#hufflewriting

What is the Multiverse Series? This is a collection of stories written by @Huffledork and @crystalninjaphoenix and mainly features Huffle's characters Alt Brody and Bro Fantastic from her JSE Swap AU falling into other worlds across the JSE multiverse/Crystalverse! These stories take place in either established fanfics written by Crystal or Huffle, or explore new ideas and new versions of the egos! You can also find this collection of stories over on AO3! Read the Stories in Order: (click to take you to each masterpost!)

Did Mag warn him about this? About side effects? …if he did Alt couldn’t remember- couldn’t force his voice to replay in his head, all he could hear was his blood and his heart thumping way too loudly.

The Dooms… they knew the truth about Alt’s body. Maybe they could help? Though they might freak out about the changes that were definitely not there the other day.

He tried to think it through but anxiety was strong in his body and brain. He felt himself glitching- but that felt wrong too! That made Alt panic even more. His glitching never felt wrong- not since he first got his powers. But now it all felt too sharp- too invasive. It felt like it was stealing the breath from him… something that was now as easy to him as breathing.

Would the Dooms even be able to help out if this was magic? He hadn't really shown or explained his glitches or magic to them but- they worked with superheroes, right? They knew of Bro- they… they could help. He just needed to explain. Besides… magic always seemed connected to something physical- something that could be explained and fixed within the body.

Alt made up his mind, grabbing the first coat he can and stumbling to yank it on. He then takes a step forward and glitches, picturing the Doom Clinic.

He nearly runs into the glass doors, slightly bonking his head. Then they slide open as Alt grumbles and rubs the sore spot out. He looks around and… doesn’t recognize the place. Did the Dooms redecorate?

He shakes his head and tries to focus- but it feels almost impossible with how his vision is swimming. He stumbles to what looks like the front desk. A blonde woman blinks in surprise and looks up at him.

Alt can barely stand as he puts his hands on the desk to steady himself.

“I… I need… O-Oliver- Oliver Doom, please!” He slurs, intense eyes boring into the woman’s. “Or well- any of them I guess- but I… I like… O-Oli-“

The woman looks at him with confusion- jumping slightly as Alt jerks his arm, holding it down against his side as he can feel it trying to glitch.

“Um sir…? I-If you’re looking for a specific doctor I… I’m afraid there’s no one here named… Doom, was it?” She replies slowly, carefully watching Alt with a guarded expression.

Alt’s eyes widen. “What…?” He looks around in more panic and curses under his breath. This isn’t the Doom Clinic! The fuck…? He doesn’t normally glitch to places he’s never been before! He doesn’t recognize this place at all. Whatever is happening… it’s affecting his magic.

“S-Sorry,” Alt stammers, tongue feeling thick in his mouth. “Wrong… wrong place-“

“Sir, you look like you need to sit down! I can get someone to look at you and maybe get you some juice if you would just take a seat and-“

“No!” Alt interrupts, gripping his arm tighter as he feels it spasm and feels pixels trying to break off. He can’t glitch here! They’ll throw him into a psych ward or something!

“I’m fine… t-thank you-“ He grits out, trying to stumble back towards the door.

Then the walls and everything around him felt like they are blending into static. Purple seemed to invade the sides of his vision. The sounds around him turned into nothing but white noise. He didn’t even feel when he hit the ground.

———

When Alt next opens his eyes, all he can see is a bright light shining in his face. He grimaces and tries to lift a hand to shield himself but- he can’t move his hand. Alertness hits him like a truck as he pulls on his wrists some more- finding them strapped down to the table.

“T-The fuck?!” He growls, rocking himself to try to get free but he’s- he’s stuck! “What’s going on?!”

There’s sensors stuck to him- under his shirt and attached all over his arms and now he can even feel them on his temples too.

Alt tries to glitch but he shouts out in pain as the action seems to hurt him. Why? Why can’t he glitch??

Panic threatens to eat him alive.

Then, he hears a chuckle- and the table he’s on starts to move. It tilts upwards, until Alt finds himself upright, staring at the expanse of a large white room, medical equipment everywhere. Tall machines and computers he doesn’t recognize.

And he’s met face to face with an older gentleman who smiles at him, but Alt can’t even see his eyes behind his thick glasses.

“Ah! You are awake! Funny, I thought you’d be out for longer~!”

The man had dark black hair with a streak of white right in the middle, the wild locks pulled into a messy braid. He had bright green glasses that could also be googles? But they seemed way too thick to see out of properly. He had a scraggly beard and a white lab coat on… with a logo of an eye with 3 irises but the whites of the eye were colored black. It read SCLERA under the logo.

Alt bares his teeth at the stranger and thrashes a bit in his binds. “The fuck are you?! Where the fuck am I?!”

The man chuckles and adjusts his glasses, smirking at Alt. “Ooh, so touchy already! This will be fun~!”

He goes to grab a clipboard and starts to read it as he paces in front of Alt.

“Well- you were admitted into my care, Mr… Brennan? After you fell unconscious in the lobby of Hope Water Hospital. And the staff there saw some… unusual activity.” He looks back at Alt and the boy shivers, causing his arms to vaguely ripple with glitches, pixels vibrating in the air.

The doctor’s eyes light up as he surges forward, looking at his arm closer. “Yes! Like that! Oh fascinating… absolutely remarkable…!”

Alt felt his blood go cold- he glitched when he fell unconscious? Oh no- oh nononono-!

The man writes down a few more notes before straightening and addressing the glitch again. “But anyways! The Hope Water staff didn’t know how to handle that so they called in the specialists! And that would be me~!”

He lifts up his glasses to rest on his head as he smiles, his brown eyes almost looking gentle. But Alt shivers at the sight. Why does… this man feel familiar to him…?

“Dr. Israh Cornelius is what they call me! I’m a magic analyst here at SCLERA!” The doctor spoke with pride.

“Sclera…?” Alt muttered in confusion. “The hell is that? I-Is it even legal to tie up unconscious patients without their consent?!”

Dr. Cornelius laughed, actually throwing his head back. “Perhaps, if we were dealing with a normal civilian!”

His expression then drops as he looks knowingly at Alt.

“…but you’re not that, are you? Impulse~”

Alt’s breath leaves his lungs as he stares wide eyed at the doctor. “W..what…? H-how-?”

The doctor laughs and goes to pick up something off his office chair, turning to reveal a jacket. He twists his hand to show the back- the signature emblem of the villain Impulse clear for all to see.

“You were wearing this when you were admitted, Mr. Brennan. Not a very smart thing for a villain to wear as a civilian, is it?”

Alt swallowed a lump in his throat. This wasn’t good… but at least whatever ID they found of his was one of his fake ones. Still… This was bad.

“E-Even if I’m a villain you- you can’t just strap me to a table l-like a lab rat!” He argues, trying to struggle some more against the restraints.

Dr. Cornelius just shakes his head as he laughs. “You are a dangerous criminal with unknown powers, Mr. Impulse! This was merely a precaution.”

He strides forward and then grabs the straps to make them tighter. Alt bites back a squeak of pain that wants to slip out of his lips. The doctor whispers to him with hardly contained glee.

“However… a villain like you… will not be missed, will they?” He laughs more, his dark eyes now showing madness. “You could say we are doing the public a service! Keeping you here~!”

“Y-You can’t do that..!”

“Oh but we can, Mr. Brennan… you have no paper trail. No formal records- no sign of any family… you are just perfect! A perfect specimen to study~!”

Alt feels terrified tears in his eyes that he tries to keep hidden, but his shaking voice gives him away. “M-My friends…!”

But then he stops himself, feeling his breath caught in his throat again. He… doesn’t have his friends anymore. No one knows he’s here… not even Magnificent. …he’s really alone.

Now the tears fall as he breathes out. “I… I came here for h-help…! Something was wrong and y-you can’t just-!”

“Oh yes! That!” Dr. Cornelius sang as he turned heel to look at, then wheel over one of the monitors currently hooked up to Alt.

The monitor almost looked like it was showing Alt’s heart rate. But it wasn’t- it was showing something Alt didn’t recognize. Two lines of data were shown on the screen, one line white, the other purple. The purple line was steady, with plips of higher readings here and there. In fact- they seemed to correlate to when Alt felt his skin try to glitch or pixelate. The white line was also steady but with very low readings.

Dr. Cornelius studied the screen some more before addressing Alt. “When you were admitted, we ran some tests. This is an alignment reader- it reads the concentration of magic in your body, and whether or not it is dark or light.”

He points to the purple line, “The concentration of black magic in your body was abnormally high.”

“…okay?”

The doctor smirks, “Black Magic is illegal here in the UK, Mr. Brennan. Well actually, it’s illegal in most countries. Especially at such extreme levels. Honestly- surprised with these levels a magic circle officiant didn’t find you first… lucky us, I guess!” He laughs and then shakes his head.

“In fact- this kind of magic… I’ve really only seen such pure black magic from one source. I’m assuming it’s magic you got from the one you work for, correct?”

Alt shivered- feeling his new scars almost burn against his skin. He bites his tongue though and bares his teeth. “I don’t gotta tell you shit!”

The doctor laughs again, “Oh, I don’t need you too. It can only be him, the one who’s calling himself Magnificent, yes?”

Alt said nothing at first and then mumbled. “…you know too much about all of this, Dr. Creepy.”

Dr. Cornelius shrugs. “All apart of my job, Mr. Brennan!”

He goes back to pick up his notes and look at a collection of more papers on the wall. As Alt focused on it, his blood turned to ice. There was… pictures of him on there- as Impulse. And not only that… he saw Chase on there too- Bro Fantastic. There were dozens of pictures of what Alt could only assume was people this crazy doctor was aiming to study. Super powered people… things he didn’t understand but was determined to. He swore he saw the blurry image of a green gray cat mask among the pictures.

“Anyways, Mr. Brennan! That black magic was attacking your internal magic system- the source of power that runs the magic through your body. Black magic is known to do that. It will ‘eat’ any possible light magic it can find until it corrupts all the magic completely orrrr sucks the life clean out of ya!” Dr. Cornelius said a little too cheerily.

“W-What?!” Alt exclaimed. Magnificent never warned him about that!

Dr. Cornelius chucked, “Don’t fret, lad. We siphoned that out of ya real quick! So, see? We already helped you, just like you wanted!”

Alt shakily bit his lip before asking quietly, “So then… I-I can go home… right?”

The doctor’s smile turned impossibly cruel.

“I’m afraid not, Alt. We have much we need to learn from you~!”

Something clicked from the table below him and then suddenly that something is jabbing him in the neck. The room almost instantly starts to dip and sway as Alt feels his eyes roll up into his head and his body gives out, falling unconscious again.

———

Alt opens his eyes to find that now he’s somewhere new. He’s behind glass in a tiny white room. He’s not tied down-

Adrenaline courses through him- maybe he can glitch out now! He tries to glitch- and it feels like his insides are on fire. It’s like whatever energy he was preparing to use to glitch had erupted two-fold, making his entire body feel overloaded. He yells out and crashes down to the ground. There’s a tug on his foot and he can see now, he’s strapped to the wall by some sort of cord, a cuff around his ankle. What’s even worse is he’s barefoot- and in a completely new set of clothes, a dingy set of green scrubs, almost like hospital wear. Alt starts to panic again, realizing his throat and his scar are exposed. He touches light fingers to his scar as he pushes himself up. He feels a shiver go down his spine as he hears familiar laughter.

Dr. Cornelius is smirking at him through the window.

“Nice try there, Alt! But I can’t have ya glitching before we do some proper tests on ya~!”

Alt bares his teeth like a feral animal, pixels flying around him but not able to settle in one place. “How are you stopping me from glitching?!”

The doctor smirks and lifts up a tiny device in his hand. “Electromagnetic pulses. Normally these have no effect on humans… However, we’ve already established you’re very special, Alt.”

The boy just glares at the doctor, wanting nothing more than to strangle that smug look off his face. However, Dr. Cornelius just uses the silence as an excuse to keep talking, pacing back and forth in front of the window to Alt’s cell.

“Did you know it’s a common misconception that the human body produces electricity like that of a machine? It mimics and works as a circuit would, but our bodies don’t carry charges of electrons between synapses. No no- inside our cells there’s a chemical gradient of ions that create a difference in charge between the inside and outside of the cell membrane! That mimicry of electricity as ions pass between each cell membrane is what keeps, say, your heart pumping. However there is research that a human body can produce almost 100 watts of electricity at rest… however you, Alt, seem capable of so much more~!

It seems your body has been adapted to not only conduct electricity better, but also produce it better than normal human beings. In fact, it’s like you actually have that fabled current running through your veins… a constant flow of electric magic that fuels your glitching!

So an EMP blast seems to disrupt that electric flow within you… overloading it enough to stop you from glitching. For now at least!” The doctor laughs, grinning like an excited school kid, “There’s so many tests for us to run! You’re going to provide us with such good data, Mr. Brennan~!”

Alt yells in anger at this, trying to rush at the window. The doctor hardly looks phased as he presses a button on his remote- and something shoots out of the wall behind Alt. Two robotic arms with ends just like the cuff on Alt’s ankle lash out and clamp onto his wrists, yanking the glitch off his feet and slamming him into the back wall. Alt struggles as best as he can but the arms have him locked against the wall tight.

Dr. Cornelius lets out a delighted laugh, “Already so eager to start! That’s what I like to see in a subject!”

“N-No, you psycho! Let me go!” Alt tries to protest.

The doctor looks back to one of his colleagues that Alt can barely see. He nods to them, “Start the procedure.”

The other doctor nods then flares out hands in front of… an orb? Their hands glow white and soon the cuffs on Alt do too. As they glow, Alt starts to feel like his energy is waning. Pretty soon, he slumping in his binds, his fighting getting lazy and then altogether stopping. He has to fight to keep his head up and his eyes open. He vaguely notices the glow on his cuffs seems to be turning green blue- the color of his magic.

Dr. Cornelius checks a monitor next to the window and then gestures to the other doctor. “That’s enough.”

The glowing stops as they take their hands away from the orb. Alt’s head falls sharply but he quickly tries to pick it back up so he can glare at Cornelius. “Wha… d’you… do?” The glitch slurs, hating the feeling of his body feeling almost empty… and cold.

Israh adjusts his glasses and smiles. “A simple draining spell! One we probably won’t be using often since we want to study your magic as it works within you but~! There’s one thing we need to see first before proceeding with those tests!”

He lifts the remote again and presses another button.

Alt immediately starts to scream, his body locking up as waves of electricity crash back into his body. His muscles attempt to spasm despite having nowhere to go, his neck craning back like he can escape the onslaught. It feels wrong! Usually if he comes across rogue electricity he can absorb it into his own… but with none in his body- the electricity has nothing to merge to. So it courses painfully into his body, attempting to mesh with his magic but not being able to. It’s agony. He feels his skin sparking and burning- tears trying to be shed but steaming upon impact with the bright sparks.

It feels like an eternity before it gets shut off. The cuffs on his wrists release and Alt falls heavily to the floor, still twitching and spasming from the leftover electricity. It feels impossible to think, everything he feels is pain. The energy in his body has been replaced with hot sparking rods that are quickly cooling down, leaving him completely spent. Alt wheezes brokenly, eyes wide and not able to focus, tears falling down his cheeks as he struggles to regain control over his limbs.

“Well?” The doctor's smarmy voice coos, “Alt, why don’t you try to use your magic for us, hm?”

“C…c-can’t…” Alt croaks, hardly able to grip his shaking hand into a fist.

Dr. Cornelius frowns at this, tapping his pen against his face. But then he smiles and scribbles down some notes. “I see! Pure electricity doesn’t have the same properties as the electric magic you produce, so you can’t purely substitute that!”

“Tell me, Alt, have you ever used a source of electricity to fuel your magic when it was low?”

Alt attempts to move his head to glare at the doctor. Dr. Cornelius frowns, and lifts up the remote, one eyebrow rising high over his glasses. “Or, should we give you some magic back and see for ourselves?”

The glitch winces and curses quietly before muttering, “…y-yes… but only o-once… I- I didn’t think it would work but… i-it gave me enough e-energy to glitch home…”

The doctor nods and writes down some more, “Fascinating! It seems if you have some magic left in your system that magic can then translate pure electricity to match its own!”

He then looks over his notes to smile at Alt as the glitch’s vision dims and sways. “Well! Let’s pause for a bit, hm? Feel free to rest your eyes, Mr. Brennan~!”

————

Alt lays there on the floor for a bit, trying to get his brain to work. He needs to think of a way out of here! Because help wasn’t coming… there had to be some way… something these scientists hadn’t thought of.

He glances up to see Dr. Cornelius isn’t observing him. Guess he decided to take a break too. Maybe Alt can attempt to do something…

He listens to the room around him… and catches onto the buzzing of the lights above.

Alt still didn’t really get how his powers worked, he really only understood his glitching. But… if what the doctor was saying was true and he has electric magic… and his body could basically disappear for an instant when he glitched… could he glitch into something that had an electric current?

…if there was any time to try this it was now. He can’t let these lunatics turn him into a fucking lab rat. He grips his hands into fists, feeling his magic zap around him. Guess they gave some of it back… their mistake.

In a flash, Alt glitched out of his cuff and in a shock of blue-green electricity rocketed into one of the lights in the cell. The burst of energy was enough to shatter the light, making the other lights and the machines below flicker from the electricity lingering in the room.

God! This felt so weird- but… not too different from glitching. He was just- glitching for longer. Which means he couldn’t keep this up for long- not with how spent he was already. He needed to find a path out of here, and fast.

He let his magic feel out a path on the wires and started to follow it, making machines and lights glitch and flicker and burst. An alarm started to blare but Alt only pushed himself faster, faster, faster-!

Suddenly, everything went dark and it felt like Alt hit a wall. No no! They turned off the power! With nowhere else to go Alt was shot out of another light and onto the cold tile floor of what looked like a hallway.

He coughed and curled up, his body feeling like the wires he fired. His skin sparked, pixels sizzling off him in a confusing array.

Quiet clapping echoed down the hall before that awful laugh filled Alt’s ears again.

“Very impressive, Alt! You damn near almost reached the exit!” Dr. Cornelius praised. He then bends down by the trembling boy as Alt tries to scoot away, fear clear in his eyes.

Dr. Cornelius’s smile doesn’t waver as he lashes out and pulls Alt in close by his shirt. But his voice drops to a dangerous whisper as he leans in closer. “You’re not getting away from me that easily, glitch.”

Then, Alt felt another painful round of shocks set his body ablaze- until his vision dimmed once again to black.

————-

He was back in that tiny room. Was it still the same night he got captured…? It was hard to tell with how much he was dipping in and out of consciousness…

He groaned and sat up, rubbing at his head. The hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stood on end, the air still feeling electric. Alt felt a shock of panic run up his spine as he felt something cold and smooth around his neck. Was this… a fucking shock collar?!

Alt’s body sparked with anger and as he saw that all too familiar silhouette in the window, he rushed at the glass, anger controlling his body. The doctor hardly flinches as he clicks something on that damned remote, sending Alt crashing to the floor, crying out and clawing at the collar as it shocks him.

Dr. Cornelius tsks in a disappointed manner. “What a temper… really, Alt? We shouldn’t be playing these games.”

Alt gritted his teeth ferally to snap at the doctor, “Y-You shouldn’t be collaring people like they’re animals, you sick fuck!”

“Maybe I wouldn’t have to if you didn’t behave like one.” Dr. Cornelius countered. Alt growled, eyes glowing with slight power. The doctor shook his head and then started to flip through his notes.

“Well, since you’re awake again, we can move onto the next test!”

“W-wait…!”

The doctor pauses and tilts his head at the glitch.

“I… I have a q-question,” Alt wheezes out. Dr. Cornelius raises his head, not used to hearing the glitch be anything but hostile towards him. Alt glares but continues. “You… you said before… that the… the magic circle should have found me… why… why didn’t you take me… to them?”

Alt heard vaguely of the magic circle from Mag. He said they were a bunch of foolish covens trying to govern their fellow magicians. Trying to put a cap on magic potential and capture any one who misuses magic. Alt thought they sounded almost like magical police... But he could hear the disdain plain in his mentor’s voice when talking about the circle.

That same disdain seemed to be present in the doctor as he pursed his lips and rolled his eyes.

“Pah! The magic circle…” He put down his notes as he paced slightly in front of Alt’s window again. Seemed to be a habit of his.

“They might be the magic authority here but their methods are medieval- all based in older traditions and the feel of it all. Barely any rhyme or reason- no desire to study and push limits- merge magic with what can make it even more useful! Make it accessible for everyone! Not just the special ‘elite’. They wouldn’t do a damn thing with you except slap you on the wrist and monitor you. Bloody waste if you asked me. They’d let any villain run around if they are ‘blessed’ like they are.” Dr. Cornelius growled. He stops to look down at Alt with burning eyes.

“They refuse to see magic as something that can harmonize with science! They refuse to see that magic can be bent to our level- that it can be understood at a level we humans know better than any other living thing! They’re blind… blind to the ways we can make magic better! How we can provide anyone… everyone with magic!”

Alt blinks and then laughs darkly. “God… you’re even crazier than Mag! I might be a novice… but even I know that magic s-shouldn’t be tampered with like this…! There’s a reason it’s not given to everyone…”

Dr. Cornelius matches his laugh and shakes his head. “Oh Alt… even without meeting the circle they’ve already corrupted your mind! You are as blind as them… but no matter! I’ll help you see your potential~ the potential of mixing science with magic!”

The doctor giggles and looks at Alt with those hungry eyes of his. “In fact~ this is such a great transition to our next test!”

He grabs his notes again and then gestures to something in Alt’s cell. Alt tiredly pushes himself up to look back- seeing a camera that seems to focus in on him. He shudders.

“That’s a WITNES camera- something SCLERA is developing to go public very soon! It’s a perfect merge of magic and tech… in fact- it’s been helping us to observe you better than ever, Alt!”

The doctor clicks on his remote and the right wall of Alt’s enclosure flashes to life, showing a wall full of text and data.

“Our WITNES camera can detect the fluctuations of magic within you- helping us see when you might glitch or go haywire~! They also have been monitoring your vitals so we don’t have to keep you hooked up to machines- and it can even monitor your emotions!”

“W-What? That’s… that’s insane!” Alt whispers, backing away from the wall with the camera. “You wanna just- give these to the public? That’s a crazy violation of privacy!”

Dr. Cornelius shrugs with a laugh, “Oh nowadays, this kind of stuff is hardly hidden anymore! And we offer the chance for our consumers to feel safe and protected!” He shakes his head, “But, enough of a pitch- our next test is gonna involve you interacting with our WITNES camera, Alt! We want to see how your magic merges with ours! If they’re compatible!”

Alt raises an eyebrow and looks back at the camera. He shivers as he sees the lens shrink and focus on him. That thing gives him a horrible feeling.

“… how’re you gonna do that? You can’t just… hook me up to it-“ Alt mutters.

The doctor chuckles, “Oh Alt, you misunderstand! We know now that you can glitch into tech- so that’s what you’re gonna do! See if you can glitch into the camera!”

The glitch shudders again and is about to bite out a retort when he stops and looks back. …this could be another chance to escape. If he can get past this thing he can try to follow the power source out again. But… they also must realize that’s what he’ll try to do. Is this a trap…? But… What can a camera do to him anyways?

Dr. Cornelius smirks. “I know what you’re thinking, Alt. And, I’ll make a deal with you!” Alt’s head snaps back to look at the doctor, his eyes wide. “If you can overpower our camera and get past it back into the power grid, well… that would be such an impressive sight I would consider letting you go~!”

Alt’s eyes widen more. He… seems overly confident in the camera. But, Alt was determined to get out of here. He could take a stupid camera! His eyes glowed bright as he glared at the doctor. “Alright… fine.”

Dr. Cornelius grins and the cuff on Alt’s leg snaps off, as well as the shock collar. Alt watches as the doctor shuts off the wall and other electronics, leaving only the camera powered on, it’s green light blinking at Alt. Alt gritted his teeth and then in a zip of green blue magic he glitched into its systems.

….

Something is wrong.

Diving into the camera feels nothing like going through the lights- it's harsher, feels like a strong pressure is pushing down on him at all angles. Like sharp needles sinking into his being. Alt tries to push through, tries to find a weakness, a kink in the system. But, the more he pushes the more this strange energy seems to push back.

Then, it overpowers him, swallowing him whole.

Alt crashes out of the camera and back onto the ground, shaking and spasming like crazy. Purple electricity crackles around his limbs as he shakily pushes himself up. As he looks out towards the doctor, his eyes are quickly filling with pulsing purple magic.

Dr. Cornelius grins manically, “Oh darn! I forgot to mention~ all SCLERA tech is powered by our patented Black magic core~! Something we perfected thanks to that lovely boss of yours!”

Alt whimpers, heaving in panic, even as anger flares wildly in his body. That fucking bitch tricked him! This feels wrong- it feels way worse than whatever came over him the night he was captured. It’s more invasive, the corruption digging into every weakness in his body and driving itself in. He bends over against the ground with a cry of pain as waves of magic crash against him, trying to overwhelm him. Trying to take over his magic, his mind-! He yells out and half crashes against the floor entirely, digging his head and nails into it, trying to fight whatever this is off.

All of sudden, he goes still, frozen like a statue as the purple magic completely fills his eyes. The monitor Dr. Cornelius is observing suddenly blares with alarms, the screen flashing. Alt’s black magic reading has reached dangerous, uncontrollable levels! Dr. Cornelius gasps and drops his clipboard, watching the testing room with wide eyes.

The tile beneath Alt suddenly cracks and splits, purple magic rippling across the floor. The debris floats up around him, suspended in glowing purple hues. Alt rises up like someone trapped in a dream, his head lulling limply on his shoulders. The magic crackles around him in a powerful display, bolts of electricity blasting tiles off the wall, destroying screens and equipment. Quietly, Alt starts to giggle and then fully bursts into crazed laughter, his veins darkening and glowing with purple power. As he laughs, he seems to bring up one of his hands to look at, gazing at it as if it was new. He stretches his fingers and then grins, laughing louder as the magic continues to zap and sizzle and destroy the room around him.

The sound of a squeaked shoe has the possessed glitch’s head snapping towards the noise. His eyes lock onto the terrified face of Dr. Cornelius, trying to back away from the window. Alt grins and in a flash is in front of the glass, pressing his hand against it. He tilts his head inhumanly at the doctor, his soulless eyes leaking magic like electric tears.

“Is this what you wanted, ̶̳̀D̷̯̏o̷̮̊ć̶͜t̶̗̕ỏ̶̯r̴̖͒?̵̟͝”̸̨̂ ̸̦̐ He giggles, gripping nails into the glass as electric bands of magic shoot out and crack against it, shattering it completely.

There’s a chorus of screams as the other SCLERA workers try to flee. Dr. Cornelius yells out as the glass explodes on him, cutting and slicing into his skin. He quickly looks around, then hightails it to his desk in the back corner, slipping on the glass as he runs. He quickly rummages through drawers, throwing contents and notes everywhere, muttering desperately, “C’mon! C’mon! I… I have to have that stupid thing somewhere!!”

Alt rises off the ground as the magic surrounds him. His body glitches and contorts as he giggles and slowly approaches the doctor.

“Oh D̴̙̀ṙ̸̠.̷̬͒ ̸̬̐C̶͚̈́ó̷̢r̵͇̈́ṋ̶͝ę̵͘l̷͈̋i̵̬̽u̷̖͛s̶͎͗~̵̺̓!̷̜̿ Where are you going? Didn’t you want to have some f̶͙̲̯͎͇̙̥̂̈́͋̿̂ȗ̷̗̊̽͑ͅṋ̴̄̉?̴̢̟̙͙͚̱̩̈́̀͑̈́͊͝?” Alt laughs, his voice sounding darker and racked with static. He barely sounds like himself.

Dr. Cornelius is sweating bullets as he looks through the drawer of objects they obtained from the magic circle. He then cries out in elation as he finds what he’s looking for, holding it out towards the approaching glitch.

It’s an amulet of some sort, a chunk of amethyst in the center. Alt seems to freeze, his eyes widening.

Cornelius grits his teeth. He hates having to resort to the methods the circle uses but… desperate times. Once they had Alt contained, they can figure out a better way to control this… a better, more scientific way.

He sighs and then starts to mutter a spell, one they haven't had to use since starting the WITNES project. Luckily, he still remembered the words.

“Creature of black magic, your minds, your purposes, your plans, do we cause you to bend! With my mind do I seize your minds, With my power, do I seize your power. Do ye with your thoughts follow my thought. I place your hearts in my control: Come ye, directing your way after my course!”

Alt lets out a choked exhale of breath, his body locking up against his will. The magic starts to recede and die down, but still crackles around his body and keeps him airborne.

Dr. Cornelius shoves the amulet forward and barks out, “Now, Cease!”

Alt crashes to his knees as the magic dissipates and drops him. His head falls forward, his pure purple eyes wide and blank. He looks like a broken doll as Dr. Cornelius cautiously makes his way over.

He kneels down by the boy and tilts up his chin, studying his eyes and the way the magic flickers within.

“Fascinating…” The doctor breathes, slowly regaining his smile. “Alt, can you hear me?”

“Yes…” The glitch answers breathlessly, his voice still having a slight echo.

“Are you going to listen to me now?”

“...we are subjected to your will, Sorcerer…” Alt replies, his eye twitching slightly but the rest of him remains slack.

Dr. Cornelius chuckles, shaking his head. “Excellent. Now… subject, did you find this host worthy? Were your energies able to converge well?”

The magic in Alt’s eyes crackles and glows brighter as he suddenly grins, giggling quietly. “This vessel was very easy to corrupt! The darkness smells strong on it… but it also swims in its blood. Its magic meshes well with ours- control of it was so easy~!” He giggles slightly louder, madness leaking into his words. But, his voice echoes and cracks, sounding completely different, like something else is speaking for him. “Its magic is so different from ours yet has so much potential! We can cause so much destruction with it! Corrupt many souls, raze cities and scorch the earth~!! Ha h̶̥̄a̸̹͑h̴̡̒a̵̗̽h̸̯̍a̵̩͗!̷̯̓!̸̡͌”

“Enough.” Dr. Cornelius snaps. The subject’s giggles cut off immediately as it looks out at the doctor with blank eyes again. “Your power only exists here thanks to us, you will follow our will and let us direct your purpose, understand?”

“...yes…” The subject breathes weakly. He shudders, a wave of nausea rolling over him, skin feeling too warm, sweat starting to drip down his forehead. His hands shake and he sways in the doctor’s grip.

Dr. Cornelius adjusts his glasses then commands Alt quietly. “Sleep, subject. Let’s see what use we can find for you…”

And Alt crumbles to the floor, once again falling back into darkness.

----------

Alt struggled to open up his eyes, bright light searing his vision. Then, he realized he recognized that light. It was the same one he woke up under when he was first brought here.

He tries to move his wrists, and finds he’s once again strapped down to a table. He holds back a whimper, his body feels incredibly weak and spent. The ordeal he went through with the camera had been plaguing his sleeping mind- the feeling of being controlled by that freaky magic… he didn’t want that to happen ever again!

He heard voices talking and quickly shuts his eyes, pretending to still be passed out.

He hears Dr. Cornelius, talking to another doctor.

“It took a lot of work but I think I found the perfect solution for VARIBL 11220! Letting the black magic of our machines corrupt his own is key… the display he showed was phenomenal! It could rival what we saw of VARIBL 1317! …but we need a way to control it. This device should infuse his magic with some of ours, and link his body to follow the orders of whoever powers the chip! We just need to make sure the magic has some sort of traceable signal so the artificial magic we’re working on should work! A much more elegant solution than using that amulet and spell... This can put him under our control in mere seconds~!”

Alt’s heart threatened to stop, his blood running cold. Are they planning on turning him into some sort of weapon? A puppet for them to use??

His eyes snap open and he immediately tries to thrash against his restraints, his eyes wild with panic. Dr. Cornelius was over his arm, looking like he was about to cut it open with a scalpel. He jumps back then tsks, looking annoyed.

“Fuck…! He just needed to stay asleep a bit longer!”

Alt bares his teeth ferally, pixels buzzing off him and electricity sparking around him in dangerous arcs. “I-I won’t become your puppet, Cornelius…! I refuse to be a-anyone’s puppet!”

Dr. Cornelius snarls and clicks on the remote, shocking Alt with increased intensity. Alt screams and screams, pulling against his bindings even as they seem to melt against his skin. The abuse keeps going until Alt slumps limply to the table, skin smoking and breath coming out in harsh ragged bursts.

“Hold him down,” Cornelius barks to his assistants. There’s seem to be some hesitation but soon two sets of hands are holding down Alt’s left arm. Alt chokes on a sob, shaking his head as he tries to keep from passing out again. “Please…! Please s-stop…!”

The mad doctor giggles as he picks up his scalpel again, going over to Alt’s side. He studies the boy then pets back his hair some, almost like a father would.

“You know Alt… you remind me of a subject I had so very long ago… one of my firsts actually!”

Alt screams as the scalpel cuts into his skin. The hands keep him from bucking against the restraints.

“She had the same kind of fire in her that you have… similar hair color and skin tone too. Then again- a very common combination!” He chuckles and digs in deeper. “She had similar powers to you too! Think her name was… Annie or something like that.”

Alt’s eyes flew open and widened. No- no he… he couldn’t have… could he…?

The thought is quickly thrusted from his mind as Dr. Cornelius seems to insert something in his arm. It feels foreign and wrong and Alt screams and screams, fighting with everything he has to get out- get it out!!!

It seems to latch onto something he can’t quite explain- but it’s agony and it hurts- it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!! Alt feels like something is grabbing hold of his magic within the pain. He sobs and arches his back to try to get away from the feeling. More hands push him down and keep him still.

He feels the doctor stitching up his skin as he cries, pleading with the doctor to stop, please stop!

Then, Alt seems to hear something new. It sounds like… magic. Searing magic blasting away at walls, screams of terror and… growls. Familiar growls- they sound like the panthers.

Alt feels delirious relieved tears flow from his eyes as he starts to laugh. The doctors seem to pause and start to look towards the noise that is only getting louder. Some start to let Alt go and back away, fear clear in their eyes.

The glitch makes sure to find Cornelius’s eyes as he grins, whispering to him. “You… you’re f-fucked…! You’re so fucked…!” He giggles wildly.

Dr. Cornelius’s eyes widen and he curses, trying to finish what he started.

Then the door to the operating room explodes with green and purple fire. Black masses start to tackle doctors left and right, causing chords of agony to echo throughout the room.

Magnificent emerges through the smoke, sweeping out an arm and glowing like an avenging Angel. Or perhaps, more like a devil. He bares his fangs at the doctor still looming over Alt.

“Release my Apprentice, Sclera scum!”

Dr. Cornelius tries not to show his fear as he lifts up his hands and steps away from Alt. “Well hello, Marvin! It’s been such a long time-!”

The doctor gets cut off as green magic surrounds his throat and lifts up upwards, choking him. Magnificent’s eyes are bright with angry fire as he spits out. “You do not get to say that name, Israh Cornelius! You and this fucking facility killed that man a long time ago!”

He grips his hand further, sick satisfaction burning in his stomach as he hears cracks- but then he hears the whimper of the boy behind them. Mag looks back to see his bleeding and burned apprentice and he pauses.

Then he growls and uses his magic to throw Israh hard against the wall. In a wave of magic he appears back over by Alt and sears off his restraints. He picks up the delirious boy and whistles, his panthers all looking up and then bounding over to his side.

Magnificent looks down coldly at Cornelius as he snarls, “Killing you right now is more than you deserve. And this place could be… useful to me. But know this, doctor, if you and this wretched company touch my apprentice again, I’ll make it look like an accident when I raze this place to the fucking ground.”

He then snaps and in a swirl of tv static, him, Alt and the panthers all disappear.

———

The trip to wherever they are now was a confusing mix of colors and voices that Alt hardly remembers. His vision dipped in and out of darkness as he felt himself be moved and looked over. But, this time it felt… different. It felt safe. Eventually he allowed himself to close his eyes and drift.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in a familiar room. One with white walls that had a bright stripe of yellow. Alt smiles faintly, recognizing the sight of Ollie’s office at the Doom clinic. He then hears the faint sound of shuffling and looks out towards the other side of the room.

His eyes widen as he sees Magnificent, sitting in the visitor’s chair. Except, he was in his civilian disguise. Alt had only seen it a few times but…

“M-Mag…?” Alt whispers, his voice raw and hoarse.

Mag seems to startle slightly then relaxes when he sees Alt. “Alt… you’re awake… that’s good.” A tiny head poked itself out from behind Mag’s leg and meowed, and Alt recognized the spotted nose of Lucky in her tinier cat form.

The glitch smiles dazedly at the sight of Lucky but then blinks several times at his mentor, as if he can hardly believe he’s there and not an illusion. “You… you saved… me?” He slurs out.

Magnificent snorts and turns his head, “Of course I did. I just… only wished I had found you sooner.”

“I… kinda thought you’d just… leave me to figure it out on my own.” Alt laughs slightly, “ Figured you’d… lecture me about how we have to look out for ourselves…”

The dark magician purses his lips and grips his hands into tight fists. “…if I hadn’t acted… you’d be a pawn in Sclera’s game. A plaything for them to abuse and use at their leisure.” His eyes darken, “I may be a villain… but I wouldn’t subject anyone to their cruelty. And especially not my apprentice…”

Alt stares at Magnificent, then can’t help but laugh breathily. “I guess… you really do care about me… huh?”

Mag seems to wince. “…it’s a new thing for me… I haven’t cared about anyone for a long time… I thought- I had lost the ability to.”

Alt nods to this, though he’s not quite sure he understands. How can someone lose the ability to care?

Then, all that happened to him crashes down on his mind, especially as he glimpses the bandages on his left arm. “Mag… they- they put s-something in me-!”

Magnificent raises a hand to stop him. “I already disabled it Alt. They can’t hurt you with it.”

“I… I can still feel it though-“

The magician shrugs, “The doctors here said they wanted to remove it but whatever sclera did… they weren’t sure they could do it without damaging your nerves…. They didn’t want you to lose the ability to use your arm.”

Alt swallows shakily and grips at his wrist.

Mag’s eyes glow slightly with determination. “But even if it’s there- I shut it off. I swear to you, Alt, they won’t be able to use it on you.”

Alt seems to relax, slumping against the bed with a relieved sigh. He pushes back his hair, staring up at the comforting yellow stripe.

The room is quiet for a beat before Magnificent speaks up. “…you should focus on resting, Alt. The doctors seem very fond of you, especially that one in the yellow… they’ll keep you safe.”

Alt sighs and nods.

The room falls back into semi-awkward silence. Then, a slightly wet nose is poking against Alt’s hand. He blinks down to see Lucky’s eyes blinking up at him. She seems to have a big bundle in her mouth that she nudges against his hand.

Alt struggles up and goes to grab it- and gasps as he sees it’s… it’s his bandana and his jacket. Dr. Cornelius took them away but-

“Lucky was very excited to have found those during our raid,” Magnificent says, smirking slightly. “She wouldn’t let them go.”

The glitch laughs and pets Lucky’s head. Then he quickly looks back up and grins at Mag. “Hey! You’re using my nicknames for them!”

Mag blinks and then messes with his hair, looking away. “Well… they are easier to tell apart that way… and your names do… seem to fit them well.”

The door to the room slides open, cutting off their conversation. The person coming in seems distracted with the clipboard he’s carrying. Then he looks up and breaks into a wide smile, hurrying over to Alt and giving him a huge hug.

“Alt! Oh thank god! You’re awake!” Oliver cries. Alt feels his face heat up slightly as he stiffens in the hug. He awkwardly pats Oliver’s back and laughs. “Y-Yeah dude- I’m okay!”

Oliver quickly lets go and seems to blush himself, waving his hands. “Ack! Sorry! That was… w-wildly unprofessional! It’s just- when Mr. Macaodha brought you in- you… you were in such horrible shape!”

At the sound of that surname Alt looks back at Mag and raises an eyebrow. The magician shrugs with a smirk.

Oliver lifts up his glasses, seeming to wipe at his eyes. He then smiles brightly at Alt, sighing out, “I’m just so glad you’re okay…”

Alt felt warmth surge through his chest. When he was captured by those bastards… they really made him think that he was all alone- that no one really cared for him, now that he wasn’t around his friends anymore.

But… that wasn’t true, was it? Even a villain like him… had people who cared about him.

Alt hid his face as he felt tears come to his eyes. When he changed the past… what would happen to the people he cares about now?

As Oliver checks over Alt’s vitals and asks him questions about his condition, Magnificent leans back to observe. Lucky loops back around to sit under Mag’s legs and he pets her head lightly.

His eyes lingered to the bandaged up arm on his apprentice. That device Sclera planted… he wasn’t going to let them take Alt.

But, perhaps… the thing could be of use to him down the road. Only as a last resort though. Mag smiled as he studied the boy. He had this cub wrapped tightly around his finger, his loyalty only getting stronger.

Jackie grips the back of the chair he’s leaning on, hearing cracks under his palms. Marvin sounds fine… but he knows he’s not. He knows that isn’t fully his brother right now… and his heart is beating in his throat as he hangs onto every word he says.

Marvin laughs again and his eyes flicker to something darker- green and purple appearing briefly in his irises as he adds quietly.

“...did you miss me?”

That line sends a shiver down all the egos’ back- except Anti who scowls and bares his teeth, his form glitching angrily.

“Or- I guess you were expecting that line from someone else, weren’t you?” Marvin spits at the camera, his voice getting lower. He glares at the camera now.

“Actually… that’s why I’m here. I would like to have a chat with all of you…” Marvin talks like a teacher disappointed at his students, sighing dramatically. “We need to talk about the glitch… and all of yours’s... Unhealthy obsession with him.”

He slams his hands down on the table and leans in closer to the camera, the feed glitching slightly with green and purple as his anger resurfaces. Flickers of his darker mask and veins of black magic show up on his skin, if only for a brief second. He glares with hatred burning in his eyes.

“Why do you want to hurt me and my brothers?!” He snarls at the screen.

“Oh the theorists are gonna have a field day with all of this,” Anti mutters, crossing his arms.

“Why do you cheer and seek out our torturer? Is our pain funny to you? Is it fun to see us controlled and puppet-ed and hurt over and over and over again?!” Marvin bites at the screen, feeling the eyes of the community on him. His anger makes his form flicker more and more. But finally, he laughs bitterly and shakes his head, sitting back down in the chair and lounging back. But he still looks furiously at the camera.

“...You all have no concept of the pain you cause. All for your entertainment… you all sicken me.”

“...harsh-” Chase whispers under his breath with a wince. Though… he can’t help feeling exactly what Marvin is feeling. And he’s sure his brothers are all hiding that part of them that feels the same.

Marvin laughs darkly as he tilts his head at the camera and grins, showing sharp canines. His form fully melts away into it’s corrupted form- mask black and purple and branches of purple magic running up his neck and crawling up rapidly to his face. His sclera has turned black and his eyes flare even more purple.

Cries of confusion can be seen in the chat. Some wonder how Jack is doing all this- others assuming this is all for shit and giggles.

“Well today! I say no more!” Marvin chuckles darkly but his emotions quickly shift to anger again as purple magic zips around him dangerously. “I’m sick of being a pawn controlled by the whims of people who don’t even know me! Just like fucking Jack… I will no longer be a puppet- controlled by the likes of you!”

For a second- it feels like Marvin’s eyes meet Anti’s through the screen. And… Anti hates the surge of fear that goes through him.

Marvin then looks away and laughs, getting up and holds out a hand that glows purple. The camera seems to be lifted up in his magic as he grins, “And to prove that to you all… let me show you something~!”

In a poof of purple smoke- the camera turns off for just a second and then reappears with Marvin- and he’s now standing over the comatose Jack.

“Jack!” Henrik shouts in worry, closing in on the screen as if he can reach them.

The comments are going crazy- some worried- some wondering if any of this was real.

“Now this must be a shock for you all! After all…our beloved Chase has been doing such a good job of filling in for our precious Jack, hasn’t he?”

Chase shivers and staggers back, feeling panic gripping at his chest. No! What was Marvin doing?? He’s unraveling everything they’ve been trying to hide! He’s gonna send the whole community into a frenzy!

“He’s insane-” Anti growls, “Just what is he trying to do? Make 20 million people have a panic attack?? Alert the news? He’s gonna expose all of us!”

“He must be doing this for a reason…” Jackie mutters, but he looks nervous too. This was gonna be a lot to clean up….

“Now now- don’t worry everyone! I can assure you he is safe… and I will wake him up after all of this is done!”

“̸̬̾L̷͓̐i̴̧͂k̴͓̚e̸̙͝ ̵̣̆h̶̗̔e̸̟͆l̸͙͘l̸̥̉ ̴̦͝ḣ̷͈e̶̝̎ ̶͇̌w̴͙͂i̵̳͆l̷̮͠l̶͖̚!” Anti suddenly shouts, glitching wildly and he tries to dive towards the computer. He barely enters the screen for a second before he’s thrown out, spasming as purple energy crackles along his body. He grits his teeth and curls up on the floor to keep from crying out in pain.

Marvin seems to stare knowingly at the screen as he smirks and chuckles. “You see… this is the work of the glitch you all love so much… you gave him enough power to take Jack… and put him to sleep.

But, not to worry! I took control of him from the glitch… I’ve been keeping him safe and sound.” He assures the screen charismatically.

“Lying Bastard!” Henrik curses, gripping the table tight. Jameson puts a hand on his shoulder to try to calm him down.

Marvin then sighs and poofs and him and the camera appear back by the desk in the normal recording spot. He stares at the screen intensely.

“... there is something that must be done before I can wake up Jack and make all of this right, however. And for that… I need all of your help.”

“...uh oh-” Jackie whispers.

“You see,” Marvin begins- and as he does, the background behind him starts to shift and change, warbling in and out of focus, flowing like it’s made of watercolor. Then, it slowly starts to spiral.

“I can’t allow all of you to fuel the glitch any longer… so you’re all going to help me get rid of him.”

All of the egos feel shivers go down their spine as they start to panic.

“Jamie quickly! Marvin is at Jack’s see if you can-!” Henrik whispers desperately.

Jamie is already trying to produce some magic to try to teleport- but his magic sparks and fizzles with purple.

Anti groans from the ground, trying to get up, “H-He’s blocked it- He’s created some kind of magic wall- we can’t get to him…!” He growls in anger.

Marvin laughs maniacally and thrusts a hand out at the camera. It starts to glow purple and spirals of lavender magic start to overlay the screen- the background also swirling with purple magic.

Jackie recognizes this instantly and he shoves anyone close to the screen that’s trying to watch. “D-Don’t look! H-He’s trying to-!”

Chase and Henrik are shoved to the floor, Jameson trips and lands on his ass, magic cracking as he falls.

But, In his effort to push everyone else away- Jackie has ended up standing right in front of the screen. The magic very quickly grabs a hold of him, his eyes echoing the spiral of the magic as his jaw falls open, mind going blank.

“N-No! Jackie!” Chase cries out, trying to push himself up. Henrik grabs him though and keeps him down, fear clear in his eyes. “J-Jackie said not to look!”

Marvin’s laughter is haunting as he captures all of the viewers one by one. The chat falls silent as everyone who is watching is caught in the magic- falling under Marvin’s spell.

He giggles as more magic starts to eat up his skin on his face, veins opening up wider and fizzling with more dark purple magic.

“Yes…! All of you… all of you give me your memories of the glitch…! I’ll erase them… bit by bit.” He pauses to laugh, feeling a surge of emotions from his captives.

“No, don’t worry everyone! I won’t kill him~! No… I’ll leave enough of him around… Just enough so he can’t fade. But he won’t reform either… ha ha… doesn’t that sound familiar, A̴̭͝n̵̹̈́t̶̹̓ì̵̢?̷̝̓” Marvin laughs insanely, increasing his magic as he starts to dig into everyone’s collective memories- and starts to tear them to shreds. Any hint or glitch of the demon known as Antisepticeye, he rips apart into tiny pieces.

Anti starts to scream bloody murder, his entire form starting to be broken apart by purple veins of magic. He glitches and spasms, clawing at the ground like that can save him. His eyes are pits of toxic purple magic as he screams and screams and screams-!

“H-Help me…! H̴̺̾-̷̨̉Ĥ̴͇Ê̴̼L̸͓̅P̶̺̎ ̴͙̆M̶͈͂E̴̲͛!̷̘̍!̷̛̟”̴̫̀ ̵͓̈ Anti sobs out desperately, his entire form being broken apart.

Henrik rushes to Anti’s side and Jameson joins him, the gentleman tries to stabilize him with a bit of magic. But- it’s not working, nothing is working!

Chase staggers and goes to grab onto Jackie’s shoulder, shaking him. “J-Jackie! C’mon dude, snap out it! Y-You’re helping Marvin, h-he’s gonna kill us!”

Jackie doesn’t respond- or more like he can’t respond. The magic is strong in his eyes, his mind being invaded and memories being picked apart and shredded. Purple veins crawl from his eyes and tears leak out of them as he trembles- stuck in the magic’s grasp.

But, even though he doesn’t respond to Chase- he seems to be mumbling something. Even though it seems to pain him.

“M-Marvin… d-don’t do this… please..! Stop!” The hero whispers tearfully.

Chase dares to briefly look at the screen- at Marvin.

The magician- for just a second… seems to flinch, blue very faintly flickering in his eyes.

Chase’s eyes widen. Did- did he hear Jackie…? Did they have more of a pull since they’re all connected to Jack and Anti?

Chase narrows his eyes in determination. He looks at the others. “G-Guys… this may sound crazy… but I have an idea…! I think… if we get pulled under- maybe we can reach Marvin through his magic!”

“T̴-̷T̶h̴a̶t̵'̷s̴ ̷t̵h̷e̶ ̶s̶t̴u̷p̶i̵d̶e̵s̷t̶ ̸t̶h̷i̵n̸g̴ ̵I̵'̴v̸e̴ ̵e̴v̴e̷r̷ ̶h̶e̶a̴r̴d̶!̸” Anti snaps out at Chase.

Henrik and Jameson exchange glances. But slowly, Jameson nods, eyes glowing with determination. Henrik sighs and seems hesitant, gripping his hands into fists. But, he soon nods too. “I-It’s worth a try… what else can we do?”

Chase smiles at his brothers and then helps them up to join him next to Jackie. He hesitates, then grabs Jackie’s hand. A surge of power flows up his arm, orange light shimmering in his veins. He looks at it with confusion. “Uh… okay- that’s… totally normal…”

Jameson notices this and goes to take Jackie’s other hand. He catches red pulsing up through Jackie’s veins under his jacket sleeve as his own glows teal. He offers his hand to Henrik’s who takes it quickly. His veins glow with white and he laughs a bit in disbelief, shaking his head.

“... I will never understand all this magic shit… but… let’s save our brother…”

Jamie nods with a hopeful smile. Then- they all look towards the screen, letting the magic fully take them in.

“F̷-̴F̵u̴c̴k̸i̷n̸g̷ ̴s̶u̶i̵c̸i̶d̷a̸l̶ ̷i̶d̵i̵o̸t̸s̷-̶ ̵” Anti grumbles before he gets another wave of pain that sends him screaming and glitching into the carpet.

As the magic washes over them, suddenly the brothers hear a cacophony of screaming that sends all their minds reeling. It’s a tidal wave of confusion and fear and agony that sends them spiraling underneath. But they quickly try to resurface- determination pushing them forward.

They hear a loud voice above the others, echoing in the wide expanse. “MARVIN!!” Jackie’s voice cries desperately. “You have to stop this! This is gonna kill you! Please wake up!”

Henrik and Schneep start to join him, shouting out for their brother, trying to get him to snap out of this.

Then- another voice joins them- almost as loud as Jackie’s.

“MARVINNN!!” Jameson’s inner voice yells. The others are momentarily confused. They’ve never heard his voice before. But… with the tone and the British accent- it sure does sound like him.

Jamie continues to shout towards Marvin, pushing his magic into projecting towards the magician. “Marvin we’re here!! You don’t have to do this, this isn’t you! Please stop this!! Don’t let the darkness win! Fight back!!”

The others are fueled by their little brother’s passion and start to join him in his cries, increasing their voices above the panicked screaming of the fandom.

Marvin’s magic falters, his fingers trembling as he tries to keep the spell steady. But there’s a very loud scream behind him that’s threatening to break his concentration.

Jack is also screaming in agony as Marvin’s magic destroys what he’s created.

“Shut up! You’re fine!” Marvin growls to the Youtuber, “This is for your own good! For all of our good!”

Then, Marvin is hit with a wave of screaming voices- hearing the fandom’s panic all at once and it leaves him breathless. His eyes flicker more with blue at the sound and he tries to drown it out, closing his eyes and increasing the spell.

“No no no! C’mon I-I’m so close…!” He grunts to himself through gritted teeth.

Then, he hears them- the sounds of his brother’s voices. And- Jamie… Jameson is the loudest.

Orange, red, teal and white light dances in his eyes, trying to fight back against the purple corruption. He winces and holds a hand against his head, the voices becoming too much. It feels like his head is gonna explode!

“Marvin please!!” Henrik pleads.

“C’mon Marv! You’re better than this!” Chase urges.

“You’re not alone anymore Marvin! We’ll never let Anti hurt you again!” Jackie promises.

“Marvin, please! Fight back! WAKE UP!” Jameson encourages.

Something inside him snaps. And… it feels like Marvin is waking up from the deepest dream he’s ever been in.

He gasps and instantly ends the spell, waving his hand away to get rid of the spirals.

The boys all crumble to the floor as they’re released.

Anti is practically passed out and dead weight on the ground, his entire body covered in purple magic veins that spark with glitches and pixels. Henrik rushes to check his pulse or- whatever you’d check to make sure the glitch wasn’t dead.

Jackie staggers to his feet and goes to help up Chase and Jameson. He smiles warmly at Jamie and claps a hand on his shoulder.

“Nice shouting in there, buddy! You were incredible! A true septic voice, just like the rest of us!” He pulls Jamie in and gives him a slightly noogie. “Always knew you had it in ya, baby bro!”

Jameson blushes bashfully and hides slightly behind his hands.

Then, They all turn back to the screen, and see Marvin hyperventilating.

He looks desperately at the camera, tears in his bright blue eyes as he whimpers out, “I’m sorry- I-I’m so sorry everyone! I… I… d-don’t understand what… I.. I never wanted this to happen…!”

He suddenly falls forward towards the desk, gripping at his sides as he yells out in pain. The veins of magic are still stark on his skin and they start to glow brighter, the skin around them starting to darken and look like it’s covered in ash.

Jackie recognizes the sight of this and he panics, pressing up against the screen. “N-No!”

He looks desperately to Jamie, “J! W-We gotta get to Marvin! I think the magic is killing him!”

Jameson’s eyes widen and he nods, trying to concentrate on a spell to get them to Marvin. It seems like his magic isn’t blocked anymore… but he is a bit drained from the projection he used. Still he focuses as hard as he can, sweat blooming on his brow.

Marvin looks at his corrupting hands and skin with fear, stumbling out of the chair and shaking his head. “No…n-no no no no! W-What’s happening? I-I-!” He shouts out in pain again and this time, grips at the area around one of his eyes, falling to his knees. When he lets go and looks at his shaking hand, blood and black gunk are there- the substances now leaking from his eye. He coughs, black sludge falling from his mouth and he nearly falls over. He heaves and tries to drag himself back to the desk-

His brothers were watching right? They had to be… otherwise they wouldn’t have reached him like they did!

He claws his way back up the desk and looks back at the camera one last time. He looks panicked and scared as he reaches out towards the screen- as if he can reach his brothers through it.

“H-Help me!!” Marvin sobs, dark smoke leaking out of both corners of his mouth, his entire face cover in pulsing magic.

And then, there’s a flicker of purple power- and the camera gets destroyed, shutting off the livestream.

“No!” Chase shouts, trying to see if he can get the stream back up again. But it’s gone- it’s offline.

“J! C’mon how’s that spell coming??” Jackie cries. Jameson’s knees are shaking as he tries to finish the spell.

Then, something grabs his leg, startling him. Anti is grabbing him, gritting his teeth as he supplies the gentleman with some of his own power.

“Grab onto the oldtimer, now!” He calls out, “Let’s go save Kit Kat before he kills all of us!”

The others rush to grab onto Jamie as Anti glitches them away to Jack’s studio.

Marvin has collapsed to the ground, holding himself up on his elbows as he coughs and shakes, the corruption still trying to eat him alive.

He sobs, gripping his fingers into the floor, “I-I didn’t want this…! I-I’m a monster- i-i hurt so many people…!” He closes his eyes and breaks down, “I’m no better than he is…!”

A dark voice giggles in his ear though. It doesn’t sound like the glitch though… it sounds like him- just wrong.

“𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕦𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖…! ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕦𝕝 𝕨𝕖’𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖… 𝔼𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝔸𝕟𝕥𝕚 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕𝕟’𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕝 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕖𝕠𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕚𝕕! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞… 𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞. 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕔𝕙- 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕠𝕣. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕗𝕒𝕣 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕒𝕝𝕝!”

Marvin shudders, trying to shake off the voice. But, it’s echoing all around him, fogging up his thoughts in black smoke.

“N-No! No I… I don’t-”

The voice shushes him, it’s voice charismatic and smooth. Easy to listen to.

“𝔻𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕣𝕪 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕒 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕧𝕪… 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕝𝕖𝕥 𝕘𝕠. 𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕚𝕟… 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕀’𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥~!”

Marvin feels his heart drop- and then his body starts to feel numb and disconnected from his core. Just like- just like when Anti tried to steal his body. Back in Phantom’s warehouse.

The reality of all of this falls on him like a ton of bricks. All this power… it never was his, was it? It was using him the whole time… just like Anti did. Just like Phantom did.

He was never taking control of his story… he just let himself become a toy once again. Something to be played with and then tossed aside.

Hopeless tears fall down his face as he hangs his head.

“...i-i’m so sorry… Jackie… j-Jamie… hen.. C-chase… i… I never wanted to hurt you…” He whispers heartbrokenly. “I… I just wanted to keep us safe…”

Energy cracks in the air around him as the force of magic inside him takes over more of his body. This… was how he was gonna die? Losing his body to a dark force of magic he helped create…

If he fought harder against Anti… if he never opened that stupid book all those years ago…Maybe- Maybe none of this would have happened…

Marvin can’t feel his legs now and he starts to panic. He looks around the room for something- anything!

His eyes land on Jack’s bed.

The magician quickly tries to drag himself closer to his creator, even if his legs drag behind him- the floor turning black and charred beneath him. He reaches out desperately.

“J-Jack please…!” Marvin sobs, “J-Just this once… h-help me…!” More of his body gets numb as he tries to pull forward and then he crashes onto the floor, wailing. “I-I just wanted to protect my family…! I wanted to make everything right…!” He looks up at Jack’s sleeping face and feels the numbness spread into his heart as it all crashes down on him. Everything he did…

“I… I shouldn’t have been made…!” He whispers, voice choked with tears.

The voice chuckles in his head and whispers like a siren song, “𝕆𝕙 𝕔’𝕞𝕠𝕟 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕧𝕪… 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥! 𝕀, 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕠𝕟𝕖, 𝕒𝕞 𝕤𝕠𝕠𝕠 𝕘𝕝𝕒𝕕 𝕨𝕖 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕕𝕖! 𝕀’𝕞 𝕘𝕠𝕟𝕟𝕒 𝕕𝕠 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕕𝕠… 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕠𝕣 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕕𝕠…𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕦𝕤 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕦𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕. 𝕎𝕙𝕠 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀’𝕝𝕝 𝕕𝕠…! 𝔹𝕦𝕥… 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕓𝕖~”

Marvin closes his eyes and sobs, curling up on himself.

If he was gonna die… why couldn’t it just be over with already…? …maybe this is what he deserved.

He feels his body start to twitch as the magic takes over- he feels his cheeks start to move without his permission, his mouth grinning without his say so- a mad haunting laughter escaping his lips that’s not his.

But- his hand- it seems to be curling around something in his pocket. Using the last of his strength and a lot of effort fighting through the numbness, he brings it towards his face.

It’s… its the jack doll.

Something then occurs to Marvin.

He lashes out to grab the doll with his other hand- and he starts to push all of his magic into it. No… not just his magic- his life force too.

The voice in his head stops laughing- and now sounds panicked. “𝕎𝕒𝕚𝕥 𝕟𝕠- 𝕨-𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘?!”

“I-I can’t let you take over my body and u-use my magic…!” Marvin grunts out, trying to push his energy out faster. “B-But I can’t die… I can’t let us reform so you can do this again so-!”

His eyes flare blue green as he yells and puts more magic in- his body really starting to lose color- even the veins fading to gray. “I-I’ll give my life b-back to Jack…! He can start over… h-he can make someone new…! Someone better…! And I c-can make sure you won’t hurt anyone ever AGAIN!”

“𝕐-𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕚𝕕𝕚𝕠𝕥!” The voice cries, “𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕞𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕨𝕒𝕪𝕤!”

Marvin laughs bitterly and shakes his head, “m-maybe you’re right… but o-on the off chance this will stop you… s-stop us… then… i-it’s a risk i’m willing to take…!”

He yells as he pushes the last of his life force and magic into the doll- hoping the connection to Jack is enough… maybe it’ll wake him up too. He… he doesn’t know.

But the voice is gone- one last weak scream echoing in his ears before falling silent.

He pants, his whole body trembling as it loses all its color, his eyes starting to turn milky white and glassy. He laughs quietly, bowing his head.

“...make someone good for me… won’t you, Jack?” He whispers, closing his eyes and holding the doll close to his forehead.

Then- the door bursts open.

Jackie, Schneep, Chase and Jameson all pile through the door, looking at Marvin desperately.

“M-Marvin!” Jackie cries out, tears in his eyes.

Marvin stares at disbelief and tries to smile at them, black smoke leaking out of his mouth again- the floor around him looking like a crater hit it.

But then- the light in his eyes fades. And he crashes to the floor with a hollow thud.

Jameson is dragged into the main warehouse in a burst of magic, struggling against his binds as he looks around for that madman-

“Alright Magnificent- what magic act are you gonna show me this time? And is it a specific reason it’s in the middle of the night? Or do cats just not sleep-?” He growls tiredly, his glasses slipping off his nose slightly and the night time shadows making the bags under his eyes seem even darker.

The familiar laughter Jameson was expecting echoed around the space and the therapist all but rolled his eyes.

But then, a streak of black came from the shadows and tacked Jameson to the ground. Jamie screeched as his chest is crushed into the concrete, thick claws digging into his skin. He looked up in fear at his assailant, only to meet the glowing green eyes of a panther. He swallowed thickly.

Magnificent stepped out into the moonlight, giggling as he snapped- lighting candles on the ground in an instant.

“Really Jackson… haven’t we beaten that sass out of you yet?” He hummed in amusement. Jameson bared his teeth weakly. He opened his mouth to retort but the panther cut him off, pushing into his face to growl loudly, spit dripping onto his cheeks.

The dark magician laughed then whistled, getting the panther’s attention. “That’s enough, assistant. Lift him back up so he can watch, won’t you?”

The panther looked back to Jamie with a slight snarl before getting down to lift him up by the back of his shirt with its teeth. It plopped JJ down onto his knees then snorted in his face, finally flicking it’s tail at him as it prowled back towards Magnificent and curled around his legs. It brushed up against him with its snout, purring. Magnificent chuckles and pets it’s head.

“Ah such attitude- that’s why you’re one of my favorites~” The panther chuffed and nudged more against his hand.

Magnificent looked down to Jameson with a smirk. “Mmm probably shouldn’t keep the audience waiting huh?” He mused. Jameson gave him a hard stare. But he didn’t want a repeat of what just happened, his chest still aching. So he kept his mouth shut.

The magician didn’t seem to mind, or care, as he slipped into his showman like voice. He acted like he was back on a stage- and he kinda was. He was on a platform the warehouse had, with a large staircase leading to it. A hole in the roof had the moon right over him, bathing him in the cold light.

The sight almost reminded Jameson of.. someone else. A man similar to Magnificent that owned the stage, loving to bask in the spotlight. One he would watch, captivated. Someone with a kinder smile and eyes full of light.

But, that man was long since dead.

“Let’s get on with tonight’s show!” Magnificent’s voice boomed in the empty warehouse. More of Magnificent’s other pets prowled out of the shadows to sit around Jameson and watch. Like an actual audience. “Tonight, pets, all watch and be amazed! As we help one of our loyal assistants ascend to her rightful role! As another one of you becomes a magnificent vestige!” The other cats all roared and mewled like a raging crowd, hurting Jameson’s ears and making him curl onto himself.

Vestige… that name set off alarms in the doctor’s head.

Magnificent grinned, watching as shadows seemed to curl from the darkness around him- echoed voices laughing and cheering. Jameson wondered if the moonlight was messing with his eyes- cuz he saw images of cats and panthers dancing through the air with the laughter.

The magician turned to the panther behind him, sitting up and watching him loyally. Mag outstretched a hand over it, his fingers lighting up green. Soon, the panther’s eyes echoed the glow- and its body shone as ripples of green and purple magic curled off its body, beginning to change its shape.

Jameson’s eyes widened as the panther before him morphed into a human form. But not just any human form- it’s… its-!

“E-Emily!” He finally chokes, his voice cracking from staying quiet for so long. But, also from the tears escaping his eyes in rivers. “No- no! Emily!!”

Magnificent looks back to his captive with a mild shock. Then, slowly, his grin widens.

“Ohhh that’s right!” He laughs, approaching Jameson, “You knew this one didn’t you? She’s the girl you dated in our good old college days…” He goes to twirl around her and play with her hair, kiss her hand, touch her shoulders- earning no reaction from the girl but making Jamie squirm. “She’s the one you married right? And had your little… ‘angel’ with. ...the one who left you-

Completely broke your heart.”

Suddenly, Mag is before Jameson again in a flash of static, tilting his head like a curious cat. “Why call out for her, Jackson? Do you honestly believe she still has any love in her heart for you??”

Jameson weeps, bending over with hardly any strength to lift himself up. When he doesn’t answer, Mag gets up and snaps, drawing Emily’s attention back to him. She slinks over, still very cat-like, and rubs up against him with a slight purr. Her eyes still look feline- showing no human quality. It sends chills down the doctor’s spine.

“If you really believe that Jameson,” Magnificent purrs, rubbing a finger down his pet’s face. “Try it. See if you can reach her- with your so called ‘power of love’.”

Emily tilts her head down to Jameson curiously and Jameson swallows, trying to find his voice.

“E-Emily…” He whispers, trying to drag himself forward despite the magic holding him in place. “Emily, love, please- you have to remember me… remember our family- your daughter Alice-! It has to be in there somewhere… please Emily!!” He all but shouts at her at the end, his voice choked with emotion.

But, the puppet just blinks at him. No spark, no light of recognition. Just an empty stare.

And the doctor’s heart shatters.

Magnificent watches his prisoner shrink in defeat, hiding his face as he sobs. He giggles then bends down in front of Jamie again, grabbing his chin and squishing his cheeks.

“Oh come now, Jameson~,” He chuckles darkly, his voice a cheap mockery of sympathy, “don’t feel too bad! Unlike some of my other cubs, she’s very well trained. And besides… doesn’t some part of you deep down want this? I mean- she left you. She left you all alone to care for a baby by yourself- while she frolicked and flirted and fucked with guys left and right. She never thought of you. So… don’t you think she deserves this?”

“W-what?! No you lunati-!”

Mag rolls his eyes and forces a thumb over Jamie’s mouth. “Yeah yeah- you’re a ‘good’ guy- so of course you don’t let yourself think that. But- you’ll see in time, my pet. I’m doing you the ultimate favor~” He gets back up and steers Emily back to her place, making her kneel on the platform while she looks up devotedly to her master. “We’ll just consider this- a gift from an old friend, hm?”

Jameson felt like he was dropping into a deep pit as he watched, struggling weakly against the magic. “w-wait no-! No please!!”

“Relax, Doc! She hasn’t had a human thought for a longgg time!!” The madman cackles, “She won’t feel a thing~!”

The dark magician started to chant in a strange tongue, purple and green runes appearing in the air around him. The room started to fill with the sound of static, and the pressure increased tenfold. Magic licked at Jameson’s skin, burning hot, leaving his trapped arms stinging. He watched in horror as strange light entered Emily’s eyes, eating up any last trace of humanity left in her. Magnificent waved his hands in the air, the runes gathering in his palms as he lifted them up- as if showing them to the full moon above. In a swift whisper- the candles around them blew out- leaving the space lit up only by the magic humming in the air.

Magnificent took one of his hands and shoved it into Emily’s chest- the other hand took the runes and placed them on her forehead. His own eyes filled to the brim with burning purple magic as he said one final word of power.

Then, Emily began to scream.

Jameson cried out and tried to move again but he couldn’t- it’s like the force of magic was keeping him frozen. The runes started to crawl across Emily’s skin like a disease- spreading like veins and eating up the color. From where Mag’s hand laid on her chest, whips of colors started to flow from her body into the magician’s hold. Like broken china- her skin started to crack behind the glowing runes, breaking into bits and leaving behind the impression of where she was kneeling. Except, it was a form filled with dark shadows and colored static. Her hair burned away- her clothes, as more of her broke away to the force stealing from her body. Magnificent cackled madly as his veins burned almost blindly purple with power- all of the life force that once made up Emily was now flowing into him.

It felt like an eternity- or maybe just a few seconds- but soon… There was nothing left of the assistant. Nothing human. Instead stood a human like mass of dark static, head bowed as what was once her hair flowed in an unseen wind. Magnificent pulled his hand away, shaking off the magic and wiping blood from his eyes. He grinned like a madman as he looked over the being.

“Rise! My new vestige.”

The shadow raised its head, showing pits of swirling purple and green that now replaced its eyes. A grin spread across its face as it rose around Magnificent and cackled. It’s voice echoed the one she had in life- but now also filled with static and corruption. A twisted mockery of what once was. She twisted around her master, her form changing to a panther, a small house cat then back to her new shadowed form. She stands by Magnificent once she’s done and curtises.

“Ready to serve the Magnificent, master!” She whispers in glee. Magnificent pets her cheek, and she purrs, changing back into a cat form to lay across his shoulders and enjoy his touch.

Jameson… can’t look away. But he’s numb- he can’t think, can’t breathe. Can’t feel…

He’s broken.

Magnificent purrs to the shadow, curling his finger under its chin. “You need a name worthy of your station now, pet. From now on, you’ll be Circe.”

Circe purrs with affection in her eyes, “Yes Master! What a perfect name! Thank you!”

Hearing this- something dawns on him. He looks up to Magnificent with panic, whispering, “A-Alt-“ The doctor had already seen what Mag had recently done to Alt. The madman made sure to parade him around so Jameson could see. He felt even more sick to his stomach, his heart thumping wildly in his chest as dread settled in like lead. “Y-You’re planning to do this to Alt.. aren’t you?!”

Magnificent hummed, an impressed spark in his eye. “Your intellect always seems to surprise me, Jackson!”

He continues to pet his vestige with a finger, “Yes- his destiny is to become a vestige like this. But greater… he should become my masterpiece~!” His eyes fill with a lustful hunger that sends shivers down JJ’s spine. “Even after all this time… his magic is such a mystery to me. I wish to harness it all for myself- uncover its mysteries to the fullest! The power he could hold… what we could uncover by removing his human limits! Why he might be the greatest of all my pets!” He studied the static cat on his shoulder with what seems like disapproval- that strange hunger lingering in his expression. Then, he shrugged.

“He’s still a bit untrained… prone to moments of human clarity. I can’t have that so… in time. I must wait for the next full moon as well. But soon, he’ll be mine~” Magnificent sings, laughing madly and leaving Jameson shivering.

But Despite his fear, Jameson calls out, a dangerous spark of anger in his eyes. “Y-You’re sick… I… I used to believe there wasn’t anyone that couldn’t be redeemed but you-! You’re a fucking monster! No one can save your rotting corrupted corpse!!”

A Blume of power cracks against Jameson’s face and sends him flying backwards, skidding on the ground painfully. He hardly gets a chance to blink or breathe before claws are gripping at his neck and hoisting him up. Pale blue eyes meet angry corrupted ones as Magnificent snarls in the good doctor’s face.

“That mouth of yours has insulted me for the last fucking time, Dr.Jackson.”

Now… all he can see is blue again. But- it’s more blue-green… buzzing with electricity. And… glitching? It sounded like a computer.

Speaking of sounds- he can hear familiar shouting to his left.

“Oh you fuckers just wait! I got several knives with your names on them!” Anti was spitting.

Volt was trying to keep his voice level and quiet- but he had that hero tone in his voice. “Anti- stand down… we do not know-“

“You keep threatening us and the shield ain’t going anywhere, bitch!” A new voice called out- sounding raked with the same glitches that buzzed around the magic in air.

Jj pulled himself up right and tried to focus. Through the blue-green magic- it looks like they are in… an office? Or a very corporate looking loft space at the very least. a huge L shaped couch was taking up most of the space. There’s what sounds like a TV behind them, playing parts of a movie. Popcorn is littered on the ground in front of them.

But most importantly- there’s a group of men standing right outside the shield.

The most prominent one is whoever is making the magic it seems. He seems- younger almost. Scrawny build that’s hidden behind clothes that are too big for him. A bandana with a stitched smiley face sits around his neck. He has his hand outstretched to keep the magic going but he himself seems to be glitching too. But… most striking of all…

He looks exactly like Anti. Well… minus the freckles and completely brown hair.

Jameson looks at his companion to his side- where he heard his voice and balks at seeing Anti here in the shield with him… then- who the hell?

The boy with the magic is looking more enraged by the second, but- his eyes give away fear.

“I-I ain’t fucking around so- you guys better tell us who the fuck you are and why you’re here or-!”

“Or what? You gotta throw more shields at us?” Anti snarks, crossing his arms. “Oh yeah I’m soooo scared! Face me like a real man, motherfucker- I’ll even give you a knife to borrow so it’s fair!”

“F-Friends, please! There is no need for violences!” A thick German accented voice calls out. But… that’s not Volt- the hero would never sound so meek and unsure.

And sure enough, Volt is here in the bubble, trying to hold Anti back from attacking the shield.

But- back on the other side… Jameson can see the call came from a tall tealed-haired gentleman in a bright blue suit. He- has the same vibe as Marvin… but he looks exactly like Schneep.

What was going on?

“I’m with Hen you guys- I do not need more blood on this carpet- you and Bro already drive my cleaning bill through the roof, Alt.” Another voice joins in. Jameson looks and jumps- seeing it’s the spitting image of Jackie! But- boy this one looks even more tired then the doctor… and a lot more casual- wearing a red hoodie with the YouTube logo on it and no glasses. Superhero parkour… what was that?

Jameson looks around and can’t help but jump again as he sees the actual Jackie- Dr. Parker- quietly taking all this in to his right. The doctor waves slightly at Jameson with a tight smile before looking back at the chaos.

The magician- Alt, if Jameson had to guess, blushed at the other Jackie’s remark. “S-Shut up! Fuck, where is he anyways?”

There’s a quiet cough to announce someone new. Alt glances their way-

“He was in the bathroom before this began I believe…” Came a signed reply.

Jameson’s stomach dropped as he looked towards the signing hands and- stared back at himself. But- this guy was… more put together in a sense. He was smartly dressed- like a therapist almost. He had round glasses and a kind face- and even though he looked extremely tired, was unusually calm despite all of this.

Jameson’s head spun… what was going on?? He gripped at his hair.

Volt and Anti looked towards the movement. Volt seemed to relax slightly, “Oh good you’re okay…”

“Jackson! Show this bitch real fucking magic!” Anti hissed, still glaring down his doppelgänger. “He looks like one good blast can knock him over!”

Alt grits his teeth, his hair flying up in an unseen wind as his eyes light up brighter. “I wouldn’t underestimate me if I were you, imposter.”

“You’re the fucking imposter!” Anti snapped, fighting against Volt again. Volt gritted his teeth and tried to keep the programmer back.

“Anti- ver damnit! Take a second to calm down!”

The magic in the shield sputters as the kid suddenly and physically glitches- the image of him almost splitting apart before snapping back together. He looks pale.

“W-What did you just call him?” He seems to whisper in dawning horror.

Volt is slow to respond, “Anti… that is his name.”

“Y-You’re lying-“

Anti grits his teeth, “that’s my fucking name, asshole! What’s it to you?! You got a problem with that?”

Alt’s magic increases- the air tasting like metal as he glitches more.

“T-That can’t be your name- that’s my name!” The boy shouts, hand shaking.

Jameson’s eyes widen- and he sees Anti and Volt’s do the same. It’d be something else entirely if they had a more common name… but they both go by Anti- and look almost identical.

Anti frowns, “didn’t that guy just call you Alt-“

The magic suddenly shrinks around them, the air getting darker and more swamped with glitches.

“S-Shut up! All of you shut up!!” Alt screeches, looking more and more unhinged. “N-None of you are going anywhere-!”

“Y-You can’t just keep us here!” Dr. Parker finally speaks, “in fact- you- you have to let us out. One of our friends is missing and he’s injured!”

Jameson’s stomach drops. Oh god…

Where was Marvin?

The other Jackie braved through some of the chaotic magic to get to Alt’s side and puts a hand on his shoulder. “A-Alt! I know what this looks like- but please- you gotta calm down! We have no idea if it’s like last time!”

“I don’t want to take any fucking chances-“ Alt barked, eyes alive with sparking electrcity. “I won’t be tricked- not again!”

“Alt please- we should be giving them the benefit of the doubt, yes?” The teal haired gentleman offered.

Alt grit his teeth, “that’s what happened last time- and I’m not putting any of us through that again!”

He looked really really scared under all that rage.

Jameson looked towards the sparking magic of the shield. He presses light fingers to the surface. Despite its pulsing chaotic nature- it actually felt quite fragile. It was not magically sound. An unpracticed display hardly kept together by its own chaotic nature. Jameson carefully came forward- then pushed his own magic against the barrier.

The shield shattered like glass in an instant. But before all hell broke loose, Jameson got to his feet and sent out a blast of cold air to stop everyone in their tracks and get their attention. He coughed then signed.

“First, let’s even the playing field, shall we?”

Tensions rose- especially between the two Antis as both parties tried to keep them from going at each other.

One figure though seemed absolutely delighted by Jameson’s statement.

The tealed-haired gentleman sprung forward, his eyes aglow with what can only be described as childhood wonder. “Mein gott! You also know sign!”

He quickly signed to Jameson, effectively putting himself between the feud but- calming it somehow. Probably because he seemed to have no malicious intent.

“Hello, new friend! My name is Henrik von Schneeplestein! It is nice to meet you! I very much like your mask!”

Jameson gasps and hears another one join him. He looks to Volt- who seems to have paled. He looks to Jamie and mouths, “Did I read that correctly?” Jameson gives him a hesitant nod.

Volt coughs then points to himself. “Ah…I… I should probably not give out my identity but… given the circumstances… I am also Henrik von Schneeplestein.”

The other Henrik gasps, “Another Henrik? Oh it is so rare to meet others!” The gentleman seems to study his face for a second, “… you have an accent- it is also German?”

Volt seems to stiffen slightly, and looks a bit confused. “Ja?” He replies shortly.

The other Jameson steps up and clears his throat, placing his hand on the other Henrik’s shoulder before starting to sign too. “Please excuse my friend if he seemed rude. He’s hard of hearing- he’s gotten better with his hearing aid but- these things often escape him.”

The kindly man then looks and meets eyes with Jameson again, and smiles.

“I’m assuming… you also go by Jameson? Jameson Jackson?”

Jj slowly nods, then smiles and goes to bow slightly with his cape. “Unless I’m on stage- then it’s the Jaunty Jackson!”

The other jameson laughs quietly and nods with a smile. “A fine stage name! If that’s the case- you all can refer to me as Dr.J.”

“Are we really just- introducing ourselves right now?!” Anti growls, but Volt just keeps him in his arms, studying the groups with a calculating eye.

His Jackie stands up- and makes eye contact with the other one holding back Alt.

“Are you… also Jackie then? Jackie Parker?”

The other Jackie blinks then shakes his head with a smile, “Jackie Mann. Close though!” As he says this- The doctor can see the flash of something gold on his finger- similar to a matching band on his own hand.

“You’re married- does your partner… call you Jackieboy?”

The other Jackie’s eyes widen, “w-whoa- how did you-?”

“My partner does too.” The doctor smiles.

“That’s also the nickname of my YouTube persona- thanks to my wife.” Jackie Mann grins with a laugh, looking proud.

Then- suddenly there’s a snap like a power cable is cut and Alt glitches out of Jackie’s grip and in front of Jameson.

“Okay enough! This ain’t just a casual-meet-up-feel-good-time! I need fucking answers!”

Alt grabs Jameson by his collar and drags him forward. “Who are you people? And why are you here? Are you here to fuck with our minds? Kill us and replace us?”

Jameson quickly shakes his head and waves his hands before signing. “We want to do no such thing, I promise! We- we have no idea how we got here! I just used something new with my magic and- next thing we know I woke up here! That’s all!”

Anti cried out and tried to charge at Alt and Volt was having a hard time keeping him back down, “f-fucking bitch! Let him go!”

And Alt did- almost instantly. But he still glitched back and eyed the others down with a skeptic eye.

“…how do I know you’re not lying?”

“Maybe cuz this is all fucking insane? Why would we lie about something like this?” Anti spit.

Alt glares at Anti then sighs, looking behind them. “…I want Bro’s opinion- where the fuck is he?”

Bro Fantastic was stuck in a nightmare. A horrible nightmare he couldn’t seem to wake up from.

And the nightmare was staring back at him- an unshakable grin on its face as it approached Chase. Tilting its head like a curious animal.

“Well… isn’t this interesting?” The monster laughed, blood dripping down its face. Chase felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“What… are you?” Chase whispered, shakily trying to find something to hold- he couldn’t feel his knees.

Because… even though his mind was starting to fuzz over with gray and it was hard to concentrate…

He knew his own face- especially when it was staring right back at him.

“Mmm scared to speak the truth out loud, Chaser?” The bleeding copy giggled, getting up in Chase’s face, dripping blood on his shirt.

“N-No! Stop it!” Bro shouted, scrambling backwards- he didn’t wanna touch this thing.

The monstrous doppelgänger laughed cruelly, “Wowww! Who’d have thought you’d be such a coward? Kinda pathetic really? What? you scared of me~?” He stepped up and then cracked his neck loudly, tilting it at an unnatural angle. And that’s when Chase can see the blood cascading down the side of his head.

“I-I’m not scared!” Bro tries to argue, but his shaking hands are giving him away. He- he can’t even summon his powers- the edges of his vision are graying out, the room around him looking fuzzy. Ringing is overtaking his ears.

“There’s no reason to be scared…” The copy cooed out in a suddenly calm and smooth voice. He got close to Bro again and the hero was running out of places to run. “In fact… I think the two of us could be great friends.”

The gray figure shot out its hand and grabbed Chase’s neck, pulling him close. Were his nails always so sharp? Chase tries to pull away as the gray takes over more and more of his vision.

“I think… we could get to know each other real well~” the creature whispered, its impossibly wide grin getting even wider.

Chase’s blood was pounding in his ears. He felt something heavy in his hands. Something he never ever tries to use.

The gun feels wrong- yet he finds himself gripping it tighter.

The figure is no longer in front of him- and now Chase is facing the mirror. He meets his reflection’s wide gray eyes, streams of blood falling from them. His hand shakingly starts to rise. The cool feeling of metal hits the side of his head before he even registers the sight of it in the mirror. His hands are trembling and he’s hyperventilating- yet his reflection stares at him stoically. Then- its eyes turn black and the reflection grins wide as it whispers. “Do it.”

The sound of a gunshot goes off.

And then- Chase opens his eyes with a cry, springing back and hitting his head against the bathroom wall. He pants, quickly feeling his head and- oh god oh god did he just-?!

But… there’s no blood there. There’s- no sign that anything he just saw was real… he swallows shakily and then goes to splash water on his face.

What the fuck was that? He… can’t get that creature’s face out of his mind…

He hears the commotion outside and shakes it off- quickly rushing back out towards his friends.

And his reflection watches him go, grinning ear to ear.

Bro bursts into the room, looking pale like he’s seen a ghost. He’s panting like he just ran a marathon.

“Woah Chase! Are you okay?” Jackie calls out, going to put a hand on Bro’s shoulder. The hero shakes himself out and nods.

“Y-Yeah fine…” He takes in that there’s double the people in here now- all looking at him. He blinks and then looks back at the room he just came from. “…Jesus, how long was I in there?”

“Too long man, what the hell were you doing?” Alt growls.

Bro rubs the back of his head. “Uh… well you know-“

Alt pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs, “okay let’s just- catch you up…”

He points at the others and explains, “We got doppelgängers again- another Anti- a Schneep, a Jj and a Jackie.” Alt points to each respective person and they all react in kind, either waving or just acknowledging the hero.

Bro blinks, “well- hi there! Uhh welcome? I’m Bro Fantastic- but… you guys can call me Chase.”

Alt elbows Chase and gives him a ‘wtf’ look. Chase blinks and gives Alt a confused look back.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Introducing myself?”

“And giving away your name to complete strangers?”

“…who are clearly your guys’ doppelgängers-“

“Yeah! They could be evil like those last guys!”

Chase looks at the relatively calm group of guys- except the goth looking one. He’s kinda scary but- doesn’t look evil.

“…I don’t think they are Alt-“

“I thought the same thing last time and they fucked with my mind, remember?!” Alt explains in exasperation.

“Only cuz you were too stubborn to listen to the first person who actually wanted to help you.” Chase retorted, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow down at Alt. Alt sputters and then turns away, his face bright red. He quickly hides it under his mask.

Bro looks at the others with an apologetic smile, “Sorry about my brother. He’s… a bit paranoid about these things.”

The others look at their Anti with wide eyes. Anti shakes his head. “D-Don’t look at me! I don’t have a brother!”

Jj looks back at the hero and signs, “I’m guessing this isn’t the first time something like this has happened?”

Bro laughs, “It’s never happened in our town no… but we’ve been in a similar situation.”

Jackie sighed and crossed his arms, “Still not sure how it happened but- we blinked and suddenly we were in another city where there was like… inverted versions of us. All of them were fuckers- except that Anti dude. He was chill.”

Alt mutters from under his mask, “My… former boss is also obsessed with the concept of the ‘multiverse’. Guess it was only a matter of time until something freaky like this happened…”

Volt knits his eyebrows together in confusion, “I guess it is not impossible… but very improbable.”

“Not if there’s magic involved!” Jameson adds with a smile. But then- his smile falls. Magic-

“Wait, we still need to figure out where Marvin is! He was hurt, wasn’t he?”

Dr. Jackie nodded, looking anxious as he adjusted his glasses. “Yeah he was delirious and losing blood from Distorter’s control…”

“Dis…tor-ter?” The other Henrik asked, sounding out the word carefully, having trouble reading the doctor’s lips, “Who is that?”

“This mother fucking… thing that’s been tormenting us for god knows how long-“ Anti muttered. “A fucking gray and bleeding eyed motherfucker- who messes with your head and makes you see things.”

Bro paled, feeling a chill run up his spine. Just like… what he saw in the bathroom, right? Why was it suddenly so hard to remember it exactly? All except… that face.

“I’m sorry-“ Jackie’s voice breaks Chase out of his thoughts, “Did you guys say your friend’s name was Marvin?”

Jameson nods.

Jackie bites his lip and looks around, “oh boy… okay so- if you all ended up here in front of us… and… Chase- nobody just appeared next to you did they?”

“N-No!” Chase blurts out- probably too fast. His ears turn pink. “I… I didn’t see anyone no-“

“Huh… strange- guess their universe doesn’t have a Chase…”

“But anyways- if that’s the case… I think your Marvin might be… with ours.”

“And…why do you sound so nervous about that?” Jameson asks with hesitation.

Jackie and Alt exchange looks before Alt explains slowly.

“Let’s just say… Magnificent isn’t the best bitch to be stuck with. If this Distorter guy is the one who tortures you guys… then ours would be him. Ours is Magnificent.”

———

Marvin goes flying across the warehouse floor, tumbling and skidding against the concrete like roadkill. He coughs and tries to struggle up- god… where was his cane?

The bitch that threw him loomed over him and laughed wildly, multicolored static flickering behind him in a burst of power.

“Pathetic! Are you truly my counterpart? I would have expected another me to have more fight in him!”

Marvin spit out blood and wiped at his face, trying to catch his breath.

“Yer not really givin’ me a chance to, are ya?” He growls, shakily trying to get to his feet.

The mad magician scoffs, looking his copy up and down with distaste plain on his face. Like he was looking at a bug or gum on the bottom of his shoe.

“I could tell by just looking at you. You’re not even worth my time… not an ounce of magic in you.” He sighs dramatically and throws out his hands, turning from the other and flaring out his cape. “The universe is a cruel mistress! Finally, she brings me something I’ve been searching for- but it falls just short!”

Marvin laughs as he holds himself up against the wall, “Maybe if ya played nicer, the universe would have rewarded ya. Sounds like you just decided to be a bitch t’ough-“

The magician sighs and shakes his head. He turns a glowing eye to look back at the pathetic copy. Then, he teleports so he’s right in front of him and grabs him by the lapel before slamming him back against the wall. Marvin cries out and tries to struggle. The magician’s gaze makes him feel like a cornered creature being studied for science.

“You’d be useless as a puppet to me…” The mad man muses, lifting up Marvin’s chin and twisting it with his claws. “I can feel someone has already laid claim to your mind anyways… too messy to destroy right now.”

His cat-like eyes spark with mischief and he grins, showing sharp canines. “However… you might make a fine addition to my… feline collection~”

“T-the hell I won’t! I ain’t bein’ a part of anyone's collection! And I already have a cat, t’ank you very much!” Marvin protests, fighting in the magician’s grip even harder.

The magician laughs and forces Marvin to look up at him. Then, he snaps and a spiral of purple and green appears in front of Marvin’s eyes. The gentleman’s breath hitches, his body trying to tense up. But it just as easily starts to fall limp, hands slipping off the magician’s and falling to his side. His head falls back against the wall behind him, lips parting to exhale softly as his eyes fall to half mast.

The magician giggles softly before cooing to Marvin, “Very good, pet. Just let it take you… down… down… down…no more pesky thoughts, Hm? There’s no need for any more of those… human thoughts just get in the way… wouldn’t you agree?”

Marvin finds himself numbly nodding.

The magician grins, madness alight in those spiraling eyes. “Mmm yes… much too messy. Too easy for someone else to grab… I’m going to make your life so much better, Marvin… as my pet, you’ll be free. Free from this weak body of yours… free from the limitations put on you. You’ll even have two more good legs! Now… doesn’t that sound nice?”

Marvin finds himself slurring out a sloppy, “yes…”, eyelids fluttering.

The mad man chuckles. “Use your words, kitten, and ask properly. My name should already be on your tongue…

Let your last spoken words sing my praises. Tell me this is what you want, puppet~ Would you like to live out the rest of your days as my simple little kitty pet?”

Marvin’s mind is completely blank. His eyes start to shift to something slitted- something purely feline. It’s hard to get his lips to move- words already seem so hard and unnecessary.

“Yessss Magnificenttt…” Marvin purrs, eyes nearly shut as a blissful smile curls on his lips.

Magnificent grins, “Excellent kitten… let’s get your body to match your mind now, shall we?”

The mad magician then pumps Marvin’s body full of magic. Marvin screams- bones cracking and being rearranged by the burning heat of the magic. It feels agonizing- like being compressed into a tight space.

If Marvin could think- he’d probably be terrified. But, luckily, only his body reacted to the pain. His mind was blank still, untouched.

The transformation ends and out of the sparking magic- is a large brown and cream Norwegian forest cat. It’s soft blue eyes blink up at its master and it meows softly, before going to lick its paw.

Magnificent tsks, “Damnit. Too much personality left in tact. Well… they’re not all winners at the start.” He sighs. He then scoops up the cat and starts to pet it kindly. The cat stares out, as if trying to process something- trying to fire off some kind of thought in its head. But- Magnificent’s soft pets seem to drive off those thoughts and it starts to purr, slumping in his arms.

“Trying to get those human thoughts back, Hm? A valiant effort I’ll say~” Magnificent hummed in amusement. It was always so fun to see them attempt to struggle. “Worry not, kitten… I’ll get you trained… and we’ll get you into a proper appearance in no time~ just like my other lovely pets!”

The madman looks behind him and grins at the dozens of obedient green eyes that grin back at him from the dark.

He then looks back at the cat in his arms and thinks out loud, “or perhaps… keeping you like this could be like a trophy of sorts… like how I planned to keep my cub.” He hummed, the feeling of defeat still stark in his mouth. But- that feeling did remind him.

“Oh yes! Before we do anything more… we must get rid of that awful name of yours. In fact… I’ll be glad to never hear that name again-“ Magnificent growls. He snaps his fingers- and creates another spiral in front of the kitten that instantly captures its attention. It sits up straight, slitted eyes transfixed on the magic, mind completely blanking again.

“Now then… what shall your new name be…?”

“Marvin!” A voice suddenly shouted.

Magnificent turns around to growl, eyes bright with magic. “Who dares to-?!”

A bullet rips through the magician’s shoulder, throwing him back and knocking the cat out of his grasp. The kitten skips like a rock before stilling, staring out blankly. Then- light seems to come back to its eyes. Human light. It quickly gets back to its feet and shakes itself off. That’s… when he starts to panic- taking in his paws and smaller appearance. He starts to turn around in disbelief, yowling in distress. He doesn’t fully step down on his back leg though.

Anti steps into the warehouse and glares at Magnificent, keeping his gun aimed at the magician. “Alright freakshow- where the fuck is our friend?!”

Magnificent clutches at his shot shoulder- the air around him bending and shifting like hot summer air. He laughs, sounding unhinged. “Haha! A new face in my lair… how amusing!” He studies Anti and then teleports in front of him, eyes sparking with intrigue. “But… somehow still a familiar face… you look just like my favorite cub, puppet.”

Anti’s aim falters as he scrambles back, resting his hand at the butt of the gun to keep it steady. “B-Back off! We just want our friend back then we’ll be out of your freaky hair!”

“Is that all?” Magnificent chuckles with amusement. “You’ve come a long way from home… why don’t you stick with me and I’ll make you all feel so welcomed! …just like I did with Marvin~”

“I fucking knew it! Where is he, cocksucker? What did you do to him?!”

Magnificent's eyes flashed dangerously, “The same thing I’m about to do to you.”

He shoots out a hand towards Anti- purple and green electricity heading straight for him.

When suddenly, a shield shoots up and blocks the magic, chipping like it’s made of ice.

The newcomer, Jameson, looks to Anti and gestures to where that cat is still freaking out. Anti gives Jameson a look. Jameson rolls his eyes and signs something quick to Anti. Finally, the other boy seems to nod- but he looks super weirded out by the whole situation.

Magnificent’s eyes light up hungrily at the sight of the new magician. He grins, approaching the barrier with practiced grace, his walk like that of an actor on stage.

“A fresh magician too! Mayhaps the universe has decided to be kind to me after all!” He laughs.

Jameson glares at the other magician with burning blue eyes.

“Ohhh the silent type…” Magnificent observes with a crooked smile. “How rare that is in these parts…”

He teleports behind Jameson- then pushes the other magician up against the icy shield, grinning like a predator over him.

“What refined magic you have!” Magnificent giggles with glee, “What a marvel it is to see such… careful practice put back into magic~” The mad man leans in, hungry for just a taste of this boy’s magic- his fingers light up with purple.

Jameson quickly shoves a hand in Magnificent’s face and sends a blast of ice at him. A thick chunk freezes with Mag’s head inside. He yells in rage and tries to claw it off- he can’t see!

“Now!” Jameson yells hoarsely, pushing away from the magician and running towards the exit, “Run!!”

Anti uses the mad magician’s confusion to scoop up the cat and rushes towards the door after Jameson.

“I hope you’re right about this, Jackson! Or this will be real awkward to patch up later!”

The last thing they hear before reaching the others is the sound of Magnificent’s wild cry of rage.

Magnificent breaks off the ice and slams his fist into the wall, cursing in Latin. But, soon he takes a deep breath and calms down. That magician…

Oh it’s gonna be so fun to make him his.