#distorter

[crystalninjaphoenix]

On The Outside

Switch AU

A JSE Fanfic

A bit of a shorter chapter this time! Short for me, at about 5500 words XD But hey, it doesn't need to be longer, y'know? We flash back a couple days to look at how the rest of the group reacted to the main guys disappearing. Jack, Stacy, and Rama all have to figure out what to do now that five of their friends are missing. They get help from an unexpected source... and one of them has an encounter with a very expected hostile source indeed. Anyway yeah. A few shorter scenes. Enjoy!

More of This AU | | First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Read on AO3 under CrystalNinjaPhoenix

“Sam? Saaam?” Jack wandered around the hospital hallways, looking around for that familiar green glow. Where could they have gone?

“Do they always disappear like this?” Stacy asked.

“I mean, I don’t keep an eye on them all the time, but they rarely leave suddenly like this,” Jack explained. “Even when they disappeared to go find Anti the first time—and I mean the first time, you know, before I even met any of them—even then, they said something vague about needing to do something.”

“This is no time for jokes,” Stacy said, slightly annoyed.

“Huh?”

“You said ‘keep an eye on them.’”

Jack stopped walking. Then he laughed. “I didn’t mean to do that.” His smile quickly fell. “But seriously. I have a bad feeling about them being gone. Maybe they’re outside?”

“Is it really a good idea to leave the others?” Stacy asked. “After all, Distorter might still be around.”

Jack hesitated. “We’ll just pop our heads outside really quick. You can stay up here if you want.”

“No... I think we should stay in pairs. Safety in numbers, you know?”

The two of them took the elevator down to the first floor, then headed out through the main entrance. Outside, the parking lot didn’t look too unusual. It was filled with cars, including a blue van parked next to the curb. But Jack started, hearing something. “Sam?” he called.

“What? Do you see them?” Stacy asked.

“No, but I hear them, so they can’t be too far,” Jack said. “They’re saying to go down the street... Sam, we can’t leave the others. Are you sure?” He paused. “Well... if it will only take a minute... They want you to come, too, Stacy.”

Stacy frowned, but didn’t protest, just followed Jack as he walked down the street.

Then down another.

And another.

“Sam, this is getting ridiculous,” Jack muttered. “Why do we need to go so far? And where are you? You’re not flying away, are you?” He paused. “Are you?” He made a face. “Sam, this isn’t funny. We might as well go back to the hospital—Gah! Okay, okay, fine! But we’re not going any farther than the street corner.”

He and Stacy stop next to a traffic light on a corner. Jack looked up—and noticed one of the lights was the wrong shade of green. “Sam! Get down here!” he shouted.

Sam flew down to the sidewalk, hovering between Jack and Stacy. “So, uh, what’s up with the wild good chase?” Stacy asked the little eyeball.

“Yeah, this really isn’t like you.” Jack folded his arms and glared at them.

Sam darted forward, up to Jack’s face.

“Whoa!” Jack stumbled backwards, pressing his hands to his ears. “Slow down, Sam!” But Sam continued to stare at him intently.

“What are they saying?” Stacy asked.

“Well, uh... I can’t remember if you know this, but sometimes Sam gets these strange feelings, this, uh... knowledge that they need to do something.” Jack bit his lip. “They suddenly had one of these feelings, and knew that you and I had to leave the hospital. But they don’t know why.”

Stacy shivered. “Maybe there was some danger?”

Jack’s eyes widened. “Maybe there was some danger... shit!” He spun around and ran back the way they came. Stacy followed shortly after. They both had the same thought. If there was danger at the hospital, the others could be in trouble. And even if they weren’t—danger in a hospital was never a good thing.

Even running, it took a while for them to reach the hospital again. And then they had to get up to the right floor and the right word. Neither of them said anything the whole way, too worried with what they would find when they returned to the room.

But what they found was... nothing at all.

———————

“They couldn’t have just disappeared!” Rama shouted.

“No, we know! Clearly something happened!” Stacy shouted back, her voice cracking.

“Can we all stop yelling at each other?!” Jack yelled.

Rama slumped. They ran a hand through their hair and turned around, pacing across their living room. “You’re right. This isn’t helping anything. I just... e-everything was going so well. Jackie was back, Anti was going to be back... fuck, how do I explain this to Michelle and Will?”

“I don’t know,” Jack said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. Whatever happened there, you two probably wouldn’t have been able to stop it.” Rama looked at Sam, sitting on the edge of the TV. “Why?” They asked them. “Why did you feel like they needed to be away from there?”

A pause. “Sam said they don’t know,” Jack said. “They never really know the reason for their feelings. But... I think we need to be out here.”

“If we were there at the time, we probably would have been taken by whoever did this, too, right?” Stacy said. “That’s why Sam felt like we needed to be away. Which brings us to the question. Who did this? Was it Distorter?”

Rama shook their head. “I don’t know much about Distorter, but from what the others have told me about him, this is not his style. He only wants to control some of them, he wants the rest dead. I have no doubt that if Distorter somehow got an upper hand in that hospital room, there would be at least one body in there. But I do not think he would be able to get that upper hand in the first place. His powers seem very... individual. I would bet he cannot control too many people at one time. He could not make them all walk out.”

“What if... what if Distorter controlled some of them, and made them fight each other?” Stacy suggested. “And the ones being controlled won, so they knocked the others out and dragged them off.”

“There would’ve been signs of a struggle,” Jack said.

“I... yeah, that’s a good point.” Stacy’s shoulders slumped. “So then... why are they gone? Who did this?”

“I have a guess,” Rama muttered. “IRIS. They probably aren’t happy that Jackie took some of their technology.”

“And Schneep... he was a subject there,” Stacy said slowly. “They would want to take him back.”

“Same with Anti,” Jack muttered. “And if IRIS specializes in investigating impossible things, they’d want to take JJ and Marvin, too. For their magic.”

“So we agree,” Stacy said. “IRIS was probably behind this. But... where does that leave us?” They glanced back and forth between Jack and Rama. “We were only able to get Jackie out of that compound because Volt and JJ went in to get him. What do the three of us do? We’re just sort of... normal people.”

“We can come up with something,” Rama said. There was such conviction in their voice that it seemed inevitable. “Stacy, don’t you have some sort of in with them?”

“Huh? I mean... I guess? Maybe? I talked with a guy...”

“And Jack, you have Sam. Surely Sam can help.”

Jack looked over at Sam, who curled their nerve-tail around them as they balanced on the TV. “I guess if we really have to, Sam could try to scout out that IRIS compound. But I don’t want to put them in danger. If IRIS likes weird things, there’s nothing weirder than Sam.”

“Hmm. True.” Rama sighed. “We will come up with something,” they said again, sounding a bit less sure than they did before.

“Do we even know where they are?” Stacy asked. “They have multiple bases, right? Maybe they’re not at that one compound you drove JJ and Schneep out to, Rama.”

Rama went a bit pale. “Well... then we’ll find them!... somehow.”

Jack rubbed his eyes. “I... I’m tired, you two. And maybe... maybe in shock. Are we... really in a mental state to plan a rescue?”

“A mental state?!” Rama repeated incredulously. “Are you saying we should take a break?! We don’t have time for that! Who knows what’s happening to them now that they’ve been fucking kidnapped!”

“Um, well, I-I think Jack has a point...” Stayc said slowly. “I don’t think... IRIS will want to hurt them too badly. They seem like a mad scientist type of group. They’ll probably want to keep them alive... for... stuff.” She shifted on her feet uncomfortably.

“So you’re saying we just stop here?” Rama asked.

“I’m saying we take the rest of the day to think about what to do individually,” Jack said. “We can meet back here tomorrow, once we’ve processed this emotionally. Then our heads will be clearer. And we’ll be ready to make a plan.”

Rama didn’t say anything right away. They turned to stare blankly out the window. Looking towards that IRIS compound where Jackie had been. Then their shoulders slumped. “Sure. Sure we can do that. Do you two need a ride?”

“The bus is fine, thanks,” Stacy said.

“Yeah.” Jack nodded. “We took it here, we can take it back to our places.”

“Alright.” Rama nodded. “See you tomorrow.”

Jack and Stacy said their goodbyes, and Sam flew over to hide in Jack’s pocket. Rama watched them leave through the living room front window. The second they were out of sight, they collapsed onto the sofa, putting their head in their hands. Tears welled in their eyes. Why did so many bad things happen? Just when Jackie had returned, he got taken away again. What bullshit was that? Did god just hate them and Jackie and their little group of friends?

They wanted to just sit there and cry for a little. But then Rama remembered that the kids were still here. Michelle and Will were home. It would be time for lunch soon. They couldn’t just not feed the children they were looking after. So they took a shaky breath and stood up. After lunch, they would have to find some way to break the news to the kids about what happened. They would have to find some way to reassure them. And then... then they would deal with their feelings.

———————

Jack had a hard time getting to sleep that night. He stared up at the ceiling of the hotel room, unable to even close his eyes. He knew it was probably a good thing that Sam had made him leave the hospital. If IRIS really was behind this, they might’ve captured him, too, for his connection to Sam. But... he couldn’t help but feel like he should have done something more. Like he should have stayed behind to help. Maybe it would’ve made a difference. Maybe not. But shouldn’t he have stayed to try?

Maybe he thought too much about helping other people. He spent more time doing that than looking after himself, he knew that. If he just focused for a while, got a real job, he could afford to rent somewhere to stay instead of internally living in hotels. But he didn’t. If he could help others, didn’t that mean he should? Especially if one of these people he could help was a family member he didn’t know existed, and who clearly had been through a lot? Poor Anti... just escaping Distorter’s vice grip on his mind only to be caught by IRIS again.

Sam didn’t sleep. They rested, but they didn’t really sleep. So when Jack noticed a slight glow moving in the corner of his vision, he thought it was them. Until he realized that Sam’s glow was green, and this was a white glow.

Jack immediately sits up and reaches for the nightstand. His phone is there, but so is a knife he’d borrowed from Anti’s apartment recently—or at least, Sam had, bringing it to him in case of self-defense. He hadn’t thought he would need it but in this situation—!

Then he froze. He stared.

Something was forming at the foot of his bed.

It started as a thin column of white light, but as he watched, it filled out, becoming wider, but also fainter. It grew into the vague shape of a person, with arms and a head, but not much else.

ck?aJ

Jack gasped. That voice! It was definitely a voice, but—he couldn’t exactly hear what it was saying. And yet, somehow he knew what it was asking instinctively. “Wh-what are you? H-how do you know my—my name?”

nilWY. chouc srmae eapl

“...call you... Whisper?” Jack repeated, brows furrowing in concentration. It was definitely appropriate. Their voice sounded like a whisper. A very, very weird whisper. “Okay. But you didn’t answer my other question!”

.m mnrT neihad se’.o etferI’i

“What do you mean? Why should I trust you?”

neiso reh’tmT. epedahsf neotnra hnon toah ma iieoTv dh,d uucho.f e rrol r

“The what?”

Bn dst t oyuaeowioud c.f’aoetitre ii , tepn eeblcut tobs’.tYn

“Th-that doesn’t make any sense!” Jack protested.

But the white light of the figure was fading. Soon, it was gone, leaving only a lingering voice in the air.

uhraP rle.sye

Jack stares at the spot where the glowing figure had been. No sign of them remained. “Uh... Sam?”

Sam popped into view. They rested in a small shoebox on the other nightstand.

“Did you... see that? Too?”

Sam told him that they did.

“Oh... okay. Good.” Jack... didn’t know what else to say. Or what else to do. He just... leaned back and went back to bed.

Strangely enough, he has a better time getting to sleep after that.

———————

“Maybe it was an illusion?” Stacy asked. “A trick by Distorter?”

Jack shook his head. “I don’t think so. Sam would have said something. Right?” He was in Rama’s living room once again, this time sitting on the sofa instead of standing. Sam, on his shoulder, bobbed up and down and told Jack that they would have. “Yeah, right.”

“But... can Sam be fooled by Distorter?” Rama asked.

“No no, it’s the opposite, really,” Jack said. “Sam is immune to his powers. That’s why Sam was trying to break through Distorter’s hold in the first place.”

“Well that begs the question, then,” Stacy said. “What was it? Who is this ‘Whisper’ person?”

“Is it even a person?” Rama wondered.

“And what do they want?” Stacy asked.

“I think... I think they want to help us,” Jack said slowly. “They mentioned the compound was to the north... they must have meant the IRIS compound. The one where the others are being kept.”

Rama and Stacy glanced at each other. “Well... that’s great, if it’s true,” Stacy said slowly.

“I can drive up there today, maybe?” Rama said. “But then again, someone has to watch Will and Michelle. And I...” They glanced down the main hallway of the house. The kids were sleeping in today. They hadn’t had the heart to wake them up at the usual time. “...I don’t want to leave them alone. Even with a babysitter.”

“What about tomorrow, then?” Stacy asked. “They have school, then, don’t they?”

Rama scowled. “Can we really leave Jackie and the others in that IRIS place for so long?”

“I... don’t know if we have a choice,” Jack said. “Oh, uh, there’s also that other thing that Whisper said. Something about, uh... we won’t be able to see the compound, but we can find it?”

Rama paused, thinking. “Jameson said that the compound Jackie was at was magically hidden somehow. That’s why he had to come with me and Volt. Well, that, and being backup.” They paused again. “Actually... I think he said it was... not magic? Or... it was some power that was similar to magic? Ah, I don’t understand any of the magic stuff.”

“So... if it’s hidden... how are we supposed to find it?” Stacy asked, getting frustrated. “How are we supposed to find anything if we can’t see it?”

“I don’t know!” Jack threw his hands into the air. “Maybe we’ll get some weird fucking magic sense! Maybe this Whisper will be there! Who knows?!”

“Alright, alright.” Rama shook their head. “In any case, if we can’t go there today, we should talk about what we will do tomorrow when we get there. I think we should scout it out first. But IRIS will probably be protected, so we shouldn’t get too close... Sam might be of some help, but as Jack said yesterday, IRIS might take an interest in them...”

“Maybe we could be more stealthy than that?” Stacy asked. “What if we find some way to sneak in under, uh, regular circumstances?”

Jack and Rama looked at her. Jack made a ‘go on’ gesture.

“Well, I thought about what you said yesterday, about me having an ‘in’ with IRIS,” Stacy said. “They really seemed helpful when I talked to that guy, you know? And, uh, sent me the cameras. Maybe... maybe I could contact them again. Tell them about more weird stuff I’d seen. Try to come up with some reason for me to have to go to one of their facilities. Then, uh, if I go in there, maybe I could look around, try to figure out if Anti and everyone are really there, and how to get them out.”

“By yourself?” Jack asked.

“Huh?”

“Are you suggesting you’d go in by yourself?” Jack repeated. “That, uh, doesn’t seem like the best idea... I know that we don’t have any special powers like the others or anything, but the three of us on this rescue would be better than just one person.”

Stacy slumped slightly. “Maybe I could... tell them about you guys? Maybe if I said you two were involved, too, we could get a legitimate way in.”

Rama frowned. “I shouldn’t be involved if we’re doing things that way. They definitely know that I’m married to Jackie. They might realize that we’re looking for him if I come along.”

“Just me and Jack, then. You can stay outside and... provide backup?”

Rama chuckled. “I was the getaway driver when we got Jackie out.”

“Maybe we could buy some walkie-talkies or something to communicate with each other on whatever heist we do!” Jack said.

Stacy blinked. “Or... we could use our phones?”

“Oh. Well, yeah, but walkie-talkies are cooler. And less noticeable.”

“I think a phone, something that everyone carries around, would be much less noticeable than a walkie-talkie, which almost no one carries around casually.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Fine. But we might need supplies, anyway. Like... self-defense weapons.”

They talked for as long as they could, before Rama heard the kids starting to stir in their room. Once that happened, they agreed it would be best to break it off for now. Though none of them were happy with waiting an extra day to go check out this location Whisper had shared with them, it was really their only option. Unless Jack or Stacy wanted to go out there without Rama, but they didn’t. They all needed to be in this together. They all wanted to be in this together. If they were going to get their friends back, sticking together would be the best way of going about this.

But still, none of them liked to wait.

———————

Jack had said he would buy some supplies that might be helpful. And Rama said they would look after the kids. So that left Stacy by herself for the rest of the day. Unsure what to do. Unsure what she could do. She was just a normal person. She worked in real estate, how was that any help? And honestly, she didn’t even like real estate. So she wouldn’t even be good at that. The most she could probably do was reach out to the freaky corporation keeping the others hostage and hope that they didn’t realize the connection between her and them.

...thinking about it stressed her out. She needed... she needed to not think about it for a moment.

When she needed to relax, she liked to cook or bake. It took up a lot of her mental energy. But she didn’t have many ingredients in her rental house at the moment. She needed to go out for groceries soon... maybe after everyone was back. But she did have ingredients to bake. After all, it was rare that she used up a whole bag of flour. So she ordered food for delivery and got out her supplies. Luckily, the rental house had a lot of things for baking, like pans and a stand mixer. For a while, she lost herself in making some cookies. Chocolate chip ones, because she had the chips to use up.

After a while, she put the tray in the oven, closing it. Now... with nothing to do... her worries returned. Really, how the hell could they get their friends out of a top-secret high-security facility?

“You don’t.”

Stacy spun around immediately. Her hand shot to the side, scrambling for something to defend herself with. But a blackened hand grabbed her wrist, stopping her inches from opening the silverware drawer.

Distorter smiled at her. That same smile he always had. “Hello, there. Been a while, hasn’t it?”

Stacy yanked her hand free. “It hasn’t been that long! We saw you yesterday! A-and that wasn’t long enough! What are you doing here?!” Her eyes darted around. How did he get in?!

“The window in your living room was unlocked,” Distorter said, like he’s trying to be helpful.

“So you do read my mind!” Stacy gasped, going pale.

“Hm... it’s also just very easy to read your face,” Distorter giggled.

Stacy narrowed her eyes. “So... you didn’t read my mind.”

Distorter didn’t answer. He just stared at her. And, after a moment, leaned closer to her. Stacy instinctively took a step back, but she backed into the warm oven. She was cornered. “I’m giving you one last chance,” he whispered. “Leave.”

His voice sent shivers down her spine, but she gritted her teeth and stared back at him. “You’ve given me a lot of last chances,” she said. “I’m starting to think you’re not actually planning on doing anything to me if I don’t lea—”

He grabbed her. Stacy yelped, feeling his hands squeezing her upper arms. Holy shit, she never realized how much taller he was than her. It had to be at least six inches of difference, right? “Don’t test me,” he said in a low voice. “I am very serious, Stacy. I don’t know what I’ll do if you stay, but it won’t be good.” Huh... that didn’t quite sound like a threat. It almost... sounded like a... warning.

What color were his eyes? Stacy stared at his face. His eyes were supposed to be blue. His eyes were supposed to be blue.

...they weren’t blue.

But they weren’t empty black pits, either.

“You know you can’t fight IRIS,” he said. “So go back home. They’re still everywhere in America. But you’ll probably be lost in the move. You can start over. Forget about all of this. Forget about all of this.”

Stacy narrowed her eyes. “Are you... trying to keep me safe?”

His eyes darkened... back into that solid black color. Stacy inhaled sharply as she felt his sharp nails pierce her skin. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he laughed. “Why would anyone want to keep you safe? Only because they need to. Only because you can’t keep yourself safe.”

Stacy flinched. She tried to keep her expression stoic in spite of that, tried to hide how much that really got to her. “Right, of course,” she said, speaking slowly to keep her voice from shaking. “It’s just more of you wanting everyone to forget about you, for some reason. Why? Are you ashamed?”

Distorter blinked, and his grip loosened slightly. “What?”

“Ashamed of what you did to them?” Stacy asked.

He leaned back. For a moment, he looked shocked.

“It’s true, isn’t it?” she persisted. “No one here ever talks about it directly. Even though they all know. Is that your doing? Do you want them to forget about it? I would. I wouldn’t want to be known as the person who killed their own fam—”

“SHUT UP!” Distorter slammed her backwards. Her head hit the edge of an upper cabinet and stars filled her vision. He let go of her—letting her sink to the ground limply—and backed up, breathing heavily. He... could breathe. How... strange. Or maybe... maybe it was more of an emotional response than an actual physical need. He looked down at her wordlessly. She looked up at him in turn, tense, waiting.

And then she blinked, and he seemed to disappear.

She didn’t get up for a while. After all, Schneep had told everyone that Distorter didn’t actually disappear, just vanished from their perspective. But, after a while, she thought he was probably really gone. She stood up slowly. After leaning against the warm oven, her back felt cold. Or maybe that was just the feeling that she was being watched.

Nothing happened for the rest of the night. But her guard stayed up. She didn’t know what was lurking in the shadows after all.

———————

Right after dropping Michelle and Will off at school, Rama drove around to pick up Stacy and Jack (and Sam, too.) None of them said much. Stacy shifted in her seat, staring out the window. The other two could tell there was something on her mind, but that wasn’t surprising, was it? There was a lot on all their minds.

Rama drove straight north. First on a highway that headed out of Mirygale. And then, when it started to turn west, they instead drove off at the first exit that went north. This winding road turned into a dirt path really quickly before dying out abruptly in the middle of a hilly field. Rama parked the car, looking around. “So many empty fields around the city,” they muttered.

“Well, we’ve been driving for long enough, haven’t we?” Jack said. “The IRIS facility has to be around here, somewhere. Maybe over one of the hills?”

“Let’s... look around, then.” Stacy unlocked her passenger-side door. “See if we can... find it. Even though we can’t see it.”

Rama turned off the ignition. “Let’s.”

The three of them headed out of the car and looked around. There was no sign of anything... so, without saying anything to each other, they headed in a random direction.

And they walked.

And they walked.

And they walked for a while.

The car was well out of sight when Sam, riding in the hood of Jack’s hoodie, suddenly popped up. “What is it?” Jack asked. Sam said they had a feeling something was nearby. “Really? Lead the way, then!”

Sam bobbed up and down, then darted to the right, flying swiftly through the air. The three land-bound humans had to run to keep up with them. They sprinted up a hill, with Rama in the lead, followed by Jack, and then Stacy in the rear. Then they ran down it, gravity speeding them up—only for them to have to stop suddenly as Sam froze mid-air. Jack looked at them, and they said that this was the place.

“Alright...” Jack said slowly. “We... don’t see anything. Can you... help with that?”

Sam whirled around to look at the three of them. They paused for a while, thinking. Then darted forward, hitting Jack in the middle of the forehead, and then quickly doing the same to Rama and Stacy. “Gah!” Rama shouted in surprise, and Stacy stumbled back. But Jack was used to Sam doing weird things like this, so he didn’t react. To that, at least. He was too busy gaping at what had just appeared.

A massive stone wall encircled a spot of land in the distance. It was huge, easily taller than the three of them combined, and encompassed an unbelievably wide area. Square white buildings poked over the top, as well as a concrete structure that looked like a parking garage. Jack could see a metal IRIS logo on the edge of one of the buildings.

And then... the whole thing faded from view.

“You... you two saw that, right?” Stacy asked.

“Sam, what did you do?” Rama asked.

Sam said that they were able to disrupt the cloaking for a moment. Jack repeated this for the other two, then added, “Can you do that for longer, Sam?” Sam considered that, and said they didn’t know. “That’s fair. You’re a tiny eyeball, even if you’re a magical eyeball. You probably don’t have enough power to keep that up for long.”

“Whatever this cloaking is, it will disappear once we actually get in,” Rama said decisively.

“How do you know?” Stacy asked.

“Well, it just makes sense, doesn’t it? It would be very inconvenient for the IRIS employees if they had to wander around invisible buildings.” Rama stared at the spot where the facility was, squinting like they were trying to force their way through the cloak. “Maybe... maybe we could go to some magicians for help.”

“Jameson did mention something about a Magic Circle,” Stacy recalled. “Maybe we could find them?” She frowned. “How... how do we find a magician?”

“Maybe they’ll find us?” Jack suggested. “Jameson has this one friend who’s into, uh, divination magic or something. Aoife. Maybe she could find us?” He paused. “Or maybe... maybe we could look through Jameson’s stuff to see if he has the contact info for her or any other magicians around?”

“Just lying around?” Stacy said doubtfully.

“No, that makes sense,” Rama said. “Jameson likes to keep things very organized and he doesn’t have the best memory. It wouldn’t surprise me if he had an old-fashioned address book or something. If not for him, at least for Marvin, who still isn’t used to, uh... phones and everything.”

“So we’re not going to do anything while we’re here, right?” Jack asked.

They were all silent for a moment. Then Stacy nodded. “That’s... that’s a lot more, uh... intimidating... in person. We need... to... plan this out.”

“Let’s hurry,” Rama said. “We have to get them out of here. And the sooner we plan, the sooner we can do that.” They looked back and forth between Jack and Stacy. “We can do this. We can do this. Right?”

They both nodded.

“You have to say it,” Rama insisted. “We can do this.”

“We can do this,” Stacy and Jack said in unison. Sam bopped up and down, also backing up the statement.

“Good.” Rama nodded. “If we... if we focus on this... we can do it.” They took a deep breath. “Back to the car, everyone.”

They didn’t want to turn their back on the facility. Not while they’re here, so close to where their friends are being held. But, though it was hard, they did. And they tried not to think about what might be going on beyond those walls. 

———————

“Have you ever experienced a terrible occurrence that has impacted you significantly?”

Jackie glared across the table at Daniel. “You know that, don’t you? I told you all—w-well not you specifically, but I told IRIS about—about everything that happened to me. You know the answer.”

“Please answer nonetheless,” Daniel said calmly.

“Yes, alright?!” Jackie’s voice cracked. “Are we done yet?!”

“Not yet, Dr. Parker. There’s one more question. Have you ever lost someone close to you?”

“I...” Jackie swallowed a lump in his throat. “I guess... my... parents aren’t around anymore...” He hated that he said that. He shouldn’t have told IRIS that. But they already knew so much about him. What was one more fact?

“Thank you, Dr. Parker.” Daniel stood up. “We will see you again soon.”

“W-wait!” Jackie lunged forward, managing to grab Daniel’s sleeve. He looked down at him in surprise. “Please. Please just—just tell me what’s happening to the others. Wh-what are you doing to them?”

Daniel shook his grip off. His expression shifted very slightly. “EX subject 1-019 is undergoing training, while the anomaly still has some tests to go through before we reach a decision.”

That meant Schneep and JJ. “Wh-what about the other two?” Jackie asked.

“Don’t worry, they are safe,” Daniel said. “We will see you again soon, Dr. Parker.”

Jackie watched him walk away. He didn’t stand up, even though he felt like he should run for the door as Daniel opened it and headed out. The door clicked closed again, and Jackie slumped forward, putting his head on the table. He wondered what that “assessment” was for. They probably wouldn’t tell him, would they? They didn’t tell him any of the plans they had for him.

Though... training, huh? What were they “training” Schneep for? And what would they do to JJ once these tests were done? What sort of tests? And... what were they doing to Anti and Marvin, if they didn’t want to say anything about it to Jackie? Would he know soon? Did they plan to do the same things to him?

He wondered if there was a way out of this place at all.

Then he pushed that thought away. There had to be something they could do! Maybe—maybe people outside would notice that they were missing. Rama would definitely notice! Surely they would do something! Maybe with Jack and Stacy too!

Surely something would give eventually.

Surely... something would give... eventually.

Whether in here... or out there. Something had to give eventually.

[huffle-dork]

Swap into the Crystalverse Chapter 1: Switch

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix

Read Swapboys | Read Switch | Read SwitchSwap | AO3 Link

Prologue

Tag list: @brokentimewatch

AN: so I haven’t written any more of switchswap yet cuz I gotta finish alt.exe first but Cry knows the plot points I’m planning so like- this takes place after switchswap where the Switch and Swap boys know each other and alludes to stuff that’ll happen in switchswap without giving away too much plot hghgg I’m sorry writing is hard but! I love this part :’) hope you enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the chaos that just happened, Bro Fantastic is met with sudden calm. It's late afternoon, and he's standing on a set of train tracks. On either side are station platforms with benches and lights that are just now turning on in preparation for evening. Everything is quiet.

Until--

"Hey!"

There's a man on one of the platforms. He has brown hair, dyed with streaks of green and black, and heterochromiac eyes: one blue, one green. One hand is reaching inside his black jacket's pocket, the other is held out, protectively shielding a redheaded boy--small for his age--who seems very curious about what just happened. "Get off the tracks!" the man says. "There's gonna be--wait a second, do I know you?"

Bro Fantastic shakes off the wave of vertigo from whatever that spell was and then dips down to his knees, clutching his burnt stomach. He blearily looks out at the man shouting at him- he looks like Jackie but… edgier- wait-!

Bro’s eyes widen and then he pushes himself off the tracks and bursts into the air then quickly lands in front of the man and boy. He laughs a bit dazedly, gripping his wound. “A-Anti!” He exclaims, blue silver power bright in his eyes. “Thank god this place has at least something familiar…”

Anti's eyes narrow in suspicion, then widen again. "Oh, fuck, yeah! You're--wait." He glances at the redheaded boy. "Uh, I mean--"

"Dad, I'm eleven, I hear you say that all the time," the boy says.

Anti laughs. "Alright, fine." He turns back to Bro. "You're from that--that other place. You're... Chase. Right. Sorry, I forgot your name." Then he notices the wound. He inhales sharply. "A-are you alright? Stupid question, you're not. Shit, we have to get to a hospital, uhhh..." He pulls out his phone.

Chase waves Anti off and tries not to let himself grimace, “no no I… I’m fine- I can heal fast just- hurts like a bitch till then…”

"I'm Will," says the boy.

Bro smiles down at the boy and waves, “Hi Will, you’re Anti’s son, huh? He def mentioned you pretty sure…”

"Yeah, this is Will," Anti repeats. "What're you doing here, anyway? How are you here?"

Chase’s eyes then widen as he straightens up and looks around frantically, “Oh shit right-! Uh I don’t know how it happened but- Magnificent… he took Alt- and made him use this weird doorway thingy! And then- god everything happened so fast… there was this huge burst of light then… I was here.” He shakes his head, “But god damn this… this isn’t good- Mag could still have Alt or- or he might go after some of you all again-!”

He looks at Anti desperately, squeezing his aching stomach. “Anti, can you help me find them?”

"Doorway thing...?" Anti is confused by that, but decides to move on. He's seen weirder. The point is that shit's going down. "Yeah, man, of course I'll help you find them. If that cat c--bitch is here, it could mean trouble..." He shivers just remembering things in that other world. "I gotta get Will home first, though. Or, maybe to Rama's house, it'll be safer that way. Yeah, I can call them to come here and pick him up."

"Daaaad," Will whines.

"No, don't be like that, bud, this is dangerous. Rama will keep you safe." Anti looks down at his phone again and starts tapping. "If you're sure that you can heal, we'll forget the hospital. I'm texting the others to let them know. Maybe they've seen Alt or Magnificent. In the meantime... I dunno. I need to stay here and wait for Rama to come get Will. You can stay too, or maybe I can give you the others' addresses and you can start looking around? Do you have your phone with you?"

Chase pats down his outfit in mid panic before relaxing, pulling out his phone. He’s not even in his super suit- but he does keep his utility belt tucked under his shirt sometimes. He’s wearing a tank top that looks like his super suit but with his emblem tinier in the upper corner- new merch he was trying out… heroes gotta eat too you know? And of course- his signature jacket, but one of his knock off ones that had a hood. He might not even need to whip out his mask- “yeah yeah I got it I….” He grips at his stomach and pushes past a wave of pain but it’s getting less and less. Only problem with super healing is it took energy from other parts of his body- meaning he might be grounded for a bit. God that sucked ass… but the others were always telling him he shouldn’t be pushing through injuries anyways. But his nerves were on fire thinking about Alt…

“I… fuck I guess I should try to recover for now… I might get myself lost otherwise. Hopefully one of the others might run into Alt…” He chewed on his lip in worry. “I hope he’s okay… and that whatever magic Mag used- hopefully he’ll be out of commission for a bit…” But- things like that don’t usually go their way.

"Okay good." Anti looks at him, concerned. "Yeah, sit down, man. There are benches everywhere. Alt's pretty tough, he'll be fine for a little while." Probably. Maybe.

Bro nods and stumbles to sink into a bench, holding his wound. He could feel it closing up and hardening but god that burned like a motherfucker. Sometimes he hated his ability- but it made it so he could save people faster and that’s what matters.

"Okay so I don't think cell reception works in other universes but WiFi is probably fine, so turn on the WiFi texting option so we can reach you just in case. I'll call my friend to come get Will." Anti glances down at his own phone. "Looks like Jackie and Schneep might be here soon, too. Good."

"I like your jacket," Will says to Bro.

Anti laughs. "Yeah, his jacket is cool."

Bro blinks and then smiles at Will, “Thanks lil dude! I… designed it myself- kinda- this is, a knockoff of the one I made. Superhero Fan merch you know-“ ah his delirium is showing off his adhd wonderful but hey, maybe this kid likes superheroes…

"Oh, cool. A real superhero?" Will's eyes are wide. "Like Uncle Schneep? Wicked. Michelle would go crazy!"

Bro grins wide and nods, “Yup! I’m Bro Fantastic~!” Shit did he even have his mask? He was too tired to check- would be cool to show the kid though. “Though you little dude, can just call me Chase if ya want- or bro~!”

Will looks over at Anti. "How do you know this guy?!"

Anti smiles gently. Eleven-year-olds are probably smart enough to understand multiverses, right? But are they emotionally ready to deal with that being real? Probably not. "It's a long story." Anti sits down on the other side of the bench Bro sits on. "Uh... we have some time. I'll explain..." Bro settles in to listen to Anti’s retelling, even if all he could feel was dull panic swirling in his gut.

-----------

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, Alt pops into being in a suburb. It's fairly ordinary-looking. Houses are taken care of. Except... for one. One that has yellowing grass, grayed peeling paint, and shingles falling off the roof. But Alt doesn't see that right away. He appears with his back to it.

Alt’s body is hard to piece back together at first, pixels and shapes at first before finally snapping back together. He crashes to the ground and grips tightly at his arm, biting back a pained scream. Black magic pulses painfully in his veins and it burned, eating away at him. Purple still fought in his eyes but- he was away from Mag and his influence so it was starting to clear. He grit his teeth and ducked his head to the ground, letting out an angry scream. “that MOTHER F̵̟̂U̵̎̉C̷̡̈́Ḱ̸͊E̵͐̒R̷͂̇!”

Okay okay- he needed to try to figure out what the hell was happening… all he could piece together was Mag took him, and used him for something. Something dangerous… Chase was there but- didn’t manage to stop it. Alt finally peeks up his head to try to look around, feeling himself pale. This… this wasn’t Brighton- it didn’t feel right. God no- did Mag actually manage to- to multiverse hop?? And he used Alt to do it!

Alt glitches angrily and curses up a storm as he tries to get to his feet. Ugh he feels faint- but he has to try to get up. He has to stop Mag- he has to find Chase!

As Alt struggles to get up, the door to the house behind him slowly opens. Then he hears it. The voice, so hard to describe and yet so distinct in its indistinctness.

"Well look who's back!"

Alt’s blood runs cold and he stumbles back from the door, unable to stop his limbs from starting to tremble. His eyes widen and he tries to glitch back but the black magic flares and leaves his body only fizzing with glitches. “No- no no no- not you…!” He whispers, dread filling every inch of his body.

Distorter giggles. How did he get so close to Alt without him realizing?! He's only a few feet away. "How'd you get here, Anti?" he asks, grin widening. "All by yourself, too? None of those friends of yours with you? Aw, what a shame. But it's okay." He takes a few steps forward. "They'd only get in the way." His head tilts to the side. "Looks like you're having trouble there. Can't get those powers to work like they should? How useless."

Alt’s panicking, trying to back away as he feels gray fogging up his vision. No no no!

“I… I don’t know- Mag… Mag did something…! He… he…” Alt tries to get his magic to work- but anything he tries to summon has the dark magic reacting in kind, sapping his energy. Still, Alt tries to hold out a sparking hand, blue and green struggling to flare up in his eyes. “S-stay back-! G-get away from me!!!”

"Oh? But it sounds like you need help. I'm happy to be there." Distorter's grin widens further. He walks right up to Alt, undeterred by his threats and sparking, and reaches out with a blackened hand. Stay calm, Alt. Nothing bad is going to happen =)

Alt shudders and tries to pull away but his thoughts start to fizzle into nothing but fog. Especially as Distorter manages to grab him.

He… he does need help. He’s in pain- he’s scared. Distorter can… can help… right? He’s… he’s helped before… right? It was all so… fuzzy.

Calm washes over him so fast he nearly loses his balance. It’s like all his senses have been turned down to zero. His eyes widen and the magic around him fizzles into the air into nothing but spare electricity.

“…help…” He whimpers- whether it’s to Distorter or a cry for someone else… it’s hard to say.

"Shh. Don't worry." Distorter's smile widens again as he steadies Alt from falling, holding him up. His grip is tight, clenching his upper arms. "Do you think that Magnificent came with you? He probably did, right? We should go find him before he finds you." Maybe this time he'd get one up on that magician. He'd be a useful friend. Or at the very least, it would be good to stop him before he messed with the others.

Alt swayed in Distorter’s grip, head threatening to fall to his chest. It felt like something was trying to leak out of his eye but he could barely feel it. “Yeah… mag… mag’s here.., we… we gotta… gotta stop him…”

Distorter was powerful, he could help Alt stop magnificent. …they were friends after all…

Distorter briefly wonders if any more people from Alt's universe showed up. If they did, it would be good to have a... shield of some kind. "Come on. We'll go together. We'll help each other. You can protect me, and I'll make sure nothing bothers you."

“Mmmmkay… yeah…” Alt muttered dazedly, eyes glazing over. “We can… protect e’chther…” His mouth didn’t want to work.

His mind tried to wander, brief panic flickering in his gut. A smiling face was in his vision- a nicer smile then Distorter’s… with sun kissed cheeks that radiated warmth. But, Alt couldn’t grasp onto why he was important. It didn’t matter. Distorter would tell him what mattered.

"Exactly." Distorter lets go of Alt, letting him balance on his own two feet. Is he still swaying? Whatever happened to him before must've done a real number on him. It'll be fine, though. Nothing to worry about. Now... where to go? He thinks about it for a moment, then nods. "Magnificent will try to head to a certain place sooner or later. Let's see if we can beat him there." He disappears from Alt's vision, reappearing some way down the sidewalk. "This way."

Alt nods distantly and trembles slightly before pulling his body to walk after Distorter. He gripped at his arm, a dull ache trying to make itself known. Blood flowed slowly down his cheeks as he dazedly walked after Distorter. He had to find Magnificent… he had to. Nothing else mattered.

————

Magnificent himself has appeared in a different, unfamiliar location--just as he wanted. This looks like a neighborhood, made up of rows and rows of old-fashioned-looking townhouses. He stands near a street intersection No people or cars are in sight... but there's a weird green glow coming from around one corner.

Magnificent looks around his new surroundings, a burst of pride and erratic excitement overcoming him. He laughed madly, clawing back his hair as he took stock of himself. Kinda weak from the spell but nothing he can’t recover… he just needed another source of magic to steal. But, at least he had enough to disguise himself… he can’t draw too much attention to himself right away. In a buzz of static his eccentric clothes change into something light and casual- a dark green button up, a black blazer, black pants and purple dress shoes. His scar is disguised- his hair pulled up into a brunette bun on his head. He grinned and checked himself over. Alright- perfectly normal!

He closed his eyes to let out some energy, trying to see if he can sense any magic sources nearby. Once recovered… he could hunt down the greatest sources of magic he can find here…

He opens his eyes to notice the green light and tilted his head curiously, much like a cat would. He started to slink towards it, almost hungrily.

There is a man standing at a bus stop. He's wearing a red jacket, which calls Jackie to mind, but he's not him. His hair is dyed green like meadow grass and his eyes are framed by a pair of glasses. The green glow is coming from something... floating... near the man. Something... green. And... spherical. It's moving up and down somewhat frantically, making it hard to notice details.

"--can't figure out what you're saying if you go so fast!" The man is talking to the floating thing. "I get it, it's important, but--really? Yeah, I know, but I can't fucking drive, do you want me to just walk away? We can keep going to their house--Okay, okay! Look, calm down, anyone could see you." The man glances around--and notices Magnificent. He freezes like a deer caught in headlights. The green thing also freezes and ducks behind him, like it's hiding.

Magnificent smiles charmingly at the two as he approaches. “Well… don’t you keep the most peculiar company?” He muses silkily, walking up but stopping just a bit short of the pair.

“You seem distressed, young man. Might I ask what’s troubling you and your… pet?” His eyes locked into the glow from the spherical thing- he couldn’t understand the power that came from it but it had something. And that was enough…

"Uhhh..." Jack takes a single step backwards, immediately wary. This stranger... he looks like Marvin, but he obviously can't be him. Unless he figured out some new spell with those cards, but even if he did, Marvin would never call Sam a pet. "W-well, I... I'm actually on my way to visit some friends, but they... want to leave..."

Sam wants to leave because Sam was suddenly struck by the feeling that something terrible is going to happen. And as they hide behind him, they say that this might be it.

No kidding. But Jack's not sure how to proceed. He didn't expect to be ambushed by...whoever this is. Maybe this is one of Distorter's tricks that he heard so much about? "And, uh... I-I don't want to upset them, so I'll just... hurry and go..." Sam really doesn't want him to go to Marvin and JJ's house. They say the bad feeling just gets worse when they think about that.

Magnificent tilts his head like a predator looking down at its prey. Jack can see his image stutter slightly, one of his eyes glowing green, the other devoid of life, surrounded by ugly raised scars like cris cross over each other like lightning. But, the image quickly fades as the stranger smiles.

“I see- well. Don’t let me keep you! Sounds like this is an urgent matter… so sorry to disturb.”

It was taking everything in him not to pounce right now- but he needs to be patient. In control.

"Uh... yeah." Jack starts walking backwards... slowly... and then abruptly turns and hurries away, walking as fast as possible without actually running--who knows what would happen if he ran?! Sam perches on his shoulder as he fumbles with his pocket and starts pulling out the phone. He has to tell the others! This feels like some weird shit that'll involve them!

Ah perfect- these idiotic humans never thought about how bad it was to turn their back on a threat. Mag grins and then lashes out a hand to try to grab Sam in a flash of purple and green magic.

Sam's pupil widens as the magic grabs them and yanks them back. Jack immediately stops and spins around. "Sam!" he cries. "No no no, let them go!" Sam squirms, nerve-tail lashing, and Magnificent now has a clear view of them in all their eyeball-ness for the first time.

Magnificent’s eyes widen at the sight then he laughs, holding the eye up closer to his face with his magic. “Well aren’t you a curious little thing?” He purrs. He then cups his hands around the eyeball and starts to crush his magic around them. “I hope you’re not too attached to your human, little eye, because I need whatever magic or power is running through those nerves of yours!”

He’s not sure if he can- but he tries to see if he can siphon some magic from this strange glowing creature.

Sam squirms, tail lashing. Their glow dims slightly and Magnificent feels... something. It feels sour, in some way. And sharp. But it's only a small trickle, and their glow is still going pretty strong.

Magnificent squirms slightly at the feeling of the magic he siphoned. Unpleasant… but something…

"Hey! Asshole!" Jack looks around, desperately. He doesn't want to get too close but he can't just let Sam be hurt. In desperation--acting on instinct and not really thinking--he throws his phone at Magnificent. Immediately regretting it the moment it leaves his hand but oh well its too late now he's committed!

Before Mag could push for more he hears the shout and then lifts up a hand to catch the phone in a wave of magic.

Unnatural cat-like eyes meet Jack’s glowing in the night as the man grins. “ooooh? Is the human thinking himself brave? How adorable~!”

He flicks his hand and his magic darts back to make Jack’s phone hit in the stomach. Magnificent’s voice darkens to something dangerous, “I have no use for useless things like you- get out of my sight and I might spare you~” He chuckles, crushing a hand around Sam.

Jack staggers back and barely manages to grab his phone before it falls to the ground. What should he do? What can he do?! He looks at Sam. Their nerve-tail flails wildly, but they tell Jack to get out of here, that they don't think anything too bad will happen. But Jack can't just leave them!

Then he has an idea. He makes a show of fumbling with his phone as he puts it back in his jacket pocket, using the motion to hide him dialing the first number on his recent contacts. "I-I'm not useless," he says, further distracting this--this evil doppleganger. "I--I know about you. Or--or your kind. You're a magician, aren't you?! What are you going to do with Sam? They can't--they can't help people like you!"

Magnificent chuckles more and tosses Sam up and down in his magic, like someone throwing a ball. “I guess you could lump me up in that title- though I am something far greater~!” He purrs with pride. “As for your little creature- I don’t need much… just a bit of whatever power they have to claim for my own. Then- I can hunt for… bigger fish~” Mag’s eyes glow brighter as he grins. “You know of magicians- that means some are around… I guess you were more useful to me than I thought!”

He shakes his head and then looks down at Sam. “Though- you are rather unusual, little eye… maybe I should keep you to study closer, hm?”

Nope nope nope nope--Jack can feel Sam's distress at that statement. They say something about deja vu and other Sams that he doesn't quite understand, but it's not the time to ask about that. "No!" Jack blurts out. "No, you can't--you can't get anything from them!" That sounds desperate (which it is) but he's pretty sure it's true. "I can--i-if you're so curious I can tell you anything you want about them, just leave them alone!"

There's a faint voice on the other end of the phone conversation. He can barely hear it but it's recognizable. He wonders how fast they can get here. Even if they run it'll take a while--maybe there's some magic that can help.

Magnificent studies Jack with a critical eye. He could see a faint magic aura from this boy- but it’s faint. Not even flowing in his blood, just there. How disappointing.

Mag pulls his lip back in a snarl. “I have no time to waste on hardly magic mortals, boy. I doubt any information you know will even be of use to me.”

Mag squeezes at Sam trying to see if he can get another inkling of magic- he can’t teleport right now, and he isn’t stooping down to running away from something that’s not even a threat.

Jack's heart pounds in his chest. Sam is begging him to leave, to run, reassuring him they'll be alright. He doesn't believe them. But he'd be no help if he gets himself killed. He stands there, frozen, watching Magnificent squeeze his friend--

And then there's a puff of blue smoke behind Magnificent. Before it even disperses there are three wheels of blue light spinning out, heading straight for Magnificent.

The dark magician barely has a chance to suck anything from the eye before he’s struck by bolts of blue light. One hits his arm- then the others manage to throw him off his feet, He flies back, the magic holding back Sam crackling into static. He yells in anger, his disguise also melting away to show the masked villain in all his dramatic glory.

He turns to snarl at the source of magic that dared to strike him-!

Jameson stands there, hands raised, a shield crystalizing into place even as the smoke from the teleportation spell still lingers. His eyes widen. He thought he recognized the voice over the phone but he hoped he was wrong.

Sam flies to Jack as soon as they're able, smacking into his chest. He catches them and holds them close to his chest.

Go! Jameson signs.

Jack hesitates.

Go! He repeats, more insistently. Tell the others!

After another second, Jack nods, and turns and runs.

Jameson lets out a breath of relief. He just needs to distract Magnificent for long enough. He's sure that the dark magician would prefer him as a target instead of Jack.

And he's right- Magnificent's eyes light up hungrily as he pulls himself and sways slightly, looking off kilted as he grins wildly. "Well well well! Hello there, kitten~!" He laughs. "Oh I was hoping the universe would be kind to me... and they deliver you here to me on a sliver platter!"

The mad magician then lunges at Jameson with his hand outstretched- trying to grab him with his claws.

Luckily, Jameson's shield is solid. He spins it around to block Magnificent's attack. How are you here?! he asks, unsure if Mag would know what he's saying. Then he puts his hands together, cupping them like he's holding a ball. A sphere of blue light forms in his hands and he drops it on the ground, letting it splash. The magic spreads across the sidewalk, turning it blue and slick like ice.

Magnificent bangs across the shield and then jumps back, landing in a crouched position on the sidewalk. His eyes reflect the light like a cats as he giggles, pulling himself up to full height.

A voice slithers into Jameson's head, purring, "Now Jameson... so hostile~! Is this anyway to treat your master?" His eyes are swirling as he tries to advance. "It'd be so much easier if you didn't fight, little bird... I won't harm you, I only need to borrow something from you."

The magic spreads across the sidewalk and Magnificent stumbles then hurries to hold himself up, trying not to fall flat on his face. He growls. Being drained is a real inconvenience... but all he had to do was make Jameson fall back under his thrall.

Jameson flinches back, keeping the shield up. He smiles a bit as he sees Magnificent stumble--there's something vindicating about that--but it distracts him for just enough to make eye contact. The swirls are familiar... comforting... His shield is flickering... No--no! He shakes his head and tries to resist but... why would you resist something so beautiful? The shield dies quickly.

Magnificent grins even wider and strides forward more, humming. "Very very good, birdie~! Fall nice and deep for me... and this won't hurt a bit~"

He approaches and then grabs Jameson's arm, digging his nail into the skin, branches of black veins spreading across the surface. Then, he tries to siphon magic from the magician, greedy trying to pull as much as he can.

Jameson shivers. There's a dead feeling creeping into him from his arm, from the spot where Magnificent grabbed him. He looks down and sees the black veins spreading. Faint alarm bells go off in his head but he can't bring himself to do anything about it, even as weakness makes his arms and legs tremble. He falls to his knees, breathing heavily.

The air seems to shimmer...

Magnificent laughs as blue light floods into his veins, pulsing with energy then fading to blazing purple. He feels his magic and strength returning. He doesn't drain Jameson completely though, not yet- He may be of use to him... he needs to find another way to hop to the next multiverse before he finishes up here. Oh and find his cub... just in case. But, this will suffice for now~

He lets Jameson drop to the ice below and sighs dreamily, "Mmmm just what I needed! Thank you very much, Jameson~!" He then bends down to pick him up by his hair and hums in thought, "You should stick by me though, little lark~ I may have further use of you."

The mad magician is too distracted by his prize to notice anything shimmering in the air-

Jameson's eyes are glazed over. He doesn't react at all to anything Magnificent is saying or doing. The combined hypnotism and draining has left him weak. He looks up at Mag and mumbles in a raspy voice, "Yes... yes, Magnif—"

And then, for a split second, there's a flicker of orange and blue and yellow, a spiral much different than the ones Magnificent uses—

And Jameson is gone.

The stolen magic remains in Magnificent's veins, but the blue ice coating the sidewalk is also gone.

As if it—and Jameson—were never here in the first place.

Magnificent blinks in mild surprise at the new colors- then springs to his feet as Jameson disappears, wildly looking around for any lingering hints of magic. He then curses in Gaelic and throws a tinted punch into the bus stop sign, making it dent in on itself in a burst of purple and green sparks.

He then hums and tries to breathe, studying the lingering blue in his veins. ... he had enough, enough to at least look for his cub and find out more about what this dimension uses to explore other universes. In a wave of static, he dons his disguise again and then walks further into the night, looking for any other lingering of magic around.

[mangozic]

my dead goth son and his friendly neighborhood personified concept of insanity

[nectardraws]

michael awareness poster

[wolfythewitch]

Hello archivist

[jup1ter-moon]

i am not usually one to repost my tweets and i dont know if tumblr is into chappell roan but i thought this needed sharing (ALSO since i originally drafted this post i went to sleep and woke up with this tweet having over 1000 likes)

[the-magnus-protocol]

Tma + tmagp art masterpost

[moriidraws]

Go say hi shes so sweet :3333

Og Image

[lokorum]

jon needs a door and i need a fucking break from this weather uhhh

music from the..floor?? ♪┏(・o･)┛♪

[furiouskettle]

i still havent actually listened to TMA

[poorlemons]

another part of an ask request . I was taken with such vivid imagery of Michael eating a Leitner, despite that absolutely not being a thing it probably can do. I don't care, he's eating that book

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Awakening

Switch AU

A JSE Fanfic

WHO'S READY FOR A DOUBLE-LENGTH SPECIAL?! :D This fic is around 11,100 words, so it's extra long. As you can expect, so much stuff happens that it's gonna be hard for me to simply summarize it all. But it boils down to two things. The group enacts their plan to wake Anti up. While Schneep and Stacy try to distract Distorter, Jackie uses that new IRIS technology to venture into Anti's mind to see what he's seeing, and hopefully snap him out of this trance. No more talk. This is The Moment. Let's get to it.

More of This AU | | First Chapter | Previous Chapter

Everyone arrived at the hospital at around nine o’clock. They all came separately, with Jackie and Rama arriving first. “Are you sure you don’t want to, uh, see this?” Jackie asked them.

“I’m sure.” Rama nodded. “Honestly, I’m not sure how much help I’d be. I’m a writer, not a magician or a super-enhanced guy.”

“I’m neither of those things, either.”

“You’re the only one who knows how to use this MR thing. They need you.”

Jackie sighed. He knew this. And he knew that it would be safer for Rama if they stayed home. He didn’t want them in danger. Not to mention he was a bit nervous about leaving Michelle and Will alone. Sure, they could hire a babysitter, but it would be easier to have Rama watch them. “This won’t take long. I-if I don’t call you in an hour, maybe drive on over.”

“Got it.” Rama nodded, then leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.” They were going to need it.

Jack arrived after that, then JJ and Marvin, then Stacy, then Schneep. They didn’t talk much, the task weighing heavily on their thoughts. They might only have one chance for this. If they failed, Distorter would no doubt guard Anti zealously. Even Stacy showing up might not distract him for much longer. Jackie pressed a hand to his hoodie pocket, where the MR Headsets were awkwardly tucked away. He really hoped this would work.

Jackie couldn’t help but gasp when the group walked into Anti’s hospital room. “O-oh my god,” he breathed, and rushed over to the side of the bed. His eyes darted around, taking it all in. The bandages, the tubes, the monitors, the restraints. “This... oh my god.”

The others walked over slowly—though Marvin stayed back, moving his wheelchair to the corner of the room by the door. Jack crouched down close to the ground, and a green glowing orb shot out and into his outstretched hand. “Hey, Sam,” he said. “How’s he doing?” He listened intently to Sam’s mental voice. “They say that he hasn’t changed. They... also say they have a feeling like something big is gonna happen.”

Smart eyeball, JJ commented.

Stacy swallowed a lump in her throat. “Well... you guys should have your moment,” she said carefully, turning around. “I’ll wait outside.” And with her lines recited, she turned and left the room.”

Schneep was supposed to say that he was going to check on her and follow, but... he found his throat had closed up. When they walked into the room, no one else in the group had seen the figure standing in the corner of the room. The gray man who had noticed the way Schneep was staring at him, then gave a little wave and ducked behind the bed, out of sight. Distorter was here. Distorter had probably been here the whole time. And nobody else could see him. “I-I... I, ah... w-will go,” Schneep finally said, trying to hide how disturbed he was by quickly turning and hurrying after Stacy.

She was waiting just out of sight for him. The moment he walked out, she jerked her head down the hallway then turned and headed in that direction, asking him to follow. He did, quietly. Once they were out of sight, she whispered, “Jack told me there’s this room at the end of the hallway that’ll work. We’ll be able to see him coming. Or... you will.”

Schneep nodded. The two of them found a room at the very end of the hallway. A room without a patient staying in it. The blinds were drawn, but the door was unlocked. Schneep made sure to prop it open so they would have a good view of the hall.

Stacy paced nervously back and forth. Schneep glanced around. He didn’t like that they’d be distracting Distorter while in a hospital. He would’ve preferred that they take this outside altogether. But he wasn’t sure if Distorter would follow them, or if his commitment to torturing Anti would overwhelm that. Maybe Distorter wouldn’t even fall for this trap at all. Maybe he would realize what they were planning.

But then he saw the movement coming from down the hall. Schneep’s head snapped towards it. Distorter was walking calmly towards them. If Schneep didn’t know better, he might be tempted to think that this was just some guy in a spooky costume. But he did know better. And he knew to recognize the strange featureless features of Distorter’s face. “He’s coming,” he whispered.

Stacy stopped pacing, tensing up. She gave a little laugh. “You know... I wasn’t scared up until this moment,” she whispered back.

“It will be fine,” Schneep reassured her. “I will make sure nothing happens to you.”

Distorter stopped in the doorway. He stood there, hands loose at his sides, smiling as wide as ever. Stacy didn’t look directly at him—not avoiding him, but... she must not have seen him. But Schneep could. “So... that wasn’t a fluke, then, was it?” Distorter said, looking straight at him. “You can see me.”

Schneep stared directly at him and nodded.

Stacy jumped, going pale as she finally looked right at Distorter. “Y-you.”

“Me.” Distorter gave a little wave. “So... let me guess. You two are here to give your friends back there time to work. Time to try and break Anti out of my hold. Is that it? Because it’s a really stupid plan, you know. So obvious.”

“And yet, you’re here anyway, aren’t you?” Schneep pointed out.

Distorter giggled. “Because it doesn’t make a difference. I don’t care what magic you think you’ve found, it won’t be strong enough.” He stepped farther into the room. “Why not see what this was all about?”

———————

“I t’ink they’ve got it,” Marvin muttered, staring down the hallway. “I t’ink he’s left.”

“Are you sure?” Jackie whispered.

Marvin shook his head. “Can never be sure with Distorter. But... I’m almost sure. As close as I can be. It’s been enough time for him t’get curious.”

Jack let out a long breath. “You’re sure this will work, Jackie?”

“No.” Jackie reached into his pocket and took out the MR Headsets. “But we have to try.” He handed the white Headset to JJ, who carefully removed the bandages over Anti’s eyes and put the Headset in their place. Anti didn’t respond. He stayed lying where he was.

“Sam has a good feeling about it,” Jack said. Sam, curled up on Anti’s chest, waved their optic nerve slightly. “So... that’s a good sign. They’re going to try and help you as best they can.”

If something goes wrong, we’ll be here, JJ said. I’ll defend you.

“Thanks,” Jackie breathed. He held the black Headset for a moment, staring at it. No time to waste. He took off his glasses and put on the Headset, making sure it was secured. He couldn’t see a thing. And from what he remembered about this technology, he probably wouldn’t be able to hear or feel anything soon, either. “Press the power button on Anti’s headset. It’s right here, on the left—from the wearer’s perspective.”

“It’s on,” Jack reported. “There’s a little green light showing that it is.”

“Great.” Jackie nodded. His own finger hesitated over the power button. “Once I push this, I won’t be able to respond to you guys until you either power it off, or I wake up on my own,” he said. “And... that’s happening. On three. Take care of everything, okay?”

“We got it, I promise,” Jack said.

“Great.” He took a deep breath. “One... two... three.” And he pressed the button.

———————

“So... what’s your plan, then?” Distorter asked. “Do you think the power of friendship will be able to pull him back now that you have Jackie with you?” He laughed. “If ‘love’ didn’t work when his son was here, it won’t work with a mere friend.”

“Do you honestly think that we will tell you?” Schneep asked.

Distorter tilted his head. “No. But I expected you to think about it when I brought it up. And yet... whatever IRIS did to you, it made it harder to reach your thoughts. So I can’t see if you did.”

Schneep felt the breath knocked out of him. “Wh-what...? You... you know about...”

“About IRIS fucking your head into oblivion? Not at first. But it just makes sense. I’ve learned a lot about IRIS since they showed up here. And that seems just like the thing they’d do.” Distorter wiggled his blackened fingers. “They’re into that freaky shit, and choose their lab rats from people no one will miss.”

Schneep couldn’t help but stumble backwards. The fact that Distorter knew about it—knew about what they’d done to him—

“Why don’t you read my mind, then?” Stacy asked.

Distorter looked at her. “What?”

“You—you were trying to get us to think about our plan to free Anti so you could read our minds to find it,” Stacy said. “But you’ve only brought up Henrik’s mind and thoughts. Not mine. Why didn’t you look at me? I-I don’t have any of that IRIS stuff, surely you’d have an easier time there.”

Distorter kept staring at her. Stacy shivered, but didn’t look away or back down. “I told you to go home,” he whispered.

“I can’t,” Stacy said. “Not until all this is settled. This has been fucking haunting me for years—because of course it would! My family died! And you’re—you’re here. You’re still walking around, a-a living reminder of that, s-something that is still unsettled. Like a ghost.”

“So, like a ghost, you want to put me to rest?” Distorter asked in a low voice.

“...if it’s possible,” Stacy whispered.

He laughed. “It’s not, Stacy.” She flinched; he had never said her name before. “Something like me will never die. Will never be satisfied. Not until you give this up.”

Stacy kept staring at him. “I can’t do that.”

Distorter kept staring at her with those empty black eyes. That pasted-on smile, wide and unchanging, gave his face a mask-like quality. Was... that what it had always been? A mask?

Long moments passed. Stacy didn’t look away from Distorter, though she twitched slightly, an anxious expression on her face. Was Distorter trying to intimidate her with illusions that Schneep couldn’t see? Was he speaking into her mind? He had no way of knowing. He could only stare, tensed, waiting for Distorter to finally make a move.

And then he did.

Distorter lunged towards Stacy, and Schneep lunged towards him in turn, tackling him to the side before he could reach her. Distorter let out a loud shriek and twisted around, long nails scraping at Schneep’s throat. He hurriedly backed up before they could do too much damage, leaving Distorter to scramble to his feet in a flurry of limbs. “Ohhhohoh, so you want to be like that do you?” he growled.

“As opposed to letting you attack her? Yes.” Schneep raised his hands, getting into a defensive position.

“Fine. I’ll be like that too.” Distorter leaped for Schneep, animalistic in his movements, and the two of them went tumbling across the floor until they hit the wall. Stacy gasped and instinctively ran to the side, putting a chair between her and the conflict.

Schneep and Distorter struggled on the floor. Distorter lashed out at him, clawing and scratching and biting and kicking. Luckily his nails, sharp as they were, were not enough to get through the thick shirt Schneep was wearing. But that didn’t mean the blows didn’t hurt all the same. Schneep tried pinning Distorter to the floor, but he always yanked free of his grip, often with an unpleasant cracking or popping sound. So Schneep had to get more violent. He slammed Distorter’s head against the walls and floor, punching him in the ribs and stomach, stomping on his legs when they got too close to him. And, of course, he shocked Distorter. Over and over, causing Distorter’s limbs and body to spasm uncontrollably when the electricity ran through them.

The fight shifted tides often. One second, Schneep had Distorter cornered. The next, Distorter had leapt onto him and was trying to claw his eyes out. Schneep threw Distorter across the room and into the wall, but Distorter recovered and ran back, diving at Schneep’s legs and knocking him down into another on-the-floor struggle. Stacy watched it all with wide eyes, wanting to help but knowing she would just be putting herself in danger. “Wake him up soon,” she whispered under her breath. “Please.”

———————

It happened in an instant. One second, Jackie was sitting in an uncomfortable hospital room chair. The next, he was falling forward, rushing, bright lights flying past his face as he got closer and closer to the ground—and then he landed. He looked around. This was... a schoolyard. He would recognize one of those anywhere, though this was a lot smaller than the one at Michelle’s school, or even at the school he went to as a kid. There was a chain link fence around the edge of the yard, and in the far corner was an old playground with rope courses and swings and metal slides. The sky above was gray, cloudy, and generally gloomy. Kids ran around, climbing the playground structures and kicking up woodchips on the swings. They were all wearing school uniforms, red jumpers with gray pants or a skirt for girls. None of them could have been older than twelve years old.

Jackie stared at all this. It didn’t feel quite... real. Sure, the colors were vivid and the sounds were loud, and he could feel the ground beneath his feet. But there was something off... It was the details. On a cloudy day like this, he should’ve felt chilly, if not cold, but he felt fine. And he couldn’t quite make out what the children were saying. It all sounded like babbling gibberish. And beyond the chain link fence, it all sort of got blurry. He could see houses and a street, but it was like looking at them through slightly frosted glass.

Suddenly, one of the kids screamed. Not in joy, like they usually do, but in anger. Jackie’s head snapped towards the sound as he saw one small boy suddenly throw himself at a bigger boy, knocking him over. The other kids all immediately crowded around, and Jackie hurried over as well. He tried not to get too close, but he didn’t need to worry about that. The kids didn’t look at him. One even ran right through him. Clearly, he couldn’t interact with them... but he remembered from his research into MR that he should be able to interact with Anti. He just needed to find him. Maybe one of the fighting kids was him?

He easily peered over the heads of the smaller kids who were gathering around—some shouting for the fighting to stop, most yelling encouragement—to look at the fighting boys. The smaller one, the one who had provoked the attack, was hitting the bigger one at first. But then the bigger boy got the advantage and pushed the smaller one over, hitting him in the face repeatedly. “Hey!” Jackie shouted. “Hey! Stop that!”

But nothing happened. Jackie started pushing his way through the crowd of children, but saw that someone else was doing the same thing. An adult man, yelling “Break it up, break it up!” Immediately, the bigger boy stopped fighting and backed off. The smaller boy scrambled up. The man looked between the two of them. “Alright, who started it?”

“He did, professor!” the bigger boy pointed at the smaller. “He attacked me!”

“That’s not fackin’ fair you motherfacker!” the smaller boy immediately protested. “You started it! You called Mam a bitch!”

“░░░░░░, we dunnae use language like t’at!” the man—a professor, apparently—snapped.

“He did it first!” the smaller boy shrieked. “He called my mam a bitch and me a two-eyed freak!”

Jackie frowned. He leaned closer... and his eyes widened. The small boy had messy brown hair and two different-colored eyes. Blue on the left, green on the right. “...Anti?” he whispered.

He was far enough that he shouldn’t have been heard, but the smaller boy looked in his direction anyway. He blinked, looking... confused. No recognition in his gaze. 

“Well, ev’ryone?” the professor looked around. “Who t’rew the first punch?”

The kids all muttered things. Many of them pointed at the smaller boy—at Anti.

“Very well. ░░░░░░, we’ll be talkin’ to your mother after school.”

Anti clenched his tiny fists. “She’s not gonna show up,” he muttered darkly.

The bigger boy from before leaned a bit closer, whispering something barely audible. “Because she can’ bother for you.”

Anti screamed and whirled around on him, punching again. The kids surged away, looking afraid. The professor stepped in, grabbing Anti from behind and pulling him off the bigger boy. “That’s enough, ░░░░░░!” He snapped. “We’re goin’ to the dean’s office! Now!”

“What?! Hang on! Didn’t you hear that?!” Jackie protested. Anti, fighting against the professor, paused for a second to stare at him.

Jackie tried running forward, reaching for him. “Anti, do you know who I am?” he called, but—

All of a sudden, he fell forward. Bright lights surrounded him once more, and the schoolyard disappeared.

———————

Sounds echoed down the hallway. Slamming, thumping, various sounds of things hitting other things. JJ glanced nervously towards the open doorway of the hospital room. Then he glanced back at Jackie, slumped in his chair, and Anti, still unresponsive in the bed with Sam curled up on his chest and Jack hovering nervously next to him.

“If we can hear t’at, ev’ryone else in the hallway can, too,” Marvin muttered. “Really hope t’at people don’t go check it out.”

“Of course they will,” Jack mumbled. “They’re people. People get curious, especially when it’s something like that.”

We can’t have anyone walking in and getting hurt, JJ said. He took his stage mask out of his bag and pulled it on; it usually helped him focus his magic. Hold on, I’m going to ward all the other rooms on the floor.

“You can do t’at?” Marvin said, surprised.

In theory. JJ walked over to the doorway. He pointed at the nearest door and whispered something under his breath. A small sphere of blue light shot from his fingertip and bounced on the door, splashing and rippling across its surface. The sphere leaped across to the next door over, causing a ripple of blue magic there, too, and also spawning a copy. The spheres of blue light kept bouncing to every door, until each one was covered in an almost-imperceptible blue film.

“And t’at’s the whole floor?” Marvin asked.

In theory, JJ said. But they’re not the strongest wards. I don’t want to prevent doctors from reaching an emergency. It should be enough to prevent people from checking out the sounds, though. They’ll walk up to the door and think better of going out. But if there’s something really important, they’ll be able to power through.

“Sam, can you... tell me how they’re doing?” Jack asked. “Can you sense that somehow?” Sam swished their tail. “No, no, i-it’s okay, I know you can’t read minds.” Jack sighed. “Just keep trying to reach Anti.”

Suddenly, a scream rang out. The three guys’ heads snapped down the hall. “Was that Schneep?” Jack gasped.

JJ immediately started running out of the room, but Marvin caught him, stopping him. “Don’! You’re our las’ line of defense for t’ese two, remember?” He gestured back to Jackie and Anti. “You can’ be the las’ line of defense if you get yourself hurt.”

But Henrik! JJ protested.

“I know.” Marvin hesitated. “I’ll go.”

“But Marvin, your leg!” Jack gasped.

“Come wit’ me, t’en!” Marvin snapped.

JJ stared at Marvin for a moment. Then nodded. You brought the cards, didn’t you?

“O’course.”

Then go. Be careful.

Marvin nodded. “Actually, Jack, you shoul’ definitely come—at least push me down t’ere faster t’an I can wheel.”

Jack nodded. He hurried over, grabbing the back of Marvin’s wheelchair, hesitated a moment wondering if that was okay, then rushed down the hallway once Marvin seemed fine with it.

JJ turned back to the room, watching Jackie and Anti. His eyes glowed blue as he drew more of his magic out, prepared to protect them both if need be.

———————

Jackie found himself somewhere else. Unlike with the schoolyard, this place was mostly empty. It was a pub or bar of some sort. And not a nice one. The table surfaces were scraped up, as well as the surface of the bar. Small graffiti was written just about everywhere, on the walls, on the chairs, around the door frames leading in and out. The floor looked like it hadn’t been swept in ages. Grimy windows showed a view of a city at night.

Jackie looked around, and his eyes immediately landed on a man sitting at the bar. He was younger than expected—probably barely of-age to be in here—wearing an old black jacket and ragged jeans. Anti was the only patron in this shabby bar. Quickly, Jackie hurried over next to him. “Anti.”

Anti doesn’t respond at first, still leaning heavily on the bar. Then he slowly turned to look at Jackie. There was something in his hand. A lit cigarette. Though, it looked a bit strange to Jackie. He never smoked, was never even tempted, but he’d seen discarded ones all around and... there was something off about that one. Maybe it was just something weird with the MR. “And you are?” Anti asked.

“I-I’m Jackie,” Jackie stammered. “Jackie Parker. Don’t you—Do you remember me?”

“Hmm.” Anti blinked slowly. “Should I...?”

“Well... I-I don’t know, I’m not fully sure on how this works,” Jackie said quietly. “But yeah, y-you should! I think. Even if this is just a memory.”

“Hmm.” Anti blinked again. His eyes seemed a bit cloudy.

Jackie stared at him. “You... you need to wake up.”

“Heh.” Anti gave him a wry smile. “Why?”

Jackie was taken aback. “Because—because we’re all so worried. W-we miss you, you know. W-we don’t want you to have to keep going through this.”

“You don’t have to lie for me.” Anti took a drag of the strange cigarette.

“...what?” Jackie breathed.

“You don’t have to lie for me,” Anti repeated. “I know the truth. I’ve never even told you guys my name. Why would you care about some guy you don’t know the name of?”

“I-it’s not just your name, Anti!” Jackie insisted. “You’re our friend even without that! We know you! We—we know that you’re a good man—”

Anti barked out a laugh. “I’ve really managed to fool you all, haven’t I?”

“No! I mean—it’s the truth!” Jackie stepped closer. “We know you, A-Anti. You’re smart, really able to think out of the box with things, a-and you’re really creative too, though you would insist that hacking games isn’t a creative thing at all. And you’re fun to be around, you have this really sharp sense of humor that’s really great, a-and if anything goes wrong you’re really willing to go to bat for your friends. A-and you’re really good with kids. No matter how snappy you are with adults, you’re never that way with kids, and they all love talking with you. That’s why—that’s why Will got along with you, isn’t it? When you guys first met at the agency.”

“...Will,” Anti whispered. He looked down at the bar counter. “...They never should’ve let me take care of him,” he says quietly. “The only reason they did was because I fooled the background check. Not sure how. I guess they really weren’t all that thorough. Or maybe they didn’t care. That was a shitty agency, I wouldn’t put it past them.”

Jackie shook his head slowly, in shock. “You’ve... you’ve never said anything like this before...”

“That’s not the sort of shit you say out loud.” Anti closed his eyes and took another drag. “Go away. Leave me alone. I just wanna get rid of these thoughts. They’re... hot. They make my brain heat up. It’s from how fast they go, y’know. Not a lot makes them quiet. Listening to them does, but that gets me in trouble. Well... this gets me in trouble too.” He laughed, shaking the cigarette. “But at least it’s just me.”

“I... didn’t know you smoked,” Jackie said slowly.

“Well I do.”

Jackie stared at him. Then he shook his head. “No. You don’t. That would be hard to hide from us. You’re good at hiding things, but not that good. You... you must’ve quit. In the past couple years.”

Anti stared at him. “Why would I do that? This is the only thing that helps.”

“No, that can’t be true.” Jackie shook his head again. “You wouldn’t do that. You wouldn’t expose Will to that. So you must have quit. You must have figured something out.”

Anti stared some more. He gives a little laugh. “I... I think you think too highly of me.”

“No, I just know you,” Jackie insisted.

“...no, you don’t.” Anti whispered. “No one does.”

And before Jackie could retort, he found himself falling again.

———————

The battle was turning. Distorter managed to slash his nails across Schneep’s face, making three shallow cuts that nonetheless bled quite a lot, making it hard for him to see. They’d been fighting for fifteen minutes, and that felt like hours when you were enduring constant pain and exertion. Schneep was mildly surprised to find he wasn’t running out of energy—but his body still ached where Distorter had clawed and bit and kicked. Not to mention how he would sometimes throw his whole body at Schneep, slamming Schneep to the ground with a breathtaking impact. Everything was starting to add up. It was hard to keep going when movement hurt.

But Distorter wasn’t slowing down at all. Distorter wasn’t tired, and he wasn’t feeling the pain of Schneep’s punches and shocks the way Schneep was feeling the pain of his attacks. “Oh, someone’s hurting!” he laughed. “Someone’s slow!”

Schneep growled and sent another shock through Distorter’s body. Distorter jittered for a while, then recovered—faster than he had the previous times. Schneep felt Distorter’s wrist slip from his grasp—the sensation of bones grinding under his skin made him want to throw up—and Distorter punched him in the side of the head. Schneep managed to shake off the blow but it left his brain rattling in his skull.

“And I think you’re running out of juice, too,” Distorter whispered, smile widening. “Like a battery! Do you think you have some inside you?”

“Shut up!” Schneep shouted, grabbing Distorter by the shoulders and throwing him into the wall. Distorter just laughed and instantly jumped back, using the bounce of hitting the wall to give him more power as he tackled Schneep to the ground.

“Wonder if they’ll be disappointed in you,” Distorter whispered directly into Schneep’s ear. “Their great weapon can’t even take down one guy after five minutes.”

Schneep shrieked in frustration and jerked his head to the side, knocking it against Distorter’s. Distorter jerked back from the impact, giving Schneep just enough space to scramble out from under him.

Suddenly, Stacy gasped. “What are you guys doing?!” she shouted. “Get out of here!”

Schneep looked to the side, and saw Jack and Marvin in the room’s doorway. His eyes widened in horror, and he started to shout at them to get away before Distorter suddenly lunged at him again, nails digging into his skin.

“H-hey!” Jack shouted. He glanced around the room, then ran to the side and grabbed one of the hospital chairs that had been knocked over by the fight. He started to swing it towards Distorter—

“No don’t—!” Stacy protested.

—And Distorter leapt backwards, leaving Schneep to take the full force of the blow. “Oh my god!” Jack immediately let go of the chair. “I-I’m so sorry!”

“He’s too fast for us!” Stacy shouted. “I-I don’t know how Henrik is keeping up—”

Schneep pushed the chair back and scrambled to his feet, grabbing the chair as he went and bashing it into Distorter’s side. “Stronger than you two, I think,” Schneep gasped. “The chair just slows you down—” He suddenly yelped as Distorter grabbed his ankle and pulled, making him fall.

“H-hang on, Schneep, w-we’re here t’help!” Marvin said, taking his cards out of the bag attached to his chair and looking through them.

“Are you, now?!” Distorter laughed. “Why don’t you sit tight there? And you two—” His head snapped back and forth between Stacy and Jack. “Leave this to us!”

Suddenly, both of them collapsed, ragdolls losing all strength. Marvin gasped as he saw a drop of blood slip from Jack’s right eye. Distorter had done that! He’d controlled their bodies for a brief moment, just enough to make them fall like that. Hurriedly, Marvin looked through his cards.

“It’s just us now,” Distorter hissed to Schneep. He swiped his hands towards his face, but Schneep jerked his head back in time to avoid more scratches. But that was just to throw him off guard. Quickly, while Schneep was still reeling from that dodge, Distorter lunged forward, grabbing Schneep’s wrist. The two of them went tumbling, and Marvin couldn’t exactly make out what happened, but somehow it ended with Distorter pinning Schneep to the floor, holding both his wrists in one hand, knees pinning his legs. “Say goodbye.” Distorter’s free hand reached for Schneep’s neck, digging his nails into his flesh. Schneep thrashed against his grip but couldn’t break free, he gasped, starting to choke—

“No!” Marvin got up, dropping the cards in the process, and grabbed Distorter’s arm, pulling it back from Schneep’s neck.

Distorter looked up at him in surprise. “What? You—but—That shouldn’t be healed yet!”

Marvin blinked, and looked down at his broken leg. Or... formerly broken? He should have been in agony from standing on it, but it felt fine. Actually, it had felt fine for a while. He assumed the pain was fading naturally, but—but it still should have hurt when he put weight on it.

What happened?

In any case, Schneep was able to take advantage of Distorter’s surprise to pull a hand free and grab Distorter by the throat. There was an electric SNAP! and Distorter was thrown backwards with such force that Marvin couldn’t keep hold of his arm. Stacy gasped and scrambled to her feet. Jack did the same. That shock must have broken Distorter’s concentration. Stacy immediately rushed to Schneep’s side, helping him up. “I’m fine,” Schneep gasped. “I’m fine. It must look worse than it is.”

“Looks fucking terrible, yeah!” Jack said. Blood was dripping down Schneep’s throat in a steady river—or, actually, five small rivers, from five small wounds.

Distorter got to his feet, bones cracking. “Oh, does it?” he growled. Then he looked at Marvin and his grin widened. “Well, if you’re feeling better, you should make yourself useful, shouldn’t you? For your friend.”

Marvin blinked. Friend...?

Friend.

His vision seemed to waver, everything becoming blurry as his eyes lost focus. Friend. Friend.

Schneep went pale. “Marvin... don’t listen to him.”

“Smile for me,” Distorter whispered.

Marvin’s body moved without his mind, lurching for Schneep. Jack got there first, blocking him. Marvin tried to push past but Jack grabbed him, wrapping his arms tight around him and pinning his own arms in turn. “Marvin, snap out of it!” he shouted, but his voice sounded so far away... Muffled... Yeah... That’s the word for it...

“Schneep, watch out!” Stacy shouted, warning Schneep just in time for him to dodge Distorter suddenly attacking him.

“Schiesse!” Schneep cursed. “Y-you two take care of Marvin, I can handle this!”

“Can you?” Distorter grinned, and attacked again.

———————

For the third time, Jackie found himself somewhere else. But at least he recognized this place. It was Anti’s apartment, with the window outside showing the night sky, but it looked so different. There was hardly any furniture in the living room, pretty much just a sofa—not the sleeper sofa he had now—and a coffee table with a small TV on top of it—again, not the furniture he had now. The kitchenette didn’t have its counter stools... or anything else. It was pretty much just the furniture that was attached to the floor. Clothes were scattered around the floor, along with dishes, some of which were broken, most of which had old half-eaten food on them. Everything looked dirty. Jackie was glad that he couldn’t smell anything while in MR.

Anti was sitting on the floor between the sofa and coffee table, staring at the TV. It was on, but it displayed nothing but static. He wore an oversized T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Jackie hadn’t seen him wear an outfit like that in forever. Anti was alway proud of his style. But... he did vaguely remember a time like that. And he did remember seeing the apartment in a state similar to this... though he didn’t remember it being this bad. “Anti?” Jackie called.

He didn’t answer. He just kept staring at the TV screen, rocking back and forth. One hand absentmindedly scratched his wrist—in fact, it looked like it had been doing that for a while, judging by how red and raw the skin was there.

“Anti!” Jackie hurried over, waving his hand in front of the TV screen to get his attention. “I know you can see me!”

Anti’s eye twitched. “Shut up,” he mumbled. “Leave me alone.”

“No! I will not leave you alone!” Jackie looked over the TV, found the power button, and pressed it.

Anti suddenly shrieked. “No! No no no no—” He reached for the power, but Jackie grabbed his wrist, finding that he could touch some things while in MR. “Stop it! I need it!”

“You need to stare at TV static? What the fuck?”

“The noise, I-I need the noise,” Anti said in a hushed voice. He reached forward with his other hand, but Jackie grabbed that one, too. “I need the shapes in the screen!” Anti’s voice cracked. “I need—I need—i-it goes fast, I need—I need—I-I need—”

“Anti, please.” Jackie knelt on the ground next to him. They were pretty close together. He could feel Anti’s whole body trembling slightly. “That’s not... something you need. You’ll just hurt your eyes. H-how long have you been sitting here? Did you eat anything?”

“I—” Anti blinked, eyes still fixed on the screen like he could make the static reappear just by waiting. “I—I—I—M-my brain—is stuck,” he gasped. “I—I—I h-have to—I can’t—think of a-a-anything else—”

“Does this happen often?” Jackie whispered. “Or... did it? I know this is a memory. It has to be. I’ve never... seen you do anything like this these days.”

Anti laughed. His eyes rolled back to look at Jackie. “Just because you’ve never seen it—just because it hasn’t happened in a while—” He laughed again. “Wh-why are you here? Why are you here?”

“I’m here to help you wake up,” Jackie said quietly.

Anti shook his head. “Wh-what if I don’t want to wake up? Wh-what if—what if you’re making a mistake—What if y-you’ll all be better if I stay like this—”

“There’s no way we’ll be ‘better’ with you like this!” Jackie said firmly. “You think we’d be happy to hear that you’re—you’re stuck in memories like this?!” He gestured around at the horrid state of the room. “This is fucking awful! I-I can’t believe this was—this was how things were for you! Anti, why didn’t you ever tell us? I mean, I remember you not having a lot in your apartment when we first met, but it was at least clean. A-and at least Volt and I were able to help you out. Even if you grumbled the whole time.” He laughed. “This... why didn’t you say anything?”

Anti looked at him. “...doesn’t matter, does it?” he whispered.

“Why?” Jackie asked. “Why doesn’t it matter?”

“Because it’s just me... nothing important.”

Jackie stared at him, shocked. Then—he couldn’t help it. He shook Anti by the shoulders. “What are you saying?!” he shouted. “You—nothing important?!”

Anti laughed darkly. “Besides... no telling what you’d say.” His head lolled back. “Better to be nothing. Better to be angry. Better than... being hurt.”

Jackie shook him again, then realized that this probably wasn’t the best method for getting through to him and stopped. “Th-that does explain some stuff about you, I guess,” he said slowly. “But—but Anti. I promise you. We would never hurt you. I-I think... I think you’ve been hurt a lot. Is that it? Is that why?”

“Why what?” Anti mumbled.

“Why... e-everything, really.” Jackie shook his head. “Like I said, it would explain some stuff about you.”

Anti shrugged wordlessly.

“Anti, we would never hurt you,” Jackie insisted. “We care about you. We’ve always cared about you, a-and we’re not gonna stop any time soon.” Anti started to shake his head. “No, don’t do that. Don’t do that, Anti.” Jackie hesitated, thoughts scrambling. If he remembered correctly, he should be able to have some influence over the MR world. Not as much as Anti—or Distorter, who had created this illusion—but some would be enough, maybe. “Don’t you remember? H-here. I think—I think I can show you.” He held onto Anti tight, closing his eyes as he concentrated. Maybe—maybe if he thought hard enough about it—

He felt that falling sensation again. And this time, Anti came with him.

When they landed, Jackie immediately heard Anti inhale sharply. “Wh-what?” he breathed. Jackie opened his eyes... and saw that they had landed right where he wanted them to. In a hospital room. Another Anti was lying in a hospital bed, bandages around his neck, fidgeting absentmindedly with the edge of the blanket. On the table next to him was a small whiteboard and a dry erase marker. “This... place...” The Anti beside him whispered.

As the two of them watched, a man walked past the open door to the hospital room. Then stopped, turned around, and walked into the room. Now it was Jackie’s turn to gasp. He didn’t realize how much younger he would look. It wasn’t that long ago that he’d met Anti, was it? Or... maybe it was. “Um... hi.” The past Jackie gave a little wave. “You, uh... you’re new in here. I’m Dr. Parker. This is sort of, my area. Nice to meet you. What’s your name?”

The past Anti glared at him. He picked up the whiteboard, and wrote down Fuck off.

“Oh.” The past Jackie blinked in surprise. “Well, uh, I don’t want to bother you. Just wanted to introduce myself. You, uh... it’s funny, maybe we’re related? We kind of look alike, don’t we?”

The past Anti wrote over the Fuck off from before, making it bigger.

“Huh. Um... I’m guessing you can’t talk, then? That’s okay.”

The past Anti underlined the Fuck off.

“I wasn’t very nice to you...” Anti whispered. “I don’t know why you came back. I wasn’t expecting you to.”

“But I did, didn’t I?” Jackie said.

The scene before them fast-forwarded a bit. The past Jackie kept trying to talk to Anti but eventually left... and then returned with something. A milkshake. “I hope you like vanilla,” he said. “I thought it was the safest bet, but I can always go get another if you want. They have chocolate and strawberry down in the cafeteria.”

The past Anti stared at him. And, slowly, he picked up the whiteboard and wrote, Why? 

Shrugging, the past Jackie said, “It looked like you needed one.” He set the milkshake down on the table and sat down in the one chair in the room. Anti stared at him. Then stared at the milkshake. Then, slowly, reached over and picked it up, carefully sipping through a straw. Jackie smiled. 

Anti shook his head. “This... this isn’t the same,” he muttered. “You didn’t know me. I-I was just some—some random fucker with a hurt neck.”

“You know...” Jackie hesitated. “I... saw the report on your injury later. A-and all this time, I thought you’d gotten in a fight, you seemed the type. But lately... I’ve been thinking... You... don’t have to talk about it, of course. But... Anti, did... did you—”

“Yes,” Anti whispered. “But it wasn’t like what you’re thinking. The goal wasn’t... I wasn’t going to... I-I wasn’t thinking straight. I knew that... sometimes, if I got hurt, m-my thoughts would calm down. So I... But like I said, I wasn’t thinking straight... I didn’t... think of the consequences...” He trailed off. Then he turned away from Jackie, away from the memory of the two of them. “Don’t give me pity. I don’t need it.”

Jackie shook his head. “It’s not pity, Anti,” he whispered. “It’s empathy. It’s compassion. Because you’re my friend.” Tears welled in his eyes. “Knowing that all this happened to you... I-I can’t... it hurts me, to think about it.”

“Sorry to hurt you, then,” Anti muttered.

“No, not like that. It’s because I care about you, Anti. A-and because I care about you, I want to know this. I want to know, so that I can be there for you, so that I can help if something like it happens again. I-I’d rather know than suddenly get blindsided by this one day.”

“You don’t know me,” Anti whispered.

Jackie reached out. He didn’t touch Anti. He simply offered a hand. “Then help me know you.”

Anti stared at his hand. He hesitated, a nervous expression on his face... No. It wasn’t mere nervousness. It was fear. “You... won’t like what you see. A-and then you’ll...”

“I’ll what?” Jackie prompted. “Leave? Not want to be friends with you anymore?” He shook his head. “You’re already convinced that I think it’s better for you to stay asleep, in this fucking hellscape of bad memories. I don’t think it’ll get worse than that, will it?”

“Hearing it will be worse,” Anti said.

“Okay. But you might not hear it at all. You might find that I don’t care about whatever you’re hiding from me. You’ll never know.”

Anti was quiet for a moment. Then, slowly, as if expecting Jackie to pull his hand back at any moment, he reached out... and took it. Around them, the memory faded, a dull gray color taking everything over.

“Tell me about yourself,” Jackie whispered gently.

Anti nodded. “My... my mother was Ciara McLoughlin,” he said, forcing the words out. “She... lived in a town called Tragóige, i-in Longford County in Ireland.”

Around them, vague shapes started to form out of the grayness. Jackie saw a woman with long brown hair and dark eyes. She was checking her makeup in a wall mirror that hung on nothing.

“I—I d-didn’t know my father. She didn’t either, sh-she saw a lot of guys during that time. N-never checked, I think. Maybe she did, but she couldn’t reach him. I don’t know. All I know is... it was just the two of us.”

A small boy appeared next to the woman, tugging on the hem of her shirt. Jackie recognized Anti as a child. A room started to form around them. Dull brown-yellow walls with a faded wallpaper pattern. A TV on the floor and a saggy sofa. An overflowing trash bin. End tables with dirty dishes and bottles.

“We didn’t actually own the house. I-I knew that even when I was little. She rented it. It was on some farmer’s land, Donovan was his name, I-I think. He never seemed to like Ciara that much, I don’t know why he let us stay there. But we did stay there. My room was in the attic.” The room around them shifted, the woman disappearing, leaving just the child Anti, in a room with wooden walls and a slanted ceiling and a big circular window. “It was always up there. She got really upset when it was late at night and I showed up in her room. Which I did, sometimes. When I was littler. I stopped going down there when I got older. I figured out she wouldn’t do anything about the nightmares, or about me crying because I was alone.”

The scene shifted again. A classroom, filled with children. The young Anti sat in the back. For the first time, Jackie noticed how his uniform was a bit different than the others. The jumper was a slightly different shade of red, the pants had patches on the knees. “I didn’t really think anything was weird about all this until I went to school. I heard the other kids talking about their families and their parents and these things called birthday gifts. And... I realized I was different. They realized it, too. And kids don’t like kids who are different.”

Rapid-fire memories surrounded them. Anti being tripped in the hall by other kids, Anti having his things stolen by the kids around him, Anti being shouted at about how his eyes were weird, Anti getting his things back with insults written on them, Anti being taunted by the kids about how his mother didn’t care for him. Jackie’s heart swelled just seeing it.

“So, if they weren’t going to leave me alone, I was going to be too much trouble for them to deal with. I-I started fighting back, shouting back. I carried around a knife so that if anyone tried to hit me, they’d think better of it. That scared people. I... I think I liked that. I-it was better than being the one who was scared. So then I started doing things that would get around. Destroying school stuff, taking small things from shops, generally causing mayhem around town. I-it got me in trouble. A lot. I-I think I was just barely able to keep from being expelled, really. But... it worked. People stopped bothering me. But... some started getting really on my case. Which I don’t think I minded. I think... I think some part of me was thinking... that if I caused enough trouble, maybe she would finally do something about it. Ground me, shout at me, I don’t know. Something.”

The memories shifted. Anti grew older. A teenager. He waved a switchblade in other teenagers’ faces. He started fiddling with computers, using what he learned to break into other people’s machines. He threw bricks through windows and flipped off the police who started chasing after him. Rarely a sentence came out of his mouth that didn’t include at least one curse word.

“But... everything just got worse, too. I mean, of fucking course it did. I was the trouble kid, and soon, I’d be an actual criminal. So... before I turned eighteen, before I would have to start worrying about going to prison, I left town. I-it was really easy to, actually.” A memory of Anti at a bus stop appeared, a single backpack by his side. “I didn’t have much to tie me down there. But... I didn’t know where I would be going. Just that it wouldn’t be there. So I started wandering.”

Snapshots. Rural roads became suburb roads became city streets.

“I think... it’s around that time th-that I started... changing. I-I don’t know what it is. I studied psychology later, but I’ve never looked up what could’ve caused all this. I don’t... even really know how to describe it. Maybe I’m too scared to. I-it’s like... Some of it is intrusive thoughts, but it’s not just that. It’s... a state of mind. A disconnectedness. Disassociation, maybe? I’m not sure. Thoughts that keep going down the same path over and over, thoughts that I don’t want to keep going or get hooked on, but that I can’t stop.” Anti’s voice hitched. “F-for a while, I got... I got into some stuff, trying to muffle them. I-I knew it was bad, but I couldn’t help it. I-it was a short period of time, but I-I managed to get past it. But... that doesn’t mean things were better.”

More snapshots. Anti wandering city streets, Anti getting in fistfights, Anti causing more destruction and vandalism.

“I-I did some bad stuff. Stole things. Broke things. Attacked people for no reason, I-I might’ve even... k-killed someone.” His eyes welled with tears. “I didn’t want to. I didn’t mean to. I-I don’t know if it’s true, but... it might be. I-I don’t know. But eventually, I wound up in this city. Mirygale. I-I had some cash, so I started renting a place to stay. Bought a couple pieces of furniture. E-even found an old TV on the side of the road and a rebuilt computer. I didn’t expect to be able to stay there long, but it was... better than being out in the elements. But things wouldn’t stop. M-my thoughts... they... they weren’t being muffled anymore. I tried... other things. Distraction. Pain. Until... you know how that ended.”

The hospital room faded back into view. Jackie wasn’t there yet. It was just Anti in the past. Staring up at the ceiling. Eyes glazed. Completely still.

Anti took a deep breath. That scene faded away again, and they were surrounded by more of that gray nothingness. “So... now you know. Th-that’s my whole life.” He wiped at his eyes. “Jack’s my cousin, you know. Did you know that? I didn’t. Ciara never told me she had a brother, much fucking less that her brother had a family.” He laughed drily. “Maybe that’s where she got some of her money from. I don’t think she made a lot on her own.”

“I...” Jackie was left speechless. His brain struggled to process everything he heard... to understand all the misery that had plagued his friend’s life. “Anti, that’s... I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry that you had to go through all that.”

“Heh.” Anti gave him a small, wan smile. “Knew you’d say that.”

“You did? Then what was all that about being afraid to tell me?”

“Things will be different now,” Anti muttered. “You’ll look at me differently. You feel sorry for me, and every time you look at me, I’ll see that in your eyes. Just... something to feel sorry for. Maybe be a little afraid of. It won’t be normal.”

“Anti... that’s not true.”

“You say that but—”

“No, Anti, let me talk,” Jackie interrupted. “I’m sorry, but let me talk.” He put his hands on Anti’s shoulders, looking him straight in the eyes. “I feel sorry for you, yes. But that’s not all you are to me. You’re not an—an object for me to project feelings onto. You are my friend. You are the man I chose to be Michelle’s godfather.”

“You really shouldn’t have done that, by the—”

“Anti, please. Listen.” Jackie paused for a moment, making sure Anti’s full attention was on him. “You’re my friend. You’re my daughter’s godfather. You’re an excellent self-taught programmer—which is fucking amazing, by the way. And to get a minor in psych while doing that, fucking incredible. You’re a role model to tons of people online. You’re a great father. No matter what you think of yourself and your ability as a parent, you’re good at it, Anti. You’re good at all of this. Anti, I... I think I always knew there was something dark in your past. Someone who shows up in the hospital with a slit throat could not have had an easy life. And I saw your flat when you first lived there, remember? I knew you were struggling with something. But you know what? You managed to get past all that. You picked up your life. You got yourself a degree in fucking record time—and fuck anyone who says it doesn’t count because it was online—and managed to make yourself a career out of doing something that you love. Because I know you love games. Playing them and breaking their code, hah. And, after all that, you found a boy who was also struggling, and you gave him a home and someone who cares about him. The fact that you could do all this despite everything you went through? Anti, I think that’s the strongest thing I’ve ever heard a person do.”

Anti stared at him, completely and utterly shocked. “I... but... I-I’m not—I-I don’t really make a difference—”

“How could you say that after everything I just said?” Jackie asked. “All the people who love your videos aside—they’re all strangers really—what about the rest of us? You think we’d be the same without you? You think our lives would be better? Anti, that’s simply not true. Every day, I’m so happy to have met you. I’m so happy that you’re my friend. I-I always want to do everything I can to help you... sometimes to my own detriment.” He laughed weakly. “Because you’re my friend. Because you matter to me, because my life is so much better having met you. And it’s the same for everyone else, too. Especially Will.”

Anti swallowed a lump in his throat. “Maybe... maybe Will could’ve had a better family, if he hadn’t met me,” he whispered weakly.

“No, he couldn’t have. Because you care about him so much, Anti. You care so much that you’re worried you’re not good enough. But you are. There’s no one Will would rather have as a dad than you.” Jackie smiled. “And there’s no one we’d rather have as a friend. Anti, I love you. You’re my best friend. Don’t tell the others that, especially Schneep. But... I think it’s true. And you’ll still be my friend after this.”

Anti was quiet for a long time. He was blinking back tears. “Do... you promise?” he asked in a hoarse voice.”

Jackie gently grabbed his hand, wrapping their fingers together. “I promise, Anti.”

Anti closed his eyes. He leaned his head forward until it rested on Jackie’s shoulder. “Aodhán.”

“Huh?”

“My name,” he whispered. “I’m Aodhán McLoughlin.”

Jackie stood there, stunned for a moment. Then he smiled. “Nice to meet you, Aodhán.”

Anti let out a breath. And then, he started to sob. Quietly at first, and then louder and louder, great heaving breaths. He wrapped his arms around Jackie, squeezing tight, clutching at his clothes. Jackie hugged him back. Around them, the gray nothingness began to change. A green glow was piercing through the fog.

After a while, Anti stopped crying, but he didn’t let go of Jackie.

“Is it time to wake up?” Jackie asked.

“...yeah,” Anti whispered. “I’m ready.”

———————

“Marvin, I swear, we’re your friends!” Jack shouted desperately.

Marvin didn’t seem to answer. He kept struggling against Jack with that glassy look in his eyes, blood dripping from his sockets. Jack kept him pushed to the floor, and meanwhile, Schneep and Distorter were still fighting. And it was becoming increasingly clear that the fight was one-sided. Schneep stumbled, and Distorter pushed him against the empty hospital bed, his head hitting the railings with an unpleasant CLANG!

“Stacy?” Jack glanced over at her. “Do you have them?”

“Y-yeah, I think I got all of them!” Stacy pushed all the cards she’d gathered into a deck. Marvin’s cards, spilled across the floor when he suddenly jumped to Schneep’s aid. She hurried over, kneeling on the ground next to Marvin’s face. “Look! Marvin, these are yours! Do you remember these?!” She glanced at Jack, unsure. Jack nodded back. Surely the cards will jog Marvin’s mind or something. But his eyes were still glassy. “Uh... h-here, you can look at them.” She spread the deck out, showing the different designs on their backs.

And at that... something finally flickered in Marvin’s eyes. Jack felt his struggles still for a moment, and then one arm pushed against his hold. Jack hesitated, then let up for a moment. Marvin slowly reached for the cards, picking out two with the same symbol. Three lines forming a rough, wide U shape, with two dots in the middle.

“These? Uh, okay, what do we do with these?” Stacy wondered. “Uh—” she started putting random cards near those two, in hopes of getting more of a response from Marvin. It wasn’t working. Marvin’s eyes were glazing over again and he started to struggle again against Jack.

“I can’t hold him forever!” Jack said.

“I know I know! Uh—” With increasing panic, Stacy kept showing Marvin cards. Nearby, Schneep cried out in pain as Distorter bit into his arm. He lashed out and punched him back, but the cloth of his shirt ripped as Distorter pulled it away. “Marvin, please! You know this, we don’t! We need you! H-he’s playing mind tricks on you, please remember!”

“...mind,” Marvin whispered. He stopped struggling for a moment, reaching out and grabbing another one of the cards, this one with a pointed shape in the middle and two lines next to it. He pulled that forward, into the middle of the two cards from before—

A faint golden light rippled out from the three-card formation. Suddenly, Jack leaned back, blinking and shaking his head as he felt it suddenly clear. He hadn’t realized how foggy he’d felt until just then. Stacy’s expression was similar. And, suddenly, Marvin gasped. “H-holy fucking hell!” he shouted. “What the—wh-what’s happening?!”

Distorter looked towards him. “What? No! No, you’re supposed to be—” Schneep came out of nowhere, punching him in the face so hard it knocked him to the ground.

“The cards,” Marvin whispered. “Mind and safety—I-I knew. I knew e-even like t’at, I knew what they—Jack, can ye get off me?”

“Right.” Jack hurriedly moved away, allowing Marvin to sit up.

Distorter scrambled to his feet. “Fine! But that won’t work on your ‘friend’ Ant—”

A blue burst of light came flying into the room and hit Distorter in the chest, pushing him back against the far wall. Ice formed along his torso, pinning him there.

Marvin gasped. “Jems!”

JJ stood in the doorway, hand outstretched and eyes glowing bright. Don’t talk about Anti, he said. He’s not under your power anymore.

Schneep blinked. “You—you mean—”

Jameson smiled, nodding. The glow in his eyes faded, revealing the tears lining them.

“Forget abou’ t’at guy!” Marvin said, gesturing back at Distorter, struggling against the ice keeping him attached to the wall. “Let’s go!”

Everyone scrambled to their feet. Marvin made sure to get his cards but left the wheelchair behind; he could come back for that later. JJ looked confused about how Marvin was walking fine again, but shrugged it off. This was more important! They all rushed down the hall.

Distorter paused, assessing his connection to Anti—and found it gone. He screeched with frustration and broke away from the ice, tumbling to the ground. He quickly got up again, ready to rush after them... but then stopped. His head tilted to the side. What... was that? He... was sensing something strange. Slowly, he turned around, peering through the blinds on the window and down at the ground below. Oh. Oh. No, he didn’t want to be here for that. Quickly, he turned and ran, trying to find the easiest exit out of the hospital.

The group burst into Anti’s room. Marvin and Schneep weren’t sure what they would see. JJ said Anti was awake, but it didn’t seem real. Not until they all rushed into the room and saw Anti, unrestrained and sitting up, with Jackie sitting on the bed beside him, the two of them hugging each other tight and crying.

“...Anti?” Schneep whispered.

Anti looked up. His eyes were bloodshot, but clear, not glazed over. He gave him a small smile. “H-hi.”

Schneep relaxed. He laughed. “Hi? You are under a monster’s control for days, maybe weeks, a-and you just say hi?”

Anti shrugged. “Yeah? Fuck you. Is that better?”

Schneep laughed harder. “Oh. Oh, it is so much better. Anti. Anti. I-I am... so... so, relieved.”

Marvin covered his mouth, too overwhelmed by emotion to say anything. He hurried forward, reaching out but stopping. Anti stared at his hand, then took it, holding it in his. Tears filled Marvin’s eyes. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I-I know what it’s like. Maybe... not... exactly all t’is, but...” He took a deep breath. “Y-you’re back. T’at’s what matters.”

JJ wiped his eyes on his sleeve. He nodded, choking back a sob.

“W-we should all give him space,” Schneep said, hiding the tears in his eyes as well.

“No, i-it’s fine right now,” Anti said. “I get it.” He looked past everyone else to Stacy and Jack, hovering near the doorway. “You two are here too, huh? Uh... good to see you, Jack. Stacy.”

Stacy looked a bit surprised, but nodded back. Jack gave him a tired smile. “I’m so glad you’re awake,” he said.

“Me too... fucking hell.” Anti shook his head. “I don’t ever want to relive that.”

“You won’t have to,” Jackie promised. “You’re back now. And we’re gonna make sure Distorter doesn’t fucking try anything like that again.”

Anti laughed. “Yeah.” He looked around the room. “Man... this place fucking sucks. Glad I wasn’t able to see most of it. Can I get out of here?”

“You cannae jus’ walk out of a hospital,” Marvin said.

“Yeah, there’s paperwork and stuff,” Jackie says. “We have to get a doctor to check you over.”

“We can go do that,” Stacy said. “Me and Jack.”

“Yeah, if you guys want a moment, we’ll just go look around for whoever’s in charge to tell them this,” Jack said. He glanced around and frowned. “And I’ll go look for Sam, too. Where did they go?”

“Yeah, you two can clear off,” Anti said. He paused. “Not that... it’s not good to see you,” he added awkwardly. “It... is. I-I think you guys helped wake me up? So... thank you. But... can I... Th-these guys are...”

Jack nodded. “We get it.”

Anti sighed. “Yeah.” He hesitated, then said, “Besides, as my family, you’re probably gonna be the one filling out paperwork.”

Jack’s eyes widened. He glanced around at everyone else.

“Wait, you’re related?!” Marvin gasped.

“We’re cousins,” Anti said. “It’s a... long story.”

I suppose that would explain some things, JJ signed, looking thoughtful.

“Finally, two of our group who look alike turn out to actually be related,” Schneep chuckled.

Jack smiled. He nodded at Anti. “Yeah. I’ll do all that paperwork and stuff. C’mon, Stacy. Let’s find a doctor.” The two of them headed off.

You’re really okay, Anti? JJ asked.

“I feel shitty, actually.” Anti pushed Jackie away a little and looked down at himself. “Fuck... hospital clothes don’t suit me at all. But yeah, my head’s all fucky a-and I feel... weak? I guess?” He looked back up. “How’s Will?”

“He’s alrigh’,” Marvin said. “Rama has been lookin’ after him. He’s missed you.”

Anti crumpled, tears coming back to his eyes. “I’ve missed him too,” he whispered. “F-for a moment... I-I was stuck in this facility, for a while, kept there by these guys called IRIS. And while in there, they said something, a-and... for a moment... I-I wondered if he was even real. N-nothing has ever scared me so much.”

“He is real,” Schneep said firmly. “And he is still your son.”

“And we know about IRIS,” Jackie added. “You don’t have to explain anything.”

Anti nodded, taking a deep breath. He raised his head higher, looking at Schneep, then Marvin, then JJ. “My real name is Aodhán McLoughlin.”

“Wha—” Schneep choked. JJ looked at Anti in surprise. Marvin leaned back, processing that. “Y-you just—just—”

“I told Jackie while in that freaky dream shit,” Anti said. “It’s only fair that you guys know, too.”

JJ laughed hoarsely. Well, it’s good to know, but it doesn’t change anything. Especially for me. It still starts with an A, so my name sign for you doesn’t have to change.

“You’ll still be Anti to us,” Marvin said. “Unless you want us to start usin’ Aodhán.”

“Uhhh no that’s too much too fast,” Anti said.

Schneep sighed. “Well... I suppose all this is settled. Finally.” He paused. “There is still much we have to do, though. But we can take a moment to rest. Get Anti out of the hospital. And—”

AAIIEEEAAIIEEEAAIIEEE!

Schneep suddenly screamed, clapping his hands to his ears and collapsing.

“Volt?!” Jackie gasped, scrambling to his feet. “What is it?!”

“What the fuck?!” Marvin stared. JJ crouched down and started shaking Schneep.

A man appeared in the doorway to the room. They all looked up at him in unison. Like all the doctors here, he wore a white coat. But there was a symbol on the arm. It looked like an eye with three irises.

“No!” Anti scrambled backwards, going pale. “F-fuck off!”

The man tossed something into the room and then slammed the door closed. It was a small metal ball, which fell apart into two different halves with a click. White smoke came billowing out from the inside at an alarming rate.

“What is t’at?!” Marvin asked. He grabbed the pillow from the bed and threw it at the metal ball, but the smoke was pouring out in such quantities that the thin pillow did nothing to stop it.

JJ threw his hand out and a blue shield formed a dome around the ball. For a moment, the smoke was trapped inside—but then the shield flickered and died. JJ looked down at his hand in alarm. He tried conjuring another shield but he couldn’t. He shot a bolt of magic at the ball but all he managed to do was rip the pillow in half and send the two parts of the ball skittering in opposite directions, both still emitting smoke.

“I-I don’t know what that is but it can’t be good!” Jackie shouted, running for the room’s window. But the window didn’t open. “Fuck!” He pounded his fists against the glass. He tried grabbing the chair but it slipped out of his grip. Shaking his head, he stumbled. Why did everything feel so heavy right now?

“It’s... i-it’s a drug,” Marvin said, his words slurring together, head drooping.

Anti tried to stand up, but found he couldn’t. So he started shouting. “HELP! HEEELP! HELP! PLEASE!”

But his pleas fell on deaf ears. Or maybe they just fell on ears that weren’t fast enough to do anything. His voice tapered off quickly and he fell back against the bed, eyelids fluttering.

One by one, they all succumbed to it.

And on a turn of a dime, their triumph was overcome by despair.

[huffle-dork]

Swap into the CrystalVerse Chapter 2: Switch

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix

Read Swapboys | Read Switch | Read SwitchSwap | AO3 Link

Prologue | Chapter 1 Taglist: @brokentimewatch

It's not too long before two cars pull up to the train station. Out of the first one steps a tall dark-skinned person with chin-length hair. They talk with Anti briefly, demanding an explanation but accepting that this isn't the time and leaving with Will, who Anti gives a short hug before he heads out. And out of the second one--

"Why the FACK can we not have five minutes of peace in our goddamn lives?!" Schneep looks pissed and annoyed, but he softens when he sees Bro. "Ah... good to see you again, of course, but it seems there is bad news, too."

Bro shrinks a bit at Schneep's anger but he also can't help but laugh because, same. "haha- I feel that bro..." He then looks scared and bites his lip. "Yeah... I need to find Alt... who knows what Mag is doing to him... or to one of your guys- i think... he really wanted Jameson last time, didn't he?"

Jackie sighs. "Are you okay? Anti said something about you healing really fast, but I can take a look, if you want. I've patched up this guy often enough." He vaguely gestures at Schneep.

Bro then looks back at Jackie and tries to smile, lifting up his singed shirt. "Uh- you can try, if you like. I dunno if it's like... good or not. I don't really... get checked often. Gotta keep go go going, you know? Hero work is never done..."

Dr. Parker can see the edges of the burn are a bit darker, tinged green. But the main part seems pretty much filled with healing skin, raised and pink. A bit hot to the touch but also cracking and Bro squirms uncomfortably. "Fucking shit- god i hate how it itches, jesuss!"

"Sorry," Jackie mumbles. "I didn't really bring anything to treat ichiness." He crouches to get a closer look. "...well, it's definitely healing, but there's some green... tinge here. It might be because of magic. In which case, I'm not qualified to do anything.”

Bro nods and pushes himself to sit up straighter, "S'probably the magic- green fire sucks ass, it lingers a bit longer than I would like. But thanks for checking, Doc."

"No problem," Jackie smiles. "Happy to help. If you feel up to move, we should go meet up with JJ and Marvin. I think—"

Before he can continue, Anti's phone starts to ring. Well, not ring, it's on silent, but the vibration is loud and noticeable. "Shit, sorry," he says, pulling it out. He looks at the Caller ID and frowns in confusion. Then picks it up. "What is it? Whoa!" He holds the phone away from his ear. On the other side a man is yelling. "Fucking shit, calm down! You scared the bejeezus out of me. I—what? Sam? I..." He glances at the others. "Hang on, you all keep talking." He turns to the side and listens to the call.

Bro readjusts himself after being checked on and then jumps slightly at Anti’s exclamation.

"That is probably not good," Schneep mutters. "Neither is it good that Magnificent may be in our world." He laughs. "Though I do wonder now... He has other magic, but those tricks... I wonder if..."

Jackie gives him an odd look. "I don't think we should go testing stuff like that out. We need to come up with some way to get Chase and Alt home--and Magnificent, too."

Bro looks back and studies Schneep with curiously, "Wait testing what out? You got something you think could help against Mag, Volt??"

"Heh." Schneep gives him a wan smile. "Well... a lot has changed since we got sucked into your universe. I do not... wish to discuss it too much, but I will simply say that our villain's illusions and manipulation no longer works on me." If Bro looks close, he'll notice that Schneep is playing with his hands in an odd way. Running a finger down the side of his left hand.

Bro looks excited by this and he grins, "Hey! Maybe that will work- but... I dunno- Mag's magic is... weird. I guess- I dunno much about magic though."

“How'd you get here, by the way?” Jackie asks, “Anti didn't fill in those details in the group chat. Only something about Magnificent doing shit. Do you remember anything specific? If we want to get you back home, it'd be easiest to do it the same way... probably."

Chase looks back at Jackie and nods, "Ah right- so he... he took Alt from our house, puppeted him in a super horrible way that isn't.... like him- not unless he's desperate. and he was... cuz he found this like... doorway thingy- But he needed Alt to glitch to work it. He used his magic and alt's glitches and then there was like- an explosion and i... woke up on the train tracks." He then frowns and tries to remember, "mmm... i dunno if something like that would be here... it was in some shady basement of this fucked up agency we have in our world- calls themselves Sclera."

"That's a werid name for an evil organization," Jackie says absentmindedly. "What is a shlcerla? I mean--sclera?" He sounds the word out carefully.

Schneep sighs. "Jackie, I thought you were a doctor."

"I am! That doesn't mean I know everything! Why, do you know about a sclera?"

"I do." Schneep grins smugly. "I wondered if there was a word for it in English, turns out, yes. It is the white part of your eye."

Jackie is silent for a moment. "Part of an eye... Like an iris?"

Schneep's grin fades.

Jackie turns to look at Bro. "We might have something like that here. There's this group called IRIS, they study weird shit. Anomalies. They call them ALTRs. And they... do a lot of fucked up stuff besides that." He glances at Schneep, then quickly looks away. "Maybe they'll have something to help. I think... I think I heard about them talking about other worlds..."

Bro also seems to pale, gripping slightly over his heart. "... Sclera does that too- but... with magic." He narrows his eyes and thinks, "If Iris is like Sclera then.... then yeah- that might be our best bet..." He shudders though but tries to hide it. "God- I hate places like that though- fucking freaky scientific-messed-up bullshit..."

Schneep looks at him sympathetically. He opens his mouth to say something, but--

"Fuck!" Anti shouts, drawing everyone's attention. "Okay, take Sam home and make sure they're okay, okay?! The rest of us will check on them. Yes, I'm sure! Yeah! No, stay there. Don't--don't let anything happen to you." His voice softens. "Be careful. Okay. Bye." He hangs up and spins around to look back at everyone else. "Okay. So. Chase was right. Magnificent is fighting Jameson."

Chase zips up to his feet, eyes wide, "Oh no! I hate when I'm right!" He curses and then adjusts his utility belt, pulling out his phone and looks about ready to burst into the air. "Okay where is he?? We can't- we can't let Mag get him again!"

"He's by the bus stop by his house," Anti says.

"Fuck! That's far!" Schneep curses.

"Not if I run red lights!" Jackie's head snaps towards his car, then back to Bro. "Hey, can you fly or do you need a lift?"

Bro nods and shoots into the air to hover, "I'll fly ahead! I know the look of Mag's magic by now, just point me in the right direction!"

"It's that way!" Anti points. "West and a bit south. We'll head there on our own. Remember to text us if you need to, calls might not work!"

Meanwhile, Schneep grabs Jackie and starts pulling him towards the car.

Bro nods, storing away his phone. "Right! Be careful!" He then blasts into the air and follows Anti's instructions, trying to push himself to fly as fast as he- scanning the area below for any signs of magic.

"Good luck!" Jackie calls. Then the three of them run to the car.

-----------

That was risky, JJ says.

Marvin smiles at him. "But it paid off, didn' it?" He pushes his cards back into a single deck on the dining room counter.

I suppose. JJ pauses. He somehow...drained some of my magic. I still feel...weak.

"Really? Fuckin' bastard..." Marvin mutters, then frowns. "T'at shouldn' be possible, t'ough. It should've brough' you back to the state you were in before. Did I do somet'ing wrong...?"

JJ shakes his head. You didn't do anything wrong, he reassures him. This is just... tricky.

Before Marvin can respond, there's a knock at the door. "They're here already?" Marvin says, surprised. "Okay, I'll get it." He heads into the entrance hall and opens the door.

But instead of any of his friends, Alt Brody falls into their house.

Alt was resting against the door as soon as he knocked on it- and as soon as it opens he stumbles forward, his head heavy. But, it's momentarily cleared of fog as he raises his red stained face to meet Marvin's eyes. He's still gripping his arm, magic pulsing weakly. "...m'rvin... moore...?" He slurs, confusion clear on his face. Then, he feels a wave of dizziness crash onto him that has him falling towards the ground.

"What the--?!" Marvin shoots forward and barely manages to catch Alt. He almost falls himself in the process but stays up. For now. "Jems! It's--it's t'at Anti from the other world!"

JJ rushes into the the front hall. He gasps at what he sees. What's wrong with him?!

"I don' know! Ah--a little help?" His legs are starting to go out.

JJ nods and hurries over, transfering support of Alt from Marvin to him. Living room, he signs awkwardly. Marvin nods, and the two of them move into the other room, where they set Alt down on the sofa.

There's a voice in Alt's mind. So familiar. {This is good,} it says. {Do as you would for now. But that man with the mustache...you should try to get rid of him when you have the chance. Knock him out...or worse. That'd be good, too. That would make me happy~}

Alt's eyes seem distant as something whispers in his ears, letting the others take him and move him into the living room. Even when hes out on the couch, He's still for a second, staring out ahead. Then, he shakes out this head and looks in between Marvin and Jameson. He feels really sick, his body is shaking in a way he can't really control. But... he knows these guys... right? He weakly shakes his head again and tries to stop the trembling in his corrupted arm.

"Are you alrigh', lad?" Marvin asks.

"..hngh... n-no- not... r-really..." Alt pants, feeling faint and leans back against the back of the sofa. "M-Mag... Mag did somethin' to... to m'magic... s'hurts... and I... i dunno... what's...." His eyelids flutter like he's ready to pass out again but he shakes his head to try to stay awake. "m'broth'r... i... i needa find Chase...I... I gotta s-stop Mag..."

JJ frowns. Who?

"Oh! Yes, Chase!" Marvin nods. "He was the one who isn' here, remember?"

Understanding dawns on JJ's face and he nods. Yes, he's the one Anti mentioned. Don't worry, Alt, our Anti saw him, he's fine and on his way. He uses the same name sign for Alt as the Henrik in Alt's universe: A-lightning.

"As for Magnificent, the bastard..." Marvin grumbles. "I'm sure he'll be comin' to us sooner or later. We have time to prepare."

Yes, get some rest and recover, Alt, JJ adds.

Alt seems comforted by seeing a familar sign, his chest suddenly aching for his friend. But, Hen would be in danger here... its good he's still back home. He almost wants to nod to them- he wants to relax- when he stiffens, blood starting to try to leak out of his eye again.

{Just wait here? Wait for him to come for you? No, that seems like a bad idea, doesn't it? They're trying to stop us from going after him.}

"... w-we can't j'ust wait here... w-we'll be just s-sitting ducks! We... we gotta... gotta stop him... s'mehow..." Alt's brain was fuzzy on the details- god he'd give anything to use his magic right now. He needs... he needs to get rid of this corruption.

He looks up at Jameson, head fuzzy as its assaulted with suggestions. Knock him out. Or worse. Make me happy. get rid of him. "y... you... do you know how... how to get rid'f dark magic...?" He shakily holds out his arm to Jameson, showing off the claws marks that match the ones on his own. Though, Alt's seem much more severe, pulsing with purple magic with every tremor of his muscles. JJ's are dark like stains- more just a sign of what was used to steal his magic.

JJ tries to hide his alarm at the marks on Alt's arm--and the ones on his own. We don't have to deal with black magic on a regular basis like you do, JJ says, but I'm sure I have a purification spell upstairs somewhere. I can check my book of shadows.

"T'at's a great idea," Marvin says. "We can take care of t'at, and t'en we'll talk about how to stop Magnificent."

JJ nods. He turns and starts leaving the room, heading towards the stairs.

{Go with him.} The voice comes with a bit more of a push than the last times. Some fog rolls in with the command.

Alt doesn't hesitate to push himself off the couch, the command to follow JJ filling his head with nothing else. He doesn't even look at Marvin as he stumbles after the magician.

This was good... he can get this black magic fixed... and then get rid of the magician.

"Alt...?" Marvin stares, confused, as Alt follows JJ upstairs. It's not too weird, maybe he just wants to get the magic taken care of right away, but... Was it just him, or was there something... on Alt's face? Just in case, he hurries back to the kitchen where he left the cards.

JJ glances back at Alt. Oh, you want to come? Alright, I'd be happy to show you my workroom. He smiles and continues up the stairs.

The workroom is halfway through being reorganized, with some of the books on the shelves and desks where they're supposed to be and some on stacked on the floor around the central table. And on the table itself is a black crystal sphere, nestled on a purple cushion.

Alt nods to Jameson, and looks dazedly around the house and the workroom as he's lead through.

When Alt looks at the crystal, he sees flickers of other people's faces in the reflection. They all look familiar, and yet... different. Some are wearing masks. Some are children. And there's one with a slit neck, green strings holding it closed.

Alt pauses and stares at the crystal, eyes widening slightly as he saw the visions within them. What... what was-

But none of this is important.

Oh. It didn't matter. Any concern that was trying to surface was quickly stuffed under heavy fog.

JJ goes right for the desk, sorting through the books there until he finds what he's looking for. He then skims that book, and after a few seconds, smiles triumphantly. Hand me your arm, he says, putting the open book on the desk.

It takes a second for Alt to react to Jameson, more blood slithering down his face. But, he turns and wordlessly offers his corrupted arm to him, staring intensely at his face.

JJ gently takes Alt's arm. He hesitates for a moment, glancing back at the instructions in the book. His eyes start glowing a bright blue, and that same blue light encases his hands. He carefully presses his palm against the claw marks. A cooling magic washes over the marks. It takes a couple waves, but soon the corruption of the dark magic disappears.

There we are, JJ says, letting go of Alt's arm and smiling at him.

...Wait.

Something... Something is wrong...

Jameson blinks. He squints at Alt's face. What is...

It's blood.

Jameson gasps and takes a step back. How did he not notice it before?!

{Now.}

The second the black magic is cleared, electric magic builds up around Alt and he starts to glitch again. Then, he throws out a hand and sends a wave of blue green electricity at Jameson.

Jameson lets out a little squeak--the closest to a shout he can manage right now-- and throws up a clumsy shield. Luckily, it blocks most of the electricity. What gets through isn't enough to shock him. Alt, snap out of it! he signs, backing up. He doesn't have the magic for another fight after Magnificent drained him. And he doesn't want to fight Alt! Glancing around, he rushes for the open doorway.

That familiar sign has Alt hesitating, something trying to spark in his foggy mind. But, that hesitation quickly leaves as Jameson starts to run. Alt tries to glitch in front of him, throwing out more barrages of charged magic.

Jameson skids to a halt, surprised by Alt's sudden appearance. Before he can recover or try that new teleportation spell again, Alt is throwing electric magic at him. Again he tries to conjure a shield but the magic breaks through this time. This time he manages a scream as the magic shocks across his skin.

Downstairs, Marvin's head snaps up at the sound of JJ's cry. "Jems?!" he gasps. He runs for the stairs, tightening his grip on his cane and the cards, already thinking of what combination could help. Was it Alt? Had he really seen what he thought?!

Alt doesn't hesitate again to glitch towards Jamie- and this time he attempts to grab Jameson's neck and then throw him into the wall, pressing hard against his throat. There's no recognition in his eyes as blood pools out of them. He thinks he might hear another voice- but its faint and it doesn't matter. He needs to get rid of the magician.

Jameson gasps in surprise when Alt grabs him. He pulls at his hands, trying to pry them away before something could happen--!

And he manages to push Alt away just in time. He scrambles backwards across the floor until he hits the central table. The black crystal ball is almost jostled from it's spot.

A voice comes from down the hall. "H-hang on, Jems!" Marvin shouts. He's struggling with the stairs, pushing himself faster.

Jameson nods. He ducks his head and crosses his arms. A blue dome appears around him, wavering for a second before solidifying.

Alt tsks quietly under his breath and then lashes out and throws lightning magic over and over at the shield. Trying to get it to crack-

The shield shudders with every hit, but it doesn't break. And yet JJ knows it will only be a matter of time. He feels his strength failing.

"Jems! Alt!" And then Marvin rushes forward, almost collapsing in the doorway of the room. He takes in the situation quickly--yes, he thought it was something like that.

Alt pauses in his attack to turn towards Marvin, regarding him with a slight head tilt. He's panting slightly, sweat dripping down his face and his hands trembling. His magic is being depleted really quickly so soon after getting drained by that curse. Yet, he needs to keep going. He has to.

Quickly, Marvin bends over and places three cards on the ground in a triangle formation: Five of Diamond - Six of Heart - Queen of Spade

Jameson's shield is reinforced, curving golden lines running over itse surface in a geometric pattern. He breathes easier.

Marvin hears a voice in his head. {That's not really fair, is it? Have you forgotten whose side your on? Or are you too afraid to remember?} He flinches, pushing away the accompanying fog.

At the same time, Alt hears it say something different. {A friend of ours has lost his way...so sad. He shouldn't be here. Make him leave.}

.... he lost his way? Well... Alt hated using these spells but- if they needed to convince Marvin then... Alt flares out a hand to his side, and a collection of glitches forms beside him- and then forms a wobbly electric field of magic that swirls in hues of green blue and white. Though the edges are harsher than Mag's, the colors are soothing and easy to look at. Maybe they could just lull you to sleep... make you forget all your pain, just for a second.

Marvin isn't expecting it. He looks down for a moment, fumbling with the cards--he'll need to use five or more, he's not leaving this to chance--and when he looks up again... there it is. An electric spiral hovering next to Alt. What? How... strange. But... nice. Marvin's eyes trace the spiral's motion, the ever-inward movement. His eyelids feel heavy all of a sudden.

JJ sees what's happening. "Marv--!" he tries to shout, but it breaks off into a wheezing exhale. The reinforcement around his shield stays--it will stay until the card formation is disrupted--but Marvin's other cards flutter to the floor, followed shortly by him collapsing to his knees, eyes blinking slowly...

"Sleep." Alt drones out to Marvin, watching him coldly and emotionlessly, pushing magic into his words.

He thinks he hears something slamming open from downstairs- but he's focused on his task. Nothing else matters. He doesn't even consider anything else is wrong until suddenly he's being tackled to the ground, his head hitting it hard enough for him to see spots.

"O-Oh my god, Alt!" A man in a pink mask is gasping desperately over him, looking worried. ...why...? No no wait- he's... he's important- he's so so important. Alt makes a choked noise of pain, the fog in his head hurting all of sudden. No no no its hurts- why does it hurt?

"C- Ch...!" Alt tries to choke out, shaky hand trying to grab onto his jacket.

For the others- as soon as Jameson shouted out, Bro flew past a house with bright lights flickering in different hues in the windows. He recognized the color of some of them- and it wasn't Mag... it was Alt!

He hurried down to the door of the apartment then tried to doorknob- not wanting to cause too much damage to the house. By some miracle it was open and Bro skids in and looks around, shouting out, "Alt?! ALT!!"

He sees the hues of blue and greens and doesn't hesitate to fly up the stairs- and hovers just a bit above them to see his brother trying to entrance Marvin. He yells out and tackles Alt back farther into the room- the magic bursting into pixels as the two boys crash into the bookshelves in the corner. Marvin can feel the influence leave him like he's waking up from being underwater.

Marvin gasps, starting backwards. JJ stares with wide eyes at Chase and Alt. His shield finally disappears as he stands up and scrambles over to Marvin's side. He reaches down to help him up.

"I-I... what?" Marvin shakes the image of that spiral out of his mind. "Th-t'at was—he can do t'at...?" he whispers. Then he looks up at JJ. "A-are you... alrigh'...?"

JJ smiles weakly. I should be asking you that.

"'M... fine. Physic'lly." Marvin takes JJ's hand and lets him pull him to his feet. In unison, the two of them turn and stare at Alt and Bro. "Y-you're the—the hero from the other world. Chase. Chase!" Marvin shakes his head again. "Chase, Alt's bein'—Distorter's in his head, I—oh!" And then Marvin gets back down on the ground and starts gathering up the cards. "T-try to get t'rough to him, if you can', I-I can try somet'ing!"

Bro looks back at the others and seems to relax at seeing they're both okay. "H-Hey- glad you two aren't hurt-" He then makes a face and his eyes glow with hatred as he looks down at the power that's taken over his brother. "Right... that bitch. Okay- lemme see what I can do!"

{Shhh. Shhhh.} The voice hisses in Alt's mind, like the comforting sound of rain falling. {Don't worry. You don't have to worry about anything. Shhh. Let me take care of this.}

Alt's eyes glaze over more as the voice of his friend comforts him. His hand falls back down and he lays limply on the ground, head lolling to look out past Bro. Nothing but the sound of rain blanking his mind, like what he would listen to in his headphones when sound was too much. His mind is calm and still- Even though his body is panting and shaking and trembling- he can't feel it at all.

"No No! fuck- Anti! C'mon lil bro, stay with me!" Chase whispers desperately, trying to shake Alt's shoulders.

Then, Chase hears something in his mind, too. {Oh? So where were you when your brother appeared right outside my house? Where? Why weren't you there with him? You don't care, I see. You're right not to. He doesn't care about you. He barely knows you, really, he wouldn't give two shits if you just died.}

Bro winces as the voice slithers into his head. He closes his eyes and then growls out, "No shut up! I do care- we know each other better than anyone! You're the one who doesn't care- or you wouldn't be running him ragged!"

He shakes Alt more, pleading, "Alt c'mon! Wake up!"

"Shit," Marvin curses, watching Chase and Alt. He has all his cards gathered, now he just needs to find the right ones! "H-hang on, you two! Jems, can you--I-I dunnae, help t'em?"

Distorter doesn't respond to Chase, instead continuing to speak to Alt. {Look, Anti... it's Magnificent. He's right in front of you. It's time to show him how you really feel. You're so much stronger than him, right? I believe you are.}

Alt's eyes narrow and flood with green and blue magic as Distorter makes him see Magnificent in front of him. His shoulders start to glitch, electricity building up around him. He starts to latch back onto Chase- then his arm is grabbed and-

JJ looks Alt. He doesn't have much magic left right now, but he can try. Maybe... He steps forward, up next to Chase, and grabs Alt's arm. His eyes flare blue, and frost suddenly flares from the point of contact, flashing sudden cold through Alt's system. It won't work if he's too deep in, but maybe...

It's like the gray is blown away by an icy chill, startling Alt back into his own mind with a painful jolt. He gasps, back arching as the connection breaks. He slumps back towards the floor and dazedly looks back and forth between Bro and Jameson. "..h..how did I...?" He then winces and curls his face into the ground, groaning softly. "F-Fuck..! My head...!"

Bro slumps with relief and then lifts Alt up and crushes him in a hug. "Oh thank fucking christ! God... god.... you fucking scared me Alt..." He buries his face in his brother's shoulders for a bit before letting go and helping to sit against the floor. Alt just dazedly lets him, trying to take everything in.

JJ lets go of Alt, slumping in relief. He was so glad that worked. He was so worried... But it was fine. It was all fine. It was Distorter, he explains to Alt. You remember him, right? Do you... know where you are right now, Alt? And is there... anything you need?

"I...I'm..." Alt swallows shakily and goes to hold his arms and curls up on himself. It was really hard to piece things together- but... he knows these guys. JJ and Marvin... this must be... their world. Once he thinks this though, he remembers how they got here and he gasps, looking around at the others in panic. "M-Mag-! Magnificent! He's here- he's...! He's trying to get to other universes- and-!" He then takes in the slight claw marks on Jameson's arm and he looks back at him with a pale face. "... shit- did he already...?"

"Wait what?? He already got you??" Bro asks, looking at JJ with worry. "Fuck! I flew so fast to try to stop that! Damn that slippery cat goddd im gonna skin him one of these days!"

JJ looks down at his own arm. Right... the marks. He could feel the effects, but he forgot they were visible. I'm fine, he reassured them. He did... somehow drain some of my magic, but... I'll recover with enough time and rest.

"They're righ', t'ough," Marvin says from the doorway. "We need t'stop him before that bastard does anyt'ing too big to recover from. If you're goin' to skin him, tell me so I can join." He chuckled.

Well... Jameson pauses thoughtfully. If he was trying to get to other universes, he succeeded. I don't know what we're going to stop him from now.

"Uh, how 'bout we stop him from murderin' us? Or from whatever he did to you! Or from doin' all t'at..." Marvin waves his hands around his head. "All t'at shit."

JJ chuckled, then turned serious again. You're right. I suppose I'm just a bit tired. This was a lot. He turns to Alt and Chase. Our house is warded against all sorts of nonhuman intruders. Distorter can't get in, but Magnificent might be able to. We'll be safe... briefly. Do you know of anyone else from your universe who could be here? Or is it just you two and him?

"It's just us this time," Bro sighs, "He got the jump on Alt and made him use this- weird doorway thingy! He almost got away with just Alt- god that would have been bad..."

Alt shudders and holds himself tightly, "If i was drained doing the spell... then Mag probably was too... which is why he tried to find the nearest source of magic. Then he'd... god... I... I don't know... h-he made puppets of you all once but- not even as himself... That was Distorter too... I dunno if he'd stick around for that though... and i... i dont think he'd kill you all... not yet at least. He... He likes making people useful to him. Or keeping trophies..." He grips tighter on his arms, digging his nails in. "h-he might just be trying to get to the next universe somehow... since he's experienced this one... in a way." The glitch hates that he's been around Mag long enough to know his thought pattern but... he did work with him for a long time.

Bro makes a face as he thinks and then perks up, "Oh! Yeah! I need to message the others! They were gonna be driving here! Then they uh- they mentioned someplace we can try to see might have something to help- somewhere callleedd ah fuck what was it- its like Sclera!" He scrunches his face and looks up to think. "...what do you call the colored part of your eye?"

"Iris-" Alt mutters.

"Iris! Yeah that was it!" Bro whips out his phone and sends a text to Anti. I found JJ and Alt! Mag got to JJ but hes okay- and Alt was affected by Distorter... anyways! JJ and Marvin were here so i guess we're in their house :)

Marvin and JJ stiffen. JJ looks back at him. Do you think IRIS could help?

"I... s'ppose," Marvin mutters, shuffling his card deck. "Probably. Yes. They... like t'is sort of stuff. Time and space and all t'at. So the question is jus'... which one of their places we go to t'find somet'ing helpful."

I don't think either of us are... the most qualified to answer that question, JJ says.

Meanwhile, Chase gets an answering text: Great we're reall close then. Just a few minutes and well be there.

Soon after, JJ and Marvin's phones both ding. They take them out and read the text that Anti just sent THEM.

"They're on th'way," Marvin reports.

JJ nods. Let's all head downstairs and wait for them. He turns and looks at the bookshelves Chase and Alt ran into. He frowns. You've ruined my shelves.

Marvin bursts into laughter. "Is--is t'at really your priority?"

I've spent a couple days organizing them. That one's all...ker-fobbled now.

"Did ye really jus' spell out t'at nonsense word?"

Chase looks back up and then blushes, getting to his feet, "Ah fuck! I'm sorry! I just- acted on instinct! I'm not that tired i could reorganize them if you want!"

Alt glitches to his feet and then shoves Bro towards the door. "Let's focus on the important stuff, Chase- like getting back home and stopping the evil maniac thats skulking through town?"

"...oh yeah-"

Alt shoves him more out the door, "My god you're impossible... did you take your meds today?!"

"'course I did but a lot is happening, Alt!"

Alt rolls his eyes then glitches downstairs.

Marvin giggles. Then he stops. The others couldn't hear the voice he just did. {You know fixing this won't get rid of me. We're stuck together. Embrace it now.} After a second, he shakes off the uneasy feeling and finally stands up, using his cane as support. "Yea, let's all go downstairs. We can settle the IRIS t'ing t'ere when the others arrive."

Alt finds the same space the others put him on earlier and slowly goes to curl up, holding his headphones and hiding his face behind his knees. He never thought he'd be so far away from home without his mask...

Bro watches Alt vaguely then sticks by the others, ready to help if they needed it. He wants to make sure they get down okay first- especially with JJ looking so spent.

JJ notices Chase sticking by. He smiles at him tiredly. Don't worry, I'm not actually mad. It was an emergency. And I understand the, ah, mile-a-minute effect, if you know what I mean.

"We shoul' lock you and Jems and Jackie in an empty room, see how insane you all become," Marvin mutters. "C'mon, Mr. Fantastic." He starts walking down the hallway. A bit slower than usual, but he did run up the stairs. The energy had to come from somewhere.

That's a different superhero, JJ says, following him. A fictional one.

"As far as we know! If other universes are real, perhaps all stories are, too!"

JJ smiles. He glances back at Chase to make sure he's following.

Chase laughs and then hovers over the others as they go down the stairs. “Oh yeah! Jackieboy- the one from our universe- he’s a hugeee comic nerd- gave me an earful once about my name being so close to that guy’s but I didn’t know! I didn’t read comics?? I had like… rugby to play and shit- pints to drink…”

Ah, you were one of those uni people, huh? I don't know why I'm surprised. JJ smiles again. I was a theatre major, which, I'm told, says everything about me and how I acted in uni.

"Imagine goin' to a second'ry school," Marvin says.

You mean a university?

Marvin pauses. "Well, I finished primary school, at least." JJ raises an eyebrow. "Don' give me t'at look, do you know how hard t'at was to do under my circumstances?!"

I'm very proud of you, Marvin. Sincerely.

Bro touches down to the steps once he’s sure the others are fine and then glances back at the living room. He sees his brother all curled up and his heart aches. He slowly makes his way over and sits down next to him. He waits a beat- then opens one arm to Alt’s backside but doesn’t move, waiting to see how Alt would respond.

Alt blinks up at Bro and seems to hesitate. But then he slowly adjusts so he can lay his head on Bro’s shoulder. Chase wraps a light around Alt’s back and the glitch seems to relax some.

“….I hate this.” Alt whispers weakly to Chase, trying to hide the frustrated tears wanting to leak out of his eyes. He scrubs hard at the drying blood on his face.

Chase closes his eyes and leans against Alt’s head. “I know…”

“I mean… im… im glad to see these guys again… just…” Alt shudders and curls up more. “…I know it’s good they’re not here but… I miss the others…”

“Yeah…” Bro sighs. He then presses light lips to his brother’s head, “We’ll figure it out though…”

Alt nods and hides his face against his brother’s shoulder.

Jameson and Marvin join Chase and Alt in the living room, noticing the way the two of them are acting with each other. They exchange looks, then decide not to say or do anything to interrupt the moment. "Won' be long now," Marvin says, going over to sit in his usual chair. "Jus' a few more minutes."

————

Frustratingly for Magnificent, he seems to have appeared in an area with few magicians or otherwise magic people. Sure, the city at large is very magical, but the west and south neighborhoods are odd dry spots. There are occasional empty houses full of spellbooks and the occasional talisman, but great amounts of magic are few... except for Jameson Jackson, of course, lessened as his magical signature is now that he's drained.

The dark magician curses as he comes up short on any other magic sources. Guess it was time to go back to what he knew- that Jameson could still prove useful to him, if he could find where he escaped to. And well- remembering the bonds between his puppet and his friends- where jj was- so would his failure crippled counterpart would be. It would be good to get rid of such weakness.

Flaring his eyes- he tries to locate that faint spark of Jameson’s magic.

It’s hard to find, but it’s there, glowing faintly… in the opposite direction he’s been walking all this time. How ironic.

Magnificent curses to himself- he'd been walking in the complete wrong way! Cheeky little magician... what a rookie mistake.

But as he stands there trying to locate it… he hears a voice. A voice that sounds like it’s coming from right next to him. “I knew I’d see you eventually.”

Mag freezes hearing that voice and whirls around, hurtling magic towards the voice. "You-!"

The attack misses, because Distorter is not at all where his voice was coming from. Now there’s laughter on Magnificent’s other side. Distorter is sitting on a house’s doorstep, watching casually. “Last time we met because of an accident, but not this time. You came here on purpose, right?” He stands up, head tilting to the side. “Couldn’t make it back home so you decided to try somewhere new? Hoping you wouldn’t fail as much here?”

Magnificent bares his teeth for a second but then stands up taller and tries to stay composed. He smirks, “A being like you couldn’t possibly understand my ambitions. You’re stuck as this- dead thing. But, I’m pushing past my limits. You’re just a speck in the grand scheme of things, cadaver.”

"It's funny how you think you're more than that. Cute, even." Distorter puts a hand on his cheek, a silent gesture of "awww." "You'll die too one day. There's no magic to stave that off forever. And even if you somehow find something that does, do you think it will change your core? Strip away my powers, I'm just a dead guy. Strip away yours and you're just a man with abandonment issues and a mean dad. There's a million of those."

Magnificent tries to keep his expression schooled, even as the demon claws at his inner most fears, his deepest feelings he's long tried to supress. He'd never admit it but yes- He's afraid to die. But, this was to that end. However, the last comments ignite rage in the mad magician as he lashes out with a wild yell and tries to grab where he sees Distorter.

Distorter doesn't move as Mag lunges at him, not even as his claws dig into his flesh. "Looks like I struck a nerve there~!" he sings. Still smiling. Always smiling.

Magnificent yells more and slams the cadaver into the ground, trying to choke him as his eyes light up with power. "Shut up! Don't you dare- dare compare me to any other lowly human! I am more- I am MAGNIFICENT!" He digs his claws in tighter and snarls, "I will not be judged by a being so consumed by sadness for a life that was obviously as meaningless as your very existence."

Distorter's grin widens. He doesn't breathe so the choking isn't bothering him, but he does need air to talk and so can't respond. Instead he reaches up, blackened nails scraping the edge of Magnificent's mask... and all of a sudden he doesn't look like himself anymore. He looks like Jackie--the one Magnificent remembers.

Magnificent's eyes widen in shock. It's instinctual- he lets go of Distorter and backs up, looking at him in confusion. But, then he snarls and teleports back, lighting his hands on fire to try to seem threatening. "No-! No I- I won't fall for your tricks, demon!"

Laughing, Distorter sits up, then stands. The movement is just a bit too fast to be natural. “It’s not a trick,” he says. “It’s a distraction.” And then he attacks—not physically. Mentally, psychic claws digging for a grip in Mag’s mind.

Magnificent looks caught off guard again then yells out as a powerful force is slammed onto his mind. He cries out and falls to his knees, gripping at his skull. Green light tries to ignite in his good eye, trying to push back the force. "N-No! You- You can't...!"

“I can’t? Then how am I doing it?” Distorter steps up to him, leaning down so their eyes are level. “Our goals aren’t really that different you know. And this is my home. It’d be so much easier if you let me show you the way.”

Mag meets distorter's eyes with hatred, snarling. "You- You overpowered when I was weak before- I-! I won't be bested by you ag-" He then pauses, the mental load slamming more against his mind as Distorter's logic tries to worm itself in. To Magnificent though, it feels like he's letting the wheels turn himself, figuring out a plan. Would it be so bad... to team up? They almost brought down their enemies together last time, but Magnificent hardly remembered himself. "... you... don't want to help me-" The dark magician breathes, though he seems unsure of that statement, narrowing his eyes at the other villain.

"Why wouldn't I want to? I don't hate you." Distorter's smile hides the half-lie. He does mildly dislike the dark magician, but he was so useful that he was willing to put up with it. "And helping you would help me, too. We could do so much together."

Magnificent's eyes are starting to slip- the pressure on his head becoming too much. Why- fight it though?

Because he didn't need anyone else! He was powerful enough on his own- he didn't need help!

Are you really going to look a gift horse in the mouth, sorcerer? You're in a foreign world- already weakened. Take what you can get.

Mag's furious expression starts to fall, face slacking. His claws loosen from his skull as he better looks Distorter in the eyes. "...we could... could do so much...together."

"Exactly." Distorter offers a hand to help pull Magnificent up. "I know where they are now, but I don't think they'll stay there for long. Your cub and that hero want to get back to their world soon, and the others have an idea to help them. We need to hurry."

For a fraction of a second, Mag hesitates. But then he lets himself get helped up and nods, blood welling up in one of his eyes. "Alright. Show me."

Distorter's grin widens. "I think I know where they're going. We can intercept them, take them off guard. Follow me."

[mangozic]

cracks him like a glowstick

[coyyfishh]

Some old TMA art

[wolfythewitch]

The Spiral