"AUGH!" Dusk groaned, the sounds of her cries muffled by the towel she clenched tightly in her mouth. "Just hold still, I'm almost done," Victoria said both calm and firm, cleaning off her set of tweezers before going back to work on the raven's arm. The moment they got back to the hotel, Dusk could feel more blood spill from her arm, and as she looked at the damage in the mirror, she nearly fainted. They managed to get the bleeding on her head and face to stop. Now it was onto the harder part.

"Stanley, can you wet another cloth?" Victoria looked towards the tween, who nodded and grabbed one from underneath the sink. Clutching onto the tub, Dusk tried to think about anything to take her mind off the pain. But none of the things that came to mind were peaceful. The sounds of impact and groans from the battle with her, Victoria, and Dahlia. And of course, The Grandfather Paradox that was slowly eating away the world.

"Damn those Sparrows..." Dusk removed her towel so she could properly talk, wincing as the redhead pulled out another piece of glass, dropping it into the metal trashcan. "What exactly happened with them?" Victoria questioned. "Well, Daddy dearest adopted them instead of me and my siblings, raised them to be superheroes, and took over our house. Since we tried it back from them and failed, there's been a war," the phoenix recapped.

"Well, you guys aren't the only ones who have a war with them now. The next time I see ice shit, I'm gonna smash her face in," Victoria removed the last shard from her friend's shoulder before wrapping the wet cloth around it, tightening it so it wouldn't come loose. The raven mumbled a thank you before walking to the mirror, her legs still wobbly but slowly gaining back their functionality.

Even though the wounds had been taken care of, Dusk could still feel brief hallucinations from the blood loss. She had been in many fights, but none of which she was thrown towards a fridge, nearly bashing her brains in. With every step she took, it felt like the ground was moving with her, almost as if it were alive and breathing. Are these gonna last forever? Or just for a few hours?  The raven took a shaking breath before walking towards the door. "Where are you going?" Victoria asked, poking her head into the tiny hallway.

"Downstairs," Dusk replied bluntly. The redhead looked at her skeptically, thinking that Dusk would want to rest before going on about life like normal. "You sure you don't want to sit down?" The raven shook her head, claiming she'd be fine, and that if anything happened, she'd let her know. She reached the end of the long corridor, pressing the down button and watching as the elevator invited her inside. 

As the elevator glided down to her desired destination, she couldn't help but wonder where Klaus was. She hadn't seen him since their date was interrupted. Part of her worried that he'd gone back to the hardcore drugs since finding out his birth mother was dead. As much as she'd be more than willing to try and wean him off if that were the case, she couldn't imagine the desperate screams and moans and the fuss he'd put her through.

"There she is. Where have you been?" Diego asked as she took a seat at their table. They and a small group of guests were participating in Mahjong Monday. Dusk briefly stared down at the progress they were making before responding to Diego's question. "Got into a fight, no big deal," she dismissed it. The brothers took notice of the towel wrapped around her arm along with the bruises and cuts she attempted to conceal with makeup. "What? With who?" Luther inquired. 

"One of the Sparrows! Specifically, the one with ice powers," She rolled her eyes. "Oh, you mean Dahlia? Yeah, I think she's the least nice out of them all, next to Ben," Luther nodded. The sounds of laughter and conversation came from right behind them. Dusk slightly turned to see Allison and Viktor were getting along just fine. Watching her brother be treated as an equal for once warmed her heart.

"So what's the plan? What do we do when the Sparrows get here?" Luther asked. Dusk's eyes widened, wondering why the Sparrows were coming to the hotel. She didn't have to open her mouth and explain, as Viktor could already tell she was confused. "We made a deal with the Sparrows. They're gonna give us the briefcase," he whispered. "But, what about Marcus? They'll obviously want him back safe and sound,"

Viktor inhaled sharply, claiming he was still working out the details on that, as Allison had jumped in and made the deal with an empty hand. "Just follow our lead. We got this under control," Allison responded. "Uh-uh, nice try. We don't take orders from you," Diego shook his head. "Why? You can't handle somebody else taking the reins?" Dusk snapped.

Before either Luther or Diego could respond to their sister's clapback, the hotel's revolving doors started moving, revealing the Sparrows, dressed in their red and black leather uniforms. They had arrived two hours early. The five Umbrellas immediately lined themselves up at the other end of the entrance, ignoring the flashes of cameras from the civilians behind them. Dusk folded her arms across her chest, her gaze shifting towards each of them, including Dahlia who was coldly staring back at her.

"Well, thanks for coming," Viktor broke the silence. "Oh yeah, super glad to be here," Jayme replied sarcastically. Ben squinted as he counted them all, realizing that two of the bunch were missing. He questioned the Umbrellas on their whereabouts, but Diego only replied with a snarky comment on the taking of attendance. "Where is the briefcase?" Allison asked. "Where's our brother?" Ben crowed.

Allison slightly smirked, taking a step forward, attempting to be bold and more menacing. "Maybe we should try this again before I lose my temper..." The Rumor gritted her teeth. "...Hand over the briefcase, or no deal," "Tiny problem... the deals off," Ben crossed his arms. "Sparrows, prepare for-" Before he had a chance to finish his sentence, Stanley ran the hallway screaming, "MOLOTOV THIS, BITCHES!" a flaming bottle clutched in his right hand.

"Stanley! Not now!" Diego turned around to scold him. The bottle slipped from his hand and shattered onto the ground, igniting one of the Mahjong banners into a fiery inferno. "Power up!" Ben instructed the other Sparrows. While most of her siblings were caught off-guard, Dusk dug deep within her, finding her demon and letting it consume her. Two fireballs ignited in both hands, but just as she was about to throw them, Ben instructed the floating cube to attack, releasing an ear-shrieking high-pitched sound, resulting in her and her siblings screaming in agony and trying to silence the noise.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Dusk yelled, trying her best to fight back against the noise, but every time she would try to stand up, the noise only grew louder. "Kill them!" Ben commanded. The ear-shrieking noise stopped, but just as Dusk mustered the strength to look up, she saw Jayme, Alphonso, and Dahlia approaching them. 

Suddenly, an old man's screams filled the air, along with bright yellow bolts of energy. The waves were almost similar to Viktor's. Through squinted eyes, Dusk watched as the sound waves scarred Jayme and Alphonso, while the rest of the Sparrows quickly got down to avoid being hit. And just as randomly as the waves appeared, it was all over. Jayme and Alphonso's bodies hit the ground; the other Sparrows in shock by the deaths of two of their members. "JAYME! ALPHONSO!" Fei cried out, reaching out a hand. "Fall back!" Ben shouted as he, Dahlia, Christopher, and Fei piled into the revolving door, making their escape.

Dusk carefully flipped onto her side, looking behind her to see the old man was still standing there, staring down at them. Who is this guy? Why did he save us?

"Oh my god. Harlan, is that you?" Viktor gaped.