Chaotic Good | the umbrella academy

FIFTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
' AN ASS-URRECTION. '

Eddie let out a piece of laughter, her eyes lightening with awe as she turned in a circle, taking in the magic environment. Lights hung from the ceiling, and the tables were layered with white tablecloths set for dinner. She grinned at Sloane and took the jar from her, a gasp escaping her at the pretty interior.

"Wow!" Lila and Eddie spoke at the same time.

"And you did all of this yourself?" the blonde asked.

"Luther helped too," Sloane answered, a grin on her face. "We stayed up all night."

"Dad?"

Eddie froze, shifting to face Hargreeves, but her heart jumped at the sight of her brother. "Klaus!" She wobbled on her feet and had to grab one of the chairs to steady herself.

"Oh, thank God," Viktor added, the Umbrella Academy both relaxing with relief at Klaus' presence but becoming rigid at their father's.

"Gather 'round, children," he ushered sharply, and Eddie shifted as everyone stayed where they were. "Quickly now!"

"The hell have you been?" Diego partly scolded Klaus, ignoring Hargreeves.

"Oh," he waved his hand. "Reg and I. We got tangled up in a whole father-son end-of-the-world road trip kinda thing."

"You know?"

"You two are hanging now?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, we laughed, we cried, we played in traffic, and long story short, I'm immortal now."

An awkwardness settled between the others, but Eddie didn't seem affected by it. "Klaus! That's so cool!"

"Right?" he agreed, jumping on the spot at her excitement.

"How do you even discover that?" she continued. She didn't notice Diego and Klaus' shared glance.

"I think the more pertinent question is," Hargreeves intervened. "Why are you all playing with jars?"

Eddie hugged the jar to her chest, eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"They're invitations," Sloane replied.

Luther glared. "Nobody's playing."

"Luther and I are getting married," she continued.

"All of space and time is collapsing, and you lot are planning a wedding?"

"Yeah," Luther moved towards him and pulled the jar Sloane had given him away. "And, uh, the thing is, um, space is limited. So it's kind of a per-plate situation, so, you know."

"Is this how I raised you? To fiddle while Rome burns?" he continued his scolding, and Eddie couldn't help but shift on her feet, eyes falling to the ground.

Klaus elbowed him. "Remember what we talked about, Reg. Remember to breathe."

"Quiet," he hissed back. "I'm on a roll."

Sloane shared a glance with Ben. "Dad, have you been taking your pills?"

"As a matter of fact, I haven't, and I can confirm that I've never felt better in my life. You thought you could dope me up and slow me down, take control of my affairs and squander my fortune. Well, Klaus here was good enough to wean me off that wretched poison, and now that the fog is lifting, I can see all your dastardly designs with a bracing clarity."

"God, why didn't we think of that?" Eddie thought aloud. "Our lives would have been so much easier."

"You took him off his meds?" Sloane scolded Klaus softly. "What were you thinking?"

"He's the only one doing any thinking," Hargreeves replied. "All of you could learn a thing or two from this impressive young man."

"Klaus." Eddie shifted. "Are you sure you took him off his meds? He seems... nice?"

"The world really is ending! Oh my God," Diego agreed.

"As for the rest of you, your training is to resume post-haste." His words caused them all to share a glance. "We're running out of time. We have a mission to complete."

"I'm ready." Ben shook out his limbs. "Let's do this."

Five raised his eyebrows, voice dry, "Let me guess. Project Oblivion?"

"How do you know about that?"

"I heard all about it from Pogo."

"Now, there's a name I haven't heard in some time."

"And he confirmed what I've always suspected about you."

"Which is?"

"He's actually an alien?" Eddie shifted, eyes wide.

"What?" Five gave her a confused look. "No. That he's a sadistic lunatic who's planning on gambling all of our lives in another pointless mission."

"And you'd take the word of a disgruntled chimp over that of your own father?"

Five spatial jumped in front of him, lips turning into a sarcastic smile. "Every damn day."

"Especially if it's Pogo," Eddie added.

"Nobody wants you here, Dad," Luther stepped up, glaring at him. "You should leave."

Ben also moved forward. "Hey, you don't speak for all of us, big guy."

"Feel free to join him," he replied with a shrug.

"I see." Hargreeves looked between them all. "So this is what it's come to? Insurrection."

"Yep," Eddie replied, crossing her arms, the jar still clutched in her hand. "But I wouldn't call it an insurrection because you're not a source of authority. You're an asshole. So it's more of an ass-urrection."

Klaus shifted. "Everybody just needs to be cool. Clearly, you guys are on a different chakra frequency right now. Hey, Pops, let's go have a nice cup of tea in the suite."

"Let go of my arm."

"Luther, Sloane. Oh my God. I'm beyond thrilled. You guys are gorgeous. Amazing. Send me your registry!"

The room fell into silence before Eddie looked at Viktor. "Hey, uh, do you wanna help me upstairs? I might have something for you."

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Eddie pushed open the door to their room, leaning against the doorway with a heavy sigh. She nodded for Viktor to enter in front of her and leant the walking stick against one of the cabinets.

"So, I figured you don't have many clothes to... suit the new you for this wedding," she began, and Viktor turned to face her. "But I have my suit from the 60s and the binder too, if you, uh, wanted it?" She swallowed awkwardly as he stared at her.

"You-" He looked at where the suit lay on the bed from when Eddie had removed it to sleep, which felt like decades ago by that point. "Are you sure?"

"Sure, I am. I mean, we're practically the same size anyway."

"Thanks, Eddie." He grinned at her, and she waved her hand to dismiss it. "How are you holding up?"

She shrugged. "I actually feel a lot better. It's like whatever we did at the Sparrows might have helped."

Viktor grinned half-heartedly and grabbed the suit. "That's good. I'm going to get changed. Thanks, again."

As he moved to the bathroom, his grin dropped. Maybe he was being cynical, but he'd heard of dying people getting a new lease of life just before the end.

He just hoped he was wrong.