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As we near the 5 other children, Five straightenes his spine and a neutral look appears on his face. When I glimpse him out of the corner of my eye, he looks absolutely devoid of expression.
My hands are shaking with nervousness and I try to cover it up by shoving them in my pocket. I can make out the curly brown haired girl from earlier, a tall boy with blonde hair, two boys snickering at each other and another boy tossing up a knife and catching it repeatedly.
Realising there's only one girl, I mutter "Talk about uneven gender distribution." Five snorts but quickly falls silent just as we reach the line. The woman from earlier greets, "Hello Number Five. Who's this?" Her voice has just the slightest warning tone. "Oh, this is Y/N. She's a friend of mine," Five replies coolly.
The two snickering boys break into a chant, "Five has a girlfriend! Five has a girlfriend!" I feel my cheeks heat up in a blush but I still keep my eyes on the ground. Five rolls his eyes and teleports behind them. Knocking their heads together, he clarifies, "You're just jealous. Also, she's not my girlfriend."
"Boys, break it up," the woman speaks again. "Sorry Mom," the three of them apologise. "Y/N, dear, I'm sorry but you'll have to go him now," Mom continues. "Can't I just come with you? My mother is going to kill me when I get back," I beg desperately.
"Y/N, the Umbrella Academy is a school for special children. Not just anyone can join." I ask energetically, "Are you talking about powers? I have those too!" I lift my eyes from the ground and stare directly at her. In a few seconds, I look exactly like her.
She seems surprised but says, "Well, that changes things, doesn't it?" She taps her chin with her forefinger for a minute, looking thoughtful before finally saying, "Join the line, behind Number Five. We'll see what Mr Hargreeves has to say about this."
I visualise myself and hear some gasps as I return to normal. The kids don't say a word as I slip in line. Only the boy behind me whispers, "Hey. I'm Number Six. But you can call me Ben. By the way, that changing trick was amazing." I mumble a greeting and thanks in reply. "Y/N, hmmm? That's a nice name." "What's your power?", I ask curiously. Ben looks away and doesn't answer. Five still remains quiet and the journey to the Umbrella Academy is completed in silence.
When we arrive, Mom unlocks the iron gates and leads us through the grand, gilded doors. She leaves us standing in a line awkwardly in the hall for a few minutes before she comes bustling out to meet us. "Your father is out right now, but he will be back soon. Stay in the living room and I'll bring some cookies along."
We proceed to the the living room, which is papered with exotic wallpaper and the walls are peppered with the stuffed heads of fierce animals. The shelves are fit to burst with all the bits and bobs inside. I turn 360°, taking in the view of the entire room.
"Woah." I hadn't even realised I said it out loud before I hear the rest of them chuckling at me. The blonde boy looks at me and sticks his hand out. "I'm Luther. I'm the Number One of this team." I shake his hand firmly although I notice he seems shocked when I don't offer any reaction to him being Number One. I'm trying to keep my eyes trained on the floor.
The boy with the knife introduces himself as Diego. The curly haired girl says she is Allison. The final boy whoops before hugging me tightly, trilling "I'm Klaus! And can see dead people!" I'm not too surprised as it makes sense that they all have powers. "Wicked!" I exclaim.
Just then, another girl slips into the room. Nobody greets her but me. "Hi. I'm Y/N! What's your name?" She glances around as if checking who I'm talking to before stammering, "I-i'm Vanya Hargreeves. Number Seven. I don't have any powers."
As I look at her and smile shyly, I transform into a copy of her. The other kids applaud politely before Luther scolds, "Stop showing off, Y/N!" "I didn't mean it. I can't really control my power," I don't break eye contact with him as I say it. I feel the transformation before it even happens.
The next moment, there are two Luthers in the room. I continue glaring at him until he looks away. Ben whistles, "Oooh. She's feisty." Allison rolls her eyes at Luther before grinning at me. She looks at me and says "I heard a rumour that-" Just then I transform into her. "your power didn't work anymore 'cause you seem kinda annoying," she finishes. I close my eyes and return to my usual self. "What? How are you able to transform?", she asked incredulously. "Guess your power doesn't work on yourself."
Klaus hops around in front of me, yelling "Do me! Do me! Do me!" I look into his warm eyes and reconstruct myself into an exact likeness of him. He cheers in joy and runs around the room crowing, "Two Klaus' are better than one! Two Klaus' are better than one!"
Suddenly, Mom opens the door and I quickly transfigure myself back to normal. "Mr Hargreeves is in his study. He will see you now," she instructs me before leading me up the stairs and to a room all the way at the end of the corridor. She knocks the door twice and mouths "Good luck!"
The door creaks open and I hesitantly enter the room after i hear a voice ordering "Come in!" An old man wearing a monocle with weathered, wrinkly skin is sitting at the table, scribbling furiously on a piece of paper. He gruffly asks "Who are you, girl?" "I'm Y/N. I'm eight and a half. I live next door. And I have powers," I tack on the last sentence as a means of cajoling him into adopting me.
"Powers, hmm? Let's see them," he rests his head on his hands and looks at me. As soon as I make contact with his clear irises, my body begins to mutate. Soon, I look and sound exactly like Sir Reginald Hargreeves. Mr Hargreeves raises his eyebrows and scans me. "Interesting, interesting. You will make a wonderful addition to my experiment," he finishes signing the paper.
"Would you, Miss Y/N L/N like to join the Umbrella Academy as Number X?"
"X? Why X?"
"Because you represent all the numbers at once."
"Then I've never wanted anything more."
"Hand this cheque for $100,000 to your mother as payment. I am certain this will help her part from you," he hands me the paper that could potentially change my future if mother agrees to it. "Can Mom go with me? My mother might murder me if I went home alone and late right now." There is no change in his facial expressions but he gives a short nod.
Mom and I only have to go right next door to visit my house. It really doesn't look like much from the outside but thankfully Mom doesn't say anything. As soon as I enter, I hear the familiar scratchy voice say "Y/N, you're late." "Yes. And I've brought someone with me," I vociferate boldly.
Mom steps forward and begins a detailed yet longwinded explanation of my admission into the Umbrella Academy. Last but not least, Mom presents my mother with the cheque. I could swear my mother's eyes turned into dollar signs at that moment. She shooed me away, saying "Oh, honey. Go ahead. It's only for the best." She was basically trying to be Mother Of The Year while Mom was there.
I skip out the door as quick as lightning, not even bothering to pack a suitcase as I barely have any clothes anyway. After going inside the Umbrella Academy (my new home!), Mom pays a visit to Mr Hargreeves or Dad, I guess.
When she descends the stairs, she notices Five passing by. He arrives and she orders, "Five, darling, please give Y/N our customary welcome speech. Also, Y/N will have to share a bedroom with you until Pogo finishes building the new wing." Five groans, "What? Why can't she stay with Allison? Or Vanya? I don't want a girl in my room!" "Hey, I'm not that bad," I pipe up. Mom smiles at me and continues, "Honey, you know Allison isn't the best at controlling her powers and Vanya is pretty shy around new people." "Fine," Five finally snaps. He begins walking briskly down a separate corridor and as I realise he expects me to follow him, I quickly do so.
