Well I felt I couldn't take, another day inside this place
From silent dreams we never wake, and in this promise that we'll make
Starless eyes for heaven's sake, but I hear you anyway

It had taken Vanya about twenty minutes to drive to her destination. As soon as she'd gotten into the car she'd realized that she was most likely going to get herself killed. Soon afterwards she had steeled herself for that. Dying while you were trying to protect something you loved wasn't so bad.

She'd been careful to note Kraken's location on the map. It had taken her some time to find it, but now that she was there she wondered where to go. The fact that she had gotten into it at all worried her. Was the entrance that easy to get into? Did that mean leaving would be easy as well? She severely hoped so.

Vanya squinted her eyes and looked around. There was very little light which made it next to impossible to see. Every single sound was twice as loud as it normally was to her. So it was completely understandable that she jumped and screamed when a hand came down on her shoulder. Turning around she saw Space look at her with a degree of amusement.

"Wait for us next time."

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20 minutes earlier…

"I think you should go after her," Rumor wrote on her notepad when she heard what had happened.

"To what end?" asked Space angrily as he punched the wall, "We'll just all get killed if we go."

In its wake the punch left a fist-sized imprint which Séance duly inspected.

"You don't even like Vanya!" he argued at Rumor's accusatory gaze.

Shaking her head Rumor wrote down;

"That's not the point. I just don't really approve of leaving one of our own to die. What if it was you in that situation? How would you feel to be abandoned like that?"

"It's him or the entire world," .05 pointed out.

"Conceivably the whole world," wrote Rumor as she glared at her brother.

"Now there's a point," Séance said as he began tracing the imprint of Space's fist.

"We've taken them all down before," wrote Rumor.

"Not all together," .05 snapped.

"We could deal. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life feeling guilty about their deaths?" Rumor wrote.

"It wouldn't be my fault if she wanted to do something stupid!" shouted Spaceboy, obviously cracking though.

"I'm all for doing something stupid," shrugged Séance.

No one said anything after that for awhile. Sighing Rumor took out her pencil and wrote a note. She walked up to Spaceboy and handed it to him. Seconds went by in silence as he read it. When he looked up his determined face made his decision clear. Finally .05 rolled his eyes and said;

"We're going to go after her, aren't we?"

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The Present…

"Yeah and try to keep it down," called Séance, "I've heard enough screechy noises in my life already thank you very much."

In shock Vanya looked at Séance and .05 who were standing behind Space. Séance was cleaning his nails and .05 had his hands in his pockets. All outward appearances made him look like he was sulking. At least they'd brought flashlights.

"But you said-" she started.

"Apparently emotions won out," sighed .05, "But if the world ends then it's your fault."

"So how do we do this?" she asked, trying to regain some of her dignity.

"We start by you getting out," Space stated.

Vanya opened her mouth to protest but .05 stopped her.

"You have no powers and no weapons. Face it, we can't watch you and save Kraken at the same time. Choose; involvement or actually getting things done."

Sighing Vanya realized the truth in his words. Spaceboy jerked his thumb towards the entrance. Pulling her coat closer to her she started back as her siblings started forward.

"Now what we're going to do-" started Spaceboy but he was cut off abruptly by the tremors that shook the ground.

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Dr. Terminal's hands were on several keys, typing away cheerfully as he commanded the floor underneath the Umbrella Academy's feet to separate. Once they had all fallen through the cracks he picked up his arsenal. It was basics really, dynamite, gunpowder, mustard gas. Nothing special.

Turning his head he looked at Kraken's knife critically. Finally he shrugged his shoulders he put it with the rest. He had a very detailed plan on how to do it all and it would be so very sweet. A Terminaut hovered up beside him.

"Has it been acquired?" he asked casually.

"AFFIRMATIVE_!" it replied.

"Excellent," he grinned, "But I'm going to have to move fast if things are going to work out. Otherwise the nightmares will kill them before I get a chance. I wonder what'll make the Umbrella brats scream? .02's were certainly interesting."

A faint groan alerted him that the man in question was waking up.

"It seems your family has come for you," he said, "And about time too."

At least the drugs had been enough to keep him awake under the pain. Terminal had been worried that they'd turn out to be defective. If that happened then there wouldn't be anything left for the rest. It would've made him sad to think that their deaths would be quick.

As it turned out his drugs had done him proud. They'd also had the bonus feature of keeping the subject alive. Even people as strong as Kraken should've died hours ago. That was all very good. It meant that he had more time later. Anticipation was half of the fun.

As he walked Dr. Terminal's shoes crunched on fragments of bone. Blood gathered on the corners of the table and spilt over the sides, making it hard to walk without tripping. He'd have a Terminaut clean it up later. Kraken bleeding to death as his shattered frame struggled to keep alive was a sight to behold. However Dr. Terminal had managed to bandage up the worst of it. Kraken's death wouldn't be quite so peaceful.

Looking up he noticed several shadows in the corner. Crazy looks and insane grins were plastered on their faces. Every single one of them was looking hungrily at his now-awakening prisoner. Smiling Dr. Terminal gestured to Kraken as he addressed his nightmares.

"He's all yours."

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Spaceboy woke up after his fall in complete darkness. An inventory check indicated no broken bones or any serious injuries. Quickly he activated the light on his levitation belt. Even after he'd done that he still couldn't see very well.

"Séance? .05? Vanya?" he called out.

"What's wrong?" a familiar voice asked, "Nothing without your team? You always wanted to be the leader, the big one. Why? So that people would respect you. Like you even. You played it that way so that people would care what happened to you. Well you failed that. Everyone hates you."

Sir Reginald took a long drag of his cigarette as he finished speaking. Rumor stood by him looking condescendingly at Space. Insane smiles lit up their faces.

"What in the world…?" Space started, until he suddenly remembered what the Hotel was for, "No…"

"You're so afraid of being alone," Rumor sighed, "It's sad really. You went to the Moon but came back the moment you stopped getting transmissions from other people. Only problem is that no one actually wants to be with you. And why should they? You're disgusting. That's why I never really wanted to be around you."

Space struggled for words but it felt like he couldn't breathe, let alone speak.

"It's time to get used to being on your own," smiled Rumor as she and Hargreeves walked away.

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"I don't feel guilty!" shouted .05, fear apparent in his eyes, "So fuck off!"

Several men and women stood looking at him with hatred in their eyes. They were all in various states of evening dress and decay. Pouring from their various wounds was deep red blood. The blood pooled on the floor and .05 kept as far away from it as possible. Still it inched towards him. One of the men shook their heads and sneered;

"No, you don't. But what if you could? What if you wake up one morning and found that you could feel again? Guilt would consume you, and the nightmares would never stop."

"That won't happen!" he yelled.

"How can you be sure?" the man said, "One day you will find your emotions and nothing on Earth will be able to save you then."

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"Stop it!" Vanya screamed at herself.

The White Violin paused after the buildings caught fire and exploded.

"Aren't we happy?" the White Violin asked, "We're so special now. None of our siblings can even hope to compare to us."

"Stop it!" screamed Vanya again, "I'm not you and I never will be!"

Shaking her head the White Violin plucked a string on her violin. There was an explosion and Vanya could hear the screams of children trying to get away as their flesh melted.

"Can we remember what it felt like?" the White Violin said, leaning down and to Vanya's level, "It was so liberating. Let's do it again. It'll be so incredibly fun!"

"No…" Vanya whispered.

"What we want is revenge," the White Violin said, "That'd be great. Let's go home and kill them all. We think we'll do Kraken first. His expression will be priceless!"

"Leave him alone! Leave them all alone! I don't want any of that!" sobbed Vanya, "Just stop. Please!"

Rolling her eyes the White Violin turned away and continued her work as Vanya screamed.