𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀 ~ 𝗞𝗹𝗮𝘂𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀

~ Chapter Seventy Four ~

"Hon, slow down. You were dead like three minutes ago. I felt you die in my arms!" Dusk cautioned as Klaus carefully walked down the small flight of stairs. "Well, I'm back now, sweetheart. Apparently, it's a thing I do. Who knew, right? And check this out..." he ripped open his shirt, showing them the wound that was slowly starting to heal. 

Diego and Stanley looked at the healing with astonishment, poking at it with the tips of their index fingers. But as the junkie looked at Dusk, she turned her head away. "What would happen if we cut off your head? Would it grow two of you?" Stanley asked. "Don't you dare get any bright ideas!" the raven warned. Klaus shrugged it off before walking towards the bar where the rest of the family was sitting, in desperate need to indulge himself. He scooted past Five, grabbing a half-empty bottle of scotch. 

"What happened to you?" Five questioned when he noticed his brother's far-off look and unsteady walk. Viktor glanced over at Dusk as she sat next to him and Lila, noticing her smudged mascara and glossy eyes. "Whoa, are you okay?" he whispered to her. "I-I don't want to talk about it right now," she whispered, pouring herself a tiny shot glass of Tennesse Whiskey. "Just a speargun to the chest, no big deal," Klaus shrugged as he answered Five's question. 

As most of the siblings looked back and forth between Dusk and the junkie, they were able to quickly put the pieces together, thinking she must've been in the room when it happened. "Anyway, what did we miss?" the phoenix asked.  "The universe is ending, and we're all going to die," Lila responded. Oh god, can't we get one fucking break from all these apocalypses and doomsdays? Klaus slumped over the counter. 

Suddenly, a blue force came out of nowhere, heading towards the front of the hotel, seconds later pulling back, the screams of some of the guests echoing as they were vaporized. "What the hell was that?" Diego asked. "That was a Kugel wave. It's getting worse..." Five groaned. "How long do we have?" Luther questioned. Five started speaking in unintelligible scientific terms, and very quickly the ape-man was losing his patience for a straight answer. 

"How long, Five?" he raised his voice, slightly startling the time traveler. "Four, maybe five days before the rest of existence is blitzed," All the Umbrellas looked down at the ground, trying to stomach their new predicament like a bitter pill. "We should've given them Harlan," Luther muttered. Viktor shook his head, warning his brother not to bring him into the conversation. "What about Harlan?" Diego inquired. 

"The Sparrows said if we turned him over, we could end the fighting, and then work together to save the world. But, if we didn't-" Viktor cut him off, explaining that they tried to make peace until the "step-siblings from hell" attacked. "Working together would be like trying to diffuse a bomb by pouring gas on it. It's only gonna make things burn down faster,"

Dusk didn't like the thought of giving someone who saved their lives to the Sparrows, but it soon became clear to not only her but her siblings, that this was how it had to be. "Look, Harlan seemed like a good kid when you were taking care of him in the 60s, and he did save us from the Sparrows. But we're talking about saving the lives of billions of people. And even if it's at the cost of sacrificing someone, we have no other options," Dusk stated.

The other Umbrellas nodded in agreement, whilst Viktor just shook his head, hoping that he misinterpreted his sister's words. "Dusky's right, and don't we need that big glow-y thing in their basement?" Klaus asked as he poured himself another shot. "Klaus... do you know where the kugelblitz is?" Five questioned. "Oh yeah, I saw it when I went to visit Dad. It's in the old storage room where Mom used to keep all her luggage,"

As Klaus rambled on about his meeting with Dad and the kugelblitz in the basement, Five caught glimpse of someone out of the corner of his eye. At first, he thought he was imagining things, but after blinking his eyes a few times, he saw a girl with red hair and a black outfit, just like he did when Jayme spat her hallucination venom at him. Victoria? 

Before he had a chance to fully comprehend it, she charged towards the bar and grabbed him by his tie, the look in her eyes one of anger and hatred. "Whoa whoa! What the hell?!" Diego shouted. The rest of the Umbrellas stood from their seats in shock by what was going on as Five blinked away from the angry redhead's grasp, trying to dodge her as she tried to attack him with her bo staff.

"How could you?!" Victoria hissed. "How could I what? I did nothing to you!" Five looked confused, jumping behind one of the pillars to avoid being hit. Meanwhile, the family just watched the brawl like it was the latest wrestling match. "Do you think Five knows her or is she just some psycho chick?" Allison queried. Dusk's shocked gaze switched back and forth from her siblings to the brawl, and without further hesitation, she ran towards her friend and brother, just as the redhead knocked him to the ground.

"STOP! Vic, what in god's name are you doing?" The raven asked, lending her hand to Five as she pulled him off the floor. "Get out... of my way..." Victoria growled. "Not until you tell me what's going on and you calm down. What's the deal with you and Five?" The raven spoke calmly. "I'd like to know too. You're being ridiculous right now," Five spoke up, but Dusk shushed him before looking back at her friend.

But Victoria didn't bother to look at her, her gaze was directed towards the time traveler. She stomped the end of her staff into the ground, cracking some of the cyan and orange tiles beneath it. "Does 'I'm taking you with me once I finish my time here' not ring a bell to you? Talk about abandonment issues, old man!" she shook her head in disgust. Dusk looked at her brother confused, "Five, what is she talking about?" She asked slowly.

Five said nothing, only continuing to stare at the redhead somewhat dumbfounded. "You got nothing to say?" Victoria squinted. "I-I um..." Five stammered, trying to gather his words though he couldn't seem to find any as his siblings all stared at him in disbelief. "Figures, selfish bastard," Victoria muttered before running up the stairs and into the elevator.