Promise [Number 5 X Reader]

- Interlude II -

The group of adults stood in the center of what they had believed to be their living room - although some were coming to the conclusion that it was not their living room quicker than their comrades. Their supposed father - the fact that he wasn't was yet another conclusion to be had - was to one side of the group, while the other side was blocked by a team of individuals. This team was teeming with new faces - well, as many faces as can be seen when one of them is more of a facet . . . of a very large cube that seemed to be purring.

There were eight of the newcomers, which would almost have matched the numbers of the Umbrella Academy if their newly-alive sixth member hadn't been standing against them as a Sparrow. The red-clad team certainly looked like a force to be reckoned with, as they seemed to have an air of professionalism to them that the black-clad team had never truly experienced, even as children.

The leaders of the groups didn't seem too dissimilar as far as abilities went, with both of them being tall and riddled with muscles, but the ebony-complexioned man before them was confident in his position among them, and there was no doubt that he was intelligent - a compliment few of the Umbrellas would give to their own leader, who rarely seemed to know what was going on.

The deputy members of either team also resembled two peas in a pod, the both of them by far the moodiest - the Sparrow only winning against two of his teammates due to the anger that visibly simmered within his lithe frame. A few Umbrellas were slightly unnerved by the familiar face and the unfamiliar scars and facial hair that marred it, as well as his new brutish demeanor.

The only thing the third member of the two groups seemed to have in common was their beautiful curly hair. Beyond that, the Umbrella's caution and confusion were quite the juxtaposition to the Sparrow's serene preparedness. The bird on the tall woman's shoulder would have had her reminiscent of an animated princess had it not been for the sunglasses-covered markings of what had to be a gruesomely, horrifyingly painful experience of having her eyes pecked and clawed from her skull.

As for the number fours, the Umbrella did look like a princess compared to the Sparrow, with the latter having deformities that resulted in the man looking as if he melted, not unlike a certain clay-man from a different popular media. A rather shame, and it had quite a few Umbrellas wondering what happened to him.

There was a tough competition between the members in the fifth ranking,  as both were attractive young individuals who both seemed to have their shit together - although the Umbrella won in chronological age while the Sparrow won in physical age. The real debate would trickle down to who had the better combat capabilities, and no Umbrella was sure how time travel and teleportation could be topped - as half-baked as the former power tended to be.

There was only one Six present, but she looked like a handful off of attitude alone. The paper-pale woman would have been the moodiest Sparrow present if her team's deputy hadn't always looked ready to commit a war crime. In comparison, she looked ready to flip someone off, or spit in some unsuspecting individual's food. Be the argument verbal or physical, no one really wanted to engage in one with her.

By far the most intriguing member of the Sparrows was the purring cube that was their seventh. The first thought of three Umbrellas in particular was: "How did its mother give birth to that thing?" The cube was not small, a little larger than a bedside table, and glowed quite eerily, not that the eldritch sounds emanating from it made it any less unnerving. Being a cube, there wasn't much that could be done as far as comparing it to the small, seventh Umbrella. But considering the Umbrella had ended the world twice, it would be interesting to see how the two would compare - if the two even fought in the first place.

The final members of each group couldn't seem more different. The young woman from the Umbrellas and the man from the Sparrows had almost polar attitudes, with the woman being one of the more prepared Umbrellas, ready for the impending confrontation, and the Sparrow looking like he'd like nothing more than to scurry out of the room. The young man's dark blue eyes and matching brown curls would've made for great accents for another brooding Sparrow, but they were instead a stark contrast to his apprehensive and skittery attitude. If the two were to fight, the Umbrellas had nearly no doubt their comrade would be victorious.

However, nothing was certain anymore.

The tension in the room was palpable, every individual on high alert, the vast majority of the individuals prepared for a fight. Though none of them were watching him, no one was more excited to watch the showdown than the old man with the monocle, who stood by the fireplace with bated breath.

The Umbrellas, in an rare moment of unison, uttered a single word:

"Shit."