THE SHADOW ASPECT ━ FIVE HARGREEVES

TWO ? ASSESSMENT

"Please don't scare me like that. You need to talk to Dad about this, and at the very least, let the others know," she suggests, her voice muffled by your shoulder.

"I'll try. For now, don't tell anyone. I'll do it once we're done with these Umbrellas. We already have enough on our hands with the new heroes. I couldn't worry Marcus or Ben, or even Dad. Go after the Umbrellas, worry about the possibility of my new powers later," you state. Sloane nods, a little hesitantly.

"And you're absolutely sure nothing else has happened? No other random chills, darkness, or dead plants? The peonies are a little droopy, by the way." You peer over Sloane's shoulder to see what she's referring to. She's right, the flowers look a little limp.

"I'm fine, just a dull headache right now."

You close your eyes and massage your temples. When your open them, the room looks completely different. You're now lying down in the bed. "Ok, seriously, what is in the air today?"

"Five? What happened?" You immediately close your mouth. The words had come out of you, but that wasn't your intention. It was like someone was speaking out of your body. Someone rushed towards you. It was the boy from earlier, Five. That was who you called out to.

"You fainted after shadow traveling." Shadow traveling? "Are you ok?" He sounded very concerned for your well-being. Your head is moving unintentionally. You see a bright red stain on his crisp white shirt.

"Yeah, but are you?" The words are being forced out of your mouth. "Your arm is bleeding again." He looks at the injury as if it's the first time he's ever seen it. "Here, let me help you." You're moving towards a first aid kit now. God, what the hell is happening to you right now?

You are quickly pulled out of the weird vision. The room is normal. Sloane is with you. She's holding out 3 pills for you. "Ibuprofen?"

"What?"

"For your headache?" She says, more like a question than a statement. "You said your head hurts."

"Yeah. Yeah, yeah, right. The headache. I'll, uh, take them now."

Someone knocks on your door. Fei opens it in her workout clothes. "Hey, we're gonna start some midday training. Marcus said he wants everyone there." One of her birds is behind her. It looks between you and Sloane, as if it knows something is up. "You two alright?"

"We're good," you say, before Sloane can spill anything. "We should get ready for that training now, right?" Sloane nods, giving you a knowing look before leaving the room.

↛ 𓅫 ↚

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY limps to a group of benches and tables in the middle of the park, tired, injured, and defeated. Five sits on one of the benches. Diego stands, looking out at the pond. Klaus lays on top of a picnic table. "Just gonna sit. I'm just gonna sit for a minute," Luther groans, slowly sitting down as to not affect his injuries.

"That didn't go well," Diego stated, holding his hip and leaning against the railing.

"No, not our best work," Five, leaning back to look at Diego, agrees. Klaus, with his hat now protecting his eyes from the sun, crosses his right leg over his left. His bones make loud cracking noises. "Oh, I'm cracking," Klaus says.