Word count: 2726

𝐅𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒 plan that Luther had made, Diego and Luther charged straight towards Vanya. 

She, however, stood up abruptly and slashed her bow, causing them to fly into the audience with a white wave of energy.

Obviously more than terrified, the members of the audience instantly jumped to their feet, screaming and shouting in horror as they pushed past each other in an attempt to leave as fast as they could.

The orchestra players seemed to have the same idea as they got to their feet, but Vanya soon let out another wave in their direction that forced them to sit themselves down and resume their playing.

Once the audience had cleared out, Valerie grabbed the upset Allison and pulled her down so that they were leaned against the back of a row of velvet seats. She peered over to see that Diego and Luther had done the same thing across the aisle. 

Allison found a leather purse on the ground and whipped it towards Luther, and Valerie felt a sense of satisfaction as it hit his side.

Luther turned to her with furrowed eyebrows and rolled his eyes. "Yeah. We're fine, thanks for asking."

Allison's expression only became more furious at that.

"Look, I almost lost you once, all right?" Luther retorted with a small shrug. "I wasn't about to lose you again."

"Oh, big surprise, the terrible plan Valerie said was a terrible plan didn't work, who would've thought?" Valerie said mockingly as she rolled her eyes, causing the two men to sigh. "Any better ideas, big man?"

Allison then began making the motion of playing the violin, to which Diego scoffed.

"No shit, Allison," he shot back with a scrunched face. "Tell us something we don't already know."

"She's talking about the violin, idiot," Valerie corrected, earning a nod of confirmation from the woman next to her. "It's her lightning rod. If we can take it from her and stop her from playing, we might have a shot."

The slam of the doors opening drew their attention and Valerie strained her neck to see the worst thing: the attackers from the bowling alley marched through the doors, guns a-blazing. 

The four of them ducked behind the seats as the attackers divided throughout the hall, shooting just as clumsily as last time.

This was not what Valerie meant by 'shot.'

This time, Vanya didn't pay any attention to the orchestra when they immediately got up and rushed out, obviously not wanting to fall victim to the shooting. Vanya seemed to be far too immersed in her violin-playing, and small soundwaves extended off of her as she glowed brighter and brighter.

"What the hell happened to Klaus?" Luther questioned as he pressed himself against the seat. "He's supposed to be on lookout."

"Yeah, you surprised?" Diego scoffed as he hid from a nearby shooter. "Valerie, don't even think about doing what you did at the bowling alley."

"Bitch," Valerie muttered.

Suddenly, a burst of white appeared as Five arrived, his nose wrinkled as he walked down the aisle. "What's with all the lollygagging?"

Noticing the attackers that had appeared on the balcony, ready to shoot towards Five, Valerie shot up from her spot and ran over to Five, grabbing him and throwing both herself and him to the ground as gunfire erupted. And boy, did that hurt her wound.

"Idiot," she muttered as the two of them got to their knees, pressing their hands against the back of the chairs to support themselves.

Five peeked over the side, his eyes widening once he got a good look at who the assailants were. "This is not good."

"You know these guys?" Diego questioned as he looked over at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"Yeah, I do," Five confirmed with a nod.

"And?" Diego asked irritably.

"Well . . ." Five sighed as he looked over to the attackers that were walking down the aisle, "we're screwed."

Diego then leaned back and threw his knives at two of the shooters who appeared through one of the doors, pinning them to the wall.

Suddenly, from the main entrance, Klaus came running in, shouting at the top of his lungs. "Guys, it's Cha-Cha! It's Cha-Cha, she—"

"Klaus! Get down!" Luther shouted as the invaders began to shoot at Klaus. "Get down!"

Five peeked towards the three that were coming down the aisle next to him and Valerie before spatial-jumping onto the shoulders of the one in front and forcing him to turn around while shooting, resulting in the other two getting hit.

Then, Klaus stood up, his fists glowing a bright blue. A ghostly figure then emerged, one who looked eerily familiar . . . .

But no, it couldn't be . . . Could it?

Valerie soon received confirmation once the man lifted his shirt and tentacles burst through.

It was Ben.

Squelching noises accompanied the violin as the tentacles grabbed at each attacker, throwing them around like rag dolls. The noise of gunfire began to cease as Ben got rid of the invaders, one by one.

Valerie got up from her spot, watching in amazement while the others did the same. Diego wasn't there, however, it seemed like he had run off somewhere else.

"Oh my God," Luther breathed out as he stared at the ghost. "It's him. Ben."

Klaus grinned once the invaders were all unconscious and Ben had faded away. "Now who's the lookout?"

They all turned to Vanya as they regrouped in the back of the huge chamber, who had a bright, pure white light emerging from her, growing larger with every stroke of her bow. Whatever was about to happen, it was going to be apocalyptic, and they needed desperately to put a stop to it.

Diego arrived a few moments after, out-of-breath and more bloody than Valerie had last seen him.

"Oh, welcome back. Where were you?" Luther asked with a scowl as Diego joined them.

"Honouring a memory," Diego replied curtly before resting his hands on his knees, everyone else following suit as they huddled. "So, how do you wanna end this thing?"

"I'll just run and get the bow from her." Valerie shrugged, nodding towards Vanya, who was still playing.

"No. You're hurt. What if her powers worsen it?" Diego pointed out as he raised a stern finger and shook his head.

"You're hurt?" Five questioned immediately as he turned to her, his eyebrows knitting together tightly together in worry.

"Yeah," Diego exclaimed angrily, "she got shot!"

"You got shot?!" Five's eyes widened as he used his hands to straighten her up and he crouched as he checked for the injury.

It didn't take long for him to find it, what with the dried blood and all. 

She winced as he moved the side of her blazer and his fingers lightly grazed the skin around the wound before he looked up at her.

"Are you stupid?" he scoffed as he returned his gaze to the wound.

"Never mind that," she sighed as she waved a dismissive hand through the air. "So what if I get more hurt? It'll stop the fucking apocalypse."

"No, you're not doing anything. I'm not letting you get hurt again," Five immediately refused as he stood up, shaking his head.

"Even at the cost of the world?" Valerie questioned as she gave him an incredulous look, her eyebrows raised.

"Even at the cost of the world," he said firmly, his eyes intently staring into hers.

"No, no, we surround her," Luther proposed, looking around at the group as he nodded quickly. "All right? We come at her from all angles."

"So it's a suicide mission," Klaus pointed out with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, but one of us could get through," Five rebutted as he nodded. "It's the only chance we've got."

"No, it's not," Valerie sighed loudly, but it seemed as though everyone was now ignoring her except for Allison, with whom she exchanged an incredulous expression.

"Are we all in?" Luther asked as he looked around the group, waiting for confirmation from everyone.

"Yeah." Everyone except for Valerie and Allison nodded.

"No!" Valerie protested as she shook her head.

"All right." Luther nodded, still ignoring Valerie. "Allison?"

Allison shook her head furiously.

"You guys are dumb, I'm going." Valerie didn't wait for them to reply as she set off towards Vanya.

But it seemed as though Vanya was one step ahead of her.

Her bow moved to the E string while her fingers shifted onto the seventh position, although the note that sounded seemed much higher than it should've been. The frequency of the note resonated through Valerie's body, it matching her speed frequency. The pain that the frequency caused forced Valerie to fall back, her body writhing in pain as she screamed.

It felt as though her organs were trying to burst out of her body as Vanya continuously played the note, slowly drawing her bow up and down. Valerie could hear the concerned shouts of the others as she struggled, but she couldn't seem to focus on anything except for the agony in her body.

Just then, the four boys charged at Vanya, Diego being on the right, Luther on the left, and Klaus and Five in the front. The sudden attack caused Vanya to change her note, releasing Valerie from the pain.

Valerie groaned as she slowly got to her knees. Damn, she didn't think whatever had just happened was possible. And it definitely did not make her bullet wound feel any better than it already was feeling.

She then looked up to see the four boys suspended in the air, all of them connected to the white light that was coming from Vanya. And behind Vanya, stood Allison, a gun in her hand as she pointed it at the back of an unsuspecting head.

Quivering, Allison shifted the gun to the right so it was right next to Vanya's ear, and shot it. This immediately forced Vanya to release the boys, and her entire body glowed white as she leaned backwards, a beam of light bursting from her chest and through the glass circle in the ceiling.

Unconscious, Vanya fell back into Allison's arms, where everyone then rushed up onto the stage and straightened her out.

Luther questioned, "Is she alive?"

Allison cradled Vanya's head in her arms before leaning down to hear her breathing. "Yeah," she whispered, her voice croaky.

"She is? Yeah?" Klaus sighed in relief as he gave a small nod"Oh, thank God."

"We did it." A smile spread onto Luther's face as he looked around at everyone and murmured, "We saved the world."

Five wrapped an arm around Valerie as she stared at Vanya's resting face. "Are you all right?" he murmured as he planted a kiss on her cheek. "What happened?"

"I'm fine, I—" She winced as she shifted her body, a sharp pain coming from her stomach. "She somehow matched the frequency of her violin to my speed frequency, and . . . you know how glass can break when it gets matched with the right frequency? Yeah, that was happening to me."

"Oh man," Five sighed. "Well, at least you have the rest of your days to recover, right?"

Klaus had gotten up, and he was now pointing out towards the hole that Vanya had created in the ceiling. "Uh . . . Guys? You see that big Moon rock coming towards us?"

It seemed as though the Moon had exploded, chunks of grey that surrounded a large, fiery boulder flying towards them.

Valerie turned to Five, her eyes wide as she quipped, "So, apparently I do not have the rest of my days to recover."

"That's not good," Luther breathed out as everyone stood up to get a clearer view.

"So this is it, huh? So much for . . . saving the world," Klaus sighed.

Five had begun to pace around his spot, his hands on his head.

"If only Sir Reginald could see us right now, huh?" Diego scoffed as he stared up at the ceiling, the hopelessness on his face matching his tone. "The Umbrella Academy. A total failure."

"At least we're together at the end," Luther spoke gravely. "As a family."

It seemed as though an idea sparked in Five's mind as he turned to everyone. "This doesn't have to be the end."

"What?" Valerie questioned with furrowed eyebrows as they looked towards him. "What are you saying, Five?"

"I think I have a way outta here." Five nodded, blinking rapidly as he nervously said, "But you gotta trust me on this."

"Yeah, I don't think so." Luther shook his head as they looked back at the meteor-ridden sky.

"Well, then, we might as well accept our fate, because in less than a minute, we're gonna be vaporized," Five insisted.

"What's your idea, then?" Diego inquired as they all turned to Five once more, all of their eyes set intently on the boy's anxious expression.

"We use my ability to time travel," Five proposed as he looked around at the group. "But this time, I'll take you with me."

"You can do that?" Diego asked as he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Five shrugged. "I don't know. I've never tried it before."

"I can time-travel myself; give you less of a load," Valerie added with a nod.

"Well, then, maybe you could take one or two of us with you?" Luther suggested.

She wrinkled her nose as she shook her head and pointed out, "I don't think you guys would be able to handle those speeds."

"I'm sure we're strong enough," Klaus scoffed, placing a tough expression on his face as he folded his arms.

Valerie rolled her eyes before turning to Klaus and telling him, "If you get nauseous at my normal speed, imagine me going a hundred times faster."

Klaus's skin soon paled as he nodded and muttered, "You should do it yourself."

"So?" Five asked with raised eyebrows as he looked around at the group.

Diego blinked before looking towards the others, now slightly rushed. "What's the worst that can happen?"

"You're lookin' at it. A thirty-eight-year-old man inside a teenager's body, so there's that," Five scoffed, gesturing towards his own body.

"Oh, what the hell?" Diego gave a shrug as he nodded and confirmed, "I'm in."

"Yeah, whatever. I'm in," Klaus agreed.

"Me too." Luther sighed before looking towards Allison, who was still holding Vanya. "Allison?"

She nodded eagerly.

"What about Ben?" Valerie asked as she turned to Klaus.

Klaus turned to look behind him before turning back and nodding. "Great, yeah, he's in."

"Okay, great." Five nodded as he backed up towards Allison. "Luther, grab Vanya."

"Wait, should we be taking her?" Luther inquired as he scooped Vanya into his arms and stood. "I mean, if she's the cause of the apocalypse. Isn't that like taking the bomb with us?"

"The apocalypse will always happen," Five said seriously. "And Vanya will always be the cause, unless we take her with us and fix her."

"Where am I going, Five?" Valerie questioned as she tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Uh . . ." Five thought quickly before giving a small shrug. "November 25th, 1963. Dallas, between Commerce Street and Knox Street."

"What? Why then? And there?" she questioned as she furrowed her eyebrows.

"I don't know, it was the first thing that popped into my head!" he exclaimed.

"Okay, okay, whatever. Holy shit," she breathed out. "Good luck, Five. I hope both of us actually do well this time."

"Please don't end up in another void," he murmured to her.

"I'll try my best," Valerie hummed before she kissed him. "I'll see you there. Probably. If I'm not there, I'm stuck in a different time-space continuum, please save me."

"I love you," Five whispered.

Valerie smiled as she murmured back, "I love you too."

With a final nod towards the others, Valerie set off out of the Icarus Theater and onto the street. She closed her eyes, keeping one thing on her mind.

November 25th, 1963. Dallas, between Commerce street and Knox street.

Valerie pumped her arms back and forth, running faster than she ever had before. She felt the wind drift through her hair, whipping against her face as she sped through the streets of her hometown that was on the brink of destruction. Her nerves were beginning to creep up, thoughts of doubt approaching.

Run, she told herself, just run.

And run she did.