𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 ~ 𝘚𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴

~ 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚: 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬 𝙂𝙞𝙧𝙡 ~

The aftermath of the battle between the Sparrows and Umbrellas left a huge mess in the living room. Furniture had been battered and thrown around like children's toys, mounted animal heads became dislodged from their places on the walls, and shattered glass covered every inch of the floor. As her siblings cleaned up the mess, Sloane fought against the intense throbbing in the back of her head. Whether she got it from being thrown into the bar or being smacked into the wall by Astrid, she didn't know.

"Bastards, thinking they can come in and try to take our house?" Ben muttered under his breath. "Now that takes some balls," Alphonso nodded in agreement. The gravity girl used her powers to gather the pieces of broken glass behind the bar, dropping them into the nearby trashcan. While most of the room could be salvaged, the coffee table was left in ruins, leaving them to use a smaller makeshift table to set out their takeaway dinners.

"Sparrows, take a half-hour break. We'll meet in the rec room for a little talk," Marcus instructed from the balcony once the cleaning was taken care of. Sloane retreated to the upstairs bathroom and washed up. As she stared at her reflection, she wiped away the dried blood from her nose, picking out the few glass shards caught in her light brunette hair.

As she looked back at the mirror, her body completely froze. The only movement she could feel was the inhale and exhale of her breath. Instead of seeing her reflection, there was another person in her place. Astrid. What the... why is she here? Sloane wondered, looking out the corner of her eye to make sure she wasn't actually in the room. But even though she looked away, Astrid's figure remained in the mirror.

"What do you want?" Sloane asked, determined to find an answer and calm her nerves. But the blonde's reflection flashed a small smile before disappearing. Was I hallucinating? Sloane gripped the sides of the sink, keeping herself steady. A knock came from the bathroom door, and she opened it to see Jayme already dressed in her dark red workout uniform. "Who are you talking to?" she squinted.

"Oh, it was nobody," Sloane brushed it off, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Jayme looked her up and down with suspicion but dismissed it, reminding her of Marcus's meeting. "I know, I'll be there," the gravity girl replied. Sloane hurriedly changed into the red outfit, pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail, and met up with her siblings in the rec room. As she stepped inside, she saw everybody had already gathered on the treadmills. Without saying a word, she took the last treadmill in-between Fei and Alphonso.

The security camera recordings played on the two large TVs in front of them, and the Sparrows watched while powering up their machines and mentally taking notes. "Big one is strong but slow, possibly stupid. Some sort of... simian hybrid," Marcus said as he watched the replay of Luther trying to swing at him. Suddenly, the recordings caught a dark flash and at first, the Sparrows had no idea what they witnessed.

"Who was that? I didn't get a good look," Fei questioned. "That's the blondie! Shadow Girl," Alphonso answered. "So... what? She uses shadows to scare people? Her powers are lame compared to my venom!" Jayme sneered. Though they had to play the tape back a few times to study the woman's abilities, Sloane had to disagree with her sister. She couldn't say it out loud, but watching Alphonso charge through the black cloud in hopes of tackling Astrid and the confused look on his face when he couldn't, made her snicker.

Not only that, but the way she reappeared and disappeared so quickly impressed Sloane even more. Come on, Slo. Focus! These people tried to attack us! She shook her head as she continued running on the treadmill. "Who took the little jumpy guy?" She asked, continuing the conversation, acting like she wasn't just fawning over a stranger. "Me! Just gave him a spanking and sent him to school," Jayme answered smugly, giving Alphonso a fist bump.