Chapter Text
Decay particles float through the air as Five finally comes to, chest heaving between irregular breaths. The boy sits up groggily, coughing harshly as he gags up anything in his system. Lights flash dimly around him as he pushes himself to his feet.
His feet are no longer clad in the bowling shoes from 2019 as he had stolen a pair of dress shoes from Elliot in the 60s, and he looks frantically looks around.
"Luther! Diego!" The first two siblings he could think to call out for were the self-proposed leaders of the group. He whips around, eyes blown in panic. The place he was currently was way too similar to his first apocalypse.
For now, he stopped and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. 'Note the small differences, ' Five told himself; he began to scan the area, eyes analytical as he took in his surroundings.
Vines intertwined across the entire ground and up buildings, slimes coating all of them and the terrain, sticking to his shoes and hands as he tried to wipe them off on his shorts.
"Where the hell am I?" Five's voice is breathless, chock-full of bafflement and anxiety. Thirty feet from him is a sign, still covered in those same vines and goo, and if he squints hard enough, he can just barely see red lettering on the dimly illuminated board.
"Arcade? What?" He stalks his way over to the sign, slightly hunched over in caution. As he approaches it, he sees a figure, a 13-year-old boy staring out at the sky in absolute horror. The boy seems to notice him too, backing up hysterically; the boy's breaths become more rapid as he stares at Five.
"Would you calm down? I'm not gonna hurt you!" Five's voice is harsh, but it seems to calm the child in front of him slightly. "I'm Five, Five Hargreeves. Do you know where the hell we are?" The kid nods, eyes shooting around again as if searching for something. Finally, he seems to find it as he stares at something just over Five's shoulder, face forming into pure terror. Five spins around to see it, and in the distance seems to be a storm; red lightning strikes the ground, and every once in a while, when the lightning illuminates the area, you can see a colossal monster. Five would've expected Lovecraft to write about or perhaps something Ben would've conjured.
"Holy fucking shit." Five takes a stance in front of the boy as if he could protect him in case the monster attacks. Suddenly;y a voice cuts through the desolate air,
"Will! Are you okay" The boy, supposedly Will, quickly latches on to Five's wrist, and before Five's very eyes, the area shifts. The decayed wasteland transforms into a standard small town. The arcade is lit up with vibrant colors, and the landscape is green even in the darkness of the night.
The boy who called out to Will apparently didn't notice Five standing behind his friend, which Five thanked whichever higher power he could think of. Then, before the other boy could approach Will and him, he jumps behind a nearby car, carefully watching the two.
As Five watches the two boys head inside, Five is left there alone, racing through his mind and all the timelines he could think of, trying to figure out just where the hell they were.
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The next day Five wanders around what he presumes to be the town square, trying to find any information and his siblings. The door jingles as he enters a store. The name on the sign says Melvald's General Store at the counter is... Klaus. Today seems to be Five's lucky day.
"Klaus!" The man at the counter jumps before hissing at an empty space beside him. 'So it seems Ben is here as well.' The thought causes a small smile to grace the time traveler's face.
"Little number Five!" The smile drops his face at his brother's eccentrics. Five opens his mouth to respond but is cut off by a woman walking out of a back room.
"Oh! Hello, can we help you?" She steps up beside Klaus, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder before smiling at Five.
"Oh no, I'm fine. Just came to visit my loving brother." Five motions to the ex-addict and cult leader behind the counter, falsely smiling at the woman, eyes somewhat hostile. The woman gasps, smiling happily at Klaus, patting his shoulder lightly.
"None of your siblings have visited since Diego!" Klaus smiles bashfully, but Five doesn't focus on that but instead advances to the counter where his dimwitted brother stands.
"Diego's here? What about anybody else?"
"Oh yea, everybody's here, have been for about two months. You are the last to join us, old man." Five scowls at the adult before him, confusing Joyce.
"Finish your shift; we have a problem." Klaus' brows furrow in concern. He glances carefully at Joyce before looking back at his brother.
"Is it another..." Klaus trails off, once again glancing to Joyce.
"I don't know yet, but I do know we have a problem." With that, Five exits the store as Klaus stumbles frantically behind him. The ghost whisperer hurriedly apologizes to the woman before following his older brother into an alley.
Klaus gives Five an address before the space jumper grabs on to him, and suddenly the two are gone.
The chief of Hawkins, Indiana, stands at the front of that alley, staring exactly at the spot the two disappeared from in worry.