𝚃𝚘: 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙳𝙴𝚁𝚂
𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚖: 𝙿𝟻𝟷𝟹𝟾𝟸𝟻𝙷
𝙳𝚊𝚝𝚎: 𝟶𝟾𝟶𝟼𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟷

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝚆𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚈-𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙴𝙴: 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙺𝙴𝙻 𝙵𝙾𝙾𝚃𝙰𝙶𝙴

━━━━━━

"Elliott, did you develop these photos yourself?" Five questioned as he took a closer look at the pictures of his siblings and you.

"Of course," Elliott replied. "Can't exactly drop that stuff off at the neighborhood Fotomat. Government has eyes everywhere."

"I didn't see a dark room."

"Yeah, I converted the hallway closet."

Five found a ballpen and scribbled out the date behind the yellow box while Elliott fixed something. He approached Elliott and gave him the box. "Can you develop this?"

Elliott took the box and looked down at it. "Huh, 'Frankel Footage'. Friend of yours?"

"Cousins on my robot mother's side." Five excused. "Can you do it or not?

"Sure I can."

"How long?"

"Well, I mean, I'm running low on acetic acid. Beeker's Cameras is open today but it's two miles away. I mean, I'd have to take the bus. On the other hand, Gibson's is only ten blocks away, but I gotta cut through the park, and there are pigeons-"

"Elliott." Five interrupted, stopping Elliott's rant.

"It's like five, maybe six hours."

"Attention all units, we have a code 3-15 at the Holbrook Sanitarium." Five turned around when he heard a police reporting from Elliott's radio. "The hell is a code 3-15?"

"Mmm, fugitives on the run."

"Twenty-five patients still at large. Many are considered armed and dangerous." The police continued.

A groan and sigh escaped from Five's lips. "Oh, Diego." He muttered

"Oh, who's Diego?" Elliott asked.

Five turned to him. "Imagine Batman, then aim lower."

He patted Elliott's back and walked away. "You get started on that film. I'll be back as soon as I can." Five turned to leave and placed down the pen he was holding.

Once he got out of the room, Five spatial jumped just a few feet away from his brother's stolen car. He leaned a bit closer to look if he was seeing the right person he was looking for. 'There's my big dumb brother.'

He spatial jumped again and reappeared right in his brother's stolen car and heard him and an unknown woman talking. Diego closed his eyes to remain calm towards the woman in front of him. "I am not trying to be a hero, okay?"

"Then why are you doing this?" The dark-skinned woman asked.

"Because he's an idiot." Five suddenly spoke, earning a jump and gasp from the woman but left Diego unbothered.

The woman turned to the boy with wide eyes. "Who the hell are you?" She asked before looking around at how Five got inside the car without anyone noticing.

"Hi. I'm his loving brother." Five introduced with a fake enthusiastic smile.

"Who left me to rot in the nuthouse," Diego added as he glared intensely at his brother.

"To protect you from yourself." Five corrected.

"That's quite sweet." The woman commented.

Diego huffed in annoyance. "Okay, both of you, out."

Five leaned towards Diego, ignoring the woman. "Lose the crazy lady and come with me." The woman frowned and looked offended. "We have important business." Five continued.

"I am not going anywhere with you."

Five looked outside the car's open window to spot a police officer walking nearby. He looked back to Diego and smirked. "Okay, fine." He moved to the side, near the opened window, and stuck his head out with a mischievous smile. "Officer!" He called out loud.

"Hey!" Diego exclaimed as he pulled Five back to the car by grabbing the boy's blazer and gave him a stern look. "What are you doing?"

"I hear there's a reward out for you two."

"He's bluffing." The woman told Diego but the man looked into Five's eyes to see any lie.

"He's not," Diego replied to the woman. "Fine. I'll go with you."

"What about me?" The woman asked, earning a confused look from Five while Diego glanced at her. He sighed and nodded. "And I'm bringing the crazy lady."

Five blinked twice before rolling his eyes. "Alright, fine." He pushed Diego away from him and dusted himself off. "You're gonna be in charge of taking that crazy woman. Don't blame me when she's a liability to us."

The woman smiled. "By the way, I'm Lila." She introduced.

Five stared at her before shrugging. "Do I look like I care? Now, drive this thing or I'll drive."

Diego went back to his seat and glanced at Five. "Where are we heading to?"

"Back to that alleyway."

°•○●○•°

The three arrived at the alleyway, entered the building, and went upstairs only to find Elliott pointing his gun at them threateningly. "Where did you get the film? 'The Frankel Footage.' The truth this time."

"You know this lunatic?" Diego asked Five while staring at the man.

"New acquaintance." Five sighed. "He's harmless."

"Are you sure about that?" Lila questioned unsurely.

"Are you or are you not an enemy of the people?" Elliott asked with his voice getting higher in panic and frustration.

The three stared at him speechless until Diego and Five started nodding while Lila looked at them confusingly. "Such an open-ended question, yeah."

"Really depends on the people."

"You move one more muscle, I will blow your brains out," Elliott threatened.

"You want to take this or should I?" Diego asked Five.

"No, I got him." Five replied before spatial jumping while Diego talked to Lila to distract her from what Five was about to do.

Five reappeared in front of Elliott and shoved the gun up causing Elliott to shoot the ceiling. Diego quickly grabbed the gun off from Elliott's hands while Lila stared at the scene with wide eyes and a smile plastered on her face.

Diego removed the ammo and Lila snickered. "What the hell just happened."

°•○●○•°

"Why are we watching this?" Diego asked Five as he played with his knife.

"Shush." Five replied with a stern voice.

Five had played the footage he asked to develop from Elliott and he was watching it with Diego, Lila, and Elliott. Elliott was tied by Diego on a chair to prevent him from doing anything stupid or harming himself and the others while Lila was giving him a pedicure.

"Yeah, I... I'm Dan Frankel. And..." The old man from the footage introduced himself.

"I'm Edna Frankel." The old woman, the old man's wife, introduced herself behind the camera. "We are in Dallas, Texas, to see the president. Today's date is November 22, 1963."

Diego's head looked up from the old couple mentioning the president. The old couple continued to talk while Lila's head perked up in surprise. "That's six days from now," Lila stated.

"Holy shit. This is it." Diego softly gasped. "The grassy knoll. Kennedy's about to get shot."

Diego immediately turned to Five. "How do you have this?"

"Hazel died to get me this footage." Five explained as he glanced at Diego. "It must be the key to stopping doomsday."

"Hazel?"

"Long story."

"What's doomsday?" Lila asked.

"Longer story."

"What exactly did he say to you?" Diego asked.

"Well, he was killed before he could explain." Five explained. "But whatever he wanted us to see, it's on this film."

"This is very exciting." Five heard in the footage.

Suddenly, everyone heard a gunshot in the background from the footage. Diego instantly sat up straight. "Oswald." He whispered.

Five rewound the tape when he saw something odd and then paused it. He brought the projector further away from the screen to zoom on whatever he saw. Diego jumped off from the counter while Five stepped closer to the screen, their eyes widened as they look at an old man with black attire, a black hat, and a black umbrella. "This can't be," Diego muttered in disbelief.

"Okay, you gonna fill me in now, boys?" Lila asked as she watched the two men walking closer to the screen. "What the hell is this shit we're watching."

"No, that's impossible," Diego muttered again as he and Five got closer to the screen.

Five glanced at his brother. "Clearly, it's not."

"What... What is it?" Elliott managed to ask out even if he was gagged.

"Dad." Five and Diego said in unison.

Five sighed deeply before walking around and scratching the back of his head in disbelief and confusion. He was stressed.

"Of course Dad would be involved in the assassination. I should've known." Diego stated before walking away.

Five shook his head and pointed his finger up to Diego. "No, you're jumping to conclusions."

Diego walked towards Five, pointing angrily at the screen. "What else is he doing standing on the grassy knoll, holding an open black umbrella on a sunny day in Dallas the same moment the president gets shot?"

"It doesn't look good, I admit." Five replied with a calmer tone.

"No, he's the signalman for the whole goddamn thing,"

"Easy, Diego. Seriously."

"No, it makes sense." Diego softly gasped with a nod. "This is what Hazel was obviously trying to tell you. We have to stop Dad from killing the president."

"Diego, calm down, all right? Dad was no Boy Scout, but presidential assassination? It's never been his thing."

"How would you know?" Diego questioned. "You skipped out on his golden years."

Five blinked before raising his eyebrows incredulously. He was in utter surprise with the words his brother said. The boy softly scoffed. "Skipped out? Do you think I had it easy, Diego? I was alone for twenty-five years."

The boy shook his head at Diego. "You know what? We don't have the time for this right now. Dad's clearly in Dallas, right? Let's just go talk to him. Maybe he can help us fix the timeline."

"Dallas is a big place." Diego pointed out. "We need to find him first."

"Gee, if only we had some magical, old-timey way of finding people and their addresses." Five said as he leaned against the counter.

Five and Diego managed to find a book where they could find people, their addresses, and even their numbers. Diego opened the book while Five was behind him, his hands were tucked inside his pockets. "Let's start simple. His name."

Diego looked for the letter H and the name 'Hargreeves' but found nothing. "Shit, nothing here."

Five leaned in aa he looked down at the book. "Try his company, D.S. Umbrella Manufacturing Co."

Diego glanced at his brother. "Yeah, I know the name. Thanks."

Five rolled his eyes while Diego looked for the name of Reginald's company. "Holy shit. D.S. Umbrella, Eighty-two Olive. Let's go."

Diego pulled up the projection screen. Five and Diego heard a few grunts and muffles and remembered that Elliott was still tied up.

"Is he okay to leave here like that?" Diego asked.

"Yeah, he's fine." Five answered casually.

Five looked around before turning to Diego. "Hey, what about the girl?" Diego paused for a moment before looking back. "Shit." Diego went after Lila while Five sighed and shook his head.

-•-°-•-°-☆

Chapters will be released every Monday and Friday at 6 PM (Philippine Time).