Doomsday Creators (The Umbrella Academy) Book Three

38. The Guardian

To the twins suprise, they were unable to reunite with Viktor and Allison, for the hotel had changed.
Every corridor they went down, now took them back to somewhere they had been before.
They were trapped in an ever changing maze, and Five didn't want to try Blinking out, in case he couldn't get back to Lucy. And he had no intention of leaving his sister alone in the warped hotel.
So, the pair stuck together, getting more and more frustrated with the maze that wouldn't let them out.

Eventually they turned a corner and walked straight into Ben and Sloane.
"Other people, thank God" sighed Lucy.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad to see you both" admitted Five.
"What's wrong?" Questioned Sloane.
"The hotel is changing around us. We've been walking around in circles for ages. It's like this thing is alive" revealed Five.

"We should head back to the lobby then" suggested Ben.
"Tried that, didn't work. Every direction we take, we end up back in the same spot" informed Five.
"Or, maybe you have no sense of direction" mocked Ben.
"Alright, lead the way Magellan" replied Five.
"Yeah, I'd like to see you do better than us" added Lucy.
"Fine" announced Ben, before marching off down the corridor, with the others following close behind.

They continued walking for several more minutes until an eerie sound rang through the building, causing the hotel around them to shake, and the lights to flicker.
"What just happened?" Questioned Lucy.
"I don't know" answered Five.
"Please tell me that's not what it sounds like when someone rings the bell" replied Lucy.
"I knew it was a bad idea to leave Reginald down there by himself"
"I guess we know for sure that he is definitely trying to get us all killed"
"Let's just keep walking".

As the turned the next corner an armored figure with a sword began making his way towards them.
"Really? A samurai?" Mocked Ben.
"I guess this is the guardian that Diego met last time he was here" mumbled Lucy, as she bent down into a fighting stance.
Sloane screamed in anger and ran at the guardian, backflipping over him, before using her powers to lift him into the air.
She was clearly wanting to get revenge on the creature that she believed had taken Luther from her.
"Revenge looks good on her" grinned Ben.
"Will you just shut up and help us kill this thing" replied Five.

Five grabbed a fire axe from the wall, and charged at the guardian with Lucy at his side, who was armed with her daggers.
The pair of them attacked the guardian in sync with each other, as they had spent their childhoods training together, so they knew how the other person fought.
Their twin connection also enabled them to anticipate each others moves, and co-ordinate their attacks.
But despite their advantage, they were no match against their sword wielding opponent, even with Ben and Sloane by their sides.
It really was as powerful and dangerous as Diego had described.

The group was forced to retreat all the way down to the laundry room, to avoid being killed.
But the guardian pursued them there, forcing them to hide behind a row of washing machines, so that they could catch their breaths.
"Are you alright?" Five whispered to Lucy.
"Hmm" mumbled Lucy.
"Because you don't look it" commented Five.
"I'll be alright. The wound on my shoulder isn't much worse than the one on your face... I just need a moment to rest, and then I'll be ready to go again"
"Yeah, me too".

"You've hit him with your axe like 50 times, why the hell isn't he dead yet?" Demanded Ben.
"The armour is too thick, I can't get through, it's like hitting cement" panted Five, as he tried to get his breath back.
Blinking and fighting simultaneously had tired him out. And like the others, he was covered in cuts, and his clothes were stained with his blood.
Ben was the only one out of the 4 of them, who didn't look like he'd been hit by a truck.

"There's a space between his back plates" revealed Sloane.
"A weak spot?" Asked Lucy.
"Maybe" answered Sloane.
"I need to get behind him then" announced Five.
"Go, I'll cover you" encouraged Sloane.
"O.K" agreed Five.
"Hey, asshole!" Yelled Sloane, as she vaulted over the washing machines, and charged at the guardian.
This gave Five the chance to Blink behind him.

But the guardian was faster than them.
He threw a knife at Sloane while she was in the air, cutting her below her ribs, before spinning back around to slap Five across the face, using his armoured hand.
Sloane crashed onto the table below her, and rolled onto the floor, as Five was also knocked to the ground.
As the guardian lifted his sword above his head, and prepared to kill Five, Ben leapt out of hiding, and allowed his tentacles to burst free from his body.
Ben was then able to wrap his tentacles around the guardian, ans hold him, but not for long.
The guardian was able to wiggle out his sword, slashing off the ends of several of Ben's tentacles, freeing himself and causing Ben to call out in pain.

Lucy knew she had to intervene, all they would all end up dead.
Five was lying on the floor at the guardians feet, so Lucy felt sure that Five would be his next victim. Which was something she would not allow.
She didn't have the energy or the strength to push out her consciousness, but that didn't mean she couldn't fight.
After removing her last 2 knives from her belt, she manoeuvred around an injured Ben, and threw both of her knives at the guardian, hitting him in both eyes.
This did not incapacitate him, but it certainly got his attention.
He pulled the daggers out of his eye holes, before charging at Lucy, exposing his back to Five.

The guardian raised his sword at Lucy, as Five jumped to his feet, and swung his axe, hitting the guardian in the back, between his two armoured plates.
The guardian then dropped his sword, and fell to the ground.
But unfortunately Five had been a second too late, for the guardian had already sliced Lucy's throat with his sword.
Lucy smiled weakly at Five, before collapsing to the floor, as blood exploded out of her.
Five Blinked to her side, and caught her, before she hit the ground.

"No, no, no" mumbled Five, as he pressed his hands against Lucy's neck in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
"Well, this sucks. I did not think I would die like this" gurgled Lucy, as blood poured out of her mouth.
"No. This cannot happen. I will not let you die" insisted Five.
"I don't really think you have much say in the matter"
"That's where you're wrong. I can save you, just like I did last time"
"You hadn't fought an almost invulnerable samurai last time, and the timeline was still intact. We're currently in a parallel universe, inside a hotel, that should not exist, trying to find the keys to the universe. I don't think the rules are the same"
"I don't care about any of that. I will not lose you!".

Five began to glow, forming a blue ball of electricity around them, causing Ben and Sloane to step back in fear.
Instead of resisting, Lucy reached back out to Five, using their twin connection, to hang onto him like a lifeline.
With every breath, breathing felt easier, and her pain got less.
And as she felt the wounds around her body begin to heal, she watched as the cut on Five's forehead did the same.

When neither of them felt any more injuries on each other, they pulled back their power, and extracted themselves from each others arms.
"You healed yourself" commented Lucy.
"No, I think you healed me, as I healed you in return" admitted Five, as he jumped up.
"Well, once again you proved me wrong. We were able to save each other, despite the different circumstances" sighed Lucy, as Five helped her to her feet.
"Always being right is a skill of mine".

"What the hell did you two just do?" Frowned Ben.
"We healed each other. We're not quite sure how it works exactly, but when we use our powers together like that, we can heal the other person" revealed Five.
"It's a power we didn't even know we possessed until recently. And we've only done it like one other time. It's also a power we haven't told the rest of our siblings about" added Lucy.
"Well, if we promise not to tell the others about your extra powers, can you do it again and heal us this time?" Asked Sloane, who's hand was still pressed against her bleeding side.

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. The only reason we can heal each other, is because we are twins, and we share the same energy source. We can also communicate using our minds, feel the others presence, and pass energy between each other" answered Lucy.
"When we go into a healing state like that, it's like we are copying the healthy part of us, and mirroring it back onto our sibling. Which is why it would never work on anyone else" explained Five.
"Great" mumbled Sloane.
"But I know that there is a first aid kit back in the lobby. So, lets head down there, and get you cleaned up" suggested Lucy.
"Hopefully the rest of our siblings will also make their own way down there as well, and we can see exactly what kind of trouble they've got themselves in" sighed Five, as the group began the journey back downstairs, hoping that no more horrors awaited them down there.