#a lot of the aus in SATCV are ones i didnt know so if you don't read these from cry you'll be just as lost as i was ahbk

[huffle-dork]

Swap Across the CrystalVerse Chapter 4: Merms

Read Swapboys | Crystal’s AUs | Read MerMay Stories

Read SITCV | SATCV Masterpost | AO3 Link

Bro lands somewhere completely unexpected, but also, beautiful. He's landed on a beach, looking out over a wide expanse of blue-green water. A bay? A lagoon? Something like that. Behind him are tall trees with vibrant green leaves. A forest. To the left and the right, at the far ends of the beach, are tall dark rocks--tide pools and little alcoves full of water. There are no people around. Or... even any signs of people. Where is he?

Bro blinks and pushes himself up, looking over the landscape with widening eyes. “…what the fuck? This-this isn’t home??” He has to admit it is beautiful but, “Where the fuck is this?!”

Everything is quiet and still, or as quiet and still as a beach and forest can be... until there's a splash over to the left, near the rocks. Bro can see someone grab onto one of the rocks and hoist themself out of the water. They're sort of far away, but it looks like a man with brown hair. He leans down close to the water, like he's looking at something still underneath the surface.

Bro is freaked out, frantically pulling out his phone to see if he can call Alt or Jackie. Something definitely wasn’t right here! He jumps slightly and almost drops his phone but manages to grab it before it slips into the water. He looks at the sound of the splash and sees the man. Not wanting to miss his chance- Bro flies over and lands a bit away so hopefully he can approach without startling them. 

“H-Hey! Can I ask ya something?” He shouts out, trying to sound friendly.

The man looks over at him, startled. And now that Bro is close, he realizes that something is off. There are... are those... fins? Poking out from behind his ears? That's definitely a long yellow dorsal fin going down his back. And his forearms are covered in blue and green scales. 

Bro skids to stop and stares with wide eyes, his jaw falling open. “W-What the fuuuuckkk….??” 

Before the man can respond, something shoots out of the water, grabs him, and pulls him back into the water. It happens too fast for Bro to really see what grabs the guy other than that it's green.

Bro shouts as he sees the man get dragged under water. He skids to the edge of the rocks and looks around frantically. Then, against his better judgment, he kneels down and then shoves his head under the water- trying to find any proof of what he just saw.

Underwater is blurry, of course, but Bro can make out what looks like two creatures fighting, both of them different shades of green. The darker-green one notices him and lunges forward, but the other pushes that one away. This whole time, there's a sound like... dolphin chatter? 

Bro blinks past the harsh burning of the water and tries to focus on what he can see-they’re- fighting? Why can’t he understand them??

Suddenly, Bro finds himself pushed back out of the water. While he recovers from this, the man--man?--from before stares at him, head and shoulders out of the water, looking worried.

Bro gasps as he’s pushed out and then blinks comically at the man- merman? That pushed him out. He waves, “uh…. Hi?”

The man waves--showing that there are more fins on his wrists. "H-hiii," he says. And then... then he makes some strange sounds. Random vowels interspersed with clicks, whistles, and chirps--in other words, the dolphin-like noises. 

Bro blinks in surprise at the new sounds and then holds up his hands. “Ahhh fuck- I can’t understand you… but- holy shit… you’re a merman…!” He laughs and pushes his bangs out of his face, blinking in disbelief. “I… I don’t know why I can’t believe this- I’ve seen weird shit before but- this!” 

Another head pops out of the water behind him. Someone else, with green hair, green-tinted skin, and glowing green eyes. There are fins behind his ears like this first... guy. The new one scowls and glares at Chase.

P

Chase tilts his head at the other figure. Huh… that green in his eyes almost looks familiar. “Um… you might not be able to understand me but um- I’m Chase! …and I’m so fucking lost.” 

"You're not Chase." Now that--perfect English--comes from the green-tinted one in the back. 

Chase blinks and then points at himself, "... Yes I am! I'm Chase- Chase Brody! Who the fuck are you-" Then he pauses and looks surprised, "Wait- you spoke English! Oh okay brilliant maybe you can-" 

"I don't know what sort of--of ssshhhit you're trying to pull--" The one in front turns around and splashes the other one, chattering in a harsh tone. The green one splutters and responds snappily in the same chatter. 

And the two of them have a quick back and forth. Then the green one sinks in the water. "...How did you get here?" he mutters, grudgingly civil. 

"Uh... well.. that's... complicated. But um... I came from another.. universe...?" Bro says. ...Why does the grumpy green one kinda remind him of Alt?

"Universe...?" the green one repeats, understanding the word but not the concept. 

The other one smiles at him. He points at himself "Dak." And then back at the green one. "Antee." 

Chase's eyes widen as he whispers. "...no way-" He stares straight at Antee- now clearly seeing the resemblance in the face- despite the green tint and scales. 

The green one protests in the chattery language, but the other one splashes him again and says something that asks like a question. 

The green one sighs. "Jack wants to know if that's somewhere far away, and how you got here if that's the case."

Bro slightly shakes out of his surprise and then nods, "Uh... yeah. R-Really far away. And uh- we got here by... magic mostly. A bit of tech- but mostly magic. My brother's a magician."

Jack's eyes light up. He chirps and chatters something, grabbing Anti and shaking him slightly. Anti rolls his eyes. "We know magicians," he mutters. "Didn't know humans could use magic, too." 

"Y-Yeah he's really good at magic! Best magician I know at least," Bro grins. 

Jack asks something. "He wants to know if your brother came with you." Anti interprets.

Bro quickly nods, "Yeah! He's... probably somewhere around here... we tend to get separated when we come to new places."

Jack and Anti look around. The lagoon is clearly empty of people. "Well. Good luck looking for him," Anti says, and starts to sink underwater. 

Jack makes an offended whistling sound--like putting voice behind a gasp--and grabs him, pulling him back up. "Look, if he's human then his brother is human, and probably on land! We can't help!" 

Jack slumps, then perks up again, asking something. Anti rolls his eyes. "Alright, Chase Brody. Why don't you use your metal slab to call your brother, then?" 

"Fon," Jack adds. 

"Your phone."

"Oh! Well... I could try? Wasn't sure it'd work here but- Guess they do exist here! That's handy-" Chase laughs as he pulls out his phone, trying to see if he can reach Alt.

It looks like cell reception doesn't translate between universes, but there is a tiny, tiny bit of WiFi that he can use to send a text. 

Anti swims a bit closer as Bro messes with the phone, trying and failing to hide his curiosity.

Chase curses as he takes the phone away from his ear and studies it- trying to send a message: Alt! I'm at a beach near a forest- where are you? Did the TRVLR glitch? Are you okay??? ...probably overkill but- just in case.

The text takes longer than usual to go through, but it does eventually. And now, they wait. 

----------- 

Alt lands on a solid surface, and Jackie lands right next to him. They've arrived on a... boat? Yes, a boat floating out on the water, with a distant, pier-lined coast in sight. They sky overhead is a bright blue, contrasting against the endless dark blue water all around them. A table (and two chairs) sits on the deck, pushed up against the metal railing, its surface covered in burgers, fried chicken, French fries, ice cream--basically any fast food you can think of. 

Alt groans and curls up as he lands on something solid, finding it hard to breathe momentarily. 

"Alt!" Jackie cries out and goes to help him up. 

Alt blinks at him in confusion. "J-Jackie? Wait... no.. what??" He looks out at their surroundings, his stomach dropping. "T-This isn't-!" 

"What the hell?!" a young man, leaning over the boat's railing, jerks backwards. "Where did you two come from?!"

Jackie and Alt both jump as they hear the young man. Jackie scrambles to say something and just blurts out, "Uhhh... from the sky??" 

Alt gives him a confused 'are you serious' look.

The young man laughs. "Yeah, right. Okay, where were you guys hiding? There aren't many spots on here. You know that trespassing is still illegal if it's on a boat, right? Cause this is my boat, and I didn't say you could be here." He frowns. "Why are you guys here, anyway?" 

“O-Oh fuck uh- sorry sir, we didn’t know!” Jackie tries to say, holding up his hands. “I was trying to make a joke- we uh… god this is gonna sound crazy but we couldn’t actually control where we landed? It’s uh- magic and shit. We uh… came from another universe…?” Jackie grins a wide nervous smile, looking very uncomfortable. 

But as they talk, Alt notices something. Some of the fries from the table have fallen onto the ground. And a hand reaches up from the side of the boat and grabs some of them.

Alt gets distracted from trying to diffuse the situation as he sees the hand reach up. His eyes widen and he glances at the man before hurrying over to the side of the boat to look.

"Another universe? Yeah, sure. You can at least try to--hey!" The man tries to grab Alt as he hurries over but barely misses. 

Down in the water beneath the boat are three--people? They're clearly not normal. One wearing a cap has orange fins behind his ears and white and black stripes across his chest and arms. One with a bag has blue-green tentacles poking out of the water around him. And one in a sleeveless woven hoodie has a dorsal fin sticking out of his back. That one chokes on the fries he hurriedly shoved in his mouth while the one with the tentacles shoves the other two underwater. 

"Uh--don't mind that!" the young man rushes over, pulling Alt back. 

Alt’s eyes widen and he wants to shout but he gets dragged away. 

"Those are, uh, my friends! We're--practicing for a--a stunt show! R-really real costumes, huh?" The man laughs nervously. 

Alt looks back up at the young man and gapes at him. “…mermaids- those were mermaids!” 

“What??? Lemme see lemme see!” Jackie says excitedly, running to the railing to look over.

"No! No no no, those weren't mermaids!" the man protests. "They were just--dressed like mermaids!" 

As Jackie peers over the side of the railing, some of the spray from the water hits his face, as it's splashing a lot. But there definitely seem to be both human-like limbs and fish-like tails under all that splashing. Briefly, the one in the hoodie breaks away from the struggle and waves at Jackie, allowing him a closer look at him. Long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, sharp teeth bared in a grin, and scars across his eyes. Yet, somehow, he looks familiar. And then a tentacle wraps around his chest and pulls him underwater again.

Jackie stares at the water and then the hoodied man before he pushes away from the railing. “H-Holy shit…!” 

Alt whips around at the young man, “Don’t try to trick me! I know what I saw! No costumes are that realistic! And an illusion wouldn’t hold up with all them moving like that-“

"I--uh--uh--" The young man pauses, clearly mentally scrambling for an explanation. Then he suddenly switches tactics. "Did you know this all along?! I-is that why you snuck aboard?! W-well, I'll have you know you have no way of proving it! E-everyone's gonna call the pictures photoshopped if you post them!" 

“Hah?!?” Alt says. He glitches slightly in anger and presses up against the young man, “You got sea water in your ears, kid?! We just told you we didn’t mean to come here! I don’t even know where the hell we are! I couldn’t care less about proving anything!” 

The young man's eyes widen as Alt glitches. His mouth falls open and he's at a loss for words. 

Again, the hoodied mermaid pulls away from the struggle. He grabs the edge of the boat and smiles. "H-h-hayy," he says to Jackie. "Yoo.. luck... layk mmme."

Jackie startles as the hoodied merman pulls himself up towards him. He bends down and cocks his head at him, looking confused for a second. But then it clicks and he gasps, pointing at the merman. “OH MY GOD!! Alt! ALTTT!! ITS ME AS A MERMAN!! I FOUND A MERMAN JACKIE!!!” 

Alt glitches again and glares at the man before glitching over by Jackie. His eyes widen. “Yo- what the fuck…?”

The man stands there, stunned, while Alt and Jackie move to talk to the merpeople. 

The mer-Jackie makes a startled sound when Alt suddenly glitches next to Jackie, jerking backwards and into the water. Then he looks excited, turning back to the still-splashing part of the water. And he makes some strange sounds, like dolphin speech interspersed with human-made vowels. Whatever he says, it gets the other two to stop fighting. The one with the cap swims over next to Jackie, looking back up at the two guys curiously. The other one stays where he is, just his eyes poking out of the water, darting back and forth between the guys on the boat and the merms in the water.

Jackie shakes Alt’s shoulder excitedly. “Look dude look!! A merman me!!” 

“I am looking dude- I still don’t believe it-“ Alt breathes. He kneels down by the edge again, tilting his head at the merms curiously. When he notices their strange way of speaking he knits his eyebrows together and then tries to see if he can cast a translation spell.

The mer-Jackie and the cap merman make an "oooo"ing sound at Alt's magic. They turn to each other and chatter. 

"--was--" 

"I--was--maybe?" 

"I--humans--not--use magic?" 

"--don't know that. Maybe they--know magic--forgot?" 

"Maybe we should ask Marvin later." 

The spell really struggles with this language, even more so than Glasish when they visited that fantasy world before. But it gets there eventually. 

"Well go on, Chase!" mer-Jackie says, shoving the other one. "Talk to them in human! Ask them about their magic!" 

"It's called 'English,' Jackie. They have a lot of languages." 

Alt honestly was afraid it wouldn’t work at all- but he seems to relax as it starts to make sense. He blinks then laughs and waves at them both, “Actually- it’s okay. I can understand you both now.” He grins. 

“What??? Alttt why’d you leave me out??? I wanna hear! Your doppelgänger isn’t even here!” Jackie whines. 

“Oh yeah- right… sorry Jackie-“ Alt says, quickly casting the spell on Jackie too. Then, Alt studies the capped merman. Is this one really Chase?

"Oh, you can?" mer-Jackie blinks. "Alright, how many fingers am I holding up, then?" He holds up three fingers. 

“3!” Jackieboy says excitedly, pointing down. Alt gives him another done look. 

The one in the back swims over and smacks the other Jackie in the back of the head. "That makes no sense! Idiot." 

"Owww! Don't be mean, Schneep!" 

Chase laughs. "Well, um... hi?" He waves. "We don't... usually see humans using magic like that. O-or looking like a broken computer."

Alt blinks back down at Chase and smiles, “Well- 1) cool that you know about computers! Didn’t think a merman would know that- 2) I’m a special case~ not many magicians like me exist! Anddd 3) we’ve never seen real life mermen before!” 

“Much less mermen that are us!!” Jackie grins, bouncing on the railing. “This is insane! It’s me and our friends as fucking mermaids, dude!!!” 

“Man Jackie you are bringing so much energy into these trips-“ Alt mumbles, rubbing at his ear.

Chase laughs, a sound that's sharper and more chittering than a human laugh. "Most merms don't know about computers, but I'm special. Oh, that's what the general term is, by the way, 'merm.' I-I know you guys tend to default to just mermaids but that's only for women." 

“Oh! That’s helpful to know!” Jackie says, “Mermmmm- heh- that’s fun to say! Merm merm merm merm-“ 

The one in the back--a mer-Schneep, it seems--eyes the two guys suspiciously. "Are you sure they can be trusted, Chase?" he mutters. 

"Schneep, they can hear you," Jackie points out. 

"It's fine, Schneep, I-I think they're different," Chase says. 

Alt hums, trying to ignore Jackie still saying merm over and over, “I know we look strange but- we know other people who look like you, and they’re our friends.” 

"Ollie?!" Chase calls. 

The young man walks over, looking over the railing. "These guys... are cool?" he asks hesitantly. 

"They're cool," Chase agrees in English. 

"O-okay." Ollie nods.

At the name, Alt’s eyes widen and he whips around, finally taking in all the features of the young man- he feels his breath get taken away ,a flush coming to his cheeks. “O-Oliver…?” He breathes.

"Uh... yeah? That's what Ollie is usually short for." Ollie laughs a bit. 

Alt is just staring at Ollie like he’s looking at a ghost. This is the first time they’ve seen someone else outside their friend group in another universe. He never thought he’d see a copy of his boyfriend?? This was super duper weird- and Alt can’t stop his cheeks from turning red. “U-Uh yeah… right… s-sorry… you just.. l-look like someone I… know.” 

"I do, huh?" Ollie smiles a bit. "I-I hope it's someone you like. It, uh, probably is." He doesn't want to comment on the obvious blush.

Alt makes a squeak at this. 

"Um... so... h-how'd you get on the boat? I didn't even notice you guys." Ollie asks.

"I think they just appeared," Chase says. 

"Appeared?" Ollie glances at Alt, confused. "Uh... sorry, I-I'm still getting used to the merm thing, people appearing and, uh, glitching around... is a bit much." 

Alt eventually shakes himself out enough to answer. “Uh yeah we.. just kinda do that… cuz of m-magic! Which I do- and used to get here- w-with this device.” He pulls out the TRVLR to show them. “But uh… we weren’t supposed to be here. I was sure I plugged in the coordinates for home.” 

As Alt looks over the TRVLR, he notices something. After tinkering with the settings between adventures, he'd found one that makes the current universe code show up in the top left corner. This... isn't the code for their world. Instead, it reads UA-0501019MM. 

He blinks and then narrows his eyes at the universe code. What the heck?? This isn’t even close to their code!

Meanwhile, mer-Jackie is joining in with his human counterpart repeating "merm merm merm merm." 

Schneep rolls his eyes at that and looks at Alt. "Who are you, then?" he asks. "Your names?"

Alt looks down and then lightly smacks Jackie to get him to stop. He gestures at Schneep then at Jackie. Jackie blinks then looks back at Schneep and grins, “I’m Jackie! Jackie Mann!”

"Jackie! Like me!" Jackie says. 

Jackie beams, “Yeah! Just like you! We’re like- the same person but from different worlds!” 

Alt raises his hand, looking timid. “‘M Alt… Alt Brody. But um… I-Im also known as Anti.”

The three merms glance at each other when Alt mentions his name. "We know an Anti," Schneep says. "That is funny. Names are funny." 

“Yeah… figured you would,” Alt mutters.

"Different... worlds?" Jackie repeats, uncertain. 

"Oh, like another dimension?" Chase asks. 

“Uhh yeah! I think that’s the same thing!” Jackieboy says, grinning. 

"What the fuck do you mean, 'dee-men-shun'?" Schneep asks. 

"Uhhh... it's hard to explain. It took me a while to get it." 

"Wait, you mean you guys weren't kidding about being from other universes?!" Ollie gasps. 

Alt laughs, “Nope- weren’t kidding at all. Where we’re from- mermaids don’t exist.” 

“As far as you know!” Jackie points out, “What if they’re just like- lurking so low we never see them? Like a giant squid! We’ve barely explored the ocean bro!” 

“Your wife is rubbing off on you,” Alt chuckles. 

“Hey! I have a fascination with the ocean outside of my wife too you know!!!” 

And shortly after, Alt's text tone goes off. The glitch then jumps slightly as his phone buzzes. He switches out the TRVLR for his phone, checking the message. Alt! I'm at a beach near a forest- where are you? Did the TRVLR glitch? Are you okay??? 

“Oh well- texting works here at least… that’s nice.” Alt comments. 

"Oh, your phone messages." Schneep nods. 

Alt looks back at Jackieboy. “Chase is on a beach somewhere-“

"I'm not on a beach, I'm right here," Chase says. "Or--do you know a Chase like we know a Jackie and Anti?" 

Alt blinks at Chase and then laughs shaking his head, “Yeah, we have a Chase too. He’s my older brother.” 

"Brother?" Chase repeats. "I have a couple siblings, but we don't really keep in contact. Maybe I should reach out to them. I think they all still live in the school we grew up in." 

Alt blinks, “huh- you might be one of the first Chases I met that actually has siblings too.” 

"A lot of merms have siblings," Chase says. "But you kind of drift away from them. In the ocean, at least. Everything's so big. It might be different for freshwater merms." 

“That’s so interesting…” Alt replies. 

"If your friend is on a beach, I can try to take you guys there," Ollie says, still barely grasping the idea of these visitors being from another world. "I mean, I can't really take you anywhere, but if it's nearby."

Alt can’t help but smile at Ollie- even if it feels weird to look at him for too long. Stop trying to heat up cheeks! “Uh- t-that’d be awesome if you could. He’s said he’s one the beach near a forest- does that sound familiar?”

"Oh!" Jackie's eyes light up. "A beach near land with trees? Is it the beach of a lagoon? With big brown rocks at the entrance and some deep tide pools?" 

Schneep looks at Jackie and frowns. "Do you think he found where Jack and Anti are?" 

"Yeah, I do!"

Jackie and Alt exchange looks. Alt seems uneasy for a second but- it’s not like they’re saying anything bad about this other Anti. He sighs. “If your friends live over there… then that’s probably where he is. We get drawn towards people we know when we drop into these worlds.”

Jackie blinks. "I don't think I'm really understanding this thing about worlds and 'oo-nee-versus' but we can take you there! Ah-lee can follow us in the boat!" 

"We are sure about this?" Schneep mutters. 

"I'm curious, at least," Chase says. 

"Come on, come on!" Jackie dives back underwater, swimming over to the prow of the ship. His dorsal fin sticks out of the water as he goes, highlighting that yes, he is indeed a sharklike merm, as opposed to Schneep's tentacles and Chase's more traditional fishy shape. 

Jackie laughs in surprise and delight as he sees mer-Jackie swim. “Oh my god!! He’s a shark!! That’s so cool!!!” 

Schneep grins at Jackie's enthusiasm. "Yes, Jackie is a yellow shark. Chase is an anemonefish and I am a great ocean octo." 

"Lemon shark, clownfish, great Pacific octopus," Chase says. "You guys have different words for us. Oh, and we're going to Jack and Anti, who are a discus and an electric eel." 

“That’s so sick!! You’re all so different!” Jackie says excitedly, “In cartoons and shit- all mermaids look the same!!” 

Chase laughs. "Oh yeah, we've seen some of your cartoons. We know. But it's fine, don't worry. I think it's great, actually!" 

"Well, if we are going, you should message your brother," Schneep says to Alt. "So he is not waiting and not knowing."

Alt blinks and then nods and texts Bro back: Hang tight bro- we landed on a ship and found help. Coming to find you. All safe 

Then Schneep looks at Ollie. "Can you follow us?" 

"No problem." Ollie gives him a thumbs up. "Try to stay slow, though. You guys are really fast." 

Alt hums in thought, shrugging his backpack off and starting to skim through the pages. He wonders if he has any spells that can help… Because… These guys know about magic- and there’s one other person from their world who’s left unaccounted for.

And with that, he and Schneep go join Jackie at the prow, and the boat heads off across the ocean. 

-----------

 Magnificent does not appear anywhere familiar. Or even anywhere he would want to be. He lands on a small beach. This is on the edge of a large body of water, surrounded by thin trees. Judging by the lack of salt smell, it's not the ocean, but an especially large lake. And one that people know about, since there's a small area with a picnic table and trash can nearby.

Magnificent rolls onto his stomach, growling against his binds and hoping he can get away from those pesky-! Wait- this… isn’t their universe. As Mag thinks this, Alt’s magic breaks apart, freeing him. He quickly teleports to his feet and dusts himself off. Then he hisses and scrambles back as he sees his close he is to the water. Fucking water- as much as he doesn’t want to lean too heavily into cat stereotypes… he can’t stand large bodies of water. And getting wet. But… new universe… what magic could lie around here..?

Well... there are pros and cons to him reaching out with his magic. Pro, there is a great deal of magic nearby, strong and deep and rippling with power. Con, it's clearly under the lake.

Magnificent starts to brighten as he senses the magic- then his face quickly falls as he sees it’s under the lake. He curses up a storm, kicking at the sand and basically throwing a fit. Once he lets out his rage he breathes and then braces himself before jumping into the water. He casts a quick spell to make sure he can breathe and see, while cursing whoever left this magic down here. He’s not a great swimmer but he pushes forward, aiming to follow the pull of the magic.

As Magnificent sinks through the lake, the light becomes dimmer, but fish become more plentiful--though they all scatter whenever he gets near. And as he starts to reach the floor of the lake, he notices something strange. Some of the plants are glowing. They give off faint magical signatures, but aren't really worth his time. There are also... glowing starfish? But those live in the sea, not lakes. And yet here they are, scattered about, getting closer together as the pull of magic becomes stronger. He comes to a spot clear of any plants, and finds something strange. A structure made of pillars and slabs of stone, most of it having no walls except for a single attached room. What is this? Some sort of ruin?

Magnificent swims past most distractions, eager to get a boost and then get out of this lake. But… the starfish are odd. And so is this… structure. Curiously, Mag swims towards it and tries to peek inside.

But then he runs into something coming out of the structure. It’s not immediately clear what it is, but as it makes some sort of chirping whistling sounds, the details sink in. It’s… a merman. That’s the only word for it. The bottom half is a silver tail with glints of yellow and blue, the upper half is mostly human (wearing a dark green cape) but has silvery fins trailing from the upper arms, and the face… is startlingly familiar. The merman trails off, fully taking in Mag’s appearance as he takes in his. Then his eyes widen in fear and he swims backwards, making a loud whistling noise.

Magnificent’s eyes widen and his jaw falls in disbelief. A merman… he thought those only existed in fairytales! And well, unfortunately, he knew this thing’s face all too well. But, the mad magician tries to put on his most charming smile and tries to back up, looking apologetic. “My apologizes, noble merfolk! I was just… searching the area. Did not mean to intrude~!”

But it doesn't matter how kind or apologetic he seems, the merm turns and darts into the structure, whistling and chattering loudly. Once inside, he grabs something from a shelf carved from rock and puts it on his face--a mask with four bits of orange sea glass embedded in the forehead--and starts rummaging through round stones on the shelves.

Mag’s face goes from cordial to dangerous in an instant. He growls and then darts to follow the merm into the structure. Once he sees him he lashes out to try to grab him by his wrist.

But the merman's wrist slips out of his grasp, the skin less grippy than Mag expected. He looks at the magician with wide eyes and grabs tight to one of the stones. Strange symbols carved on the surface light up with seafoam green light. And that's when Magnificent realizes. The power he'd felt--it wasn't one big source, it was a lot of sources gathered together. One of them being this merman. And many others being the little round rocks he was looking through.

Magnificent growls, his own eyes lighting up with magic. Then, he pauses as he reads the room. Oh… okay. He grins, then tries to grab one of the stones for himself.

The merman notices what he's doing and tries to stop him, going to smack his hand away. 

Mag is stopped and he yells out in frustration as he slapped away- but he manages to lash out again and grabs the merm’s hand. He laughs sinisterly, digging claws into his flesh. “Don’t worry, little fish… this won’t hurt a bit~!” And he tries to drain the merm of his magic.

The merm shrieks and manages to backpedal his way out of Mag's grip, tail pumping hard to push him through the water. But not without Mag's claws scraping down his skin--and not without some of his power being stolen. It flows into Magnificent like the water that surrounds them, bubbly as the seafoam its green color is named after. It's only a fraction of what the merm had, but it's something. The merm looks at him in horror, then turns and swims out of the structure.

Magnificent laughs, studying the magic as it flows through his veins. He laughs as the merm runs, going to scoop some of the power stones up for himself. Curious little things… worth studying he thinks. Hmm… should be off that little anomaly of him? Or capture it to see what it could explain about the magic here? …or- he could do both. He grins and then rockets after the merm, quickly trying to see if he can teleport to cut it off.

He’s surprised to see he can but grins menacingly as he appears in front of the merm, reaching out to try to catch him.

The mern shrieks again, ducking down to swim under him. And as it chatters, something happens. 

"--the--trying--me!--my magic! Where--you?!" Huh? The sounds are starting to make sense. 

Mag yells in rage and tries again, trying this time to throw out strings to catch it.

But the strings alone get pushed away by the currents of the merm moving. He circles around the structure to the more solid part--and something pops up from the other side of it. A person, just their head poking above the ceiling of the structure. He has brown hair and a thick mustache. His eyes widen as he sees Mag, then he looks at the other merm and makes weird gestures. The merm hurries towards him.

Magnificent is getting tired of this chase- he rockets back down and then conjures up a net with his magic, whipping it out towards his look-a-like.

The merm is too focused on reaching his friend to notice the net. It wraps around his body, pulling him to a stop. He shrieks. "No! You--! Let me go!--help!" 

Whatever magic Mag absorbed must be translating the chatter. 

Magnificent laughs and starts to pull the magic back towards him. “Well! That was a fun chase, Marvin.” He spits out his name. “But I’m afraid playtime is over, little fish~” 

The other merm dives forward, hurriedly trying to pull his friend out. This one is very different than the other, with strange wings attached to his arms and sides. A ray of some kind, maybe.

Magnificent finally takes notice of the other merm and he laughs, floating above him. “Now now little one- you can run along~! I’m sure I have no need for you~” He sends out a wave of magic, trying to push the Ray merm away.

The ray clings to the net but the magic pushes him away and he goes flying over the structure. "No! No! Jameson!" Marvin shouts, struggling. He looks back at Magnificent. "Wh-who are you?! How do you know my name?! Can you--can you even understand me?!"

Magnificent laughs, “Yes I can~ and since we can now hold a conversation… I think you will be such a good source of knowledge for me. So- why don’t we get to know each other, Marvin? You can call me Magnificent.”

"Magnificent? S-stupid name for a h-human." Marvin tries to smile smugly, but there is clear fear under the mask."I don't--I don't know what you could want. I just live here, I don't know anything a-about your human stuff."

“Oh my dear child, I am no human~” Magnificent laughs, showing off his fangs, “I am something so much greater.” 

 "Not human, huh? Th-that would explain how you're down this far and still breathing." He tries for a smile again but doesn't even manage a smirk this time. 

Magnificent tightens the net and brings Marvin close to his face, going to use his claws to turn his back and forth by his chin. He chuckles, tilting his head like a curious predator. “Why that’s okay, little fish. I think I will find what you know sooo much more interesting. Like- how these stones work- for instance? Or how you got your magic?”

Marvin swallows a lump in his throat. Tiny slits on either side of his neck open and close in miniscule motions."I--My magic, it--it's something I was born with, a-a lot of merms are, though most don't do anything with it. A-and the stones, they store power. You pour some of yours in and pull it out at later times."

Magnificent tsks, “It’s that trivial? Hm…” He twirls some of the strings of his magic with a thoughtful expression. “You said a lot of …merms- have magic? Where could one find a bigger source of that?”

Marvin opens his mouth to answer--and then realizes that it's probably not a good idea to give this guy what he wants. So he shuts his mouth. "I don't know."

Magnificent’s expression darkens. He grabs Marvin harder by the chin and forces him to look up at him as he whispers, “Are you lying to me, kitten?” His eyes start to spiral with magic as he chuckles, “I don’t think you should lie to me, Marvin. Because- I believe I can actually make use of you~ don’t you want to be useful to me, Marvinnn~?” He tries to pump the mark full of his influence.

Marvin blinks, confusion momentarily snapping him out of fear. "What d'you mean, 'chishin'?" he mutters, terribly mispronouncing 'kitten.' But then the spirals appear, and he gasps, closing his eyes immediately-- And before Mag can do much more, something slams into him from behind.

Magnificent growls, “that doesn’t mat-!” He gets cut off as he’s slammed into, dropping the net with Marvin in it. He growls and whips around to blast magic at whatever hit him. 

The magic hits his attacker point-blank--the same ray merm from before, who now gets flung into the ground. A cloud of sand flies into the air from the impact. "Jameson!" Marvin gasps, struggling to break free of the net.

Magnificent is quick to scoop Marvin back up and magic builds up behind him- making an even stronger spiral. “Enough games! You will help me find stronger magic or I’ll find bigger fish to fry after making you dinner! You will obey me!”

Marvin glances from Jameson to Magnificent--and freezes upon seeing the spiral. It flickers in his eyes. "I-I-I... n-no, I-I can't..." he says quietly, his struggles growing weaker and weaker. "I-I... Don't... hurt Jameson... please. I-I'll do... whatever you want, just... don't..."

“Is that all? Then of course, little fish… I won’t harm, Jameson. All you have to do is help me~” Magnificent giggles quietly.

"O... kay..." Marvin slumps entirely. "I'll... help." 

Jameson watches this happen in horror, frozen in plaze.

“Very good~” Magnificent grins. He snaps and the net disappears from around Marvin. “Grab whatever you need for the journey, Marvin. Then, you can lead me towards where this power is, hm?” 

"Okay." Marvin turns and swims into the structure. "We're going... to the ocean. Magic is stronger in deeper waters." He's grabbing a woven bag and filling it with things: a couple power stones and some kelp packages. 

Mag glances at Jameson, his eyes glowing unnaturally in the water.

Jameson tenses, and then abruptly turns and dashes away, keeping close to the sand. With the speckled pattern on his back he quickly blends into the ground.

Magnificent snorts with a smirk. Good. This Jameson was a coward. He wouldn’t get in the way then. Looking over himself he hums in thought. If he’s going to be down here… he needed a better way to swim and also not attract too much attention. He snaps and a burst of magic swirls around his legs and transforms them into a sleek black tail- resembling the tail of a pacific black dragon. He flicked the long eel-like tail and grinned as it lit up slightly green. Perfect. He abandoned his normal attire to have a material like his cape drape over his chest. Now- hopefully he wouldn’t draw too much unwanted attention…

Marvin stops, staring at Magnificent transform with shock. "S-so easy...?" he mutters, sounding in awe. "That tail... like a deep dweller." He shivers at the thought of them, then the hypnotism takes hold again. "Are you ready to go?"

Magnificent grins, “Yes. Lead the way, little fish~” He makes a sweeping motion like a showman, gesturing out towards the rest of the water.

Marvin nods. "Yes. The river to the ocean is this way." And he starts swimming, leading Magnificent there.

[huffle-dork]

Swap Across the CrystalVerse Chapter 12: The Facility

Read Swapboys | Crystal’s AUs| JSEFacility

Read SITCV | SATCV Masterpost | AO3 Link

Alt lands hard on the ground. He's in front of a row of doors with numbers on them--a motel, one of the ones where the room doors open directly into the outside. It's really run-down looking, with peeling paint and stains on the ground. A cracked asphalt car lot holds only a couple cars. The sky is alight, pink and orange with either sunset or sunrise. Distant traffic noises come from somewhere. It's not clear where, as the only sign of other civilization is a road heading left and right. 

Alt pushes himself up and groans, rubbing at his head. He looks around the area and cringes a bit. He recognizes a place like this… cheap motel for a quick rest on a dirty bed that probably smelt like cigarettes. He glitches to his feet and glances around the area, trying to see what else is around. He’s not eager to stay in a place like this.

Suddenly, someone leans through the nearest door. Leans through is the right way of putting it, as the door doesn't open at all and the figure passes straight through it. The figure is transparent, reminiscent of the ghost Chase they just saw, but completely monochrome instead of that strange white-tinted coloring. Even though the figure is a bit blurry and flickering, some details can be made out. The man has a thick mustache and is wearing a T-shirt over a button-up shirt. 

Alt screeches in surprise and slight fear as he glitches back, away from the figure. He stares with wide eyes at him and blinks rapidly, trying to process what he’s seeing. That’s- JJ.

The monochrome man’s eyes land on Alt and he smiles in a friendly way, giving a little wave before pulling back into the room.

But then he just- disappears back into the room. Alt just kinda stares at the door- wondering if that was an… invitation or just a coincidence.

After a moment passes, the door opens a little bit, just wide enough for a person to appear in the gap. It's a guy, with brown hair pulled back into a small ponytail, wearing a baggy red hoodie and a blue bandanna around his neck. His eyes are green. And there seems to be a slight green glow coming from the room, too. 

"Uh..." he says. "Where'd you come from?"

Alt glitches a bit in place and waves stiffly. “Uh- hi! I uh… kinda just… fell here. It’s a long story… sorry though, didnt mean to uh… loiter.” He blinks at the green light behind him and slightly points. “…I’m assuming you know your room is glowing-“

The man tenses a little. "Y-yeah, yeah, I know. Uh... hi. Hi. Um..." He looks back into the room for a moment, and then turns back to Alt. "My friend is saying you should come inside. So... come inside?"

Alt looks around and turn slowly nods. “Um.. alright.” He gingerly steps through the door, smiling awkwardly.

"Alright." The man steps aside. 

The room beyond is small, with just a little bit of walking space in between the two beds, the night stand, and a small table. At the back are two ajar doors, one leading to a closet and one to a bathroom. The patterned wallpaper looks like it's from the 70s or earlier, and has some water stains on it. 

The ghostly JJ is still there, and he waves at Alt again. Along with him and the man in the red hoodie, there are two others. A man with square glasses, wearing a blue turtleneck and a pair of gloves. And a man wearing a snapback cap and red scarf, the ends of his brown hair holding the remains of yellow-green eye. That man is holding a toy dart gun in both hands. He also has... scars all over his arms. Straight and regular. There's also one crossing his eye and one crossing his neck. Wait a minute? Where's the green glow coming from? ...Oh. It's coming from the guy in the red hoodie, who hurriedly closes the door. 

Alt’s eyes widen as he takes in all the people in here. JJ, Jackie he’s guessing opened the door and… that looks like Chase. So many scars… does he have as many as Bro? Or even more? 

"So," says the man in the turtleneck, fidgeting with his gloves. "Who are you, then?"

“Oh um… I’m Alt. Alt Brody? I’m a magician… from another world.” He stuffs his hands into his pockets and fidgets nervously.

"Another world?" the man in the hoodie repeats. "You mean like in comic books? So that's real?" 

The man in the turtleneck frowns. "Does that make sense?" 

"I mean... we've seen weirder stuff," the man in the cap says slowly. 

It's true, the ghostly man says. He and his friends appeared out of nowhere and they'll disappear just as suddenly. 

"I trust J3 on this," the man in the hoodie says. 

"It is just a bit hard to believe," the man in the turtleneck says, doubt clear in his voice. "What if this is a trick?" 

"I don't think it's any harder to believe than the rest of our lives," the man in the cap mutters.

Alt looks at the man in the turtleneck. “I mean… it’s not a trick. I’m from a parallel world… one where… I’m friends with people who look a lot like all of you.”

Alt looks between everyone as they talk, getting more and more confused. “Wait… how do you know we’ll … do that?” He asks the ghostly man. Then he looks to the hoodied man, “J…3?” 

"That's J3," the hoodied man points at the ghostly man. 

The ghostly man waves. He reaches up to his neck, grabbing the collar of his shirt-- 

"J3!" The man in the cap hurriedly steps in front of him. "We can't just--" 

J3 steps right through the man and shows Alt something. A tattoo on either side of his neck. A series of letters and numbers. 

J3110. 

And I know it will happen because I'll be there when it does, J3 says. 

The man in the turtleneck sighs. "You are just confusing him more."

Alt staggers back, eyes wide as he sees J3 step through the other man and show his neck. He’s at a loss for words. It’s like… a brand. “C-Can… can you see the future…?” He asks quietly.

J3 nods. In a way. I don't exist in just one time at once. I know it's hard to understand. 

"You just have to accept that he knows things sometimes," the man in the cap says. 

Alt blinks a lot more at this, “…woah. That’s… insane.” He says to J3. 

"You said We're friends in another world?" The hoodied man smiles and looks around at the others. "Do you guys hear that? We're all friends in another world!" His excitement is almost contagious.

Alt’s head whips to the hoodied man and he blinks almost comically at his enthusiasm. He laughs quietly. “Y-Yeah… you are. Are you… not friends now…?”

"Well, I think we are!" the man in the hoodie says. "I mean--we're sort of new to it. We didn't have that much time to get to know each other." 

The man in the turtleneck chuckles. "I think we are friends, yes. Even if M is being a bitch right now." 

"I'm just so happy to hear that we're still friends in other places," the hoodied man says, beaming. "We don't know an 'Alt' right now, but maybe we'll meet you someday!"

Alt can’t help but smile. “Well… that’s good to hear… I mean to be fair… I’ve only known my friends for like… a year or so? Maybe two? So… I get it.” 

Alt does seem to cringe a bit at them not knowing an Alt and grips at his arm. “I mean… do you … know an Anti…?” He asks quietly.

"Anti?" the hoodied man repeats. "That's a weird name. I mean--no offense." 

Alt laughs and shakes his head, “None taken. I made it up when I was like 4.” 

The man in the cap blinks. "That's... what A called himself... one time." 

The man in the turtleneck looks back at him. "What? When did you hear him say that, C?" 

"While we were leaving. Wh-when me and J were alone with him for a while." C swallows a lump in his throat. A moment passes. 

"Well that doesn't mean anything," the hoodied man says firmly. "Alt here is clearly different. He's not trying to stab us."

Alt listens to the others and sighs, “that’s what I was afraid of… my parallels in other places seem to be very… stabby. And fucked up.” He tries to process all of this and then looks up at everyone. “Wait.. do you all… just go by letters? All of you?”

"Heh. Unfortunately." C pulls away the scarf he's wearing, revealing tattoos reading C1104. "This is all we really have to go off." 

The man in the hoodie removes his bandanna next. J1007. 

Then, reluctantly, the man in the turtleneck pulls down his shirt, revealing H1509. 

"I'm J1, by the way," says the one in the hoodie. "J is someone else."

Alt seems to pale slightly, looking at all their tattoos. “N…no way. You guys don’t… even know your names?? Just a letter? H…how? How did that happen?”

"Well if we knew that we'd be calling each other our names," C mutters. 

J3 sighs. There is... a company in this world. A corporation. They like to control unusual things. Including people. But people prove hard to work with, so they remove their memories. 

"J3 was only a partial success, though," H says. "Due to his... state." 

But even though I know more about the world and what happened, I don't know any personal details of who I was before, J3 clarifies.

Alt looks heartbroken for them, his chest aching. Seeing versions of his friends reduced to just… letters and numbers. Things to control and… experiment with. Just like how SCLERA saw him and chase…! 

He’s quiet for a couple beats before he softly says, “…I could tell you… I could tell you your names. If… if you wanna know…”

The group falls silent, their eyes going wide in shock. None of them were expecting this. Even J3 seems a little surprised. 

"I... are you sure they are the same?" H asks. 

“Pretty sure…” Alt says. “I’ve been… to a lot of parallel worlds. I know all your faces. Every name has been pretty much the same…” 

C fidgets. "Um... s-someone called me... something once. It might... be true... So... I don't think it's fair that I might know and you guys don't." 

J1 takes a step back. "Um... I-I don't... I..." He shakes his head. "We should all be here when you do that. M and J aren't here, a-and only J3's shadow is." 

"And... it is strange, but... it feels like cheating," H says. "Perhaps... you can offer again, later. Perhaps things will be different then."

Alt nods but he looks… uncomfortable. It’s so strange to be around people who just… don’t even have names. “‘Course- wherever you guys want.” 

Alt does knit his eyebrows together though, “Okay then… random question. If this is J3 and you’re J1 … who’s J2?”

"Oh, there's not one," J1 says. "There's just J, J1, and J3." 

"They are nicknames derived from our subject identifications," H says, indicating the neck tattoos again. "There was never one starting with J2 at the facility." 

"Which is weird," C says. 

No, because the numbers are dates, J3 say. It just means they didn't pair up a J with someone they brought in on a 20th of a month. 

"Ohhh. Still weird. But less weird."

"Ohhh okay.... that makes sense," Alt says. He looks around the room again and then asks, "...so... why are you all just- holed up in a motel room? and you said that ...M and J weren't here? Any idea where they are?"

The group exchanges uneasy glances. J3 leans against the wall, waiting for others to do the talking. 

Finally, C sighs and sets the toy gun down on the night stand. “We… escaped from somewhere. A facility run by this corporation J3 mentioned. Th-they’re still looking for us, so we’re hiding from them. And running. We… needed somewhere to sleep, so…” He gestures around at the room. 

"Oh..." Alt mumbles quietly. "I'm... so sorry. I... kinda know the feeling but... not as bad as you guys have it." 

“J got left behind,” J1 says quietly. “He’s still back there. W-we we’re talking about going back for him. But, uh, when we brought it up…” 

“M started acting like a little bitch baby and left,” H grumbles. “He took the van we were using, too. J3 went with him—which I know is confusing considering J3 is right here—” J3 waves. “—but think of him as a version from the future, and our current J3 left.” 

“I mean… I don’t blame M for freaking out,” C says. “But still. Did he have to take the van?”

Alt sighs and rubs his head. "Well... it was nice meeting you all but... if you're in hiding I don't want to expose you all... I need to find my brother and my friend... and a dangerous man who's been brought with us here."

“A dangerous man…?” J1 says. “Ooo! We can help! We’re like—we can be superheroes, yknow?!” 

J3 nods. I know where your friends appeared. 

“Of course you do,” J1 laughs. “Where?” 

With M. 

“Of fucking course,” H mutters.

Alt blinks in surprise. "...that is like- super freaky. But... helpful!" He laughs. "If you guys wanna help... I'm all for it. Hey- maybe we can get you your van back." 

“Love to get the van back,” C mutters. “I don’t think M knows how to drive. I think I’m the only one.”

He then turns to J1 and studies him. "You said you're... like superheroes? What can all of you do?"

“Ooo! Well I am super strong!” J1 bends over and easily lifts up the end on the bed. 

“Careful, do not make too much noise,” H says. 

“I’m careful!… these days.” J1 gently sets the bed down. “I can also be pretty fast but I have to build up to that speed. And I glow, obviously, and I make people less sad! And then H can heal people while touching them, and C can’t die, and you know about J3’s time thing, and M, when we find him, can do a ton of stuff, he can move stuff without touching and make things suddenly appear and disappear and heat up things—well I guess it’s just those three things when you boil down to it—” 

“Jeez, J1, give him some space to talk,” C laughs.

Alt looks impressed and he laughs shaking his head. "Don't worry I'm used to that. Ch- My brother and... my friend are just like that. But, awesome! That'll all be really helpful. The dangerous man- his name is Magnificent... he's a dark magician from my world that is constantly looking for power and he doesn't care who he hurts to get it. Though hm... I dunno if what you guys can do counts for what he's looking for..."

"Ooooo, a magician," J1 repeats, looking excited. "It's really like in the comic books!" 

"Well, uh, if we don't count, then we might be helpful," C says. "It means he wouldn't be targeting us? Maybe?" 

Alt chuckles at J1's excitement. So much like Jackie... "Yeah... he uh... also goes after his parallels... which I'm pretty sure is M so... best we find them." Alt says quietly. 

"In any case, if your friends appeared near M, we need to find him," H says. "J3? Where did you guys go?" 

Turn right when leaving the motel and head straight that way, J3 says. And then, abruptly, he disappears. 

C blinks. "Just when the shadows start giving you good information, they fade away every time. Well. At least we know where to head."

Alt blinks too as J3 disappears and then laughs, "Guess that happens a lot then."

"Yeah, they don't tend to stick around," J1 says. "The actual guy does, who we'll meet soon if we're finding M." 

"Great. Let's go, then." H heads into the bathroom, reappearing with a small black bag slung over one shoulder. "We don't have much to take with us." 

"Yeah." C walks over to the closet and grabs a backpack from the floor inside. "Do you think we should be worried about M? If this Magnificent guy is going after him, I mean." 

"M can take care of himself," J1 says. "I think he can handle his own. Not sure if he'd win, though... so that's why we're going." 

"Hope you do not mind walking," H says to Alt.

Alt chuckles, "I mean... I can try to glitch us- but I dunno how close I can get if we don't know exactly where he is..."

J1 looks confused. "Glitch...?" 

"Do you... appear and disappear?" C asks. "Like--teleporting? And it looks all, uh, pixelly and stuff?"

Alt laughs and then glitches from one side of the room back to where he was, "Pretty much yeah~!" He smirks.

"Ooooo!" J1 gasps. 

"That can come in very handy," H agrees. 

C tilts his head. "A could do that too... but I think it mostly traveled through, like, electrical systems and stuff. And you can... take other people? Huh." 

"I can... kinda do that too. But, I try not to do it too often... messes with my brain and shit." Alt says, hunching up in his hoodie. 

"But we do not know where he is, so I do not think we could go right there," H says. 

C sighs. "You're right. We're gonna have to walk." 

"It's gonna be a nice day, though!" J1 says cheerfully. "So let's get to it!" 

Alt chuckles, "Walking's fine. Let's get going then."

----------- 

Bro and Jackie fall together, landing in a patch of tall grass. It looks like it's around sunrise. On one side of them are some scraggly trees forming a rough forest. On the other side of them is a long single-lane road. A van has pulled off the side of this road, parked directly on a dirt spot by it. It's a white van that looks like it had a logo once, but which was covered up by household off-white paint.

Bro groans and rubs at his head, blearily looking around at the surroundings. 

Jackie lays on the ground for a minute, sighing. "Dude... I'm so tired. I think after this I'm gonna sleep for like ... a week." 

Bro chuckles, "Maybe you'll actually fix your sleep schedule this time." 

"Doubtful." Jackie smirks and then pushes himself up. He looks around, squinting. "Why the fuck are we in the middle of nowhere?" 

"Near a freaking- creepy van too..." Bro comments, pointing it out. 

"... I hope they don't offer us candy- or a puppy." Jackie tries to joke.

The doors at the back of the van open up, and a man hops out. He’s wearing a white button up shirt underneath a blue T shirt, and has a thick mustache. His eyes land on the two of them, and he freezes. 

Then immediately climbs back into the van and closes the doors again.

Bro and Jackie blink at the sight of the man and watch him climb back into the van. They're silent for a second. 

"...that looked like Jay." Jackie says. 

"No yeah 100%." Bro replies. 

"...should we... I dunno... knock?" 

"I dunno- what's proper etiquette for trying to enter someone's van?" Bro makes a face, "...Now I sound like Jays." 

Jackie giggles.

The man doesn’t appear again. Nothing else moves.

After a bit of waiting, Bro finally sighs and gets up, moving towards the van. Jackie trails nervously behind him. 

Bro hesitates, then knocks on the van door. "Uh- hello?" Bro tries to call.

Suddenly, the van door bursts open again. A different person stands there, a man with shoulder-length hair wearing a loose long-sleeved shirt. He glares at Chase and Jackie. His eyes are strange. Normal blue, but with strands of white light dancing across the surface, like sunlight through water. 

“Don’t fucking talk to me C, J1!” he snaps. “I don’t care what you say! I’m not coming with you! I’m not going back! Sorry that you wasted the trip out here, but fuck off!”

Bro and Jackie both step back with wide eyes. 

Bro puts up his hands in a calming gesture. "Woahhh! Hey I uh- dunno who those... guys are? But- not them! I'm Chase- and this is my friend Jackie? We uh... saw someone we thought we recognize go into that van and so we uh... wanted to see?"

The man pauses. His eyes flick over the two of them, taking in the details. And he starts to look confused. He turns over his shoulder and looks back into the van. “It’s not them,” he whispers, too quietly for Jackie’s non-super ears to pick out. “I don’t know. Are they going to hurt us? Well go check!”

Bro tilts his head. He calls, "We're not gonna hurt you! We just... wanna know where we are. And uh... well- see if you guys can help us? We need to find some people but we're kinda lost?"

The man tenses, looking back at Bro. “Wha—no, you didn’t hear that! You didn’t hear that!” He suddenly closes the van doors. 

Bro balks as the door gets slammed in his face.

"...I think these guys might be a tad bit paranoid-" Jackie whispers. Bro tries to hide a laugh.

Then, a moment later, the doors open again, and now the man from before is in front while the second one lingers in the background. 

Can you understand me? he asks in sign language. 

Bro perks up as the first man pops back in. He nods, "Yeah I can! We both can understand sign language." He gestures to Jackie who is still lurking behind him, almost like a shy child.

The first man sighs. I’m sorry about my friend’s reaction. He’s not good with people, and you look like some guys we know who he argued with. If we can help, I’d like to. You’re looking for someone?

Bro deflates in relief and he smiles. "Yeah... we're looking for my little brother. Andddd someone... not so great. A villain. Tho we did just drop in so... I don't think he's gotten into too much trouble yet." He sticks his hands in his pockets. "We just... need to know where we can go to start looking for them. Cuz- I dunno where the hell we are."

We’re sort of isolated right now, the man says. But there’s a town back there. He points down the road. 

“The town’s called Mooridge, I think,” the other guy mutters. He brushes back his hair absentmindedly, and for a moment, the guys catch a glimpse of some sort of black mark on his neck. A tattoo of some kind. 

We haven’t seen anyone else, the first one says. But it is early in the day. We were asleep for a while. We could have missed someone.

"Ah, that makes sense." Bro nods. "Well- sorry to disturb you both. I guess we'll head that way." 

Jackie looks at Bro and then tugs on his jacket pulling him back to whisper to him, "What are you doing? Shouldn't we be... I dunno- sticking with these two? They're... kinda our friends. And they know how this world works!" 

"They clearly don't want to be around anyone, Jackie! I'm sure we can manage on our own..."

The two in the van stare at Bro, and the first looks at the second. 

“Can you check?” the second asks. “They’ve already seen my eyes.” 

The first one nods. And something flickers. It looks like a copy of him, monochrome and blurry, walks away from him and fades into nothing. Then another one of those copies comes back and walks over to him.

Bro and Jackie stop their conversation to stare wide eyed at the blurry copies coming and going off the first man. 

"...am I hallucinating?" Jackie breathes. 

"Nooo I see it too. W-What the hell?" Bro whispers. "Uh... w-what are you... checking, exactly?" 

I hope you’re not offended by this, but I was checking to see if you were telling the truth when you said you wouldn’t hurt us, the first man says. 

“And?” The other prompts. 

They’re not. 

The other man breathes a sigh of relief. 

The first one sits down, legs dangling out of the open doorway. Are you two really from another universe? 

“Wha—” the other man chokes in surprise.

The swaps exchange confused glances but kinda just shrug it off- until the first one asks his question. Bro and Jackie also choke slightly- eyes wide. 

"How... How did you know that??" Jackie asks, flabbergasted.

You’ll talk about it a lot in the future, the first man says. 

“J3, are you sure this is safe to talk about?” The second man asks. 

Yes, I trust the three of them.

"You can see the future??" Bro gasps, then smiles, "Just like Jair! Oh- that's really cool! ... I don't think you're an oracle though-" 

"Ohhh yeah!" Jackie blinks at the first man and then sheepishly smiles. "Well... since you seem to know so much about us and trust us now... can we get your names?"

J3 smiles sadly. Unfortunately, we don’t know our names. Our memories were lost. So we call each other nicknames. 

Bro and Jackie look shocked. “You don’t even know your names…?” Bro whispers in sympathetic horror. 

The second man sighs. “I’m M. This is J3. You are Chase and Jackie. Glad we’re all introduced.”

“Oh… well… n-nice to meet you then, M… J3…. Why the 3?” Jackie asks.

Because we know two others who also started with a J, J3 says. 

“You know even more people who don’t know their names?! And they- they look like us??” Bro looks absolutely flabbergasted. This whole situation… it’s making him feel… weird. And uncomfy. And he’s not sure why… 

Unfortunately, J3 says. Four others, to be exact. 

“I… thought you were one of them…one of the Js,” M mutters, glancing at Jackie and then looking away. “Thought him and someone else we know had come here to try and… talk to me. Convince me to do something.”

“Ah- that explains the yelling then,” Jackie says, crossing his arms. “Immm guessing you all split off?”

M fold his arms. “They wanted to do something stupid. Well if they want to do that, fine, I’m not going with though and they can’t fucking make me.” 

They might be mad that we took the van, though, J3 says.

“I mean- I’d be mad if someone took my car.” Jackie comments. 

Bro knits his eyebrows together, “…what did they want to do?”

"They wanted to go back to that place!" M snaps. "Back to the place we came from! The place where they--where we were--" He shudders, looking to the side. "We were... stuck in this... this facility. A-and the people there, they--they--" And he stops again. 

It was not a kind place, J3 signs slowly. But one of us got left behind in the confusion when we escaped. The others wanted to go back for him.

Bro's eyes widen. That... sounds like what Alt told him about... about that place- SCLERA. He shudders and holds his arm. Then, after a beat he says, "...M-Maybe... we could help. We could help you get him back?" 

Jackie looks at Bro like he's crazy.

"What?! No! We're not going back there!" M shouts. "I-I don't want to--I really don't want to--I--" He turns around and walks farther into the van, disappearing after sight. 

J3 watches him go with a sad expression. Then he sighs and turns back to the other two. I do think we should go get our friend, but... M's experience there was... terrible. I don't blame him for not wanting to go back. But I don't want him to be out here by himself, so I'm staying with him. But... we may be able to help you find YOUR friend, maybe?

Jackie nods, “That’s a good idea. We’d really appreciate that. We don’t wanna get too much into things that don’t involve us.” He slightly nudges Bro. 

Bro glares at bit at Jackie but then slowly nods. “Yeah… okay. We need to find my brother, Alt. …god I hope he didn’t end up in this- facility place…”

Hold on, I can check where he appeared, J3 says. Another one of those monochrome shadows stands up and disappears. He nods. You said his name was A-L-T? He didn't appear there. He showed up with our other friends. 

M comes back just in time to see this. "You're fucking kidding."

“Heyyy that’s handy!” Jackie grins. 

Bro sighs in relief. “Okay… at least he’s safe. Can you… help us get to them? Even if… you don’t wanna see them. Sorry, M.”

M groans for a long time, staring up at the sky. "Fine," he finally says, shortly. "Get in. I'm driving. We can meet them halfway." He climbs out of the van and walks around towards the driver's side door. 

Thank you! J3 says. That's so kind! 

"Yeah, yeah."

Jackie laughs. That was such a Marvin-ism. Takes him back. 

“Thank you!” Bro calls too. Then him and Jackie climb into the van.

The area in the van is mostly empty. There's a pile of clothes in the corner and a handful of blankets and pillows in the center. Clearly a crude sleeping area. Sitting on top of one of the pillows are three plush animals. A purple llama, a rainbow elephant, and a black and white seal. Part of the llama's fur is a bit burned. 

As soon as the two guys are in, J3 closes the van doors, leaving the area dimly lit. 

M pushes open a window that connects the main body of the van to the part where the driver sits. "J3, can you hand me Lia?" 

J3 nods. He picks up the llama plush and passes it to M though the window. 

"Thanks." M takes it. A moment later, the engine starts up.

Bro and Jackie look around and then try to find a place to get comfy. Bro sits up against the wall of the van. Jackie sticks close by. 

Jackie smiles when he sees the stuffed animals and M grabbing one. “aw those are cute. Remind me of one’s my daughters have. Do the other two have names?”

"Yeah well I'm not a child!" M snaps. Then he pauses. "Sorry. That was... you weren't implying anything. Didn't mean to shout." 

Another pause. "Ella and Seth. That's the other two. They're... very important to me."

Jackie blinks in surprise then laughs nervously. “Oh.. well- those are nice names! I’m… um- glad you have them.” 

“They’re very cute.” Bro adds with a smile.

"Thanks. I think so, too." M slowly turns the van around and starts driving down the road. 

Slowly. J3 knocks on the window. You can go a bit faster, you know. 

"Oh, but last night you were complaining about me going to fast." 

There has to be a middle ground. 

Jackie laughs, “yeah- that middle ground is usually called the speed limit.”

"You know, I don't think I drove a lot before this," M says. "This all feels new. C was driving us before, he said that driving felt familiar. I don't feel that." 

C came from somewhere else, like H did, maybe people over there drive more than here, J3 says.

“…are you saying you haven’t driven before??” Jackie asks, suddenly nervous. “I-I have my license if you’d like! I could drive just steer me in the right direction!!” 

Bro chuckles, “Hey they’ve gotten this far- seems like he’s at least decent.”

"I-it's just a straight line, it'll be fine," M says. "But, uh. You could come up to the passenger seat if you want. And tell me how I'm doing."

“…yeah sure why not. Practice for when my kids get older I guess.” Jackie mumbles. 

Once the car stops he makes his way over to the passenger side and hops in. Bro tries his best to hide his laughter. 

M nods at Jackie as he climbs in . "Good to h-have you here," he says, suddenly a bit nervous. Lia the llama is sitting on the drink tray between the two seats. The driver's cabin is pretty generic... except for the world 'AMBREL' stamped across the dashboard. "Now let's keep going." He puts the van in gear again and keeps going. 

Still a bit slow.

Jackie smiles encouragingly. He watches for a while before leaning over, “You can step on the gas a little bit more. Try to press with just the front of your foot instead of putting your whole weight.”

"Just the front... okay." The van lurches forward for a moment before M figures out a good speed. 

Jackie clings to his seat in slight for a second before he gives M a shaky thumbs up. “That’s good!” 

There's someone else who came from your universe with you besides your friend Alt, right? J3 asks. I heard him talking about someone else, and you mentioned someone earlier. 

Bro blinks at J3’s signs and then nods. “Yeah… there’s also a… a dangerous guy here. His name is Magnificent. He’s a seriously messed up dude- who can do all sorts of messed up mental magic and like control people.”

J3 shudders. We know something like that. They called it A1010. It can put people in a trance or make them see things. But it prefers to be more... direct. 

"Do you think A1010 is still at the facility?" M asks J3. 

J3 nods. 

"Well in that case, at least we won't have to worry about him as well as this Magnificent guy."

Bro shudders, "Yeah,,, I'd hate to have to deal with two people like that... Mag is bad enough." He can't help thinking about the King and Mag working together. Yeah he'd really like to avoid that if he can.

----------- 

Magnificent appears in a room that's entirely white. Walls, floors, ceiling, all white. But the lighting is red, so it's all bathed in crimson. A single door leads into the room, made of metal and halfway slid open. The main feature of the room is a glass wall. Or, three, actually, making a room within a room. Inside the glass is a set of furniture, like you'd find a bedroom, all generic and metal. Cameras are scattered across the area outside of the glass, on the ground and on tripods, cables connecting them all to a corner of the room where the plaster has been torn away, with the cables feeding into the resulting hole.

Magnificent awoke as they fell and so he falls into the room and has to push himself up, his face aching. He growls and bares his teeth, "Fucking... Brodys- both of them! I'm gonna rip that hero into fucking shred-!" He pauses as he realizes where he is and his stomach slowly drops as he pushes himself up to his feet. "W-What... what is this...?" He breathes. Then, his anger spikes and he throws himself at the glass, trying to break out of it.

The glass is surprisingly--unnaturally, in fact--sturdy. 

"Um..." A man pokes his head out from around one of the furniture pieces--the free-standing wardrobe. He's wearing a black hoodie, and the sclera of his right eye is bright green. "Who... are you?" he asks timidly. "How did you get in here?"

Magnificent screams in rage, ready to strike again when the voice gives him pause. He straightens up to look back at the other man and tilts his head. He narrows his eyes. "...You can call me Magnificent. As for how I got here... I have no earthly idea. Usually the device doesn't put us in such... situations." He glares up at the ceiling and crosses his arms, trying to hide how unnerved he really is. "... suppose the universe is having a laugh at me." He then sighs and looks back at the man. "Who are you? What is this place?"

"I'm, um... J? J0702. That's what they call me." The man pulls aside the edge of his hoodie, showing that sequence tattooed on his neck. "This is... a facility, I guess? The location is called JSE2012. I-I don't know where it is. Sorry." J gives a small, nervous laugh. "You... got in here with a... device?"

Magnificent makes a face seeing the man's tattoo. "Huh... a facility." He then snorts and waves his hand, "Yes- some device my cub picked up. It takes us from our own world into others. Appearing in a new world is random... hence... my being... here."

"You're from another universe?" J asks. "I... guess I've heard weirder. There are probably things to help you travel to other worlds here." 

Suddenly, the sound of static fills the room. Red lights start blinking on all the cameras. 

J tenses, staring in horror. "Oh god." He scrambles backwards, glancing around wildly for somewhere to hide. The closet isn't deep enough for him to fit. There's a chest, but it's also not big enough for a grown man to fit. The only real option is the attached bathroom, which is just big enough for a toilet. 

"I--If you can get out of here, you should. Or--if you can hide somehow, you should."

Magnificent raises an eyebrow, looking back at J. "And... why is that?" He glances at the cameras and bares his teeth at them. He could always try teleporting out of here.... how did he forget that? He blames Fantastic for scrambling his brain.

A mass of black stuff pours out on the lens of a camera, something grisly. It glitches, breaking into green pixels and broken static. 

“Because of that!” J says, running into the bathroom and sliding the door closed. The mass pours onto the ground and then rises again, forming a humanoid shape. And then the figure shifts, turning into… a perfect image of Magnificent himself. Well, almost perfect. The right eye is dangling from the socket.

Magnificent still looks confused then watches the camera thing glitch and- "What the hell?!' He growls at the copy and lights magic in his hands, baring his teeth. "What kind of joke is this?!"

"You see your own face and think it's a joke?" The other him laughs and tilts his head. "That's not a good way to think of yourself." He walks up to the glass, pressing his forehead against it. "Have you trapped yourself in there? Are you too afraid to try and get out?"

Magnificent snarls at the copy. "I can get out just fine!" He tries to teleport out of the glass to attack this cheap imitation!

He can teleport out just fine but- he ends up barreling past the copy and skids on the floor. He seems temporary relived there was no magic barrier or anything keeping him in.

The copy laughs, twisting around to look at Magnificent--first the head, then the torso, then the legs. "You're not that smart, are you?" it says. "Never have been. And not as powerful as you think. Otherwise you wouldn't keep getting knocked out every time you fight someone in these worlds. Maybe you're just a bit... o̴u̕t̴ ͟o̢f̶ ̀y̢o̕ur͠ ̨dep̛th̶.̕"

 A knife appears in the copy's hand and it rushes for him.

Magnificent makes a disgusted face and staggers back. Then, he yells out in rage and tries to block the copy's attack but he gets sliced across the arm. He grunts then whips out to blast fire its way.

The copy screeches as the fire burns him. He loses concentration, dropping Magnificent's appearance and returning to a black skeletal look. He crouches close to the ground and shifts again--now looking just like that man from before, J0702. Still with that dangling eye, and with the addition of a slit throat weeping blood. He looks up at Magnificent and laughs. "Always so blunt. Except for when you're not, and even then, you are." 

The air behind him flickers, glitches and colored static running together, forming... a spiral.

Magnificent backs up more, watching this thing with wide eyes. "W-What are you?!" He cries. He then watches at the spiral forms- but soon enough he growls, not being pulled into its thrall. He starts to laugh madly, "Fine! You wanna copy each other?! I can do that too!" He spreads out his hands and an array of magic knives appears above him in an arc. He shouts and sends them all flying at the creature.

The creature glitches wildly, avoiding most of the knives--however, a couple hit him, and he screeches again. He disappears and reappears inside the glass wall. And, smiling, he gives a smug little wave. "You ask me what I am? I am ▒A░n░t░i▒, and I am the only one like me in this world."

Magnificent hisses at the creature then laughs, "You call yourself that then? Pity- I know far greater Antis then you. Ones that don't cower behind glass."

"Cower...? Do you think it matters to me where this body is?" All at once, the cameras in the room turn towards Magnificent. Electricity sparks along the cables, turning the floor into a minefield. "This facility is mine now," A hisses. "You will not escape it." 

He reaches up towards the lights in the ceiling. His form becomes electric and disappears up into it. The half-open entrance to the room shuts and clicks, sealing itself closed.

"What?!" Magnificent gasps, he tries to run towards the door- seeing if he can try to teleport out of it-! He can't be trapped here, he can't!

He appears on the other side of the sealed door in a long hallway, all with equally sealed doors. There's a hole in the ceiling, through which dangle wires and metal parts sparking with electricity. The ceiling creaks, like something heavy is moving on top of it.

Magnificent tries to keep his panic back as he rushes forward, trying to look for another way out.

Every single door is sealed shut. The only ones that aren't are ones that aren't all that important, leading to janitor closets or electrical rooms that are so full of loose electricity that he can't step inside at all.

"No no no!" Magnificent hisses. Okay... maybe there's... power around here? Something he can use? He tries to look around for any source of magic or power nearby.

Yes, there's power all around, though it feels slightly different than what he's expecting. It's hard to describe. Like someone was recreating a recipe but got the ingredients slightly wrong. It's mostly... above him? On the higher floors of this facility.

Magnificent purses his lips at this. But, at least it gives him a goal. He stops his running and tries to teleport up higher.

The next floor up is exactly the same as the one below--though some of the walls are knocked down, revealing large, featureless rooms beyond. 

And inside one of those rooms, a large creature is moving...

Magnificent tries to focus but... what is that thing? He... He's too curious not to get a closer look. He approaches the creature with a tilted head.

That thing turns out to be a giant animal. A raccoon, to be specific, The thing is about ten feet tall, sniffing along the edge . There's a collar wrapped around its neck, on which is written, in massive letters, S1707. It raises its head, looks at Mag, and growls.

Magnificent is startled by the raccoon. "What is the world??" He asks and then shakes his head and looks around for that source of power.

There are several sources around... and the closest is, indeed, the raccoon. But the second closest comes from some way down the hall. It seems like it's actually two sources close together.

...he doesn't want to chance being mauled by a raccoon. He heads towards the other two sources.

In one of the smaller rooms with the walls broken, there's... a cat. A cat right in the middle of the room. It's a very fluffy white one, and it's batting at a ball of purple string. Seems like the power is coming from both the cat and the yarn ball. Oh... it's such a pretty cat, too.

Magnificent inherit love of cats has him softening slightly at the sight. He chuckles and starts to approach the cat, kneeling down close to it and offering it his hand. "Well.. hello there beautiful!"

The cat looks up at him with big green eyes. There's a collar around its neck with the ID W3012 on it, along with a small black box. It meows gently and bats the yarn ball towards him. It misses, and just keeps rolling. It's unraveling... and unraveling... and unraveling... the ball doesn't look any smaller but the string trailing from it is now about ten feet long. Heh. How funny.

Magnificent watches the ball roll with increasing concern. "What... the fuck...?" He shakes his head then tries to pet the cat.

The cat sniffs his hand, then flicks her tail and sits down, purring, allowing herself to be pet. For some reason, Magnificent is reminded of something... Some time when he last felt... content... 

How long ago was that...? 

...too long. It's been far too long. 

Since he became... this- he always yearned for something more. For power... for magic.. for souls. Contentment isn't something he's used to anymore. 

So... the last memory that comes up into his head is... uni. He's sitting in the living room, excitedly telling Jackie about a new spell he learned as he works on a costume for class. Jackie is laughing, his cheeks red and Mag feels his own cheeks flushed, having an easy relaxed smile. ...how long has it been since he smiled like that? 

He gasps and pulls away from the cat, feeling a... wetness in his eyes. He trembles back from her, his voice caught in his throat.

"Aw... isn't that s̀w̕eet̛?" 

The cat's head snaps to the side. It yowls and suddenly bolts. Away from the figure who suddenly appeared. 

The black, skeletal figure that soon transforms into... Jackie, just as he looked in that memory. 

Magnificent stiffens and then scrambles away from the creature- but his breath is taken away as he sees Jackie. Just how he remembered him. 

But that cruel smile ruins it. 

"You know you can't go back there," A whispers. Blood starts to leak from his eyes as they roll back in his head.

A choked noise comes from Mag’s mouth at A's words. But, then he growls and shoots a bolt of magic at him. "I know I can't! I-I don't need to!"

The bolt hits Jackie square in the chest and he screams, falling backwards. He lands hard on his back, the front of his shirt burned and smoking from the impact. "M...Marvin...?" he breathes. "Wh-why...?" 

And then he breathes out and stops moving.

Magnificent stands there, frozen, his hand still outstretched. He feels like he can't breathe. Part of him knows- knows this isn't Jackie- but the other part of him, that part of his heart that still beats- still convinces him he's human- its screaming. 

He backs up, another choked noise of confusion and suppressed pain escaping his lips.

Moments pass in silence. Jackie lies there, unmoving. 

Until... "Fascinating," a voice whispers behind him. "I thought you were heartless."

Magnificent shudders and then moves to slash behind him, breathing heavily. "S-Shut up! S-Stop messing with me!"

His claws scrape across A's chest--once again in the form of Magnificent himself--and he falls backwards, laughing. "But it's so fun, isn't it?!" he shouts, still laughing. "And you'd better get used to it! Because you'll be here for a while." 

And then his body disperses into pixels and disappears.

Magnificent huffs, a mix of rage and sudden exhaustion. He takes a second to compose himself, breathing deeply. Then, he rubs at his eyes, growling to himself. He shakes his head and goes to move forward... he needs to find a way out of here.