“Are you two done bickering?” Marvin’s sudden voice and appearance between Chase and Jackie got both of them to flinch and yelp in shock. Jackie nearly fell forward off the roof, and Marvin caught him by the hood of his hoodie and pulled him back. 

“A warning, man!” Chase patted his chest to see if his heart was still in place. “You need like a bell or something.” 

“Like a cat collar or one of those little things you use for butlers?” Jackie asked. 

“I mean, with the way he dresses sometimes-” 

“I do not want to hear which way that comment is about to go.” Marvin cut Chase off before climbing up to stand on the roof wall. “They haven’t done anything down there, correct?” 

“They’ve just been in their little groups talking,” Jackie answered with a shrug.

“Perfect.” Marvin turned around. “Your job is done; you two can go home.”

“Wait, what?” Chase said.

“That’s it?” Jackie added.

“Yep.” Marvin did a mock salute before letting himself fall backward off the roof. 

“Bro!” Chase yelled while he and Jackie scrambled to try to catch Marvin, but they swung at empty air. 

Marvin rolled his eyes at them trying to ‘save him’, apparently forgetting how he worked. Although he’d never admit it out loud, it was kind of nice to know they cared enough about him not to want to see him splatter on the sidewalk. Time to remind them that he could take care of himself. 

He waved a hand in front of his face, his classic cat-shaped mask appearing, and his other hand glowed as he cast a spell on the ground so he could land on it softly, feeling more like he stepped off the sidewalk instead of falling off a roof. 

“Who are you?” One of the men demanded, pointing a finger. 

“Name’s Marvin, some call me magnificent, but for the lot of you, you’ll be searching for your own names in the newspaper when I’m done.” Marvin held up his glowing hand.

“Get him!” That same man called out, and his ‘crew’ all pulled out guns, aiming them at Marvin.

“Really? Guns? How cliché and boring.” Marvin scoffed. 

Right as the triggers were pulled, Marvin clenched his hand, and a green, translucent shield appeared to block the bullets fired at him. After their round finished, Marvin used his other hand to grab the top of his created shield and, with a spin for the drama, tossed the shield like a frisbee. The shield flew through the air, hitting the men’s wrists and causing them to drop their guns. Marvin had to admit to himself that the move he just did was a bit inspired by one of those superhero movies Jackie enjoyed. But he’d never tell Jackie that. 

When the shield finished its round, Marvin changed his spell so that he held out a hand, and a magical rope emerged from it, catching and sticking to the shield. He gripped the rope, and when the rope went behind him and above his head, he grabbed at it with his other hand. The rope thickened and hardened while the shield got longer, becoming almost barrel-shaped. Marvin swung down what was now a large mallet and slammed it into the ground between himself and the men. A wave of energy pulsed out, knocking them all away. Marvin was tempted to refer to it as a ‘strike’, but he wasn’t really one for bowling. 

With a small hop, Marvin used the handle of the magical mallet to pull himself over to the center of the bodies, watching how most of the men were cursing under their breaths and taking off. Voicing that it ‘wasn’t worth it’ and called Marvin a few choice names that he just brushed off as their egos getting as bruised as their asses. 

“So shocked that you’re not running,” Marvin said with a cheeky grin as he saw that only the man who had called for the attack remained. His actual target for this mission. 

“Shut up.” The man huffed before charging at Marvin, fist up. 

Stupid man.

Marvin caught the fist with glowing hands, having used magic to add that same pillowing effect he had used for his landing to soften the blow of the punch. He turned his body and jerked on the arm, flinging the man over his shoulder and slamming him into the ground. Marvin placed a foot on the man’s neck, adding just enough pressure to make him hesitate. With a few snaps of his fingers, some more magical rope appeared and wrapped around the man’s wrists and ankles. Marvin then stepped away and pulled his arms apart, creating a portal beneath the man, and grinned since the man yelled while falling through to land where he needed to, like a present. 

“How much of the show did you two get to watch?” Marvin asked with a chuckle, looking over to where Chase and Jackie stood, both with their jaws dropped. “Thank you for the help.” He waved a hand and created a new portal behind himself. “I’ll be seeing you later~” Marvin added a playful wink to the end of his comment before stepping through the portal, it vanishing as soon as he was gone. 

“Dude,” Jackie said after a pause, and looked at Chase. “Dude, you’re blushing.” 

“Wha-” Chase choked on his own spit for a second and coughed. “I am not!”

“You so are!” Jackie pointed at Chase’s face and blinked when Chase did the same to him.

“You are, too!” 

“I am not!” 

“Uh-huh!”

“You look like a tomato!”

“At least I’m not dressed like one!”

“You take that back!”

Chase could feel emotions so easily, showing them on his face and in his actions; he was very human, and Anti wanted a better understanding of it. 

It started from a far distance, standing on top of buildings, several blocks down the street, too far to be seen but close enough that Anti could see by adjusting the shape of his eyes. Then he got closer, standing on the same street, being up in trees that Chase walked under, hidden and in the shadows, so Chase still wouldn’t see him if he looked. 

Chase was so casual in this world. Smiling as he ordered food from trucks parked along the street. Making small conversations with those in line with him, following the flow of traffic as he walked along the sidewalk, eating his hot dog, and tossing the trash away in one of the bins after he finished. Chase looked and acted like every other person, like it was second nature, and maybe it was. 

Anti walked several people behind Chase, having gotten better at matching the flow of traffic, walking with the same rhythm as the others, making it look like he knew where he was going and wasn’t directly following someone. He’d already learned a lot from Chase with just simple observation. 

But then Chase strayed from the path, from his routine. He suddenly stopped and then took off into a gap between two buildings. Did he see or hear something? 

Anti stayed with the crowd and slipped away as he neared the alley, sticking to one of the walls to blend into the shadows as he got closer and closer to Chase. He tilted his head when he saw him on his knees, softly whispering to something he had in his hands. Anti surrendered his cover as he went around to stand in front of Chase and see what he held. 

“Oh,” Anti said when he saw a harmed kitten. A small, orange and white kitten whose body was heaving with heavy breaths, leg bent at an angle it shouldn't be, and too weak to run away from them. 

“Fucking hell, Anti.” Chase cursed when he noticed Anti just appearing. “Go away.” 

Anti noticed the strain in Chase’s voice. It sounded difficult to speak evenly. He crouched down to see if there was something on him that would cause that struggle, but instead saw that his eyes were red and tears were streaming down his cheeks. 

“You’re crying,” Anti stated. 

“No shit.” Chase snapped. “Could you be your cryptid self after I figure out how to help this kitten?” 

“You’re crying because the kitten is hurt.” Anti ignored the request and looked down at the kitten. It was kind of sad that the small animal was harmed. The kitten looked like it already had plenty of problems, being thinner than it should be, and its eyes were crusty. Likely living alone for most of its life. Surrounded by a crowded city, but never getting any help. 

“Maybe I can find a box or something.” Chase was now pretending Anti wasn’t there and looked around the alley. 

“You’re too far from the house. It’s going to rain soon. It’ll get the kitten sick.” Anti was far from crying for the kitten, but he felt this strange sense of…sympathy? Like he could understand a part of the kitten. It was weird. 

“I don’t have a lot of choices, man.” Chase scoffed and started to stand. “I’m sorry, buddy, I’m sorry.” He apologized to the kitten when it meowed in pain from being moved. “I have some friends who can help you out.”

“You’re going to hurt it more if you run home.” Anti straightened up as well. 

“Seriously, could you just-” Chase stopped when Anti suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder, and in the next blink, he was home. More precisely, standing in Henrik’s office. 

Anti stood in the corner of the room, watching as Henrik panicked at the arrival, and Chase quickly explained the situation with the kitten. He saw the change in Henrik’s face, going from fear to worry, and that sorrow in his face matched Chase’s. Had his own face done that? Did he show sorrow at seeing the injured animal? Maybe that’s why Chase tried to get him to leave; he didn’t believe Anti had thought about helping since he hadn’t shown anything on his face. He’d need to work on his facial expressions by the sound of it. Might help him blend in more…make him more human. 

“Place the kitten on the table over there and call Marvin over. I am sure we can get this poor little fella good as new.” Henrik’s spark of confidence was evident in his voice and body, as he stood straighter and got to work right away, as if forgetting Anti was even there. 

Chase didn’t seem to forget as he looked over his shoulder at him. He couldn’t read his face that time, the tears gone and replaced with something else. Chase looked like he was going to say something, but kept his mouth closed and turned back away. Anti couldn’t blame him. He wasn’t really the easiest to deal with. So he just did what he thought would be best in that moment. 

He left. 

He’ll do more studying after the kitten has recovered.