They say if you're not careful and you noclip out of reality in the wrong places, you'll end up trapped in the backrooms. Most fear that dingy place, so much so that it would be considered an act of madness to deliberately seek it out, even if for a scientific study. So far, not a single sentient being has ever managed to return, once trapped but of course, there is a first time for everything.

"It's working! It's working!"

Gathered around in a circle with hands held together, the six siblings of the Hargreeves. family attempted one last hail Mary pass. Mere seconds ago, one of the siblings; Vanya, released an enormous amount of energy in the form of a white beam of light that shattered the moon. Shards of which, were now being pulled in by Earth's gravity. This was the apocalypse that Five desperately tried to avert on April 1st, 2019. Although he failed, he had one last trick up his sleeve: time travel. Up until now his ability to jump through space and time was only ever done alone, he didn't even know whether he could bring others with him, but now, at the end of the world, there was no better time to try. Perhaps they could prevent the apocalypse by travelling further back. Pulsing blue light emanated from the siblings, growing brighter and distorting the concert hall that surrounded them before reaching a crescendo just in the nick of time. In a strange twist of irony, the same family that caused the cataclysm, were the only ones to survive it.

"Aarrgh!" Five yelled out as he fell, soaking his Umbrella Academy uniform on the moist carpet that covered the floor. A soft but harsh buzzing sound coursed through the manky, yellow walls of the surrounding rooms. "Luther? Allison? Vanya? Anyone?"

Five shouted in vain, for there was no answer. "Where am I? When am I?"

This place looked entirely unfamiliar. The yellow tinted rooms stank of dust, this must have been some abandoned office building, he thought. All he had to do was find the exit and ask where and when he was. He must have messed up his calculations again, though his body was still apparently 13, even though his mind, his consciousness was 58. How big this place was, could have been anyone's guess and there were no windows anywhere. Instead, the entire facility appeared to be lit by bright office lights built into the ceiling. As Five walked through each room, the harsh buzzing sound never let up. Very soon, he felt his head start to pound as he desperately continued his search.

"How big is this place?" He asked himself, his powers still recharging from the time warp.

"Vanya? Klaus? Anyone?" His calls were still in vain. A faint, distant roar, bellowed across the corridors. Five felt his heart begin to pound faster, whatever made that sound, couldn't have been friendly. His legs were begging him to run but he knew better, his strides would only alert whatever monster resided here.

Every room he snuck through looked identical, even in dimensions, though some did contain props such as a filing cabinet or an office chair. At this point, his head was pounding heavily from the continued, omnipresent buzz. He couldn't risk another jump and he even half expected The Handler to show up and scold him for escaping the apocalypse, but this place did not look like anything The Commission would build.

Another roar echoed down the hall. This one much clearer than the first. His heart shot up, he quickly shifted his gaze and scanned the area for any possible weapons to defend himself. An open filing cabinet presented itself. He rapidly shifted through it, there must be something here. Unmarked papers, a yellow highlighter, some chewed up pens, a small but sharp knife. "This will have to do."

The shadow of a quadrupedal being appeared on a nearby yellow wall. Another roar, clearer still, louder too, bellowed down the hall. From a single corner, Five watched as the entity showed itself, headfirst. The grotesque being sported a hide of dark brown hair slicked back, two glowing yellow eyes and vicious fangs that protruded outside its fuming mouth.

Five could hear his heart pounding as the buzzing faded and shaking adrenaline coursed through his body. The entity started to dash towards him on all fours. Without thinking, Five teleported himself out of the way, causing the unknown entity to crash headfirst into the wall behind him. "Arrgh!" Five roared, piercing the confused entity's back with his foraged knife. The entity yelped as more of its hide was sliced open. A thick yellow blood oozed from the mortal wounds. Five had not forgotten his training.

Even the one teleportation felt like too much. When his adrenaline subsided, the buzzing returned as well as a now searing headache. He held his right hand over his forehead just under his jet black hair. This place was unbearable, where the hell was everyone? The rest of the academy? Did he really screw up his jump this badly? A nasty thought struck him, what if his siblings disintegrated during the jump? There was no sign of them anywhere and Five had never tried to bring anyone with him on a jump like that. His rumination appeared to worsen his migraine. Looking at the corpse of the entity, it was clear that the being was not from Earth. This was no ordinary office building.

"So, this is your doing then?" A male voice asked. Five turned around to face him. He was tall, somewhat chubby, with pale skin and short dark hair. "Am I the first person you've seen here?" He asked Five.

"I'm sorry but what the hell is this place?!"

"The backrooms, you nocliped out of reality and ended up here. I presume through some unfortunate elevator accident, I remember being trapped in a lift with a so called "proud boy" whatever that means. It was unbearable. He kept ranting abo-"

"I don't need your life story here genius! And yes, you are the first person I've seen around here and you seem to know an awful lot about this place, so tell me everything you know or else!"

"Well aren't you an angry boy! Ok fine, there are many myths about this place, and why it exists, my girlfriend and I were hired by some science corporation, honestly doesn't fucking matter cuz the money's good right? Anyway, we had to study this realm and see what we could find. Come on, you must be hungry, we got a small base camp nearby."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't but you have no other options."

In stark contrast to the familiar yellow walls of the rest of the realm, the stranger's base camp was decorated with purple floral wallpaper, three separate office chairs, a desk with a laptop plugged in to a neon green generator and multiple storage shelves. In the corner, a young woman with hot pink hair and matching lipstick sat idly twiddling her thumbs. She wore a white lab coat but strangely had her hair loose and a couple buttons undone.

"So, looks like we found a survivor." The woman spoke with a husky voice.

"This guy took down a crawler by himself with a shitty kitchen knife!" Explained the stranger.

"Well, did you see him do it honey? Cuz all I'm seeing is a 13 year old whose loaded parents took him to some illustrious private school. Trust me, Dick, if this guy's a fighter, I will personally su-"

"Can't you see the blood on my knife honey?" Interrupted Five, somewhat taken aback by her apparent rudeness.

"Now, Poison, how could he not be a fighter with that tone?" Asked Dick in a calm but somewhat condescending manner.

"Sorry honey, I'm just a little sceptical, after all, we both know what happened to the last guy you brought here."

"That guy was a lost cause to begin with, I just hoped we could save him, but we couldn't."

Five chimed in: "I came here for help escaping this place, not to hear you guys bickering like an old married couple, do you know a way out or not?"