"Near-immortality is an unbelievable gift. Yet, you come back to life at unpredictable intervals outside of your control with the reflexes of a wet noodle and are unable to defend yourself or your team. Somehow, you've turned an asset into your liability," Reginald lectured. Though Klaus wouldn't openly admit it, he was growing tired and a bit antsy to get to work rather than listen to the old man telling him of his weakness.

"Not that I care about your opinion, but if I were to improve myself, how do I do it?" Klaus asked. "First, let's sharpen your reflexes. Practice makes perfect," the old man answered, pointing to the empty road. Klaus walked towards the middle of the gray gravel while his father added to his previous statement, claiming when he was fast enough to catch the ball, he will have succeeded.

Doesn't seem that hard, though my hand-eye coordination is like a drunk kitten. Without warning, Reginald threw the yellow ball in his direction, and the junkie struggled to grab it, watching it bounce a few times before finally catching it, holding it in the air like he had just won a trophy. "Ha ha! See?" But Klaus was distracted, he didn't realize there was a bus coming right for him, he turned around at the last second, and before he could do anything, he was hit by the metal monster, the vehicle dragging him for a few seconds before letting him go.

Reginald reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his stopwatch, starting the clock to the junkie's reanimation. The first experiment lasted about eighteenth minutes, and shortly after awakening, Klaus groaned at the pain as he tried getting back up again. "You tricked me!" He whined. "See? You're too slow! Let's go again!" Reginald instructed. "You're a terrible father!" Klaus shouted.

They continued the experiment a few more times, and the minutes till Klaus awoke from his eternal sleep decreased. One time he woke up around the eleven-minute mark, and then the next time, nine minutes. After a few more times of being run over and smashing against people's windshields, Klaus seemed to get the hang of it. When he saw the trucks and cars coming towards him, instead of trying to dodge them, he held his arms out, just waiting for the impact.

Six minutes became four, then two, then one. On the final time Klaus rose from the ground, Reginald threw the yellow ball in his direction. And he caught it with no struggles whatsoever. As he stared at the sphere in shock and happiness, Klaus felt so proud of himself. The struggle had paid off, and he finally discovered the secret to his reanimation. "See? I never doubted you," Reginald slightly smiled. "Now, you're ready!" 

Klaus's face slightly fell, wondering what his father meant by that. "Ready for what?"

~~~~~~~

"Looks like you two finally decided to reappear, huh?" Allison scoffed when she noticed Dusk and Viktor come down the stairs. But rather than get angry and defensive, the raven swallowed her sister's bitterness, following them all downstairs to the basement, where the kugelblitz was burning with an orange glow. As she stared at it, Dusk couldn't help but notice its somewhat squishy architecture. And although the temptation to touch it was strong, she reminded herself that it was a force not to be trifled with.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Fei asked the others as she stared at it. "This whole thing's gonna take the damn universe," Five noted. "What's it made of?" "Micro black holes collapsing at increasingly short intervals," Sloane responded. The time traveler continued, asking how they weren't being sucked into it, to which the gravity girl responded they didn't know. "You shouldn't exist here, and neither should this,"

Fei explained that they had been tracking the energy waves, claiming that the next wave would be due in three hours. "How do you propose we deal with this thing?" Dusk questioned. "We trap it. For this to work, we'll need me, Lila, Christopher, and-" "Viktor. Figured as much," Allison remarked. Well, if you don't like it, you can leave, Allison. Dusk's inner thoughts spoke. And almost as if The Rumor could read her mind, she stormed off, her footsteps echoing throughout the basement.

"Viktor, Lila, you need to keep your strength up. There are some leftover green smoothies in the fridge," Fei stated. Number Seven and Lila nodded, and the rest of the Umbrellas and Sparrows retreated up the stairs, each going their separate ways. "Do you really think this plan will work?" Dusk whispered to Victoria as they climbed the stairs to the balcony. "I sure hope so. The only question after that is, what happens to the world? Are we gonna live in some apocalyptic universe, or will it slowly fix itself?" 

Although Dusk hoped for the latter, she knew whoever had been sucked into the kugelblitz was most likely dead. Stanley, Marcus, and the countless number of lives that were taken with every wave of that glowing beast. She leaned onto the wooden railing, resting her hand on her right cheek, waiting for the next few hours would feel like she was waiting for an eternity.

As she stared into the entrance hall trapped in a daze, the sound of a spacial jump came from behind her. "Dusk," someone called out to her. The raven glanced out the corner of her eye, noticing Five was right there. "Is it time already?" she questioned. Five shook his head, claiming they still had an hour and a half to go. "I need to talk to you. It's something important,"

What could be more important than the Kugelblitz? the raven wondered. Victoria could sense the feeling of awkwardness and confusion her friend was in, briefly glancing at Five before turning her attention back to Dusk. "Well, go ahead and say it then!" the redhead placed a hand on her hip. "Vic, it's okay. You can go," Number Eight assured her. Victoria lightly scoffed, harshly bumping Five's shoulder on her way out.

Five and Dusk both took a seat near the wall of paintings, the bright overhead lights shining like a stage's spotlight. They both sat there in silence, not knowing what to say or who would say something first. "I'm sorry for hitting you earlier. You doing okay?" she eventually spoke up, catching a glimpse of the dry blood near his upper lip. "Don't worry about it. I've been through worse," Five responded.

"Like what?" Dusk asked curiously. "I took a shrapnel to the side, remember?" Five reminded her. She remembered that all too well. One minute they were in Harold Jenkin's house, and he was perfectly fine, then the next, he collapsed. That car ride back to the academy was scary as she, Allison, and Diego rushed back to save his life. "Yeah, I remember... But enough about that, what did you want to tell me?"

Five hadn't exactly prepped the right words when it came to telling her about the discovery of them being twins. But he hoped that the info he would give her would be enough to convince her. "Remember when I told you and our siblings about our mothers?" he inquired. "Yeah. I tried looking for her, but she wasn't in that book," She nodded. Five glanced down at the ground, internally preparing his next sentence. "Perhaps I can shed some light on that," he offered. 

That statement made Dusk look up, wondering if he somehow knew her mother's identity. "The reason there's only six mothers instead of seven is because... you share a mother with one of us," Dusk's eyes widened. She didn't know if this was a prank or the honest-to-God truth. "W-what do you mean? Are you saying I'm a twin?" she stumbled. "I'm saying exactly that," Five confirmed. She just sat there in silence, pondering who was her blood sibling. Please don't tell me Klaus and I are related. Our relationship would be complicated, not to mention actual incest.

Five went on to explain to her the conversation during the trip to Pennsylvania, mentioning Klaus had not only found information about his mother but also all of their moms. "He found your name written underneath one of our index cards," he finished. "So... who is my twin?" Dusk asked. The question hung in the air as Five sucked in a quiet breath, ready to give her the answer she had been looking for.

"It's me. I'm your twin brother,"