutes, everyone returned to the parlor. They celebrated their victory by popping open their many bottles of champagne and dancing to music. It was the most alive the group had felt in days. These two families that had once hated each other, victoriously bonding as one in the home they all once suffered in.
(Y/N) let Fei fill her glass before going to her Sparrow self, who was grooving to the beat on her own. Grabbing her by the hand, she pulled her with the rest of the family and danced with her. Ben turned his sister around and started a dance battle with her, which she immediately caught onto. Her dance partner taken from her, Umbrella (Y/N) moved over to Lila, who had just rejected a drink from Fei. She took note of that as well before she grabbed her hand and spun her in a circle.
From the side, Viktor softly smiled at the lot of them, not engaging in the celebration. He looked to Allison, who was already looking at him. His smile fell as he ducked his head down, Allison pushing herself off the wall and walking out of the parlor, a bottle of champagne in her hand.
Viktor sighed in defeat and was just about to leave when (Y/N) wrapped her arms around his middle and dragged him with the family. Reluctantly, he gave in and danced with his sister. She cheered when she caught sight of Lila bringing a half-smiling Five onto the dance floor. Sometime during their little party, she found him dancing with Sparrow (Y/N), which warmed her heart. She just had to join them.
After everything they had been through, it felt nice for (Y/N) to just dance with her brothers, no matter how bad Luther and Diego's moves were. For a second, they felt like a real family again. When the alcohol ran low and everyone's energy drained, they all dispersed into different parts of the house. The (Y/N)s headed to her room to cool down, Five informing his wife that he was going to check on Viktor. The young girl watched her adult self lower herself onto her throne and exhale in content. She gently smiled at her, glad that she was at ease for once.
"I've been meaning to ask you," She started. "How do you do the... duplicating thing?"
"Oh," The Sparrow sat up and motioned her closer, picking up a pillow off her bed once the girl was sitting down. "I swear, it's as easy as it looks. You just have to know you can do it. I didn't know until I was maybe twenty. The key is focusing on the material. Watch how I duplicate this pillow."
The young (Y/N) watched closely as the older one curled her fingers to grab at the pillow, only she didn't. Her fingertips simply brushed over the material and just as she pulled her hand away, an exact copy of the pillow was pulled from the original. The same color, the same size, the same design.
"See?" She smiled. "Now you try."
Umbrella (Y/N) reached her hand out and glided her fingers across the pillow, but when she curled her fingers and pulled her hand up, nothing happened. She frowned in confusion. "What? I-I don't get it."
"You have to act like you're actually physically pulling a pillow from this pillow. It's the same way I pull my clones from my shadow. Actually grab at the femtometers of nothing between you and the material. Don't pull your hand up until your index finger and thumb have touched again. Okay? Try again."
The girl did the same thing she did before, but as she was told, she curled her fingers until they touched before she slowly pulled her hand up, another copy of the pillow rising with it. Her eyes widened. "Oh, shit, that is so cool!"
"Isn't it?" The Sparrow grinned. "You know how many things I duplicated once I mastered that?"
The two of them shared a laugh. When it died down and it was quiet once again, the Sparrow was staring down at her lap, any trace of happiness vanishing from her face. Umbrella (Y/N) hated to see her that way. She was much more lively when they first met, but ever since she was shot, she had never been the same.
"Hey." She gently touched her knee. "What's going on with you? You know, even though we met a few days ago, I know a lot about you. And I can tell that you're hiding something. So, what is it?"
The woman inhaled deeply and softly closed her eyes. "Ever since that day at our mom's... I've been feeling... detached."
"Detached? From, like, your family?"
"From myself."
"What do you mean?" The Umbrella frowned.
"Like, something in me doesn't wanna listen to myself. Since I was a teenager, all I've ever done is what I'm told. And I've always hated it, always. But now..."
Umbrella (Y/N) watched herself become more jittery, picking at her skin and shaking her head.
"Now I don't feel like I'm... I-I feel like I need someone to tell me what to do, like I can't do so much as walk around unless someone tells me to do it. I- My body doesn't feel like- Like it's-"
"It's okay," The Umbrella gently took The Sparrow's tear-stricken face in between her hands, her eyes meeting her watery ones. "It's gonna be okay, (Y/N). I'm gonna help you, okay?"
"Okay." She blubbered.
"We're gonna figure this out. Say it. Say we're gonna figure this out."
"We're gonna figure this out..."
The two embraced each other, the older of them sniffling as she tried to compose herself. On the floor below, Five knocked on the door of Reginald's room before opening it, spotting Viktor sitting alone on the sofa.
"Hey, want some company?"
"Sure."
Five nodded and closed the door, making his way over to Reginald's desk to retrieve his cigars. "That was really nice of you," Viktor said. "Kill Mom so Diego didn't have to."
He paused. "My god. We are a weird family, aren't we?"
Viktor hummed as Five walked over to a chair beside the sofa, taking a seat. "Sorry. Yeah, I heard it as I said it."
"It's alright." He lightly chuckled, setting the box on the table and picking out one of the cigars.
"What are we gonna do about Allison?" Viktor asked as he sat up.
"We're all worried about Allison, but... I'm scared for you."
"Seriously?"
Five sat back and looked at his brother like his mind was made up. "Yeah."
"She killed someone. I was just trying to do the right thing and save Harlan's life."
"Do you know why I wanted this last jump to work so badly?"
"Because you're old and tired?"
"Because I slaughtered a boardroom full of people to buy our way back here."
Viktor stared at him in shock, but Five saw the underlying expression that he was afraid for any of his siblings to look at him with had they found out. Fear. "Shit..."
Five looked away for a second before sitting up straight. "Little advice from someone who's been there? Don't do the math. That equation does not exist. There's no 'save five Harlans for every two Claires' formula. People like us, we will never... save enough lives to make up for the ones that we take."
"I don't accept that."
"Then you'll drown. This is the price of being powerful. Sometimes we step on ants. And the sooner you face that, the safer we'll all be."
Viktor narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're very dangerous, Viktor Hargreeves. The decisions you make impact the entire world. So, no matter how benevolent they may seem, you don't get to make them alone."
A brief silence passed by with Viktor staring down at his feet and Five watching him before the latter continued. "You know what they call a superhero who works alone and doesn't listen to anybody? A villain."
Viktor slowly looked up at him. "I am not a villain, Five."
"And Viktor, I hope to god you never will be. But that remains to be seen."
Five stood from the chair and set the cigar down, no longer in the mood to smoke. He looked down at his brother with a softer expression as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "No more going rogue. If you ever need anything, I'm always here for you."
Then his face hardened. "But lie to us again... Viktor, I'll kill you myself."
In the parlor, Ben and Fei were having a drink as Christopher floated above them, winding down after their party. Ben reached over to pour his sister a glass of champagne. "I'm glad we made peace. It all worked out."
"Yeah," Fei sat back in her chair. "But we're definitely killing them in the morning, right?"
Christopher garbled something to her.
"And Chris has dibs on knife boy."
"No one is killing anyone." Ben quietly said. Fei frowned.
"Why not? We followed your plan, merged the families, saved the world. We don't need them anymore."
"I'm not done yet."
"Done what?"
He smirked after taking a sip of his drink. "That's between me and Dad."
She slowly sat forward. "You made a deal with Dad?"
"Maybe."
Fei went quiet for a second in thought before standing up. "Fine. I'm done."
"Sit down."
"No. We don't recognize your authority anymore. (Y/N) was right, you're a terrible leader with no loyalty to anyone but yourself."
Ben looked absolutely offended at that, in shock that his sister would say such a thing about him. "She said that?"
"To my face."
"Well, you don't speak for Christopher."
Their cubed brother turned to Ben and garbled something out, causing him to shoot up out of his chair and for Fei to snicker. "Really, dude?! I'm Number One. You'll do as I say when I say it."
"Not anymore," She whispered before turning to Chris. "Here's to a new life without this dickhead."
Chris responded to her before she clinked her glass against one of his corners. The clinking resonated throughout the room, but neither paid attention as she downed the rest of her drink. Suddenly, Christopher began to shake as the light within him peeked through his newly-formed cracks.
"Christopher, what's wrong?" Fei asked as he continued cracking.
"Back away, Fei." Ben put an arm out, but she only held a hand up to her brother in distress.
"Chris, it's going to be okay."
"Fei!"
"I'm going to help you. Just-"
Her words were cut short when the Kugelblitz within Chris broke loose, sending him to his demise and consuming Fei just as it did its other victims. Ben crashed to the ground before the ball of fire could get to him, unconscious. A blast of a wave burst from it, destroying everything outside the Academy at a much quicker rate than it had before, alerting everyone within the house.
The (Y/N)s jumped up at the rumbling of the house. "Oh, shit." The Umbrella whispered. "It's happening."
"We gotta get out of here!" The Sparrow cried out, watching in agony as the ceiling caved in and blocked her door. Her antiques were no doubt destroyed. "Quick! The window!"
Umbrella (Y/N) ran over to the window and opened it, bolting down the fire escape as she pulled her double with her. Unfortunately, the stairs were also impacted in the blast and the weight of them and their footsteps caused it to creak and fall apart. The two screamed as they fell through the air, smacking into the alley below.
"Fuck..." The Umbrella coughed as she held her side in pain. "(Y/N)? A-Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." The Sparrow wheezed.
"(Y/N)?! (Y/N), where are you?!" She heard a familiar voice. The girl quickly stood and helped her double up before they ran out onto the sidewalk, where everyone else was hurrying away from the crumbling house. Five, who was holding an unconscious Ben, could've cried at the sight of his wife. "(Y/N)!"
"Five!" She ran over to him, engulfing him in a hug. The two shared a short kiss before he wrapped an arm tightly around her waist. "We need to go!"
Five nodded and looked around, the scene very familiar to him. This wasn't the first time he and his family would have to escape after their house went into shambles. "Hey! Everyone! Regroup at the hotel!" He called before adjusting the two people in his arms and blinking away.
"(Y/N)!" Sloane called to her sister, running up to her and grabbing her hand. "Come on! Come on, let's go!"
With one last look at the only home she had ever known, (Y/N) let her sister pull her away from the fiery orb looming over them.