An: OH MY GOD... I'm soooo sorry for not updating for a few months. I just haven't had motivation for The Umbrella Academy 😞
Me, Five, Luther, and Lisa all walk into the bar. There were Irish jigs playing and joyous chours along with it.
"Well, there we are." Five said, glancing over at me and then our older selves sitting at the bar.
"Why don't we just grab the briefcase and run?" Luther asked, staring at older Five and older me.
"Because me and Five are trained to guard this case with our lives. We wouldn't let anyone even touch it." I explained, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Plus, it's the inherent paradox where this gets tricky. We are endangering our existence just by being in the same room with us." Five said.
"Huh- what do you mean?" Luther asked with Lisa, who was also still very confused.
"Yeah, I'm losing track."
"Woukd you two try and keep up? If old us doesn't travel back to 2019 like we're supposed to, the whole thing unravels itself. We cease to exist. You got me?" Five said, keeping his guard up.
"I get you." Luther said even though he didn't sound sure of himself. Lisa nodded in agreement.
"So our best bet is to talk to them, try and reason with ourselves." I said, nodding to myself. "I'm sure they'll understand. We know ourselves better than anyone." Five nodded along with me.
"You just inched your neck." Luther said, pointing at Five.
"That's stage two." Lisa said, holding up two fingers at me and Five.
"No, I didn't, I didn't inch my neck." Five said.
"You two are just seeing things..." I said, gripping onto my shirt. I could feel so sweat from my forehead.
"We're fine, okay?" Five said exasperated. "Let's stay on task, shall we?" He said, talking a step forward. Five took a hold of my hand, talking me with him.
"Wait!" Luther whispered, shouted, and grabbed Fives' shoulder and hauled him back.
"What?"
"Maybe we should go first. Me and Lisa."
"Why?"
"You'll freak them out. Bumping into your own tiny doppelganger? They'll lose their shit. Just let me break the ice."
"If you're gonna break the ice, why am I coming with you?" Lisa asked, looking up at Luther with her hand on her hips.
"Okay, fine, Luther, go Lisa stay." Five said, still holding onto my hand.
Luther took a deep breath and walked over to the older Five and me.
"I have a feeling he is going to mess this up." Five muttered to me. I nudged him in the side.
"I'm sure he'll be fine, maybe. Just give him a chance."
"I might have to agree with Five, Hugo." Lisa said. "I haven't known Luther long be he seems... not the brightest."
"Lis-" I was cut off by Luther calling for me and Five. Five let go of my hand and walked over to Luther. I followed close behind them along with Lisa.
"Hey there, strangers." Five said as I stood next to him. I gave an awkward wave to older us. I watched as Older Five, and I had mouth agape in shock. They looked at us with narrow eyes. My Five and I stared at them back.
"Hey! Would you four stop your staring contest!" Luther demanded.
"It's not childish!" Both Fives said. My older self, and I just continued to stare at each other. Maybe I was glad I truned into my younger self.
"Okay, let's just sit down." Luther sat down at a table, and Lisa pulled up a chair next to him. Me, Five, and our older selves followed and sat down.
"This is nice isn't?" Luther asked. The two Fives contuied to stare at each other from opposite sides of the table. I tried to keep my eyes off myself even though I would glance back at him. I could feel Five grab my hand and squeeze it under the table. "The four of us together like this?" Luther said after an awkward silence.
"No!" The Fives said together without pulling their eyes from each other.
"God, why do I look like that?" I heard older me ask. I looked at him with my eyebrows knitted together.
"Because this is what we looked like when we were young?"
"Hugo, stop!" Older Five said. "Someone explain to us how is it that we're having a pint of Guinness with our younger selves." He said calmly, even though he probably had about thirty plans to murder us and get away.
"Older, actually." I corrected. "I'm about a year, and Five is 14 days older."
"I have pubic hair smarter than you." Past Five said. I rolled my eyes and stared at Past Five and past me. I muttered to my Five.
"I don't think that's entirely accurate."
"How is that possible?" Luther said, but it barely came out as a whisper.
"I can explain. You see, one hour from now, on the Grassy Knoll, before the president is killed, you both break your contract with the commission." Five said, leaning forward, still having a grip on my hand under the table. "I know you're all ready thinking about it. All those years in the apocalypse, we never stopped worrying about our family. Well, today, you're doing something about it. Today, you're are going to attempt to time travle forward to 2019. Plus, you bring Hugo with you." Five explained. Even in this moment, it was too much for myself. Past me whipped his head towards Past Five.
"Took me with you? I never agreed to that!" My past self was then ignored by past Five.
"And you just let that happen?" Past me asked, and I just shrugged.
"Well, it was all very last minute. Didn't have time to react..."
"Would you two let me continue, please?" Five asked slightly, raising his voice. I nodded, and Past me leaned back in his seat.
"The first time through, I got the
calculations wrong. That's how I ended
up in this body. But now, I know the
correct calculation." My Five said, having his free hand on the table.
"What is it?" Past Five asked.
"l be glad to tell you.. in exchange for
that briefcase you're holding under the
table." Five bartered.
"Yeah, yeah, so you go back to 2019, as
planned, but this time with the right
math, so you remain a full-grown man. In exchange, we get that briefcase that you no longer need." Luther recapped with a convincing smile.
"Timeline restored, paradox resolved.
Current Five said. "Everyone goes on
existing happily ever after."
"That's quite a bit to take in." Past Five
said, but current Five was not having it
as he stared himself dead in the eye and said.
"What do you think?"
"I think. 1 need to piss." Past Five said
after a moment and got up, taking the
case with him and proceeding to the restroom. Lisa and Luther looked at each other with worried expressions.
"So, who exactly is this?" My past self was still sitting at the table. He had pointed at Lisa.
"She... is not our biggest issue at the moment." I glanced at Lisa, and she seemed disappointed.
"Anyway, beside the flop sweat, that went pretty well, am I right?" Luther asked while talking a napkin to Fives sweaty face. Lisa used her own sleeve to wipe my neck.
"No, no, there's something... something doesn't feel right about this." Five said, pushing Luther's hand away. I nodded in agreement.
"What you mean?" Lisa asked, taking her now wet sleeve away from my neck.
"I don't trust them." Five spat out. My past self huffed at what Five had said.
"Yeah well its not like we trust you either."
"But he's you." Luther said, confused at Fives statement.
"Exactly." Five said. "I'm going after him. Try to talk to him."
"That's not a good idea." Luther said. "Let me do it." He got up and left before Five could fight back.
I let go of Fives hand from underneath the table as it started to sweat more. I inched my face with both hands without even realizing it.
"Hugo, you're inching..." Lisa pointed out.
"Shhh, Lisa, please." I waved my hands at her, and she stayed quiet. My past self was still staring. I felt Five nudge me in the side.
"He is still staring." Five sounded iterated with his voice in a low whisper.
"Of course he's still staring!" Finally, the bathroom door swung open, and Luther stepped out with Past Five.
"We good?" Five asked, eyeing himself up and down.
"We're good." Luther said.
Past Five said. "We gotta
hury. Kennedy's en route. Less than an
hour until show time."
Five got up, and I followed. "Why are you so anxious to get going all of a sudden?" Lisa got up and stood next to me and Five.
"Relax. You're getting paranoid."
"Oh, am I?" Five scoffed.
"Okay, let's roll." Luther said, clapping his hands together and moving out.
As we walked out, Lisa had a hold of my sleeve. "Don't get yourself killed, Hugo..." I patted the top of her head.
"I'll be okay, trust me."
An: HAPPY NEW YEARS! I LOVE YOU GUYS 🫶