Number Zero- The Umbrella Academy (Book 1)

☂21☂

Wednesday 8:15 A.M.

"Hold the phone. We all died fighting this thing the first time around. Remember?" Klaus said from his spot at the counter.

"Klaus, shockingly, has a point. What gives us a win this time?" Diego asked. As those words left his mouth, the sound of electricity crackling filled the air. They all looked around in confusion as Five and Zero appeared out of nowhere. Five to landing on top of the bar and Zero on the ground with a loud thud.

"Jesus!" Allison exclaimed as they all jumped away from where the boys had landed.

The blue light that had once filled the room was now gone, and Klaus, who was now on the couch, blinked in surprise before asking, "You guys, am I still high, or do you see them, too?"

"Where have you two been?" Luther asked, ignoring their brother. Five fell off the counter, stumbling to the floor.

"Are you all right?" Allison asked, concerned.

"Who did this?" Luther asked them.

"Irrelevant," Five said, taking Alison's coffee from her hands and drinking it.

"Speak for yourself," Zero muttered, dusting himself off as he walked over and opened a bottle of alcohol.

Five threw the now empty cup of coffee and turned to look at the others, "So, the apocalypse is in three days. The only chance we have to save our world is, well, us."

"The Umbrella Academy," Luther stated.

"Yeah, but with me, obviously," Five told them. "If y'all don't get your sideshow acts together and get over yourselves, we're screwed." Five said as everyone stared at him in surprise while Zero took another swing of the bottle. "Who cares if dad messed us up? Are we gonna let that define us?"

"And to give us a fighting chance to see next week, we've come back with a lead." Zero stated as he held up a piece of paper. "We know who's responsible for the apocalypse."

Allison held out her hand for him to hand her the paper; everyone crowded around as she unfolded it. "This is who we have to stop," Zero said while they all read what the paper said.

"Harold Jenkins?" Allison questioned the boys.

"Who the hell is Harold Jenkins?" Diego asked, looking up at the two boys.

"Who the hell knows," Zero said, putting down the bottle. "But what we do know is that he's responsible for the apocalypse. So we have to find him, and we have to do it now."

"How is he connected to what's gonna happen?" Luther asked them,

"We don't know," Five answered.

"Wait, so you just know his name? That's it?" Diego asked, stepping forward.

"That's enough," Five told them.

"There's probably dozens of Harold Jenkins in the city." Diego argued throwing his arms in the air.

"Well, we just better start looking then." Five muttered sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, but am I the only one skeptical here?" Allison asked. "I mean, how exactly do you two know all of this about what's his name?" Five let out a small grunt of discomfort, causing Zero to glance at him, concerned.

"Harold Jenkins. You know those lunatics in the mask who attacked the house?" Zero asked them.

"Oh, yeah, I think I remember those guys," Klaus said sarcastically.

"Yeah, the ones that attacked while Five was getting drunk." Diego said, looking over at Five.

"Yeah, them. They were sent by the Temps Commission to stop me from coming back and preventing the end of life on Earth." Five told his siblings, looking at them.