CHAPTER FIFTEEN

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"WHERE IS Five?" Luther asked about a half hour later, walking back inside after Allison. Freya, ignored him, and flung one of the bowling balls onto the lane, hitting five pins. Klaus gave her a proud high-five.

"He left," Diego answered with a shrug.

"Oh for the love of... Where did he go?"

"Didn't tell us."

"Well, we're not waiting around for him. The concert starts in thirty minutes."

"All right. So what's the plan?"

"Well... I think that, uh," Luther stumbled over his words, and Freya bit back a smug grin. For a guy who preached about being the leader of the group, he was doing a pretty shit job at it. "We go to the Icarus Theater."

"That's a location," Diego stated. "Not a plan." Luther opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. "What? Is that all you've got? Look, you wanna be Number One, fine, but you're gonna have to get us on the same page, because right now we're all over the place."

"You're right," Luther nodded. "We need a plan."

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as gunshots suddenly sounded from behind them, and before Freya even had time to react, she'd already been tackled to the ground. Diego landed on top of her protectively, but he didn't seem to notice the position they were in as he glanced around the room to make sure neither of them had been scraped by bullets.

"Who the hell are these guys?!" Diego demanded once he rolled off of her, pressing against the back of the counter.

"Maybe they're here for Kenny's birthday!" Klaus shouted in response, covering his ears.

"No, I'm pretty sure they're here for us!" Luther hollered back. Freya watched as Diego cautiously poked his head out, pulling out one of his knives to throw at the gunners. The lights suddenly flickered off, and a hip song came on, one Freya didn't recognize. She swallowed as Luther grabbed one of the bowling balls from besides her, and she closed her eyes to redirect the air currents.

Freya quickly stood up, sending the wind blowing in the gunners direction, knocking quite a few of them down. She ducked back under the counter as Diego threw another knife towards their way.

"They're blocking the exit!" Klaus yelled.

"What's the plan now, Luther?!"

"Let me fireball them!" Freya offered with a grin.

"You're not fireballing anyone!" Luther told her firmly. "That's dangerous!"

"Dangerous is my middle name," Freya replied with a sadistic smile. She began to gather the flame in her hands, before Klaus grabbed her arm, and it disappeared immediately at her fear of burning him. They sprinted down the lanes. Freya nearly slipped on the isle, but she smoothly caught herself, and fell into the technical room. They hurriedly ran out of the building, stopping once they were safely a few blocks away.

Freya breathed heavily, leaning up against a lamppost to catch her breath. "I still think fireballing them would've been better but whatever."

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They made their way to the Icarus Theater, rushing into the actual performance room until Allison put a hand up to stop the boys. She gave them all a pointed look, before showing them her note-pad.

Freya and I should go alone.

"What?" Luther questioned. "I can't let you two do that. She's beyond reasoning."

"To you," Freya said sharply. "You're the one who locked her up. Not us."

"You hear the music?" Diego demanded, raising his voice. "It's started."

Luther ignored him. "Do you honestly think she's gonna listen? After everything that's happened?"

"We don't have time for this..." Klaus mused.

"Yeah," Freya agreed. "We don't. And I don't have to listen to you, Luther. Neither of us do. Get the hell out of our way."

He hesitated, before nodding. "Okay."

The two of them quickly made their way into the room, which was filled with nothing but the sound of Vanya's violin. Vanya's eyes snapped up towards the crowd, as if sensing them. Freya offered her a smile, and she returned it.

She felt herself relax. Vanya was still in there. They could save her.

Suddenly, Diego and Luther appeared on the stage, charging at her. Vanya stood up, waving her bow, and knocking them back onto the ground. Gasps went throughout the crowd, and it began to disperse in a panic. People shoved past Freya, nearly knocking her off her feet, before Allison grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a row of seats.

"She's stronger than expected," Diego muttered, and Luther nodded in agreement. Freya scowled at them as Allison threw a shoe, hitting the blonde in the side of the head.

"We're fine. Thanks for asking."

"No, you're idiots," Freya snapped. "We had it handled! And then you had to play the heroes and ruin everything."

"Okay, so much for the element of surprise. What else you got?" Diego asked. Allison patted the seat, gaining their attention as she made some sort of gesture with her hands. "Yeah, no shit Allison. Tell us something we don't already know."

"She's talking about the violin," Luther told him. "It's her lightning rod. If we could take it from her and stop her from playing we might have a shot."

Gunfire echoed from behind them, and Freya ducked lower underneath the seats. She raised an arm, shooting out an ice shard that landed in one of the men's chest, and he fell to the ground. "What the hell happened to Klaus? He's supposed to be on lookout!"

"Yeah, you surprised?" Luther wondered, and Freya shot him a glare.

"What's with all the lallygagging?" Five's voice questioned, and he appeared out of thin air.

Freya grabbed him by the ankle, making him trip, and fall onto the ground. He gave her a dirty look, but it soon faded as he heard the gunshots from around them.

"Five what the—I thought you bailed on us!"

"I had an errand to run," he replied, ducking his head. "This is not good."

"You know these guys?" Diego asked.

"Yeah, I do."

"...And?"

"Well," Five shrugged. "We're screwed."

Freya clenched her jaw, pushing herself up as a large flame emitted from her palms. "Like hell we are." She threw her hands into the air, sending the gunners back with the ball of fire, and their bodies burnt to a crisp, before she fell back down onto the ground next to Five.

"What did I say about the fireball?" Luther demanded.

"Shut up, grandpa!" She yelled. "If we're gonna die, I had to use that at least once!"

"It's Cha-Cha!" Klaus' panicked voice rang out, and he rushed into the room, eyes wide. "Guys, Cha-Cha—"

"Klaus, get down!" Luther ordered, and the brunette ducked, narrowly avoiding the bullets shot his way. Five leaped onto one of the backs of the gunners, spinning him around as he shot at a few other members of his group, before he fell back onto the floor. Freya watched with wide eyes as Klaus stood up, a blue shadow flickering in front of him. Her jaw dropped once she recognized who it was.

Ben.

He used his powers, dozens of tentacles crawling out of his body, and grabbing the remaining of the gunners left. She shared a shocked look with Diego, before his gaze landed on something else, and he suddenly lunged. Freya didn't have time to react to what he was doing, because she was suddenly tackled from behind. Freya threw a weak punch in one of the gunner's direction, and the force was strong enough to make him roll off of her, clutching his face. He made an attempt to grab his gun, but Freya kicked it from his grasp, picking it up herself to aim it at him. She hesitated, before swallowing thickly, and pulling the trigger.

Freya fell back against the ground with grunt, her heart racing in her chest. She glanced back up to the stage, her eyes landing on Vanya once more. She quickly realized her outfit had turned completely white.

"Welcome back," Luther greeted once they all regrouped. He glanced to Diego. "Where were you?"

"Honoring a memory," he replied. "How do you wanna end this thing?"

"We surround her," Luther answered. "All right? We come at her from all angles."

"So it's a suicide mission," Klaus muttered.

"Yeah," Five agreed. "But none of us could get through. It's the only chance we've got."

"Are we all in?" Luther questioned, gazing around the group. Everyone but the two girls nodded, and Luther clenched his jaw. "Stage right," he pointed towards Diego, then to himself. "Stage left. You two take the front."

The building shook violently, and they shared a look as the boys made their way to the stage. "We need a backup plan," Freya realized. "There's no way this is going to work."

Allison nodded in agreement, and they both took off running in the same direction of the others. When they got onto the stage, Freya gawked at the sight of the boys hovering in the air, bright lights flooding through their chests.

Their faces had paled extremely, and they all seemed to be choking. Freya's gaze caught the sight of a small gun lying on one of the chairs, and an idea sprang into her head. Freya hesitated once more, then pointed it at the back of Vanya's head, aiming it past her ear, and pulled the trigger. Vanya fell onto the ground, but Freya had no intent of catching her, because she'd already jogged off the stage to check on the others.

"Is she alive?" Luther asked, peering down at the unconscious Vanya, and Allison nodded. "She is?"

"Oh thank God."

"We did it," he mumbled. "We saved the world."

"Uh..." Klaus mumbled after a moment, standing up straight as he gazed at something from above. "Guys? You see that big moon rock coming towards us?"

"That's not good."

"Oh so this is it, huh?" Klaus pondered. "So much for...saving the world."

"Holy shit," Freya shook her head. "We're gonna die. Oh my God we're gonna die. It was nice knowing ya'll."

"If only Sir Reginald could see us now," Diego mused. "The Umbrella Academy. A total failure."

"At least we're together again. As a family. And one," Luther spared a glance in Freya's direction.

"Rich coming from the guy who locked up one of his sisters and spent the rest of his time making the other feel as left out as she possibly could," Freya snapped.

Five stood up. "Wait, this doesn't have to be the end."

"What? What're you saying, Five?"

"I think I have a way out of here, but you're gonna have to trust me on this."

"No," the boys said in unison. "I don't think so."

"Well then we might as well accept our fate."

"I've been accepting it," Freya admitted. "I wonder if they have flying cars in the afterlife?"

Diego turned around. "What's your idea then?"

"We use my ability to time travel," Five explained. "But this time, I take you all with me."

"You can do that?"

"I don't know," he confessed. "I've never tried it before."

Diego shrugged. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"You're looking at it. A fifty-eight year old man inside a child's body. So there's that."

"Oh what the hell? I'm in."

"Yeah, whatever. I'm in."

"Me too. Allison?"

Allison nodded from her crouch next to Vanya, and all eyes turned to Freya. She suppressed a sigh. "Yeah, screw it. Why not?"

"What about Ben?"

"He's in," Klaus answered after turning to look at the ghost boy behind him.

"Okay, Luther, grab Vanya," Five instructed as they began to form a circle.

"Should we be taking her? I mean, she's the cause of the apocalypse. Isn't that like taking the bomb with us?"

"You're dull as hell," Freya told him.

"The apocalypse will always happen," Five stated. "And Vanya will always be the cause unless we take her with us and fix her."

They all grabbed each other's hands, pressing close to one another as Freya glanced around the group. An electric ball of light appeared overhead, and Freya's grip on Diego's hand tightened, making his head snap over in her direction.

"I lied to you," he said, his voice raising to a yell so that she could hear him.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Freya asked, shaking her head.

"Earlier today. I lied to you."

"Diego, please get to the point!" She responded, sharper than she intended it to, and it suddenly felt like they were the only two people in the room as she stared at him. "We don't have all the time in the world. Literally!"

"I wouldn't rather stick my tongue in a car door than date you, okay?"

"If this is your way of professing your undying love to me, you're doing a pretty shit job!"

"I'd pick you instead!" Diego told her, more serious than she'd ever heard him before, his voice wavering like he was wary to see her reaction.

"Wow," she blinked, stunned. "I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, princess."

"Hold on!" Five suddenly yelled, interrupting their conversation. "This is gonna get messy!" Freya felt her brows raise in surprise as the others transformed right in front of her. They all looked much younger, and when she glanced down at herself, she realized that she did, too. But before she had time to figure out what was happening, the bright blue light took over her vision, temporarily blinding her.

But then, everything went black.

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authors note:

rewritten as of 2/7/22