𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 ⇻ 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦

chapter x

❝ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪɴᴅ ᴏғ ғʟᴀᴍᴇ ᴄᴀᴍᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ʙᴜʀɴᴇᴅ ᴅᴏᴡɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏᴜsᴇ, ᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ᴛʜᴏsᴇ ʟɪᴘs ᴛᴀsᴛᴇ ʟɪᴋᴇ ʙᴜʀɴᴛ sᴜɢᴀʀ ɴᴏᴡ.❞

The house shook and trembled under Vanya's power and anger, thrashing at the walls until they had no choice but to bend to the will of the woman. Effie shrieked as she awoke to the guest-bedroom wall caving in on her, the bricks crumbling like the ash Five had breathed in the apocalypse.

"Ah!"

"Eff?" Five darted into her bedroom, took her by the hand and jumped out.

"Five?" Effie's voice was feverish.

They landed in a dirty heap on some debris. "I'm here, darling."

The mansion that the seven Hargreeves siblings had once called their childhood home had crumbled- the only thing that stood were towers of broken brick and multitudes of fires that had sprung like ribbons from the gas pumps, sparked alight from the friction. The air was acrid and bitter, tearing holes in their lungs as they climbed over the mountains of rubble.

They found the other remaining siblings hunched over, and Diego on the ground.

"Guys!" Five called. "This is it. The apocalypse is still on. The world ends today."

Effie shivered.

"I thought you said it was over." Luthor stated, glancing over at the small boy and his almost-girlfriend.

Five shook his head, and picked up the newspaper that lay on the ground, dirtied from Vanya's attacks. "I was wrong, okay? This newspaper, I found it in the future the day I got stuck. The headline hasn't changed."

"No, that doesn't mean anything." Diego dismissed him, the fire gleaming around the six of them. "Time could've been altered since that newspaper came out this morning."

"You're not listening to me. When I found it, I assumed this place came down along with everything else. But here we are. The moon's still shining, the earth is still in one piece. But not the Academy." He emphasised.

As Diego snatched the newspaper, Klaus complained that he was confused. "Then listen to me, you idiot! Vanya destroys the Academy before the apocalypse." He sighed. "I thought Harold Jenkins was the cause, but he was the fuse. Vanya is the bomb. Vanya causes the apocalypse!"

Helicopter blades whirred in the distance as he spoke, his words punched out like bullets.

Finally, Effie understood. "We have to find her."

"We gotta go, now!" Luthor ordered, slinging his arm over his eyes to shield them as search-lights beamed over the broken chaos that had once been the infamous Umbrella Academy. "Regroup at the Super Star. Go!"

Effie had no idea what or where it was, so she followed Five as they scrambled off the property. Her face was covered in small cuts and gashes, dirt and grime staining her skin as well as her clothes.

Bowling pins fell in the distance as the siblings sat around a table in the Super Star- which had turned out to be a bowling arena, coated in bright lights and fluorescent colours. "Look, I hate to be the one to say this, but everyone needs to prepare." Luthor spoke, his back to the vivid hues.

"For what?" Diego asked.

"To do whatever it takes to stop Vanya." As Luthor said this, Allison leant out and smacked him with her notepad, earning a cry of pain. "I-I-- we may not have a choice, Allison."