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huffle-dork · 3 months ago

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Swap Beyond the Crystalverse Chapter 9: Zombie Apocalypse

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

Other Multiverse Stories: SITCV | SATCV | GITHV

SBTCV Masterpost

Bro and Alt fall in a way they hadn't fallen in a while, freefalling through the space in-between. And when they land, they are, for once, in the same place. Outside, on a sidewalk in some suburban area. The houses are spread out, with wide lawns, and in the distances there are tall buildings rising into the cloudy gray sky. Trash is piled up on the corners. Many of the houses are rundown, windows boarded up and shingles missing from the rooftops.

Bro curls up around Alt as they fall and keeps around him once they’ve landed. Eventually he lets go and blinks, getting up to look around.

Anti's voice chimes in from Alt's phone. "Where the fuck are we?!"

Alt groans and rubs his head and gets out his phone again to look at Anti, “I-I don’t know… I-i couldn’t let the pieces get lost though!”

“…I don’t like this…” Bro mumbles, eyeing the run down buildings around them.

"Alright. Alright. Hold on." Anti rubs his eyes. Alt's phone camera opens up, showing the environment to him. "This place... isn't lived in. Either we're in a bad area... or maybe... maybe we're in a bad world."

“Red Anti said we wouldn’t like this world…” Bro sighs, “So most likely the latter.”

Anti frowns. "Do you see anyone around? Or the bag with the parts?"

Alt glitches up and holds the phone out and shows the camera around. “I… I don’t think I see anyone… here lemme see if the tracker works…?” Alt takes out the orb and touches the pupil.

The tracker tells him that the bag landed farther away, in those distant buildings. It also tells him that this place is called Marsing City.

"Yeah... I thought so," Anti says. "The worst world in the area is one IRIS called UA-1002009ZA. It's--" Then he stops. "Do you hear that?" They're standing right next to one of these suburban houses. And there are muffled shouted voices coming from inside.

Alt is about to tell the others where the bag is, then freezes. Bro anxiously looks towards the house. “Uhh- m-maybe it’s uh… domestic? We should just go-“ Bro whispers to Alt and Anti.

Just as Bro says that, the front door of the house bursts open. "Well fine then! See if you guys can last a week without your fucking mechanic!" a man shouts back into the doorway. He spins around and stomps out into the street, over to the telephone pole at the base of the driveway. He takes out a knife and starts stabbing the pole, not even noticing Alt and Bro.

Bro grabs Alt’s shoulder and pulls him back as the two of them stare at the guy hacking at the pole. Bro starts to pull Alt across the street. “Okay let’s go go go-“ he hisses. Alt hurriedly stuffs his phone back in his pocket.

The man takes a deep breath, calming himself down. He runs a hand through his hair--and then finally notices the two of them. He whirls to look at them. This man--he looks like Alt, but a couple years older. Even his eyes are the same, though he doesn't have any freckles. He's wearing a dusy black leather jacket and thick dark blue jeans. "Hey! What're you two doing out here?!"

Alt glitches a bit in surprise. Bro turns around and grins wide, even if it’s nervous. “Uh!! We’re just passing through! Don’t mind us!”

The man stares at Alt with wide eyes. "Did you just--was I--oh fuck I'm hallucinating. I've finally cracked." He rubs his eyes. "Look, you two stay right here. You look completely unprepared for anything."

Alt and Bro exchange wary glances. “I-It’s okay, man! W-We should be okay! Thanks though!” Bro shouts back, waving his hands.

The man turns back to the house. "Hey! Actually, there are some guys here!"

One of the windows gets pushed open. "What type of guys?!"

"Normal guys!"

"Do not shout you two are you crazy?!" A third voice... shouts.

Bro claps his hands over his mouth as the third voice shouts. Alt looks around warily, “Why shouldn’t we shout?” He tries to ask.

The man looks around. "Well... there's none in sight right now," he mutters. "That's good, at least. But there could be some around to hear us. In which case... we shouldn't have done that." He scans Alt and Bro. "Okay, if you don't know what's going on, that's weird."

A face appears in the window. A face that looks like Bro's. "What are you doing?" The man says, talking just loud enough to be heard. "Get in here!"

The brothers again look at each other. Bro eventually shrugs, “…if this is as bad as everyone keeps saying… this is probably our best bet.”

Alt groans, “…I hate this already.” Then the two of them hurry back across the street to the man and the house.

The man leads the two of them into the house, and they're immediately greeted by a group staring at them with wide eyes. A group of familiar faces. A man wearing a snapback cap, a man with a thick mustache, a man with cloudy glasses, a man in a red hoodie, and a man with chin-length hair and yarn jewelry. Strange... all of them are wearing patched, worn clothes. The man with the cap has a shoulder holster with a handgun. And the one in the hoodie is holding a metal baseball bat like he's waiting for Alt or Bro to snap at any moment.

"What the fuck?" The man with jewelry whispers, staring at Alt. "Anti, do you have another brother?"

No, we do not, the man with the mustache says.

Alt shrinks back at all the eyes on them, pulling up his mask self consciously.

Bro, however, steps up and waves, “Uh hi! Actually he’s my brother- he’s Alt and I’m Chase- but uh guys can call me Bro cuz that’s probably easier!” He takes in all the patched up appearances and the guy in the hoodie’s hostile posture and points, “uh… we’re kinda lost sooo- if you all could explain like… what’s the deal here- that’d be great?”

"You must be really fucking lost, then," the man in the hoodie mutters, lowering the bat. "Alright. I'm Jackie. This is Chase, Marvin, Henrik--we call him Schneep--JJ, and Aodhan--we call him Anti. We've been camping here for a while, but uh... I guess you guys could stay for a while? Or, um... the coast seems to be clear for now, if you want to head out. D'you need anything? We don't have that much to spare, but maybe--"

"We don't have anything to spare!" The man from outside--Anti--snaps.

"Bro, shut the fuck up," Chase says. "Don't be like that."

Alt grumbles, “We don’t need anything- we just wanna know what’s going on.”

“Yeah like- when we mean lost we mean… we’re not from here. At all… we’re from another world.” Bro says, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. “That’s why Alt looks like Anti and I look like you-“ He points at Chase. “So we genuinely have no clue what’s going on…”

The others all stare at them. Silently.

"They've cracked!" Anti said, throwing a hand into the air. "Fucking great!"

“What does that mean?!” Alt growls.

"Ah, no offense, but do you have proof?" Marvin asks.

Schneep frowns. "The fact that they seem really clueless... it would be hard to act that way."

“Uh- well I’m guessing being look-a-likes doesn’t count. Okay well one, I’m Chase Brody so like- you.” He gestures at Chase again, “Same names. Alt’s also called Anti but only I call him that.” He then nods to Alt. “Two- …guess we gotta bring out the big guns, baby bro.” The hero mutters.

Alt sighs and then glitches across the room in a quick flash before appearing back in his place, pixels coming off his shoulders, his eyes electric. Bro then hops up to just gently float in the air. He raises an eyebrow down at the others. “…does that prove it orrr do you need something more?” He asks.

"Magic?!" Marvin gasps. "I haven't seen another magician since the Circle!"

How likely is it that he also made it out? JJ asks.

Marvin shakes his head. "No, I-I would've seen him there. And I definitely would've remembered someone with distinct magic like that. So... I guess it's likely."

"And we didn't tell them my last name," Chase adds. "So... if they're really from another universe, then... they don't know anything."

"Ohhh shit." Jackie's eyes widen. "Okay. Time to rip off the band-aid then. Uh. Zombies. They're real and they're everywhere."

Bro hits the ground with a hard thud and stares at the others with mouth agape, “ZOMBIES?!!?”

“Oh you gotta be fucking kidding me…” Alt snarls. “That fucking red bitch! Of course he’d put us somewhere like this!”

"Red bitch?" Anti laughs. "What are you, 1950s guys against communism or something?"

Alt snorts out something that could be a laugh towards Anti.

"I think we're missing context for that," Chase mutters.

"Look, they're not zombies like in the movies," Marvin quickly corrects. "They're more like...necromantic accidents. Some spell must've gone wrong. A lot of magicians quarantined themselves, so... I'm not really the best person to ask about specifics."

"Basically, avoid being scratched or bitten by them," Jackie says. "You're both wearing long sleeves and pants, so that's good."

Bro blinks and tilts his head, “…so they’re magic zombies? How does that work??”

Chase shrugs and glances towards Marvin. "Explain?"

"Okay, so in movies zombies are slow and decaying monsters, right?" Marvin says. "Not like that here. Zombies look like normal people, just with all-white eyes. They're slow, but not shuffling. And a lot of them can run. They don't make any sound at all."

I promise I'm not a zombie, JJ says jokingly.

"And like Jackie says, you don't want to get scratched or bitten," Marvin says. "The spell must have been some sort of blood magic, because it spreads through contact with it."

“Oh so it’s even more terrifying…” Bro mutters nervously.

Alt makes a thinking face, “…we’re here to look for something. Something really important. I know it’s fallen near those taller buildings we saw. The main city- which I’m guessing is.. bad.”

Anti laughs. "Uh--yeah. The more populated area, the more of them there are."

Alt's phone crackles. "It's worth noting that IRIS has this universe under a quarantine," adds their Anti.

"Wait, do you have a walkie-talkie of some sort in there?" Schneep asks.

Alt glitches a bit before growling to himself, “Why does that keep spooking me?” He pulls out his phone and shows Anti to the others. “Uh- more complicated than that. This is our friend Anti- he’s also from another universe and he’s helping us get to new ones.”

Bro leans over to talk to Anti, “sooo- we can’t let whatever is in here out… like red bitch. Greatttt- I don’t like these quarantine universes…”

Anti waves at the others from the phone screen, then turns to Bro. "I think it's more like 'don't get infected and take it with you out of the world', you know?"

“Ahhh-right.” Bro nods.

"Oh!" Marvin's eyes widen. "You could've just shown your phone if you wanted to prove you were from another world! None of them work here anymore. Cell towers down, y'know, and a lot of power grids, too."

That explains why the house is so dim; none of the lights are on.

Alt blinks. “Oh- …that makes sense. Our powers are usually the fastest way to show that though.” He laughs.

"So... you guys need to get downtown, then?" Chase asks. "Uh... we could... maybe... help."

Bro blinks and looks at his other self, “I mean.. we’d appreciate it since we’re out of our depth… but not if it puts all of you in danger.”

Alt nods, “I can glitch us pretty far… probably. Or… I guess Bro can fly us.”

Chase blinks. "I was just thinking I could drive you... You can fly?"

“Did you guys miss me hovering earlier? I guess Alt’s glitching overshadowed me,” Bro laughs.

"Glitching is that teleport you just did, I'm assuming," Marvin mutters.

"Okay, you two, there's a problem with that," Anti says from the phone. "If you leave right after, these guys will be stuck in the middle of the city. I'm assuming."

"That me in the phone is right," Anti confirms. "Pretty much all the cars in there have been taken or scavenged. And while we've been able to go there briefly in groups of two, all of us will have a harder time moving around.”

"If I give you a boost, could you glitch the car, too?" Marvin asks. He raises up his hand, and fiery orange magic swirls around his fingers. "I'm a good power source."

JJ winces. Don't call yourself that. You're more than that.

Alt blinks, “oh I was.. talking about me and Bro but.. if you guys really wanna come… I could try… if you’re willing to lend some power, Marvin.”

Marvin nods. "It's not a problem."

"I think you'll need our help if things go south," Jackie says, resting his bat on his shoulders.

I'm sure you two are quite powerful, JJ says. But you could still be overwhelmed. Me and Anti have had a lot of close calls going into the city.

"I wish you two would be more careful," Schneep mutters.

Chase walks over to a bag sitting by a wall, reaching in and taking out a whole bunch of weapons. He hands a pair of knives to JJ, a shotgun to Schneep, and a second handgun to Marvin. Schneep also walks over and grabs a duffel bag with a blue cross on it--a first aid kit of some kind. "You guys need anything?" Chase asks.

Alt and Bro exchange looks. “I don’t really use weapons,” Bro says. “Except these guys!” He punches at the air with a cheeky grin.

Alt rolls his eyes. “…usually I just need my magic… but I guess if you guys have anything to spare…”

"Here, you can have one of Anti's knives," Chase says.

"What the hell?!" Anti says defensively.

"Shhh. He's just another version of you, essentially." Chase hands a knife out to Alt, a big hunting blade.

"Don't give him Cernunnos, at least!" Anti protests, hurrying over. He takes the knife for himself. "Here, he can have Artemis." He holds out the knife he was using to stab the telephone pole earlier, which is a bit smaller than the one Chase was offering.

Alt blinks and looks between Chase and Anti. He slowly takes the new knife, “…you name your knives?”

"You don't?" Anti tosses the big knife--Cernunnos, he'd called it--back and forth between his hands. "Naming them helps you use them more efficiently, I believe."

Alt chuckles, “I just usually keep one on me. Never thought of a name for it though.”

JJ chuckles. He's tried to get me to name them, too. I don't understand it.

"Alright, if everyone's ready, let's head on out," Jackie says, pulling up the hood of his hoodie. "To the car."

Bro stretches then grins, “Alright! Zombie adventure go!”

"Adventure?" Chase laughs drily. "Yep, guess you can call it that. Let's go."

“We’ll follow your lead,” Alt says.

Chase leads the whole group outside, to the only car in sight. A van--not unlike the one that Marvin drove two universes ago. "If we all get in, I can link up with Alt and give him a boost to transport everyone," Marvin says, sliding open a back door and climbing in.

"Who wants shotgun?" Chase asks, climbing into the driver's seat. "I mean--Schneep has the shotgun, but he doesn't have to have it."

Alt nods and glitches into the back with Marvin.

Bro blinks then shrugs and climbs into the passenger seat. “I’ll join you other me!”

"Hah! Great." Chase grins. Once everyone is in, Marvin grabs onto Alt. "I'm told this feels weird," he mutters, his eyes lighting up orange. Alt suddenly feels a jolt, fiery and hot. The energy is quickly converted to his own electrical type of magic, and for a brief moment, it feels like he can do anything. "Also it doesn't last long," Marvin adds, bringing down the mood.

Alt shivers and then green electricity zips around him as he looks down at his hand as firey energy pulses in his veins. “Woah-!” He nods and closes his eyes, setting both his hands on the seat. “okay- just imagine a good spot in the city!” He tells the others. Then, the van walls and seats glitch and flicker- then the others feel a sharp electric energy jolt through their systems- then they all glitch in a quick zip into the city.

The whole van disappears, and reappears in the middle of an intersection, surrounded by tall buildings. It's the middle of a city, but it's dead silent. And empty.

Eerie.

Some of the buildings have vines crawling up the side. Some have been graffittied with phrases about the end of the world or warnings about places to avoid. Most of them have broken windows on the ground floor. There are cars parked around randomly, both on the sides of the street and in the middle, but all of them are extremely dusty, clearly not having moved in a while.

"Whoa." Chase shakes his head. "That was... weird."

Alt feels momentarily faint after they glitch and falls back slightly in the seat.

"Uh, Chase?" Anti is twisted around in his seat, looking out the back window. "Behind us."

There's a crowd of people walking across the street. About six of them. Only... the way they move is strange. Stiff, limbs bending jerkily.

"Shit!" Chase hisses. "Did they hear us?!" ...

...evidently not, as they soon cross the street and disappear into an alley between two buildings.

Bro eeps quietly and ducks down under the window. Then he very slowly looks out. “My god… that’s creepy as fuck-“ Bro shudders.

"Yeah, fucking freaky," Jackie agrees.

I don't see any others around, though, JJ says. Quick, do you know where that thing you're looking for is?

Alt shakes himself back up and pulls out the tracker, “L-Lemme see if I can see something more specific…”

The tracker tells him the bag of TRVLR parts is in the AllCo building near the center of the city.

“It’s in the AllCo building… in the center,” Alt says looking out at the others. “do you guys know of it?”

“Oh yeah, we’ve been there a lot,” Anti says. “It’s a grocery shop. A giant one. Guess you don’t have them in your world.”

“That’s some ways away,” Chase says. “Good thing I started the car beforehand.”

“Oh sick-“ Bro says, leaning up to watch the street with Chase. He puts it into drive and starts slowly heading through the streets, glancing around anxiously.

“Soooo… different universe, huh?” Jackie says. “What’s it like there? I mean, obviously you don’t have all this.” He gestures vaguely at the abandoned city.

Alt glances at Jackie and shrugs, “It’s… normal mostly. We got magic and superheroes obviously and I pretty fucked up villain that hunts us but…” he plays with his necklace and smiles a bit, “We also got our friends and partners and… I dunno. It’s peaceful right now. Hasn’t always been granted but… it is now.”

“All of you guys are different there too!” Bro adds with a grin, “Our Jackie is a dad but also does parkour videos on YouTube! Our JJ is a hypnotherapist- and our Henrik is an actor! And deaf but he makes it work!”

“We don’t have superheroes,” Jackie mutters, sounding a bit jealous. “That would’ve come in handy.”

Schneep laughs. “An actor, hmm? Interesting. I do not think I’d have been very good at that. And being a doctor has come in much more handy.”

“Hypnotherapy?” Anti raises an eyebrow. Then looks at JJ. “Think you could’ve done that?”

JJ shrugs. Perhaps. The voice thing probably prevents that now, though. He runs a hand across his throat, where a red scar can be seen. Come to think of it, there’s a similar scar on Anti’s throat, but a bit lighter. I’ll guess the other me isn’t related to you two.

“Seems the brotherly bonds have been switched around,” Chase comments.

“No- not unless he’s some secret cousin of ours, but I doubt it.” Bro laughs.

“Hmm… I think we’ve met a couple other Jamesons and Antis that were siblings… not a one where me and Bro are still siblings though. Interesting…” alt mutters. He glances at JJ and Anti’s throat, lightly touching his own then pulling up his mask.

“Weird,” Chase says. “I can’t imagine the Jackson twins being separated.”

“I could make it on my own if I wanted to!” Anti protests.

“Yes, of course you could, Anti,” Schneep says.

“I’m serious! I’m a mechanic, I know close quarters stuff, and I’m very sneaky.”

“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.”

“Do you guys have the Magic Circle?” Marvin asks. “Are they bastards there too?”

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Alt grumbles. “Ours tried to hunt me down when I was younger. S’why I didn’t use my magic much for a while.”

“…is the magic circle the ones who started all this?” Bro asks quietly.

Marvin shakes his head. "Nope. But it was probably a magician or group of magicians of some kind. But you know what the Magic Circle did do? The moment shit started going down they were like 'alright, we're gonna leave town with all our followers and make a little base. Fuck those non-magic guys, right?'" He sighs. "I, uh... didn't see any problem with it... at the time. But then again, I didn't know any non-magic guys."

"That place was horrible," Jackie says, shaking his head. "The Circle just got more and more tight-ass about stuff in their base. I wouldn't be surprised to hear others escaped after we got you out of there."

"Yeah. Hope Sunday made it out. Maybe I'll find him again some time."

“Damn, what a bunch of assholes…” Bro mutters, “Can’t believe people would do that…”

"...yeah," Marvin says quietly.

"Not everyone took the whole apocalypse thing well," Anti mutters, absentmindedly touching his throat.

Bro shakes his head, “I guess that makes sense but I just… can’t wrap my head around that. I’d be like… helping as many people as I could.”

Alt is quiet, looking over Anti’s knife. …would he do the same if he was in this situation? ..he’s not sure.

"Bro, honestly? Safety in numbers, if you ask me," Chase says. "We've gotten this far cause all of us have different skills that help each other, yknow?"

Bro frowns making a face, “I guess…”

"Yeah, for example, you can drive," Jackie says jokingly.

"Ha ha." Chase turns the car around a corner--and his eyes widen. "Oh shit!" There's a huge crowd of people blocking the road. Just standing around, maybe walking absentmindedly. As some of them turn to look at the van, Bro in the front seat can see the pure whiteness of their eyes.

"That's a lot of them!" Marvin gasps.

Bro stiffens as he sees the large crowd. “Oh shit- w-what do we do??”

Alt glitches a bit closer to look, “Fuck.. how far are we from AllCo?”

"We have to keep down this street for a while and then turn left," Chase says. "The turn is uh--out of sight right now but just barely."

"Floor it!" Anti suggests. "There can't be that many runners in there."

We don't want to be too loud, though! JJ protests.

Many of the zombies are walking towards the van now, moving in that strange jerky way.

Alt looks nervous and then grips the seats, “I-I could glitch onto the roof and keep them off the car?? T-That won’t help with the noise though… I-I could try to glitch us to AllCo but I… I dunno if I’ll have much magic after…”

"That's probably our best bet, to have you on the top," Marvin says. "Chase, d'you think you could be careful enough to keep him up there?"

"Yeah, if he's confident he could keep his balance." Chase hesitates. "Okay. Go. I don't know how much sound your magic makes but it won't be as much as the car speeding along."

Alt nods, “I think I can stay on.”

Bro looks back at Alt with worried eyes, “Pleasee be careful!”

Alt smiles, “I will. Alright- get going then!” He glitches up onto the roof, carefully crouching on the top and eyeing down the crowd in front of them. Electricity crackles around him as he builds up magic in one of his hands.

Chase takes a deep breath and speeds up the car a little, leading into the crowd. Schneep moves into Alt's seat from the back, and he and Marvin stare out the side windows, ready to attack in case something goes wrong.

The zombies immediately crowd around the van as it moves forward. Some paw at it loosely, but some are smarter and try grabbing onto the door handles. A few try getting onto the hood, partially blocking the windshield.

Alt sends out a blast of electricity, shooting out a ring around the car to try to push most of the zombies off.

Though they don't feel pain, the electricity definitely affects the zombies, sending them back, muscles jittering from the shock.

"Handy spell," Marvin comments. "Gotta try and mimic that sometime."

Chase looks around nervously. They've passed through the original spot where the crowd was, but the zombies are getting up and following them. He rolls down the window a crack. "Speeding up a little, Alt!" he calls. "Be careful!"

Alt crouches down more, “Got it!”

A zombie then immediately tries to shove their hand through the bit that's open and Chase yelps, pushing them back and quickly rolling the window up again.

Alt quickly sends out blasts to any zombies that get too close. Hopefully he’ll have enough magic to last them till they get to AllCo…

They quickly get through most of the group, but some of the zombies run after them, arms swinging wildly.

"Fucking hell, that never stops looking freaky," Anti comments, looking out the back window. One of them manages to grab onto the door handle. Schneep quickly checks that the door is locked so it doesn't slide open.

Alt sends a blast out towards the one by the door, “Damn these things are persistent!”

But even though this one's arms judder from the blast, its grip holds tight, white eyes looking up at Alt.

"Schneep, open it up!" Marvin says, eyes glowing orange. Schneep hesitates, then unlocks the door. It immediately slides open and Marvin sends out a fireball that curves, looking like a comet, and hits the zombie's wrist. It finally lets go and goes tumbling down the street. Schneep quickly pulls the door shut again.

Alt jolts then grins wide, “Yeah nice one!” He calls down to Marvin.

"Thanks!" Marving shouts back up at him.

Chase rolls down the window a little again. "Okay, we're almost there, so get back in so I can speed up!"

Alt blinks then grins wide and glitches back in. He sighs a bit in relief, “God- that was intense…”

"God, yeah." Anti nods. "Me and JJ don't take a car usually when we come here to scavenge. It's easier to sneak around that way--but the speed can be an advantage."

"Hold on everyone." Chase turns a corner and presses down on the gas, speeding the rest of the way. They reach a car lot outside a wide, low building. The AllCo logo is displayed proudly on the side in blue and red, though it looks like the O is missing. There are a few lone zombies wandering around, but Chase is very careful as he pulls right up next to the door. "Nobody talk once outside," he whispers. "We're gonna have to pry the sliding doors open. Where's the crowbar?"

"Got it." Jackie pulls said crowbar out from under his seat.

Bro and Alt nod, Alt getting out the knife and getting it ready.

"Alright... out." Chase takes the car keys and puts them in his pocket. Everyone climbs out of the van, and the group seems to fall into a practiced formation. Jackie and Anti are in front, Schneep is in the middle with JJ and Marvin on either side, and Chase takes up the rear. Jackie wedges the end of the crowbar into the gap between sliding doors and pries them open.

Alt and Bro try to stick in the middle with Schneep. Alt tries his best to not glitch as he anxiously watches their surroundings. They both quickly slip in with the others as the doors are opened.

While heading in, Alt checks the tracker again.

The tracker tells him that the bag landed in the meat section near the back.

This supermarket is dim, but it looks like it gets darker the further in you go. Which makes sense, as the power is out and there are no windows. To the left is a bakery section that's mostly empty of food, the remaining food being old and molded. Ahead are aisles. To the right is the checkout area.

"Do you think we could grab some stuff while we're here?" Chase asks, whispering.

We'll see, JJ says.

“God this place is creepy as hell…” Bro whispers.

Alt looks to the others, “The bag we’re looking for is in the meat section.”

Anti frowns. "That's all the way in the back..." Schneep opens up the bag he'd brough and takes out a couple small flashlights, only about three inches long. He hands one to Jackie. Marvin conjures up a ball of orange light to help light up the area as well.

"JJ, Anti, you have been here most often," Schneep whispers. "What's the quickest way?"

"Beeline through the middle," Anti says. "Right through the pasta."

Alt also makes a ball of green light to help. “Okay- sounds doable. It’s a black satin bag so keep an eye out for that-“

Bro looks around, “I could always fly over real quick! Or do you think that’ll draw their attention?”

"You don't make any sound while flying, right?" Chase says. "It should be fine. Scout out the area."

Schneep waves his flashlight. "I will keep an eye on you. You know sign language, yes? Judging by how you understand Jamie. Tell us in sign if you see something."

“I can do that!” Bro grins. He quickly hurries into the air and follows Anti’s advice to go through the pasta aisle, cruising above it to look for the meat section.

The rest of the group hurries forward, going as fast and stealthily as possible.

From above, Bro can see a lot of the supermarket, including the occasional movement in the aisles. But the place is dark. Really dark. So it's hard to see details. At least the pasta aisle is clear.

Bro notices the movement and keeps an eye on it but focuses on moving forward as carefully as he can.

As they walk past, JJ grabs a box of spaghetti from the shelf and stuffs it into his backpack.

"Careful," Jackie mutters. "We don't want our bags to rattle."

I'm careful, JJ says defensively.

"Can't believe people left the pasta behind but took all the bread," Chase whispers.

“Bread is easier to eat fast- you gotta cook the pasta usually.” Alt whispers. “Gotta go with the non-perishables.”

"Yeah well... by now the perishables have perished," Chase says. "So people can come get this stuff."

"Risky to go back into the city for the food with longer shelf lives, though," Anti mutters.

"You and JJ do it. Sometimes Jackie."

"And we're very careful while doing it."

The aisle opens up into the back, where there are sections of freezer shelves--shelves that have lost power by now, of course. Luckily, it looks like it was also mostly raided, so the food is gone, sparing them the smell of spoiled meat.

"A black bag, you said?" Marvin asks, sending his ball of light forward--and the light lands on a big blue backpack, its contents spilled out across the floor. "...that's not it, then. What is that?"

Wasn't here last time, JJ comments.

Alt carefully prowls forward, crouching down by the backpack to get a look at it.

Meanwhile Bro starts to scan the meat aisle quickly, looking for the bag.

The bag seems to have been full of food. Freeze-dried stuff, or things that just need water to work. There were also some papers crowded into the bottom. And... prominently on its front pocket, there's a logo that looks like an eye. A curved symbol with a circle inside. And inside that circle is written "IRIS."

Alt freezes, eyes wide as he sees the logo. He scrambles back and huffs. “I-I probably wouldn’t touch that stuff-“ he whispers to the others.

"Hmm? Why?" Chase walks forward. "IRIS?"

"IRIS?" Marvin repeats. "I've heard of those guys. The Circle didn't like them."

"They made technology and such," Schneep says, nodding. "I think they have since collapsed. Why is a bag of theirs here?"

“… the IRIS we know… they’re not to be trusted. I wouldn’t be surprised if this thing started because of them.” Alt mutters.

Marvin blinks. He tilts his head. "That... Well, if the Magic Circle was right about them trying to combine tech with magic... That's entirely possible."

"Food is food, though," Anti says, scooping up everything and pushing it back into the bag, which he then pulls onto his back.

A zombie stalks towards the group. Jackie inhales sharply. "Move move move!" he whisper-shouts.

Alt turns around in surprise and glitches forward on instinct, holding out Anti’s knife to try to keep it back.

The zombie is not deterred by the threat of the knife and keeps going forward until Jackie rushes forward and pushes it back with the end of his baseball bat. It falls down onto its back. "Go!" The others back away, and Chase reaches out to grab Alt and pull him back as well. Alt lets himself get pulled, unnerved by the zombie and he quickly falls in line with the others.

Meanwhile, Bro has not spotted the TRVLR bag. But... some of the zombies have noticed him. Luckily, they can't reach him. But they are reaching up towards him, hands grasping vaguely.

“Agh!” Bro whispers as he sees the zombies and tries to stay up high. He tried to search faster- it has to be here somewhere.

But then, finally, Bro sees a small black rectangle on the ground. Is that it?

Bro darts down towards the shape without even thinking.

"Where did Bro go?!" Schneep hisses. "He dove down over there!" He points with the flashlight. There are about four zombies in between their group and him.

Yes! It's the bag. But just as Bro scoops it up, a shape lunges for him.And Bro is so preoccupied by getting the bag and grabbing it he’s completely thrown off guard by the lunging shape-The zombie tackles Bro, fingers digging into his skin. It's completely silent as it bites onto the sleeve of his jacket, not breaking the fabric. Bro can’t help it- he screams in terror and tries to kick the zombie off him. “No no no!! Let go let go fucking freak!!”

Alt’s head snaps to the sound of Bro’s scream- “Chase!” he yells and quickly tries to glitch over to him.

The zombie tightens its grip, pulling itself closer to Bro. Alt appears right next to his brother as this happens.

"What the--?! Okay go!" Marvin hisses. "Hurry!"

The group speeds after Alt. Jackie knocks away some of the zombies as they lunge forward, and as one grabs Anti he stabs it and throws it off him.

Bro is panicking and hyperventilating but Alt quickly tries to grab the zombie and stab it in through its neck.

The knife goes into the neck, causing the zombie's head to snap to the side and its grip to loosen.

The rest of the group hurries over. "Did it break skin?" Schneep asks, eyes wide.

Bro scrambles back fearfully as checks his skin. “I-I think I’m okay-!” He stammers.

Jackie smacks the zombie to the side with his bat, knocking it into a display of candy at the end of an aisle. Other zombies turn towards the sound the collision makes.

Alt shakes off the knife and pants looking around in fear. “Did you get the bag?”

“Y-Yeah! Here-“ Bro hands it to Alt and Alt hurries to toss it in his backpack and zip it back up. “O-Okay everyone link up I can get us back to the car!”

"Right, I-I forgot you could do that," Chase says. "Good--we won't have to fight our way out of here."

"Hurry!" Anti grabs onto JJ and and then Alt. The rest of them link up from there.

Once eveyone is linked up Alt concentrates on getting them all back to the van. They all appear outside of it in a quick flash and Alt’s knees buckle for a second as Bro fumbles to catch him. “In in in!” Bro calls.

Chase unlocks the door and rushes in, and everyone else piles into the van as soon as he unlocks the rest of the doors.

"Time to fuck subltey!" Anti shouts. "Go go go!"

"Yep!" Chase hits the gas and the van peels away.

Bro hurries into a seat and checks over Alt who blinks slowly exhaustion out of his eyes. Bro digs into the backpack on Alt’s back and quickly offers him a protein bar which Alt tiredly takes. He then looks around at the others, “Y-You all okay?”

"Y-yeah." Chase nods, swerving around a group of zombies on the road.

"That went surprisingly well, actually," Anti says.

Yes, we've had much closer calls, JJ adds.

"I didn't even have to use any spells." Marvin lets out a breath.

"We're not out of the city yet," Jackie says darkly. The van speeds through the streets as Chase takes a couple extra turns to lose some of the runners that are coming after them.

Alt blinks and looks ready to try to sit back up, weak pixels vibrating around him. “I-I could-“

“Alt no- c’mon we’ll be okay! You’re gonna drain yourself dude…” Bro true to tell him gently. “Focus on getting some fuel into you…”

"Don't push yourself, man, we'll get out of here," Jackie says. "Cars are much faster than zombies."

"Here." Schneep reaches into his bag and pulls out a couple granola bars. "For your energy."

Alt looks touched as Schneep hands him the food. “Oh… uh- thanks man…” he hurries to eat them.

The buildings become smaller and smaller, spreading farther and farther apart. Chase slows down as the zombies become less frequent, though some of them still occasionally try to grab onto the car as it passes. Soon, they are out of the city proper and into the suburb...

Bro chuckles quietly before focusing on the ride. He starts to relax as they see the suburbs again.

The van slows and slows and slows until it eventually stops.

Chase looks around. "I don't see any nearby," he says. "And there's the house." He points down the street.

"So? Keep going." Anti prompts.

"I'm just making sure," Chase says, and continues driving down the street.

Alt's phone crackles. "Check the tracker, make sure that everything's together," Anti's voice suggests.

Alt blinks and takes out the tracker, a pit of worry suddenly in his stomach. Did they miss something? Or leave something behind?

Nope, all the TRVLR parts in this world are in the bag.

Alt sighs in relief. He pulls out his phone to tell Anti, “we’re okay… all the parts are here. We’re back on track.”

The van continues back to the house, pulling into the driveway. Anti gets out first, then Chase.

"Marv, check the house?" Chase asks.

"Mm-hmm." Marvin closes his eyes, reaching his hand forward, orange sparks trailing around his fingers. "Nothing. But it's not entirely reliable, remember?"

"Still, better safe than sorry," Chase says.

Bro hums, looking around, grabbing at his arm where he got bit to make sure it’s still okay. “Could just be where we are but mmm I got a bad feeling still…”

Schneep leans forward, eyes narrowing as he notices the way Bro grabs his arm. "I can look you over, if you want. If we catch it early, Marvin can get rid of traces."

Bro blinks at Schneep then grins nervously, “I-I don’t think they broke through my jacket though but… b-better safe than sorry I guess…”

Schneep smiles, and quickly rolls up Bro's sleeve, checking the skin. "Hmm... I see nothing."

Bro sighs so heavily in relief. “God- that’s so nerve-wracking… fuck those bitches.”

Anti on the phone sighs. "Well, it's good that we got everything. But this means that the other me is still looking for us. He might catch up with us in any other world.

Alt nods with a worried frown. “Yeah… we gotta find some way to d-defend against him! The fact that he got the bag that easily,.. how are we supposed to stop him at all?”

Chase shook his head. "I'm sorry. I wish we could help, but uh... shit's crazy here, as you can tell."

"Alt, he can't control your magic," Anti on the phone recalls. "That's the key, I just know it. If... if he somehow..." He pauses, shaking his head. "There's something there. Maybe another one of these worlds has something that could help."

Alt slowly nods. Then he smiles at Chase, “you guys helped us plenty. I just wish we could help you guys out more too.” He gives Anti his knife back. “But… we gotta move on…”

Anti takes the knife, flipping it over. "Yeah. Not sure what you could do about a whole fucking apocalypse, but we appreciate it."

"'We' appreciate it?" Marvin repeats, raising an eyebrow. "So... you're not going out on your own, then?"

Anti purses his lips.

JJ smiles. You all know he was never going to do that.

"Oh shut up, James," Anti says, nudging him. JJ laughs silently. "I... was maybe... a bit harsh in my wording."

"A bit?" Jackie mutters incredulously. "I still think we need to talk about the supplies situation, but... we can do so more calmly," Anti continues.

Chase grins. "Good to hear that, bro."

Alt and Bro smiles. Bro nudges Alt a bit, “Hey- maybe we helped more than we thought!” He whispers to him. Alt laughs. He looks back at his phone, “��can Sam reach us here so we can get back to the next universe?”

"Yeah, give me a moment." The screen becomes static for a minute, then Anti reappears. "They're ready when you guys are. Again, don't do it in the car. Oh, and uh... I suggest you put your phones and any other tech into the waterproof bag for this next world. Just in case."

“…that’s reassuring-“ Alt mutters as he glitches out of the car. He starts to fumble with his bag and starts putting his valuables into the bag.

Bro grins wide at the others, “Thanks so much for helping us guys. We’d probably be like.. actual zombies now if it weren’t for you all so- thanks a lot!”

He hops out the car and hands his phone to Alt, who puts it in with the rest. Alt grumbles that he’s glad he carries his iPad in a secure case.

The group climbs out of the van. "Anything we can do to help," Chase says.

"Yeah, nice to hear about a word that hasn't gone to shit," Marvin adds.

"Good luck with your guy and your thing!" Jackie says cheerfully. JJ gave a little salute.

"Oh, here." Anti reached into his boot and took out a small stiletto knife in a sheath. "Take this. Neith has served me well, maybe she'll help you. And if not, well, think of it as a souvenir."

Alt blinks a bit in surprise. Then he gives his other self a fond smile and nods, putting the knife in his hoodie. “thanks… that means a lot.” Then, he calls out, “Alright, Anti- we’re ready.”

Alt's phone turns into static again and a bit of green lightning cuts a rift in the air.

Schneep whistles. "Interesting. You both be careful, yes?"

Bro grins, “We’ll try out best! You guys stay safe too! And stick together!”

Alt smiles and nods- and then the brothers jump into the rift.

The group all watch them go. Jackie waves and smiles. Chase shouts out a "Good luck!" and then they, and the world, fade from sight.

#SBTCV #swap beyond the crystalverse #SBTCV ZA #i was so nervous for this one cuz i dont really like zombies and cry didnt know!#but the magic thing made it easier for me ajhbka #i just dont like gore so i was worried but i trust cry!! and it was fun! :D #def a short little detour!#im excited about tomorrows au agjbha its my fav from this batch!

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huffle-dork · 6 months ago

Text

Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 3: SCLERA

Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs

Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost

When everyone starts to wake up- they realize they’ve been moved out of the main lab space they were brought into and put somewhere entirely new. The walls are bright white- almost blindly so. Alt, Schneep, JJ and Jackie all find themselves in separate small rooms. Each one has a tiny bed (that they weren’t even put on) and a collection of monitors along one wall. A camera whirls up in the upper corner, focusing on their every move. Windows are placed along two walls on each cell, positioned so they can all see each other. 2 rooms facing the other 2. Alt and Jackie on one side. JJ and Schneep on the other.

As they all wake up and take stock of their bodies- they’ll all notice there’s now a cuff on their ankle, tethering them to the wall.

Alt instantly starts to panic, trying to pull at the cuff or glitch- but he gets shocked for even trying, causing him to cry out. JJ isn't far behind in the panic department. He runs up to the window, pressing his hands against it and staring through the glass. He tries to cast some magic to break through the window but receives a similar shock.

Jackie's first instinct is to pull at the cuff, testing its strength. No good. The tether is sturdy and the cuff itself is tight around his ankle. "Fuck!" he shouts. His eyes dart around this small cell. There's a bed at least—that's good. A camera—bad. Monitors—unusual. He feels his breath quickening but he refuses to panic like Alt and JJ are. This can't be too bad. He's been through worse. At least this time he has the smallest bit of hope that someone will find him. Surely the others from this world will come looking for their friends.

Schneep feels around the room, getting a hold of his surroundings. The sparse furniture and small size mean he's quickly able to get a hang of it. Which... does not bode well for what's going to happen to them. If they don't care enough to give their subjects more than a bed, that's not a good sign of these people's intentions. He can sense souls nearby. It must be Alt, Jackie, and JJ...but...

JJ stares out the window at the others... and realizes something. The Jackie across from him... He's different. You're not my friend Jackie, he signs, staring at him.

Jackie looks up and shakes his head. "No, sorry. It's a bit hard to explain."

“Fuck!” Alt shouts, his voice breaking a bit at the end. He staggers to the windows and looks over at the others, “Fucking shit I… I’m so sorry guys- this… none of this was supposed to happen! I… I never thought they… that they’d get Chase…” he grits his teeth and then hits his fist against the window. “Fucking shit-!”

“Don’t blame yourself, Alt,” Jackie says quietly. “I don’t think any of us could’ve predicted that.”

Schneep shakes his head. “I should have run when you told me to instead of coming back. I would be more help out there than in here.”

“It’s fine Schneep… you’re not one to leave your friends…” Alt mutters.

JJ looks at him as well. That’s Schneep but… it’s not any Schneep he knows. I’m sorry, I’m very confused, he signs slowly.

“Don’t worry about it, you were tripping balls the whole time, that doesn’t exactly lend itself to a clear head. Fuck that Overdose woman.” Jackie runs a hand through his hair. “Basically we took you and Alt to the hospital because you were in danger, but it turned out to be a trap and we all got captured. You’re in another universe, by the way. And me and Schneep also aren’t from here.”

“Oh, so this Jameson also uses sign language?” Schneep comments.

“Yeah, what do youohhh shit, right, you wouldn’t be able to read signs if you’re blind!” Jackie gasps.

Schneep chuckles a little. “No, I would not. My JJ and I have a system, but I think it will be difficult if we are all in separate rooms.”

“I can relay it for now, don’t worry,” Jackie says.

JJ looks around some more. He still seems pretty confused, but nods slowly.

“By the way, where is other Chase?” Schneep asks. “I cannot feel him nearby.” Maybe he should go looking? Can he leap out of this cuff? “Ow!” Nope, the moment he starts, there’s a distracting shock.

Alt looks guiltily at Schneep and sighs, “…you won’t be able to use your powers here… not unless they want you to.” He looks sad and glances down the hall. “…I dunno where Chase is… but I’m guessing they’re… they’re gonna keep… using him.” He shudders and grits his teeth, eyes flashing brighter in anger.

Alt slowly takes a deep breath then looks away, “…I’ll catch you guys up though… fill in some gaps. So… I heard you all got sucked in here by… by rifts. They’re… new. The device I used to visit you all just… broke. And Basically the rifts are broken holes that suck people into different worlds …or even different timelines. but I… I thought they wouldn’t be able to come here but that’s… another long story. JJ- like when you all fell here these are… other versions of our friends I’ve met. I’d… explain how they’re different but-“ He glances at the camera in his cell and glares at it. Then he deflates, “…fuck it. I think they already know more than I think… Schneep is from a world where… his Anti is made of black magic… and he’s also Jackie and Marvin fused together.

“And Jackie is… from a world where everyone but Anti is… well evil. Jackie’s trying to be better now though and their Chase has been put through some massive shit but… his Anti? He’s one of the most powerful ones I’ve met. He was able to get me, Bro and Jackie home after the TRVLR broke.” He laughs dazedly and shakes his head, “…I’ll have to try to see if I can c-contact him to get you all home but I… now we’re here and…

He shakes his head and looks between Jackie and Schneep, “Oh and for you two… JJ here is a magician in his world. Like me… he uses mainly ice magic though. But in his world… everyone’s roles are switched around from how you and me know things… like- their Jackie is a doctor… and their Schneep... Volt- he’s a superhero.”

The others listen to Alt talk for a while, staying quiet, their expressions all varying types of shock. Once Alt is done, they look at each other with wide eyes, really taking the other two in.

“I know you said your Anti was evil, but… you didn’t say your Anti was me,” Jackie says to Schneep.

“It didn’t come up—though I don’t know if I would have told you if there was an opportunity,” Schneep replies. “I am not sure how to tell someone that they are part of a black magic abomination.”

“Well Alt just did it,” Jackie points out.

Schneep chuckles. “He did, didn’t he?”

“It’s easier for me to say I think… since I’ve been to every one of your universes.” Alt says with a shrug, “If I didn’t point out and learn your differences you’d all blend together…”

“But… also… the Anti from my world is gone now,” Schneep says slowly. “I… do not want to talk about him too much. It is in the past.”

Alt perks up at hearing Anti is gone and he smiles warmly, “You guys saved them? That’s… that’s great. I’m glad that… that’s over.”

Schneep nods. "Yes... we are so relieved it's over," he says quietly.

“Oh.” Jackie blinks. “Well, uh, Jameson. Do you have an Anti?”

JJ nods. Nothing like yours, though. Anti is just a normal person there—one of my dear friends. Not some fusion or… whatever your Anti is.

Jackie repeats JJ’s words for Schneep, then adds with a shrug, “Anti is Anti. I think the closest description is some sort of electrical being.”

JJ nods. Are we really… that bad in your world?

“Are you really that bad? Uh… I don’t want to upset you or anything but… yes, absolutely.” Jackie nods. “I mean… my Schneep could probably get better, his case is kinda complicated, but my Jameson is… the worst. Just… just the worst.” He shudders.

JJ’s shoulders slump. He’s not sure how to respond to that.

Alt looks at JJ with understanding. “I know it’s hard to hear that J… but you and him are completely different. You’re the jaunty Jackson, you’re you.” He then laughs a bit bitterly and shrugs, “and well… if it makes you feel any better… I’ve really only met one bad Jameson… there’s way more evil Antis out there…” He grips his arms and lets himself feel for a second before shaking it off.

Schneep decides to brush this news off. “So… I am a superhero in another world.”

JJ blinks and smiles. A very brave one.

“Do I have powers, or…?”

In a sense. You have a lot of advanced technology.

Schneep nods. “I can see that.”

Alt laughs, “Volt is super cool Schneep… you’d like him.”

JJ still looks a bit disturbed by the news of an evil him, but he nods in agreement with Alt's statement. You do sort of remind me of him—more than the Schneep from this world.

"Yeah, it's strange," Jackie adds. "You definitely also remind me of my Schneep...but you know, a sane one with morals."

Schneep laughs. "Hearing you does sometimes remind me of my Jackie, too. And I know I have not interacted as much with you, JJ, but if Jackie is accurately translating your signs you at least speak a lot like mine."

"Doing my best." Jackie shrugs.

“God… if I had my spells books I’m sure I could find something to help you understand better Schneep,” Alt grumbles.

I may know something that can help, at least letting you understand my signing, JJ offers. Though… seems I can’t use my magic here. He looks down at the cuff.

"The JJ in my world also has magic," Schneep says. "Though... he is not a magician. It is very strange, he simply... gained magic one day. Very specific magic, too. It can help others, but not himself."

JJ tilts his head. He might be a warlock, then. Sometimes if a human is desperate enough for something, and has already been exposed to lots of magic, they gain magic of their own that's targeted to helping them achieve that goal.

"Yes, that does sound familiar," Schneep says slowly.

"My Jameson has magic, too... but it's not like either of those," Jackie mutters. "It's all contained in his pocket watch."

Oh, so he's a witch, then? JJ asks.

"Yeah, I've heard others call him that."

Alt looks very interested in the break down of different kind of magicians. Huh… interesting. He’s heard Mag call himself a sorcerer… is that what Alt is too…?

Jackie laughs. "You know... I think our three worlds might have more in common with each other than with this world. I mean, I'm sure this world is great, but things feel... different."

I've been here before, they ARE slightly different, JJ says. It's interesting.

Schneep tilts his head, thinking. "Perhaps... our three worlds are close to each other. And that is why a rift appeared in each of them."

Alt nods with a hum, “That makes sense… you all were really close to each other on the list the TRVLR had. Though… I dunno. I’ve definitely noticed that outside of mine and JJ’s worlds… that every other one had our friend group in pretty similar roles. Like… Schneep is normally a doctor. Jackie usually fights crime somehow… Chase is usually, normal? Sometimes a dad… mostly a dad actually now that I think about it. Marvin’s a magician… or powerful. JJ too… usually Marvins and JJs are like… really close… and JJ usually has something to do with… time? Old fashioned if nothing else… and Antis are… glitches. Evil electric… things. Not human…” He digs his fingers into his arms, shivering as he remembers all the horrible antis he’s faced. “…there’s other exceptions but… that’s a pattern I’ve noticed.”

“Huh. Well… I guess there are… similarities, then,” Jackie says slowly.

“Not too many,” Schneep says. “In my world, Marvin and Jamie are not close at all. They are really barely friends, in a way.”

And those roles don’t fit my world at all, JJ adds.

“Well he did say there were exceptions,” Jackie points out.

“Still… if anything is possible, surely there are many worlds that don’t fit those patterns,” Schneep says. “It’s simply that maybe… maybe this is a pattern in the worlds we can reach, and it breaks down the farther away you go.”

“Yeah…” Alt shrugs, “Universes get… messy. Usually you can tell who’s who based on looks though or like- certain behaviors or mannerisms. JJ always has a mustache or is mute somehow, always uses some type of sign language. Jackie always wears red or a red hoodie, Schneep is always German. Usually brunette. Chase always wears a hat at the very least… he’s the easiest for me to recognize though.” Alt laughs a bit hollowly. “And Antis…” He touches his neck and then pulls away his mask to show his scar. “…if they don’t glitch then… they usually have a wound like this. Or… green eyes… sometimes green-blue, like mine.”

Alt quickly reties his mask and sighs, “But… yeah… that’s basically the gist of patterns I’ve seen. We’re always together too… always connected somehow.” He smiles a bit, “…I think that’s… cool, you know? You always wonder if… you’d know your closet friends if things were different…”

"Your closest friends," Jackie repeats a bit darkly. He shakes his head. No, he shouldn't be jealous of others. Just because things didn't work out in his world doesn't mean it's anyone's fault. "Well... I guess it's kind of... sweet, somehow, that these people always find each other."

Alt gives Jackie an apologetic smile. “…you all were friends before…” He tries to say before shaking his head. “Again it’s… complicated.”

JJ frowns. There isn't a Chase in my world, though. Then he pauses. You said he usually wears a hat...? Why does it feel like he's forgetting something? Like... he's on the edge of a cliff and about to tumble into an important realization?

Alt makes a bit of a choking noise at JJ’s comment and then swallows nervously. “S-Sometimes there’s gaps… I-I wish I knew what… h-happened to your Chase, JJ…”

Schneep chuckles. "So you have an impressive mustache, too, Jamie. Good to know."

JJ is distracted from his thoughts by that comment. He grins. I'm quite proud of it, too!

Alt laughs, “Never met a JJ with a bad mustache! Unless they couldn’t grow one yet.” He smiles thinking of the younger JJ he met.

But then he sighs and looks at their surroundings. “…now that we’re caught up with that… I guess I should tell you guys about this place…” he waves his hand at the cells. “This is Sclera… Jackie, JJ… it’s similar to your IRIS. Except Sclera is more focused on studying magic with science than just… science. So… they know how to handle super powered people… or strange things like… people from other worlds.” He rubs his wrist underneath the purple bands on his right arm. “…they’ve captured me before… experimented on me… I-I don’t know what they’ll try to do to you all but…” He swallows shakily, looking scared.

"Oh..." Jackie isn't sure what to say. "I... I'm sorry. F-from what I've heard from Anti about IRIS... that's bad."

JJ shudders. He sits down on the bed, pulling his knees up to his chest. Alt... Not too long after we got pulled into your universe, something similar happened to my friends and I. Well... a lot of stuff happened before that. But eventually we were all taken by our IRIS. So... I know what you've been through.

Alt’s expression falls, “JJ I… I’m so sorry…” He grips at his wrist, “…no one should ever have to go through that.. I’m…” He growls in frustration and his hands light up with his magic as it reacts to his emotions. He gets shocked for that though and he yelps and stumbles back.

Schneep is quiet, looking troubled. "I... think there is an IRIS in my world, too. B-but they just make technology. I have not heard of any sort of... experimentation..."

Alt shakes out his head and addresses Schneep, “On the outside… that’s what these companies do. Experiment in secret to push their futuristic tech to the masses… trying to gain more control…” he growls, “It’s fucked.”

“Aw… thank you for the glowing endorsement, Mr. Brody~!” Dr. Cornelius’s voice echoes down the hall.

Alt glitches in surprise and then yells out as he’s shocked again and tumbles to his knee as he holds his stomach. “Motherfucker…!”

Coming down the hall and towards their collection of cells walks in Dr. Cornelius, Overdose… and Chase. Dazedly and stoically following after the scientists.

“Hello gents~ have a good nap?” Overdose giggles.

"Oh fuck off," Jackie growls, as close to the cell windows as he can and glaring. "Fuck both of you. Fuck you so hard."

“Oh- the tough one’s feisty~” Overdose giggles and goes to meet him at his window, grinning wide. “I like that… they’ll be fun to break~”

“Jin, please don’t rile up the subjects too much,” Dr. Cornelius chuckles.

Jackie just glares back at Overdose. He's not going to be broken. He's not going to give them the satisfaction. He's not going to cry or scream or beg. He's had enough of that.

JJ stays where he is, looking at the doctors silently. He tries to stay calm but can't help but shrink away. It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay—he has to keep telling himself that because he doesn't know what he'll do if he stops.

Schneep inhales sharply. "Chase?! Chase is that you?!" He can feel him approaching—is it true? Is he really being controlled by the scientists?!

Chase looks over at Schneep, something flickering in his eyes, but Cornelius snaps and his focus is brought back towards him.

“Yes it is~ Chase has been a wonderful helper for us here!” The mad scientist laughs.

Alt gets up and slams his hands against his window, his eyes burning bright and toxic with held back magic. “The fuck did you do to my brother?!”

Cornelius grins at Alt and then looks back at Chase and shrugs. “You know what? I think it’d be better to hear from him. Hero, why don’t you tell Alt what got you here, hm?”

Chase’s eyes slip shut and he slumps a bit, before he shakes his head rapidly and seems to wake up from his daze. He looks out at the others and seems panicked. “W-What…? How- no…! Alt I-!”

Cornelius snaps his fingers, “Hero, stay focused.”

Chase stiffens and looks a bit scared but he mumbles out. “I… a-after the TRVLR broke… I… I was trying to find more information about the rifts and I… I wound up here.” He looks at Alt with tearful eyes, “I thought they… they could help. I thought it’d be different- just getting i-information-! I thought I knew the risks… I thought it’d be okay- I’m sorry Alt, I’m so so sorry- I wanted to help-!”

“That’s enough, Hero.” Dr Cornelius snaps and Chase’s mouth shuts and the emotions drain off his face as he stands stoically still once again.

Alt watches his brother get controlled by the man who tortured him and- he can only stare back with a heartbroken expression.

“And from there… we slipped in.” Cornelius grins, “Just enough so he would be none the wiser… a few subliminal videos here- some experimental things he could try for us in exchange for information… soon enough we were able to make a pretty little sleeper agent out of Mr. Fantastic~ while he was none the wiser.” The doctor sighs though, “It was tricky to get a hold of though… there’s some kind of mental block that prevents true mental control. But… luckily there are other ways to control a body~”

Schneep staggers back, listening to Bro talk. The control this Dr. Cornelius displays over Bro's actions... it's bringing back awful memories. Memories of what happened to his own Chase, with Anti. Then he walks up to the glass, practically trembling with rage. He doesn't say anything, but his eyes change color, his scleras darkening to black and his irises turning a greenish turquoise.

JJ shakes his head, stunned. Seeing someone who he knows as a brave hero, acting like this... it's terrible. You're sick, he says, not knowing if they'll understand him.

"Yeah, they are, aren't they?" Jackie mutters in agreement.

Dr. Cornelius merely shakes his head at the others' attempts at insults. "Are we sick? Perhaps... only to those who don't see the good in what we do~! We're on the way to capturing magic for the masses to use! To understand its principles like they should be understood... by logic."

"How are you doing this...?" Alt asks quietly, glancing back at Chase.

"Hm? Oh, how are we controlling your brother?" Dr. Cornelius grins sharply, "It's fascinating, really! We're using a similar process to that dormant chip of yours Alt~" Alt stiffens and grabs his wrist, holding it close to his side. "We're capturing the energy that fuels his power- and only taking a bit of his brain power. Mostly controlling the limbic system and the thalamus- and generally leaving the cortex alone in case we need to influence something there~" He giggles. "We found that only in trying to control the whole of his mind was when we would get the... snag. That moment where something would hitch and he would break it. But, now? Well... these last few months have been very enlightening~"

Alt then yells in anger and hits the window. "You fuckers-!" He screams, electricity starting to rise around him. "I'll kill you for this-! I'll-!" He then screeches as Dr. Cornelius seems to click something in his pocket and Alt is shocked even harder than he has been. It only lasts a few short seconds, but Alt screams as his limbs jolt and jerk out of his control. He can't help but slump into a heap in his cell, clutching at his chest.

Jackie and JJ watch in horror. Schneep flinches upon hearing Alt scream. "Alt! A-are you okay?!" he shouts, facing towards him, a concerned expression on his face. JJ also rushes to the side closest to Alt, pressing against the window and staring at him, hoping he's alright.

"I-I'm okay S-Schneep..." Alt tries to pant, "I... I'm... ngh... 'm fine-"

"Holy shit," Jackie whispers. "Do you mean—does Chase know what's happening? Or do you—a-are you blanking out his mind?" Both options are terrifying for different reasons.

"Mmm... a little of both- though mostly the latter." Cornelius grins at Jackie. "He'll only know what we want him to know."

"You—you fuckers,” Jackie growls. “You motherfuckers!" It's like his Jameson and Marvin started some sort of company to standardize their fucked up business.

JJ shudders, looking back at Overdose and Cornelius. Well, at least one of them understands him. What are you going to do to us? he asks, not sure if he wants the answer but needing to know.

Overdose giggles at JJ and prowls close to him too. "Oh excellent question! Right now... we're just gonna... get to know each other a little better."

Suddenly, mechanical arms shoot out from the walls of their cells. They grab the boys with one arm while the other presses a syringe into the vein on their necks. The injection burns through their veins but soon enough they're released.

"Holy shit!" Jackie's first instinct is to punch the robotic arm, but that only—"Ah fuck!"—hurts his hand. JJ reacts similarly, trying to use his magic but only receiving a shock in response. Schneep yelps and tries to squirm out.

Alt heaves, holding his neck with a look of panic. "W-What was that?!"

"Oh.. you'll see~" Overdose giggles.

Soon enough, they all find their vision getting blurry. Any panic they were feeling starts to flow out of them like water- they start to feel themselves relax. Their heartbeats slow, their breathing gets shallower and everything seems to start to... float. It's similar to how being on ecstasy felt but there's no undertone of panic or pain. It's just... nice.

Dread immediately fills JJ's chest as the effects start, with it being all too familiar to the drug from before. But that dread slowly fades. He giggles a little, swinging his arms as he stands.

Schneep blinks. He tries to walk up to the window but trips over the cuff's tether and falls. He pats the ground. It's still there. Yeah. He's not hovering. Would that be possible, though? These guys are weird and magic. "Mein Gott..." he mutters. "I haven't... felt... like this... ever." He shakes his head. "This... this isn't... good, I think..."

Jackie paces around the cell, trying to see if he can force the effects away with motion. But no, it's not really helping all that much. It just gets harder and harder to walk until he eventually gives up and slumps against the bed. He blinks wildly. His scars aren't hurting as much. That's good, what is Schneep talking about? That's good.

Alt tries to push himself up but finds himself falling over and over. He would normally be angry but he... doesn't feel that. Where did all his anger go? He staggers to the bed and climbs up it clumsily so he can at least see the others. But, that's when his limbs refuse to work anymore and he slumps against the wall, blinking up dazedly. "...what... is this...?"

He doesn't get a response- only one of the monitors on the wall sparking to life. On it- a simple colorful spiral. It has none of the colors that make Alt flinch or feel fear. No these are... nice colors... yellows and blues and whites... Jackie, JJ and Schneep get the same thing on their monitors, drawing in their gazes. Well, except for Schneep... the effect is lost on him.

Overdose giggles, "Why don't we start simple, hm? Let's start with everyone telling me your full names, ages and where you come from~"

Alt feels his mouth falling loose- the urge to answer stronger than anything else. Even as some distant part of him screams not to. That screaming part of him is smothered by the fog overtaking his whole body. "..An... A-Ant..hea... Taran Brody... 27... B-Brighton..." He can’t help but shudder after saying that name. He hasn’t heard that in a long long time.

"Anthea?" Overdose smirks at Alt. Alt manages to find her gaze and growls, baring his teeth, "C-Call me that and I'll rip you apart with my bare fucking hands-!"

Jackie panics for a moment, but... there's no purple in those spirals. But.. spirals... he shouldn't... Huh. It's kind of fun to watch them go... circle... swirling... He finds himself answering the question without really thinking about it. "M'name's Jackie... Jackie Parker. But I used to be Julia. I'm... I think I'm... 29 now? 'm from... this city called Mirygale... Not a good city, I think... but it's mine..."

JJ blinks, staring at the spiral. His head feels foggy... but not the bad kind of foggy. It's a good foggy. He didn't know something like that was possible. "I'm..." He clears his throat. "Jameson Daniel Jackson—" He coughs wildly, throat too hoarse to keep going. Signing it is, but he'll have to be careful. His hands feel distant. 28. From Mirygale, Britain.

Schneep shakes his head, trying to fight off these effects. He hears the others respond... or he hears Jackie and Alt and assumes that JJ does the same after the coughing. He takes deep breaths. Maybe... he should save his strength... for something more important. What harm could come... from this question? "D-Dr. Henrik von Schneeplestein. Th...thirty years old. I live in Mirygale... i-in Britain, but... I grew up in Arzhorchal, i-in Germany."

Overdose shrugs and- well it seems her and Dr. Cornelius are taking notes. "Very good boys! Glad to see it's working~ Now let's see... what should I ask you all next?"

She looks at Schneep, JJ and Jackie, "Hm... Mirygale boys- We know you're from different dimensions... so why don't you tell us how your cities are different?" She laughs, "We already caught a bit about how your... little groups are different. Maybe this serum wasn't really necessary, loose lips~"

"Fuck you fuck you fuck you," Jackie says, though it lacks real bite. "We can talk 'f we wanna."

"I-I don't... I-I don't know a-about their cities," Schneep gasps out. "I-I just—i-it's a normal enough city, I think..."

"Not mine," Jackie mumbles. "It's not a good place... there's fucking crime everywhere... a dozen different gangs... and drug dealers and shit..." He looks at Overdose and flashes a grin that can only be described as feral. "An' all the coppers and shit h've been corrupted... most of them, an' more than usual, I mean. Same with... lotsa officials and shit... The city's fallin' apart, really..."

JJ shakes his head, shocked. That's not what mine is like. Mine is fine. We have... He falters for a moment. What do good cities have? Parks... and stage theatres... and trains...

"We don't have trains," Schneep mutters. "Just a lot of office buildings... Crime, but... not like Jackie is d-describing..."

I like it there, JJ says. I... want to go back... I want to go home... He feels tears welling in his eyes, and he hurriedly covers his face to wipe them away.

Alt dazedly looks over at JJ to see his signs and he clumsily tries to push himself up, " I'm g-gonna get you home JJ..! I promise- W-We'll figure something out, o-okay?"

Overdose rolls her eyes, "Alright- let's get a bit personal then. I see you all have quite the bit of trauma amongst you~ How'd you all get your scars and such? Or lose your voice, in that one's case." She points towards JJ. She grins at Alt, "You too, Mr. Illusionist. Tell us how you got that pretty scar of yours?"

Alt growls and glitches slightly- which gets him shocked again. He bites back the pain and then slumps back against the wall, falling back under the drug's pull. "... I was kidnapped... when I-I was 15." He tries to fight saying more but it just slips out, "They... t-they tied me up by my neck- cuz I bit one of the fuckers who took me. I didn't know I could glitch then... but I... I managed to do it and slipped through the binds... the ropes cut my neck though." He dazedly rubs at his neck, feeling the healed skin of his scar.

"I'm... I-I'm so sorry, Alt," Schneep says quietly. "You shouldn't h-have gone through th-that..."

"It was a long time ago," Alt replies distantly, "... its fine."

JJ blinks dazedly. He's always explained it away as an animal attack, but he finds that excuse isn't coming, and instead, the truth spills out. This being called Distorter lured me out of town, made me think a missing friend was there. But it was just Distorter. He attacked me. He wanted to kill me so he went for the throat. I'm only not dead because I have a friend who can divine things, and she knew I'd be in danger. But the damage was still severe.

Alt watches JJ as he signs and inhales sharply, "Distorter... y-you could talk before? T-That fucker...." He spits.

Jackie shudders. "I don—I don' wanna talk about—I-I don't want to talk about what M-Marvin did—I don't... I..." He tries to shake himself awake—but then he looks at the spiral again, and his efforts are in vain. The words come out anyway. "I got... shot and stabbed a lot... when I was out fighting, but... th-the worst of it... was after a magician I knew, Marvin, he... decided he didn't want to put up with me anymore. His magic... burns... It doesn't always leave marks, but when it does, it... burns. I-I don't know how long I spent—" He swallows a lump in his throat, curling up a little. "—it was a year, I think, I-I was stuck down there. H-he hated me. Especially after he... changed. H-he wanted to hurt me as much as possible before he killed me. I... I would've died... if Frederick hadn't found me." His visible eye goes distant.

Alt's eyes widen as Jackie tells his story. He knew some of it but, "A... A year? God... Jackie..."

Schneep turns to face Jackie, stunned. "That... th-that is h-horrible, I-I am sorry. I don't know if it'll help, but I—" No. Wait. This is the important thing. He shouldn't say this. Not when there are these terrible people listening. And yet, now that he's started, it's hard to stop. "I—I was—I-it was magic that—that is why I cannot see, I—" His body starts to tremble. "Anti, he... h-he took my sight. I-I don't think... he knew it would happen... but he... he..." The word is on the tip of his tongue. Nightmare. Nightmare. Nightmare Nightmare Nightmare—

He suddenly shouts and tries to leap out of the cell again, but cries out as the cuff shocks him for his efforts. But he's not thinking of that word anymore, so he can't say it. Good. Good.

Alt jumps as Schneep shouts and tries to scramble up to look at him. "S-Schneep?! Are you okay??"

"I-I'm... f-f-fine," Schneep says, breathing heavily.

"Damn- you all have been through a lot," Overdose mutters as she scribbles all this down. "Interesting... very interesting... Think this is something we could use, Doc?"

Dr. Cornelius grins, "Oh, absolutely..." He eyes the others and hums, "Why don't you all tell us how your abilities work? Alt can be the exception again, we have a lot about him." He giggles. Alt glares at him and bares his teeth.

JJ shakes his head... it's not a no, it's just him trying to find the words to describe magic as he's always known it. I... learn spells... and I cast them. It's very simple... I think. I like... water and ice... and healing. But I can do a lot of things. Teleport... make shields... I can turn into an animal but I don't do it often... Some spells need gestures or spell words or my mask to focus them... Or I guess I could use a wand instead? Or a crystal ball? He trails off, looking thoughtful.

Jackie laughs somewhat hysterically. "A-abilities? Motherfucker, I don't have any special powers—other than a p-pretty high pain tolerance, I thi—" He covers his mouth. He shouldn't say that he doesn't have powers. He shouldn't say that. Not in front of these doctors. "I can still d-do a lot, th-though," he stammers out, voice somewhat muffled. "Sometimes spells aren't as fast as fists."

"Ah- sorcery... very interesting." Dr. Cornelius hums. He then eyes Jackie and smiles. "...even without knowing what you went through, I know what black magic scarring looks like... you are still a fine specimen to study, Mr. Parker~" He giggles a bit madly. "Oh... there's much to discover there... I wonder how much power lies dormant underneath~"

"I'm... not sure how it works," Schneep says slowly. "I simply... think about it... and I jump to somewhere else. Or I grab something that was not there before. I don't know what happened to make me this way... Something about m-my soul..." Are those two things his only abilities? Well, he can sense souls, too, but... something tells him to push that back. To resist revealing that. Better they think him completely unaware of his surroundings.

Cornelius studies Schneep too, "... curious. Very curious. You can disappear and reappear like Alt but... without the electricity. That is fascinating... definitely something we can try to uncover more about..." He looks to Overdose, "Dr. Sun, any other questions you think we should ask?"

"Oh yes... let's see..." Overdose hums. Then, she grins wickedly. "Give us all your weaknesses. Anything we can use against you."

Since he wasn't brought into this round of questioning, Alt's attention was brought back to the spiral on the wall. So, he answers almost immediately, too lost in the fog to try to fight it. "...loud noises... I... I have m-mysophobia... e-especially if it sounds like s-static... h-hypnosis... m' not very s-strong without my... my magic..."

JJ's eyes flicker. He recognizes that this is something he shouldn't answer, so he folds his arms to stop himself from signing—but as he does so, the words are spilling out of his mouth, anyway. "Not a physical fighter... and if I use too much magic I get sick and collapse. And I... I don't like being... watched... or ignored... a strange contradic—" He coughs again, unknowingly demonstrating another weakness.

"I don' like fire," Jackie mumbles, staring at the spiral on the wall. "Don' like... burning. I can... endure a lot, but... that... M-my head's prob'ly fucked a bit, too, I wouldn't be surprised if my James'n did some stuff... I don't know." Some tears line his eye. "I'm... I'm a bad person... I know that. Tryin' t'be better but... I know it. Maybe th' way scars hurt still is... fate's payback..."

Schneep turns towards Overdose's voice and waves his hand in front of his eyes. "I'm fucking blind, you... you... du verdammter Idiot, du Dummkopf, du Trottel..." He trails off into mumbling German insults.

"Alright alright yeah yeah it was a general question, asshat-" Overdose mumbles. Dr. Cornelius claps his hands. "Well then! This has been very enlightening~ I think that's all we need for now. Why don't you boys try to rest that off, hm?"

He looks at Bro and nods his head. "Hero? Why don't you keep an eye on them for me?"

Bro nods, "Yes, doctor." He goes to stand right at the edge of their cells, straight up against the wall, held at attention like a soldier. He's been here listening the whole time... and there's almost no way to tell if he understood anything that was revealed. Except the slight trail of tears on his cheeks, but his face still remains expressionless.

"Grand! Welp! We'll see you all in a bit~" Dr. Cornelius calls as he and Overdose walk out of the hall. The door shuts loudly and then... silence. Overwhelming silence.

Alt eventually whimpers and goes to curl up, pulling at his hair. "...I hate this... I hate this...!" He mutters through a bit of a choked up voice. "Fuck them... fuck all these fuckers...! Argh-!"

"F-fuck," Jackie breathes. As the serum is fading and his senses are returning, he begins to really process the shit they're deep in. "We just told them all of our fucking secrets." He feels a little sick just thinking about how he told them about what Marvin did to him. Even if he didn't go into detail, he didn't want them to know any of that.

JJ chokes back a sob, pressing his hands into his eyes. What are they going to do next? How are they going to exploit everything that they just told them? He raises his head slightly, and notices Bro. He crawls closer, right up to the windows. Chase, I don't know if you can understand me right now, but we'll get out of here. We will. We'll all be okay.

Bro's eyes flit to JJ's signs and his eye twitches slightly. His hand seems to tremble. But, he can't get himself to respond any other way to him.

Schneep takes a deep breath. "There are—there are others outside," he mutters. "They—they must be worried. W-we just—i-if they do not come, nothing is perfect in any case. No defense is unbreakable."

"T-The others don't know we're here!" Alt stammers in panic, tears in his eyes. "They probably thought we w-went to the Dooms...! They don't know S-Sclera found us! A-And even if they did... w-what can they do?! Jays a t-therapist! Jackie can do parkour and sorta fight but... h-he's not an escape artist...! H-Henny can do some magic but I... I don't think it'll help here and t-then he'll just get captured too and I... t-that can't happen- H-Hen can't- I-If he got s-stuck here too I-I...!"

"W-well, they will notice if we are not there—" Schneep stammers.

"They won't k-know to look here I... I don't even know if we're s-still in that other hospital-" Alt mutters.

"Alt, hey, hey, deep breaths," Jackie says, scrambling across the cell to get as close to Alt as possible. "He won't get stuck here. None of them will. I-I can—I can do everything I can to make sure they don't, if they show up."

It's fine if you need to cry, but try not to spiral, JJ says gently. We can't get lost in bad what-ifs. I'm sure these people want you to be freaking out.

"Yes, exactly," Jackie says. "If you're freaking out, you're easier to fuck with. Deep breaths, Alt. Deep breaths."

Alt looks at the others with red-rimmed eyes and nods, trying to control his breathing. "... I'm sorry... I know it's not my fault you guys are here I just... I'm so sorry you're all caught up in all this shit... none of you deserve this..." He lets his tears fall quietly, rubbing at his eyes. "B-But you're right... w-we can't give them the satisfaction of freaking out..."

"For what it's worth, I do not blame you at all," Schneep says quietly. "No one is to blame, only those rifts." Assuming those rifts were freak accidents and not caused by someone deliberately, but he doesn't think that'll help for Alt to hear.

"None of us blame you," Jackie agrees.

And if we were not here, you would be here alone, JJ says. He gives him a small smile. I'm glad that you have company, at least.

Jackie nods. "Anything we can do to help..."

Alt lets out a bitter chuckle, "... I hate that you have a point JJ..." He curls his knees up to his chest. "...I'd be more of a wreck if I was alone..."

He's quiet for a second before he looks back at the others with determination. "...which means I have a clearer head... w-we can think of a way out of this." He leaps off the bed, still a bit dizzy but he starts to pace. "Okay... god I can't say too much but... we gotta... figure something out..."

He looks at Jackie and signs close to his chest, trying to avoid the camera, can you break your cuff? or- do you have anything hidden on you to try?

Jackie blinks. He thinks. They took my staff. And I was at home so I didn't have any weapons on me, he signs back. But might as well try. He pulls at the cuff, but finds it too tight to really gain much traction. That's gonna aggravate the scars around his ankle. He sighs, patting himself down anyway. Hoodie, pants, hair—hair. His eye widens slightly as he grabs onto part of his braid. There's something hard in there. Maybe something sharp.

You know we're leaving Schneep out of this conversation, right? JJ says. Not that Schneep minds. He looks deep in thought.

“Ugh I know-" Alt sighs, "I'm trying to figure out what I can do for Schneep..." He starts to pace again, "...his glitches aren't like mine... i-if we can break his cuff somehow then... then maybe?" He looks up at the monitors and all the electric things in the room. His eyes slowly widen, "...maybe I can drain the electricity...!"

"Hmm?" Schneep blinks to attention. "Well, yes, I never even thought about it as glitching before. More like forming a wormhole. I am sure that if this shackle was not shocking me... the things they use for you would not be effective. I'm not getting where you are going with the electricity, though. What would you do with it once you have it?"

Alt nods, "...I dunno i-it could be risky but... the cuffs are electric too. If... If I could find a way to maybe drain enough power or- m-maybe short out the systems...! Then... maybe that could be enough...?" He sighs, "But... that also feels dumb- I'd probably get massively shocked for even trying that... They know I can glitch into electric things so... they might be expecting something like that... Or I could overload myself..."

Through their mutterings, they don't notice another nodule that pops out from the wall. Something that looks like some sort of gun. Without warning, it shoots a beam of black purple magic at each of the boys, lighting up their systems with burning hot black magic.

Dr. Cornelius's voice crackles on one of the monitors, "Well gentleman! Hope you enjoyed your rest but... can't have you all discussing these kind of things~ sooo! It's my turn now~! Let's see how you all react to this!"

Alt gasps as the magic hits him and he falls to his knees. His eyes try to turn black and he grits his teeth as the magic crawls up his skin like veins. "N-No-! No not... t-this shit again...!"

JJ yelps, spinning around to see the gun retreat back into the wall. A hot, irritated feeling spreads across his shoulderblade, outward from the spot where the beam of magic hit. He suddenly feels sick, falling forward, arms trembling as they hold him up. Bits of blue magic spasm outwards involuntarily, triggering a shock each time it happens. He soon cries out and collapses fully. The magic shifts color, bright red joining the bright blue.

"Ow!" Schneep rubs his arm where the blast hit. "What the...?" His vision flickers—static swarms in from the side, taking over the blackness that's usually there. "Ah! Ah!" The sudden light after such darkness is painful. He presses his hands to his eyes, but of course, there's nothing he can do to block it out.

"Hey!" Jackie gets to his feet and spins around, glaring at the camera. "Huh?! So you guys are feeling threatened?!" He spins around. "Alt?! Are you— He suddenly stops, wincing. His scars are aching. They do that sometimes, but this is a spike in pain. A spike... that's not coming down. In fact, it's becoming more intense. "F-fuck. What the—wh-what did you d--" He cries out and staggers over to the bed, sitting down. "Wh-what's happenin—" And he cries out again.

He presses back against the wall, taking deep breaths. Breathing through the rising pain. This is fine. Whatever this is happening, it can't last forever. "Ack!" His eye! His eye is burning! His hand shoots up to his eye-patch, pressing against it. The scars on the back are... glowing, slightly. And so are the ones on his face. It's a dark, dark glow, a strange black light that's purple around the edges. He shudders. As the pain intensifies, so does the glow. He falls to his side—then shrieks and turns over so he's lying on the side that's less scarred.

Alt digs his fingers into the floor and bites back a scream. The magic is eating up his own- corrupting it. Turning it into something it's not. He hears the sounds of his friends in distress and he tries to glitch up, only to be met with another shock that sends him back down on his hands and knees with a yell. He bends his head down and then- starts to giggle. Bright purple is trying to fill his irises around pure black sclera and Alt can't help but let out a manic sounding laugh, even if his face looks pained doing it. He heaves, trying to push it back, but magic is crackling around him.

Dr. Cornelius is so intrigued by what JJ's and Alt's magic is doing- he shuts off their cuffs. If anything bad happens- the hero is there to stop it. And- their cells have better protection than the last time Alt was here.

"Wh-what is happening?!" Schneep asks. "Alt?!"

Jackie hears the strange laughter coming from Alt's cell but he can't look towards it. He picks up the pillow and bites onto it. He's not going to scream. He's not going to scream. Even as his scars burn with agonizing acid, he's not going to let them hear him scream. The strange black glow is brightening.

JJ gasps, lifting his head to look at Alt. His eyes are glowing—a blue core surrounded by red light. With the cuff's magic suppression deactivated, more and more magic splashes off, almost liquid in its movement. Every place the red droplets hit, they spread, becoming a thin layer of red ice. The temperature in the cell lowers enough that JJ's breath comes out in steam.

He staggers to his feet. Suddenly, it doesn't hurt anymore. He presses his hands to the window, red frost spreading from the point of contact and yet not blocking the spot where he's looking. He watches Alt... and his eyes flash with rage as more of the red consumes the blue. His head whips back over to the camera in the corner. Well—why not take this chance?! He throws a bolt of red magic at the camera.

Surprisingly, it connects, splashing over the device in a burst of light. Electricity flies from the camera, a crack forming in its side, and it starts to smoke. JJ grins triumphantly, an unusual malicious bite to his smile.

"What?!" Cornelius's voice says over the comms.

Alt's head snaps up to the sound of the camera breaking, still giggling a bit with black-ish tears falling from his eyes. "J...?" The cuffs- they aren't on..! Alt takes this moment to try to see if he can cut through his connection- but his magic isn't responding to him like he wants it to. Trying to use his magic only makes his core burn and this- madness infesting him go faster. He laughs again a bit of pain in the sound but tries to curl up, twitching and digging fingers into his hair. "JJ-! ah-! t-try to g-get out...!" Alt cackles loudly, trying to fight against the force eating at his core.

"Hero! Don't let them escape!" Dr. Cornelius orders. Bro's eyes burn with blue and he stands more at attention, watching the cells carefully.

JJ's grin widens. The cuffs aren't on? How foolish. How utterly, utterly foolish.

He can't teleport while connected to something—he tried that before, last time he was stuck somewhere like this place. So he sends a spray of sharp magic at the tether, cutting through it. And the moment he's free, he teleports outside.

Bro instantly locks onto JJ as he teleports out the cell and quickly tries to tackle him down.

JJ laughs and teleports again, avoiding Bro's attack. He sends another spray of red magic out, a wide fan that can both hit Bro and the window of Schneep's cell behind him.

The magic scratches against the window but it doesn't break.

It also hits Bro but he doesn't stop in his stride, going to punch JJ in the face. Bro's fist slams against JJ's face with such force that it knocks him to the ground, stunned for a moment. But he gets up surprisingly quickly, and spits something into his hand. A tooth in a puddle of blood. He puts the tooth in his pocket and grins at Bro, eyes glowing red, blood rimming his gums. This is fun. He hears whispers at the edge of consciousness, urging him to keep going.

He lunges forward, cold red magic trailing behind him, and swipes at Bro's chest with translucent red talons.

Alt tries to stagger to his feet. Chase and JJ are fighting... he needs to help he needs to- destroykillmaimchaoschaoschaos- Alt yells out in pain and grips at his head, twitching and glitching as magic builds up stronger around him. I-It's so hard to fight it-! He doesn't want to hurt the others though...!

JJ teleports again, suddenly behind Bro. Red magic wraps around Bro's neck like a rope, and JJ grabs either end and pulls. If he can get Bro out of the way, SCLERA can't use them! He'll take away their weapon! That's what they get for hurting him and his friends!

"Wh-what is happening out there?!" Schneep gasps. He's managed to push through the brightness to pay attention to the outside—and he can feel a stark difference in JJ and Alt's souls.

Bro chokes, eyes wide, as he scrambles to find a way to get the magic to let go.

"NO!" Alt shouts and in a burst of purple glitches- he's outside the cell too. He attempts to grab JJ and pull him away from Bro as purple lightning crackles loudly around his body.

Bro slumps to the ground, coughing and heaving. Trying to catch his breath. He seems to have a bit more clarity in his eyes.

JJ gasps as Alt pulls him back. He twists around and looks at him in anger. "Don't you understand?!" he shouts, rough voice breaking. He laughs a little. "Do you hear them too, Alt?"

Alt slams JJ back into one of the walls, giggling madly as his eyes fill with corrupted magic. "I do- I-I feel it- I hear it!" He digs nails tight into JJ's shoulders, momentarily enjoying the idea of bringing him pain. His eye twitches and he tries to tell JJ through a twisted grin, "W-We c-can't listen...! We g-gotta try to fight JJ-!"

Then, in a glitch his eyes darken and a more sinister smile curls on his lips. "... then again... " He laughs manically and presses closer to JJ, "what color do you think we bleed now?! I... I- I wanna know!" He throws JJ to the floor and staggers back, giggling wildly. "E-Everything is purple...! Everything is dark-! Has it dyed me inside?! Has it dyed you?!" He keeps laughing- laughing laughing laughing-

"Alt?! Jamie?!" Schneep rushes up to the window, banging his fist on it. "Snap out of it!"

JJ doesn't react to Alt throwing him around—it doesn't really hurt all that much, or at the very least, the pain feels distant. Once Alt throws him down, he staggers to his feet again. "Do you want to see?" he whispers hoarsely. "Allow me to help!" A red crystalline knife appears in his hand and he slashes at Alt.

Alt staggers back and manages to whip out his own purple tinted knife to catch Jamie's. He grins wide and giggles, pushing back against JJ's knife. "I'll find out myself!" He cackles and tries to push JJ back and slash at him. JJ jumps back, avoiding the slash. His heart is pounding in his chest, and he grins with manic excitement. He lunges back forward, his knife glowing brighter as he aims to stab Alt's shoulder. Alt glitches out of the way, laughing crazily. He flips the knife in his hand is about to try to strike again when-

Sudden loud alarms start blaring, bathing the hallway in red light.

Alt screeches and immediately goes to cover his ears, curling up against the noise. "N-NO!"

JJ looks at the alarms in surprise, and then back down at Alt. Well—it's not fun if they're not both participating. He instead rushes to the nearest cell—Schneep's—and sends a ball of magic at it.

The magic rocks the window a bit but, it still manages to stay sturdy.

Bro blinks spots out of his eyes, trying to focus. There's... so much noise. What's happening? "...Alt...? J?" He whispers hoarsely, trying to push himself up.

Alt gasps and claws at the sides of his face like it will get rid of the noise. "S-Stop it...! Stop it!"

Soon enough, jets pop out from the bottom of the hallway and start to spray that same sweet smelling smoke that Overdose used to knock them out earlier.

Schneep perks up at the sound of the jets. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" He gets up and rushes towards the window, pounding on it in the vain hope that he'll be able to break through after the damage JJ did. Meanwhile, Jackie's barely able to lift his head to look at the smoke filling outside.

JJ staggers back, looking at the smoke. He quickly covers his mouth and nose with his shirt and starts blasting the jets with magic. The jets are easily destroyed, but the blasts are sending magic up into the air and swirling it faster and faster around the boys in the hallway.

Bro is too disoriented to try to fight- but he sees Alt struggling and tries to reach out.

Alt curls up smaller and smaller, purple eyes darting around in panic. Then, it morphs into anger as purple fully takes over his eyes. "I said- STOP IT." He throws himself forward and finds the nearest spark of electricity he can feel- and then channels all his magic into overloading the system. The lights flicker and the alarm cuts off. The lights don't go completely out though- just dim. but any remaining monitors and cuffs start to short circuit. In fact, they burst so massively in Jackie’s cell the window cracks and then shatters. After this, Alt pries himself away from the wall and staggers back before he collapses onto his back, dazedly blinking out at the thinning fog. But it's quiet...

Schneep can feel access to his powers again.

Schneep leaps out into the hallway, grabbing JJ and shaking him. "Fucking stop!"

JJ staggers back, staring at Schneep with wide eyes. They're still glowing, but that core of blue is back, peeking through the red. His body shakes suddenly as he suddenly feels sick.

"Alt! Bro!" Schneep leaps to a spot between the two of them, quickly checking both their pulses and breath. "Jackie! Help!"

Bro jumps as Schneep appears but gets a more wakeful look in his eyes. "S-Schneep-!" He tries to stagger up and grab Alt, "Alt? Alt? Can you hear us?"

Alt blinks sluggishly and looks at Bro blankly, the purple fading from his eyes. His sclera is still black but he smiles. "C-Chase...?"

Jackie pushes himself up, breathing heavily. His scars are still glowing slightly, but the burning sensation is fading. He gets up, gritting his teeth, and staggers over.

But... there's an odd feeling coming from the hallway now... a crack in the ground, dark black, pulling at the boys in the hallway's clothes.

"Do... do you f-feel that?" Jackie asks.

Schneep pauses. His eyes widen. "No. No, it cannot be."

Both Bro and Alt stiffen as they hear the others and looks towards the crack as it expands, the wind picking up more.

Dr. Cornelius can be heard brokenly through the damaged comms, "No--! The-- readings-- be-- rifts-!" Then, it fizzles out into static.

"Rifts?" Schneep looks towards the sound of the comms. "They know about the rifts?"

"Of course they do, if they knew we were from other worlds!" Jackie says.

Bro looks guilty, “I-I told them about them…” he mutters.

Alt gasps and tries to scramble away on instinct then looks at Bro with panic as he sees the wind affecting both of them, "I-It's pulling us in too?!"

"I-I guess so?" Bro answers in a panic. He looks towards the others and then reaches out a hand, "M-Maybe if we all stick together- it won't separate us into f-freaky timelines and shit! Maybe it'll take us to one of your homes!"

JJ nods and grabs onto Bro's hand, not saying anything in response. The red is quickly fading from the magic that flutters around his fingers.

"I guess anywhere is better than here!" Jackie grabs onto JJ in turn, holding onto his arm with one hand. His other grabs onto Schneep's wrist.

Alt narrows his eyes and then looks at the rift. “J-Jackie is right- anywhere is better than being stuck here!”

Schneep doesn't protest. "That makes sense to me—We better stick together, yes? Safety in numbers."

Bro nods in determination to Schneep, “We will.”

Alt sticks his middle finger up towards the ceiling, “Fuck you!”

The rift gets bigger and bigger and soon enough, is big enough that Alt gets pulled in- followed by the rest of the group. Down down down into rushing pitch black night… the sounds of that awful lab fading away.

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