#crossminded

The lab was dim, only the soon fading light of day flooding the walls. A tank filled with some sort of green, thick fluid contained what appeared to be a large green eyeball. It floats about the container calmly. The doctor in the room, currently sitting next to a hospital bed, adjusts the dials of an ECT machine before moving to the connected EEG, adjusting it as well. He takes a few more wires, hooking them up to the green container nearby.

“Okay. We should be ready. Marvin?” Schneep looked over at his brother, who was currently on his phone. His cat-shaped mask was pulled up on top of his head, keeping his hair out of his face.

The magician snaps his head up, nodding, “Mm. Alrighty. Chase just texted. He’s about to record.”

“We will pick up Jameson and Jackie on the way home then. Hopefully Chase is finished when we arrive.” Henrik nods and turns back to the EEG. Connected to it by wires are sensors attached to the temples of the figure currently on the hospital bed, Jack. The heart monitor on the other side of the bed shows a slow, steady rhythm. Schneep sighs as Marvin walks over. He gently grabs Jack’s hand, rubbing a thumb across it. “… Do you believe we have any chance here?” He says without looking back at his brother.

Marvin places a hand on the doctor’s shoulder, “I hope so, and, if not, we just need to keep trying. I think we’re on the right path here.”

“You have said that for everything we have tried so far.” Schneep replies playfully as he places Jack’s hand back onto the bed.

“W-well I mean-“ Marvin begins to stutter before composing himself, “I really do think we may be onto something this time. With… His affinity for technology… I think this could work.” He gestures over to the device. “It’s worth a shot.”

“Hmmm… you are right about that…” Schneep nods back at Marvin before he stands up and brings the rolling monitor forwards a bit, stepping to the side afterward. “Whenever you are ready.”

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

“C’mon J! Give me a good one” The blue-masked hero gave an encouraging cry as his younger brother aimed a swing at him. Jackie dodged it playfully, sending a coy smile back at the ego.

Jameson, decked out in as much headgear as Jackie had managed to fit on him, gave another attempt at a punch. This one actually managed to land, hitting Jackie square in the arm.

Jackie could almost hear the toy-like squeak as the hit made contact. The older ego doesn’t move at the impact. Rather, he blinks, before almost falling over laughing.

“Jamie. Oh my god…” he choked out, wiping tears from his eyes. Jackie pulls Jameson into a hold, ruffling his hair as he continues to let out a few more chuckles, “You really can’t hurt me even if ya tried huh bud.”

Squirming out of his brother’s tormenting hold, Jameson gives a sour look, though it’s obvious he’s trying to hide a smile. He crosses his arms, giving a defiant huff before letting them drop again.

“On your left!” Jackie suddenly yelled, throwing a punch towards Jamie’s side.

In what seemed like a split second, Jameson grabbed Jackie’s arm as it flew past him, immediately turning and flipping the hero over his back and onto the grass.

Jackie hit the ground with a thud as the air was knocked out of him. Not a moment later, Jamie was standing over him, giving a wide smile despite the mouth guard over his teeth. Jackie let out a slight wheeze as he smiled back up. “Dang bud, how’dya do that?”

Still looking quite proud of himself, Jameson gave a quick sign: "Simple momentum.". He took a moment to glance around the field, noting the near setting sun in the distance as well as the skid marks in the dirt from their training today. He looks back down at his brother, smiling and offering a hand to help him stand.

The hero sends a grin back up as he takes Jameson’s hand.

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

Chase sends off a text to Marvin before placing his phone back on the desk and pulling up whatever game he was recording that day. Some random Steam game loaded on the screen. After adjusting his camera and checking around to see if his mic, capture card, and audio levels were set up properly, he began recording.

All was going as usual and Chase had been playing for around 5 minutes. The game, however, had decided to be extremely buggy, unsurprisingly; Chase had chosen a random game from the internet after all. The character on screen was jittering everywhere even without the controls being touched. He of course put on a happy face for the camera, cracking some jokes about any unfortunate position the model made before shutting off the camera and letting out a frustrated groan. He glanced outside at the now-setting sun before sighing and returning to the computer, rebooting the game and plastering his smile back on for the recording. The game still bugged out, but it remained somewhat playable this time. Chase rolled his shoulders a bit, getting rid of some tightness as the “Next Level” screen flashed on the computer.

At least one thing was going right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Okay” Marvin lifts a hand, concentrating as soft green flames spark up. The magic encloses itself around his fingers, swirling into the air. He looks back up at the machine, nodding, though it seems he’s more trying to give himself assurance than anything. The magic around his hand seems to die down slightly “Alrighty… just gotta… do the magic on the thingy okay-”

“This device is not a “thingy”, Marvin” Schneep grumbles out, rolling his eyes exasperatedly, “It is very sensitive medical equipment meant to monitor the brain-“

“I know, I know…” The magician sends a sly smile back. “Just wanted to make sure.”

Schneep sighs before giving an exhausted smirk as he rests his arm on Marvin’s shoulder, hopefully encouraging him. Almost immediately, the magician seems to relax. The magic swirling about his fingertips flares back up, giving the room a soft green glow. He sends a smile back at Schneep, nodding as thanks.

With that, Marvin places his hand on the machine.

There was a flash of blinding light, and, as soon as it had come, it was gone.

Schneep slowly blinked his eyes open, wincing at the fluorescent lights of his lab. With a groan, he pulled himself up into a sitting position and went to put a hand to his head. Said hand, however, was covered by a white glove. It was not the same surgical gloves he was used to wearing though. This one was made of some sort of fabric. Where... had he seen those before… He felt so dazed and confused. His head was pounding.

A movement to the side caught his eye. Schneep looks over to see… himself? Laying on the ground. His supposed clone sits up, holding his head with a hand. Upon looking up at Henrik, the “clone” stands up quickly, staring with a confused expression. He staggers forward, “W-What in the-” He seems to choke up, unable to keep speaking. His brows furrow as he looks from Henrik to the rest of the room Henrik stands as well, looking back at the other him. In any attempt made to try and form words, his tongue just feels like a block of lead in his mouth, like he couldn't move it in just the right way. Before he could manage to make a sound, the other Schneep pipes up, “H-Hen? You here?” His voice sounds… unsure. It seems like this supposed clone didn’t share his accent.  

Schneep looks up upon hearing his name, and the other him seems to be even more confused. After a moment, he slowly points at Schneep “... Hen?” he asks again “...Yes? What is... problem?” He responds, managing to get some words out finally. His own voice sounded strange. He still had his accent but it seemed different in some way. He could feel his muscle memory trying to form words, but it was like something was blocking it.

The supposed clone stiffens, eyes growing wide, “Wait how did- why are you wearing my-” It’s about then that he seemingly notices his own gloved hand, just as how Schneep had noticed his. “... Oh ” He looks back up, nervously clenching his hands “Ah H-Hen? Please don’t freak out. B-but ah- It’s… me, M-Marvin.” “Wait, Marv!?” Schneep runs a hand through his hair before feeling something bump against it. He grips onto what feels like plastic and pulls it away.  

A cat-shaped mask rests in his hand. 

It takes a few seconds for Schneep to process it, but the gears seem to click together after a moment.

“...Marvin. You have five seconds. To explain.” 

“Marvin” seems to slump over slightly, mumbling “A-ah well I uh… think s-some-thing went… wrong.” 

“Oh do you!?” Schneep fired back sarcastically

“Hey I said don’t get mad! L-let me see if I can fix this!” Marvin takes a few breaths, raising his hand again. He concentrates but after a few seconds, nothing is happening.  He narrows his eyes at his hand, snapping his fingers a few times before, slowly, his eyes widen. “... Okay slight problem ”

Schneep, trying not to scream, takes a deep breath. At least this whole thing explains why his voice felt off. Marvin’s body clearly wasn’t used to how Schneep normally spoke. Just as he opens his mouth to try and talk again, a noise sounds from behind him.

He pauses, turning around to see Sam bouncing around in his tank. The little eyeball seems distressed as it spazzes around, bonking against the glass. He eventually stops, staring up at Marvin and Schneep. 

Schneep looks back over at his body “Is… Sam alright?” 

His- no.  It’s not his right now.  For now it’s Marvin. He walks over to the tank, a hand to his chin, “... He may be able to tell something’s odd.” The eyeball seems to stare back up at the two, pupil just barely a pinprick. 

“I believe odd doesn’t even begin to cover this, Marvin.” Schneep mutters, rolling his eyes as he looks away from Sam. “So. You cannot use your magic, and we are stuck like this. How do you think the others are going to take the news?”

“... fuck.”

“Come on… we might as well go find them…”

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

The ride over was… awkward to say the least. Both Schneep and Marvin kept their eyes forward, not speaking as the taxi made its way off the main road. Schneep glanced out at the forest alongside them. The sun continued its descent behind the trees. They eventually arrived at a fork in the road, to which Marvin asked the driver to stop. The cab pulled over unceremoniously.  

“... You heading to a costume party?” The driver asked as the two stepped out of the car. On any other occasion, they probably would have laughed. “We are… picking some friends up” Schneep replied stiffly. “Would you be able to stay for a few moments while we bring them?” The driver shrugged. Neither giving a yes or a no. Greaaaaat… Schneep groaned internally, shutting the door and turning back to Marvin. “Come along, they should be in the field behind that tree line.”

Before the two begin their walk, though, Schneep pauses and removes the mask from his head, extending it towards Marvin. “Your mask. I figured you would probably be more comfortable if you had this.” His brother takes it eagerly, giving a small “Thanks” as he slides it over his head. It looked… a bit silly worn with Schneep’s lab coat and shirt, but for now it would have to do.  

They continued walking in silence as they neared the forest. Just as they had come upon the thick forest, the silence was immediately cut by a loud and fearful yell.  Schneep could swear he felt the very ground shake beneath his feet. One look between them said it all; That was Jackie.  

Without hesitation, the two set off running towards the clearing. Stray branches lashed at their faces and arms as they ran, but it didn’t slow either of them down as they ran. They burst through the tree-line a few moments later. Jackie was sitting up, a hand weakly grasped over his mouth. And Jameson… 

“Mother fuck- Chase!” Marvin scrambled to cover his ears, wincing at the noise. It sounded like a microphone too close to a speaker, high pitched and echoing. The white noise filled the room, barely letting up for a moment. The sound appeared to only panic Chase more as he yelled. Eventually, Schneep let his hands fly away from his ears as he grabbed Chase by the shoulders and shook him. 

Everything around Chase seemed to just… break. Hundreds of thousands of thoughts all slammed into him at once as he scrambled in place. He didn’t realize he was screaming before Schneep grabbed him. Chase’s focus snaps back onto him as his panic dies down to quick breaths. Marvin gave a relieved sigh as he lowered his hands. “Well that was something.”  He muttered out, rubbing at his eyes in frustration vc as the ringing in his ears ceased. “This is... a hell of a lot more complicated now…” Chase was still pretty panicked as Schneep kept his hands on his shoulders. He looked around frantically, his eyes unable to focus on anything “W-What the fuck happened!?”

“We are working on that part.” Schneep admitted, looking back towards Marvin before continuing, “But we know Jamie and Jackie have switched, and well, you and… him.” 

“There was an accident at the lab.  We were running a test and… I think something may have gone wrong.” Marvin explained.

“Oh, ya thin̶k!?” Chase retorted, glaring up the magician. 

Marvin flinched at the audible glitch in Chase’s voice before lowering his head and putting a hand behind his neck.  

Schneep sent a sympathetic look at Marvin before turning to his other brother. He helped him up and put his hands back on his shoulders.  “Chase. We are going to fix this. I promise.”

After a bit of silence, Chase let his shoulders drop in a sigh as he nodded, “...Okay.” He glanced over at Marvin, “Sorry Marv…”

Marvin gives a nod without looking up.  

Chase gave another small huff as he turned back towards Schneep. “So. What do we do now?” “That is a bit up in air right now. Jackie is not awake yet so we will be filling him in when he is.” The doctor nods back towards the door. Something seemed to dawn on Chase as he glanced around. “Wait. What did you guys do with… Him?”

The sound of a crash from below caused the group’s heads to snap towards the stairs. Marvin darted down first, with Schneep supporting Chase following behind. 

The first thing Marvin noticed was the splintered coffee table in front of the couch. Jameson laid slightly dazed on top of it with his own body standing over him.  Anti sat in the chair, giggling like a madman.

“...What the hell!?” Chase yelled from the stairs. His voice audibly skips over itself.

Jameson’s body whipped around, zeroing in on Chase in an instant.  He began a quick march towards him. He’d already taken out one imposter, despite feeling slower than usual, now it was time for the puppetmaster. Why weren’t the other two attacking him!? Were they puppets now too? And why was Chase laughing instead of helping!? He didn’t have time to figure it out, he just needed to take the glitch down-

Schneep, with what was going on immediately dawning on him, darted in front of Chase and held his arms out, “Jackie! This is not what it looks like!”

Jameson’s body froze, a confused expression on his face. He’d expected resistance from Anti’s puppets but this was... honestly just out of the blue. 

His mouth opened for him to voice said confusion, but he immediately choked. Unable to get any words out, a hand flew to his throat and his eyes went wide as he pointed at who he thought was Anti, ‘What the hell did you do!?’ he mouthed out.

Chase flinched, getting the message. Before he could say anything, though, Marvin sighed and stepped besides Schneep. A hand went to his head, rubbing at his temple, “Jackie, you’re our brother and we love you, but you’re a dumbass.”

Jackie’s confusion just seemed to grow from there. His pointed finger dropped a bit as he looked between Marvin and Henrik, and then back to Chase. Multiple questions ran through his head at once. Why is Schneep wearing Marv’s mask…? Why isn’t Anti attacking like usual? Come to think of it, their eyes aren’t glazed over like Anti’s puppets either… What’s going on?

Eventually, the actual Schneep sighed. He was tired of having to explain this, and it was obvious Jackie was just spinning his wheels to try and understand,  “Jackie… This is not Anti.” He nods towards the figure behind him, “And I am not Marvin. He is.” He sends a gesture towards the actual Marvin for emphasis.

The gears seemed to start up in Jackie’s head as he looked between the two. After a moment, something clicked in his mind. Jackie whipped around to look at his own body still on the broken table before turning back to the group, pointing at it timidly. 

“Jameson.” Marvin confirmed with a wince. “Jameson switched with you…”

It took a moment for Jackie to really process that. His head snaps downwards, only just now having noticed he wasn’t wearing the same outfit he had on while trailing with... Jameson. ...Oh. Jackie’s palm flew up to smack himself in the forehead. 

Anti turned back from the couch with a smug, shit-eating grin plastered on his face, “Damn, you really are a dumbass aren’t ya?” 

“Not a word from you!” Henrik barked from the stairs as Jackie sent an annoyed glance back down. 

Jameson’s head bobbed as he looked up blearily at the group before beginning to pick himself out from the wreckage of the table. Jackie, upon seeing this, carefully stepped over the splintered wood on the floor to assist him. He reached out a hand that Jameson took instantly.

It was hard to miss the expression Jackie gave. A choked wheeze escaped from him as he helped Jamie up.  When his hand is released, he pulls it back towards himself, a pained look crossing his face. 

The younger ego tilts his head, concerned. He gestures towards Jackie’s hand questioningly. Jackie attempts to give a thumbs up, only to wince and pull his hand back to his chest. He still tries to hide the obvious pain in his expression.

Jameson slumps slightly, realizing what had happened. Even with Jackie trying to hide it, he could tell. The others probably could too. He had Jackie’s powers now after all, just no idea how to control them. It’s no wonder Jackie got hurt, he just crushed his hand for pete’s sake! Jameson hadn’t had any experience trying to control anything like this before.

“Jackie are you-” Jameson froze again, his eyes going wide. He… certainly hadn’t expected that either. He was so used to his slides translating for him that the sudden feeling of a voice vibrating in his chest startled him. Even if it was quiet, the sound of himself speaking shut him up immediately. He flinches back, sending a guilty glance at Jackie. He hated using a voice that wasn't his after all. That scream from earlier as well… he had almost forgotten entirely. That was him as well, using Jackie’s powers. How could he have forgotten so quickly...

Now that he thought about it, he could almost feel it. That boundless energy Jackie always seemed to have. It was his now… This really was all wrong. Jameson shakes his head and wraps his arms around himself, believing he was less likely to hurt anyone by doing so. He looks back up at Jackie, an apology evident in his gaze. 

Jackie sends a sympathetic look back at Jameson.  It definitely didn’t feel great to be on the receiving end of his abilities for once, but he wouldn’t voice that, figuratively speaking. He looks as if he wants to say something, or at the very least try to make Jameson feel better. On the other hand, though… Jameson was now equipped with extremely dangerous abilities. It was pure luck that Jackie’s hand wasn’t broken right now. Or- Jameson’s hand? They really needed to figure out how that worked-  Schneep sighs after a moment, stepping down from the stairs as the others stay silent. A hand is placed on Jackie’s shoulder. “Come on Jackie. We will get you patched up.” He sends a glance back up at Marvin and Chase, “And you two. Keep an eye on him.” The doctor gestures towards Anti, who had surprisingly been quiet, before leading Jackie to the kitchen. Jameson follows along, now staring at his hand in worry. Anti scoffs, leaning back in the seat and propping his feet up on the now broken table. He fiddles around with the lampshade beside him, clearly looking bored. The other two still on the stairs make their way down into the living room. Chase sends a glare at his body as Marvin guides him to sit on the couch. He doesn’t look away from Anti. His body glances back for a moment, a smirk tugging at its mouth.

Chase’s anger only festers, and, unnoticeable to him, multiple glitches surround his frame. His eyes fade to a black, resembling coals as he continues to think over everything. Marvin unconsciously shifts away from Chase at this display, trying to hide whatever discomfort he was feeling.

“Ohhh look at that. You can do the ‘scary eyes’.” Anti mocks, making air-quotes, “What's next. Are ya’ gonna scream at me? Cry like you usually do?” 

Marvin, coming out of his hesitance, slightly puts his arm out in front of Chase to keep him from retaliating. “Give it up, Anti. What the hell is your deal anyway? You’re in the same situation as us you know.”

Anti rolls his eyes, looking pointedly at Chase, “Lets see, an absolute moron has my powers, cat bitch over here can’t fix this, and I am currently trapped in the body of an alcoholic deadbea-” “OKAY THAT̀S ͝I͝T-” Chase stands and begins storming forwards, only to be stopped as Marvin grabs onto the collar of his shirt, drags him back, and faces him. 

Marvin sighs as he sends a sideways glance at Anti before looking back at Chase, lowering his voice, “...Chase. He’s powerless, but he still has that mouth of his. You can’t let him get to you- I know this is… weird. It is for me too, but we can’t lose our heads here. You need to remember that he’s in your body right now. If you retaliate, he wins.” 

Chase nods silently after a moment. The steady hum that had been building in the air fades out as he sits down next to Marvin. He stares down at the ground, lost in his thoughts. 

Eventually, Schneep returns from the kitchen. Jackie, now with an ice pack on his hand, leads Jamie over to the couch and sits down beside him. 

“...So” Schneep began, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen over the room in the meantime. “We appear to have classic case of the brain swap here.” He summarized as he paced in front of the broken table. “Why thank you Captain Obvious…” Anti muttered out, ignoring the glares from Chase and Marvin. “That is Doctor Obvious to you.” Schneep huffs before continuing. “Regardless. We have to fix all of this. As soon as it is possible.” He goes to sit down beside Chase, sighing deeply. Why could they not just have a normal day for once… 

Chase shifts over to give Schneep some room on the couch. He didn’t really know how he’d feel about touching anyone right now considering- The ego lets out a slight noise of concern as he looks back down at his arm. This… this was all wrong. Schneep just sounded like Marv doing a really bad impression of the doctor, and vice versa for Marvin. Jamie seemed even more nervous than he usually was. Jackie was still doing his best to not show that he was hurt. But what bothered him the most was the fact that it was his body that bastard had ended up in… It was for the best Chase supposed. If Anti had ended up with Jackie, Marvin, or hell even Jamie, they’d be screwed. It seemed fitting at least that a seemingly all-powerful monster would end up in a useless body… Chase looked away, refusing to continue thinking about it.

Anti let out a slight hum after a while, breaking the silence once more as he seemed to study Chase. His lip curls up in an amused sneer, 

“So, how does it feel to actually have power for once? If being constantly tired and drunk didn’t already count I mean- Who knows. Maybe if you actually had any abilities, that wife and kids of yours would have stuck around. Or got hurt. You know how it usually goes when an idiot gets ahold of power. Good thing KitKat over there keeps ya on a leash.”

“Stop trying to switch subjects.” Schneep grumbles out, stopping Chase from snapping back. “We must focus. Who knows how else this is going to take effect.”

“What, you mean with Mr. Coma back there?” Anti jabs a thumb into the air for emphasis as the doctor visibly bristles, “You know, if you hadn’t gotten involved, he might still be-“

“Don’t you dare speak of him!” Schneep yelled out as he stood. His voice seemed to echo throughout the room as everyone went silent. Next to Anti, the lamp began to shudder, emitting a loud hissing noise before shattering into a shower of sparks and glass. The doctor remained standing, breathing heavily as he kept his focus on the now smug-looking Anti. A dull, mist-like glow seeped out from his eyes. 

Wordlessly, Marvin stands up. He slowly approaches Henrik and places a gentle hand on his shoulder, whispering. “Hen. You need to calm down…”

It seemed to take a moment for Schneep to even register what had happened. The glow died out immediately as he allowed Marvin to sit him back down on the couch. A hand is held to his head as he stares at the spot the lamp had been sitting only moments earlier.

“Ooooh touched a nerve didn’t I? Might want to watch that temper of yours, doc. Magic can be dangerous in the wrong hands you know.”

This time, there was no response. Schneep only looks away from the wreckage, refusing to give Anti the pleasure again. 

Anti kept his smug grin as the now exposed wire continued to spark. He brushes shattered glass from his arm, tiny spots of blood welling up as he does so. 

Chase cringes at the sight, instinctively rubbing at the arm that now belonged to him. He looks down and fiddles with his thumbs a bit before glancing around the room. “So… what now?” No one seemed to have a response this time. Instead, each of them, excluding Anti, shifted uncomfortably in their seats, trying to think of something. Only Jameson tried to at least look thoughtful, but even that proved difficult. Chase eventually gave up, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees. 

“We can’t have anyone finding out about this.” Marvin mumbles. “At the very least most of us look somewhat similar-  

“More importantly, how are we going to fix this?! That kinda seems like it should be priority number uno here!” Chase snaps back, whipping his arm into the air for emphasis. He was trying his damndest to stay calm but, honestly, everyone seemed to just be dodging the issue. “We can’t just pretend this just isn’t happening! Marvin you don’t have your magic, Jameson just nearly broke Jackie’s hand, and let’s maybe not ignore the fact that there is currently a de͏m͢o̷n͡ co͞ńtrolli͠ng̛ m͞y͢ b͜o̧dy”. Anti rolls his eyes, an annoyed sneer pulling at the corner of his lip. He didn’t say anything, of course, it was just so much more satisfying to watch the former human squirm.  He had no doubt he could feel it, that power, that hunger. While being stuck like this wasn’t ideal, seeing Chase struggle was… oh he couldn’t even begin to imagine the possibilities. 

Marvin lets out a sigh, slumping down in his seat. Chase was right; he had to admit… even if he didn’t want to think about it. He was powerless as of now, and in all honesty in a body that currently felt like it would immediately need at least two full days worth of sleep in order to even move. He honestly didn’t know how Henrik did it. He’s at a loss for words, just running the possible solutions over in his mind. “Without my magic, there’s not much I can do.” He summarizes before looking towards the doctor, “And well. It’s not like you can just snap your fingers and fix this right now either.”

“...maybe you can train him?” A small voice speaks up.   

Nearly every head in the room snaps over to where Jameson was sitting. He was hunched over, twiddling his thumbs as he looked around nervously. His voice, in stark contrast to how Jackie usually sounded, was small. It carried a light tone, more on the lines of a British accent rather than the usual Irish or German the rest of the group had. Despite trying to be quiet, his voice seemed to carry all around the room. He almost seemed scared of it, and doesn’t say anything more.

Henrik leans back, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Well... It is plausible." He couldn't admit of course how interesting the idea of using magic was. Marvin would never let him live it down after all of this was over, but he couldn't deny that it could help get them out of this mess. How long that would take he had no idea, but it was better than so solution whatsoever. A glance was spared at Anti, who had now gone back to looking absolutely bored while messing with the ruined lamp. Henrik knew he was listening though. They couldn't discuss any of it here. Not without him finding out. They needed to keep him as far away as possible. It was still Chase’s body though. Without some way to watch him, some way to make sure he didn’t harm it… Schneep stands up, two fingers rubbing against his temple as he sighs, “We are going to have to pair off. Chase. Come with me for a moment, alright?” Chase snaps out of his thoughts, standing up shakily and following behind Henrik towards the kitchen. The second he’s out of sight from the others, he leans against the wall and lets out a sigh as his palms press up against his eye sockets, “God what am I gonna do... “ Schneep gives a sympathetic look, despite every instinct he has telling him to run at the sight of him. Imagining himself in Chase’s position as of now… well. He wouldn’t admit he was the lucky one of the bunch currently. He approaches and settles a hand on Chase’s shoulder “I am sorry, my friend. We will figure out way to fix this, but now we must wait. I hate to say this, but you are only one that can watch Him right now.” Chase’s jaw goes slack as he processes what he just heard. Him? Having to watch that demon of all things? “Hen I!-” He shakes his head, nearly yelling back before quieting down. “H-hen you can not be serious about this right?” “Unfortunately, I must.” Henrik sighs back, glancing back towards the hallway, “Marvin has no magic to keep him contained, and Jackie does not have powers. If it were up to me, I would keep him chained, but we must make sure he survives. We cannot have him finding out any of how this happened either.” Chase hated that he was right. Absolutely hated it. He stiffly leaves Henrik’s grip, “You know what? Okay. Okay. Okay-”. He walks over to the sink, turning the faucet on and allowing it to fill up. He calmly turns the water off, before immediately shoving his head underwater. A muffled scream sounds out as bubbles rush up to the surface. His arm reaches up to the cabinets and grabs a dish towel out as he pulls himself out, looking very much like a drowned rat. In a quick motion, the towel is shoved into his face, the dampened yell starting up again. It stops eventually, and Chase pulls the towel away with a now more exhausted-looking than ever expression in his eyes as he drops the towel back on the counter. Schneep winces at the display. Though, he couldn’t really blame him. He silently walks over to his brother’s now slumped over figure and pulls him into a hug. Chase barely has time to react, instinctively stiffening up in the grip. “Chase… We will get through this. I made promise. I will keep this promise.” He pulls back soon after as Chase looks up at him, water still dripping from his head, “Come on. Let us go back to the others.”. The hand is placed onto Chase’s shoulder once more as he is led back to the front of the house.  

The scene is quiet as the two return. Marvin has his eyes shut in concentration as he rests his arms on his knees. Jackie and Jameson are both signing at eachother, each trying to eliminate the stiffness in their movements. Anti hasn’t moved from the chair, carrying with him an air of confidence as he looks around. 

“Marvin. You are coming with me.  Jackie will take Jameson.” Schneep summarizes as each mentioned ego looks up at hearing their names. Some sideways glances are spared at Anti before the group stands and gathers at the door. The file out slowly, both sets ready to hail taxis from nearby roads. 

Just as Henrik is about to leave, he turns, sparing Chase another look, “Call if there is any trouble, alright? Good luck, Chase.”