#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!)

Marvin grit his teeth, “You got the wrong guy! I ain’t that asshole! Leave me alone!” ….Guess the splashes of paint he threw on his signature mask weren’t enough to throw them off…

“C’mon Marvin don’t do this!” Another figure pleaded, “We can help you! You don’t have to keep doing this! Running away isn’t gonna fix any of this!”

Marvin’s chest ached. That voice was familiar… a friend. Someone who tried to help him get on his feet after killing Phantom. But, even after joining the circle… he never felt like he could belong. Even though he was magic like them- he was far too different. They could never understand the pain of being a figment.

Of being human, but not at all. Of being solid, being able to live on his own. But constantly feeling like that could be taken away from him at any minute. Of trying to find out who he was, but never fully being able to know. Not unless he fell to the whims of a creator that had done nothing but abandon him in this dark and confusing world.

He could never go back… he’s heard nothing from his so-called creator since his hastily given name. Why go back to someone who doesn’t even care?

And besides… creators, family, friends… they all meant nothing, in the end. His last friend tried to steal his soul, after all.

The books he stole were weighing him down. But he was determined to not get caught. It had been a hard time trying to get out of their sights… he was exhausted, tired, filthy. He hardly even looked like he did when he was first made anymore. His beard was ragged, the green in his hair overgrown and faded.

But still, he was stubborn and determined. He had to get away…

To do… what exactly? He wasn’t sure. He just knew that he couldn’t stay with others. They’d only hurt him in the end… or he’d wind up hurting them.

He allowed himself to screech to a stop, then skid to face the charging magicians. He yelled out and held out both his hands, charging magic and then firing out a wall of blue-green flames to cut them off. The hooded figures all scrambled to stop before hitting the flames. Marvin caught the eye of his former friend, their face pleading under the shadow of their hood.

Marvin bared his teeth ferally, “Marvin the Magnificent doesn’t exist anymore! And if you continue to chase me, I’ll make you disappear too.”

Then, Marvin’s speech gets cut off as he’s suddenly grabbed from behind by his hood, dangling in the air like a kitten caught by its scruff.

“Okay hey now- enough of that!” A light voice seemed to joke, but he also had a type of power behind his charismatic tone.

One of the magicians gasped as they looked at the new figure. “J-Jackieboy Man!”

Marvin’s blood went cold and he paled. He… knew that name. It was one of the other figments Jack made. That- that hero guy. The first one.

Fucking shit! His heart was racing with panic- he didn’t want to be brought back to Jack! He was sure he’d gone way off the path of whatever joke Jack made him for. Going back… what if Jack decided he was too wild to keep around? Too dangerous?

He wouldn’t let himself fade- he wouldn’t become like Phantom!

Acting quickly, Marvin shifted into cat form and wriggled out of the hero’s grip. Jackieboy yelped and tried to grab the cat, only for Marvin to hiss and swat at his face, claws catching flesh. Jackieboy hissed through his teeth and stumbled back.

Marvin trembled back on shaky legs then ran as fast as those little legs could take him. He was bound to outrun the hero being this small!

Jackieboy shouted after him. “Hey wait!”

The shopping center they were running through was almost empty where he left the hero and magicians. But now the disguised figment could hear the roar of the crowd ahead. He surged forward as fast as he could, determined if he could reach them he could lose the hero for good.

But, he knew nothing of what Jack blessed the other figments with. With a burst of speed, Jackie had leaped into the air, then landed in front of Marvin, eyes glowing silver-blue.

The hero wiped at the blood on his face. “…that wasn’t very nice, you know.”

Marvin hissed, the card symbols on his forward glowing with magic. At this sight, Jackie’s eyes widened.

“Wait…! I… I know you- I’ve seen you! You’re… you’re one of us! …Marvin! Marvin, right?” The hero breathed, smiling brightly.

The cat trembled back and then shifted in a bit of light back into his human form. He glared at the hero and bared slightly fanged teeth. “…what of it? You here to turn me in?”

Jackieboy looked confused, “What? No! I mean- unless those magic guys were like… actually trying to arrest you for a crime…”

Marvin looked away, a distant flicker of guilt crossing his face.

The hero’s face fell. “…oh-“ He said quietly. But then he shook his head and tried to step forward, spreading out his hands. “But I mean… hey! We can… we can figure that out! It’s just… no one has heard hide or tail of you! You were all over the telly with your shows and then… you were just gone…”

Marvin looks at Jackieboy with a surprised expression, though he tried to keep himself guarded. … they… noticed that?

Jackie’s face creased in sympathy, “I don’t see Jack much… but I know he’s been worried. And- that means you haven’t even met the others yet! God dude… we’d all would love to meet you… we’ve heard so much about you! I used to watch your shows all the time!”

The magician-turned-thief’s guard lowered as he stared at Jackie in shock. Was… all of that true?

Though… new figments huh? His eyes darkened as he spat. “I see… Jack realized I was a failure and is already setting up replacements, Huh?”

The hero looked even more bewildered. “What?! No way that’s- that isn’t it at all! Dude, you needa take a massive chill pill!”

This made Marvin’s anger even stronger. Magic sparked around him as he growled out. “I can’t afford to ‘take a chill pill’! My life hasn’t been easy like yours, Hero! You have no idea what I’ve fucking been through, what darkness I’ve had to run from. Don’t you dare try to brush it off with your fucking jokes!”

There’s a beat of silence as Jackie just stares at Marvin.

“….damn- you’re like a massive edge lord-“ Jackie deadpans.

Marvin’s magic flickers for a second before coming back stronger. “What?! Did you- did you even listen to what I-?”

“Yeah- and it was like- straight out of the edge lord handbook, dude. Super cringe-“

The magician yells in rage and tries to throw a punch at Jackie. But, the hero just catches it and looks down at Marvin with a raised eyebrow. Marvin huffs and glares at Jackie, but he can easily see how exhausted this guy looks… and how scared.

Jackie laughs nervously and then lets Marvin go, anxiously messing with his hair. “Okay you’re right- not the time for jokes… just thought they’d- I dunno… help to make you a little less intense.”

Marvin’s lip rose in a tiny snarl, glaring daggers at the hero.

The red clad man sighs and rubs his neck. “Look- you’re right. I don’t know what you’ve been through. But… I do know- Jack wouldn’t want you out here… running and struggling to survive. And- I don’t want to see that either- I mean… in my head… all of us are pretty much… brothers, you know? I couldn’t let my lil bro suffer out here.”

Marvin felt his heart flutter, a warm feeling spreading. He tries to hide his surprise at Jackie’s gentleness.

But, the hero continues, attempting to step forward. “Listen man- whatever you’re going through… you don’t have to do it alone. It’s confusing and lonely out there- and… if you come with me- I can take you to see that you aren’t alone… all of us are dealing with being figments too.”

He slowly offered his hand to Marvin.

"Us figments gotta stick together, don't you think?" Jackie grinned down at him, his smile so kind it threatened to blind Marvin.

The magician looked at Jackie’s hand with hesitation. He’d been running for so long… could he actually have a second chance? A chance to try again…?

Eventually with a shaky hand, Marvin took Jackie’s. “…alright… I… I guess I can give it a shot.”

Jackie beamed so brightly he could rival the sun.

He quickly took the magician to meet the others. Their brothers, he told Marvin excitedly. Marvin frowned at the thought. He… never thought he could ever really have a family.

Though he wasn’t holding his breath- knowing Jack these guys could all be complete fucking weirdos.

And that was his first impression as he took in the ragtag group of Jack look-a likes, mingling around a cabin at the edge of the city’s limits.

Marvin’s eyes wandered to the sight of a yellow-green haired dude in a jinx hat, whooping and hollering as he managed to shoot a nerf dart into an open box of Lyons tea. He winced as he saw the man dab. …okay-

On the couch was a teal-haired man who looked like he stepped straight out of a silent movie, preened mustache and all. Oh- of course he was also looking at a pocket watch, checking the time. He looked up at Marvin’s arrival and cocked his head silently but waved exaggeratedly at the sight of Jackie behind him.

And in the corner at a desk was a man in a white doctor’s coat and mint green scrubs. His light green hair hung over his glasses as he studied a book, mumbling to himself in German.

…yup- bunch of fucking weirdos.

“Hey nerds!” Jackie called out, shocking Marvin out of his thoughts as the hero pressed the shorter ego tight to his side. “Look who I found! Marvin!!”

Jackie turned to Marvin and then gestured out, “Marvin! These are the Septic egos! That’s what Jack calls us instead of figments- cuz we’re like, alter-egos in a way! Cool, huh?”

Three pairs of identical colored eyes all look up at him and Marvin feels his insides squirming. He must look so rough- so different to how they pictured him. How Jack pictured him…

He waved nervously, attempting a smile. But, it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

The figment in the ball cap bounded up to Marvin with sparkling eyes and explosive energy right away. “Oh no way! Suh dude!! Super awesome to meet ya!” He pointed to himself with his thumb, “I’m Chase! Chase Brody! Though~ you might know me better from my YouTube channel, Bro Average!”

Marvin staggered back, overwhelmed by the energy. He blinked at Chase, “uh… n-no sorry… I uh…. haven’t had much of a chance to… browse the web lately.”

For a second, the bright ego’s expression seemed to fall. But it just as quickly lit back up as he laughed. “Not a problem, bro! Maybe sometime I can catch ya up! Over a good cup of Lyons~!”

The magician pondered this and then felt a reaction to the thought of tea. Something he hadn’t really thought of. “…mint.” He looked back at Chase and smiled shyly. “…I like uh… mint tea… so maybe over a cup of that…?”

Chase made a face close to a grimace. “Mint??” Marvin wanted to shrink back in shame. But then the youtuber chuckled and shrugged. “Hey, not my cuppa! But like- we can hang over whoever type of tea you want, my dude!” He grinned mischievously, “Hell, I can show you allll the pics I got of my kids!”

Marvin’s eyebrows rose. “…you’re a dad?”

“That’s- complicated,” Jackie coughed close to Marvin. He patted Chase on the shoulder quickly and tried to distract the younger ego. “Yo Chase, bet you can’t make a trickshot into that trash can!”

The father’s eyes lit up at the challenge. “Oh fuck yeah dude! you’re on!”

He quickly busies himself grabbing supplies and a camera to film his attempt.

Jackie gathers Marvin up lightly and whispers. “I’ll uh… catch you up on that. Sensitive subject.”

He leads Marvin over to the doctor. The light hit his glasses just right as he turned to set the book down and studied the new ego quietly. He then nods, “Ah yes- you are the uh… magic one. Do not expect me to believe any of that shit, okay?”

Marvin bristled like an angry cat. “What?”

The doctor smirked and pushed up his glasses, sitting taller and more refined. “I am a man of science, Mr. Kätzchen. So, your little voodoo shite will not work on zhe good doctor, Dr. Henrik von Schneeplestien, ja?”

The magician growled and looked ready to jump the doctor. Jackie quickly grabbed Marvin underneath his arms and scooped him up like he weighed nothing. He laughed nervously and carted Marvin away, “Okay! No more of that! Bye Schneep, love you!”

The doctor rolled his eyes and went back to his book and mumbled, chewing on his pen cap.

Marvin is plopped down in front of the last ego, the mustached gentleman. The small magician glared at Jackie, then turned to face the teal-haired ego.

He smiled brightly at Marvin and tipped his hat. Then a screen flickered into view in front of him, showing words like an old-timey silent film still. Marvin blinked in surprise. This one had magic too?

The screen read. “Hello, good chap! I’m Jameson Jackson! Ever so glad to make your acquaintance!”

Marvin found himself smiling, “Hey… that’s a pretty cool spell…” He then sits down on the couch next to Jameson and took off his hood. ”… think you can show me how you did it?” He smiled shyly at the other ego. But, Jameson’s smile could light up the whole room as he eagerly nodded.

And soon… Marvin became one of them. He found his brothers- and finally had people who could truly understand him.

Marvin felt himself relax as the memory faded. He let the darkness take him… he knew his brothers were safe now. They could figure out the rest without him…

---------------

The boys all watch in stunned disbelief as Marvin falls.

Jameson acts quick and throws out a hand, desperately mouthing, “NO!”

A wash of teal races across the room, freezing everything as if it was paused. The heart monitor stops, the zipping electricity of the broken computer stops mid arc, the doll that tumbled out of Marvin’s hand stops mid motion, core still lit with his magic.

The boys all rush in- not frozen by Jamie’s spell. Jackie crashes to Marvin’s side and picks him up. “No! No nono no! Marvin! C’mon Marvin t-this isn’t funny! Fuck! what did you do?!”

Marvin lays limp in Jackie’s arms, eyes milky and unseeing. His open mouth leaks black smoke like a dying campfire. His limbs are caught halfway in the act of disappearing, looking see through.

“H-He’s…!” Schneep whispers in fear.

“Fading.” Anti answers gravelly, trying to push himself up using the wall.

“What does that mean?! D-Does that mean he’s dying- he’s dead?!” Chase cries out in panic, “ A-Are we next? Is it too late?”

“I-I do not know…!” Henrik whimpers.

Jackie curls up over his baby brother and watches his tears fall on his slack face. He holds him tight, his body trembling. “I’m so sorry Marvin… I-I should’ve been there for you sooner…!” He hangs his head over him and breaks down.

Then, there’s a cough that interrupts their sorrows.

Anti had managed to glitch across the room and leans against Jack’s bed. He tiredly glares at the others. “...w-whatever Jameson just cast… it paused what Kit kat did… so he’s not gone yet.”

They all look to Jameson in slight disbelief and JJ looks confused as he nods to Anti.

Anti rolls his eyes and gestures at the gentleman. “... you still have that watch, don’t ya? … I think you know what to do.”

Jameson’s eyes widen and he fumbles into his pocket to fish out his pocket watch. He touches it lightly and then clicks it open. He feels the pulse of magic within its gears- and a power he hardly remembered he had comes flooding back to him. He looks at the others excitedly and hops a bit before starting to turn the pin back. As he does, his eyes flood with teal power.

And- the room starts to move in reverse.

The heart monitor beeps backwards, the doll rolls back into Marvin’s hands- the magician himself slumps back up- out of Jackie’s arms. The hero backs away in confusion and the others move to as to not impede the magician.

They see the life force spell work in reverse, hear him seemingly talking to himself, though they can’t understand what he’s saying. They watch as he rises from the ground and crawls backwards, away from Jack’s bed after reaching for it desperately.

It seems like Jamie is trying to reverse as much as he can- but he can’t reverse far enough to undo the livestream spell- or even stop Marvin’s corruption. The teal light flickers and then dies down right as Marvin hangs his head hopelessly, mumbling something to himself. Jameson suddenly looks white as a sheet as he pitches backwards, eyes rolling up in the back of his head.

The stopwatch’s pin clicks back into place on its own, restarting the flow of time.

The others can understand Marvin again- hear him whispering. “...i-i’m so sorry… Jackie… j-Jamie… Hen… C-chase… i… I never wanted to hurt you… I… I just wanted to keep us safe…”

He’s startled out of his thoughts by the sound of Jamie falling and his head snaps up, flicking a glowing hand out to stop Jameson before he falls completely to the ground.

“J-Jamie?!” Marvin whispers in disbelief. He then takes in the others and his jaw drops. “Y-You guys?! How did you…? How did you get here?!”

The quiet sound of glitches sounds off behind them- Anti disappearing back into Jack’s head before Marvin notices him.

Chase smiles with tears in his eyes, laughing quietly. “I don’t think you’d believe us bro…!”

Jackie looks ready to tackle Marvin, looking relieved. “We’re just so glad you’re okay-!” The hero says, opening up his arms.

Marvin startles back and seems to trip over himself, lightly dropping Jamie to the floor and out of his magic as he holds out a hand towards Jackie. “N-No! D-don’t come near me..!”

He’s met with confused faces and Marvin swallows shakily as he tries to explain. “S-Something bad is happening…! I-Inside me- something is trying to t-take my body and I… I don’t want it to hurt you…!”

“The black magic inside you… right?” Henrik asks quietly.

Marvin looks surprised and almost dumbfounded. “Uh… y-yeah… I think so? H-How did you…?”

A hand grabs onto his pant leg and Marvin panics for a second before realizing its… it’s Jameson.

The gentleman pushes himself up but it looks like he’s hardly holding on. Still, he shakily pulls something out of his vest and hands it to Marvin. It’s an ornate blue hand mirror… so delicate it looks like it’s made of ice.

Marvin takes it with knit eyebrows, studying the surface. “Jays… what is this?”

Jameson smiles and shakily signs to Marvin, “Dark, trap.” He then gently touches over his heart.

Marvin looks more confused but looks back to study the mirror. Did… Jamie find a way to trap all this dark magic…? It… it was worth a shot, wasn’t it?

The magician breathes in and then tries to touch the mirror's surface. But- then his other hand lashes out and grabs his wrist, dropping the mirror.

Marvin’s eyes flare purple as a darker version of his voice snarls through his lips. “ℕ𝕠! 𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕝𝕖𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕟 𝕦𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤! 𝕎𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞!” Blue flickers back in his irises and Marvin panics, trying to fight back for control. “N-No stop it! I…I don’t want this power anymore…! I-I want to be good…!”

He looks back at the others desperately- but Jamie redirects his attention and smiles warmly, signing, “Your light is strong Marvin, you are good! Just believe in it, like we all believe in you!” The other boys cheer and smile, agreeing with Jamie.

Magic still flickers in Marvin’s eyes, tears threatening to cloud his vision. But, he tries to hold onto Jamie’s advice… imagining the light within him.

The voice seems to shriek as Marvin pushes back some of its control- just enough to grab the mirror again and touch the surface, finding the runes of the spell. He acts quickly, reciting it as fast as he can.

Each word he stumbles over makes him wince, white light cracking in the purple veins on his skin. Still he keeps going- even though it hurts. The purple magic seems fo be bubbling up to the surface, pushed out by the light. As Marvin recites the last word of power, he suddenly screams, his arms falling back as something seems to burst from his chest. No actually- it’s like the dark magic is peeling off of him- and slowly… it seems to make a perfect copy of the magician, one made of pulsing black and purple shadow with piercing purple eyes.

Marvin almost collapses into the ground, gasping. He looks more like himself again- though his hair is still long and brown, matching the dark copy. As he looks down at himself he realizes… he’s not in the clothes he was just wearing- no the copy has those. He’s in… the outfit he was born in. His canon outfit. It’s been so long since he’s seen it but… it brings him a sense of comfort, even if it's just for a moment. His eyes shine with that familiar bright blue, an echo of Jack. Though the corruption still marks his skin like scars, they look far more faint now. He threatens to sway but Jameson catches him and keeps him steady. The pale magician looks up at the shadowy figure and feels his stomach drop. “T-That was inside me??”

The shadow bares its teeth at Marvin. “ℕ𝕠, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕠𝕟! 𝕀 𝕒𝕞 𝕪𝕠𝕦.”

“Bullshit!” Jackie spits at the copy, eyes flaring with blue silver magic.

The copy chuckles and addresses the red clad man, cocking its head with a smooth motion. “𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕥𝕙 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕒𝕜, 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕠. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕞𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕗𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕥𝕪 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕗𝕦𝕝, 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕙𝕠𝕥 𝕒𝕚𝕣~!”

Chase has to hold back Jackie from lunging at the shadow.

It laughs and shakes his head, spreading out its hands. “𝔸𝕤 𝕀 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘- 𝕀 𝕒𝕞 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕟. 𝕀 𝕒𝕞 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕤, 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕣𝕒𝕘𝕖, 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕖, 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨𝕝𝕖𝕕𝕘𝕖.” It hums and snaps, bringing something out of Marvin’s pocket that shoots into his hand. A book with a cover blacker than black with purple trim.

“…𝕀 𝕘𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕒𝕪… 𝕀’𝕞 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕪~!”

“Well… curiosity killed the cat-“ Henrik mutters.

“ℕ𝕠𝕥 𝕪𝕖𝕥 𝕀 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟’𝕥~!” The shadow laughs, turning back to Marvin. It lifts up its hand and Marvin is brought up in a bubble of purple magic, clawing at his neck like he can’t breathe.

The others all jump to their feet- trying to figure out how to help. But as Jackie tries to charge at the shadow, he’s suddenly blown back by a giant arc of purple electricity. He slides across the floor, dazed, things in his backpack flying across the floor. He groggily sees the white of Marvin’s old mask in front of him.

Phantom’s words echo in his head: “You know… there’s one thing I know about light magic… why you heroes and goody-two-shoes always best us in the end.” “...it’s your ability to be positive. To believe in each other. To have things and memories that… keep the darkness away. ...perhaps that can help you.”

Jackie looks to make sure the shadow isn’t looking before taking the mask and studying it. He narrows his eyes and then turns it over, finding a message written in blue ink.

It’s… some kind of spell. A couple runes follow after the message of “For the grey days.”

Grey days… Jackie remembers Marvin would often have days where his confidence was shot, the days he needed kind words and encouragement. He called them grey days. He used to rub the inside of his mask when he was anxious, saying it had its own kind of magic in it.

Jackie knows he’s no magician… he barely understands how his powers work, let alone Marvin’s. But, this mask was from when he was first born… maybe-

He copies the gesture he’s seen Marvin do a thousand times- and the runes on the mask glow a light blue.

Jackie’s eyes snap back to his brother squirming in the shadow’s grip.

The shadow laughs cruelly, increasing the pressure. The book it stole back hovers next to it in a purple glow, staying close to its side. “𝕀’𝕞 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕣𝕚𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕟- 𝕓𝕪 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕣𝕚𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟’𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤- 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕚𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙! 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕟𝕠 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕒 𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕜 𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕟 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕨𝕒𝕪𝕤! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖!”

Marvin chokes on a sob, his eyes threatening to get taken over by purple again. The shadow pushes into his face, grinning wolfishly as it whispers. “𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕠𝕞 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦… 𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦…! 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥-!”

“You’re wrong!” Jackie shouts, using his power to send out a blast with his voice, monetarily throwing off the shadow as it loosens some of its grip on Marvin. Marvin looks back at Jackie with tears running down his face, looking lost.

“You say he doesn’t know who he is? Well I know!” Jackie says proudly, “He’s a big cry baby! He cries at Disney movies! He’s spent so much of his life afraid and scared but… he has come out better- despite everything he’s been through!” Jackie looks and meets Marvin’s eyes, pride beaming up within him as he smiles softly.``…he’s my baby brother… and I love him.”

Marvin sniffles, his eyes filling with more tears as his lip quivers. The shadow seems to roll its eyes at Jackie,“…𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕠 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕠𝕣?”

The hero does seem to hesitate for a second- just enough to look back down at the mask he’s holding. His eyes widen slightly as he sees red energy blooming on the white surface. He then grins and looks smugly back at the shadow.

“You know, for a copy of Marvin- you are forgetting a very powerful magic we all have!”

The shadow looks confused, raising an eyebrow as its eyes display a quiet bit of hunger.

The hero beams, bright as a sun as he shouts, “The power of PMA! Nothing can keep us all down- because we have each other! And I believe in Marvin’s ability to kick your sorry shadow-y ass!”

The mask glows more, and Jackie looks to the other egos, sharing a look that says ‘follow my lead and trust me.’ He holds up the mask, making sure to flash the energy growing on it. Slowly, they all smile and nod.

The copy bares its teeth in anger and shoots out magic towards the hero, a tendril of dark magic lashing out… and then spearing Jackie straight through the stomach.

“NO!” Marvin screams, trying to get out of the shadow’s grasp better, clawing at its magic.

“𝕐𝕠𝕦’𝕧𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕞𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙, 𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕓𝕠𝕪. 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕪 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕤𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕙𝕚𝕞- 𝕠𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗~!” It laughs cruelly, squeezing Marvin’s throat tighter.

Jackie halts his momentum using his feet to skid against the floor. He wheezes in pain and coughs up some blood, but he smiles. Even as dark veins start to crawl up where the magic hit. He looks up with blue glowing eyes as he smirks. “You won’t kill us- you need M-Marvin alive…!”

“𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕖- 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕀 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕥𝕠 𝕜𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕞𝕪 𝕨𝕒𝕪-!” The shadow smirks knowingly, “I𝕀 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕗𝕚𝕘𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜. 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕟 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 ℙ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕠𝕞! 𝔸𝕤 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 ‘𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕖’ 𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟, 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕝𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜. 𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝… 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤- 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜~”

The copy looks over to Chase and seems to smirk, making the father shiver, the scar on his temple aching.

“W-What?!” Henrik gasps out, looking at the shadow with wide eyes. “What do you mean we can just… die? Die and… and reform??”

“Yeah what are we, Crystal gems?” Chase mutters.

The shadow looks confused and throws back its head and laughs. “𝕆𝕙𝕙𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥’𝕤 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟’𝕥 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕤𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕒 𝕗𝕚𝕘𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕗𝕒𝕕𝕖! ℍ𝕒 𝕙𝕒! 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕒 𝕕𝕠𝕔𝕥𝕠𝕣, 𝕊𝕔𝕙𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕡! 𝔸𝕝𝕨𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕠 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕜𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖… 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘!”

Henrik pales, a look of confusion and uncertainty crashing against his mind.

“𝔽𝕦𝕟𝕟𝕪…” The shadow continues, “𝕀 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕟 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕜𝕖𝕪 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘!”

Marvin clenches his eyes shut, “I… I didn’t like t-thinking about it…! I just- I did everything to make sure they never would!” The magician admits through tears.

“𝕄𝕙𝕞… 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕡! ℕ𝕠𝕨 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝!” The shadow explains with a showman-like flare, much like how Marvin would address his crowds.

It then clenches its fist and the tendril still in Jackie rips upwards, making the hero scream in pain and get lifted off his feet.

“𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕪 𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕔 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕚𝕖 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕡𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕪~! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕓𝕒𝕓𝕪 𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣!” The dark copy giggles, eyes bright with madness.

Jackie’s body ripples and for a second seems to flicker, like he could fade out of existence. But Jackie grits his teeth with determination. He shakes as he grips onto the tendril and Marvin’s old mask. His vision blurs. He needs to act fast…

He pushes down the dread pooling in his stomach, his fear. He believes in Marvin… He throws the mask towards Chase, “Chase! Catch!”

Chase startles and fumbles to catch it but just manages to. He looks at it with wide eyes.

Jackie smiles and then slumps in the tendrils hold, breathing heavily and raggedly as branches of corruption eat up his skin. Then, the hero falls very very still.

The shadow whips to look at the mask flying in confusion. “𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕦𝕔𝕜 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥?!” Its eyes land on Chase then it thrusts out a hand to hover a tendril just against his neck. Ready to pierce it. It narrows its eyes as it growls. “ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕦𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕝𝕝 𝕕𝕚𝕖 𝕒𝕤 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝, 𝔹𝕣𝕠𝕕𝕪.”

Chase looks terrified- but then he sees the brave body of Jackie… and similar determination flares in his eyes. He stands tall, gripping the mask as he shouts out. “I-I’m not afraid to die!” He then hesitates and adds on.

“…no actually I… I am afraid of dying now…” He laughs quietly with a distant look in his eyes. Funny…. He never thought he could think something like that.

“because I…. I have something to live for again! Because… because of… of my brothers.”

He looks to meet Marvin’s eyes as the older brother looks at him with fear and concern. He tries to shake his head at him, encouraging him to stop this. But Chase just smiles.

“…and especially cuz of Marv. He… he helps me to be a better dad… he cares for my kids, he helped me to find my confidence again. He… he makes me want to keep trying, to keep living.”

A tear falls down the father’s face but he laughs at the shadow as the mask starts to branch more with light, orange joining red. “And now… I know I can come back! So… do your fucking worse, ya cheap knockoff! I’m not letting you take my big bro away from us!”

Marvin chokes on a sob, trying to reach out for Chase. Just as the shadow growls and whips the tendril to spear itself higher, through the side of Chase’s head. Chase doesn’t even get a chance to scream- his body immediately falling limp and hanging grotesquely in the tendril’s hold, dangling like Jackie’s. His head lolls lifelessly back, staring wide eyed and blankly at the ceiling. The magic eats away at him like rot.

The mask slips from Chase’s fingers and falls to the ground dully. Schneep hesitates, looking beyond terrified. But he sees a flick of black magic and he quickly crashes to the ground to swipe it before the shadow can grab it. The copy screams in frustration, acting already in anger and spearing into Henrik like the others, straight into his chest.

“NO NO STOP IT!!” Marvin screams, thrashing in the shadow’s grip. “I-I’m not worth this! STOP!”

Then, Henrik seems to laugh as he coughs up what looks like black sludge. He stubbornly has managed to hold onto the mask, even as his hand shakes. He claws to grip at the magic better, trying to stay awake. The magic burns, making it hard to think. He looks scared as he gazes back at Marvin but he also smiles warmly, despite the dark veins crawling scarily fast across his skin.

“Shut up, Marvin… e-even if you and I have not gotten along before… even if I do not get your magic and you do not get my science…! You are… so passionate and determined and…”

He shuts his eyes as the words struggle to come, a wave of pain rushing over him. But he then opens tearful eyes to meet Marvin’s as he chuckles quietly. “I… I want to share that… I want to study and learn with you…! I want to understand my big brother better!” His eyes flare with determination as he grips tighter onto the mask, greenish white light joining the red and orange. “So… y-you must live, Marvin…! You have to win!”

For some reason, whenever the Septics start to talk to Marvin, the shadow also seems to freeze, held in whatever power this is. Much to its anger. The second Henrik stops, it rips another tendril messily through his neck and throws him down, growling darkly. “𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕡 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕚𝕕𝕚𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕤! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘!” But it almost sounded… afraid, under all that anger.

The mask flies out of Henrik’s limp hand as he crumbles to the ground, blood pooling around him as he struggles to take in any full breaths, faint gurgling bubbling from his throat. Then… his gaze turns cloudy and unseeing, his chest no longer rising.

The mask spins and then manages to hit Jameson’s foot, the youngest septic looking at his defeated brothers in horror.

The shadow sees this and then throws its head back to laugh. “𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕒𝕥 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖! 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕗𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕦𝕥𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟’𝕥 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕙𝕖?”

A tendril comes out and wraps around Marvin’s teary eyes, blocking off his view. Marvin whimpers and shakes, muttering out apologizes… to Jamie, to the others.

Jameson’s eyes glow teal with anger at the shadow’s taunts. He picks up the mask and stands tall, despite his fatigue. If this was to be his last stand, he’d give it everything he’s got.

There’s an almost painful spear of foreign magic in Marvin’s head- that gets echoed in the shadow’s as it shouts out in pain. Jameson’s voice is clear in their heads- just like when he broke through to Marvin during the livestream.

“Marvin, you are brave and you are strong… even though you have felt so lost for so long- you never stopped trying. Despite our lack of direction from Jack… you haven’t stopped trying to write your own story.

No one else knows how sad our stories will be. I don’t want this to become another tragedy! So, let’s rewrite this dark tale, and become more than we were forced to be, Marvin! We are by your side… and always will be.

You have not, and will never be, alone.”

Marvin sobs loudly, a mix of being overwhelmingly touched and heart-broken. Because he knows now what’ll happen next. “No… p-please…!”

Teal light joins the other colors, creating an intricate beautiful pattern across the white mask, imitating celtic knots. Jameson’s eyes widened and he smiled wide, ready to try to throw it to Marvin.

As soon as he lifted up his hand, the tendril came and speared through Jameson’s heart. He choked and the mask fell, clattering to the floor. The black magic made quick work of the tiny ego, the darkness rushing to consume him before he could even take another ragged breath. Then, the gentleman fell, limp like a puppet without its strings. The shadow made sure Marvin could see it all happen, dropping the tendril that blinded him.

Marvin felt frozen, his breath stolen as he takes in the destroyed bodies of his brothers, some of them looking like they were starting to disappear. But, instead of hopelessness… righteous fury burned hot in his chest, spreading throughout his whole body. He could hardly hear the shadow as it tried to taunt him, break him down even more. His brothers’ voices rang louder and truer in his head now, strong and solid against the whispered corruption.

Summoning any magic he could possibly have left, Marvin shot out a hand and in a quick burst of telekinesis, grabbed the glowing mask. It flew by too fast for the copy to stop and Marvin caught it expertly in his outstretched hand.

A burst of light rocketed out of him as he caught it, blasting the shadow apart. But only for a moment as it reformed a few meters back. Any tendrils still stuck in the boys burst into shards, dropping their bodies into still heaps. It growled angrily and glared at the forming sun spot that was his host. “𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕝?!”

Marvin slowly looked at his body as it glowed brightly and then at the mask. He followed his usual gesture against the back and smiled, feeling that positive energy fueling him even more. When he looked up at the shadow, he looked confident, as the light that danced on the mask's surface marbled in his eyes alongside his strong green-blue magic.

Then, two fiery wings of light unfurled from his back, power radiating from him like…

Like a Phoenix.

But his wings, shimmering brightly with light, aren’t the color you’d normally associate with the mythical bird. No, they burn with flickers of green and blue fire.

The shadow for a second actually seems scared, scrambling back. He tried to redirect his magic to find the book- maybe he can get another boost to combat this-! But, his magic doesn’t respond.

Because the book is stuck floating in a teal bubble of magic. Jameson’s last stand.

The dark copy screams in rage, purple electricity radiating off him in dangerous arcs.

But, Marvin steps forward, anger burning in his eyes. Light branches from his footsteps as he walks, covering up parts of the room that was charred by corruption. And white glowing tears are falling down his face, despite his furious expression.

The tears seem to float in the air after him, some lingering like stardust, some hovering then darting to sink into the bodies of the fallen septics. Their wounds fill with light, then start to close. They start to become solid again. They start to breathe.

“All this time… you tried to make me feel like I was alone.” Marvin spoke quietly, but his voice echoed almost ethereally. “That no one cared for me, that my creator had abandoned me, that I was doomed to keep running forever…

You made me think I was forging my own path! That I was rewriting my story… but no- I just fell into more fucking puppet strings! From one puppet master to another…”

He grips the mask at his side and grits his teeth. “You made me forget that I had my family! That I had people who could help me! Because you know deep down… that’s a magic that you can’t possibly control.”

The shadow trembles back, “𝕋-𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤! 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥- 𝕙𝕦𝕞𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤- 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤! 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘-!”

“They mean everything!” Marvin yells, wings flaring out. “I would still be lost and scared, convinced I was a killer until Jackie found me! Convinced I could never be enough… for Jack, for myself… for… anyone. Until they all took me in… and showed me what love actually feels like.

Though I guess… you can’t feel that can you?” He sneers down at the trembling mass of darkness.

The shadow glares at Marvin and then chuckles darkly. “𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟’𝕥 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕖, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨. 𝕀’𝕞 𝕒 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦- 𝕀’𝕞 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕝. 𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕒𝕕𝕞𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕠𝕣 𝕟𝕠𝕥.”

Marvin’s expression softens slightly, almost turning empathetic. “…you said you were my darkness, right? …as much as I want to deny you- to forget you exist… I can’t. You’re right, you’re a part of me.”

He glances down at the floor, catching a glimpse of the mirror. An idea sparked in his head.

The Phoenix ego glared at the shadow as he adjusted the glowing mask to sit on his face. The flames on his wings glowed with his brothers’ colors.

“But that part of me… isn’t who I want to be anymore. I… I don’t want to rely on anger and despair anymore! And I’m sick of things like you trying to tell me who I am!”

Without even flicking his hand, the mirror flew up into his palm where he gripped it right.

He stepped forward again and the shadow trembled back.

“I’m sick of Jack, sick of the fandom, sick of fucking puppet masters trying to make me something I’m not! I’m going to figure that out on my own… from the ashes of all the shit you’ve put me through!”

“𝕄-𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕟 𝕔’𝕞𝕠𝕟!” The shadow tries to plead, nervously smiling. “𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕀 𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕕! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕𝕟’𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕥-“

“I never needed you! I never wanted you! All this time! No one has given a fucking damn about what I want! How I wanted to do things! Who I want to be!”

His eyes filled completely with rainbow light as he stood proud and tall, the mirror vibrating with power at his side.

“I’m fucking Marvin the Magnificent! I’m my own fucking person- and you-!”

He holds out the mirror, showing the dark copy his own terrified reflection.

“You are nothing more than a reflection of something I will never be!”

He channeled magic into the mirror and it shot off a beam of hot burning light. The shadow shouted out and turned into a wisp to dodge before reforming shakily.

Marvin shouts in rage and blasts out bright magic fire at the creature. It hisses and screeches in pain as the magic singes it, carving holes in its form like acid burning through wood.

The shadow seems weaker, focusing on the searing pain in its body. It doesn’t see the flaming form barrel into it and slam it into the floor. Marvin growls as he pushes the mirror against the shadow. They struggle- parts of the shadow’s body being pulled towards the mirror.

Then, with a feral scream and a burst of magic, a ring of white overtaking a weak purple ring- the two figures are blasted apart.

The mirror drops with a tinny ring as it hits the ground. A black shadowy figure pounds against the glass inside- but no one can hear its screams.

The septics all start to rise, blinking out in confusion to the lingering magic in the air, floating and falling like ethereal fireflies.

Chase panics and touches where his wounds were then sighs in relief, slumping to the floor in an almost comical way.

Jameson pushes himself up, expecting to still feel weak but- he feels… fine? Great, even! He looks to see if that damned book was still trapped- and then gasps at seeing it on the ground as bright magic fire lapped at its contents.

Henrik is looking down at his body in marveled awe, shakily touching a hand to the faint scars around his neck.

Jackie recovers and shakes out his confusion, gripping over his chest as he confirms he’s okay. Only to pale as he sees the other side of the room.

“Marvin!”

The final blast had shot Marvin back. His body left skid marks on the floor- the path of his wings marked on the ground. The only evidence they were ever there. The light on his white mask pulses softly then fades altogether.

But the passed out magician looks… peaceful. Despite his still beaten and black-magic-scarred body. Next to his limp hand- by some miracle… is Jack’s doll.

———

Marvin opens his eyes to see he’s… not in the waking world. That’s really the only way to describe this feeling. It felt like… something in the mind, like when you’re concentrating on a thought and trying to visualize it. He seemed to be floating in a void of constantly shifting colors. But one color was more consistent than the others- veining, pulsing cracks of purple. Marvin winced at the sight.

“…alright- love how things just keep getting weirder-“ The magician mumbles to himself.

Then, Marvin’s ears twitched a bit as he sensed another presence near him. He blinked, then turned to look behind him.

And saw… Jack. Smiling warmly at him. The creator waved.

“… Hi, Marvin.”

Marvin didn’t know why tears were almost immediately in his eyes. Why he surged forward, why he wrapped his arms around the other brunette, why he dug his face in his shoulder, clutched at the back of his shirt and started crying like a baby.

“J-Jack…! Jack I- I-I…!” He choked on a sob and gasped desperate breaths before breaking down, howling. “I’m so sorry! I’m sorry- I’m so fucking sorry!!!”

“Hey…” The creator’s voice is gentle. “It’s okay… it’s all gonna be okay….”

Marvin shifts to hide his face more, biting out, “But I…! I helped to put you in a fucking coma….! I hurt you- I tried to hurt the others…! I…!”

He then pushes himself away from the youtuber and goes to hold his arms against him, trembling. He looks down at his scarred hands and then clenches them with a choked whimper. He meets Jack’s eyes and shakes his head slowly.

“Jack I… I’m dangerous…”

Jack tilts his head. “So is Anti. And Jackie- and hell any of the others could be too. Have you seen Jameson with a knife? Kid could be fucking brutal.”

Marvin shakes his head more, insisting. “Jack, I almost killed you! I… I’m too unstable I- I’m not sure if…” He looks down and then clenches his arm, biting back more tears.

“… I’m not getting rid of you, Marvin.” Jack quietly reassured. “ ‘fraid you’re stuck with all of us.” He tries to laugh, desperately trying to lighten the mood.

It doesn’t work on Marvin. He can’t look back at Jack as he mutters. “…you never meant to make me… all I’ve done is caused problems…”

“That’s not true,” Jack presses, trying to bridge the gap between them. “To be honest… a lot of you I didn’t mean to make! It just… happened.” He then smiles brightly, looking like the sun. Guess that’s where Jackie gets it from. “But…. Believe me, I wouldn’t change any of that. I’m glad I made you all. And I love you, just as much as I love the others.”

Marvin hesitates then looks back up to catch Jack’s smile. It’s… infectious, and Marvin can’t help but try to smile weakly back.

But it very quickly falls as Marvin mutters.

“…I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

“I know you didn’t, Marvin.”

“I didn’t want to drag the others into this…! I just… I wanted them to be safe-“

“…I know.” For a second, Jack seemed to look… almost guilty. Like that was his fault.

Marvin shuts his eyes then cries out, “then why!? If you know this about me- why did any of this happen? Shouldn’t you have been able to stop it? Rewrite things?? Why did Anti target me? Why did this magic consume me? Why am I so easily changeable?”

For once, Jack is quiet. He seems to be thinking of how to respond as Marvin pants to catch his breath.

Finally, Jack speaks up.

“…because I’m not like Anti. Or the people who hurt you. I don’t want to control you… I want you to still figure out who you are, without needing me.”

Marvin’s eyes widened. Jack met his with steely determination.

“… me and Anti. We are connected- but we are not the same. Two sides of the same coin… but that means- I’m not a puppet master, like he is.

And this isn’t all me… sometimes the fans are just- curious. But… that doesn’t mean you can’t make your own choices. Before all this… you kept letting others decide for you. And even if it’s true that I didn’t put much thought in you at first… you have so much potential, Marvin. And I can’t wait to see where your story takes you. Eventually, I might have a hand in it again… but until then, it seems like you have a lot you gotta learn about yourself, Phoenix guy.” Jack smirked.

“But- when the story does continue- believe me, it’s gonna be one hell of a collab!”

Marvin slowly started to smile, finally feeling warmth bloom back in his chest.

He sighs and then looks at the purple magic around them. He looks down in his hand- and seems to find that doll again. He looks back up to Jack with glowing eyes, smiling with determination.

“You know what? … I think I actually like the sound of that. Let’s get you the hell out of here!”

Marvin then closed his eyes and curled both his hands around the doll. His body started to glow with blue-green magic, white stardust shimmering inside it as well. That same light started to bloom on the purple veins, eating up the magic and making it disappear.

Jack laughed in disbelief as he watched. The egos would always amaze him in ways he never even expected…

For a second- everything seems alright- it seems like Jack could actually wake up as all the purple fades completely.

But then, Marvin shouts out and curls up in pain, gripping at either side of his head.

Jack lashed out, trying to reach him. “Marvin! What’s wrong?”

Marvin looked back up to Jack with glowing green eyes, his sclera black, just as the void around them turned dark and started to glitch.

Familiar terrifying laughter echoed around the space as the veins Marvin just destroyed bloomed back, but this time pulsing with sickly green light.

“F-Fucking ANTI!!” Marvin screamed, digging fingers into his scalp. He meets Jack’s eyes with desperation, “I… I undid my spell! But it seems like he- he took it over…!”

But, Jack doesn’t seem surprised by this. He smiles sadly.

“Yeah… I guess that figures.”

Marvin shouts as his body starts to glitch and then flickers in and out like he could disappear.

He reaches a hand back out towards Jack, sobbing out. Something is pulling him back from reaching him, even as he fights desperately to get back to him. “Jack! I… I promise! We’ll find a way to save you…!”

Jack smiles a bit more and nods.

“…I know you will.” His voice echoed, a slight finality in it that left Marvin’s chest aching.

Then, the space floods with darkness, growing like ink overtaking water as glitching laughter continues to echo in their ears. Swallowing the light completely.

——

Marvin’s eyelids fluttered. He groaned lightly and then blearily looked out. He saw four very concerned faces leaning over him. But the sight of them filled his whole body with relief.

The magician sunk more against Jackie, who had him propped up on his knee. “Y…you guys are s..safe…” he quietly slurred.

Jackie smiled. “Yeah… all thanks to you, baby bro.”

“Dude! That must have been one hell of a fight!” Chase exclaimed excitedly, his eyes practically sparkling. “The marks on the floor made it look like you had like- fucking wings or something!”

Marvin chuckled weakly. “I uh… I did, actually.”

“No fucking way??!!”

The others laughed at Chase’s reaction.

“…you must be very tired, Bruderherz,” Schneep commented gently. “We should probably get you checked at the hospital…”

Jameson nodded and added in sign, “yes! Magic exhaustion is no joke!”

Marvin nodded absentmindedly, turning his head to look towards the other side of the room. Where Jack lay sleeping.

The room fell quiet for a couple painful beats.

“…do you think Jack will wake up…? Now that all of this is over?” Chase asked quietly.

Marvin closed his eyes with a grimace and then slowly shook his head. “No… I… I had a vision. Anti found a way to keep him asleep…”

The sadness that bloomed in the air was thick enough to feel as it weighed down on the 5 boys.

But, Marvin shuffled to weakly sit up better and then held out a hand. His eyes glowed with passion and a bit of magic. “But… I know we can all find some way to wake him… together.”

Jackie’s eyes shined as he grinned and clasped Marvin’s hand with his own. “Hell yeah!”

Chase was quick to join his hand with theirs. Henrik rolled his eyes with a smile but soon joined as well. Jameson bounced slightly before placing his hand on top.

Marvin smiled. As long as they stuck together… they could take on anything.

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.

The gentleman laughs and shakes his head, “No no! Not in that way… I- just think it would be nice to… get to know each other better? Since well… you know.” Henrik messes with the back of his head anxiously, trying to give an award winning smile to Alt.

The younger man stared at Henrik with an unreadable expression for a couple beats. Then, he sighs and stuffs his hands in his pockets, going to pull his mask up out of habit but stopping himself to look back at the actor.

“…I should warn you I’m not an open person so… I dunno how much getting to know each other they’ll be… but, sure. Tomorrow night… meet me at Insomnia.”

Henrik tilts his head slightly, “Not tonight?”

Alt laughs, though, it looks kinda pained. “Nah I… I got a gig tonight.” He laughs some more and pushes his bangs back then tugs on them, “god… I have a gig… I… I should get ready for that…”

Henrik frowns in sympathy and hesitates before putting a hand on Alt’s shoulder. “Please… do not push yourself too hard my friend… and you… you are injured…”

Alt blinks in surprise at the gesture and then glitches back to his feet, looking at the actor warily. Henrik blinks and holds up a hand and Alt attempts to give a forced smile. “I-I would cancel but… I need money for drinks now.”

Henrik steps back and wildly waves his hands, half signing out of habit. “No no! You will not pay! It will be on me!”

The glitch seems surprised by this too. But, now he smiles more genuinely. “Well… all the more motivation then, huh?”

He lightly hits Henrik on the shoulder as he starts to walk away, turning so the gentleman can still read his lips. “…see you tomorrow then, Schneep. You know how to reach me.”

He then pauses and fully turns back towards Henrik, something dawning on his face. “Wait… you Do know how to text right? U-Use a phone?”

Henrik laughs and nods, “Ja I know the telefon! I’m not as fresh from the past as you think, my friend. I have learned very much!”

“Oh… okay- good then…” Alt nods then sends a two finger salute Henrik’s way, glitching away into that night. “See ya.”

Turns out Henrik did know how to text but… not… well-

Around 7 pm the next day Alt’s phone buzzed with:

Schneep

🍺🙏☑️❓❓❓

Alt

…Yeah man- how’s 9 sound?

Schneep

😁🥰❗️❗️❗️

Alt

U kno u don’t have to use only emojis to text right?

Schneep

👍

Welp- guess that answered that. (Asking Jackie about it- apparently after Dr. J helped Henrik get his phone, the teal gentleman accidently got stuck in the emoji menu for a couple days and now is like- addicted to them. Alt wasnt sure if that was better or worse than old man texting-)

A little after 9, Alt glitched in front of the small pub downtown called Insomnia. He liked it here- good place for a drink after some of his shows.

He walks in, nodding towards the bartender that recognized his mask. Then, it was surprisingly easy to find Schneep- cuz he barreled right towards Alt with his arms open.

“Hallo, Alt!! My friend!!” He shouted.

Alt quickly stumbled back, his shoulders buzzing as he tried to keep out of Henrik’s grip. He hurried to take off his mask and hold up his hands. “Uh- hi Schneep- sorry just- not good with… contact-”

Henrik tilted his head in confusion but then got the memo and nodded, a bright smile back on his face. “Oh yes! Not to worry- I will save huggings for later!”

“Y…yeah- sure-” Alt muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck. Damn- this guy was too sweet. It was kinda intimidating…

A furry head peaked out from Henrik’s leg and Alt recognized Schneep’s dog, Sahne. He felt himself bristle a bit like an offended cat. But, she just blinked at him, her tail slightly wagging. She had her vest on- guess she was working. So, Alt tried his best to ignore her.

Henrik led them towards a quieter part of the bar where he had already set himself up with a small book. Though, once Alt got closer he recognized it as something more than just a paperback novel- it was a small moleskin sketchbook. Henrik plopped into the seat and Alt hesitated before sitting down and gesturing towards the book.

“You… draw?”

The gentleman’s eyes sparkled as he eagerly nodded. “Oh yes! I quite like making art in my spare time! Normally, I like to paint… but when I wait for friends I like to draw portraits!”

He shows Alt his sketches- quick gestures of other patrons- mostly anyone with a very striking appearance. Henrik smiles as he looks at them. “I think… learning people is helping me to understand more and more about how people work now. Sometimes- it helps it feel not too different.” He pats Sahne’s head as she sits down next to him. She licks his fingers then settles down to rest under his barstool.

Alt listens and nods to his words. He then flushes and fumbles for his backpack. They were trying to get to know each other and… well- this was something most people don’t know about him. But, artists liked showing off to other artists. It couldn’t hurt… He pulls out a thin tablet and then turns on the screen, flipping to show it to Henrik. On the screen are designs he’s done for his illusions and shows- and concepts of graffiti tags, most featuring a green eyeball with red x’s and a stitched smiley face over its iris. Alt’s face turns very red as he stammers out, “I uh… I draw too. And, um… i also like- painting but… not in the way you do.”

The German actor looks beyond pleased, sparkles practically coming off his body as he grabs Alt’s hands and holds them close. Alt yelps and pulls himself away and Henrik apologizes quickly, “Oh yes sorry! But Alt! You are good! Such fun colors!! I wondered if it was bright paint on your clothes! Someday you must show me more of your work!”

The glitch turns even more red and hides a bit in his hoodie, “Um… yeah- if I can… find one that’s uh- in a good spot… I can show you.”

Alt had been trying to find more free spaces lately but- doesn’t mean he doesn’t still tag where he’s not supposed to. Not that anyone could catch him- he had quite the streak for heaven spots around the area. Couldn’t take Henrik to see those though- well, at least up close.

Alt flagged down the bartender and ordered some Irish whiskey, watching as Henrik got what looked like his 3rd pint of beer. He smirked and sipped at the drink, taking a second to appreciate it before he sighs and looks back at Henrik.

“Alright, you had something on your mind, right? Or were you serious about getting to ‘know me’?” Alt added the air quotes to make sure his sarcasm wasn’t lost on Schneep.

Henrik blinked and then played with the pages of his sketchbook. “Oh ah… I do- want to get to know you… I think you seem- well… very rough around edges- but… sympathetic too. I think I would very much like to be friends.” He tried to smile at Alt. But, then he sighs and takes a sip of his drink before continuing.

“But- if you want to skip pleasantries then- we can talk about the elephant in the air-”

“...do you mean ‘elephant in the room’?”

Henrik flushed and then laughed, “Oh is that how that is called? But… ja- let’s talk about this elephant.”

He then gets quiet and looks down, tracing the lines in the table.

“...Magnificent-” He eventually whispers, suppressing a shudder. “I… I could not help but notice… that he treated you and me… very different from each other.”

He looks to meet Alt’s eyes now, “I do not know how it works for you… maybe it is different… but when I am ah- puppet… I see it all. I remember. Not right away but… it comes to me in my dreams…” He grips one of his hands into a fist and closes his eyes as he takes a shaky breath. Sahne seems to sense his distress and reaches up to rest her head on his leg. He continues, “I cannot control what my body does. I cannot form my own thoughts- but I still… see it. I am forced to take in what awful things I am made to do…”

Henrik hesitates again before meeting Alt’s gaze. “in the warehouse, when he gave you his power… did you mean it? That you wanted all that or… was that his ah- thinking forced in you?”

Alt frowns. Wow- that was… immediately very deep. He takes a long sip of his whiskey before he responds, but his voice is quiet. He almost forgets he needs to turn enough for Henrik to read his lips.

“I… I was definitely influenced but… I guess. I do.. kinda want that?” He grips at his head slightly, “It’s… complicated… and goes wayyy into my backstory that I’m not sure you’re at a level to unlock yet.”

Henrik looks confused.

Alt shakes his head.

“Sorry video game joke uh- im not sure we’re… close enough yet… to explain why… but-”

“Then, can I share some of me?”

The glitch blinks at the actor. “Huh?”

“If you know me better then- we would be closer. And you can explain better, ja?” Henrik smiles.

Alt looks confused by this but eventually laughs and knocks back some more of his drink. “Alright, shoot.”

Henrik hums and looks up, “Oh… where to begin…?”

“Oh!” He grins at Alt, “I know is hard to believe because of my accent but- did you know I am not full German? Actually, I am a full British citizen!”

Alt’s eyebrows shot up, “...that is hard to believe.”

The gentleman laughs lightly, “I know my accent is everywhere- but I spent many of my early years only speaking German- and sometimes French!” He gets a dreamy look on his face, “My father was a British doctor- he learned in France where he met my mother. She was full German but was trying to study with some artists there. They met… fell in love and then moved to London and had their 5 kids.”

“5 kids?!”

“Yes! I was the baby!” Henrik added with glee. “I had 4 older siblings- two brothers, Peter and Fritz… and my sisters, Gabi and Ilse.” He smiles sadly for a second and pauses to take another drink before sharing more.

“Father used to say when he grew up he hated German because he was expected to learn it. But then, he met my mother and it was suddenly the most beautiful language to him. We loved speaking it- even while in England. I wouldn’t even see Germany until I was grown.”

He then frowns and leans more on the table, absent-mindedly petting Sahne’s fur back. “... that changed with the war. The great war… Then, our accents and our language was suddenly not to be spoken. People would get angry with us for sounding too German. We made sure to hide our German sounding names… Father was on the lines, as were my brothers.

So… they were… somewhat safe when the Zeppelins came. Safer than we were…”

Alt’s heart and stomach dropped.

“No one was prepared… we were out shopping and… and-” Henrk clenched his glass tight with both hands, his fingers shaking. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a stuttering breath. Sahne whined and leaned more on his leg. Alt didn’t know what to say-

“... Mama, Ilse and Gabi didn’t have to suffer. But, I never saw them again-”

“...Schneep-” Alt tried to interrupt. But, Henrik was lost in his re-telling.

“That’s how my deafness started, I was… 11, I think? Peter found me, he was working in a hospital nearby. He took care of me. Some kind soldiers taught me sign while I recovered- then... Then father was-”

“Schneep!” Alt exclaimed and gripped onto Henrik’s shoulder. The gentleman looked up with slightly misty eyes. Alt was quick to pull away but he held up his hands. “Dude… you… you more than earned your level- I… I can answer your question now… if you want.”

Henrik blinks and then laughs, looking a bit embarrassed as he rubbed at his eyes. “O-oh ja… I forgot that was the point… we are not here to hear such sad story!” He tried to smile it off but Alt could tell it was forced.

Alt swallowed and then knocked down the rest of his drink, the alcohol burning his throat. He quickly ordered another one, shaking himself out. “Need a bit more liquid courage for this…” He muttered.

Once the new drink is gotten, Alt holds it in his hands for a second before sighing and turning enough for Henrik to understand but not enough to look in his eyes. Pixels vibrate around his head and shoulders in a way that’s hard to see in the dim light of the pub.

“… I dunno if you met anyone like me in your time. And not just.. cuz of the glitches and magic but… I was… born… wrong.” He clenched his teeth slightly and tried to ignore the feeling that was screaming at him- telling him that every eye was on him. “…And I grew up… constantly thinking about it… how I wanted to be something… better. Stronger… because I didn’t feel like I was… as I am.”

He traces the rim of his cup in thought. Henrik watched him very patiently. Alt felt like that was more than he deserved.

“I know Mag was spitting fucking bullshit- but… some part of me… wants to believe him. And I’m not sure if that’s his mind tricks or… the part of me that wants to be… something more. I.. I want to be stronger… but I don’t know how to get there… and for just a little bit… I did believe him. That he could… make me stronger. And… things would get… easier.”

He leans his head on the table, starting to feel the alcohol in his cheeks. Schneep leans closer to make sure he can still understand. Alt angles his head a bit better as he mumbles in defeat.

“I’m sorry… I know you want to find some good in me but… my life has royally sucked. And… sometimes what Mag purrs out sounds… argh!”

He suddenly grips at his head, a headache blooming alongside his conflicted mind. Purple seems to spark weakly in his eyes.

“I dunno! I’m confused! I… I can still hear his stupid smug voice in my head…! I don’t know what I want…! I just- I just… I’m so fucking tired…! Of all of this-! I’m tired of being hungry and- and- powerless and a-scared… I don’t want to feel so lost anymore…!”

He starts to cry but hides his face and he hiccups “I want all of this to stop…!”

Henrik almost misses the last part but- his eyebrows crinkle with sympathy. Alt starts to come back to himself and then shoots up, looking at Henrik with wide eyes and red ears.

“Fuck I- I didn’t… I didn’t want to-“

The gentleman hesitates, going to reach out like he wants to touch Alt’s hand, but then stops to just loop his pinky around Alt’s own. Alt almost pulls away but- that’s… that’s not so bad.

“I understand,” He says softly, “He whispers siren songs- into your head. But… he will only tell you things you want to hear. He does not care… he only wants control. His promises are… empty.”

He sighs and looks down, shrugging. “That is how he got me. He used my confusion and promised to help me… he did not. He is nothing but ein lügnerischer Bastard.”

Alt looks away but- he’s afraid to tell Henrik how little he cared. Before, he met the others. Before he even thought he could become friends with them… with anyone. He didn’t care who he hurt- if he got hurt. Because- he’d finally be somewhere better…. Someone better. ….right?

Henrik lets go of Alt’s pinky and then waves a hand, giving a nervous smile.

“This is getting too of the serious! We should… talk about other things!”

Alt looked down at the table and sighs. “ I… I think… I need to go home…”

“No!” Henrik suddenly yells, startling the glitch and Sahne, who bumped her head on his leg. The actor then pleads to Alt. “We do not need to talk anymore if that is what you want! We can just… do the hangings out! We could… draw together and drink! No more serious talk!”

This gives Alt pause. Actually… that sounded like it could be fun. The pickpocket slowly smiled, bringing back his tablet. “You know what Schneep… I’ll bite. But it’s on your wallet-“

Schneep beamed brightly.

The two spent a while just drawing together. Alt tried to copy Henrik’s idea of drawing others around him. But- he wasn’t nearly as good as Schneep. So, he went back to what he knew- he even tried making bubble tags of the others' names. Just for fun. It was nice to just- doodle for a change.

He glanced at Schneep who had paused in his drawing to stare at someone across the way. He had a somewhat lovestruck look on his face.

Alt tried to follow his gaze- and saw what looked like a man- but honestly their gender was pretty ambiguous. They had tan copper skin and wavy brown hair. They were dressed in shiny silks with celestial patterns on them- even Alt had to admit they were very pretty. Maybe they were a model.

Henrik seemed to think so too- cuz as Alt looked at Henrik’s sketchbook- the whole page was filled with studies of that one person.

The glitch smirked and then bumped Henrik enough to get his attention. “Like something you see?”

“Hm? Oh! Ja… very much-“ Henrik sighed as he looked back. “He is… so pretty- I cannot stop looking…”

Alt rolled his eyes and waved a hand in front of his face. “Careful- you don’t want to creep them out-“

Then Alt frowns, realizing something.

“Wait… Schneep- are you… gay?” Alt makes a face and thinks, “wasn’t that like- a sin back then or something?”

Henrik’s face turns bright red with embarrassment and alarm. He holds his cheeks and ducks down, whispering, “ah yes right I- I cannot think such things!”

Alt wasn’t expecting such a response- so he hurries to correct him “no no it’s okay! it’s… not like it was anymore. It’s okay now- no laws against it!” Alt hurried to look around then gestures vaguely at a cluster of gay couples on another side of the pub. “Like see there’s a couple guys over there too- you’re fine…”

The actor seems to calm slightly at this and nods. Alt hesitates before adding, “I just- didn’t expect someone from your time to even be into that…”

Henrik laughs “Well it was- against the law. Very strictly for a longtime… but it does not mean the thoughts are not there.” He looks back to study the pretty person again as he swirls his drink in his glass. “Though… I think I like just- pretty people in general. I do not care what sex they are, you know?”

“Well- if it helps, I think they’re non-binary- from what I can tell at least.” Alt shrugs.

“Ah yes… that is- neither girl nor boy… yes?”

“It gets… complicated but- yeah basically.” Alt answers. He makes a face and takes a long sip of his drink. “Gender is weird.”

He then starts to think about this too. Maybe he was having too much to drink by now but- he finds himself muttering. “I get it… the pretty people thing. I- think I’m the same…? Though… I dunno- I don’t… crush on anyone. But I think if I knew someone for long enough… maybe-” Alt sighs dramatically and falls back against the table, squishing his cheek against it. “feelings are weird too…”

Henrik smiles and shakes his head with a laugh, “They are indeed…”

“Fucking hate them-“ the glitch muttered. Henrik shakes his head with a quiet giggle.

“You know- I had many chances to visit Berlin once I started acting. And it was such a sight…! It was… more okay there- to be queer. Even here in Brighton, it was becoming better and better! It made me feel… so happy. Like I could be understood- eventually.”

He looks to Alt and smiles, “Even when I was younger… I think I heard of people like you, Alt.” Alt’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

He grips his glass and looks down at the table. “However…It all started to change… right before I- I was brought…“ He pressed his lips together and suppressed a shudder.

Alt’s face creases in sympathy. He knocks back the rest of his drink then adds quietly. “…you dodged something really awful, Schneep…”

“I know…” Henrik’s voice cracks. “…I am… grateful in some ways… that I did not have to suffer another war… but…” He bites his lip to keep from crying.

Alt can tell there’s a lot left unsaid in the silence but he can read it well enough. No need to draw out this pain for the poor guy. Alt’s been pretty sensitive to touch tonight but- he leans his shoulder against Hen and flags down the bartender for another round. “…it’s okay, Schneep. I get it… let’s talk about something else, alright?”

Henrik quietly nods.

There’s quiet for a second before Alt asks, “uh… I don’t know- a lot of sign yet… wanna try to teach me? Something simple though.”

Schneep’s face instantly lights up with excitement and nods. “Oh yes!! I have the perfect thing!!”

Turns out- in sign, you can either finger spell a name or whoever’s signing can make up a sign that’s faster for someone they know. So, Henrik made quick work of teaching Alt the signs he used for their little group.

Bro Fantastic was the letter B then the sign for hero. Jackie was J then the sign for tired. Dr. J was easy- it was two J’s then the sign for doctor, naturally. And Sahne was cream, dog. Because Sahne in German meant Cream. Not the most creative name but- Alt had to admit it suited her.

Eventually Henrik starts to sign something that starts with A- then he makes a jagged motion in the air. Alt tilts his head.

“What’s that one?”

“It’s you! A- then lightning! Alt!” Henrik adds cheerily.

Alt feels his face heat up slightly. He then grins and laughs, “heh- awesome. Got any others?”

Henrik thinks- and Alt can see his cheeks getting flushed and warm like he feels on his own. So everything was a bit harder to slug through- but it was definitely more fun.

Finally, Henrik laughs and then starts a sign that looks like he’s drawing whiskers on his face. Then he taps his hand on his forehead, holding it straight up and touching the thumb to his skin.

Alt narrows his eyes. “Mmmm what’s that mean-“

Henrik grins real wide as he shows again, this time explaining. “Cat, bitch!”

The glitch’s eyes widen and then he barks out a laughs nearly spilling his drink. “Magnificent!”

“Yes! You got it!”

They both erupt into drunken laughter and giggles, falling over on each other.

The night wears on for a bit longer before the two admit they’ve had enough to drink. Alt feels it a bit more than his German counterpart and ends up stumbling into him as he attempts to stand up, nearly running into Sahne.

“Oops… s’rry pubby-“ Alt mumbles. Sahne wags her tail vigorously in response.

Henrik laughs then asks, “Can I help you outside, or?”

Alt grumbles and waves his hand. “Yeh ye- do wh’ev’r ya want…” He then pushes his face somewhat against Henrik’s side and the taller man quietly giggles at the sight.

Henrik leads the two outside and then tries to flag down a cab. He helps hold Alt up with one arm, while Sahne guards his other side, alerting him to any sounds he needs to watch out for.

He feels Alt shift and looks down to see the tired glitch try to find his eyes.

“…hen?” Alt slurs out.

It takes a second for Henrik to process that but his eyebrows shoot up. Alt hasn’t attempted to use his first name yet- it still wasn’t it fully, but it was close enough to make Henrik’s chest feel light.

The glitch looks away at first but then looks back to mumble out, “…it was nice. To not drink… alone.”

Henrik smiles and nods, “…I thought so too! It was very funny! …Perhaps we can… do it again sometime?”

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.

He taps on the ground and tries to think of how to get a message to him… He starts to draw some figures on the ground before him- upside down so maybe Alt can understand them better.

The tiger is too busy licking at his cuts to pay attention to what Jameson is up to.

Eventually, Jameson coughs slightly to get the tiger to look up and when the feline does, the doctor starts to tap the crude pictures he made on the ground.

Blitz tilted his head and looked at the figures. One was a thing that- looked like the panthers but with stripes. That was… him… right? The way the human was staring at him made him think so. And the other one… it was a man with a cape and a mask. He looked just like his master. Blitz chuffed a bit and laid down his head, his tail flicking in admiration.

Jameson shuddered at this act of affection. Magnificent has Alt down good… but… maybe this can still warn him. Dr. J made sure the tiger was still watching as he drew an arrow from Mag to Alt, then drew an x over the tiger. Blitz raised his head at this and cocked it curiously. Jameson shakily drew what he could remember the vestige looked like… even though it brought tears to his eyes and made him feel sick. He drew the spirit seeming to come off of the crossed out Alt, trying to hint at his fate.

He looked up to meet Blitz’s eyes, which were slowly starting to widen- his pupils looking more circular.

Jameson gasped quietly and scribbled to try to write something- if he was beginning to remember then…!

Alt! Please you need to wake up You’re in danger!

Blitz looked at the words almost like he could comprehend them and starts to back pedal, chest rising and falling fast like he’s close to panicking. Jameson watched with bated breath.

Then- the door to the cellar flew open, startling both the tiger and the doctor. Magnificent stood in the shadowed hallway, his glowing eyes the easiest thing to see.

“Blitz! We need to have a chat, my pet. Come.” He hissed, showing his fangs.

Any clarity Alt was getting was snapped out of him at the command and the tiger stood up straight, expression falling back to something inhuman as he slunk out the door to follow his master.

Magnificent looked down at Jameson and at his crude attempts to communicate. He chuckled and threw out a hand, letting magic erase all the evidence. The doctor gaped then looked angry and tried to get up to charge at him but was stopped by the chains keeping him to the wall.

Magnificent laughed again and grinned at Jameson, “A valiant attempt, Jackson. But, it will prove useless, I can assure you. After all- you can’t warn anyone without a voice~”

Magnificent’s laugh echoes down the hall and echoes in Jameson’s mind once he leaves. The doctor attempts to make a noise of frustration but nothing much comes out. He holds his head against his knees and tries to bite back tears. He… he hopes the others will find Alt in time…

———

Magnificent leads Blitz to his main warehouse space, the cat following after him loyally. All seems to be fine until-

Wham!

The mad magician throws a green tinted slap across Blitz’s face, making the tiger skid back with a yelp of pain. Magnificent’s eyes glow with anger as he growls out, “You miserable excuse for a cub! You couldn’t find better than this at that magic shop?!”

He grips one of the trinkets Blitz managed to find and clenches it tight in his hands, the gem of the locket cracking and magic energy flowing up Mag’s arm, lighting up his veins. The magic reaches up his arm and crawls up to just below his neck before disappearing. He cracks his neck and then bares his teeth at the cowering tiger.

“hm… fine- it will suffice… but- I fear you may have alerted that bumbling hero to us…” Magnificent sighs dramatically and circles Blitz for a second before appearing in front of him and grabbing his chin to make the cat look him in the eyes.

“My pet… you mustn’t let these heroes and that doctor lead you astray…! They feed you nothing but lies. Because I know your truth- I know you better than any of them. And I need you, Blitz.” Magnificent almost pleads to the tiger. The tiger blinks loyally at him, chuffing slightly. Magnificent peered into his eyes and studied them. The longer the spell went on…. The more that green ring in Alt’s eyes grew, overtaking the blue. Soon… he wouldn’t even be recognizable. And that’s just what Magnificent needed.

He smiled at the tiger and scratched his chin, cooing to him in a soft voice. “Don’t let those silly humans tell you any different, kitten. You have been my loyal pet your entire life~ and that will never change, right?”

Blitz chuffed again in agreement and licked at Mag’s hand, tail flicking happily.

Magnificent smiled and got to his feet, wiping himself off then patting Blitz on the head. “Get some rest out here, Blitz. That doctor isn’t going anywhere… and well- we both need to be well rested for tomorrow, don’t we?”

Blitz huffed a bit and went back up licking his wounds, now licking at the slightly green tinted fur from Mag’s magic. Magnificent nodded in approval and gathered up the rest of the stolen items from that witch’s shop and headed off to his room. He had much to do…

——

The rest of the morning goes smoothly for Blitz. He grooms- he naps- he plays with his panther siblings. They were such great fun! And they all loved him the second he was brought back into Mag’s little family. Why did he ever leave? That was Too much to think about though so he just focused on the fun!

He glitched around his siblings’ attacks, earning roars of protest that made him snicker. He pounces on the back of one of them- Lucky? Why did a human name come to him when he looked at them? and the panther tries to spin around but Blitz keeps them pinned down. He playfully grabs at their ear and tugs, the panther below playfully biting at his face.

Then- there’s a distant sound of something being knocked over in the warehouse.

All the cats’ ears perk up as they look around. Blitz gets off his sibling and sniffs at the air, starting to growl and buzz with glitches. Something wasn’t right here… something smelled off. An intruder?

Bro had just barely caught what almost gave them away, his other hand holding a squirming Glitches. He carefully tried to set down the box he caught and held Glitches closer in both his hands, trying to calm her down.

“Why did you think bringing Glitches was a good idea, again?” Jackie hisses quietly to the hero.

Chase narrows his eyes at Jackie and whispers back, “I told you! We need all the help we can get to spark Alt’s memories… maybe he’ll see Glitches and it’ll kick start something!”

“What if she gets hurt…?” Henrik asks, eyeing the now patrolling panthers as they start to fan out.

“…she won’t. I know my brother- he wouldn’t hurt her.” Chase replies back with certainty.

He then looks back at Henrik, “Hen- you ready with the distraction?”

Henrik nods, teal light flashing in his eyes as he holds his pocket watch tight.

Chase looks at Jackie and notices the father has a good hold on the rope leading to the door. Now… to get rid of the panthers…

“Okay… now!”

Thrusting out a teal covered hand, Henrik flicks open his pocket watch and clicks down the pin. A collection of huge warehouse boxes he suspended outside all fall at once, creating a huge crash.

All the panthers and Blitz look towards the noise and roar- charging outside to investigate.

Chase and Jackie watch the mass carefully- finally noting that Blitz is right at the edge of the pack. They wait- wait- then…!

“Now!” Chase yells and Jackie let’s go of the rope. The sliding bay door that lead to outside quickly clunks down and stops Blitz in his tracks before he can get outside. Blitz roars at the door and bats at it with his claws then prowls in front of it, roaring in anger.

Henrik and Jackie suck in breath as the watch the beast.

“That… that’s Alt?” Jackie asks in disbelief.

Chase nods sadly. “Yeah…” But then he narrows his eyes in determination and takes off towards him. “But not for long…!”

The other boys exchange warily looks before following after the hero.

Bro touches to the ground a safe distance from Blitz- but close enough he’d be in trouble if the tiger charged. But still he called out to him. “Alt!”

Blitz looks back at the sound and looks at Chase with a bit of confusion. Then he snarls and growls ferally, digging his huge claws into the floor at the sight of his enemy.

Chase backs up slightly and holds out a hand towards the tiger, the other one holding Glitches as best as he can. Jackie and Henrik go to stand next to Chase, though they eye the tiger with a bit of fear.

“R-Relax..! Relax baby bro… it’s us! Your friends- and your brother and-“ The hero then yelps as Glitches scratches him and escapes his grasp, heading towards the tiger. “F-Fuck! Glitches!”

The small cat bounds straight up to Blitz and then stops in front of him. The tiger growls deeply and starts to raise a paw to bat this tiny annoyance away.

But, Glitches starts to meow and mewl at Blitz and the tiger blinks slowly and tilts his head in confusion. His paw lowers and he blinks slowly at the kitten.

Why… does she feel so familiar…?

Blitz suddenly roars in pain and ducks down his head, stumbling back some. Flashes of things he doesn’t understand are appearing before his eyes.

Human hands holding a small beaten up kitten. His hands feeding her fries. Her purring and curled up by his side on his bed in his old rundown apartment. He can feel the smile curling up on my lips and-

No no! That- that wasn’t right- he’s not a human…!

“W-What’s happening?” Jackie whispers in slight panic.

“Alt!” Henrik cries out in fear at hearing the cry of pain.

The tiger looks up at the three men and more images flash: the cafe- Jackie stealing his phone to put in all their numbers. Henrik’s kind smile over their first shared drinks. Chase’s unsure but earnest smile as he took off his mask for him. That same smile on a child- that held him close at night and told him everything was okay.

That same face is looking at him- with tears in his eyes… but the same amount of love.

Blitz’s heart is pounding- his chest heavy, his breathing picking up speed. This isn’t right…. This isn’t…!

Why- why does this feel so wrong?

Human light comes back to Alt’s eyes as he stumbles back and whines. He trips slightly over himself and then- looks down at his paws, as if just seeing them for the first time.

He starts to panic- making deep sounds like he’s trying to talk but they just sound animal. He looks to the others and flattens his ears, rowaring at them as he starts to back up and curl in on himself.

Glitches mewls in distress and tries to rub up against Alt’s massive paws. The tiger whines in response.

Chase tries to approach, holding up his hands, “Alt alt! It’s okay… it’s okay buddy… I-I know it’s scary right now but… w-we’ll figure this out together okay?”

“Will you now?” An amused voice laughs from the rafters. Glitches ears stick up then she hisses fiercely and backs up into Alt’s paw with hackles raised- as if she can protect him.

Magnificent looks down at the scene with an amused smile up from the catwalk he’s sprawled upon.

Chase bares his teeth and shouts up, “okay you Cheshire Cat motherfucker! This has gone on long enough! We broke your stupid memory spell so- let Alt go!”

At this- the mad magician frowns, a dangerous glint in his eyes. In a swish of color and static he suddenly appears in front of Alt and grabs his chin. The glitch yelps out and looks at Magnificent with clear fear in his eyes. That’s all he needs to confirm it.

His eyes flare in rage as he grabs Alt by the collar and bites out, “you fucking pathetic mistake! Who said you could wake up?!” He throws Alt back in a wave of magic before turning enraged eyes to the other boys. Chase backs up and puts his arm out in front of Hen and Jackie protectively.

“You will pay for breaking my cub, you useless wastes of space!” Magnificent snarls.

He thrusts out magic at the boys and suddenly, Henrik launches in front of Chase and Jackie and throws out a teal tinted hand- seemingly freezing Mag’s magic in mid air, like it was paused.

“What?!” Magnificent roars in anger.

“I’ll hold him off! Try to get to Alt!” Henrik shouts back to the other boys.

The magic suddenly flickers and just barely misses Henrik as he gets out of the way. He pants and then narrows his eyes at Magnificent in defiance.

Jackie and Chase exchange looks then try to book it over to help Alt.

Magnificent laughs as he cocks his head at Henrik, showing off his fangs. “My my… does the puppet think himself brave now? Does he think he’s a magician now? With your little… party tricks, hm?”

The normally happy go lucky actor bares his teeth in rage, his eyes glowing teal as he bites back. “I am just as much magic as you! But I will use mein for good!”

The dark magician thrusts out a hand and grabs one of Henrik’s arms in a green string, suspending the gentleman’s hand in the air. Henrik yelps out and tries to shake it off but Mag quickly grabs his other hand and grabs it in the same way, leaving Henrik semi dangling in the air. Henny stares to panic, trying to fight off the strings.

In a smear of color Mag is in front of Henrik and harshly grabbing his cheeks with his claws, really digging them into the flesh. He looks enraged as he whispers darkly to the trapped actor, “You are not magic- you don’t have an ounce of power on your own! If it wasn’t for that watch of yours- you’d be melting in my power the same as your pathetic friends! At least my cub will have a purpose but you…”

Magnificent holds out his other hand, thick claws sharpening and looking like he’s ready to carve out Henrik’s stomach.

“…you have long outlived your usefulness, Henrik~”

He laughs madly and Henrik feels his blood go cold as he tries to shout and fight in the magic.

The other boys reach Alt as he’s whining and pawing at his face, panting heavily. His irises can’t seem to pick which size to be- slitted or circles and the constant flux is making him dizzy and unable to see. Plus- all the noise and confusion and thoughts inside his head! It’s too much… too much…!

He barely feels Glitches trying to paw at him- hardly hears Jackie trying to call his name. He just barely feels the hands on his cheeks as Bro enters his line of sight. Alt looks desperately at his brother and tries to say his name, but all that comes out in a scared sounding growl.

Chase looks back at him with concern but reassured him, “It’s okay Alt- we’re gonna get you out of here and find a way to change you back! Just- focus on us, okay? Try to remember all the awful things Mag has done to you! You can’t listen to him, okay?”

Alt growls back with a hushed whimper and tries to nod.

That’s when they hear Henrik scream.

Magnificent’s hand has been thrust into Henrik’s stomach and the actor screams out in agony.

Alt feels anger explode in his chest, burning hot. His eyes glow as he roars loudly then charges at Magnificent, claws ready to tear into flesh.

Magnificent freezes at hearing the roar- momentarily paralyzed by something akin to fear. But then he turns around just in time to catch Alt in his magic, his hand still dripping blood. He crushes his hand and magic swarms Alt’s form-

And then… a tiny white tiger cub crashes to the floor. It shakes its head out in confusion and then looks up at Mag with conflicted eyes- more magic messing with his head.

Magnificent tilts his head at his cub, studying him quietly with a calculating eye. It was a shame he was awoken from his spell but… it seems whatever his friends were doing wasn’t holding up that well either. Perhaps… he had time to play a little game with them… a game that would crush them all even more when he won.

He snaps and the strings holding up Henrik disappear. The actor falls to the floor with a pained moan, curling up to hold his stomach.

“H-Henrik!” Jackie cries out and rushes over to help him, quickly taking off his jacket to help with the blood.

Chase hesitates then scoops up the now tinier Alt as Glitches climbs up onto his back. He narrows his eyes at Magnificent.

“W-What are you playing at, Mag? Are you just… toying with us?”

“Oh yes- very much so~,” Magnificent replies, grinning wolfishly at Bro. He flicks his cape and slinks around the hero and his cub. “I mean- my puppet annoyed me but… I suppose I can continue to let him live… for now. Im sure he’d also love to see how this alll plays out~! And well… I certainly made is easier for you to transport our precious cub, didnt I?”

Bro holds Alt closer and bares his teeth at Mag. “Just stop being a cryptic asshole and say what you wanna say!”

Magnificent frowns and straightens up and then sighs dramatically.

“Fine… if you must take away all my fun…”

He eyes all the boys and then meets Chase’s.

“I want to see who will win, in this game of tug of war. Who has the most pull over our dear sweet Alt~ I have my magic and you have your… ‘love’ or whatever. I’m very curious to see… if this is where it will all end~”

“Of course it won’t be, you-!” Bro tries to interrupt but Mag snaps and a flicker of static sticks over Bro’s mouth, silencing him.

“Let me finish, hero.” He snaps.

“Your dearest brother has had quite a time with me… and I’m very confident in my hold. And now looking at the time…” He looks through the crumbling walls of the warehouse and smirks at the rising moon before addressing Bro again. “You have about 24 hours…”

Bro startles and mumbles against the magic keeping him quiet, gripping Alt tighter. Alt is cowering in Chase’s grip- his eyes flickering between human and feline again.

Magnificent laughs madly and grins, holding out his arms, “Tomorrow night! When the moon is full and risen- if Alt returns here, still in his rightful form, then you all will have lost. There will be no saving him again… he will forever belong to me~

However… if by some miracle- you all figure out how to turn him human again and break my spell. Then… I will admit defeat.” He eyes Henrik, “You all seem to be more… confident in your magic. I’m sure you all will figure something out~” He teases sinisterly.

“In fact! It’ll be such a miracle that perhaps…” He snaps his fingers again and then tugs at the air- pulling something out of a collection of static. He grips a dirty mop of brown hair in his claws as he cackles out, “Mayhaps I may return your doctor to you all as well.”

Jameson looks up and around the warehouse with wide eyes. Magic is tight around his mouth like a gag and is keeping his arms bound behind his back. Once he sees his friends he tries to make sounds against the gag and fight against Mag some- but he looks awful and sickly. He’s so pale- so fragilely thin. His hair is long overgrown and in his eyes, his glasses cracked and filthy. And there’s a heavy iron collar around his neck like he’s a sick pet. He can hardly seem to make any noise loud enough for them to hear.

All of them gasp. Tears come to Henrik’s eyes as he struggles to get up, wanting to fight to get their friend. “J-Jameson!”

Bro looks enraged and tries to charge but Magnificent quickly tugs on Dr. J’s hair and in another burst of static he’s gone.

“Nuh uh uh heroes~! You can’t get that prize without beating me first!” He laughs and then lifts up into the air in a cloud of colored static, grinning manically down at the crowd below him.

“And with that! I believe our stage is set, gentlemen! I’m so looking forward to the performance tomorrow~!”

He grabs his cape then makes sure to meet Alt’s eyes, his eyes the only thing Alt can make out in his shadowed form. He grins at him and announces.

“Don’t be late, kittens.”

And in a dramatic pull of his cape, he disappears into static- leaving his threats to weigh heavily on the boys as the sky grew dark.

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.