1982
Five and Elaina walked towards the Lonely Lodgers Inn, narrowly missing getting hit with a car door. Confirming with the outside sign that they were in the right please, the two nodded at each other as they walked in.
"I kinda wish you scattered us across the 80s," commented Elaina as she looked around the lobby. "Better music, better clothes..." she took in the surrounding polka outfits the guest wore. "...well, maybe not the clothes thing here specifically," murmured Elaina as she cleared her throat.
"Not a polka fan?" mused Five.
"God, no,"
"Good, so you can focus on looking out for the Midwest Soybean Society," said Five, reading an additional part off the paper The Handler scribbled on.
"Hmm," hummed Elaina before spotting a woman adding letters to a board. "She looks like she works here, let's ask her," pointed the girl.
"Good call," said Five as he led the way to the curly-haired woman. "Excuse me?" asked Five, making the woman jump.
"Uff da! You snuck up on me there," laughed the woman with a slight Dutch accent as she looked between the two teens. "If you're looking for the cookies, we don't put 'em out till 3." informed the woman nonchalantly.
Elaina eyebrows perked up. "Ooh, cookies," she mused.
Five's eyes drifted to her before giving the woman a polite smile. "We can hardly wait," he cleared his throat. "Uh, do you happen to know where the Midwest Soybean Society is meeting?"
"Sure do. Muskellunge Banquet Room," she pointed behind her. "You two looking for your moms? Are they in for the convention?"
"Sure are," Elaina feigned a smile as Five looked across the way and spotted a vending machine. "We're about to meet with them now. It's going to be a killer meeting," snorted Elaina, making Five shoot her an unimpressed look. "Sorry, my humour gets dark when I'm anxious," she whispered.
The boy shook his head before directing his gaze to the attendant. "Hey, could I get some change?" asked Five, handing the woman a dollar bill.
"Oh, sure, I'll just look in my purse," she said, taking the dollar and unzipping her fanny pack. "Only a nickel and a couple of dimes..." she muttered as her hand shifted through the items in her pack. "Oh! You... are... in... luck, mister," she said, handing Five back the complete change in coins.
Five looked down as he shook the coins in his hand, he let out a soft chuckle. "You know, some say the best luck is to die at the right time," randomly stated Five, earning a puzzled look from the female attendant.
Elaina looked between the two before letting out a forced laugh and smile. "Isn't he a stinker?" she threw her arm over the boy's shoulder. "Thank you so much for the change, we'll be finding our moms now. Tootles!" Elaina quickly led the boy away. "And to think you gave me a funny look for my pun... that was just morbid!"
"Sorry," apologized Five as they neared the vending machine. "I guess I'm on edge too."
"You're anxious?"
"No, running low on energy," informed Five as he shook the coins. "It may interfere with my blinks. I need sugar." he stated as they stood in front of the machine.
Elaina shrugged as she pointed to the chocolate bar in front of her. "Well, you can't go wrong with a Fudge Nutter. That thing's sugar in a chocolate coating."
Five looked at it before inserting the coins into the machine and punching in the code. The metallic spirals that held the chocolate bar in place started to unwind itself before stopping. The boy narrowed his eyes at it as he began to hit the coin release button, but it didn't work either. Five tried putting in the code again, nothing.
With his patience running thin, Five started banging on the glass and shaking the machine. "Come on!" he yelled at it.
Elaina stood beside him, lamely putting a finger up as she looked at him with a worried, yet amused face. "Uh... Babe?"
Whether he ignored her or simply didn't hear her over the sounds of him raming his body into the vending machine, Five continued his rampage. "Stupid mother Fudge Nutter!" he shouted, making the girl try and intervene once again.
"Five," Elaina said a little more louder. "Babe. Five--" she let out an exasperated sigh. "You know what?" when she got no response from the boy, she rolled her eyes and walked away. "Do what you want,"
Five let out an irritated shout as he shook the machine more vigorously, ramming his body into it one more time. "Fuckin' Fudge Nutter!" he exclaimed before finishing it off with a kick, shattering the glass and completely destroying the vending machine.
The sound of a slow clap was heard as Five turned towards the direction of the banquet room to see Elaina leaning against a cake table, clapping slowly with an indifferent expression.
"Feel better?" she asked with a raised brow, bringing the slow applause to a stop.
Five rubbed the back of his neck in slight embarrassment as he looked around, making sure no one else saw his minor freak out.
"They should have a properly working vending machine," retorted Five as he neared her.
"Well, now, they have none," pointed out Elaina as she motioned over to the cake beside her. "Here's some back up sugar." she stated, running her finger through the frosting. "It's not like they're gonna eat it," Elaina brought her frosting finger up to Five as he stopped in front of her. "Right?"
Five gave an amused scoff as he looked at her and then at her finger. "I suppose you're not wrong," he mused, bringing his mouth down as he quickly engulfed the frosting off the girl's finger.
"Now, wasn't that sweet?" asked Elaina, an entertained spark dancing in her eyes.
"Just what I needed," smiled Five before his face went serious. "Now... what to use..." he mumbled as he looked around, his eyes landing on a fire axe besides the double doors that led to the board's meeting.
Five walked around Elaina as he grabbed the fire axe off of it's hooks, testing the weight and size in his hands before settling for it. Elaina gave out an impressed hum as she brought her hands up, looking at them as her transparent purple hue appeared and shaped itself into two shimmering purple disks, one in each hand. Five looked at them, giving a nod in approval before they both faced forward and marched in.
"Let's move on to article 17, please," said AJ from the head of the board table, legs crossed and a cigarette in his hand. The pair rounded the corner as they entered the room. "You!" he exclaimed as he fearfully eyed the pair. "Call security!" cried out the fish man.
Five and Elaina's head snapped in the direction of the woman as she pushed her chair back to the nearby phone. Just as she reached her arm out, Elaina automatically threw her disk at such a terrifying speed that it barely registered optically, slicing through the woman's arm like butter, making her the first victim.
Gasps of fear and screams of horror were heard as the rest of the board witnessed the instant kill.
"No!" moaned AJ as he ducked down.
Five quirked a brow as he looked over at Elaina in amazement. She looked back at the boy and winked, bringing her hand up and forming another disk. Five's adrenaline and training started to kick in as he found himself unable to contain the blood lust from his smile as he turned it towards the board. Elaina cracked a smirk as she disappeared.
Five was jumping from spot to spot, hacking and gutting any board member in his way. Elaina threw her disk, slicing through the chests of board members, and slit the throats of those in her reach as she casually walked from member to member in her invisible state. She manage to spot one trying to escape as she phased back to her solid state, holding her hand out as the man in his suit stopped suddenly, a blood-curdling scream leaving his lips as he squeezed his head in between his hands shortly before his head exploded from the expanding force field inside his head, his blood adding to the collection that coated Elaina's clothes and face. A slightly deranged look crossed her face as her pupils momentarily flashed to black before going back to normal. She shook her head to rid the feeling and then looked across the room to see Five finished his side of the table like she did hers. They shared a look before focusing back to the head of the table.
The boy spatial jumped on top of the table as Elaina jumped up and stood beside him, the two smuggly staring down the trembling goldfish as he peeked his head out.
"She sent you, didn't she?" he questioned, staring between them.
"Does it really matter now?" asked Elaina, crossing her arms.
"Whatever she offered you, I will double it, triple it!" he begged.
Five lifted up the axe. "We're not doing this for money," spat Five as he started to bring it down on the fish's glass head before they both were harshly tackled off the table and to the ground.
The attendant from earlier was the culprit as she attempted to hold both of them in her grasps.
"The hell is your problem, lady!" shouted Elaina as she and Five rustled in the woman's arm.
"You're gonna pay for that vending machine, you little people!" exclaimed the attendant.
Elaina looked up in time to see AJ run out of the room. "Shit, the fish!" luckily she wasn't completely in the woman's grasp as Elaina managed to pull herself away and jumped to her feet.
Elaina saw the discarded axe on the ground and grabbed it as she ran after the fish bowl headed-man. She spotted him nearing the end of the hall towards an opening. Elaina held up her hand as a translucent wall appeared in front of AJ, cutting off his exit as he crashed into it.
"Oh, no," he whined, banging slightly on the wall. A whistling sound behind him made him slowly turn around to see Elaina, the axe balancing on her shoulders as she held it with one hand, a devious look on her face. "Please," he begged.
Elaina just offered a semi-sympathetic smile. "It's nothing personal," she responded, her eyes drifted to something behind him as her smile turned into a smirk.
The fish man felt the looming presence behind him as he turned once again, this time to be faced with a deadly Five with a cricket bat in his hands.
"Surely we can come to some form of agreement that benefits both parties," feebly tried to reason AJ. "Quid pro quo?"
"Why not?" snarked Five. "Here's your quid," Five swung and forcefully hit AJ on the side. "Here's your pro," he swung again and hit the fish man's leg, making AJ drop to his knees. Five looked up to Elaina as she watched on in a slight morbid fascination. "Care to do the honors?" he offered, motioning to stuttering fish.
Elaina shrugged, bringing the axe off her shoulders as she held it in her hands. "Sure. I love piñatas," she stated, walking over and carefully bringing the axe's blunt end down to carefully measuring out her swing. "Alrighty, goldie," she started off, bringing the axe back.
"No! No! Please don't!" whimpered AJ.
"Here's your quo," she finished, swinging the axe as hard as she could into the glass head, shattering it as glass and water splattered everywhere.
With the lack of a 'head', AJ's body dropped with a thud to the ground. There was a moment of silence besides the sounds of AJ's flapping fish body on the damp carpet. Five and Elaina looked at each other from across AJ's 'human' body, both slightly panting from the work they just did, their blood covered clothes and skin as proof of their actions.
Not a second more passed between them as they threw down their respected weapons, stepping over AJ's 'human' body and meeting for a crazed and heated kiss. Elaina's hands instantly flew up to Five's hair as his hands locked with the back of her neck. Five backed Elaina into the nearby wall as their lips frantically worked against each other. The pair were so caught up in each other that they didn't even notice or care that the door down the hall opened, two giggling girls in polka outfits attempted to walk in but quickly halted at the sight of AJ's collapsed body and the two bloody teens feverishly making out against the wall. Without a word, they just turned around and shut the door behind them.
Murder really gets the blood pumping!
It wasn't until Five started kissing down Elaina's neck that she cracked an eye open over his shoulder and saw the flapping fish, gradually flapping less.
"Uh, Five?" asked Elaina breathlessly, both eyes open and on AJ.
"Hm?" he hummed into her neck.
"Is the fish supposed to die too? Cause he's dying," she stated, making Five stop and turn around, clearly just remembering AJ.
"Ah, shit, no," sighed the boy, begrudgingly separating from Elaina.
Five walked over and stared down at the fish before crouching down and grabbing him by the tail.
"I'll find some water," drawled Elaina, pushing herself off of the wall, turning invisible as she headed out the double doors.
~.~
The two teens made their way back to the alley behind Elliot's place. They managed to get a clear bag with water to transport AJ, the fish was gargling things at them such as 'demented' and that they were making a 'huge mistake'. Neither one of them paid him any mind as they waited for The Handler.
Elaina was currently leaning her head against Five's shoulder, picking off the flakes of dried blood that began to harden on her bare arms thanks to her sleeveless shirt. Five had his wrap around Elaina's waist, AJ in his hand as he dangled beside the girl's hip. The boy had his other hand up, inspecting his filthy and blood covered nails, his face scrunched up in thought.
"I'm going to need a very good shower once we make it back to 2019," commented Elaina, dusting off more of the blood. "Maybe even before then. I think I may have board member in my bra," grimaced Elaina, pulling her shirt forward as she peeked down. When she heard no response from the boy, she glanced up, finally noticing his expression. "Hey, what's on your mind?"
Five pressed his lips in a tight line. "Blood. Just, so much blood," said Five with a sigh. "I'm covered in it, and now you are too. I never wanted you to get entangled in this part of my life. But what truly terrifies me is just how... natural you were at it,"
"I might not have been Commission-trained, but I was still a part of the Umbrella Academy and doing missions til I was 18-years-old," pointed out Elaina, lifting her head up so she could look at Five as she talked. "I'm not a total rookie at killing,"
"I suppose that's true, but I don't remember you enjoying it as much,"
"I didn't enjoy it, I just... disassociated to get by," stated Elaina. "I listened to the voice in my head telling me what needed to be done for our family."
"Either way, I'm tired of dragging you into all of this carnage," said Five as he brought his face closer to hers. "I promise, after we get that briefcase and go back to our time, there won't be any more of this. A normal life, especially now that the serum is wearing off." he said in a quiet-tone, barely above a whisper as he held the goldfish further away so he wouldn't overhear.
Elaina looked with a sad smile. "That's a nice thought, but you have to remember, Five, nothing's ever 'normal' for this family."
"We'll get as close to it as we can,"
Elaina looked up at the boy, putting her hand up against his blood-splatter cheek and leaned in for a quick peck. "I can't wait," she smiled.
He smiled back at her, though it was short lived when the teens heard the click-clacking sounds of heels echoing off the alley walls behind them. They pulled away from each other just as the The Handler approached.
"Well?" she questioned the teens. Five held out the plastic baggie with AJ in it, making the The Handler gasp in happiness. "AJ!" she exclaimed as she grabbed him, cackling as she held up the bag to her face, mockingly cooing at the fish. "You know, you're really starting to fill out those tight little shorts of yours," she commented to Five, making Elaina glare at the woman. "Why so quiet? Thought you'd be buzzing after this morning's slaughter."
"All this killing..." finally spoke Five, looking off to the distance. "I'm done with it,"
"What?" snickered The Handler, pulling out a handkerchief from her bra, licking the end. "Am I supposed to take that seriously?"
Just as she was about to wipe his cheek with it, Elaina's hand shot up and grabbed the woman's wrist.
"Don't you touch him," she warned the woman, her eyes still fixed in a glare.
The Handler pulled back, a polite smile on her face as she looked at Elaina. "I love your fire, I'm sure that came in quite handy today. I would've loved to seen you in action,"
"I can give you a preview if you like," snarled Elaina, making Five hold her back.
The Handler chuckled as she put the handkerchief back in its original spot. "One day,"
"Listen," stepped Five in between the two as he faced the woman. "What we did today, we did it for our family. We did it to save the world."
"Please. Spare me your little assassins with hearts of gold routine, will you?" said The Handler, picking up the briefcase by her side and handing it to Five. "Here. Per our agreement, this will get you and your siblings back to 2019. You have 90 minutes."
The last comment made both Five and Elaina look at her with wide eyes.
"Was that part of the agreement?" questioned Elaina as she looked towards Five, thinking it's hard to believe the boy would make such a close-call decision.
He shook his head as he stepped up The Handler. "You said nothing about a time limit!"
She looked at him before bringing up her wrist and looking at her watch. "Actually, you have 89 minutes and 30 seconds. Better hurry." she said, turning away.
"This is impossible, okay? My siblings are scattered across the city," argued Five as him and Elaina trailed the woman.
"Nothing's impossible. You two proved that this morning when you killed the board,"
"We need more time, lady!" exclaimed Elaina.
"Any more time, and people will start asking questions," weakly explained the woman. "The sooner you get home and out of this time period, the better off we'll all be. So, tick tock, tick tock," she mocked with a teasing smile.
Elaina gritted her teeth. "You set us up,"
The woman simply snickered, making Five scowl at her as he grabbed Elaina's arm, jumping them away.
~.~
Yayyy! The assassination of the Commission's board! How did you guys enjoy this scene? I was wayyyy to eager to try and get it out lol.
I can't believe we're coming close to a conclusion on this story. These next few chapters are going to get crazy guys, hope you're ready!