Sobriety Is Super Overrated

The End Of The World As We Know It

"Oh! How lovely! The end of the world, you know, I always knew this day would come. And now I get to spend it with my favourite brother!" I say with fake enthusiasm.

"Of course. The only one I have to help me achieve my plan is a sarcastic junkie."

"Well, I'm sure you would rather just talk to the mannequin, wouldn't you?"

"Yes. I would."

"Everyone knows she's just a more tacky version of Wilson."

Five bolts up.

"That's a lie and you know it!"

"Come on! You think nobody noticed?"

"Apologize right now!"

He had his hands balled in a fist. Was he really serious about this? Offended even? I mean, I know that being completely isolated can fuck with your brain, but I didn't know it would fuck you up that bad.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry."

Five relaxed and sat back down on his chair. He thoughtfully sipped his cup of coffee. I was too afraid to say anything. That guy could be seriously scary when he tried.

"Well I suppose you and me could still try to stop the apocalypse."

"I'm along for the ride if you are." I agreed, holding my hand out for him to shake.

He took my hand and we shook on it.

The deal was sealed.

"Now we just need some sort of a plan. I've already tried going to the place where the eye was made, but that was a dead end. The next thing to do would be to track down Harold Jenkins, but I already know we won't be able to stop the apocalypse without the full force of the academy."

"Well, that's great, but where are the others?"

"Allison is going to visit Claire, Luther is planning to stay with Allison, Diego is hunting down Hazel and Cha Cha and as far as I can tell, I'd thought you were planning on spending the rest of your days getting high."

"So you already told the others?"

"Yes."

"And the world is really ending?"

"How many times do I have to tell you?"

"No need to be a sassy biatch. I was just asking."

He rolls his eyes at me. Five can be kind of a dick at times. Sometimes he's a good brother though. Despite the fact that he doesn't always act like it. Even if he's being a tad bit rude right now, I forgive him due to the fact that he is literally trying to save my life from whatever it is that causes the apocalypse, and on top of that he's also a 58 year old man trapped in the boy of a 14 year old. It also probably means that he's going through puberty again, which is never fun. What would be fun, however would be preventing the end of the world as we know it. Doesn't that sound like fun to you?

"So, how do we stop the apocalypse?"

"When I went to work undercover for the commission I found this little bit of information." Five pulls a crumpled paper out of his pocket and shows it to me.

'Protect Harold Jenkins'

I'm still confused. I'm literally the dumbest out of all the super siblings. It also doesn't help that my power is probably one of the most useless and I'm also one of the most unhealthy.

I take another long drag from my cigarette. I tilt my head back and exhale the smoke. I need to keep my calm. I've been needing something more potent than a simple cigarette. Craving it. I need it. It's not really helping that I don't have a ride and can't exactly get to it right now.

"The commission thinks that the apocalypse was meant to happen. They're working against me, trying to let the apocalypse happen. I'm trying to prevent it. Which means that Harold Jenkins causes the apocalypse."

"Who is he?"

"I don't know."

"Well how are we supposed to find him then?"

"We'll figure something out?"

"And what do you need my help with?"

"Hunting him down. Like I said, I don't know who this guy is, I could need backup."

"I'm backup."

"Yes. And I also have work to do before the end of the world. That's why it would be more ideal to send the rest of the academy in."

"And you really think we could stop this?"

"You have me this time, of course you can stop it."

"That doesn't reassure me whatsoever."

Five just sighed. I jumped and he smashed his empty cup of coffee on the ground, shards of glass went flying everywhere. He didn't look angry. He just looked ready to fight.

"It's time to get to work."

"Right now?"

He rolled his eyes at me again. As though I was asking stupid questions. Well maybe there's a chance that I only seem stupider than him because he's thirty years older than me. Thirty years is a plenty of time for someone to get that smart. But I suppose Number Five has always been the smart one.

"Are you sure we can do this on time?"

"We just need to assemble the academy again."

"Great! What would be better than to get the family of dysfunctional freaks together again?"

My family has some serious issues. I know it's probably the fault of dear old dad, but sometimes I think us being weird superhero kids had really made for a fucking weird childhood. Fucking weird would be an understatement, actually. It was way more than that. Then I catch a glimpse of Ben i the corner of my eye.

He looks to disappointed in me. Like he really believed I could quit. That I was strong enough to quit, even though we all knew I was the weak one. The failure. The loser, because I could never win. It just seemed to come to easy for all the others and I couldn't even figure out how to control my powers.

"I know you're disappointed in me."

Ben just sighs. "I thought you quit."

"You don't know what it's like for me! You don't know how hard it is!"

"You were almost there!"

"I was falling apart at the seams! Between Dave and Reginald and Grace and all this family drama!"

"You can try again!"

"No I can't! You don't understand, I'm a failure."

Ben just looks angry. Mad at me. I'm a failure and I know it. I've always known it. I could never be that strong. I can never be strong enough.

Five just looks at me like I'm a freak, talking to myself, which I basically am, but that's not the point.

"I have buisness to attend to. See you later Klaus." Five teleports to some ar and unknown destination, leaving me here alone with Ben.

Who, by the way, is still mad at me because I wasn't able to quit, and now I have to face the end of the fucking world and he wants me to sober up, after everything I've been through. I can't it's just to hard.

I can never be strong enough to face this.

Until I see Dave again.