You Better Bring an Umbrella, Vol. 2

Chapter 32: Bang, Bang, Bang!

Season 3, babes!!! It's happening! (Did we really ever doubt it, though?)

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Silence.

On any other day, loud noises would have woken me up, but this time, it was the complete opposite. It was almost like the tone served as a lullaby, keeping me from rising and trying to fight through again. If it stopped, that meant Vanya must have calmed down.

Gasping, I sat up suddenly, trying my best not to fall back down.

Vanya!

Everything was calm, and nothing had exploded. Which one of us managed to get through to her? I glanced around, finding Allison, Diego, and Klaus all collapsed on the ground beside me, so it couldn't have been any of them. Maybe she'd just run her course through it, and somehow managed to bring herself back down.

I shook my head, brushing away that thought. Once Vanya got going, it took an outside source to break her trance; while I didn't have enough evidence of a pattern to back that thought up, one explosive incident was enough with Vanya. A lack of repeats was the goal here.

Right as I closed my eyes again, attempting to get the pounding in my skull to slow down, the pattering of the pads of feet against linoleum tile forced them back open again. Though I had almost no strength to hold my limbs up, the moment I spotted who was coming for us, I managed to at least push myself up onto my knees.

"Are you okay?" Vanya asked, bringing herself to a halt in front of her four weakened siblings strewn about on the ground. Upon hearing their sister's voice, Klaus, Allison, and Diego stirred, managing to, at the very least, lift their heads.

"Vanya?" Allison groaned, squinting as her eyes opened to the bright sunlight.

"Physically or emotionally?" Even when he'd been beaten into a pulp, Klaus somehow managed to lighten the weight of what we'd just been through.

It took me a moment to completely process that it was Vanya standing in front of me, only a bit dazed with no visible injuries, smiling at us like she knew exactly who we were. Her brown eyes held a certain depth to them, one that only came with wisdom and memories. Was it possible...?

"You're alive." Diego's eyes lit up, staring at Vanya with a soft expression, flooding with relief.

"Did we save the world, or what?" Klaus muttered, pressing a hand against the side of his head. I noticed some dried blood coming down from his ears, causing me to reach up and peel some from my own skin.

"I think so," Allison whispered, wiping some of the red liquid dripping down from her nose.

"Building's still here," I reasoned, taking a glance at the in-tact walls... which just happened to be littered with blood stains from the bodies that had been thrown against it.

My heart soared as Vanya extended her hand down to me, offering help up. I still towered above her as I got back up onto my feet, but the way she stood up straight and proud made me completely forget that for a moment. She'd been imbibed with the new and reminded of the old, yet somehow, it didn't look like any of it would weigh her down. Vanya was finally getting some of the happiness she deserved. Overwhelmed, I reached forward and pulled her into a hug, flooded with relief. This wasn't the sister I'd known, but I hoped she'd be even better than that one.

As we pushed away, Diego glanced down at the watch Five had given him, and upon spotting the time, his eyes widened. The way he looked at all of us made it seem like he expected the rest of us to know exactly what was going on, but when I took a glance at my own, I just saw the time. We'd stopped doomsday, hopefully, and all we had to do was get back to the rest of our siblings... and then, somehow find a way home, but we could worry about that once all seven of our minds could be put together.