"Is this the fucking moon?"
Rita blinked at his harsh tone. "Alright, what did the moon do to you?"
"Why are we on the moon?!" He asked back, tone rising because this was just crazy.
Diego shook his head. "This is insane."
"How are we breathing?" Vanya asked as well, in a tone a bit quieter than her siblings' but Rita answered her instead of their brother who was wildly gesturing to the 'damn moon' as Allison tried calming him down.
"The Televator provides enough oxygen for a while. There's also a gravity effect being spread out for a certain distance." Rita stepped out of the door first, closely followed by Abhijat floating behind her. "It is pretty limited, so we have to go. Come on."
"Wait." Five stopped everyone else from following. "Give us our powers back." His siblings paused at his words and watched Rita expectantly.
Rita met his gaze with a sigh. "Do we have to do this here? I told you the oxygen and gravity effect is limited plus there's a lot of us and we have a bit of a walk to take."
("Ooh, sightseeing on the moon?" Klaus responded enthusiastically.
Luther growled. "There's nothing to sightsee on the damn moon.")
"Give it back." Allison echoed Five's demand. "We want our powers back."
Rita watched them all for a second, seemed to exchange looks with Abhijat, then turned back to them with a roll of her eyes. "Fine, but we could have done this later." She blinked and suddenly there was a warm, heavy feeling that passed through each of them, as if they passed under strong waterfalls made of hot springs.
"Good now?" She asked nonchalantly, still waiting for them to follow.
Five narrowed his eyes and, within a second, he was outside behind Rita, hands close enough to wrap around her neck if not for Abhijat somehow managing to blast him a few feet away. He jumped once more and found himself in front of Rita, but she moved faster than him and wrapped a hand around his throat. Suddenly, the familiar, cold feeling washed over him, signaling that he lost his powers again.
"Shame." Rita tsked as she met his eyes blankly. "I'm actually pretty disappointed. Can't believe Daniel lost to you."
"Stop that, Five." Vanya walked over and pulled him away from Rita. "We're still not home, so maybe don't threaten someone who can help us. And we have an oxygen problem, right?" She directed the last part to Rita who gave a small smile and motioned for them to follow her.
"Great going," Diego muttered as he passed by Five, who just glared back.
Allison caught up to them and placed a hand on Five's shoulder. "Next time, maybe loop us in and we could help you." She whispered. "I could have tried to rumor her."
"Yeah, yeah, I messed up. Whatever." Five waved off his siblings looks as he walked normally (because he was not dragging his feet or irritatingly kicking some moon rocks they pass by at all) and felt the gravity the Televator provided seeming to grow weaker as his steps become lighter.
"Here we are." Rita announced as they stopped at a rock structure that formed something like an arch a bit taller than Luther. "When we get in, the gravity's gonna be stronger, so don't be too surprised." Then she passed through the archway and just disappeared from their sight, much to their confusion.
Before any of them could even question it, Abhijat started clicking Morse code at them, telling them to follow quickly. And when they did, the sudden gravity was the least of the surprise. It's just one unexpected thing after another today, isn't it?
"Rita, darling?" Klaus called out when they all stopped in their tracks. "I think maybe you forgot to mention there'd be a hotel on the moon. Or is that something that just normally exists here in your timeline?"
"Ah," She looked at the building, then back to them. "Well, no, this isn't public knowledge, if that's what you mean. It's one of the things I was never meant to find out." Rita tilted her head in thought. "And I wouldn't know if there's one in your timeline. I've never been."
Diego turned to his brother. "Luther?"
Luther shook his head. "I don't know anything about this. I… I mean, I didn't see anything like this, but this was invisible just now?" He directed that to Rita and Abhijat's direction, recalling how this tall building with a broken neon hotel sign wasn't there until they had passed the archway.
"There's a shield of some sort around it." Rita slowly moved to walk towards the building, and the rest of them followed. "Like an invisibility shield around the hotel."
"So, it is a hotel?" Klaus clarified, looking at the 'HOTEL OBLIVION' sign that greeted them.
Rita sent him a look. "Reggie calls it a 'hotel' in public so that when he needs to speak about it, it wouldn't sound suspicious. There's nothing wrong or weird about a billionaire owning a hotel. Before I knew about this, I thought he was just talking to Pogo or Abhijat about some new hotel he owns, but turned out, I was wrong."
"I think he also calls it a hotel because that's what he's trying to sell it as. At least to himself." She continued as they neared the entrance. "But 'hotel' is too pretty of a word for it."
"What would you call it?"
"A prison," she replied simply as she opened the doors and walked inside. "But it's become a home to some of the people here. It's all they know."
They fall silent again, both at her words and at the way the place looks. The just-right temperature of the air was calming and everything looked clean and grand. Paired with the hotel sign out front, the way the place is built really makes it seem like someone just took a random hotel from Earth and dumped it on the moon with oxygen and gravity supply. (Maybe that really is what happened. Who knows what kind of limits Reginald Hargreeves passed?)
A head popped up from behind the front desk at the sound of the bell ringing from the door they opened. It was a woman who looked their age, grinning as she saw their group enter.
"Echo! Hi." Rita greeted her with a hug when the woman walked towards them.
"Hi," the woman greeted back softly. "Hi!" She greeted in a higher, friendly tone when she looked to Abhijat. "Hi?" She greeted in a questioning tone when she turned to the rest of them.
"Echo, they're the ones I was telling you about." Rita explained. "The Academy from a different timeline who was trapped back at the house. I was trying to get them home, remember?"
"Remember." She affirmed with a nod.
"Everyone," Rita addressed them. "This is Echo."
The woman waved a hand, a warm smile on her face. "This is Echo."
"I'm sorry, I have to ask." Klaus stepped forward carefully. "Echo as in… 'echo, echo, echo'?" Each word faded, mimicking how it would be if he had shouted it at a wide, empty room.
"No." Rita answered with a roll of her eyes, but her lips slightly curled up in amusement at his terrible and dramatic attempt at echoing. "Well, kinda. It's more of Echo as in repeating."
"Echo as in repeating." Echo said with a smile.
"Not the fading one."
"Not the fading one."
"Is she…" Allison hesitated. "Is she echoing what you say?"
"Hence the name." Rita answered with a tilt of her head. And Echo repeated her words with a wide grin.
"Who chose the name?" Klaus asked with a hint of a smile, having an idea of what the answer is.
Echo raised her hand excitedly and pointed at herself proudly.
"She's claiming it." Rita said and rolled her eyes fondly when Echo repeated the last two words slowly to emphasize it with a smug grin on her face. "Abhijat, the supplies?"
They turned to see a side of Abhijat open with a claw retracting, holding a huge bag that was obviously full.
"Presents!" A voice squealed out of nowhere and suddenly there was a little girl running to the bag and opening it up. "What have you brought today, Abby?"
Abhijat clicked and told the little girl that his name is Abhijat and it should be used properly. But none of that really processed with the Umbrella Academy members as they stared at the little girl animatedly talking while carefully rummaging through the bag.
"Alex," Rita called out softly with a smile. "You're looking adorable today."
"Don't tease me, Rita Lewis." The girl stood up with narrowed eyes. "I may look eight, but I can still beat you."
Rita laughed, and so did Echo and Abhijat in their own way. "I wasn't! You do look adorable. I was also hoping you'd go bring that inside with Abhijat's help and distribute it to those who asked for it?"
"Sure," the girl responded with a nod. "Did you get what I asked for?"
"It's all in there. Would you mind telling Albert that I'll be waiting for him at the garden?" And with that, the girl nodded once more and sped off as quick as possible with Abhijat's claw helping carry part of the weight. When they disappeared out of sight, into one of the doors, Rita turned back to the others. "Time to get you all moving then."
"What is this place?" Vanya asked as they slowly moved.
"Prison, I told you. Though the files that I've read on it call it 'Hotel Oblivion', as seen from the sign out front. Reggie has such a talent for naming things, don't you agree?" She shook her head. "But it's where he pretty much stuffed all the other special kids he took but couldn't deal with, or those that he felt didn't have any more potential and were basically useless."
("Useless," Echo echoed absentmindedly. Rita nudged her pointedly for that, and it was obvious that Echo's been told not to say bad things about herself before.)
"But that was a kid." Allison continued, pointing back to the lobby they came from. "Isn't everyone supposed to be our age? What is she doing here?"
"They." Rita corrected automatically. "Alex prefers to use 'they', so even if you might not see them again after this, just refer to them as Alex or them/they."
"Progressive." Klaus commented.
"I had to keep them updated on things happening outside, back on Earth." Rita shrugged. "And they're here because Alex isn't really an 8-year old little girl. They're our age, but barely has any control on their physical appearance. So, sometimes there's a blonde little girl running around, other times, there's a graying old man in need of a wheelchair. Usually, it's a face we haven't met yet." She sighed, and Echo followed. "It's really disorienting, apparently. They barely have control over it, and it's only recently that the body lasts at least a few weeks before changing again. Also they can at least feel it somehow if they're going to change on that day and does their best to prepare."
(Echo tapped Rita lightly and motioned with her hands. Sign language, they recognized. 'You helped them. Helped us.' Rita's eyes softened at her words.)
"So, they're like us?" Vanya asked hesitantly.
Rita tilted her head in thought. "Technically, yes. Alex is one of the super powered babies born on our birthday. But, also, it's a no, because Alex and everyone else thrown into this place aren't part of the academy."
They stopped by a door where Echo somehow brought out some shoes for them to use and a jacket to cover up their thin clothes, and entered through it where they came out into a garden. If it wasn't clearly established that they were on the moon, they would have believed that they were in an actual hotel and this was just one of the outdoor spots. There was a realistic image of clear blue skies above them and a gentle breeze through the air that made it feel like any other garden. It was a pretty big space, probably enough for a three or four star hotel, and it was covered with all kinds and colors of flowers that were obviously neatly maintained. Rita and Echo lead them through the stone path and got to a little gazebo from where they could see a little pond.
"Oh, hey there." Rita greeted, and Echo did the same with a wave of her hand. There were other people in the gazebo who looked up when they stepped in. "Didn't realize you'd be out right now."
There's a man wearing a black jacket, looking up at the new arrivals with a hint of fear and hesitancy in his eyes. A woman sat beside him, her yellow dress and small smile making her look so kind. They both appeared to have been meditating on the floor when the group arrived, startling them. Suddenly, the man's hand burst into flames.
"Woah, woah," Rita said, in a not surprised way. The rest of them watched in silence (because what were they going to say) as the woman patted the man's hair softly, whispering something into his ear until the fire had died down. "You good?" Rita asked a few seconds later. "Need help?"
"No, thank you." The man answers through gritted teeth. He had a fairly deep voice and stared at the floor as he answered. "I've got it."
"Yeah, you do." The woman nodded proudly, smiling at him before turning to the others. "Hello, you must be the Umbrella Academy. Rita's told us about you."
"Has she?" Five asked.
"Mhmm." The woman grinned. "I'm Mariella. This is Peter." She gestured to the man who refused to meet their eyes. "It's nice to finally meet you."
"You're the shapeshifter." Diego recalled, but it seemed to be the wrong thing to say because her eyes hardened at the words and the man — Peter — had lost all hesitancy and stood glaring at them, keeping Mariella behind him. Diego and the rest of the team automatically raised their hands in surrender at the fire bursting from his hand which now looked more in control. "Right, sensitive topic, huh?"
Rita rushed to stand between them. "Sorry, sorry! That's on me. I had to explain the situation and they saw some of the folders. Just the covers!" She added hastily and honestly when Peter didn't back down. "I didn't show them things they didn't need to see. Promise." And it took a few seconds, despite the tension making it feel like an hour, but the fire slowly died out again and he stepped back.
"Causing troubles?" A new voice joined them. From the other side of the gazebo, behind Mariella and Peter, a figure walked towards them. "Rita, I think your guests are staying here too long."
The figure stepped into the gazebo with them to reveal a statue. A walking, talking, breathing, living statue. At least, that's what she looked like at first glance. The woman was made out of stone. It was only when she turned her head slightly to look at Mariella calming Peter down again that the bits of tan skin started to become more visible. The most prominent part about her was that her left eye was dark brown while her right eye was like the eyes of most statues — smooth, gray, expressionless stone.
"When Al gets here, he can do his thing and they're gone." Rita replied.
The half-woman, half-statue stared at the Umbrella Academy members, assessing. "I'm Roxy."
A beat of silence.
Klaus turned to Rita, pursing his lips before leaning down to whisper. "...Roxy?"
Rita shrugged. "She's claiming it too. It's short for Roxanne." And Echo enthusiastically repeated her words.
Roxy grinned at their stunned and confused expressions before turning to the other two and somehow, despite her stony appearance, gently guided them out of the gazebo. "We'll go see what's taking Einstein so long. Send you on your way home."
Luther saw her look at him curiously before sending him a small smile. Was it of pity? Understanding? He's not sure, but he did feel a bit of comfort from it.
"Take a seat." Rita gestured around the gazebo. "You're as safe here as you can be."
Diego and Five remained standing, constantly vigilant and looking out to the garden. The rest immediately went to the seats. It has been a while since they've actually sat properly other than on the floor. You tend to miss the little things you never appreciated when you get locked up for weeks, after all.
"The woman — Mariella? Shapeshifter, right?" Luther broke the silence. Rita and Echo both turned to him at his words, the rest followed. "You said this was a place for the useless and uncontrollable."
"Reggie's words."
"Yes, his words." Luther nodded at the same time Echo repeated it. "I don't understand why he wouldn't find shapeshifting into animals to be potentially helpful."
"Mariella doesn't shapeshift anymore. She's… a bit traumatized." Rita sighed, rubbing her face. And it's another sign that this was another terrible story. "To put it plainly, she was stuck as all sorts of animals when she was still young. The tests, the experiments — you know the drill — made her shift into an animal but it would take weeks or months for her to get back. When it took longer than usual and she was stuck in the body and mind of a wolf that felt trapped, I think Reggie got frustrated with the lack of results. He probably felt like they were raising a pet more than a superpowered child, so she was placed here."
'After a while, she became human again, but the shifting became uncontrollable until Rita showed up and was able to help.' Echo signed with her hands.
Rita nodded. "Since I can take the powers on a timeout or control the level it's on, I was pretty popular when I got here." She looked out into the distance as if remembering the day. "It was terrible."
"Can't you help Echo?"
Rita sighed again at Vanya's question, but Echo only smiled sadly and placed a comforting hand on her arm. "No. If I put her on timeout, she can't speak at all."
Echo grinned and signed with her hands again. 'I've gotten better with communicating in other ways though. And I used to be forced to repeat literally every last word I hear, but Rita helped me to at least have the option to choose whether I'd repeat it or not.'
"That's great!" Klaus exclaimed. "Good for you. What about the others?"
Rita narrowed her eyes at him.
"Oh, come on." Klaus whined. "What if we have this in our version?"
"You shouldn't." Rita replied darkly. "Not if it's been over twenty years since they've had contact with the outside world."
"And why's that?" Five asked, but he had an idea of the answer.
Echo answered with quick motions of her hands when Rita remained silent. 'There are dangerous ones here.'
"Isn't everyone dangerous?" Klaus shrugged, looking around. "In their own little way?"
"Yes," Rita answered slowly, as if thinking deeply about the answer in her head. "But—"
"Rita! Echo!" A voice shouted. It seemed to come from nowhere, like the roof itself said it. The tone was panicked and everyone in the gazebo stood up in alarm. "They're headed your way."
"Who's headed our way?" Diego asked immediately facing to the outside. The others positioned themselves the same way, covering all sides and making sure they can see anyone who could be coming.
"Rita." A voice came from the middle of the gazebo and they all turned to see a man who had somehow escaped their attention. He wore a smirk as he spoke in a sing-song tone. "I heard you're letting some people out."
"Don't test me today, Baz." Rita replied through gritted teeth. Echo stood slightly in front of her as a line of defense, looking defiantly up at the man sporting an all black attire. "You know it's hard to just let you all out. You know this."
"Yeah, Reggie's gonna get us, yadda yadda yadda." He ('Baz'?) rolled his eyes. "And I've repeatedly told you, if we just all work together, he wouldn't be a problem." He shook his head at Rita's lack of response. "You just care more about the grand and beloved Sparrow Academy than us. Apparently, you also care more about their alternate universe counterparts." He said the last part while judging the others with them.
"You're not an idiot, Baz." Rita said in a frustrated tone. "I genuinely don't give a fuck whether you kill Reggie or not, but that doesn't solve anything! With how much influence and goddamn money he has, people are going to question where he went and they're going to find you. All of you." She shook her head. "They're not even gonna believe you about the experiments no matter how much proof you've got."
"So what?" All heads turned to see a woman with long brown hair leaning on one of the entrances to the gazebo, picking at her nails painted a deep red. She looked up when the attention was on her. "We can make them believe us." No one missed how her eyes went to Allison for a second.
"We're not—" Rita huffed, trying to calm down. "We're not doing things like he did, alright? Just give me more time."
Baz groaned and was lying down on the stone seats of the gazebo within a split second, a fading trail of white lightning connecting him to his previous spot. (Oh, that's how he got past us. Luther thought. Speed.) "You're taking too long."
"It hasn't even been a year since you got good control over your powers." Rita defended.
"Right," the woman drawled. "Because we're your experiments instead."
Rita closed her eyes, Vanya noted, as if she's been over this a million times but it never stopped hurting. "Hera, I don't experiment on you. I don't experiment on any of you." The sincerity was bleeding through her words, but the two just snorted in disbelief.
"Don't lie to us, Rita." Hera said as she stood straight and looked her in the eye. Baz went to stand beside her in a second. "And don't lie to yourself."
"I'm not—"
"Pain." Her voice echoed with one word, as if digging into everyone's ears. Everyone's hands instinctively went to cover their own ears, but they weren't the target. Echo fell to the floor with her mouth open in a silent scream, tears slowly slipping from her eyes. Before anyone could move, the speedster had already collected her body and brought it to the other entrance of the gazebo with nothing but a wisp of lightning to show the path he took. Another woman joined him and had a hand hovering over Echo's forehead.
"Let us go first, Rita."
Rita breathed in, obviously annoyed at the turn of events. Diego had tried stepping forward to be of some help but she only signaled him to stand down. Five also pulled him back subtly, whispering that this isn't the time to be involved. Allison is so very much tempted to just rumor them all to stand down (maybe Rita wouldn't even mind) but she doesn't even understand the entire situation.
"And where would you go, Madeline?"
"We'll figure it out." Hera answered instead from her spot. The two entrances were blocked now. They could escape over the railings of the gazebo, but it's not like they can outrun someone whose power is speed. (Well, Five thought, maybe not outrun. But where exactly would I teleport everyone here on the damn moon?)
'Madeline', the other girl with dark curly hair and deep brown eyes, tilted her head at Rita's lack of response and, with a raised eyebrow, dropped her hand to make contact with Echo's forehead. With how much she seemed to have been building it up, the Umbrella Academy members were slightly startled into a bit of movement, still on a defensive stance, but nothing even happened. Vanya then noticed the faint violet tint slowly spreading in the air.
("I don't think I can jump more than a few feet." Five whispered to the group through gritted teeth. "Rita must have shut their powers down, and since we're nearby, we're slightly affected?"
"I won't exactly disagree." Klaus replied with a shrug. "These people seem dangerous."
Diego shoved him lightly. "So are we.")
"Timeout, hmm?" Madeline hummed as her fingers trailed up to comb through Echo's hair instead. Echo breathed roughly and was clearly making attempts to get away, but Baz' grip on her was too tight. "Knew you'd do that."
Rita's eyes were definitely on Echo, but her tone only addressed the three others. "You know, they were wondering what stupid superhero name I'd use if I ever went with them. Klaus suggested 'The Shield'."
"Taste." Klaus nodded in approval. "I think I really love my counterpart."
"That's dumb." Madeline rolled her eyes, ignoring Klaus' dramatic gasp and the other shushing him. "You're not protecting anyone. And besides, every shield has a weak spot."
Distracted by their conversation, no one had noticed the brown haired woman sneaking up from behind Rita except Echo, who couldn't give a warning and could only watch in horror. Hera had stabbed Rita in the back with a knife that no one had even noticed was on her earlier. If Allison saw things right, she's pretty sure the violet tint that had painted the air in the gazebo flickered and became more faint when Rita screamed in pain.
"Oh my god!" A group comes rushing into the garden. The woman who spoke had eyes that were clouded with gray and she was being guided by the child they recognized to be Alex. "Was that Rita?"
"Hera stabbed her." Roxy, also from earlier, observed. Instead of the anger Luther was expecting, there was only annoyance and irritation present from most of the group's expressions.
"Madeline, Bax." Peter, the man who had fire earlier, called out. "Let Echo go."
"Stand down." Mariella added.
Another person in the group gestured to the Umbrella Academy members. "The hell are you all standing around for? Help her!"
"We're on timeout." Diego explained. "We don't even understand exactly what's happening?"
Someone else scoffed. "So?"
"They have a point." Vanya acknowledged quietly.
"Rita?" Alex tried to get a response but only got a faint whine. "For fuck's sake, Hera, what were you trying to gain out of this?" Their tone was so exasperated as they approached the gazebo, a fierce look on a child's face that doesn't look that wrong. "Why do you do this to her all the time?"
They entered the gazebo by roughly pushing past Baz and glaring up at him then went to Rita's side. "Complete idiots, honestly. Rita, are you okay?"
Abhijat flew in out of nowhere and handed what looked like a first aid kit to Alex's outstretched hands. He clicked quickly and shortly in his own language, and everyone was able to automatically understand. It also meant everyone except a select few froze in surprise.
"Abhijat." Rita struggled to gasp out when Alex only focused on patching up the knife wound, eyebrows furrowed as she stared up at the green box. "What do you mean the plan is in progress?"
A laugh sounded out through the garden. "He was talking to us, dummy." Hera smirked when she got their attention. "Cody's doing his part."
"Co—" Rita groaned again and glanced at the rest of the group who seemed to move and brace themselves at Hera's words. She then turned to the Umbrella Academy, who didn't know what it implied, pain from being stabbed was still evident in her eyes. "Take cover," she warned.
And she warned them with just enough time for them to grab onto some part of the stone gazebo and hold onto each other before the wall on the right side blew up. Despite how tightly they held hands, the force of the explosion was enough to knock everyone off their feet, even those who knew it was coming, apparently.
"I thought he had it under control." Baz coughed to Hera who was also pushing herself up.
"I cannot fucking believe this." Rita grumbled as she struggled to stand, her back was still bleeding from the stab wound earlier. "The fucking audacity." She glared at the Baz, Hera, and Madeline, who seemed to all just ignore her. Five followed Rita's gaze as she prioritized checking over the other group of people then turning her eyes to the top to see the faint translucent blue shine of the oxygen and gravity shield was still intact. (And thank whatever gods that it was. That would have been a whole other problem.)
"Uh, Rita?" Klaus called out tentatively once everyone has stood up. The others turned to see their brother hesitantly approaching her, but she put a hand out to stop him. It became obvious then why Klaus was so cautious — dark violet veins lined up her arm up to her face as much as they could see. Her eyes blinked slowly until her entire eyeballs turned the same violet shade.
"What the fuck." Diego murmured to his siblings in response to the sudden change. He gripped the letter opener Five had passed him earlier. "What do we do now?"
"You realize she hasn't even told us how to get out?" Allison whispered back. "What are we supposed to do now, huh? Vanya, can you do something?"
"I—I can't reach my powers at all." Vanya stuttered out after a second. "Are we on a full timeout?" It was confirmed to be the case when everyone else tried to access theirs to no success.
"I knew we should have done something." Five hissed.
"When, exactly?" Klaus raised an eyebrow. "When we arrived at the fucking moon?"
"No, before we got here." Luther countered. "We should have made sure of things more before we let it get this far." He gestured to the group of people in front of them.
Rita was now approaching the trio who seemed to be the root problem, Abhijat beside them on the ground, faintly glowing green, seemingly slightly affected by Rita's powers. "Honestly, what the fuck? What the actual fuck is this?" She waved her arm around to their surroundings. Half of the hotel, as far as they could see, was still standing, but the other half was completely demolished to bits.
"What is wrong with you?" Alex supported Rita once they've stood up as well and brushed the dirt off their clothes. "Couldn't even bother to make sure it's your side of the hotel that's blown up? What about all my collection, you little shits?" And the whole scene of a little child screaming up at grown adults and a green box, who all seemed to be slightly rethinking their idea, would have been funny if—
Well, no. It was funny. The other people who lived in the hotel seemed to think so as they helped each other stand up and shook their heads at the rubble and the sound of an 8-year old's voice screaming above everything. But all-in-all, they didn't seem to find this a new thing.
"Hi, hello." A man walked up to them with the craziest black hair and round glasses. He had Echo leaning on him, who waved once they caught their attention.
"Hello." Klaus replied unsurely. Luther was quick to help Echo and support her from the other side, seeing as the man was struggling to hold her up.
The man sighed at the lessened weight. "Sorry, I don't think Rita would've had time to tell you. I'm Al, named after Albert Einstein, because I really just admire his work and he's had so many contributions to, honestly, science in general. I really hope that someday I'd be able to do something like—"
"What's your point?" Five cut him off, but it didn't seem to offend him.
"Oh, right." He pointed out the pieces of paper that were sticking out from Five's jacket. "Those are mine. I'm supposed to get you guys out?"
"Then do it." Diego demanded as Five shoved the papers back to its owner with the minor adjustments he did when they were in the study room earlier.
Vanya looked back to the sight of a half-blown up hotel and the people who'd been trapped here for so long. "We can't just leave them."
"Yes, we can. This is not our world." Five insisted, attempting to convince his siblings. "Let's get out."
Al grimaced. "I should, but I can't." He nodded to where Rita was. "She has the entire place in lockdown — a.k.a. the bigger version of a timeout — hence the violet things on her arm. She's gonna be so exhausted after this." The last part was more of a mumble to himself, but Echo repeated it with a shake of her head.
"So, what can even we do?" Allison asked helplessly.
He shrugged. "If you can, help calm her down, maybe? She can do that herself though. Maybe we should just leave her to it." They watched for a second as Rita shouted more at the four people involved, and as Alex took over the screaming when Rita paused to catch her breath. Another figure walked up to them with torn clothes and pursed lips. "Yup, Cody just came now. This is going to take a while."
"That's not our problem." Five grumbled before setting off to try and talk Rita into letting them go first before continuing this lecture she was giving. But before he could even take two steps, a piercing scream hit the air.
"Rita!" Alex shouted in alarm when she falls to the ground, screaming and writhing in pain. Echo repeated her name and suddenly rushed from Luther's side to Rita. "Hera, stop!"
"I'm not doing anything, you idiots!" Hera shouted back in utter confusion. "She has the place on lockdown!"
"Lockdown!" Echo repeated loudly while shaking her head, showing them Rita's arms which were void of the veins that had shown up earlier.
"We aren't on lockdown." Alex said the words, and Echo repeated them in affirmation. "We aren't even on timeout."
Baz took a step forward, a perplexed look on his face. "I'm not running fast, though?"
Echo struggled to calm Rita down even without the words or the signs, but the effect seems to still be there. Her screams have died off and turned into endless whimpers of pain. Tears built up in her eyes and fell as she struggled to even get words out.
"What's happening?" Klaus asked as he watched Rita's body still twitched in pain. But no one was able to answer.
"Ah, children." A voice joined them and a hush fell over everyone. "Well, you're not exactly children anymore, are you? Then why do you still act like it?"
Everyone's heads turned to see a familiar figure followed by six others. Reginald Hargreeves led the group, bringing his stupid walking stick with him. Pogo walked by his side, aiming a machine that looked like a mix of a megaphone and a satellite at the entire hotel. An all too familiar violet wave was faintly, but surely, coming from it. The six members of the Sparrow Academy were behind them, wearing the masks Umbrella Academy members recognized to be similar to their own.
His piercing, judging eyes scanned them through his spectacles. "Look at the mess you've made."