Phoenix under the Umbrella (Umbrella Academy AU) Chapter 36: The Crater

I Made a mistake last chapter, there wasn't two detectives that interrogate Agnes, it was only one, Diego. I made the mistake of believing it was Cha-Cha and Hazel... Anyways enjoy...

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[Third Person's PoV] 


As soon as Patch heard about the other detective, she sighed, stood up, and made her way toward the back, where she found who she was looking for—Diego.


“We've talked about this, Diego,” Patch said as she pulled out handcuffs and began cuffing him.


She started searching his pockets, pulling out a police radio. “I'll be taking this…”


“In my defense, they practically hand those out for free,” Diego said with a smirk.


Patch then pulled out a fake police badge from his pocket.


“You can buy those cheap on eBay. Buying it isn’t illegal,” Diego added.


“But impersonating a police officer is,” Patch said, reaching into his pocket again and pulling out an eye mask.


“Come on, you used to love that,” Diego teased.


“Used to. Meaning past tense. This, you can keep. The rest, I'm confiscating,” Patch scoffed as she led Diego to her police car.


Diego leaned closer to Patch and whispered, “I have a pretty good idea who caused this... and I might be related to them.”


Patch paused briefly, asking, “As in...?”


“Yeah... they're my brothers.”


Not far from Diego, Hazel and Cha-Cha were blending in with the crowd of spectators.



---


Five and Nathan were walking down the street together when Five reached into his pocket and pulled out a glass eye.


“I need your help finding this place,” Five said, pointing to the back of the eyeball, which read: Meritech Prosthetic.


“Why the hell do you have a glass eye?” Nathan asked, looking at Five oddly.


“I found this in the apocalypse… I think it might be connected to whoever caused it.”


“Five, no offense, but you can't just find a glass eye and claim it belongs to the one who caused the apocalypse.”


“Read my memories…” Five said, his expression serious.


“Do you consent to me going inside your head?”


“Why the hell are you asking for consent? Didn’t I just tell you to go ahead and search?”


“I need verbal confirmation so it doesn’t count as mind-raping you.”


“Do you really have to use the word ‘rape’ when talking about going into my head? You’re making me regret asking for your help.”


“So, do you consent or not?”


“Stop saying the word ‘consent’ and just do it. We don’t have time for this.”


“Alright, alright,” Nathan sighed, placing a hand on Five’s head as his eyes glowed bright green.



---


When Nathan’s eyes snapped open, they were in a white space. He looked around to see Five standing next to him, confused.


“Where the hell are we?” Five asked.


“In your mindscape…”


They turned toward a voice and saw a giant fiery bird behind them, slowly morphing into Phoebe.


“My mindscape?” Five asked, confused, before quickly understanding. “I see. So I just have to think of the memory and it’ll appear, right? Since we’re inside my mind, anything I think of will happen…”


“You catch on quick,” Phoebe said with a nod. “Just think of the memory you want to show Nathan, and it should appear.”


Five closed his eyes, and the scene around them changed. Nathan’s eyes widened in shock at what he was witnessing. In front of them was a giant crater, as if a massive chunk of the earth was missing.


From a bird's-eye view, Nathan and Five looked like ants standing next to the crater.


“How come I never saw this when I visited you?”


“You did. The crater is just so large that when I was walking through it and you appeared, you thought I was in a desert…”


“So, did a meteor cause the apocalypse?” Nathan asked.


“I thought of that too, but when I investigated the crater, there were no rocks or meteorites, and the ground wasn’t hot, so it couldn’t have been.”


The scene shifted, and they saw legs moving, realizing they were watching from Five’s perspective. They saw him run toward the crater, and just before he entered it, he froze, noticing something at the edge. He rushed toward it and picked up a glass eye. The memory ended, and they returned to the white room.


“That’s the only thing I found during my search. Everything else was destroyed or disintegrated,” Five explained.


“I see. So this is literally the only clue you have...”


“For now, yes. I need to go to Meritech Prosthetic and find out who this glass eye belongs to. We find the owner, we find the source of the apocalypse, and we prevent it from happening.”



---


Nathan took his hands off Five’s head, returning them to the real world.


“So, let’s start asking around until we find—”


“Hold up, you're doing too much. All we need is Google Maps,” Nathan interrupted as he searched for his phone, then froze. “Right… I destroyed my phone thanks to Klaus…” Nathan muttered, making a new one using his psychic energy.


“What’s Google Maps?” Five asked, confused.


“Heh, the old man isn’t used to modern technology, what a surprise,” Nathan teased as he explained.


He opened Google Maps and typed in "Meritech Prosthetic," finding the nearest location.


“Well, that sure is useful... Make me one,” Five demanded.


Nathan rolled his eyes and made a phone for Five. “Here’s one gift out of the 45 birthdays I missed.”


Five scoffed, pocketing the phone for later. “Now that we have a location, let’s go.”


“But it’s the middle of the night. I’m pretty sure it’s closed…”


“You have telekinesis, and I can teleport. A closed building won’t stop us, so let’s get going,” Five said, motioning for Nathan to lead the way.


“Actually, I want to try something…” Nathan said with a smirk. “Give me your hand.” 


Five looked at Nathan with a raised brow but did as instructed. As soon as their hands made contact, Five felt a burning sensation in his chest.


“Ugh,” he groaned, noticing his chest glowing with golden particles. “What the hell is that? And why do I feel like I’m having heartburn?”


“That’s the Marigold I told you about,” Nathan explained. “I’m amplifying your power with mine. I can boost the abilities of others. Right now, while we’re connected, you should be able to teleport longer distances instead of just short blinks.”


“I see, so you're planning to use that to have me teleport us to the Meritech location,” Five said, catching on to Nathan’s plan.


Nathan showed Five the area around the Meritech building. Five nodded, committing the image to memory. He closed his eyes, imagining their destination. In an instant, they blinked out of their current location and reappeared in front of a large building with a sign that read "Meritech Prosthetics."


Once they arrived, Five let go of Nathan’s hand and rubbed his chest, loosening his tie. “Okay, that was really uncomfortable. Next time, make it so I don’t feel like I’m dying from heartburn. I’d really appreciate it.”


“That was my first time trying that, sorry,” Nathan said, apologetic.


Five slowly turned to Nathan, disbelief written on his face. “Did you seriously just try an experimental technique on me without knowing if it would work?”


“It worked, didn’t it?”


“I... I honestly don’t even know what to say to that,” Five replied, shaking his head. “How did you even know you could do that?”


“It was just a theory,” Nathan admitted. “While training, I felt the Marigold inside me and thought about adding fuel to the fire—literally. I gave the Marigold inside you more life using the fire of the Phoenix, which in turn gave it more energy, making it stronger.”


“Cool... and dangerous. Now let’s go inside,” Five said, grabbing Nathan’s arm and teleporting them into the building.