The Umbrella Academy: Rebirth of Unity

Chapter 2: Cracks in the family

The air in the Umbrella Academy was thick with unease as the siblings gathered around the large, round table in the mansion's dimly lit library. The candles flickered in the corners, casting long shadows on the dark wooden floors, where echoes of their childhood still haunted them. The letter from their father lay in the center of the table, its cold, final instructions creating a wall of silence between them.

Zara could feel the weight of her siblings' stares, though none of them looked directly at her. She didn't blame them. Her power had always been unpredictable, and now, after years apart, she wasn't sure how much they trusted her. Not after what had happened the last time they were all together.

"So," Diego said, breaking the silence, his voice sharp, "we're supposed to save the world, again? What else is new?" He twirled one of his knives in his hand, a restless habit that hadn't changed.

Luther sat up, his massive frame making the chair beneath him creak. His face was tense, the sense of duty etched into his features. "It's not that simple, Diego. Father wouldn't have sent us this letter if it was something we could ignore."

"Right," Klaus chimed in, leaning back in his chair with his usual sarcastic drawl. "Because he was always so open and clear with his intentions. The man practically invented secrets."

Allison sighed, running a hand through her hair. "It doesn't matter now. He's gone. And we're still here. Maybe it's time we start making our own decisions." Her voice was calm but heavy with the weariness of past battles. She glanced at Viktor, who had been quietly sitting at the far end of the table, as if waiting to disappear into the shadows. The unspoken tension between the two siblings hung in the air, thick and unresolved.

But before anyone could respond, a familiar sound filled the room—the sharp snap of space-time bending. Number Five, the time-traveling anomaly, stood at the doorway, hands in his pockets, looking much older in his mind than the boyish body he was trapped in. "You're all missing the point. The apocalypse is coming, and we're short on time."

Viktor blinked, his pale blue eyes shifting toward Five. "Another apocalypse?" His voice was soft, but there was a tremor in it. After everything that had happened the last time, he had hoped for some kind of peace, even if it was only temporary.

Five's expression was grim. "Worse than the last one. And this time, we don't have days or months to figure things out. We have hours."

The room erupted into a cacophony of voices.

"Hours?!"
"How is that possible?"
"What kind of apocalypse are we talking about?"

Zara, who had been silent, finally spoke. Her voice was quiet but firm. "What kind of apocalypse, Five? What are we dealing with?" As she asked, she could feel the faint hum of energy beneath her skin, a reminder that her own powers might become a key to either stopping or causing what was to come.

Five moved to the center of the room, his eyes hardening. "It's not just one event, Zara. It's a cascade. Everything is falling apart, timeline by timeline, like dominos. I barely made it back here, and I don't even know what triggered it."

The siblings exchanged wary glances. Even Luther, with his unwavering sense of duty, looked shaken.

Diego gripped his knife tightly. "So, what's the plan? You always have some half-baked scheme to stop these things, don't you?"

"This time, I don't," Five admitted, his voice low. "Not yet. We need information, and fast. But we're not working with much."

Klaus stretched lazily in his chair, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Well, that's comforting, Five. You're telling me we have hours to stop an apocalypse, but you have no idea how, why, or where it's happening?"

"Exactly," Five replied without missing a beat. "And every second we waste standing here is a second closer to everything collapsing."

"I'm not sure if we can do this," Viktor whispered, his voice barely audible. "Not after last time."

Zara's heart sank. She knew what Viktor was thinking. The last time they had faced an apocalypse, it was Viktor's uncontrollable powers that had nearly torn the world apart. And Zara, who had been growing increasingly powerful over the years, couldn't help but wonder if this time it might be her. What if she was the key to the destruction, not the salvation, of everything?

Luther, sensing the uncertainty spreading through the group, stood up. "We've done this before. We'll figure it out again. We don't have a choice."

"I'm with Luther," Allison said, her voice steady. "We'll find a way, but we have to work together."

Diego scoffed, crossing his arms. "Yeah, because we're such a great team, right? Half of us can't even stand to be in the same room for five minutes."

"You think I like being here, Diego?" Zara's voice rose, finally addressing the tension she'd been feeling since they reunited. "You think I wanted this? None of us did. But we're here, and we're running out of time. So either we figure this out together, or the whole world burns. You decide."

The room fell silent, her words echoing in the heavy air.

Five cleared his throat. "We start by figuring out what triggered this collapse. I can go through time, look for clues, but we need to find out if there's anything in the present that might explain it."

Klaus raised an eyebrow. "And what are we supposed to do while you're gallivanting through time? Hold hands and sing kumbaya?"

Five ignored the comment. "You can start by going through Father's things. There might be something in his research, something he knew that we don't."

Diego frowned. "You think the old man knew this was coming?"

"He always knew more than he let on," Five replied. "It's worth a shot."

Luther, ever the leader, nodded. "Then let's split up. Klaus and I will check Father's study. Viktor, you and Allison take the library. Zara—"

Zara interrupted, standing up. "I'll go to the attic. That's where he kept his personal projects." She had spent most of her childhood avoiding the place, fearing what she might find hidden away in the attic's darkness. But now, something about the room called to her, a gnawing feeling that it held secrets she needed to face.

As they all moved to their tasks, Viktor and Allison lingered behind for a moment. There was a pause between them, a silence that had become common since the incident.

"Viktor," Allison began hesitantly, "I don't know if you're okay—after everything that happened, but..."

"I'm trying," Viktor said, his voice strained. "I just don't want to be the cause of another apocalypse."

"You won't be," Allison replied, offering a soft, reassuring smile. "We'll figure this out."

They exchanged a tentative nod and went their separate ways, neither of them fully convinced by the words they shared.