The majority of the ride back to the hotel was full of silence and concentration as the roads had become considerably eroded and cracks were beginning to consume the road. The thought of falling into a large pothole crossed Astrid's mind a few times, but she kept telling herself that they just needed to get her siblings and finally end the kugelblitz nonsense. They pulled into a parking spot and walked through the revolving door.

Chet was still at his place near the front desk, still waiting for any possible guests. Astrid couldn't help but feel sorry for him as whatever precious time he had left was being wasted. She concluded that secretly Chet might be hoping for at least one or two people to come in, even as the world crumbled around them. Maybe he didn't want to believe this could be the end yet.

"Trid? What are you guys doing here?" Luther questioned. "I need you to come with us back to the Sparrow Academy," The Shadow Girl explained, adding that she'd catch him up to speed on the way there. While Luther was hesitant, he knew this had to be about the truce. "Alright, I'll meet you by the car," he nodded. But just as he was about to walk outside, Sloane called out to him, asking where the rest of the family was.

"I haven't seen Klaus since last night. But my guess is Diego and Lila are upstairs, same with Five," He answered. "What about Viktor?" Astrid questioned, realizing she might have to break the news to him if he was worrying about Harlan's whereabouts. "I haven't seen him either," The Ape-man shrugged. Great. I guess the truce will have four of them, then. Astrid and Sloane got into the elevator, pressing the button on the level where the Umbrellas had booked their rooms.

But as they checked the rooms, neither Five, Diego, nor Lila could be found. "Where else do you think they could be?" Sloane asked. "I don't know. Hopefully not kugelblitzed!" Astrid worried. But just one level above her, she could hear the sounds of someone calling out for Stanley, and the voices quickly resembled The Kraken and his on-and-off girlfriend. As they followed the voices, Sloane and Astrid poked their heads into the White Buffalo Suite as Diego and Lila argued. Meanwhile, Five kept staring at the collage-covered wall and what appeared to be a secret door.

"The monkey said Dad spent years training the Sparrows for a super-secret mission into..." Five explained, pointing at the opening. The monkey? Pogo's still alive?! Astrid wondered, remembering how he tried to be the better father for the Umbrellas. The kind of father the old man could never be. "Everything's leading to Oblivion, so we have to go in there," Five added. "No way! We barely got out of there alive!" Diego and Lila shook their heads. Sloane looked back to Astrid, wondering if this would be the best moment to step in. But Astrid put a finger to her lips, mouthing they should wait another minute.

"This is more than about you two. This is about all of us!" Five squinted. "Says the guy who has all his fingers! I didn't get this by giving a mummy a hand job, alright? I went in there and lost all my fingers to this thing with a knife on a chain!" Diego held up his bandaged hand, which made Astrid's eyes widen at the sight of the bloodstained cloth. "Hey look, Diego may be 90% moron and 10% pelvic thrusts, but he's right about Oblivion. We're just not gonna waltz back in there just because you say so.

 Astrid and Sloane came out of the shadows and entered the room. "You don't have to walk in there. Cause you guys are coming with us," Astrid spoke up, making the three of them turn around. "Well, this should be interesting. Where to?" Five asked. "Sparrow Academy," Sloane answered. "The world's ending. So I think it's time we put the petty bullshit aside and work together on the Kugelblitz," Astrid added. "Yeah? Or what?" Diego glared.

"Do you want another chance at living life?" Sloane questioned. "Think about Stanley. If we don't help, he won't be the last of us to disappear," Lila whispered into her boyfriend's ear. "Fine. Whatever," Diego exhaled. Astrid's eyes went back to normal as they walked out of the suite and back to the car. Diego, Lila, and Five all smushed together in the middle seat. While Astrid and Sloane took their seats in the front. "Hey, didn't Luther say he was gonna meet us here?" The gravity girl looked around.

Then suddenly, the car lowered quite a bit by some heavyweight. And as they all looked to the back, they saw Luther crouching on all fours, his head nearly hitting the car roof. "Oh, come on. I've done this before, remember?" Luther caught the five sets of eyes on him, reminding them of the similar situation back in Dallas. Astrid held back a small chuckle as they drove back to the Academy. And as the Umbrellas stepped inside, they followed Astrid and Sloane into the living room, where Grace was waiting for them with a plate of cookies.

The Umbrellas felt a few shivers run down their spines as they caught sight of Grace's face. One of her eyes was missing, and the socket was glowing a light blue. As Astrid grabbed a cookie from her and sat next to the fireplace, Luther looked up at her and mouthed the question, "What happened to her?" Astrid pointed to her eye, making a scooping motion behind the caretaker's back. The Ape-man blinked his eyes in shock before he sat with Diego, Lila, and Five.

"Welcome! Please make yourselves at home," Fei smiled as she and Ben entered the room. "Bitch, this is our home," Allison muttered. Sparrow three looked at her with a questioning look, daring her to say that again. But with the Umbrellas and Sparrows finally together, Astrid, Luther, and Sloane would not let there be a round three of fighting.

"Does anyone want some caramel corn?" Astrid grabbed a nearby bucket and offered it to any of them. "Here, I'll take some!" Luther volunteered, winking to her as he grabbed a handful of the salty yet sweet mix. "Where the hell are Viktor and Klaus?" Diego asked. "With our luck, probably kugelblitzed by now," Five spoke. The Shadow Girl gave him a funny look. Though he had been gone for over 16 years before finally returning to save his siblings from danger, she never quite grasped his sometimes-dark humor.

"Everyone sit down. We don't have for ideal chit-chat," Ben instructed. As the last few guests did as Ben said, and a smirk formed on his face. "Look, I know there's been some bad blood between us. Whatever. Bygones, right?" he started. Diego almost immediately raised his injured hand. "If we kill you, do we get our old Ben back?" He asked. Nearly everyone in the room started glaring at his stupid hypothetical. Is he trying to mess this up? "Keep talking, and your hand won't be the only thing that's bleeding," Ben growled.

Luther stepped in and tried his best to calm the situation, trying to guide everyone back to the task at hand. And just as things started to get back on track, the front doors opened, and Viktor frantically ran into the living room. "Where is he?" He panted. "Hi Viktor," Allison's voice went cold. Everyone watched as Viktor looked at his sister and then Ben before asking where Harlan was and what Ben did to him.

"They didn't do anything. I did," Allison confessed. "I killed Harlan," Viktor's eyes widened with shock, his mouth agape. Was he just hearing things, or did Allison really kill the child he took care of? "I... I don't understand... why?" He stammered. "Because he didn't deserve to live," The Rumor spoke emotionlessly. "What? Because they said so?! You don't have to listen to them!" Viktor protested. Astrid couldn't help but gawk at the people who were grabbing the nearest food item and watching the drama unfold like it was the latest episode of a juicy TV show.

Out of everyone in the room, it seemed like she, Sloane, and Luther were the only ones who cared about what might happen next. "Y-you could've talked to me! We could've worked something else out!" Viktor stumbled over his words. "Why? So you could lie to us again and take his side?" Allison bit back. "That's not what happened," Viktor shook his head. The Rumor leaned forward in her seat. "No, that's exactly what happened. I know Harlan killed all of our mothers,"

The room fell silent at that bombshell. It wasn't the Grandfather Paradox like they originally thought. Holy shit... what is happening to this family? Astrid wondered. She looked up at Viktor with disbelief as did the rest of the Umbrellas. "Wh-who told you that?" Viktor asked. "Harlan did. After you lied about it to my face," Allison snarled. "Is that true, Viktor? Harlan started all this?" Diego questioned, deep down hoping this wasn't true.

"Yes, but he didn't mean to anyone-" "How do you know that?" Five interrupted. "Because I knew him. He was sweet and kind until I made him like us..." Umbrella Seven looked back to Allison. "...If you need someone to blame, I'm right here to-" Allison folded her arms across her chest, her eyes squinting. "What makes you think I don't?" She inquired. A look of realization spread over Viktor's face and that realization only made his shock and anger worsen. "This wasn't about saving the world. This was about hurting me. Payback for-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Allison stood up and slowly walked towards him. "Go on, say her name," Allison dared. "Guys, I really don't think this is gonna solve anything!" Astrid protested. "You stay out of this!" Allison glared. "Did killing Harlan bring Claire back?" Viktor stepped forward. "Did protecting him bring Sissy back? It was just as personal for you," Allison deeply inhaled. "BUT I DIDN'T KILL ANYONE!" Viktor shouted.

"But you risked everyone! Do you know what that felt like? Watching you fight harder to protect the man who helped destroy my daughter than you ever did to bring her back?!" Allison spat. Viktor did not want to fight with her, but Allison was pushing his buttons. In the back of his mind, he hoped someone would step in and help stop this nonsense even if they were all angry at his keeping Harlan's secret.

"I don't know how to bring Claire back, alright? None of us do. But I was there for you!" Viktor spoke calmly. "To what? Help me grieve? God, this family is so quick on telling me to suck up my pain and so worried about fixing yours! Someone needed to pay because you never seem to. Kill Pogo, almost kill me, destroy the world, and for what? So we can clean up your messes? I'm sick of it!" Venom continued to drip from Allison's words. She was on the verge of snapping, and the only thing Astrid could do was prepare herself to protect the ones she cared about from danger.

As Viktor tried to open his mouth and apologize, Allison's eyes turned yellow, and her booming voice filled the room. "SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" She screamed at him. Instantly, Viktor clasped at his throat, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he tried to gasp for air. "Allison, stop!" Diego shouted, but she ignored him, her focus still on Viktor. "EVERY time I try to build a new life for myself. You end the world... AND TAKE IT FROM ME!" She leaned closer, the pain for him only increasing.

"How are you doing this without saying 'I heard a rumor?" Five questioned. "Just a little residual gift from Harlan," Allison twitched. Finally, Viktor's mouth opened, and he started coughing, hunching over to catch his breath. But Allison wasn't done yet. "We should've left you in the basement..." Her voice was very chilling. "Enough, Allison!" Luther stood up and tried to grab her, but she turned towards him and used her powers on him too. And just like Viktor, Luther's mouth sealed shut, and he wasn't able to breathe.

This immediately set Astrid off, she was not going to let her sister get away with this again! "YOU BITCH!" She exploded out of her seat, grabbed Allison by the back of her neck, and pinned her against one of the marble pillars. As everyone started murmuring in shock and surprise, Astrid clasped a hand over her sister's mouth to keep her from rumoring her again. "YOU LEAVE ME BROTHER'S ALONE!" She growled, pushing Allison harder against the pillar. The Rumor scrambled and tried to push Astrid off her, but The Shadow Girl's bottle of anger finally cracked open.

Allison tried biting her hand, but it was clasped so tightly around her mouth that she couldn't free herself. She looked into Astrid's eyes, watching as they grew more and more pitch black. The shadows were taking over, and all the Umbrellas knew this could mean disaster. "You think this whole world revolves around you and what you're going through? Guess what? It doesn't! I know who the real traitor in this family is. YOU!" Astrid's voice deepened. "Astrid, stop! You're hurting her!" Five shouted.

"Maybe it's time she gets a taste of her own medicine! Do you know what she did to me?" Astrid looked at them. "She almost ruined everything for me and Sloane! All because her jealous ass is upset that someone in this family is happy for once! But no! If Little Miss Allison isn't happy, nobody's allowed to be happy!" The demons inside her scoffed. Luther tried pulling the two women away the second he was able to breathe again. But even his superstrength wasn't enough. "Astrid, snap out of it! This... this isn't you! The Astrid I know wouldn't kill her own sister, no matter how much she may have hurt us!" He pleaded.

Sloane quickly ran to the pillar and cupped Astrid's face in her hands. The moment the gravity girl made physical contact with her lover, Astrid's eyes turned from black to light gray. "Please, Triddy... come back to me!" She whispered, her gaze staring into the depths of her soul, looking for the woman buried underneath all the wreckage of emotions. Astrid blinked several times, her eyes returning to normal. She looked back at Allison who was both angry and for the first time in a long time, scared for her life. And finally, Astrid let her go, the Rumor sliding onto the floor in a coughing heap.

I'm no better than Allison... I'm just as bad as her. Astrid shook her head at the realization. She let her darker shadows take over. She lost control and nearly murdered someone. Her body filled with guilt and shame as Sloane pulled her close and whispered. "Breathe baby, breathe," Astrid shakily inhaled as Allison regained control of her breathing and returned to the group.

I'm a monster...