'HEY, SCHOOL BOY, WHAT'S UP? WHY IS EVERYONE GIVING ME WEIRD LOOKS?'
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          THE ENGLUND GAMBIT Trap is a play in chess where white makes an ambitious attempt to lure black into making irrational moves. White allows their e pawn to be captured early so that they are able to move their queen in for an attack.

"Pawn to e5. My pawn takes yours."

You hover the black pawn over the board until it lands on the square where your white pawn currently resides. Yours is replaced. You were surprised at how easily he seemed to be wandering into your trap. This play should have been spotted by the chess master when you made your first move, but being half corporeal does some things to a person's brain.

"You know," the man sitting across the table begins, "this game would be much, much easier if you were able to conjure me a physical form." His left leg is crossed over his right. He adjusts the hat atop his head and leans back in the chair. His body was almost completely transparent, the entire form being encased in a glowing crimson red haze. He flickered in and out. His name was Abe Turner, today's formidable chess opponent. You had done some research in Dad's books to look for someone with half a brain to play you. Abe was towards the bottom of the list, but you saw that his cause of death was being stabbed 9 times in the back by a fellow Chess Review employee in 1962. Seemed like he would make interesting conversation.

"Sorry to inform you, Abe, but conjuring you a physical form takes too much energy. Doing this allows me to play for hours," you explain. You move your knight to c6.

"Hours? Sweetheart, I think you need to get out more. Knight to f3." You scoff at Abe's statement while moving his piece on the board. "If I could leave this house and take a vacation, I would. But if I try leaving, I'm just gonna get called back in for some mission or be under constant surveillance of Fei," you complain, picking up your queen and moving it to e7. "Not that I dislike her birds, they're actually quite nice once you spend enough time around them. The others just coddle me because I look younger than them."

"Bishop to f4. Are you not younger than all of them?" Abe asks. You move your queen to b4.

"No, we're all the same age. I guess you haven't heard because you're, well, dead. We were all born on 'the 12th hour of the first day of October 1989.' 16 random women gave birth around the world. We're all one of those children." You exaggerate your voice when reciting the famous line. It reminds you of Pogo.

"Bishop to d2. I mean, you certainly look like a teenager. I wouldn't think it's safe for you to be out there alone," Abe replies, leaning forward in his chair. He seems a little more interested in the game seeing how close your queen is to his king.

You move your queen to b2 and capture one of his pawns. "I'd like to believe I can handle myself. Haven't been training for 30 years for it to mean nothing." Abe lets the room go silent. He's staring intently at the board now. "Bishop to c3."

You move your bishop to b4.

"Queen to d2."

You capture his bishop on c3 with yours.

"Queen to c3. Maybe it's because you're so short. If a tall person decides to steal your things-"

"Alright, Abe," you interrupt him. "I understand why you were stabbed in the back 9 times now," you mutter under your breath. "Ok, that's actually quite a mean statement," he pouts, sounding insulted. You go to laugh but are cut off by a sneeze. This sneeze wasn't just any sneeze. It was probably the hardest you've ever sneezed in your entire life. Bones rattling, sounds bouncing between the walls of your room, the force of the air hurting your throat.

Some sneeze it was, because when you opened your eyes, you were blinded. "Abe?" You asked into the air hoping to figure out your temporary sight issue. No response. You reached out in front of you. Maybe you had accidentally conjured him fully and the dead man had done something. You felt nothing. The room actually felt quite cold now. A shiver ran up your spine. "Shouldn't have made the stabbed 9 times comment."

You rub your eyes and discover that you can see again. You let out a sigh of relief and check your body to find the cause of your sudden blindness. You check your pulse and check your eyes in the mirror. Taking a quick scan of the room, it seemed like Abe had disappeared, so that can't be the reason. Your attention is drawn to your shelf when you realize one of your plants has died.

"Oh, poor Baby!" You exclaim, rushing over to inspect the wilted buds. Dead plants weren't typically an unusual occurrence, you have accidentally killed some before. Whether it was forgetting to water one because it's too high on the shelf or getting eager and over watering, you were guilty of the crime.

But something was different about this one. Baby, your baby's breath, was very much alive a few moments ago. She was actually one of the plants you payed special attention to. Baby's breath was one of your favorite flowers. You disappointedly fiddled with the limp stems.

There was a knock on the frame of your open door. You turned around to see Sloane. "Hey, (Y/N)!" You let the flowers fall between your fingers. "Hey, Sloane," you reply halfheartedly, still upset over the death of your beloved friend. "You ok?" She asked, stepping further into the room to find the cause of your disappointment. "I'm fine. Baby just died really suddenly. But, I was in the middle of a chess match with chess master Abe Turner. Which, by the way," you pause to step towards the board, taking your queen to c1 then proceeding to knock over his king, "I just won. Is something wrong?"

She wrung her hands nervously. "I heard some noises from the living room." Just then, the alarm in the corner of your room went off. "And also because of that. I heard talking too. There might be people here. We should go."

"Yeah, I'll come with you. Let me grab my jacket first," you agree, walking over to the chair your jacket hangs over. Sloane nods and rushes out the door. You make sure to smooth out the few wrinkles in your shirt before walking outside.

You tapped Marcus' arm to get his attention. "Got any idea what's happening?" You questioned him.
He thought for a moment before looking back down at you and answering, "Nope, just that there are people here that shouldn't be." As you approached, you could hear Dad talking to someone.

"This isn't your home," Dad insists. "What are you talking about?" A woman's voice, one you didn't recognize. "This is the Umbrella Academy."

"Wrong again," Dad reprimands, "This...is the Sparrow Academy."

You saw that the rest of your siblings had come to stand with you, all except for Ben. You examine the group of six strangers below you. A woman in a loose fitting, long black coat, another in a pair of black gloves with an almost 1960's style haircut. Behind her was an extremely large man, both in height and shoulder width. To the right a man with grown-out looking hair pulls a knife from his sheath. One of them wears a wide brimmed hat and another long black coat.

The last figure is, peculiar. He looks to be about your physical age. He sports a uniform similar to the ones Ben and Marcus would wear as teenagers, except that this one is blue with red accents. Blue shorts, black knee length socks, and a confused expression on his face. He mutters something, you think it might be your name. He seems familiar. The way he holds himself, his expression, his eyes. The deja vu is seemingly hitting you like a truck.

They all look like they just came from a funeral. Well, a funeral where a fight broke out. All of them look roughed up, sporting a few injuries across their faces. Their attention is turned to Ben, who has come down from the second floor to face your new friends.

"Dad, who the hell are these assholes?"

"Shit."

The word is uttered collectively. They stare in amazement at your brother. "Ben." The man in the hat is in disbelief. The good kind. He's smiling softly with a light in his eyes that seems new. The biggest one walks out to get a closer look. "Is that really you?" He asks.

"And who are the weirdos on the balcony? And why is (Y/N) with them?" The man with the knives shouts up at us. The last part is directed at the boy in the uniform. The one with the hat flinches at the loud noise. You look at all the members of your family and shrug, giving Sloane a questioning and worried look. Who are these people? Why are they in your house? How are they unable to recognize the Sparrows? And most importantly, why do they recognize you?

"They are the Sparrows," Dad tells him, "My children."

The house trembles the smallest amount as both groups look at each other in confusion, trying to figure out what the hell is happening. Marcus nodded and gestured for you all to come down the stairs and join Ben. "I'm sorry. What do you mean, your children?" The boy in the uniform sneers at Dad. "That's not possible, old man."

"Of course it is!" Dad exclaims as you arrive on the first floor. "I think I'd know, wouldn't I?"

The man in the hat is still gleefully looking at Ben. He points at him and asks, "Everybody else can see Ben, right?" Ben gives him a snarky smile. "Cute hat, Sundance." The man tips his hat at him.

"They call themselves the Umbrella Academy, a group of scheming, perfidious malcontents who accosted me in the fall of 1963 when I was away on business in Dallas. Be warned," Dad continues his explanation, "they claim to be my spawn."

"Claim?" The woman with bangs turns around to the boy in the uniform. "Look, Five, what the hell is going on?"

"I don't know yet, but it's concerning," he answers, eyes scanning over the group and landing on you. His gaze softens ever so slightly. He, Five, apparently, knows you. You can tell. There's a recognition in his eyes that all of the Umbrellas seem to have. Something about the way Five looks at you is different though. It's just, warmer. He's making heart eyes at you. And it's freaking you out.

"Hey, school boy, what's up? Why is everyone giving me weird looks?"

Five was snapped out of his trance. "Because, darling," you gave him a weird look after hearing the out-of-place term of endearment, "you're not supposed to be there."

"(Y/N), seriously, what's happening?" The woman in the long black coat addresses you. "Do I know you? Why do you all know my name?" You question the group the strangers. She lets out a somewhat frustrated sigh, saying, "You were just with us. Literally, five seconds ago, we were all together. Then we end up here and suddenly you're with them."

"One jump and you're standing with the enemy," the man with the knives accuses you. "What happened?"

"The enemy?" You stare at him in disbelief. "They are not the enemy. This," you feel Jayme's hand on your shoulder, "is my family. I have no idea what you're going on about."

"Family? We're you're family, (Y/N)," the woman with the bangs states. "No, you aren't. And I'm pretty sure I would know."

The man in the hat, Sundance, as Ben has dubbed him, is eyeing your jacket. "Oh, I absolutely love the jacket by the way, even if it is in red," he gushes. "The sleeves are very chic." He waves his arms around to exaggerate his compliment. You smile. At least he isn't being hostile or accusatory towards you. "Thank you! I sewed them myself. Adds a very fun flourish in combat." He giggles to himself and waves his hand as if he's gossiping with an old friend.

"Is he telling the truth?" Marcus, speaking about his explanation of the Umbrella Academy, interrupts your banter and points to Dad. "Not the part about us being perfidious," the woman in the long coat replies.

"No, we're amateur-fidious, at best," the man in the hat adds.

"But we are his children. This is our house," the woman insists. "Yeah, yeah. We uh...we grew up here," the big one tries to explain.

"Uh yeah, yeah, we grew up here," Alphonso mocks him. Fei snickers quietly from behind. "I kind of think we would have noticed you," Sloane replies. The big one gives Sloane and glance and his whole demeanor changes immediately. "Hi. I'm Luther." He throws her a smile. She nods awkwardly in response.

"Are we all getting heart eyes now or what?" You mutter quietly enough for only Jayme to hear. She let's out a small chuckle.

"Okay. None of you belong here," the woman with bangs walks closer to you. "Oh! Well, then. I guess we'll just pack our bags and move out," Fei says sarcastically. Christopher adds on to Fei's mockery, commenting on the ridiculousness of the situation and their claims. You all laugh at his quips. "You slay me, Chris," Ben says.

You hear the sound of heels clacking on the floor and look to see Grace, with a plate of cookies, approaching from the foyer. "I wasn't expecting company," she sighed worriedly. "This is the best I could do on short-"

She cuts herself off as she glitches. "Short...Short notice." As she walked up to us the man with the knives slipped his weapon back in his harness and looked at her with incredulity. "Mom," he whispers.

"Mom? She's a robot, you perv," Jayme comments. "It's not a robot," he responds angrily.

"Hey, don't you call him that," the big man, Luther, you remember, reprimands Jayme. "Or what?" Ben implores.

"Oh, why don't you come closer and find out?" Luther threatens, taking a step towards Ben. You all begin bickering and talking over one another.

"Luther! Guys, chill!"

"Think I'm afraid?"

"Stand down, Ben."

"Look at that! She's got a voice!"

"Luther-"

"How about I hide that big Rubik's Cube up your ass?"

"Enough!" Marcus shouts, quieting your fighting. You watch Jayme hit the man with the knives with her venom. He touches his face and looks at her weirdly. She blows him a kiss. You give her a small fist bump. "Nice one," you whisper, "He's probably on one weird acid trip right now."

"I don't know what circus you people escaped from or how you got past our security, but we're done here," Marcus states. "You got 30 seconds to get out of our house."

"And if we don't?" The woman in bangs questions. You hear the man with the knives gasp as he comes down from whatever dream he just had. He glances to Jayme in shock. She widens her eyes and nods, as if she's also wowed at what happened.

"Then we'll have to settle this the old-fashioned way." Marcus is still continuing his terms while the man wipes the tears and sweat from his face.

"Look," the woman in the long coat begins, "we just fought a literal army. Okay? This doesn't need to get ugly. Let's all just calm down, and let's talk," she nods and looks to her family, trying to get them to agree.

"Psst. Ben-er-ino." Ben looks at Sundance, seeming completely done with his weird talk. "You look so much better alive than you do dead. Am I right? Except that haircut."

"What the hell did you just say?"

"Come on, come on. Stop with all the hostility, Mr. Grumpy Pants," Sundance says to Ben. He examines his face. "Oh wow. Nice scar. Muy macho." Sundance is right up in Ben's personal space right now. Speaking from experience, you knew that taunting him and standing that close was not a good idea. "Shut your mouth!" Ben hisses at him.

"You shut your mouth and just hug your brother-"

Ben punches him in the face. "Yep, saw that one coming," you whisper to Jayme. Sundance groans in pain. "Hey! What the hell? You didn't have to do that!" Luther turns around and shouts at Ben as Sundance continues to roll backwards and over the table.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I did!" Ben says. "That's right, he did," Alphonso agrees with him, holding his arm out.

"Hey, get back!" Marcus yells at Luther, who is getting a little too close for comfort. "Luther, hey!" The woman, who, to you, is the only sane one, calls out to him. "Back off! This isn't-"

Marcus finally gives in and pushes Luther back. Luther throws a punch that Marcus easily dodges before landing a kick directly in Luther's chest, sending him flying across the room and straight into Sundance.

"Oh great, fight time," you mutter.

Everyone pairs themselves off around the house, finding that separating them would make it easier to take them down. Christopher calls dibs on the knives man, saying something about the Rubik's Cube comment being out of pocket. You, Alphonso, and Sloane stand to the side watching Fei and Jayme fight your new friends.

"I don't wanna fight you!" The one fighting Jayme exclaims. She narrowly avoids a kick Jayme sends her way. "Aww!" She coos sarcastically. "Did you wanna be best friends?" She finally lands a blow to her head, sending her face first on the floor. Your focus shifts to where Fei is battling the woman with the bangs.

"You know, for a blind person, you're not that bad," the woman says. "Who says I'm blind, asshole?" Fei questions. You see one of her birds get up close to Allison.

You lean in closer to Alphonso, who is currently eating a bag of popcorn. "Bets on who's winning this one?" You ask him. "Well, I always stand for supporting family, y'know?" He answers through chewing. "True. I'm interested to see what her power is, if she has any." You add. He holds out the bag to you and offers you a piece of his snack, which you happily take. "Should I step in and help?" Sloane asks, rightfully worried for Fei. "Nah. She's making a point," Alphonso refers to the woman's earlier quips about Fei's blindness. "Popcorn?" He offers to Sloane as well. She denies.

The woman Jayme had kicked earlier is now standing and seemingly powering up. Jayme taps Sloane and gives her something to do. "My turn," the woman says. Sloane easily lifts her, the blast she initially planned now backfiring her into the gallery. "Art snob, huh?"

Jayme gets my attention. "Haven't seen the little guy in awhile. I'm gonna find him," she tells you. You nod, staying with Alphonso to watch Fei. The man with knives passes by the both of you, trying to slice through Christopher.

Fei gets a hit on the woman with her staff. She does a few fancy spins before going in for the final blow. "By the way," the woman says while grabbing on to Fei's staff and knocking her knee, "I heard a rumor you can't move," she whispers into her ear.

"Oh shit, that's a pretty cool ability," you say to Alphonso. "You want this one or should I?" He hands you his bag of popcorn.

"I got this one."

He walks up to her. Oh god, not this bit again. You've seen it before, and while it's funny, it's a little tiring to watch Alphonso reveal his power like this over and over and over again. His face was getting pretty beat up because of it. "Hit me," he tells her. "What?" She looks confused. "Come on. Hit me in the face," Alphonso insists. "Okay," she agrees and spins around to attack. "Hit me!" You wince as the blow hits her face instead, causing her nose to crack and send her straight to the floor. "I bet that hurt, huh?" Alphonso says, still standing there, feeling completely unharmed.

He goes to kick her in the face, but his foot hits the ground. That little shit pops in and blinks her away before Alphonso could do anymore damage. Fei is snapped out of her frozen position. "Fast little guy," Alphonso says. He looks at you. "Wanna go help Jayme find him? Might be fun giving heart eyes a little whooping."

"Yeah, sure," you shrug, tossing him the popcorn before running out to find Jayme.

Five and Allison had appeared on the second floor. She panted while using the side rails to stand. "Thanks," she gasped out. "No problem."

"Hey, short pants," Jayme came up to him from the other wall. "What's up?" Five walked out from behind Allison. "Go help the others," he instructs her, "I'll handle this one." She walks past him while saying okay.

"What are you, their mascot?" Jayme mocks. Five smirks and blinks behind her. When Jayme turns around she's punched in the face by him.

"More like their ringer."

From the ground, Jayme is still able to hit him with some venom. "Ugh," he groans, trying to wipe the stuff from his face. "Hey, gross, all right?" Five is soon after reeled into a vision. "The hell?" He asks himself quietly.

You tiptoe around the boy carefully to help Jayme off the ground. "Nice," you tell her. "What do you think he's seeing?" She shrugged. "Wish I knew what was going on in that little head of his." We watched him walk towards an invisible figure.

"(Y/N)?"

"Why is he imagining me?"

The version of you Five is seeing is different. You're wearing the outfit from the gala you attended in 1963. "Oh my god, what are you doing here? Why are you dressed like that?" He asks, but not demandingly. It's soft, disbelieving. "Don't you wanna dance?" Your dream self holds out a hand to him. There's music playing in his ears. You giggle softly. "Come on, Five. We can just sway and kiss again," you twirl around in your dream dress. He nods, too blissed out to realize that this is all fake. Five sways with you for a few moments before going in for a kiss.

You and Jayme are watching this all go down from behind him. "Ew, why is he kissing? Is he kissing me? Can you tell?" Jayme shakes her head. "Ugh. Are they all perverts?" She walks up to him and does a signature kick to the face. He rolls down both sets of stairs and lands on the floor painfully.

Jayme pats your shoulder. "You're welcome to take this one now." You thank her, ready to finally join everyone in the action. You race down the stairs skipping a few steps to reach the boy. He's currently watching Luther get beat up by Marcus. His view is obstructed by your boots. "Hey, need a hand?" You hold out your hand and pull him up off of the ground. Maybe you'll toy with his emotions a little bit.

"Oh, good, maybe you do have some of the other timeline in you," he sighs, going in for a hug. As soon as he wraps his arms around you, you grab his shoulder, and bring your knee up between his legs. He quickly let's go as he tips over to the ground.

"Shit!" He exclaims. "Get off me, you twerp," you look down at him. He stands and curls his hands into fists. "Look, I don't wanna fight you, (Y/N). Something is wrong with the timeline right now." You scoff at him. "I have no clue what you're talking about." You swing your first at him but he's able to dodge the blow. You make many attacks but he won't hit you back. "Fine, if you won't fight me, maybe you'll fight them." You raise your hands and a red glow appear. Two soldier rise on either side of you. This should keep him busy for awhile.

"Get him, boys."

You hear his grunts of pain while walking away to join Fei, Alphonso, Ben, and Marcus. "Fine," you hear Fei say. "Italian?" She suggests. "Absolutely not," Ben disagrees strongly. "I could do Italian," Alphonso contradicts Ben. "Yeah, yeah, Italian sounds good," you nod alongside Fei. "Oh, hey," she says. "You got the little guy? He needed someone his size," she smiles, lightheartedly teasing you. "Yeah, I, uh," you look back to where he is facing your ghosts, "gave him two new buddies!"

"Are we done here?" Marcus has hit Luther pretty hard. He was currently lying on the ground as Marcus stepped on his chest. "Nope," Luther wheezes out. "I don't run from a fight."

"Yeah, that's the wrong answer, dude."

"Let him finish him off," Ben stops Alphonso.

"Then let's end this," Marcus says. He delivers kick  after kick after kick to his chest, all fueled by his superpowers. That's gotta hurt for Luther. You almost felt sorry for him, but realized that he and his family had invaded your home and claimed it to be theirs. They had their ass-beating coming for them.

"Stay down!" Marcus yells at him. The woman who has crashed into the paintings, curtesy of Sloane, runs up to the balcony. "Luther!" She shouts down at him. "Vanya," he groans. Oh, she has a name. That's nice to know. Seems like Sloane has Vanya handled again, as she was soon lifted into the air. "Luther, go! Get out!" Vanya shouts again. He stumbles away from the scene.

Sloane spins her around in the air a few times before dropping her onto the table. "Is she ok?" You asked Fei. "Hopefully she's well enough to walk out of our home," She replies. "I'm gonna go track down the big one. Sloane, you with me?" Fei looks up at Sloane, who is peering from the balcony. She nods and they're off.

You look back to check on the boy, who was now gone, leaving your soldiers standing by themselves. You sighed and let them fade away. "I hope he has it in him to fight me next time."

Eventually, everyone ends up back in the room, surrounding Vanya as she comes to. "Vanya, get out of there!" The boy shouts, now back in the entrance.

Just as quickly as Sloane as sent her to the ground, Vanya's chest lights up. A burst of energy builds up around her and sends all of us flying in multiple directions. Your back hits a shelf before you slump the ground, nearly knocked out from your injury. You stand and rub your back carefully. That was the most force you've ever felt in your life.

"It's over." You look to see Marcus staring down from the balcony. "Go. Don't come back." We watch Vanya weakly stand up before stumbling out the door.

Marcus takes a deep breath. "Come on! Go get yourselves checked out. We've got some work to do." I wrap my arm around Sloane and we help each other out of the room.

AUTHOR'S NOTE . . . !
welcome to book three, the shadow aspect! i hope you enjoyed this chapter. it's very long and that's very weird compared to my last writing. yes, i write in the second person now isn't that crazy. also, there is no update schedule. i could update tomorrow. maybe i'll update in two weeks. who knows. just know that nothing is set in stone.

if you have any questions
about sparrow!eight, ask away!

QOTD!
who's your favorite sparrow?

AOTD!
ranking time! from least favorite to most favorite, alphonso, marcus, christopher, jayme, ben, sloane, and fei. gotta love fei, a fashion icon gone too soon.