[✓] 𝑃𝑅𝐸𝐿𝑈𝐷𝐸 | 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞. 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛 . . . 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐈𝐕: 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐨

Word count: 2497

"𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 mean 'Vanya started the apocalypse'?" Valerie questioned incredulously, flinching as yet another explosion rang through the air. "How?"

"She—dammit—I overheard Pogo talking to Luther before. Vanya has powers, Dad just hid them from everyone," Five groaned as he grabbed Valerie's hand, pulling her along as he got to his feet.

Valerie shook her head, still spluttering, "But why would she—"

"We have to go. Now," Five said hurriedly, glancing around them to make sure that they were still alone. "Run us there."

With a nod, Valerie grabbed onto Five's shoulders and ran them both to the Academy. 

Or, at least, to what remained of the Academy.

Valerie let out a gasp of shock once she saw the wreckage in front of her, her hand slapping against her mouth as her eyes widened. 

What had once been a tall, grand building was now rubble and dust, with small fires illuminating the area. Only a fourth of the walls remained standing, jagged edges lining them. Broken doors and tables were scattered among the blankets and ripped papers, and a bathtub (which somehow was still fully intact) sat on top of a mountain of debris.

Her eyes widened further when they came across a sight that horrified her. Her once beautiful and elegant piano was now a grimy mess, with missing keys and overly chipped edges. 

She slowly walked over, tentatively placing her fingers over the rough and dirty keys. She swallowed back her tears. 

"Vanya did this?"

Five, however, had not been paying any attention to her as he grabbed a tattered newspaper from a newspaper box. His eyes quickly scanned over the headline, and he let out a loud groan as he did.

"What's wrong?" Valerie questioned, her eyes drifting over to him while her fingers continued to touch the keys with grief.

"We have to find the others." He grabbed her hand with his right hand, holding the newspaper with the other, and dragged her along the piles of stone and ash that were sprawled over every inch of the visible ground.

It didn't take long for them to find the others, and Valerie felt a wave of relief wash over her as she saw that they seemed to be (mostly) fine.

Diego, who had a line of dried blood coming down his forehead, was sitting on a small pile of wreckage, a solemn look over his face as he stared at the ground. 

The other three were huddled around him, looks of concern on their faces, and the grim expressions didn't make Valerie feel all that better. 

"Guys. This is it." Five let go of her hand as he climbed over a few mountains of rocks to reach the others. "The apocalypse is still on. The world ends today."

"I thought you said it was over," Luther accused as he stepped forward.

"I was wrong, okay?" Five grasped the folded newspaper with both hands as he showed it to the others. "This newspaper, I found it in the future the day I got stuck. The headline hasn't changed."

"No, that doesn't mean anything." Diego shook his head in refusal, his watery eyes worrying Valerie as he looked up towards them. "The time could've been altered since that newspaper came out this morning."

"You're not listening to me!" Five seethed as he stared at Diego, shaking his head furiously. "When I found it, I assumed this place came down along with everything else. But here we are. The Moon's still shining, the Earth is in one piece, but not the Academy."