FOURTEEN | THE CLEANSE

"Step lively, children. We have a mission to do," Reginald ordered his superpowered children to gather around. "Number One, round up the children," Reginald placed the responsibility onto Luther.

"Let's go. Get your asses in gear," Luther exclaimed, clapping in excitement. "My man," Luther pointed happily to Diego. "My ass is always in gear," Diego muttered as Luther patted his shoulder.

"Are you kidding me, Klaus? You just got back from rehab!" Allison complained as she struggled to pull a drunk Klaus out of the bathtub. "I'm California sober, Allison," Klaus informed his sister, slurring his words before raising his flask.

"Come on, guys. Just hurry up," Luther urged as Allison tried pulling onto Klaus. "Dad's waiting!"  Luther said before approaching Ben's room. "Ben!" Luther pushed the door open to see Vanya trying on Ben's uniform, applying the mask close to her face.

"Why aren't you dressed?" Luther asked his brother who remained unbothered as Ben read his comic book. "I'm not going," Ben merely declined the request. "But we'll be one man down," Luther reminded before Tate stepped beside Luther.

"One man down or not. We can't force Ben to go if he doesn't want to. Here give me five minutes and I can help you get out of doing this mission with us," Tate tried stepping into Ben's room but was stopped by Luther's arm, his arm raised to prevent his sister to enter his room.

"Relax, Vanya can take my place," Ben reassured before Tate turned to see her sister dressed in the uniform. "I wanna help you guys," Vanya insisted before Tate shimmed under Luther's arm and went to help Vanya adjust Ben's mask on her face.

"You look cute, Vanya," Tate complimented the 17-year-old before Luther called out. "Dad?" Luther called out, causing Tate and Ben to roll their eyes. "Narc," Ben muttered, displeased with Luther's need to follow everything.

"You can't let her have one damn thing, could you?" Tate muttered before trying to quickly remove the uniform Vanya had on.

"Number Six, why aren't you dressed?" Reginald asked his son, pushing through the door. "He says he's not going," Luther paraphrased what Ben said, causing Reginald to snap his head at him.

Reginald then turned his attention to Ben with a stern look before Ben slammed the book on his bed, compiling with his father's underlying orders.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Reginald turned to see the two girls, his eyes landed on Vanya wearing the academy's blue uniform. "I just... I thought I could help on this mission," Vanya forced out, fearful of her father's reaction.

"Take that off immediately," Reginald stared at Vanya in disgust. "You look ridiculous," Reginald muttered before walking out of the room.

Vanya took down the mask in humiliation before Tate spoke up, "I hate how you and I are so similar yet so different," Vanya nodded, acknowledging how Tate always wanted nothing more than to escape the academy while she wanted nothing more than to join the team.

"Hey, don't make Five's sandwiches without me, okay? You'll be right here when I get back, all right?" Tate asked her sister, trying to comfort her before Vanya nodded. "I hate how sad your life is," Tate glared at Luther before she helped Ben get dressed for the mission.

"Yeah, this is the one, let's go," Luther informed the group as they approached the machine Reginald had ordered the children to destroy. Ben started handing out the bombs before Tate took it in her hand, turning the key.

"Guys!" Luther warned as they heard some drunken guards in the distance. "Go, I got this," Ben promised, willing to take one for the team. "Are you sure?" Tate asked, staring at Ben for any hesitation.

"I got this!" Ben whisper-shouted before Tate nodded in acceptance. "Okay, Allison, Diego, Klaus, and Tate. You're on me, let's go," Luther instructed his siblings to follow him before Tate rose from the ground.

Everyone stood up from their spots before following Ben. Tate tried staying back, smiling softly at Ben. "I'm not mad, promise," Ben smiled at Tate, understanding her apologetic nature. "Good," Tate whispered before Luther pulled her back to the group.

Not long after, Tate went to check on Ben. The siblings snuck over to see Ben was on top of the machine that Reginald forbade the siblings to open. "Ben! What the hell are you doing?" Luther asked his brother.

"There's someone in here, we have to get her out," Ben explained before Luther spoke up. "That wasn't part of the plan," Luther reminded before Ben turned to him. "So what? You're gonna blow up an innocent girl?" Ben asked his brother.

"But Dad said--" Luther wanted to remind Ben. "I don't give a fuck about what Dad said! We need to help her," Ben yelled before Tate lowered Luther's flashlight. "Ben, wait!" Tate warned before Luther called their Dad for backup.

"Dad?" Luther asked as his earpiece's signal went to a static. "Luther..." Tate smacked his arm, urging him to let it go. Tate looked up to see a young girl dressed in white had been pulled out of the container by Ben.

The girl sent a smile to Ben before Luther spoke up. "Okay, Ben. Let's go," Luther urged before a gunshot was heard, shooting the girl from behind the head. Everyone gasped in shock, unable to react before another shot was fired.

Ben got shot from the head before he collapsed on the ground. "I told you not to open the container," Reginald reminded his children with a sly frown as he held a shotgun in his hand.

"Dad?" Luther questioned as the rest of his siblings couldn't process what had happened in front of their eyes.

Klaus gasped as he wrapped his hands around his mouth while Allison held onto her uniform while Tate started wiping the blood from her face as tears started flowing down her face.

Everyone choked at the reality of the incident, Luther quickly spitting out the mouth guard, Allison struggled to remove the strap wrapped around her waist, holding back tears.

"You murdered our brother!" Allison yelled at Reginald, betrayal and hurt laced her voice.
"And Jennifer," Viktor added, standing up from the machine.

"Tate?" Five kneeled down in front of Tate, staring at his wife for a hint of acknowledgment.
Five noticed his wife's stunned expression as Tate sat in shock, not fighting to stand up to their father.

"Son of a bitch..." Diego stood up from the chair with Lila next to him. "Children! Whatever anger you may feel towards me is misdirected," Reginald tried deflecting the blame from him. "Tate," Five called out softly to his wife as she blinked in shock.

"Why can't we have a normal life..." Tate trailed off as Five grasped onto her hand. "You're okay, you're okay," Five reassured as Tate took a deep breath, trying to wrap her head around the fact their dad was responsible for the murder of Ben.

"May I remind you that it was the other Sir Reginald Hargreeves who committed this horrible act," Reginald tried his children from the other timeline. "But it doesn't mean you wouldn't do it to one of us, either!" Tate shouted in anger, steadying her balance with Five's hand interlocked with hers.

"You killed Luther! You killed Klaus! Remember!" Tate shouted, causing her family to stare at her in shock. "What are you going on about?" Lila asked, not in the loop of the Jennifer incident. "When we were kids, the "other" Hargreeves killed Ben and Jennifer," Luther explained, holding back his anger as he made air quotes.

"And he had a perfectly valid reason for doing so," Reginald said proudly, overlooking the group's wave of emotions. "I thought you were just a bad father but turns out you're a whole other shithead!" Tate cried out as Five embraced his wife, holding her tight to his chest.

"They were two innocent kids!" Viktor shouted, and stepped forward to his father. "Who would have set off a cataclysmic chain of events, leading to the extinction of all humanity," Reginald defended his point.

"You are no different than that other Hargreeves!" Luther screamed to his father. "You're both fucking psychopaths!" Diego cried out, tears streaming down his cheek. "It's not his fault," Abigail stepped forward. "Reg is not responsible for what happened to your brother and that poor girl,"

"Then whose is it!" Tate screamed with Five holding her back. "It was me," Abigail confessed calmly, feeling guilty about the details she was about to reveal. Everyone looked up at her in shock before frowning in confusion.

"Years ago, I synthesised a new element. The very essence of the universe," Abigail began explaining as everyone stared in horror. "The particle we know as marigold," Reginald turned to the group.

"And at the same moment, unbeknownst to me, a second particle was created," Abigail stated before Tate stared at her, judging if she was lying or telling the truth. "Durango," Abigail revealed, causing Tate to furrow her eyebrows.

"When marigold and durango interact, they cause..." Abigail stared down at the ground before looking up at the group. "A reaction, a physical reaction," Abigail explained heavily as Five wiped Tate's tears.

"Unstoppable, irrevocable," Abigail described the effect of the reaction. "The extinction of everything we know," Abigail informed the group. "The Cleanse..." Five muttered, realizing the dire consequences.

Abigail nodded, confirming Five's worst fear. "By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late for our world," Abigail said in a sorrowful tone. "You couldn't have known, darling," Reginald comforted his wife while Abigail kept on a frown.

"I... I don't mean to be a dick and all, but what the fuck does any of this have to do with us?" Lila asked while she scratched her head awkwardly. "The other particle, it is inside Jennifer," Reginald revealed, causing Tate to roll her eyes.

"That's why it's imperative that none of you can come into contact with her," Reginald reminded the group before Tate spoke up. "Then why did you ask us to deal with a mess we didn't have to deal with?" Tate scoffed, crossing her arms.

"What happens if we do?" Lila asked before Five answered in a helpless tone. "We end the world," Five mumbled before Tate looked over at her husband, noticing the sad look. "Saw that coming," Lila nodded, staring at the married couple.

"Uh... Guys?" Luther raised his hand, realizing two of their siblings were not alongside them at the moment. "We... may have a problem," Luther informed the group who turned to Luther slowly in anticipation.

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THIS SEASON FOUR MIGHT HAVE BEEN SHIT BUT DAMN I LOVE THEIR TITLE CARDS, THIS ONE IS INSTANTLY MY NO. 1, AND THE SEASON 3 ONES TOOOOOO

ALSO ANOTHER PLOT HOLE, YOU'RE TELLING ME, REGGIE THEY SHOULD HAVE NEVER COME IN CONTACT WITH JENNIFER AND YET... THEY... WENT ON A MISSION TO SAVE HER?

ONE OF THEM LONGER CHAPTER BC TWO SCENES WERE MORE IMPORTANT THAN ONE FLASHBACK SCENES ALSO RIGHT NOW AND UNTIL I FINISHED S4 WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO RESORT TO THE WEEKLY UPDATES INSTEAD.