𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀 ~ 𝗞𝗹𝗮𝘂𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀

~ Chapter Fifty Six ~

Confused. Perplexed. Curious. 

Those were just a few words to describe how Dusk and the Umbrella Academy felt seeing Ben after all those years of him being dead. The raven had many questions she wanted to ask but given how awkward everything currently was, it was neither the time nor place.

"Ben... is that really you?" Luther asked, taking a few steps towards him. Ben continued to look confused, wondering how they knew his name. "And who are the weirdos on the balcony?!" Diego shouted. Towering above stood four women, two men, and a glowing cube, all of whom looked intimidating, but not enough to scare the Umbrellas. Reginald explained they were the Sparrows, his "children" as he liked to put it.

It didn't make sense. Reginald rarely considered the Umbrellas his children growing up, so hearing him call the Sparrows that was a little hard to hear. "What do you mean by your children? That's not possible, old man," Five inquired. "Of course it is! I think I'd know, wouldn't I?" Reginald responded as the rest of the Sparrows gathered on the main floor. 

"Enough beating around the bush, Father! Who are these people?" the Sparrow with blonde hair and hazel brown eyes growled. "They call themselves The Umbrella Academy, 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," Way to keep it classy, Reggie.

"Five, what is going on? I thought everything was back to normal!" Allison questioned, darting her eyes between him and the strangers. "I don't know yet, but it's concerning," he answered. The tall man in the center, presumably their leader, questioned the Umbrellas, wondering if what Reginald said was true. And in a feeble attempt to settle things, they tried to water down the harshness of Reginald's explanation.

"We're amateur-fidious at best," Klaus reasoned. "But we are his children. This is our house, we grew up here," Vanya added. One of the other Sparrows' eyebrows quirked up as she said, "I think we would've noticed you if you did," Something about the tone in her voice set off a little bell in Dusk's head. She couldn't make assumptions just yet, but she felt that this girl would be a bit easier to handle than the rest of the bulkier and scarred members. 

The glowing cube started chattering, saying something the Umbrellas couldn't understand. But whatever it was, it made the Sparrows chuckle. "You slay me, Chris," Ben muttered, his look of temporary joy turned back to seriousness in seconds. A gasp came from the living room entrance, making them turn to see Grace with a plate of cookies. "Mom?" Diego whispered.

"She's a robot, you pervert!" Another Sparrow scoffed.  The Umbrellas began to protest, defending Diego's honor before she slightly lurched backward and spat a black sticky substance on Diego's cheek.  "I don't know what circus you escaped from or how you got past our security. But you have 30 seconds to get out of our house," "What if we don't?" Dusk smirked, her and Allison's hands folding across their chests.

"Then... we'll have to settle this the old-fashioned way,"

Just as Luther and the Sparrow leader were about to go head-to-head, Vanya intervened. "We just fought a literal army. This doesn't need to get ugly, so why don't we all calm down and talk about this civilly?" The room went silent until Klaus bent forward and called out to his former ghost buddy. "Ben-er-ino, I gotta say you look so much better alive than you do dead. Except for that haircut!"