Hargreeves Mansion | Evening

[knife_bender]

So, the first step to dealing with this thing was getting the whole group's eyes on it, right?

Though, really, looking at this thing was almost like looking at the sun -- you probably didn't want to stare directly at it too long, considering the kugelblitz itself was a hovering ball of light in the Sparrow Academy's basement. Lila didn't really know what she'd expected, since that was what they'd advertised, but -- yeah, there it was.

"That's what took Stanley."

Fei	"Along with a few other billion people," Fei said. Still, she appreciated the beauty of the kugelblitz.
Diego	"Yeah, who I don't know or care about," Diego replied sullenly.
Fei	Fei turned to look at him. "Right. So it's all about you."
Five	"All of us are irrelevant," Five reminded them, circling around the thing. "This thing is going to take the whole damn universe. What's it made of?" Asking the real questions here, thank you.
Sloane	Five, you got lucky that at least this set of siblings were kind of competent. Or at least Sloane was. "Micro black holes collapsing at increasingly short intervals."
Five	It was refreshing, really! "Why aren't we getting sucked inside?"
Sloane	"We don't know," Sloane replied. "You shouldn't exist here, and neither should this." So this was totes y'alls fault.
Five	"An impossibility for an impossibility," Five said with a little 'yeah, that tracks' shrug. "The universe is a sucker for balance."
Fei	"Grace has been tracking the waves," Fei said. "Next one is due in three hours."
Annie	"Cool, that gives us some time." And Annie was kind of hoping that someone would say something less technical, so she didn't have to suck it up and be the dumb one, but apparently that was not an option today. "So...what do we do with it?"
Sloane	"We trap it." Sounded totally do-able, right guys?
Five	"Dyson sphere?" Five asked, totally down with his new, competent siblings.
Sloane	"Yeah," Sloane said, also happy that someone in here understood. "I think we can pull it off."
Five	In some perfect universe, they were the team leaders. "Okay," Five said, nodding in approval. "Confinement factor?"
Sloane	"0.98 at peak energy flux." Welcome to Nerd Talk.
Five	Let them be in their element! "Tensile strength?"
Sloane	"UTS ceiling at 10,000 gigapascals." Surely one of those words must have been made up.
Lila	"Anyone else finding this hot?" Lila asked, not really expecting a reply. Pity you'd gone and fallen for Luther, Sloane, because goddamn would Lila show you and your google pastels a wonderful time. Talk nerdy to her, please and thank you.
Allison	"What do you think, Five?" Allison asked, having had just about enough of Nerd Talk and wanting to get to the point.
Five	"Could work," Five admitted with a shrug. "Or we could all die horribly. I'm in." Of course he was.
Ben	"You're not the one we need." And Ben got so much joy out of saying that.
Fei	"For this to work," Fei said, more kindly than Ben. "We need Sloane, Christopher, Lila, and--"
Allison	"Viktor," Allison finished. "Of course." Well now someone had to go find where he had been moping.
Viktor	Which Ben did (surprisingly), and three hours later everybody was back in the basement with Viktor to get this done. Someone would have to explain to Viktor how to get this done. "Okay, where do we start?"
Sloane	"Have you ever moved a nest of bees?" Sloane asked.
Lila	"...no, 'cause that's weird," Lila told her, not even making a joke about it. Why were you moving bees around, Sloane? Was it a hot genius thing?
Sloane	Beekeeping was a fine hobby to have! "You can't just pick it up." Unless you were a moron. "You have to keep the nest calm while you build a box around it, and then you trap it." Christopher made some whirring noises, letting Sloane know he was ready. Sloane held out her hands and lifted herself off the ground, using her powers to force the kugelblitz to keep still.
Fei	"One of those black holes is vibrating at a different rate," Fei said. "Whatever happens, don't let them speed up or change or everything will blow."
Viktor	"Don't shake the bees, got it," Viktor said, his entire upper body turning white as he worked to contain the kugelblitz.
Fei	"Good," Fei said. "Lila, you do the same as Viktor."
Lila	Lila stepped in line with Viktor, illuminating with that same bright, white light as she held her hands out to -- Oh, this was much more intuitive once you were doing it. Lila got it now. She didn't need your fancy science words or your strange bee comparisons! (Never mind that they wouldn't have gotten this far without either explanation.)
Luther	"What is she doing?" Luther whispered to Ben. This felt like a whispering situation.
Ben	"Using it's own gravity to condense it," Ben replied, not being a jackass for once.
Luther	Luther grinned. "Well that's pretty cool, huh?"
Grace	The whole gravity condensing thing was actually kind of loud, so Grace went undetected until she said something. "You didn't tell me you were building a prison for God." Which was a weird thing to say, yes. She was also dressed like a makeshift nun, also weird.
Diego	Diego, who had been feeling extremely useless until just this moment, looked at Grace with confusion. "Mom?"
Grace	"You have no right to do that." Just ignore the fact she seemed to be hiding something behind her back, everyone. "The day of vengeance was in my heart."
Diego	"What are you talking about?" Diego asked.
Grace	"And my year of redemption hath come." And that's when she broke out the flamethrower which was just lying around the house for some reason.
Diego	"Whoa!" Diego ducked out of the way, and he could see Ben and Luther do the same. "Mom!" He poked his head out from behind the column he had ducked behind. "It's me, Diego. Don't make us hurt you." Grace muttered something under her breath before turning the flamethrower on Diego directly and catching his sleeve on fire.
Annie	Well, shit. Annie couldn't do much to help with the kugelblitz itself (and no, of course she didn't understand a good sixty percent of the words they'd used to explain it), but she'd been lingering around the back to spectate. Who had had 'Grace thinks the kugelblitz is a god' on their bingo card? Anyone? Anyone? Annie, surprised as she was, really did not want to have to hurt Grace (particularly in front of Diego, even if this wasn't his mom, really.) But, you know -- set her husband's sleeve on fire in front of her, and her hand was gonna be a little forced there. So with a yelp and a surge from her eyes, Annie reached out with her own powers and yanked as much electricity out of Grace as she could. Maybe she could just -- like, put her to sleep? (Or break her, because she wasn't being all that careful with the siphoning.)
Five	"Enough of this," Five snapped, doing his own version of cutting the knot as he teleported behind Grace to teleport the both of them out of the way. The less distraction for the people containing the blackhole, the better. When they reappeared on the stairs of the main floor, he took a breath and said, "Nothing personal." Because, well, she was still kind of his mom. And then snapped her robotic neck in a way that baby Viktor would have been proud of, carefully lowering her to the ground as she creepily sang 'Onward Christian Soldiers' like a Furby that's batteries were dying. This was his life right here.
Sloane	Thank you for getting rid of that weirdass interruption, Five. They were getting to the important bit. Sloane was clearly straining under the use of her powers, and Viktor and Lila didn't look that much better. It was now or never. "Christopher, now!" Christopher broke himself up into little pieces, engulfing the kugelblitz within himself. It looked like it took some strain on him to do it but eventually he reassembled himself back into the blue cube we all knew and loved.
Five	"Did it work?" Five asked the moment he'd teleported back.
Sloane	Sloane looked down at her watch. "Next kugelblitz in three...two...one..."
Christopher	There was a rumbling from Christopher, and he shook a bit as the kugelblitz tried to do it's thing inside him. Then with a soft farting noise everyone would probably be relieved to hear, the shaking stopped. Apocalypse averted.

Five	Sometimes, after you stopped the end of the world by containing a paradox caused, reality destroying, super black hole, you had to go find your brother to discuss a few things. The champagne had been flowing and Viktor (and Allison) had made themselves scarce pretty fast. He knocked on the door to dad's study even as he opened it and peered in. "Hey, want some company?"
Viktor	Viktor had figured nobody wanted to talk to him after his and Allison's fight, so Five wanting to hang out with him had him hopeful. "Sure," he said, gesturing with his drink. "Hey, that was really nice of you, killing Mom so Diego didn't have to."
Five	"My god. We're a weird family, aren't we?" Five said, letting out a huff of almost laughter as he found a cigar on their dad's old desk.
Viktor	"Sorry," Viktor said, wincing. "I heard it as soon as I said it."
Five	"It's alright," Five said, taking a seat for this conversation.
Viktor	"What are we going to do about Allison?" Yes, Allison. The only problem here.
Five	"We're all worried about Allison," Five said, knowing it would need to be addressed sooner rather than later. But right now, he had other things to worry about. "But I'm scared for you."
Viktor	"Seriously?" Come on, he hadn't even done anything apocalypse-worthy lately! The Harlan thing didn't count.
Viktor	Viktor. Viktor. C'mon now. "Yeah," Five replied.
Viktor	"She killed someone," Viktor pointed out, not really thinking about how that sentence applied to every single one of them. "I was trying to do the right thing and save Harlan's life."
Five	"Do you want to know why I wanted this last jump to work so badly?" Five asked, doing his very best to help Viktor figure this out. Being possibly his favorite of the siblings. Because New Ben was a real tool.
Viktor	"Because you're old and tired?" Try to deny it, Five.
Five	Well. Yes. But also no! "Because I slaughtered a boardroom full of people to buy our way back here."
Viktor	Oh yeah, none of them had really asked how Five managed to pull that off, did they? Once again they were too busy messing up anything resembling a plan. "Shit."
Five	His idiot siblings, yes. "Little advice from someone who's been there?" Five said with a smile that wasn't happy at all. "Don't do the math. That equation does not exist. There's no 'save five Harlans for every two Claires' formula." Would that there was. "People like us? We will never save enough lives to make up for the ones we take." Even he knew that with all his... moderately sociopathic tendencies.
Viktor	Viktor shook his head. "No, I don't accept that."
Five	"Then you'll drown," Five said simply. "This is the price of being powerful." And he was somehow the most pragmatic of his siblings on the matter. Possibly because he was the most like Reginald. "Sometimes we step on ants. And the sooner you face that, the safer we will all be."
Viktor	Viktor narrowed his eyes, suddenly realizing this was more than a pep talk. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Five	"It means you're very dangerous, Viktor Hargreeves." Remember the moon? "The decisions you make impact the entire world. So no matter how benevolent they may seem, you don't get to make them alone." They were a team. And yes, this was coming from Five. "You know what they call a superhero that works alone, and doesn't listen to anybody?" he asked without expected an answer from Viktor. "A villain."
Viktor	"I'm not a villain, Five." Seriously, you were speaking to the wrong sibling.
Five	Was he? "And, Viktor, I hope to god you never will be," Five replied, standing up with his unlit cigar in hand. "But that remains to be seen." And, because he really did love his siblings more than anyone might think, he added, "No more going rogue, okay? And if you ever need anything, I'm always here for you." Which was true. "But lie to us again, Viktor? I'll kill you myself," Five said with the utmost sincerity.

Diego	Partying with the Sparrows and his siblings had been fun, Diego had to admit. Sloane and Fei were okay, though he was never going to like Ben's surly ass. At some point he made his way upstairs to Mom's art wall, sitting down to admire the view. He had spent a lot of time with her as a kid, and being here for the first time in years was...nice. Comforting. He just had to ignore the fact that yet another Grace was dead.
Annie	It didn't take Annie long at all to notice that Diego had slipped away, and considering the events of the day, she didn't have an especially hard time tracking him down, either. "I like that she had this here, too," she noted softly by way of greeting, moving to take a seat next to him and admire the wall herself.
Diego	"Me too," he said. "I like that some things stayed the same no matter what universe we're in."
Annie	"Some things," she agreed softly, shifting so she could lean her head on his shoulder. "Long day, babe." She wanted to ask if he was okay, but she didn't know where to start. Fingers? Lila's betrayal? Stan? Losing another Grace? This was the first time they'd had a moment's peace to themselves since Lila had come screaming in wake them up, and the relative silence was almost a comfort to Annie, by itself. There was that.
Diego	Diego let out a soft, tired laugh. "Understatement." He went to reach for her hand, awkwardly starting with his left before remembering, oh yeah, that wasn't going to work. So the right hand it was. "Day's been saved though, right?"
Annie	"With some costs." It was a little pretzel-y, but they'd figure it out. Annie gently rubbed a finger against his wedding band, just an acknowledgement of its new position. "Stan's a good kid." That might be a place to start. That whole mess.
Diego	"He was a pain in the ass," Diego said, smiling slightly. "I liked him though."
Annie	"Yeah, me too." Kind of in spite of herself, really. "Sweet kid. And you were so good with him." She'd always known Diego would be a good dad, but -- how many women got a preview of their husbands effectively, even lovingly, parenting a middle-schooler? And one that was just dropped into his lap?
Diego	"I tried." Didn't seem to matter much in the end though. "Thank you. For dealing with that bullshit ride Lila put us through."
Annie	"I can't believe she did that." She could, actually, but only because Annie was used to dealing with people who were even more destructively crazy. "And I'm sorry I didn't -- I could have reacted better. I know I've been kind of...not my best." She'd had her reasons. She might even get to tell him her reasons, unless, like, Five teleported in to tell them the apocalypse was back on. Annie wasn't holding her breath, just yet.
Diego	"Uh, did you see Allison and Viktor earlier?" Diego joked. "You are handling things just fine."
Annie	That actually drew a laugh out of Annie. "Honestly, I've been waiting for that sequel for like, two years," she admitted, leaning into him. "But like -- thank you." Annie was quiet again for a moment -- maybe just to test the silence, make sure it wasn't jinxed -- before she added, "I'm sorry Stan wasn't yours, for what it's worth. I really am. But I guess it works out, just because that would have been...so complicated."
Diego	"It would have been," he agreed. "Even without the whole 'sharing custody across a multiverse' thing. Most parents get to have some experience before dealing with a whole-ass 12-year-old."
Annie	"Most," Annie agreed, giving his hand a squeeze. "It was kind of nice seeing you get thrown in the deep end, though, babe. You knew how to swim right away. You have, like, such good dad instincts." He already knew she liked it, of course, but it bore repeating.
Diego	"I'm glad you think so," Diego replied. "I'd be devastated if you changed your mind about the whole thing after seeing me with Stan."
Annie	"That would be some really bad timing on my part," Annie admitted, and...okay, nothing was happening. They weren't being interrupted? And here, in the quiet, looking at his mother's art -- she couldn't have asked for a better moment to tell him. She smiled to herself, her voice going a little soft as she finally -- finally -- told Diego the news she'd needed to share for days. "I'm pregnant, Diego."
Diego	Diego turned his head slowly to look at Annie. This wasn't even a situation where he could be confused about what she had said. It was loud and clear. "Really? For real?"
Annie	"Really for real," Annie assured him, her smile widening. "Surprise. You're going to be a dad." For real, this time.
Diego	Diego broke out into a grin. "You're going to be a mom." He reached up to cup her cheeks, too happy to be self-conscious about his left hand for the moment. "I love you so much."
Annie	Oh, that was enough to get Annie a little teary. (That, and the hormones she was just going to have to embrace being part of her life for the foreseeable future.) "I love you too. I've wanted to tell you for, like...days. There was just never a great time?" To put it mildly. The closest thing to a good time had gotten trampled all over by Lila, then turned into a mirrored hallway and missing fingers.
Diego	"You could have just shouted it at me and I would have dropped whatever I was doing," Diego said, laughing out of giddiness. "This is more important than anything else, apocalypse included."
Annie	"You were already dealing with a lot," Annie reminded him, scooting closer so her knee was touching his. Though he did have a point -- that would have shifted Diego's attention right away from, say, Molotov cocktails and onto her. "I took a test on the way home from the Sparrows'," she added, to explain how long she'd known. "But your dad also told me while I was there." Just to throw that out there. Annie did not think she looked particularly pregnant yet, and he'd somehow known, anyway.
Diego	"Oh, gross," Diego said. "I'm so sorry you had to talk to him." Of course that'd be his response.
Annie	"He was weirdly kind of nice? Gave me a cookie," Annie shared, making a little confused face. "For my, uh, morning sickness." That was weird to say, even, just because it was such a Pregnant Lady Thing, and Annie was still catching up to thinking about herself that way.
Diego	Oh, right. Morning sickness. That was a thing. He suddenly felt guilty that he hadn't noticed. Diego opened his mouth to say just that but went silent when he heard raised voices downstairs. Which was followed by a loud explosion and the house shaking. "Holy shit--" Bad timing, apocalypse! The worst timing!
Annie	To be fair, as Annie had said and as the explosion was demonstrating in real time: he'd had a lot going on. "What the fuck was that?" Annie asked, immediately grabbing onto him. At least they were already together for this particular emergency? That was nice.
Diego	Diego looked over the balcony to see Allison, Luther and Sloane already rushing out the door. He could also see a familiar looking light coming from the sitting room. "It's the kugelblitz." Was it at all shocking their brilliant plan didn't work? He had experience with this house falling to pieces before, and knew how quickly it could happen. "We have to get out of here, now!" His mind was already set to "keep Annie safe", but now he was struck with "keep Annie and the baby safe" which was a whole new sort of terror.
Annie	Annie, for what it was worth, really appreciated having someone else on Team Oh God There's at Least One Baby Involved in This, because it really was a new terrifying layer on top of the usual horror of facing down their own deaths. "Come on," she replied, grabbing him by the good hand. Diego had, indeed, escaped this crumbling house already. She trusted him to get her -- and their child -- out.

[NFB, NFI but OOC comments are always welcome. Taken from TUA 3x07 Auf Wiedersehen and preplayed with apocalypsehow and defenderofdesmoines]