#SBTCV PNT

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Swap Beyond the Crystalverse Chapter 3: Paranormal Teens

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs

Other Multiverse Stories: SITCV | SATCV | GITHV

The jolt happens again, and Bro finds himself--well this is not ideal. It's a public bathroom. A very clean public bathroom, with pastel blue and white tiles forming a checkerboard pattern, but still. Not ideal. At least it's empty. 

Bro reorients himself and then blinks in confusion. “Huh… well, this is a first…”

There's some faint music coming from the closed door leading out into the rest of the building. 🎵 The sun goes down, the stars come out, and all that counts is here and now, My universe will never be the same, I'm glad you came, I'm glad you came 🎵

Bro’s ears pick up on the music and he heads over to the door to peek out of it.

This is a restaurant of some sort, with pastel pink-and-blue walls and a checkerboard floor. Looks pretty crowded. There are all sorts of people sitting in booths and at tables. The music is almost drowned out by their chatter. There's a big set of front windows showing a nice sunny day outside.

Bro whistles a bit to himself as he walks through, “this is a cute place! Heh… I would take Stacy to a place like this…” he smiles to himself.

As he walks through the crowds towards the front of the shop, he suddenly hears a shout. "Holy crap!" a voice says. "Hey! Bro! Is that you?!"

Someone sitting at a table by a window suddenly stands up and starts waving. A teenage boy wearing an oversized T-shirt and black jeans with rips in the knees...and a snapback cap pushing down messy brown hair.

Bro jumps slightly and looks- then smiles wide and bright. “yooo no way!! Little me???” He hurries over, grinning, “…wait what??? Who said you were allowed to get this much older, huh?!”

The younger Chase laughs. "Yoooo it's been forever since I've seen you! I was like--thirteen or something? That's wild! It's so good to see you again!" He holds up a hand for a high-five. 

Bro high-fives him instantly. “Jesus… what are you now? 16?? It had not been 3 fucking years oh my god-“ Bro laughs breathlessly. “That’s insane…”

"Older Chase?" Someone else stands up--the other person at Chase's table. It's a girl around the same age, with wavy blonde hair. She's wearing a pink pair of glasses, a pink skater skirt, and a T-shirt with the graphic of a skull wearing a pink bow and the words Monster High. "What're you doing here?"

Bro blinks at the girl and his eyes widen. Oh hey- she… kinda reminds him of Stacy… “uh? Hi? Iii don’t think I met you last time! But hi! Uh- we’re here to actually fix our multiverses traveling thing… that’s why we never got to come back to visit you guys!” He takes off his hat and pushes back his hair, “God… I feel like when I would visit from Uni and suddenly Alt grew an inch-“

"Huh? What d'you mean?" The girl blinks, confused. 

"You don't remember Stacy?" Chase asks. "I mean... you guys didn't meet her the first time you showed up.... And what d'you mean you never came back here? What were all those other times?" 

The girl--Stacy--puts her hands on her hips. "Is there some weird time stuff happening?" 

"Ohhhh, that must be it." Chase nods. "So like--those visits haven't happened for you guys! God, this must be even crazier, then."

Bro blinks in bewilderment. “What?? Yeah uh- we didn’t come back since the first time! …oh no this is gonna break my brain oh god-“

"God, I know, right?" Chase laughs. "I have no idea how Jays deals with everything." 

“Jays?? He deals with this kind of stuff??” Bro asks with wide eyes. 

"It's a long story," Chase says, shrugging. 

"Anyway, um... in that case, hi, I'm Stacy!" Stacy smiles and waves. "You guys are here to fix your TRVLR?"

Bro focuses back on Stacy and smiles, “Nice to meet you officially then, Stacy! And yup! It’s- god such a long story but basically it got broken and then got sucked into other worlds and we almost got all the pieces! But now we gotta go collect what’s left! Which led us here!”

"Ohhhh, cool." Stacy nods. "Is there anything we can do to help?" 

"Wh--I mean--Stacy, we were--" Chase suddenly stammers. "I-I mean--we didn't even... get our food or anything..." 

"Oh, I mean, uh... yeah! We can totally keep going!" Stacy looks embarrassed. "It's not that I, uh, don't like this or want to leave, I just... it seems important." 

"Uh, yeah, it does, but uh... I-I was gonna... I mean, uh..." 

"We can come back here some other time. Any time!" 

"Yeah, I just uh... yeah." 

They are both blushing.

Bro blinks a bit in confusion and looks between the two of them. Then it clicks and he goes, “OHH! Oh! You two are-! Awww-! It’s okay little dudes you two can finish! I gotta figure out where Alt went anyways!”

"Wh--I mean, we're, uh--y-yeah, we're--I-I mean we've done stuff before, but like..." Chase messes with his hat distractedly. "This is like... stuff." 

"Yeah, it's like... stuff." Stacy fidgets with a bracelet on her wrist. "Um... he'll probably be with the others, I guess. Or... nearby." 

"So he's gonna be at Jackie's house," Chase says. "They're all hanging out there. They asked us if we wanted to come, but uh... stuff."

Bro laughs, “You guys are so cute- you can just say it’s a date!” He waves himself off, “You guys gimme an address and I can find them then! Maybe you can come catch up once you’re done!”

The blushing intensifies. "Y-yeah, it's like... a casual thing," Stacy says. 

"Uh, yeah, hang on." Chase grabs a napkin from the napkin holder. "Stace, d'you have a pen?" 

"Yep." Stacy takes a sparkly gold pen out of her pocket and hands it over. 

"Thanks." Chase writes something down. "Here!" He hands it out to Bro. On it is written the address 45 Hyder Lane, as well as some other stuff. "Uh, I know you can fly so you'll probably be able to just go there, but just in case here are the bus lines to get there from Zelly's--that's here, by the way."

Bro takes the address from them and laughs, “yeah but that’s probably not a good idea here-! Luckily I got my phone- …that should still work right?” He whips out his phone to type in the address.

For some reason, the maps app takes a lot longer to load. Chase and Stacy lean over his shoulders. "Oh, you have a GPS on your phone?" Chase gasps. 

"I hear they're gonna do something like that soon!" Stacy says excitedly. "This fall or something." 

Eventually, something seems to connect and it shows the address.

“Oh right- this is still the past.” Bro giggles, “it’s… 2012 now then?” He whistles, “man.. that’s crazy.” Once it’s loaded he grins and shows them. “Alright! See we’re all good! You guys can enjoy the rest of your date!”

The two teens blush again. "Th-thanks," Chase says. "Good luck with your, uh, search." 

"We'll see you later, maybe?" Stacy says. 

“Hopefully!” Bro grins as he waves, heading towards the door- “have fun you guys!”

"See you!" Chase waves Bro off.

 ----------- 

Alt lands in a hallway at the base of a staircase. The floor beneath his feet is covered in a brown shaggy carpet and the walls are painted pale yellow. There's a door to the left that's ajar, showing a laundry room of some kind. There's also a door to the right that's ajar, through which come a series of voices and shouts. 

"How are you guys winning?! You don't have a fucking Medic!" 

"You don't need a Medic when you got mad skillz--oh god damn it!" 

"Hah! That is what you get for talking shit!" 

"To be fair, we are like, four years older than you guys--" 

"And so? That means you're better at video games? I beg to dif--fuck! Where were you?!" 

"Ahahahaha! I could be in this very room! I could be you, I could be me, I could even be right behind you!"

Alt shakes himself out and blinks as he takes in the hallway. All those voices… it sounds like a bunch of teenagers? …weird- he glitches a bit forward and tries to peek in through the door.

This room is full of stuff. Right by the doorway there's a bookshelf full of stuff for something called Caverns and Creatures. Up against the opposite wall, underneath a high-up window, are a series of stacked plastic boxes full of what look like old clothes. In the corners of the rooms are piles of outdoorsy equipment. But in the center is a small island made by pushing a desk up against two folding tables (looks like the desk had been pushed over from a spot by the wall, judging by the impressions in the carpet). On this island are a bunch of computers, most of them laptops but two clunky older models. 

Six young guys are sitting there, all focused on the computers. "Jameson how the fuck are you typing while shooting me?!" one shouts. Another one just grins and sticks out his tongue in response. 

"Marvin I need to fucking heal you!" 

"Oh that's you, I thought that was Aodhan, sorry!" 

"It could be me! You don't know!" 

"Dude, shut the fuck up." 

"Hehehehehe."

Alt blinks a bit in confusion. …are these all? But- last time they were like- 13! These can’t be the same guys right? He furrows his eyebrows and tries to lean closer- but then leans too far onto the door and it flies open- leaving him standing in the doorway with wide eyes.

The nearest guy--wearing an old red hoodie, brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, a bit of stubble on his face--looks back towards the doorway first. "Dad, did you want--" Then he stops. And grins. "No way! Alt?!" 

Alt glitches a bit in surprise and awkwardly waves his hand. 

The others all look up. "Holy shit, it's Alt!" one of them shouts, standing up. He has a black streak dyed in his hair, and is wearing a black t-shirt with a band name over a longer-sleeved striped shirt. "Hey! Alt! You probably don't recognize us! It's me!" He waves, and little green fireworks pop off around his hand. "Marvin!" 

Alt grins big, “No fucking way- what the hell?!” He laughs. He glitches further into the room and his eyes widen as he sees the magic. “Oh my god hey!”

"Alt?" A boy with round glasses and a blue flannel shirt looks up. He grins. "Alt! It is so good to--" 

"From behind!" 

"Hey!" The glasses boy glares at the guy sitting across from him.

Alt pushes his hair back in disbelief, laughing breathlessly, “Jesus Christ… h-has it been that long since we’ve seen you all? You’re all… you’re all grown up..!”

Marvin laughs. "Yeah it's been like--three years or something? Fucking insane!" 

“Jesus- it hasn’t been that long for me and Bro!” Alt laughs.

"Huh?" One of the guys looks over, wearing a blue hoodie and an Irish flat cap. "Oh, so you're that Alt guy from their one adventure with other worlds?" 

"Yep!" The guy in the hoodie--obviously Jackie--nods. "Alt, this is Jack, we met him a bit after you guys." 

Alt blinks at the new kid and smiles. “Yo nice to meet ya! Any friends of these lads are a friend of mine!” He grins.

"Nice to meet ya!" Jack says cheerfully.

"Schiesse!" shouts the boy with glasses. "Jackie, pause the fucking server, Aodhan is making camp on me!" 

"Noooo, I'm camping you, that's different," the guy next to Jack cackles. He's wearing all black, a black leather jacket over a black t-shirt with only highlights of silver on his bracelets and the choker around his neck. 

"Okay, I'm calling time-out," Jackie says, turning back to his computer and pressing some buttons. 

Alt looks over at the computers and chuckles, “oh man whatcha guys playing? Sounds intense-“ he laughs.

The guy in black looks back at Alt. His eyes are bright green. He grins. "Hey! I remember you!" 

Alt blinks at the boy in all black and his eyes widen, “Woah- you’re … you’re A-Anti??” 

"Yeah!" Aodhan nods, grinning. "Look at me! I'm normal now! Well, almost." He's suddenly over by the the corner of the room. Then he's sitting up on the ledge of the window, crouching awkwardly since it's so close to the ceiling. Then he's back in his chair. 

Alt blinks rapidly then grins, “You’re just like me!” 

"It's still crazy to have him here," Jack laughs, leaning closer to him. Aodhan leans close as well and the two of them bump shoulders. 

The last boy stands up and waves. He's wearing a green t-shirt over a white button-down shirt, and has an old-fashioned pocket watch on a chain around his neck. It's so good to see you, Alt, the boy with the pocket watch says. It's me, Jameson! 

"And I am Schneep." The boy with glasses grins. 

Alt glitches around to look at Schneep and Jameson properly, “Damn! Look at you all! …some of you are taller than me what the hell?!” 

"Chase and Stacy were gonna be here, but they had plans," Marvin says. He wiggles his eyebrows, making JJ laugh. 

Alt’s eyebrows raise at the mention of Chase and Stacy. He shakes his head and laughs, “you guys have a lot to catch me and Bro on it seems! Man… I was hoping it wouldn’t be this long before I got to see you all again…” he sighs and rubs the back of his neck.

"What are you doing back here, Alt?" Schneep asks. 

“Well… We wanted to visit long before this but… we ran into problems that broke the TRVLR and now we… we gotta find the missing parts. One of them should be here.”

"Oh no, your TRVLR is broken?" Schneep says, distressed. "That is terrible! I do not think we could help put it back together, but we can help find your piece that is stuck here." 

Alt smiles, “We just gotta find the parts but thanks Schneep-“

Alt's phone lets out a squawk of static. "Actually there are two parts in this world," Anti's voice says. "One of them arrived here at an earlier time, closer to when you were first here, but the second was shot to a later point in the timeline. That's why so much time has passed." 

He jumps when Anti’s voice comes out of his phone and he pulls it out, “I gotta get used to you just speaking randomly…” he grumbles.

Aodhan gasps. "There's a voice in your pocket! I know that voice!" 

"You do?" Jack looks at him. 

"Yeah, that's the guy who showed me the Fissures, I'd never forget him." 

"Oh. I don't think that was me," Anti says. "But it was probably that other version of me." 

"Ah, okay." 

Alt blinks at this and tilts his head, “wait ...does that mean we gotta travel even further into the past? Man.. that’s gonna get confusing-“ He blinks a bit shocked at Aodhan then nods at Anti, “Oh yeah it’s…complicated- this guy is theee same guy- just a different timeline basically.” He flips his phone to show everyone Anti inside, “This is Anti guys- he’s from one of the first worlds we ever went to!”

Anti waves as the guys crowd around to look at him. "Oh he's a little guy!" 

Marvin gasps. "And he does look like Anti--Aodhan!" 

Your phone is so cool, Alt, Jameson says, smiling. 

"I'm not normally this little, I'm just hanging out in his phone until I regain my energy," Anti explains. "And no, Alt, we won't have to travel further back. The piece still exists in the future, after all. We can pick them both up from here." 

“Oooh- right okay. What I said sounds dumb now-“ Alt laughs sheepishly.

"Ooooo." Aodhan reaches out and pokes Alt's phone screen. He abruptly disappears, reappearing on the screen just like Anti is. 

Marvin laughs. "C'mon, dude! You're probably gonna fill up Alt's memory storage." 

"Sorry!" Aodhan pops out again. 

Alt jumps a bit at this then laughs, “Dude- we’re more alike then I thought! Though I don’t think I can appear on the screen like that… maybe I could though.” He muses. 

"Never know until you try, Alt," Anti says from the phone. "But uh, not right now. The teen Marvin is right, I'm taking up a lot of your storage." 

Schneep narrows his eyes at him. "Were you using your powers to cheat?" 

"I'd never do that!" Aodhan gasps, mock-offended. "Not for TF2, you all suck too much at the game for cheating to be necessary!" The others all immediately shout out protests.

Alt listens to the others bicker and laughs more, “Oh! TF2! Man- that takes me back!” He grins.

"Oh yeah, they said you were from the future!" Jack gasps. "Or, a world that's in the future. That's so cool." 

And it explains the phone being so cool, JJ says. 

"Yes, look at the apps, they are all so smooth and without texture," Schneep says. 

Alt laughs, “Yeah in my world it’s 2020!”

Jackie shakes his head. "We're getting distracted. Alt, d'you know what these pieces you're looking for look like? Or where they might be?"

Alt blinks at Jackie then digs in his pocket to pull out the tracker, touching the pupil. “Oh I can find out, one sec-“ The two TRVLR pieces are in in the city, one in Hollewych Park and one just outside city hall.

Alt looks at the others, “There’s one in Hollewych Park and one just outside of city hall-“ He relays to the others, putting the tracker back in his pocket.

"Ooooo, was that magic?" Marvin says excitedly. "Like some sort of--scrying thing?" 

“Oh yeah kinda?” Alt chuckles, “that’s probably the best way to describe it!” 

"We are kinda close to the park, but we'll have to drive a bit farther to get to city hall," Jackie says. He sighs. "I don't really want to go back there. I mean, I know it's fine now, but like..." 

JJ looks at Alt. Do you remember the Circle? They used to have a location at city hall. I think we all remember city hall for that, even though it was years ago by now.

Alt blinks at Jackie’s response but then his expression darkens a bit. “Oh yeah- I remember you all talking about them… but hey you got rid of them it sounds like! So it should be fine- but you guys don’t have to come if you don’t want to!”

"No, it's fine," Jackie insists. "You're right, the Circle is gone now, so there's nothing to worry about. I just get nervous, you know?" 

"You can wait in the car or something," Jack suggests. 

"I mean... I definitely want to come. I wasn't around for the other times these guys showed up!" 

"We are going to the park first, yes?" Schneep says. "So we can think about city hall on the way there." 

Marvin frowns. "I don't think we can all fit in Jackie's car. And Chase is the only other one with a license so we're shit out of luck for taking two cars." He looks at Alt, eyes wide. "Can you glitch us there?!" 

That's probably too many people, Jameson points out. 

“I can try- it is kinda reaching my limit though-“ Alt says.

"I can try to help?" Aodhan suggests. "But shouldn't we ask something first?" The others stare at him. "Like--where's the other guy? The big Chase? And did that cat guy come along?"

Alt blinks with the others then smacks his head kinda, “Oh yeah! Bro should be around here somewhere- probably with little him since the rest of you are here! And no don’t worry- Mag isn’t here this time, thank god.”

"Oh good." Aodhan relaxes, looking relieved. 

Alt seems to process something and looks back at Jack, “Wait…you said other times- as in plural? We’ve only been here once…” he says, looking confused.

Jackie blinks. "You mean you don't... remember your other visits?" 

Maybe it's more time stuff! JJ says excitedly. Like Dr. Who! In the episode with the angels where they meet the lady who gives them a guide for the questions-- 

Alt’s eyes widen as he blinks at the boys in surprise. “…woah- this is some fucking timey wimey shit all right-“ he laughs. “…god that makes me feel a bit better- I was really bummed that guys thought we just… forgot about you guys.” 

"Oooo, yes, of course!" Schneep nods. "Like your watch!" 

That too. JJ grabs the pocket watch around his neck. 

Alt tilts his head at JJ then glitches over, looking at his watch. “Oh? Do you have magic now too??” 

JJ grins. I found this a couple months ago! I don't know if it's magic, but it's very cool! He shakes his head. I'll hold back for now though so I can explain to you and Bro at the same time.

Alt nods, “That’s fair! I’m very interested to learn more.” He grins. 

"I wonder if Chase and Stacy will want to come," Marvin says. "Or d'you think they'll want to, yknow... do whatever people do when they date?"

Alt looks at Marvin and laughs, touching his necklace. “Well- probably the latter if I had to guess. Lemme see if I can catch Bro and tell him where we’re going-“ He pulls out his phone and calls Bro.

Bro has been walking for a while, despite how Chase gave him bus directions. He's in an area with tons of businesses and restaurants, and a lot of people walking around, enjoying the sunny day. That's when his phone starts to ring.

Bro grumbles to himself, “Fucking- should have listened to little me… why isn’t flying more wildly accepted?” He sighs. Then blinks as his phone rings. “Yo? Alt?” 

“Hey Chase- where you at?” 

“Trying to walk to Little Jackie’s house-“ Bro grunts. 

“I’m with the others! The TRVLR parts are at hollewych park and then city hall- are you anywhere close to there?”

"Oh, if he started at Zelly's then he'll probably be kind of near the city center," Jackie says. 

"Is he surrounded by five-story buildings or two-story buildings?" Schneep asks. "Because they tend to get taller the closer you get to city hall."

“Here let me put you all on speaker so he can hear this,” Alt laughs, “Say hi to the kids, Bro!” 

“Yooo little dudes!” Bro’s voices says over the speaker.

"Hi!" Jackie says. 

"What's up, bitches!" Marvin shouts. 

"As Chase would say, 'sup?" Schneep says. 

Jameson whistles. 

"You haven't met me before, but I'm Jack, nice to meet you!" Jack says. 

"And when you met me I wasn't normal!" Aodhan says cheerfully. "It's me, Anti! But my name is Aodhan, too." 

“Oh wow hi eveyone!” Bro laughs over the speaker, “and uh- hi Anti! Glad you’re … normal now?” 

"Bro, where are you?" Jackie asks. "What bus did you take?"

As Jackie asks his question there’s a long pause on Bro’s end before he mumbles, “I- uh… didn’t take one-“

A second passes in silence. Then Aodhan starts laughing. Marvin starts giggling after him. "Are you--are you fucking walking?" he asks. 

Schneep frowns. "I know this is a small town, but it is not that small." 

Alt covers his mouth to hide his laughter, “Chase… really?” 

“Well I can’t fly right now can I?? I thought- how bad could it be?? Plus like- don’t you need to… show id or something on buses or- be a citizen?? I don’t know how buses work I’m a superhero goddamnit!” Alt rolls his eyes. 

"You need to pay for a bus, so if you don't have money, that's an excuse," Jack suggests. "I don't think you have to show ID? At least, they've never asked me or Anti."

"So you're probably still close to Zelly's then," Jackie says, nudging Marvin and Aodhan. "You probably didn't get past Queen Cleo's--that's the pizza place with the red roof. I mean, assuming you don't have super speed or anything." The pizza place Jackie is mentioning is right next to Bro.

Bro looks over at his side and then makes a face, “…yeah I see the pizza place-“ he says in a defeated tone.

Jackie holds back a snort of laughter of his own now. "Okay, okay, it'll probably be easiest if you head towards city hall. I can drive over there to pick you up and take you the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Alt can take some guys straight to the park and look around for your TRVLR thing there, then once they've found it they can go to city hall." He looks around. "Does that sound good to everyone?" 

“Sounds good to me!” Alt grins. 

Bro sighs heavily, “Yeah that’s chill- lemme see if I can pull up directions there-“ 

“You’re using your gps?? Dude it tells you how long it takes to walk there-“ Alt laughs, “Did you see how long it would take and still chose to walk?” 

Another long silence follows before Bro says quietly, “…I had it still on the drive time-“ 

“Oh my god chase!” Alt bursts into laughter now.

Schneep chuckles. "You really are an older version of Chase. I am not quite understanding this conversation, but it sounds like something he would do." 

Alt laughs, “I can see it.” 

"Alright, who wants to come with me to pick up Bro, then?" Jackie asks, looking around. 

"I, uh... want to meet him," Jack says. 

"I do not imagine being much help with the park search, I will go, too," Schneep says. 

"I can do both!" Aodhan grins. 

JJ and Marvin look at each other. They nod in unison. "Me and JJ will go with Alt to the park," Marvin says. "If that's okay."

Alt blinks then grins wide at Marvin and JJ, “Of course dude! Us magic bros gotta stick together!”

The twins grin right back at him. 

"Great." Jackie nods. "Now... I just need to think of a reason why I'd be driving off with Jack and Schneep. To tell Dad, I mean. He'd want to know. Maybe we're getting snacks...though in that case we'd need to actually get snacks." 

"I should text Chase all this, yes?" Schneep says. "Or do you think that would interrupt him?"

Bro chuckles on the speaker, “We can get snacks- we aren’t in that big of a rush. Alt could always use extra anyways if you all are glitching pretty far.”

Jackie laughs. "Okay, okay, we'll stop by, then." He looks at Alt, JJ, and Marvin. "You guys will probably have to glitch right out of here. If you went upstairs Dad would be confused as to who this older guy is and when he got here." 

“Yeah I don’t wanna alarm your dad,” Alt laughs. “Keep me updated bro-“ 

“Will do dude- see you all soon!” Bro says before Alt hangs up. He then stuffs the phone in his pocket and offer a hand out to the boys. “Alright! Let’s get moving then~”

Marvin grabs JJ's arm and then Alt's hand. "Great!" He looks at the others and grins. "See you all later! Tell Bro we say hi when you find him!" 

"No problem!" Jackie says.

Alt waves his other other hand and then glitches the 3 of them out of there towards the park.

They appear on a concrete path surrounding a wide green space. More paths crisscross the area, as well as some steps, as they seem to be standing on top of a slight hill. In the center of the park is a large fountain with some angelic looking figures--though one of them is missing a wing, like it broke off. There are some people wandering around the park. A woman walking a dog, a family with two young kids, some teenage boys in the corner skateboarding. 

"Heheh. Hey look, it's Chase's people," Marvin says, pointing at the skaters. 

Suddenly, Aodhan appears next to them. "Hey, this is where I first saw Chase!"

Alt laughs at Marvin’s comment then can’t help but jump a bit as Aodhan joins. “Oh right- hi,” He laughs. He pulls out the tracker again to see if he can get a more accurate read on where the piece is as he looks out over the park. “This is a nice park! Cozy almost.”

"Yeah, it really is!" Marvin nods. "When me and JJ were younger we used to take the coins from the fountain that they threw into the basin for wishes. But as we got older it started to feel kinda bad doing that, y'know? Like, if greenlight is real, what if wishes are? So I started doing like, pet sitting stuff for money. I'm really good with cats. We have a cat, named Sinney, she's a Russian blue and very adorable." As Marvin talks, the glass eye tracker tells Alt that the TRVLR part is in... what do you know? The fountain basin.

“Oh yeah I remember you talking about Sinney!” Alt smiles, “and that’s a good way to get money dude - hanging out with cats all day? I’d do that!” He blinks then laughs as the tracker tells him the location. He starts to walk towards the fountain. “Hey! The part is actually in the fountain apparently!”

JJ laughs. What a coincidence! The group heads down the path and reaches the fountain. 

Aodhan looks up at it. "Did I break the wing off that angel?" 

"Yeah," Marvin says.

 "Oops." 

“That sounds like a wild story,” Alt giggles.

JJ leans over the edge and looks into the basin. Do you know what the piece looks like, Alt?

Alt sighs and leans over the fountain, “Not really- but I guess something mechanical will be easy to spot, right?”

"Well, your TRVLR was very small, wasn't it?" Marvin says. "Like... this big?" He pantomimes holding it. "So there's probably a lot of small parts in it..." 

"Guess we just have to look close!" Aodhan says, leaning right up to the water, his nose two inches from its surface. 

JJ chuckles. Don't get wet, your eyeliner will smear. "I don't have the time for eyeliner! I'm not Marvin!" 

"Hey!... well, that's true," Marvin admits. "But I'm not wearing eyeliner today."

“Oh my god the eyeliner phase-“ Alt laughs, hiding his face a bit.

While they're talking, they circle around the fountain. Alt sees a glint of something gold--unusual compared to the rest of the copper and silver coins. 

Marvin also notices it. "Oo! What's that?"

Alt brightens and reaches over for it, “I think this might be it!”

It looks like a little rectangle, no bigger than the coins it's surrounded by. Most of it is black, but there's a smaller gold rectangle in the middle that's the source of the glint. 

"Hey! What are you doing over there?"

Alt snatched up the rectangle before standing up quickly and looking towards the source of the question. “I-I dropped something in here! Just getting it real quick!”

The asker is a man in a gray suit, looking very out of place among the casual summer fashion of everyone else. He nods slowly. "Sorry. Didn't mean to bite your head off. But I hear some people like to steal coins from the fountain." 

JJ and Marvin glance at each other. 

"Are you all... family? Brothers, cousins, what?"

Alt tilts his head and then answers quickly, “Yeah I’m uh- cousins with these two! Just visiting-“ He smiles.

"Hmm." The man looks at Aodhan. "And you?"

Aodhan just stares. A slight static hum comes from him. 

"He's just our friend," Marvin hurriedly says. "You know--" 

"Stranger," Aodhan mutters. 

The twins look at him in confusion. 

"Well, I'm also from out of town," the man says, seemingly not hearing Aodhan's comment. "It's a lovely place, isn't it?"

“Yeah I love visiting here,” Alt says carefully, narrowing his eyes at the man. “…but if you’re from out of town, why do you care who’s in the fountain…?”

"Oh, I don't like to see people causing trouble," the man says. "I hear there was a lot of trouble in this town about three years ago? Have you heard of that?" He looks at Marvin and JJ. "What about you boys?" 

"Uh... yeah, we remember it," Marvin says. "It was crazy."

Alt narrows his eyes a bit more, crossing his arms. “…can we help you with something?” He says shortly.

The man stares at the four of them thoughtfully... then sighed. "Alright, I can see you're the type to see through the small talk." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a business card. "I work for an agency, we're very curious about what happened here in Hollewych three years ago. I know it was very confusing for everyone who lives here, but we've already had the details of what happened. So we've been going around asking people if they know why it happened."

Alt just stares hard at the man and his card. “I don’t think we can help you with that. These guys were just kids back then- and I wasn’t here.”

The main raises an eyebrow. "Teenagers are more observant than we think, you know." 

"Sorry, we don't know anything," Marvin says. "It was fucking weird, that's all." 

"Alright. If you need to contact us, if you remember something, our phone number is on this card." 

Jameson silently takes it. 

The man nods. "Be seeing you, maybe." And he walks away.

Alt glares at the man as he walks away, “that was… really fucking weird. Everything about that seemed off.” He mumbles.

"I don't like him," Aodhan mutters. "He reminds me of the people in the Circle." He looks over at Alt. "Bullies." 

Alt nods, “Yeah I get that vibe…”

"Why'd you take the card, JJ?" Marvin asks. 

JJ hands the card to Marvin so he can sign. 

He seemed like he wouldn't go away otherwise. 

"Hmm." Marvin looks at the card. "Department of Impossible Sciences? Never heard of it."

As Marvin reads out the card, Alt feels a pit in his stomach and glitches over to look at the card.

One side of the card has the department name on it, along with a phone number. The other side is black, and has a white design of an eye on it, complete with eyelid and lashes. It does not have three irises.

Alt deflates at little bit- a bit relieved. Still he shakes his head, “I wouldn’t trust anyone who says they’re from a ‘department of impossible science’-“ He grumbles. “I’d definitely stay away from those guys.” 

"Yeah, no, definitely fucking not," Marvin agrees. 

Alt checks to make sure he still has the piece of the TRVLR and cleans it off before putting it in the black bag. “Well- at least we got the piece! Let’s head over to the others-“ 

"I'll go right now," Aodhan says, and disappears. 

No fair, JJ says, rolling his eyes. 

"Well... guess we're going to city hall without him, then," Marvin says, laughing a little. 

Alt chuckles, “I can just as easily glitch us over too- or do you guys wanna walk?”

"No that's what I meant." Marvin holds his hand out, grabbing onto JJ's arm. "It's just like--funny that he did it without us."

Alt shakes his head with a laugh, “maybe he just prefers glitching solo!” He grabs Marvin’s hand and glitches after Anti towards city hall.

----------- 

Meanwhile, Bro has been walking for a while. The businesses have taken over the area, pushing out the restaurants. But then a car pulls to the side, a silver car with big windows and a rounded top. The driver's side window rolls down, and a guy with long brown hair and an old red hoodie looks at him. "Wow--you really haven't aged a day!" Jackie laughs. "JJ's right, there must be some weird time stuff going on."

Bro idly looks at the buildings then blinks as the car rolls up. He grins as he sees the familiar face. “I can’t say the same about you! Look at ya!! Couldn’t even drink the last time we saw ya! Now you’re old enough to be in uni!!” He pauses then sticks out his tongue, “Ugh- I sound like an old relative coming to visit-“

Jackie laughs. "Yeah! It's crazy." He grins. "I--I'm actually on break from uni right now. I've made some friends there, I think. Here, get in the passenger side. If you think I look really different, you'll be so surprised to see Schneep." 

"What is that supposed to mean?!" A voice comes from the backseat. 

"It means you had a massive growth spurt, you doof," Jackie calls into the back.

Bro grins and hurries into the car. He climbs into the passenger side and quickly turns around then gasps in delight in seeing Schneep. “Oh my god! Little Hen!! You’re definitely not little anymore!”

"I was not that small, was I?" Schneep says. 

The other guy in the backseat laughs. "Hey, the first time I saw you, I legit thought you were, like, eight years old." 

"Hmph. Well, at least that has changed now!" Schneep grins. "It is good to see you again, Bro!" 

Bro grins back. “It’s good to see you all too! I can’t believe it’s been so long for you all! I wanna say it’s been… god… maybe 6 ish months?? Since we last saw you? Maybe longer-? Things have been kinda crazy.” He laughs. 

"Only six months? It sounds like there is some strange time stuff happening," Schneep chuckles. 

“Right?? It’s blowing my mind!” Bro laughs.

"And it's good to see you at all. I'm Jack." He holds out a hand for a shake. 

Bro blinks and takes Jack’s hand and shakes it, “Pleasure, Jack! I’m Chase but you know that’s confusing so call me Bro~!”

"Bro, then!" Jack laughs. "That's Chase's favorite word, it's really fitting that it's what we call you." 

Bro grins at Jack, “It’s my favorite word too! Why do think I picked it as my hero name?” 

Jackie puts the car into gear and pulls back into the street. Bro can tell that he's a lot more confident in his driving skills. "We're gonna find a corner store or something to get snacks from, then head over to city hall."

Bro sits the right way in the seat now and grins, “Sick! I can get some 2012 food- …was there anything good from then we don’t have now?” He asks himself, making a thinking face.

"Hey, I mean... you'd know more than us, we haven't been any time after 2012 yet." Jackie laughs. "That's sort of how time works, usually." 

Suddenly, there's a whine of static, and someone appears in the empty seat between Jack and Schneep. "Hey!" 

"Jesus focking christ, Anti!" Jack jumps.

Bro screeches a bit in surprise and grips over his heart- “…you think living with Alt I’d be used to this kinda shit!”

“You never get used to it,” Jack mutters. “Trust me.” 

“Sorry,” Aodhan says. “But look! It’s me! I’m not a shadow anymore!” He leans into the space between the two seats and grins. 

“Hey man! I’m so glad! I bet that’s a fucking crazy story,” Bro grins. 

“What are you doing here, Anti?” Schneep asks. 

“Telling you that the other three are going to city hall,” Aodhan says. “And that there was a weird guy talking to us.”

Bro blinks and tilts his head, “A weird guy?”

“Weird guy in a suit,” Aodhan continues. “Asking about what happened three years ago. He said he was from the Department of Impossible Sciences.”

Bro knits his eyebrows together, “…that sounds familiar… weird though- why ask about that now?”

“Yeah… I mean, it’s been a while,” Jackie says thoughtfully. “Maybe it’s only like… relevant now? For something this department is doing?” 

“If it’s a department, what is it a department of?” Jack wonders. “The government?” 

“Well they are not going to get any answers from the townspeople,” Schneep says. “It seems everyone has agreed to forget about it.” 

“Corner store,” Aodhan points out the window. “Snacks.” 

“Yeah, I see it, thanks,” Jackie says. 

“Yeah… seems weird that a guy like that would just- approach Alt and a bunch of teenagers… just out of nowhere…” Bro muses.

“I’m not a teenager,” Aodhan grumbles.

“Yeah, we’re old enough to drink in America!” Jack adds. 

“To be fair, Aodhan, you do act like a twelve-year-old a lot,” Jackie says.

Bro giggles, “I mean- still seems weird to approach a bunch of younger guys about this- out of just nowhere right? You all weren’t like- doing anything weird or magic?”

“We got the TRVLR part out of the fountain,” Aodhan says. 

“In the fountain?!” Schneep repeats. “Are you sure that the part will work?” “It looked like a solid thing. No place for water to get in or ruin it or anything.” Jackie pulls up to the corner store. “Well hopefully this was a one-off thing,” he says. “Now. Snacks.”

Bro hums in thought but then nods and hops out of the car, “Snacks!”