as the world ends, so does us | five hargreeves

chapter 2 | unchanged

"ROUGE, HONEY, finish your food."

Twelve-year-old Rouge nodded at her mom who was gleefully washing the dishes with a smile on her red lips and while humming. She could only wonder how Grace managed to work around the academy and obey Reginald's orders without any complaints.

God. If she only had her mom's obedience and patience, she could be with the others right now kicking some asses but instead, she was left behind, munching up the steaming hot beef stew Grace cooked for her lunch. Not that it wasn't delicious though, she could eat it all up in an instant if only she wasn't much more invested in listening to the live broadcast on the radio.

"Breaking news. A group of heavily armed men stormed the Capital West Bank located at Main and Sixth and took a significant number of hostages."

Rouge smiled. This is it. It's happening. Another crime has invaded the town but of course, the Umbrella Academy is here to save the day.

Well, not all of them.

The girl rolled her eyes and continued stuffing beef in her mouth. She forcibly chewed her food with every aggravating feeling that was building up inside her. She raised another bite and the maroon-colored sauce of the stew flashed an image of her drawing blood from the criminals inside that mini battleground.

"We just heard shots from inside the bank," the reporter stated. Immediately afterward, gasps from several people were heard. "Oh! Looks like one of the armed robbers has been thrown from the bank!"

The mic was turned over to the anchor, "Jim, you said a while ago that the police are only on their way. How is it possible that there's been some kind of movement, like that robber that just got thrown away, going on inside?"

"That's probably just Luther," Rouge murmured.

"Honestly, Karen, I am also surprised by what's happening here and I can't give you any details just yet. All we can do now is just hope that no captives have been harmed-", the reporter stopped for a moment. "The doors of the bank are open! Now we can see the hostages have been released. They're free!"

Rouge grinned. Her friends had successfully saved the day.

"Wait, there's more! A group of masked children came out from the bank. Could this be our little brave heroes?"

The girl snorted at what the reporter just said. Little brave heroes? If only her best friend could hear it, she could only imagine the cringe he would feel.

"Our world is changing."

Her body perked up from leaning over the dining table. With eyebrows furrowed, she tilted her head towards the radio over the countertop, ears widened at what the old man had to say.

"And as it changes, it becomes more and more susceptible to the terrors and atrocities that are only lurking amongst us," Reginald continued. "But fear not, for there are also some of us gifted with abilities far beyond the ordinary... and I have adopted six such children."

What her adoptive father had said just pulled the last string of her faltering patience and it was not even that long to begin with.

What did he mean six?! Weren't her trainings vigorous enough to show how she could also keep up with the rest of the academy? Wasn't she extraordinary as well?

She had lived most of her life anticipating the day when all her attempts to prove her own strength would have meaning. Maybe the reason why she wasn't raised like any other normal kid but rather grew up in a household like the Hargreeves residence was because she had a gift and a power that could change the world. Maybe she wasn't a hopeless case as she had always thought.