#mfseries

"Don't worry, Chase!" Jackie says cheerfully. "If nothing happens, then we just walk back to camp, no harm done. If something does happen, well, that's why we made all those arrangements with the others.”

“Hmm." Chase glances back behind them, towards the trees on the horizon. Through that forest, the rest of the Masked Phantoms are camped. He knows that they can function on their own, but... "I'm just worried about Jack. He hasn't been... healed for long.”

“The others will take care of him," Henrik says.

"That's sort of what I'm worried about. They've only known him as their enemy. I don't think the possession has really... sunk in. Or, uh, the knowledge about his possession.”

“Vsevna will protect him," Henrik says firmly.

"And so will Draco," Marvin adds. He reaches up, touching his face nervously. "Are you sure it's fine to leave the masks behind, Jair?"

Jameson nods. We don't really need them in another world, do we?

"I suppose... it just... feels strange to leave them behind. And, uh... to leave Draco behind." Marvin also glances back at the tree line.

"Come on, you all, it'll be no problem!" Jackie says optimistically.

"Ah, yes, just a quick jaunt to another world, no problem at all," Henrik drawls.

Chase laughs.

"How do we know where this... thing will be, anyw--" Marvin gasps, and points forward. In the middle of the lavender field, there's... something. The five guys all stop, staring in awe. It's a black spot in the middle of the air, floating unattached to anything.

"That has to be it," Henrik says. "Right, Jameson?"

Jameson nods, eyes wide. It looks so much stranger in person...

The black spot widens. Jackie, previously so ready to do this, yelps and jumps back, a hand on his sword. Marvin laughs, and Jackie shoves him.

"Well... we're here already," Chase says, pulling down his hat. "Do we just... walk... through?" His reluctance is clear. After all, there's nothing on the other side of the hole. Just blackness. It certainly feels ominous.

"Perhaps we can attach a rope to someone and send them through first?" Henrik asks.

"We didn't bring any rope," Marvin points out.

"I know for a fact you have a spell that can do the same thing."

Jackie takes a deep breath, shaking off his initial fear. "Come on, guys, it won't be that bad." He takes a step forward, closer to the rip in the air. His cape moves slightly as a breeze picks up--the air is rushing towards the hole. He can feel it pulling at him. That does scare him again, and he tries to take a step back--but the moment he lifts a foot up the pull increases, and he cries out in surprise as he's suddenly yanked towards the rift. He goes through, disappearing into the blackness.

"Jackie!" Chase gasps. He rushes forward as well, but soon gets caught up in the same pull and vanishes into the rift.

"Schiess!" Henrik curses. He looks at Jameson. "You are really sure this will lead to another world and not just--death?"

Jameson nods. Absolutely!

"...alright." Henrik takes a deep breath. "Then let's all go." Marvin clutches his focus, ready to use magic at any moment.

One by one, the three of them rush forward as well. Henrik, then Marvin, then Jameson. They all disappear into the blackness. And all five of themselves fall through the darkness, rushing past the green light of the space in between, heading to a new world. A world full of things they couldn't possibly have guessed at.

But hopefully, there will be friends there to guide them.

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It's early afternoon in Brighton, the sun beaming down brightly on the bustling city streets. Normally it can be rather gloomy so it feels busier than usual, everyone eager to soak up the good weather.

On the fire escape of a semi-run down building two young adults sit. One, sitting on the railing of the rickety structure, looking up. The other is hung upside down like a monkey near the top, spray painting a mural on the brick.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Alt?" The lower boy says, anxiously looking around as he fiddles with the strings on his bright yellow hoodie. "It's only been a couple weeks since-”

“Relax Ols- I'm totally fine now!" Alt says, grinning down at his boyfriend. "Besides- it's a nice day out! You're always telling me I need more sun~”

“Yeah- but... there are less riskier ways to get sun...! Can't we like... walk the beach or something?" Oliver asks. Then he laughs and shakes his head. "Oh right- I forgot, you're allergic to walking."

'Wah?! I am not!!" Alt protests, glitching down to glare at Oliver over the railing. "You know- you should be nicer to me Oli... I did save the multiverse~" He gives Oliver a cheeky grin.

The junior doctor rolls his eyes and gives Alt a look. "You can't use that to weasel your way out of everything, Alt- it's getting old!" Oliver laughs.

"Well... its true!" Alt giggles. He glitches down to be by Oliver and looks up at his half finished tag.

Oliver looks up too. "...why does it need to be so high again?”

“They're called angel spots- it's impressive to other graffiti artists~ it's like our way of bragging," Alt says smugly.

"Hm- I guess it is impressive. You're impressive in making me grow gray hairs early." Oliver deadpans.

Alt laughs and nudges Oliver with his elbow. "Hey you knew what you were signing up for!"

They both laugh. Then, they fall back into a peaceful silence as they feel the warm breeze waft around them. Then, Oliver asks. "You know- it's been about a month since you got the TRVLR back... think you're gonna use it again soon?"

Alt hums, " I dunno... maybe? There's some worlds I wanna go check back in on but... I do have a bit of worry wart of a boyfriend I gotta think of."

Oliver laughs, "Sorry for caring about you, oh great multiverse savior~"

Alt chuckles and loops his arm around Oliver and presses his lips to his hair, "Nah... don't be sorry for that. S'why I like ya so much."

Oliver blushes and hides his face slightly.

And then... something falls from nowhere onto the rough concrete of the roof. Alt and Oliver jump in surprise at the noise. "What was that?!" Oliver gasps.

Alt jumps down from the railing as his eyes burn with magic. "Stay down here Ol- I'll check it out...”

“B-Be Careful..."

Alt then glitches up onto the roof.

The area where Marvin fell is so strange to him. The ground feels like rock but it's... not? It's coarse and rough and- there's a strange rectangular white object that's making an awful lot of noise and- when he looks out in front of him, it's a sight like he's never seen before. Rows and rows of tall buildings and winding streets, all shining in the sun. Some of the buildings even reflect the light like sunbeams on a flowing river but... how can that be? Even the buildings that don’t shine are more colorful than any buildings he’s seen before! Strange vehicles zoom on the roads, as shiny as the buildings and they're... loud. Even if this is not a busy street it's so so loud here.

Marvin blinks. Elders! Why is this so loud?! He covers his ears, looking up at the sky, then... down over the edge of this tower. How far is he from the ground? This is taller than most places he's been in! And there are taller spires all around. He squints at them. All so square and shining... are they made of silver? What is this? And what are those things moving on the ground?

Then, he hears the sharp zing of glishing- something he can recognize. And Alt appears on the roof next to him, his eyes wide. "M-Marvin?!"

"K-kadé sio?" Marvin jumps and spins around, visibly relaxing when he realizes who this is. "Alt! Te átas yom túa aikeáil. Ká bhfuil mude?"

“Oh fuck right uh- lemme help!” Alt says quickly, glitching over to grab Marvin’s hand and cast a translation spell. He then steps back and tries to smile. “Uh- it’s good to see you too but- h-how did you get here?!”

Marvin nods, taking a deep breath. "Thank you. Um--w-we all came to visit you guys!" He smiles weakly. "Ah, Jair had a vision that there would be this gateway to your world opening up. This black hole in the air. So, uh, we all made arrangements to come see you in your world the way you've visited us in ours."

Alt blinks wildly in surprise. “Jameson had a vision?? Of a rift??” He furrows his eyebrows in confusion and hums in thought, “…They did say they might linger around… o-okay- jeez you’re taking this a lot better than I thought you would, not gonna lie.”

Marvin leans over the edge of the roof again and winces. "Your buildings are so tall." Then he looks around the roof. "Oh, um... It looks like the others haven't shown up in the same location."

Alt sighs and nods, “Yeah… the black holes- rifts, they can be unpredictable. I’m just glad it didn’t drop you off the roof.”

"Rifts," Marvin repeats, testing out the word. "Yes, he had a vision of one, and knew that it would lead to your world! So we made sure that the other Phantoms were all prepared for our absence and headed out." He looks over the edge of the building again. He can't help it; it's not often that he's up this high. "As for me taking it better... uh... well... Th-this is all very confusing and... noisy. But I can control myself." He hopes.

Alt blinks and tilts his head, “Damn… I guess you guys got things to work out then? Otherwise I can’t see you all coming here so willingly!” He chuckles a bit. He then takes his headphones off from around his neck and offers them to Marvin. “Here- if you’d like, these can help with the noise.” He smiles.

Marvin takes the headphones, examining them. "Ooo. Ear mufflers. Like for the cold." But the material they're made out of... it's so strange. He taps the band in the middle, listening to the dull noise his fingernail makes against it. Then feels the soft material of the ears. They're also giving off a glow in places. He pulls them on, feeling them snug against his ears.

“Yeah they’re kinda like that!” Alt laughs

Out of the corner of his eye, Marvin can see a face pop out from the side of the roof. Somebody with wild black wavy hair and glasses on his freckled nose.

Marvin jumps. "Oh! All above. Um... hi?" He waves. "Who are you? I'm called Marvin. Alt, is this a friend of yours?"

Alt glitches in place as Marvin jumps and Oliver yelps and ducks away.

Alt blinks then laughs, “actually… that’s uh… that’s my partner.” He glitches over to the side and helps Oliver up.

Oliver looks a bit nervous and confused. “Alttt- what’s happening? Who’s this??”

“This is uh- one of our multiverse friends. He’s from the medieval world! Marvin, this is Oliver Doom. Oli- this is Marvin!” Alt gestures to each of them as he introduces them.

Oliver blinks in bewilderment at Marvin and then looks at Alt with wide eyes, “Did you say medieval world???”

"Oh! Oliver! Yes, Alt and his friends talked about you!" Vaguely, in mentions of how flustered Alt got around him. Marvin grins at the memory of it. "Medeevel, yes, that's the word they used!" Marvin gives a little bow. His dark blue tunic is held close to his waist with a blue sash, and his black cloak has fur on the inside to keep warm. Oliver can tell just looking at the clothes that they're different from modern clothes. They're less... regular. Clearly not mass-manufactured like modern clothes are.

Oliver stares at Marvin in fascination. “…you really do look like you’re from another world… that’s crazy! How-How can I understand him? Didn’t you say they spoke another language?” He turns to ask Alt.

Alt nods, “Technically he’s still speaking Glasish- the spell I used is just letting us hear it as English. Or as close as it can be.” He grins.

“Magic always astounds me!” Oliver grins back. He offers his hand to Marvin, “Well it’s a pleasure to meet you, Marvin! Welcome to Brighton!”

Marvin nods along to the conversation. "Brighton is the city, right? It looks..." He scans the horizon. "...tall. And shiny." He gets distracted for a moment, then realizes that Oliver is offering a handshake. "Oh. Sorry." He grabs his hand and shakes.

Oliver laughs, “it’s okay- this is probably a lot for you!”

“…Man, this is not the greatest place to show off,” Alt comments lightly with a laugh. He glitches to the fire escape and starts to pack up his stuff. He shouts back at them, “Lemme clean up then we can go look for your friends, Marvin!”

"Of course. Did I interrupt you?" He goes over to the side of the building, looking down at the fire escape. His eyes widen. "Metal ladders? Is this how people get up onto this building?! That seems risky!"

Alt looks up and laughs, shaking the spray paint can before he puts his signature on the piece. It’s not finished but he didn’t want anyone else claiming it. “This isn’t the main entrance- it’s how people leave in case of an emergency! It’s called a fire escape.” He slings his bag over his shoulder then glitches back up onto the roof, stuffing the can into an open space. “Though- pretty sure no one lives here anymore. Or else we’d probably be getting complaints.” He chuckles.

"Fire... escape," Marvin repeats, staring at the spray paint with wide eyes. Air came from that metal cylinder, and the surface became colorful! How?! "I've never... heard of a fire escape entrance. Hmm. I suppose that would be helpful, though, if there was something blocking the main entrance." He scans the building, taking note of all the windows. "No one lives in this tower? Really? It's so tall."

“Well sometimes- places aren’t good places to live,” Oliver tries to offer.

“Yeah or the owner wants too much money for people to stay there-“ Alt shrugs.

"...huh?" Marvin blinks in confusion.

Alt grins. “Don’t worry about this place, Marv. We’ll show you even cooler places!” He then hums and puts his hand on his chin. “Now… where do we start…”

“Do you remember what the others were doing today? You said these guys usually appear near people like them, right?” Oliver asks.

Alt nods and thinks, “I think Chase took Stacy to the movies… Jackie has the kids and is running errands… don’t remember what Dr. J and Henny are doing- though I think we wanted to get drinks later. Henny and me, I mean.” He laughs.

"Oh right, your, um, moving pictures!" Marvin says, eyes lighting up. "That'll be exciting to see! Maybe if you don't know where your friends are, we can check where they might be. Though I suppose if they're out of town you might need to send a messenger bird? Or I would be fine with waiting until you're ready to meet with Henny for, uh, drinks. We can look around the city until then."

Alt listens while he talks and nods but eventually he bursts into giggles, “D-Don’t worry, dude- I can just message them, and then glitch us over! No need to wait around.” He whips out his phone and grins, “Things move fast around here, you’ll see.”

"Oh, right, your ghlishing." Marvin looks embarrassed. "I forgot about that."

As he says this- Alt phone suddenly starts to ring off the hook- his phone blowing up. “…well- guess I should have expected that-“

Marvin jumps in surprise as Alt's small metal rectangle starts to make a bunch of sound. "I-is that how you message people? Do those sounds mean your friends are reaching you?" He leans over to look at it closer.

“Yeah they’re calling me- it’s like uh… a way to talk over distances?” Alt says, picking up the call.

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Speaking of fast- it seems Dr. J, Henny and Alice were out on the town and were just getting off the train at the train station. Alice is giggling as she swings Henny’s arm back and forth, “That was super duper fun!! I love the zoo!”

Henny laughs and nods, “It was very funny, yes!” Sahne barks a bit in agreement at his side.

Dr. J chuckles, “Yes it was a very fun day. But, it’s about time to take you home for a nap, Alice, dear.”

“Awww! Can’t we keep doing stuff with Uncle Henny, daaaa?” Alice whines.

“Oh yes! Maybe we should get ice cream?” Henny grins.

“Yeah!! Ice cream!!” Alice jumps up and down in excitement.

Dr. J sighs, but with a fond smile.

But then- two people suddenly appear amongst the crowd getting off the train, Jameson and Henrik. They appear in a noisy gathering of people- an impossibly long and tall tube of metal sitting on tracks- people coming in and out of it.

"Ak!" Henrik jumps in surprise, getting pushed around by the crowd. "Cade aan saolile?!" He looks around. These clothes--they're so bright! And--sparse? Not immodest, really, but... there are less layers than he's used to. And what is that metal structure? A building of some kind? Jameson also jostles, eyes wide. He wasn't expecting to land in a crowd of people! His eyes scan it, and he quickly lunges to the side, grabbing onto Henrik's arm.

Henrik jumps, then relaxes. "Dyamison. Ní dúira tugo stoich fimidh slea."

Jameson gestures, saying that he didn't see anything beyond the rip. They both scan the area together... and see an unusual sprig of colored hair. It’s a familiar tuft of teal hair on a tall gentleman through the crowd- coming their way.

"Anésyn...?" Henrik mutters. "Hwaet!" He raises his hand, waving through the air for attention.

Henny perks up and sees the hand waving, “Oh- is someone waving over to me??”

Dr. J’s eyes widen, “…did I just hear someone speak… Glasish?” Dr. J meets eyes with Henny who looks at him with equally wide eyes. Dr. J goes to pick up Alice and then hurry towards the waving hand.

“Wha?? Da what are we doing??” Alice squeaks.

Henny gasps in delight at seeing Henrik and Jameson, “Oh!!! My friends!!! What are you two doing here?!”

Dr. J looks way more surprised, “…how did you two get here??”

Henrik slumps in relief as Dr. J and Henny appear... then blinks in confusion. He has no idea what they're saying... Right, they speak a different language in this world. "Buel... foc," he mutters.

Alice blinks at the two strange men and then points at them, “Da! They’re wearing costumes!!”

Jameson also looks confused at the language difference. He should have seen this coming. But then he looks down at the little girl. He smiles and waves at her, wiggling his mustache playfully.

"Tháin mude, om... shun kuair atha bhairt yor..." Henrik says slowly. How can he explain this without words? "Om..." He gestures at him and Jameson, then at the two others. Then he makes a gesture like someone walking... no, that probably won't work. He tries to smile to show that everything is okay.

Dr. J and Henny blink comically at them.

“They talk funny, Da,” Alice comments. “Who are they?” She does giggle and wave at Jameson though.

“They’re uh- friends of ours,” Dr. J says quickly, pulling out his phone. “Uh, Henny? Maybe try speaking German with Henrik? Perhaps it’s close enough?”

“Oh! Good idea! Are you gonna call Alt?”

“Yes-“ Dr. J says, already putting the phone to his ear.

Henny nods then gestures to Henrik, “hallo, anderes ich! wie bist du hierher gekommen?” He asks with a bright smile.

"Ah!" That second language--it sounds a bit like Alterdan. Not exactly, but Henrik can figure that Henny is asking how they got here. "Wier kamena durein Loch en der Luff. Schwarz. Ein Tor zuihr er Wolt."

Sahne is curiously trying to step closer, sniffing at Henrik and Jameson’s legs.

Jameson looks down at Sahne, tilting his head to the side. Is that writing on the harness? He can't read their alphabet, maybe that's the dog's name? He bends down to pet her head.

Sahne pants happily, her tail wagging wildly. She bumps her head up against Jameson’s hand and demands more. Jameson laughs silently and starts scratching Sahne behind the ears.

Henny looks a bit confused but- it’s like different dialects. “ein schwarzes Loch? Oh, Alt und Chase wissen darüber Bescheid!”

Henrik's eyes widen. "Alt un Chase wissel?" That's good to hear! So they won't be appearing completely out of nowhere, if Alt and Chase know about the gateway to their world.

Henny then turns to Jameson, “He says they came from the uh- rip things! That Alt told us about!”

“Oh yes- the rifts,” Dr. J nods.

Henrik looks at Dr. J. "...riffs," he repeats. That must be what they're called.

“Maybe we should get them out of the crowd-“ Dr. J says, hanging up the phone. “It’s too noisy here. Let’s lead them back to my car.”

“Okie!” Henny turns back to Henrik, “folgen Sie uns! Wir gehen an einen ruhigeren Ort.” Henny tugs a bit on Sahne’s leash and she reluctantly follows after.

Dr. J smiles at the two of them and nods, following after Henny as he digs around for his keys. Alice pouts on Dr. J’s shoulder, “Does this mean we’re not getting ice cream?”

Henrik nods slowly. Follow... quiet? Yea, this place is really noisy. And he feels like he and Jameson are getting stares from the other people. Where are they, anyway?

They are getting a bit of stares, mostly children pointing at them as their parents blink at them curiously. Or usher their children away to avoid having to explain. They hear the train whistle blow as they start to leave and see the long metal building speed off, no one really paying any big attention to it.

What is that long metal building--oh wait it's moving?! He cries out in surprise and grabs onto Jameson's arms. "Dyamee, tá aan foerneamh fada sen agbodha!"

Jameson looks up and gasps in surprise. He gestures something.

Henrik laughs. "Tá. Foerneamh nasthaer." The two of them giggle. Then Henrik notices the others are getting away. He tugs on Jameson's arm. "Tesiad adul aar aghaidh." Jameson nods, and the two of them hurry after Henny and Dr. J.

Henny and Dr. J lead Jameson and Henrik to the car park- and the two visitors can see rows and rows of bright colorful metal carriages. That must be what they are right? Because they see a few people get in one and then ride away, like a horse-less carriage! Is it run by magic? In the distance they can see the train station is surrounded by tiny plots of grass and trees, and tall buildings loom across the street, shining brightly in the afternoon light.

Henrik inhales sharply. "Schwestern..." This city... it's incredible! The towers scrape the sky! How do they build them that tall?! They look more like statues, some sort of artistic display of metal and glass, a dedication to the gods. But... they must be lived in, right?

Jameson's eyes are practically sparkling with stars. His gaze follows the shining colorful carriages. Are they made of... metal? How curious!

Henny beams at the two of them and nods, “es ist unglaublich, oder?”

"Es ist..." Henrik blanks on that word, but he can figure its meaning. Unbelievable. He laughs and nods.

Dr. J is busy looking for his keys but eventually they stop in front of a lighter blue carriage that seems small compared to some of the others. He presses a button on his keys and the carriage makes a sound. He then bounces Alice and puts her in a seat inside, strapping her in.

Both the visitors jump in surprise at the sound. Jameson reaches forward and puts a hand on the front. Oh! It's... vibrating? Is this the source of the noise? Is the vibration and the noise a result of the magic that makes them go without being pulled?

The good doctor blinks at the two visitors then tries to gesture for them to sit inside. Henny helpfully goes to open the door and grins at them. Sahne already hops in, going to curl up under Alice’s feet. Alice giggles and kicks her feet, trying to pet Sahne that way.

Henrik looks into the open door. He touches the seats inside. "Ohhh." That's an unusual fabric to use for the seats. Its rougher than expected. Very tightly woven. "Dyamee!" he calls.

Jameson walks over and also feels the seats. His eyes widen in similar surprise.

Alice blinks as the strange men that look like her dad and uncle Henny feel the car seats.

Then Jameson climbs in through the door and Henrik does as well. Huh, these carriages are lower to the ground than the ones back home. They have to duck in. Henrik stares at the front of the carriage. There's a wheel there, like the one at the helm of a ship. And a bunch of... other stuff that he doesn't understand.

Jameson grabs something next to the seat and pulls. What is this fabric thing? Is this a buckle sliding up and down it? He glances at Alice, noticing how this fabric strip goes across her, and tries to do the same with this one, pulling it across himself.

Henny looks in from the open car door in front and gives Jameson a thumbs up and nods eagerly. He points to something in between the seats- and Jameson can notice a little metal bit at the end of fabric that looks like it’ll fit in the strange hard rectangle next to him.

Jameson nods, and clumsily fits the buckle into the rectangle. It clicks. Ah, some sort of locking mechanism.

Dr. J settles into the driver's seat and turns on the car. Jameson and Henrik can hear a strange roar as the carriage seems to vibrate and shake ever so slightly. Not enough to be uncomfortable but enough to notice.

"Woh!" Henrik shouts in surprise as the whole carriage begins to buzz. Jameson laughs silently, and gestures in handspeak, telling him about the buckle for the fabric strip.

"Ah, ta." Henrik nods in understanding and pulls the fabric across him, buckling it. He shifts back and forth. Huh. This is strangely restrictive. It feels like it's being pulled back into the place it comes from. He wonders what this is for.

Henny giggles a bit and nods to them, hopping into the passenger seat. Alice studies the men curiously, kicking her feet.

Dr. J then plugs his phone in and starts to call Alt again. He prays that Alt will pick up… he’s not sure what else to do!

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Meanwhile, across town- the Mann family is at the supermarket. Jackie is pushing a trolley with Penny in the front, Kelsie and Ollie zipping around him. He tiredly checks his phone to see what else they need. “Okay, sunshine? Can you find the… flour for me?”

“Got it!” Kelsie says as she rushes down the aisle, searching for the pack.

“And Ollie can you find, vanilla pudding mix-”

“Okay dad!” Ollie says, looking around at the shelves. Jackie chuckles to himself. Always fun to make it a game for them. And hey- the less bending down he had to do- the better.

Then, suddenly, a familiar sight appears in the middle of section. It’s… medieval Jackie??

“Woah!!” Jackieboy shouts, skidding the cart and jostling Penny.

Penny looks back then gasps in delight and makes grabby hands at other Jackie. “Daddy too!!! Daddy too!!”

Kelsie and Ollie look back then gasp. “Oh my gosh!! Another stranger dad!! Like the one with the eyepatch!” Kelsie shouts excitedly.

“Does he have a sword???” Ollie exclaims with starry eyes.

“He has two swords!!” Kelsie adds with excitement.

“Woahhh!!!”

For Jackie- the juxtaposition of going from outside in the field to this bright Interior is jarring. The light above is so bright he could mistake it for the sun- but then he sees windows further down the building, looking towards outside. When looking up- he doesn’t find lanterns but instead, light contained inside flat rectangles. ….are glow bugs trapped up there? Is this a spell?

That’s not even the strangest thing- quiet music seems to be playing around them- but he doesn’t see any musicians. And the aisle they’re in- it’s just other him and 3 small children- and so many colorful objects on the shelves. Things he’s never seen before, based on how they look! Everything is written in a strange language he can’t read.

"Woh!" Jackie blinks, rubbing his eyes. This light--it's different. A brighter, harsher light than anything he's seen before. Those rectangles... he's never seen anything like them. Or... anything else around him. He taps his boot on the ground. What is this material? It's not wood or stone. And what are these? He reaches out and picks up a square box of some kind, shaking it. Sounds like there's powder in there or something. Speaking of sound, where is that music coming from? Are they... in the... ceiling? He looks up again.

...wait. He's not alone.

He looks down the aisle between the shelves and gasps. "Dyaki! Didhui!" He waves excitedly. Then he looks down. "Akus kaithfith gur iaseo bhar peástaí! Didhui aan!" He waves at Kelsie and Ollie. "Tátú beir shomh glioie."

Kelsie and Ollie giggle. “Daddy! He talks funny!” Kelsie says.

Jackieboy waves with a nervous smile. “H-Hey! Oh god- we…. Gotta find Alt oh god- uhhh-“

There’s people poking their heads into the aisle to try to figure out what all the ruckus is about. Some bring out their phones to take pictures. “Dude- is that a cosplayer? In the market?”

“Maybe he’s coming home from a reenactment!”

“That costume is impressive-“

Jackie looks around at the other people coming by, confused. They're holding up metal rectangles, like the one that Bro had when he very first appeared in their world. And these people are chattering in another language--oh damnit, he forgot about the language thing! Well, at least these people don't sound hostile. They're, uh... curious. He waves at them, smiling in a friendly way.

Jackieboy starts to panic a bit though, as more people start to stare. “Uh- I-I think we might need to cut the shopping trip short, kids.”

“Awww- lemme get the flour though dad! I wanna make that dessert!” Kelsie says as she picks up a white package and hurries over to put it in the buggy. She rocks on the back of it, smiling.

Ollie tugs on Jackie’s jacket and points at his sword. “Why do you have a sword? Do you fight bad guys?”

“Oh uh- Ollie… he can’t understand English, bud…”

“Awww… why?”

“He speaks another language. One that we don’t know unless we get a spell from Alt.”

“Let’s go find Alt then!!” Kelsie says excitedly again, bouncing on the cart.

Penny laughs and claps her hands. “Alt! Alt!”

Jackie looks at the young... boy? Yes, probably a boy and a girl. They must be too young to start wearing [kirinse]s. The boy points at his sword and asks something. The other Jackie says something, probably explaining things. Does the boy want to look at his weapon? Jackie smiles and puts his hand on the hilt, starting to draw the sword--

“NO NO-!” Jackieboy shouts, waving his hands and making an x with his arms.

Jackie blinks in confusion. Oh right, weapons aren't a common thing in this world, are they? He vaguely remembers Bro or Alt saying something like that. He sheathes the sword again before it's even a few inches out of the scabbard.

“Aww dad!! I wanna see!” Ollie says.

“Later bud, later!” Jackieboy says as he grins nervously at the passersbys. He then turns the buggy around and makes a gesture for Jackie to follow.

Ollie blinks a bit then goes to grab Jackie’s hand and starts to pull him after his dad. Jackie lets the young boy grab his hand and follows the other Jackie.

Jackieboy quickly leads them through more of the aisles, trying to get to the front. Each one is just as colorful and full of strange boxes and packages of food items. There’s more than enough food here to feed the camp three times over! Maybe even more! Jackie can’t help but stare at the boxes with wide eyes. Is all of this food? All put in boxes and jars of their own? That’s amazing! He’s only ever seen this much food at a market day in a big city. Though, what strange food it is. He pokes a box as he passes by it, looking at the stuff inside through a small transparent section. Some sort of long yellow strands. They look hard and solid. Maybe these are travel provisions? There must be a lot of people here to have so many to sell.

They pass by a strange display of vegetables on dark shelves… Why are all of them just sitting here? In the open? As they pass by, the sound of something hissing is heard before water starts to gently mist the produce.

Ollie gasps in delight and giggles, going to put his hands under the water. Kelsie squeals and hops off the cart to join.

“Kids, c’mon we gotta hurry up and pay!” Jackieboy tries to say gently.

Jackie gasps. He puts his hand out as well, feeling the mist. Like a sea spray! But where’s it coming from? It must be deliberate, but why mist the vegetables? Water will just make them spoil faster. He starts to ask Jackieboy about that, but then remembers he can’t understand him and stops.

Jackieboy can’t help but laugh a little but hides it behind his hand. He jerks his head towards the front and starts to walk ahead again.

Ollie takes back up his self appointed job of leading Jackie and takes his hand again, pulling him forward. The place they take him to is even more strange… some box with a table underneath. There’s several like it all around. Jackieboy starts to take his items out of his cart and clicks them against the table and then a strange noise occurs! A loud resonating ‘beep’!

Jackieboy and the kids don’t seem phased by this at all- and the father hurries to tap a bunch of the items as quickly as he can- throwing them into loud crinkly bags. What are they made out of? It’s a material like nothing Jackie has seen before.

Jackie leans towards the table, staring at the box from above. Oh! There's some sort of red light there! Interesting. So... it's like magic, when an item goes into the red light it goes beep and... something else happens, he assumes. Kelsie and Ollie look at Jackie and giggle. He then circles around to feel out the bags. So strange... It feels like it gives way, like he could tear it with his fingers. That's... probably not a good idea, though. Oh! Are these bags free to take? He pulls one off the rack, messing with it.

Kelsie pops up and points at the bag and says, “Plastic!”

"Plasdik," Jackie repeats, continuing to mess with the bag. One of his fingers goes through the material. He blinks, then glances around, but no one seems to care. Still, he hurriedly tucks it into his belt, just in case.

Jackieboy hurriedly finishes up the checkout while Jackie is distracted and puts the bags in the cart then pulls out his wallet and inserts his card into the machine. He quickly clicks on the screen to finish and then a roll of paper pops out from the table! Like magic!

Jackie watches Jackieboy tap the glowing square. Is this... how money works here? They did talk about everything being... What was the word? Dijetahl. Something like that. Jackie grabs the paper, tearing it off from the table as it's (hopefully) supposed to. Just more of that weird alphabet on here. He hands it to Jackieboy.

Jackieboy blinks in surprise then laughs and nods, “Thanks, dude.” He then tilts his head towards the door and he and the kids head through- and before they get there the doors fly open on their own! Wow! Things are much more magic here than he thought!

And outside the doors are rows and rows of colorful shiny carriages! Some ride by- and there’s no horses in sight?? He looks past the sea of shiny and sees more of the carriages zooming by and they’re so fast!! And there’s so many tall towers in the distance! There’s so little nature and trees around too-

Jackie gapes at the city outside. "Sinseadh..." he breathes. It's all so... bright. And tall. His gaze follows the carriages as they move past. They're so round and smooth and colorful! And this ground--it's all one solid rock, no sign of seams where bricks and cobbles fit together.

Jackieboy looks both ways to watch out for carriages then starts to lead him and the kids across the path- Kelsie takes her dad’s hand and Ollie takes Jackie’s again.

As Ollie pulls him along, he looks back at the building they just came from. The glass doors have closed on their own again. He can't believe the people here are just--accepting all this without marveling at it. But then again, you can get used to anything, can't you? After all, he'd been shocked when they found that dragon skeleton in the mountains, but it soon became an everyday part of their lives at Wyvernlair.

Jackieboy soon leads them to a bright red carriage that seems a bit bigger than the ones surrounding them. “Kels, Ols- can you put the groceries in the trunk?”

“Uh huh!” Kelsie says as she teeters over the edge of the basket and grabs the bags.

Jackieboy clicks something on a device he has in his hands that jingles like metal and the back of the carriage pops open on its own!

Jackie stares at the door opening with wide eyes. He looks at Jackieboy's device--what is that, some sort of magical key?

Kelsie starts to put stuff inside and Ollie quickly goes to help.

Jackieboy then picks up Penny and loads her into the backseat, strapping her in.

Jackie also watches him put the youngest child into the seat. "Daww. Didhui, a bhuin bea." He waves at them and smiles. "Glioise."

Penny blinks at Jackie then giggles and makes grabby hands at him. “Daddy too!! Daddy too!!” Jackieboy grins sheepishly at this. Once he’s done Jackieboy takes out his phone and starts to call Alt, hurriedly tapping his foot. “c’mon Alt- you better pick up…!”

Then Jackie turns back, watching the two older children putting the bags into the carriage. Well, might as well help out. Carefully, he reaches out and grabs a bag, putting it in the trunk slowly.

Kelsie looks up as Jackie helps then grins wide, “Thanks Mr. Jackie!”

Jackie nods. He's guessing that the girl is thanking him. "Fáilta ronait," he says.

The two children and Jackie make quick work of loading the trunk- they didn’t have too many groceries luckily.

Then, Ollie grabs Jackie’s hand again. “You can come sit in the back with us!”

“Uh I don’t think there’s enough room, bud- he should sit up front…” Jackieboy says.

“Awwww!!” Both Kelsie and Ollie say in unison. Ollie pouts but then leads Jackie around the car and opens the passenger door for him. He gestures inside. “Guess you gotta sit here…”

Kelsie hops into her spot next to Penny and gives her a toy so she stops fussing and straps herself in.

Jackie blinks, climbing into the carriage's front seat. Does this mean they're expecting him to fight off highwaymen? Well, he supposes he's the most qualified out of everyone currently here. But sitting in a completely covered compartment isn't going to help him fight people off, so maybe that's not what they mean. Wait, he's not going to be expected to control this, is he? He can't even drive a carriage back home, much less one of these strange ones. He looks down at his surroundings. There are a bunch of fiddly-looking things... He reaches out and starts turning some sort of dial, moving its arrow from pointing to a blue dot to a red dot.

Ollie and Kelsie giggle as they watch. Jackieboy comes to the driver's seat and starts the car- since he’s having trouble reaching Alt at the moment. He shuts the door and turns the key- and the carriage makes a loud roar that shakes the whole thing! As he does Jackie and Jackieboy get blasted in the face with hot air that has the father sputtering.

“Damnit! Why is that on hot??” He grumbles as he goes to turn it back to the blue.

The kids giggle even more and Jackieboy narrows his eyes at the them, “Ha ha very funny you two-“

Jackie jumps in surprise--first by the roaring, and then by the hot air. He instinctively reaches for his sword but it's kinda hard to draw when sitting in this chair. He watches Jackieboy turn the dial again and feels the breeze shift temperature slightly. Oh... so that's what that does. "Tá brón yom," he mutters apologetically.

Jackieboy blinks at him then laughs, “hey I remember that phrase! It’s okay-“ He smiles. He then plugs in his phone and tries to call Alt again as the car cools down. Kinda hard to help this poor guy out if he can’t understand them…

ᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅ

A little bit aways- a movie has just finished wrapping up and the Chase Brody of this world is sitting in a seat, his arm around a blond woman as they talk amongst the rapidly emptying theater. The credits play in the background. “See? Wasn’t I right?” He says with a smirk, “It’s a feel good movie!”

The woman laughs, “I can admit… It was very cute. And the animation was really good-“ Then she giggles and pokes his chest, “but why don’t you admit you just wanted me to see this cuz it’s based on your favorite game as a kid!”

Chase blushes and pouts, “Nuh-uh! It’s uh…”

“Not exactly a romantic movie, Romeo,” The girl teases.

“Stacy c’monnn…!” Chase whines. He then takes her hand and kisses it, “I just like… spending time with you.”

Stacy’s face melts and she giggles, “Aw well… alright. I’m okay with that then~” she leans over and gives him a quick kiss and now it’s Chase’s turn to melt.

The hero grins and looks around before scooping Stacy closer with a hand on her back. “You know… looks like no one else is in here…”

“…are you really suggesting snogging during the credits of the Sonic movie?” Stacy says with a raised eyebrow.

“…people have done weirder?” Chase tries to offer with an embarrassed smile.

Stacy giggles and Chase grins more, going to pull her in and they share another kiss-

Unfortunately for him- that’s the moment when other Chase drops into their world.

Chase is met with a very strange sight. It’s dim in here but- there’s… strange torches on the walls. And the majority of the room is black but rows and rows of strangely upholstered chairs sit in front of him, going up higher and higher into the back of the room like the slope of a hill. Music is seemingly coming from nowhere and a strange beam of light seems to be coming from the top of the wall- and if he turns around he sees a jumble of words he can’t read scrolling along the black wall. What sort of magic is this?!

Chase shakes his head, blinking wildly. The sudden dimness is almost blinding after being outside. Where's there music coming from?! What is that beam of light?! Is this--some sort of theatre? But--inside? He'd never seen such a thing! The wall suddenly shifts--what is this?!

Before he has any time to process this- the text seems to stop- and then the whole thing changes! It shows… a landscape of trees that look like home… then swirling leaves and- then really loud music as a weird furry yellow creature just hops out of nowhere- it’s face taking up the whole screen!

"Lisrashi naof!" he shouts in surprise, covering his ears. He stumbles backwards, running into a row of the chairs and almost falling over. He yelps, reaching back to steady himself. The quiver on his belt bangs against his legs, and he quickly grabs it before any arrows can spill.

Bro and Stacy startle apart and Bro gasps, quickly getting to his feet. “N-No way…!” He breathes.

“Uh, Chase? What’s wrong?” Stacy asks as she looks down then blinks in confusion, “…does that guy have arrows??”

Bro hurries down the stairs and tries to get to Chase, “Chase! Hwaet!!”

Stacy watches with confusion.

Luckily whatever creature that was… it’s flying away on the wall- using its… tails? But then the wall fades back to quieter music and text again. What a strange spell…

Chase stares at the wall, squinting slightly at the light. It... must be some sort of art. Art that moves... isn't that supposed to be a thing in this world? Then he hears the shout and spins around, immediately slumping in relief to see a familiar face. "Brao! Didhui!" He waves, walking around the chairs and over to the stairs. "Tá brón yom, bí mé--"

Bro goes to give Chase a big hug, grinning wide. Then it dawns on him that- why is he here?!? And oh god- he doesn’t remember too much Glasish- ooooh no…

Chase glances around... and notices the woman sitting in the chairs. "Ah... Didhui." He waves. It's still dark, even with the light from the moving art wall, but... she looks sort of familiar.

Stacy blinks and then shyly waves as she gets up and slings her purse over her shoulder. She’s dressed in a torn jean skirt and one of bro’s jackets, “um… hi? C-Chase… who is this? ..why does he look like you?”

….shit- he hasn’t told Stacy much about the multiverse yet! She’s barely even knows about him being Bro Fantastic! “uhhhhhh-“

Oh, as the woman gets closer, Chase realizes who she reminds him of. She looks a bit like Stacia. There are a few differences. The hair and eye color, and her features are a bit softer, but he can still clearly see a similarity. He waves again. This is probably very confusing for her... and he forgot that people here didn't speak the same language... that translation magic was really spoiling them. "Om... glaigh yom Tshais." He puts his hand on his chest, indicating himself. "Tshais." He smiles.

Stacy knits her eyebrows together in confusion. She looks to Bro, “…is he saying he’s also Chase?”

Bro is sweating hardcore, “Uh yeah well uh- y-you know how Alt and me had to leave for a bit last month and he ended up in the hospital? …uh… that’s cuz we’ve been uh…. H-helping out in other… universes? Ones that have us in them…?”

Stacy’s eyes widen, “What?! That’s a real thing??? And you never told me?!”

Bro throws his hands into the air, “You just found out I was a superhero! I didn’t think you were ready to hear about other universes and the magic bullshit we’ve been through!”

“That seems like a crucial thing to tell your girlfriend though, Chase!” Stacy bites back, crossing her arms. “Especially if it means other versions of you speaking weird languages are suddenly gonna appear!”

Chase looks back and forth between Bro and this Stacia-like woman. He doesn't know what they're saying, but uh... this seems to be a disagreement. His smile slowly fades as he awkwardly shifts on his feet, looking around.

“Ah shit right, other me!” Bro says with a wince, looking back at Chase. He very slowly says, “t-ta brom yom…! Tiem… Alt?” He’s very much butchering Glasish and Stacy looks back at him like he’s crazy. Bro’s face turns red. He quickly goes to take Stacy’s hand and whispers to her, “I promise… I can explain everything soon… but uh… my brother can help us at least understand him… he doesn’t exactly speak English…”

As Bro talks to him, Chase gives a little laugh at his broken Glasish and nods. They're going to find Alt, huh? That seems like a good idea. He looks at the woman and gives an apologetic smile, bowing slightly.

Stacy blinks in surprise but then giggles. “At least someone is a gentleman here-“ she says, making a face at Bro.

Bro laughs awkwardly then blinks at Chase and gestures at Stacy, “ah, Stacy.”

Stacy waves.

"Stacy." Chase's eyes widen slightly and he nods. So... this must be this world's version of Stacia after all, then? It would explain why Bro and her are here together... oh no were they in the middle of something?! He hopes he didn't interrupt.

Bro then picks up their leftover popcorn bucket, a decent amount of popcorn left as he leads Chase and Stacy up the stairs and outside. Chase leans to the side, looking into the basket. Oooo... the fluffy yellow things inside smell delicious. Maybe he can ask about that later. ...this is such a strange place.

Outside the theater is brighter, strange bright lights above their heads. There’s art scrolls on the walls, depicting strange drawings and paintings of people. Chase looks around, taking in the art on the walls. These remind him of the tapestries in the Suilthair palace. They must be representative of stories in the same way! So--this is a place to watch plays, maybe? Or... those strange moving pictures.

Other people are walking out of a door like the one they came out of. They’re holding strange round cartons of food and cylinders with tubes sticking out of them. People give Chase weird looks. Someone takes out their phone to snap a picture.

“Is there a medieval movie showing? He’s sure dedicated to his costume!”

“How did he get arrows inside though? Those look real!”

Chase's face goes a bit red at all the attention. He's suddenly very aware of how different he looks. All these people are wearing brightly-colored garb, so different from his own. He certainly stands out. Bro quickly tries to get them to the doors outside and Chase hurries after him.

“So I guess I’m driving us to wherever your brother is?” Stacy says, looking at Bro.

Bro flushes, “I mean… unless you want me to… you know-”

“Yeah no let’s drive-“ Stacy says. “You really should work on getting your license, Chase.”

“There’s not really much of a point for me though,” Bro grumbles.

Soon enough Stacy and Bro lead Chase back outside- and going from the dim theater into the afternoon sun is jarring. Especially as he takes in the reflections of the sunlight shining off the bright reflective surfaces of … metal carriages? Woah… and there’s so many tall buildings out in the distance…!

Chase shades his eyes with his hand, staring at the city with wide eyes. The buildings are towering above them all! And these carriages... made of bright metal. He's never seen anything like that! Everything here looks more valuable than any noble's palace or mansion. His head spins thinking about that. Is everyone here nobility?

Bro pops a few kernels of popcorn onto his mouth as he pulls out his phone. He blinks at Chase’s reaction, smiles, then offers some of the popcorn to him.

Stacy chuckles, “Gonna call Alt first?”

“Yeah there’s a crowd anyways since another movie just let out-“ Bro says as he pulls up Alt’s number.

Chase smiles back and takes some of the popcorn. The moment he puts it in his mouth he has to stop, taking in the strange and delicious flavor. It's all salt and butter, but it's very good salt and butter. He grabs a handful for himself, eating the bits one at a time, savoring the flavor.

Bro chuckles and nods at Chase. “Good huh?” Stacy watches with a bit of confusion-

Henrik groans, pulling himself up onto the bed. "D-does everyone else feel like... like they just spent a whole day climbing a mountain face?"

Marvin rubs his eyes. "It's more in... my mind," he mumbles. "The... tired. Is in my mind."

Jameson doesn't say anything. Not even in handspeak. He just curls up where he is on the floor and blinks back tears.

"...Jair?" Marvin whispers.

Jameson's eyes flick over to him. He stays quiet.

"D-do you think they'll be back soon?" Chase asks.

"I hope not." Jackie shakes his head, then winces as it makes the dull ache in his temples worse. "I don't know what they'll do... when they're back. But it won't be good.”

“What could they possibly do with all that knowledge in our minds?" Henrik mutters. "They are not from home. They will probably never be in Talaw at all. Wh-why did they need that?"

“To better understand magic as a whole!” Dr. Cornelius’s voice echoes a bit before he appears back at the window. He grins at them. “Hello gentleman. Did you enjoy your time going down memory lane?”

The five guys all tense in unison at his voice.

"Fuck you," Marvin snarls. "Magic doesn't even work the same here! We've only been here three days and we know that! Our memories are useless to you!"

Jackie flips the bird at him.

But the other three stay silent, just staring at him. Jameson especially seems to shrink back. He has an awful feeling about all this; he just knows it's going to be terrible for him specifically.

“I know now some things I didn’t know before.” Dr. Cornelius grins. “Like that mental magicians are called enchanters to you. That a spirit that took over your king and the magic Wyldwoods filled with creatures we’ve never seen before.” He leans in closer, casually leaning in the window, clearly smug that he has all this info now. “tell me Marvin- what is that makes a wizard different than any other person? What makes it so you have the ability to use magic from a focus but someone like Chase couldn’t?”

Marvin shrinks back a bit. He doesn't want to think about things like that... not when Cornelius says it that way.

Cornelius giggles, “thats the things we wanna know! The pursuit of knowledge~ and maybe… if we can harness the ability to make rifts of our own well… perhaps Talaw and its magic aren’t too far away after all.”

Henrik swallows a lump in his throat. "Well... one thing you should know if you are going there, it is not called Talaw everywhere," he says, trying to sound flippant. "Every land has a different name for the world. I grew up calling it Borde. Maybe you have one word for your world everywhere here, but not back home.”

“Yes... that's how langauges work," Jackie grumbles under his breath.

“Ah yes… Talaw is what you call it in Glasish, then?” Dr. Cornelius grins sharply, “Good to know, thank you, Henrik.” He chuckles and pushes himself back. “Oh I must have you all so spooked- to comment on such a tiny detail~! Good.” He whistles a short tune before clicking things on the panel by the window again.

Then- a glass wall slides down from the ceiling and sinks into the floor- cutting Jameson off from the rest of the them. “I believe it’s time we tried to see what we can learn from our oracle about his ability, hm?”

The other four all shout and shriek in surprise. Marvin tries to rush for Jameson before the wall closes, but the mind reading spell left him weak. He couldn't even stand, just crawled across the floor as fast as he could. Chase did the same, but neither of them make it. And Jameson is still in shock, so he couldn't leave quickly even if he wasn't tethered down.

"Jair? Jair?!" Marvin bangs on the glass. "Are you okay?! H-how do you feel?!"

Jameson pushes himself to a sitting position, looking around with wide eyes. I'm fine... for now. He looks at Cornelius. I can tell you anything, there's no need for... drastic measures.

“Oh the need for that kind of information is inconsequential now! Now… it’s time for an experiment~! Any scientist worth his salt knows you can’t just trust word of mouth! You gotta back it up with proof!” Dr. Cornelius grins.

“What do you mean you can’t trust it?!” Jackie shouts, his voice cracking slightly.

“Jameson?! Jameson!” Chase bangs a fist on the glass wall separating them, eyes wide with fear.

Jameson stares back at him with an identical expression.

Dr. Cornelius then tuts and clicks on the screen, “Oh silly me- we’ll need that mind reader conduit for this…” The wall grabs Jameson again like it did before to lower that metal circlet on his head. But once it’s done it releases him.

The four on the outside cry out as he gets grabbed and that strange device and that strange device gets lowered onto his head.

“J-Jamie! See if you can get it off!” Henrik says.

Jameson grabs at the circlet, but it seems to be locked firmly in place, tight around his head.

Cornelius chuckles darkly, “There we go! Now, Dr. Sun are you ready?”

“Oh yes~” a familiar female voice says as another person in a white coat joins Cornelius’s side. And the others can recognize the woman that helped to kidnap them all, Overdose. “This should be great fun!” She laughs.

Marvin stiffens. “It’s that’s same voice!” He gasps.

“B-Bro called her Overdose,” Chase says shakily. “What is that?”

“It is when you take too much medicine…” Henrik mutters, sounding worried.

Jameson is trying to appear calm, but his shaky breathing gives away his true feelings.

“Aw, scared witless already, love?” Overdose practically purrs. “That’ll make this even more entertaining then~!”

“Dr. Sun, if you’d start the procedure?” Cornelius asks.

“With pleasure!” Overdose grins and then goes to insert some kind of… glowing canister? Into the wall beside the window and there’s a click and whooshing sound before-

WSSHHHHH

Colored gas starts to burst into Jameson’s makeshift cell, invading his senses with little warning. Jameson gasps and tries to cover his mouth with his hands.

“We’re gonna do this in two steps, Jameson~” Dr. Cornelius grins. “This drug Dr. Sun has made will induce some magic hallucinations- and we’ll see what we can find. But- we’ll also be increasing the magic in your body… perhaps your visions can be brought forth by increased magic in your system!”

“You’re trying to WHAT?!” Marvin whirls on them. “You dumb bastards! That’s not how it works! Don’t you know that from your mind reading computer?! Nothing controls an oracle’s visions!”

“Yet!” Dr. Cornelius grins madly, “That’s what we’re hoping to change! That’s what science and magic combined can change!”

“Jamie, Jamie, it is going to be okay,” Henrik says in a hushed, worried voice. “They are not going to be really there. And we will be here for you.”

Jameson gives him a wavering smile. Thank you, he says slowly, his gestures a bit clumsy. His vision is already swimming. The monitor flicks on, showing a blurry image of Jameson’s current point of view.

The faces of his friends are morphing- shifting into something unrecognized. They start to shift to look like… their friends here- and Magnificent. Then, like creatures from the Wyldwoods. Then… like people he’s never seen before. People who bare his friends' faces but aren’t them- not at all. Modern versions, switched versions, corrupted versions- none of it makes any sense!

Jameson shivers, eyes wide. What is all this?! Why are—who are these people?!

“Please breathe, Jamie, remember to breathe calmly,” Henrik says patiently.

Jackie puts a hand on the glass wall.

“Hm… not seeing much… let’s increase the magic.” Dr. Cornelius says, pressing something on his console. Something shoots out from the wall and fires a concentrated beam of magic into Jameson’s body like a shock. But it’s not… magic like Alt’s or Marvin’s.. it’s- it’s black magic. And it burns.

Jameson lets out a breath that would’ve been a scream if he had a voice. That magic—! No no no no, get it out!

“Jair!” Marvin gasps.

Chase looks at the top and bottom of the wall, trying to find some entrance! But of course, there’s nothing.

The familiar strangers before his eyes seem to melt away, becoming some black sludgelike material that morphs around, growing claws and teeth and purple glowing eyes. The goop is burned away by a sudden fire, and the ash from the resulting blaze drifts down in sparkling, glittering fragments. The glitter clumps together like snow, turning into stars and swirling gases, and suddenly Jameson feels like he’s standing on the edge of a precipice and about to fall into the universe. The swirling glowing gas and stars compress into lines that branch off from each other and branch off from each other and branch off from each other—Jameson falls to the ground, but he still feels like he’s falling, falling, falling…

“Oh that is promising…!” Dr. Cornelius laughs cruelly, “let’s do more!”

Two more shots of black magic hit Jameson- increasing the magic building up in his system.

Jameson gasps out, back arching in response to the sudden pain from the black magic. Henrik and the others continue muttering reassurances, but he can’t hear them anymore.

The lines that branch off from each other suddenly speed up, countless more lines appearing, some of them looping back on themselves at times. The color fills his vision until suddenly it all cuts out, and suddenly there’s only blackness. Specks of green light appear, more and more showing up, the dots getting bigger—or closer? The green fills his vision, then seems to warp, different shades appearing, like he’s looking closely at something very big. The image is suddenly flung backwards, and Jameson gasps again. He feels sick, nauseous.

Dots and lines crowd his vision, static encroaching from the sides and consuming everything. Curved shapes appear, ordered in lines like writing, but it’s not writing—not Glasish or English or any other alphabet, just shapes. They start to bend and twist like plants in the wind. Shifting colors appear, some drifting over the random shapes like glowing clouds, others staying in the background. But beneath all this noise, there’s something else. There’s something else but he can’t see what.

Overdose and Cornelius seem to gasp- their eyes widening. “What is that?” Overdose whispers.

Cornelius looks near manic though as he laughs, “It’s exactly what we’re looking for! More than we were looking for!! Something is taking shape-! Either a vision is close… or something more…!”

More magic shoots into Jameson’s systems- the black magic invading, lighting up his veins with pulsing purple light.

Jameson’s breath hitches. He can feel his body starting to stiffen up, his head starting to get heavy—but this isn’t a vision like normal! A series of rapid-fire images flash across the screen.

There’s a man with blue eyes and a golden circlet welcoming a group of rich-looking strangers wearing clothing of different cultures—there’s a teenage boy handing a pocket watch on a necklace to what looks like himself but three years younger—there’s a man with brown hair and a mustache holding hands with a woman with long brown hair who looks a lot like him, glowing strings tying their wrists together as a building collapses around them in slow-motion—there’s a man with a dark mustache standing with four other men and facing a storm of lightning as a figure with static for eyes shrieks in the center—

And then the images calm down, settling on something familiar. It’s… Magnificent. But he looks different. His magic is darker, nearly pure black, and his eyes and mouth drip with black liquid. He’s fighting someone—someone who seems to be made of green lightning, until the fight calms for a moment, and… it’s Alt. But he looks older, with tattoos covering his hands and arms. He grins triumphantly, gathering his magic for one big spell, the tattoos glowing with light. Magnificent shrieks, Alt casts the spell, and— It’s not clear what happens next, as those shifting shapes and lines cover his vision once more.

Jameson goes limp like a rag doll, breathing heavily.

“Yes- yes YES!!” Dr. Cornelius cackles madly. “We did it! We made him experience a vision-! And not just any vision oh this… this is incredible- he can see through the multiverse!” The smoke is dying down- but Dr. Cornelius is clicking on stuff on the panel, “we have to try again!”

But- now even Overdose seems unnerved. “Uh- Cornelius… I-I don’t think this subject can handle anything more right now?”

“We have to make sure it wasn’t a fluke! We need to go again!”

Jameson is breathing heavily, eyelids twitching. Some tears leak from the corner of his eyes.

“Have you all dropped your brains off a cliff?!” Henrik snaps. “Did you not see that?! If you make this happen again, he could crack a rib from the seizing! Not to mention the other effects of whatever concoction you are using!”

Jackie growls at them. He reaches down, takes his shoe off, and throws it at the glass wall of the cell.

Marvin starts shouting so many swears and cuss words that the translation spell can’t even keep up, but the intent is clear.

Chase crouches down and stares at Jameson with concern.

“Shut up! Shut up all of you!” Dr. Cornelius snaps- then he laughs, laughs wildly as he grips at his hair. “This- this is what we’ve been searching for!! A tie to the multiverse- a peek into its complexity! I always thought no human mind could possibly comprehend it but I was wrong! It’s all here… all here in the mind of an oracle!! I can’t let this slip through our fingers- he could be the key!”

“C-Cornelius- calm down!” Overdose tries to say.

But, Cornelius shoves her away and approaches the window, starting to punch in more things on the panel. Robotic hands sweep up and start grabbing the others and pulling them into the air. They squeeze them tightly, the sounds of concentrated magic building up within them.

“I don’t need the rest of you!” Dr. Cornelius cackles, “You’re all fucking useless compared to this! Hahaha! If only we had learned how to harness the rifts… I could be merciful and just send you all home!” His face drops to something deadly serious though as he snarls. “But I cannot have you all getting in my way. I believe it’s time you said your goodbyes, gentlemen.”

"N-no! No!" Jackie struggles against the hands.

"Jair!" Marvin gasps.

"Y-you are a monster!" Henrik shouts.

"Th-this can't be the end!" Chase's voice sounds strangled as the hand squeezes him tightly.

Jameson manages to half-lift himself up. He tries to reach out, tries to say something, but he's so weak that he can't even use handspeak, and he has no voice at all.

Then, right above Cornelius's head--as if summoned by his mentions of the rifts--a tear opens up in the air. But it's not the black rips that the rifts are usually are. Instead, light comes pouring out, white with tinges of every color at once. And then something drops from the rift and lands right on top of him, immediately yowling and digging in claws.

Overdose gasps and backs up as the strange tear opens- and Cornelius is too focused on his mad plan to even realize- until the claws are tearing into his face. “GAH-?! What the fucking hell?!”

"D-Draco!" Marvin calls, eyes wide.

In his panic- Cornelius ends up slamming against the panels on the wall- lifting up the glass separating Jameson from the others.

And then- the lights above them start to flicker and buzz with… green lightning…!

“W-what is happening?!” Overdose cries, “Something is messing with the power!”

The lights in their cell flash and flicker and then all the arms holding them spasm and seize like they’re being shocked before dropping all of them back to the floor.

The other four all gasp for air for a second before all getting up in unison and running towards Jameson. Chase reaches him first, gently pulling him onto his lap. Marvin kneels next to him, checking him over. Jackie and Henrik are too far to get close, but Henrik is shouting out instructions and things to look out for.

Jackie looks around--specifically, up at the lights. "Did you all see that? Green lightning?"

Thunder seems to crack before something zips from the lights and to the cell floor.

It’s- it’s Alt!

As he lands, a wave of green lightning ripples across the floor like water. It starts to light up their cuffs then shorts them out so they’re released- and then starts to break more of the equipment in the room- but doesn’t harm them at all.

"Alt?!" Jackie gasps, then laughs. "So that was you! Elders and Sisters, you couldn't have come at a better time!”

Looking at Alt, he’s breathing heavily, green white light sparking his eyes like lightning. It looks like he got into a pretty bad fight- one of his eyes threatening to swell shut and rips in his clothes. But, he also has something on his hand- it’s glowing but also… bleeding? It looks kinda like the tattoos Jameson saw in his vision!

Draco hisses and jumps off Cornelius and disappears from sight--until he's suddenly right next to Marvin when none of them were looking, pawing at his leg. Marvin jumps in surprise.

Cornelius roars in anger at Draco leaping off him- then gasps in surprise at seeing Alt. “A-Alt Brody?! H-How did you get past our wards?!”

Alt looks absolutely furious, sparking like a storm as he growls, “did you really think you could keep me from getting back to my friends?! You’re even crazier than you look, Cornelius.” Then, he grins and holds up his bloody hand. “Also? I’ve been learning a lot of interesting new things~!”

He then glances back at the others and his expression softens, “…you guys okay?”

“W-we are fine, Alt," Henrik says. "Well, ah--Jameson is a bit hurt, I think, but he will get better. Are you okay?

“Eh, yeah. Got into a minor tussle with Chase. He punched me a lot,” Alt shrugs.

”You are bleeding!” Henrik emphasizes.

“I’m-oh uh… yeah it’s uh- blood magic. I needed a better boost to get here… after dealing with Mag this morning…” Alt mumbles.

"Blood magic?" Marvin repeats, blinking in surprise. "I don't... think that's a thing back home..." But seeing Alt's hand cut up does make Marvin worried.

“I can explain it later I swear-“ Alt says hurriedly. Then he blinks more in surprise, taking in the sudden cat next to Marvin “wait- Draco?!”

“Y-yeah, uh... I don't know how he got here," Marvin says, looking down at Draco. "The air just opened up--not like the rift that brought us here, not exactly. It was.. glowing?" He shakes his head. "W-we don't have time for this!”

“We do not," Chase agrees. He scoops Jameson into his arms, and Jameson clings to him in turn. "How do we get out of this room?! W-we need to leave as soon as possible!"

Alt still looks confused but shakes his head, “Right we can catch up…”

Jameson shakes his head. He weakly points to Marvin and Jackie.

"Our stuff?" Jackie asks. "Ah, good point--but we have to get you to safety first!" He runs up to the glass wall. "Alt, can you do anything about this?" He bangs a fist on the glass.

Alt looks at Jackie and realizes Marvin is missing his focus and Jackie his sword. He curses and looks out the window. “…I got a plan… but we all need to be prepared to run. Chase, can you run while holding Jamie?”

"Y-yes, I can!" Chase nods. "Uh, Jackie--if I start to slow down can you help?”

“Definitely." Jackie looks determined.

“You guys are not going anywhere!” Cornelius screams in rage, banging on the window.

Alt just grins wildly in response. “Really? I don’t think you’ll be able to stop us, Doc.” He then holds out his hands and they light up with green light then a huge burst of electricity crashes through the window. There’s another boom like thunder and Overdose and Cornelius get blown back.

Overdose’s head cracks loudly against a machine and she gets knocked out cold.

The guys all duck, covering their faces as glass and magic flies everywhere.

"Whoa!" Jackie gasps. "You weren't joking about the 'boost'!”

“Is that safe?" Henrik asks worriedly.

Alt seems to blink heavily for a second and sways on his feet before shaking his head and glitching through the window. “I’ll be fine! Let’s go!”

"We can get out of here and then worry if it's safe!" Marvin insists. "Come on!" He scoops Draco into his arms and then hops through the broken glass wall.

Cornelius is trying to push himself up from the ground, a gash on his forehead bleeding over his eye. He slips on the glass and tries to reach out towards them. “N-No!”

Jackie leaps through the broken glass after Marvin. He glares down at Cornelius. “Oh shut up.” His fist darts out as he punches Cornelius right between the eyes.

Cornelius gets knocked out cold, his head hitting the tile with a dull thwack.

Henrik looks after Alt, concerned, but then hurries through the broken glass wall.

Chase carries Jameson through as well. “Wh-where do we go?!” He asks.

Draco purrs and turns to face a certain direction. Marvin glances down at him. “Uh—that way, maybe?”

Alt looks back then smirks, “Hey- I trust him! Let’s try it-“ He turns and rushes down a hallway where Draco pointed.

There’s other scientists there but once they see the power radiating off Alt, they back off with fear in their eyes. Though one rushes for a console and slams a button- sounding off a high pitched alarm that bathes the faculty in red light.

“Gah!” Marvin starts, trying to cover his ears at the loud noise and change in lighting. “What is THAT?!”

“Whatever it is, it’s telling them that we’re here!” Chase shouts. “Hurry!”

They all continue running. From there- a couple scientists try to to stop them, but Alt just blasts them out of the way.

Finally, they get to a room that has the label ‘Magical Artifact Testing Room’.

“That has to be it!” Alt says as he grabs the door then explodes it off its hinges with another blast of electricity.

Inside the room is a collection of scientists that are surrounding two objects on pedestals where they’re suspended in a field of magic. One is Jackie’s sword- the other is Marvin’s focus. A few gadgets and computers seem to be working around them, collecting information.

“There!” Jackie runs for his sword right away. He pays the strangers no mind as they shout, reaching into the field to grab his sword without thinking about anything else.

This group automatically gets hostile though, the lead scientist shouting, “Escaped VARIBLs! Security!”

A team of black suited men with reflective visors over their eyes rush at the group, brandishing long sticks that light up with electricity.

“No no wait!” Henrik stands in front of Chase and Jameson defensively, despite having no weapon.

Marvin had been starting to run for his focus, but he whirls around once he hears the black-suited men come in. “Fuck!” He curses. He looks down at Draco in his arms, then throws him forward.

Draco soars through the air in an unnaturally long arc, glowing blue halfway through the fall. When he lands, he is much bigger, the size of a wolf. He growls at the strangers and their lightning sticks, fur proofing up. Behind him, Marvin stumbles, taking a shaky breath. He looks on the verge of collapsing. But he turns around and continues to go for his focus.

Reaching into the magic without having it shut down gives Jackie a pretty nasty shock as he tries to grab his sword. “Ow!” Jackie yells and his hand gets thrown back. He hisses and looks over it for any damage.

“Jackie!” Alt cries out then his eyes widen as he sees Draco get bigger. He’s never seen him do that before! …has he? He quickly shakes his head and then glitches to be in front of the cat, holding out his hands and blasting all the rest of the security back.

The visored men and their weapons go flying, skidding across the tiled floor. Alt glares at the other scientists and snaps with authority. “If you know what’s good for you- you’ll get fucking lost!”

This seems to work as a lot of the scientists tremble back then book it towards some of the other exits in the room.

Alt then glitches to whatever computer seems to be holding the objects- and just glitches his hand into the screen. The machine jitters and smokes as lightning crackles through it before it shuts down with a loud pop. The magic fields go away, letting Jackie’s sword and Marvin’s focus fall to the pedestals’ surface.

The guys stare at Alt in shock as he single-handedly takes down the strangers in black and intimidates the rest into leaving. They especially balk as he then powers down the devices.

“Alt, be careful,” Henrik says.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Chase adds. “There have to be consequences for this.”

Alt is looking more and more pale the more magic he’s using. He leans against the ruined computer, arms shaking a bit before shaking himself out of it. “Yeah yeah I’ll be okay-“ He tries to smile at them.

Marvin’s eyes widen and he stumbles forward, snatching up the focus. He looks a bit better right away.

Draco hisses at the people as they leave and then trots over to Marvin, nudging his side.

Marvin pats his head. “Go help Chase and Jameson,” he says. “Jameson is, uh… ‘out of it.’”

Draco hesitates, then returns to Chase and Jameson’s side.

Jackie snatches up his sword the moment it clatters to the ground. “Finally!” He says, taking a deep breath and grinning. “Now let’s get out of here!”

Alt sees some of the guards trying to push themselves up and he holds out his hands. “Link up! I’ll glitch us out!”

The group all hurries together and gather around Alt, linking up in a wild, haphazard way, grabbing onto the nearest person without much thought as to who they grabbed. Alt feel something brush against his leg. It’s Draco’s tail. The big cat looks up at him and his eyes glow blue for a moment.

Alt looks at Draco with surprise then grins, that blue reflecting in his eyes too. He feels a momentary jolt of energy— —but it’s already fading! Better hurry!

Jackie stiffens suddenly. There was no mistaking it. He reaches for his sword—but Jameson puts a hand out, stopping him. His eyes dart to the nearest shopkeeper. Jackie understands. They don’t want to get people hurt. If magic started flying everywhere, there could be injuries.

Alt blinks and tilts his head at Jackie’s reaction, “Relax, Jackie. It’s perfectly safe here.”

Jackie nods. "Yeah, I know. Just, uh... habit, I guess.”

Despite Jameson and Jackie’s reactions the rest of them all gasp in awe. “I have never seen so much magic in one place!” Henrik says.

“Oh look over there!” Chase gasps, pointing at the enfields. “Didn’t we see something like that in the Wyldwood? They’re so cute when you’re not worried they’ll be hostile!”

Bro laughs, “man those things are cute huh? Winged foxes… that’s so fucking cool.” He grins.

Jackie relaxes again, but his hand still hovers near the sword hilt. He seems impatient, but he hides that quickly. “I didn’t know your world had such a variety of magic,” he says. Jameson nods in agreement.

Are you okay, Alt?… I mean, that illusion probably wasn’t too much energy, but… just in case. Jameson asks. He looked pretty beat up all of a sudden. Does he even realize it?

Alt slowly looks at Jameson and blinks. “…I’m fine, Jameson. I got plenty of magic,” He smiles. “Breakfast helped. Now, do we want to go to the bakery or candy shop first?” He asks the others.

“It's probably not a good idea to eat sweets so early in the morning," Chase says.

"At least bakeries have bread." Henrik nods. "Yes, I am curious about the floating, sparkling pastries.”

Alt chuckles, “Sure thing.”

“Let's head on over, then," Marvin says, and starts walking, leading the way.

Bro tries to stick by the guys as he looks around. What is Mag planning…? An ambush? He already has the magic users of the group… What more could he want? And why use them…?

While everyone follows, Jackie bumps into Henrik. "Whoa, sorry!" He says, laughing. "I think I'm a bit overenthusiastic."

Subtly, while he helps pull Henrik back into place, he squeezes his arm three times in a row. It's an old, old system of messaging, left over from when they first founded the Phantoms and did a lot more sneaking into places quietly. Three squeezes means 'Proceed with caution.'

Henrik's eyes widen slightly, then he laughs. "O-of course, Jackie, it is fine. I know how you are." His eyes dart to Alt and Marvin. Perhaps... Jameson's insistence that his vision is not important is a contradiction.

They enter into the bakery, the smell of fresh bread wafting through the air. The shelves are stacked with wrapped up treats, each with runes and descriptions of what spell are baked into them. There’s cakes and cookies, fresh pastries and loaves of bread and rolls.

The worker there looks at them in surprise as they enter, setting down another patch of sparking pastries. “Oh such a big group! Good Morning!” She smiles sweetly, “Welcome to Spellbaked Pastries! Feel free to look around but uh- sorry I’m still trying to finish setting it all out.”

“It’s no problem!” Chase says cheerfully. “We’re new here. Thought we’d look around.”

“Oh, it smells delicious in here,” Jackie says, inhaling deeply and momentarily forgetting his worries.

“Ha thank you!” The woman beams.

Marvin is already looking at the goods on display, eyes lighting up with hunger—though it’s hard to tell what kind. He picks up one of the rolls, trying to read the description. The package Marvin picks up says these are sunshine rolls, that provide an extra boost of joy to your day with its sweet aroma and fluffy taste! It must be a mood enhancer.

“Woah- I had no idea you could like… bake spells into things.” Bro says.

The woman laughs, “It’s a bit of a complicated process. Usually spells are performed while we’re prepping materials for each treat and then another one after to really make sure they stick! Or for slightly more powerful ones we put a rune on with it. But, you know- can’t be too powerful. The circle doesn’t want us giving out powerful magic like that.”

Alt is leaning back up by the door, watching everyone with a neutral expression.

"Hmm? They don't want that? Really?" Marvin looks over. "Why not? If you're able to do things like this, why not share it with others?"

The woman looks back at Marvin and then laughs a little. “Um… I dunno really. I think the circle wants really powerful magicians to like… go study with them and become a part of the order I guess. Me and my family like to use our gifts to help others though- but we also don’t… want to get in trouble. Doing what little we can is more than enough.”

"Hmm." Marvin's face is hard to read. "Well, I don't want anyone to get in trouble." That's very different than back home, though. The Magic Circle wouldn't last long in Glasúil. Magic was just too common to hoard to themselves. He turns back to the pastries.

The woman smiles at them, “So, are you looking for anything in particular? These are all Magic Circle sanctioned spells, of course- so they’re passive but sometimes you just need a boost! We have luck spells, protection, health, inspiration… mood boosters, focus spells- all kinds of stuff!”

Jackie starts looking around for the protection ones. That's a long word that starts with a P...

"Luck spells?" Henrik repeats. "How interesting. No, we are not looking for anything in particular--"

Jameson taps Henrik's shoulder. Ask her which ones are for health. And ask if it actively heals people.

"Oh, good question. My friend here wants to know which of your pastries are for health. And do they actually heal injuries or is it something that wards off sickness and such?"

The woman looks up from levitating what look like macarons into the display case. “Oh! We have both actually. I have smaller cookies for warding off sickness. To like protect from colds and allergies and stuff. But, we have a few healing ones! My favorite is a box set of macrons- that way you can have a few for a rainy day or stray injury.” She beams.

"Oh that must be so helpful!" Henrik gasps. "Mak-a-rons... I have never, ah, seen one of those. Is this those?" He points at the pastries that the woman is putting in the display case.

They look delicious, Jameson says.

“Oh! Really?” The woman laughs, “They’re very good. They’re French cookies that are made with almond flour and they’re crispy on the outside but also light and fluffy and you can put all sorts of creams inside!” She goes to pull some out of the display and offers them to Henrik and Jameson. “here- why don’t you try some? It’s not often I met someone who hasn’t had a macron before!”

"Really? Oh, thank you!" Henrik smiles and takes one, and Jameson bows his head in thanks as well. The two of them look at each other, tap the macarons together in a little toast, then take a bite together.

The macrons have a nice airy crunch before giving away to the soft flavorful cookie below. It’s fruity- maybe… raspberry? It’s sweet and creamy- a light vanilla filling with raspberry jam between the layers of cookie. After taking a bite, they feel themselves given a boost of energy.

"Oooo, that is so good!" Henrik's eyes widen. He looks at Jameson, who is savoring the bite. "Isn't it?"

Jameson nods. And the burst of energy afterwards is really helpful. We should get some of these.

"Great idea! Ah, we will have to ask Bro for the money, though.”

“Oh I’m so glad you like them!” The baker beams, “I’m guessing your friend wants to get some right? I just gave you all an energy boost, like a cup of coffee. But if you’d like those healing ones I can prepare you a batch!”

"I see, I see." Henrik nods. "What do you think, Jameson?"

Jameson nods back. I think some healing ones would be very helpful.

"Yes, I think so too." Henrik is already imagining taking some home to study them. He smiles at the baker. "We would like some of the healing ones.”

“Wonderful! Let me get that for you all… these should heal up minor wounds and bruises. Anything that might require stitches or broken bones might need something stronger… but these can at least help with the pain.” She explains as she reaches down and grabs a colorful assortment of flavors and starts to stack them in a small white box for them.

Meanwhile, Chase moves over next to Marvin, squinting as he also reads the description for the mood enhancer rolls.

Jackie eventually finds a sign that says ‘protection’ , a collection of cookies and small pastries piled together. An interesting tangled cross is on their surfaces, either baked on or drawn on with icing.

Jackie begins picking up the protection cookies, looking at them. He's already preparing to have to buy them--though... they don't have money here... shit.

Bro walks over to Jackie and gives him a tight smile. “Something caught your eye dude? I’m more than willing to get you anything you like.”

Jackie nods. "Yes, these... cookies look really good." He gestures at them.

Chase leans over and reads the description. He has some trouble with the words, but then he laughs. "Yeah, you would think that, wouldn't you? Bro, do you think you could buy some of these sunshine rolls, too?"

Bro smiles and nods, “Sure dudes no problem!”

Alt glitches over to look at the cookies and frowns. “…protection runes. …being a bit paranoid aren’t we?” He gives Jackie a look, “I told you there’s nothing dangerous over here.”

“Oh, is that what they are?" Jackie asks, pretending to be surprised. "I just thought the designs were interesting." He looks at the label. "So... that's 'protection,' then?" he asks, pointing to the word.

Alt rolls his eyes slightly, “still having trouble reading huh?” He mutters.

"Yeah, I think that's what it is," Chase says. "Alt's right, you know, there's nothing dangerous, we don't have to get them.”

“Well we can take them home, at least. Maybe it will be better than wearing chain mail all the time, to just eat a cookie before battle." Jackie huffs.

Alt snorts, “They won’t be powerful enough to block a sword. It’s passive. Just means like… generally. Maybe it’ll protect you from a really weak spell. At most.”

Bro frowns, “Alt they don’t have magic like this at home- they don’t know! Can’t you lay off some? Who put fucking salt in your coffee??”

“Hey, c-calm down, you two," Chase says, partially stepping between Bro and Alt. "We're having a good day, aren't we?”

“I think I'd still like some," Jackie says. "We fight wizards all the time back home. And some of them aren't all that powerful."

Marvin also walks over, having overheard this. "Maybe I'll get some too.”

“Yeah, maybe you will," Jackie mutters.

Chase shifts to stand between him and Marvin.

Alt tilts his head at Bro and smiles, “I’m just explaining things, Chase. You seem tense- try to relax, alright?”

Bro nearly snaps, clicking his teeth together and looking ready to punch Alt’s lights out. Glitches pops out of Alt’s hood and hisses at Bro, hackles raised.

Chase looks back over at Alt and Bro. "Alright, you two. Back down." He puts on his best dad voice as he gently pulls Bro back. "You need some time apart. Come on, Bro, looks like Henrik and Jameson are getting something. Let's go see what that is."

Bro blinks as he’s pulled back but then decides to let it happen. He can’t fight them in the middle of this bakery… “yeah yeah… okay.”

The baker counts the macarons and then straightens up as she hears something beeping in the back. “Oh! Shoot- that’s my next batch- hang right here okay?” And then she hurries behind pastel pink curtains that hang over the entrance to the back of the store.

Marvin grins. He starts to make what is bound to be a snarky comment at Bro's expense, but Jackie quickly elbows him in the stomach, knocking the breath out of him.

Alt glitches over to grab Jackie’s elbow, digging his fingers in- hard. “You should relax too, Jackie. No need to hurt our friends, right?” Alt smirks, trying to meet his eyes. Green flashes in his eyes as he meets Jackie’s and he whispers, “You know something, don’t you?” Brief spirals flash in his eyes, trying to capture Jackie’s mind, “Forget about it.”

Jackie stares at Alt wordlessly for a moment. If he wasn't already so on guard, he knows that this would have caught him immediately. But he's prepared, on-guard. He glances towards the baker as she heads into the back. Then takes a deep breath. "Alright. I'm done." And he immediately lunges to grab Alt.

Alt’s eyes widen- “what?!” He cries out as he gets tackled and grits his teeth, trying to push Jackie off of him. “Jackie?! What the hell are you doing?!” He narrows his eyes, his irises brimming with magic.

"Do you think I'm a moron?!" Jackie growls, putting all his effort into pinning Alt to the ground. "I know what's going on here! You can't pull the hood over my eyes like that!"

Bro whirls around to see what’s happening, “Yo dudes what the fuck?!”

Henrik and Jameson stare in surprise, while Chase looks on in shock and disappointment.

Alt growls and then finally throws back his head and lets out an insane laugh. His eyes flare with purple and green light as he grins. “Fucking finally! Hehehe Mag should have known I’m not patient enough for this waiting game~!” He glitches out from under Jackie then builds up a hand of magic as he appears behind him, ready to blast him.

Jackie gets up and spins around. "Magnificent! I knew it!"

Marvin looks back and forth between everyone, then sighs. "No undoing this, then." He suddenly teleports over to Jameson--teleports, not uses a doorway--and tries to grab him. But Jameson sees it coming and ducks behind the counter instead.

“Fuck! No!” Bro shouts and then shoots into the air and grabs Alt, aiming to send them barreling through the door and out of the shop. They both crash to the street outside.

Chase goes pale. "N-no! I thought that--"

Marvin laughs. "You're kind of an idiot, Chase!" His eyes turn purple and the collar around his neck appears again as the disguise falls away. "Now--"

Henrik picks up a loaf of bread from the counter and throws it at Marvin. He's so not expecting it that he doesn't move out of the way, and the loaf hits him right in the head. He blinks, unhurt but surprised.

"Go help Bro, Chase!" Henrik shouts. "We can deal with Marvin!"

Chase hesitates, then runs outside. But he stops. What the hell is he supposed to do without his bow and quiver?!

"Oh, can you?" Marvin grins back at Henrik. "Are you really going to hurt your friend?"

Jameson pops up. Get the necklace!

As he says that, Marvin disappears, teleporting behind Jameson.

Jameson quickly grabs onto the counter and vaults over it. He stumbles as he lands, tripping, but Henrik quickly grabs him before he can fall.

"Out!" Jackie says, pointing out the door. Henrik and Jameson run, and Jackie stays where he is, hand on his hilt.

Lynx smiles. He teleports over to Jackie, inches in front of him. "Go ahead and try to stab me, Jackie. I know you're too kind-hearted for that.”

“I think that magic is messing with your memory," Jackie says, raising an eyebrow. In one swift motion, he unbuckles the sheath and swings the sword around, still in its scabbard. It smacks against the side of Marvin's head, knocking him to the side.

Lynx's eyes flash violet and he growls. "Fine, then. If you're so eager." He gets up and pulls some dark magic from the jewel on the choker, lunging forward.

Outside, Bro pushes himself up quickly and backs up to put himself in between Alt and the shop. “Alright, what does Mag want, Alt?!”

Alt laughs madly, “You really think I’d tell you?! That’ll make the whole game no fun!” His eyes flash as he sees the others hurry out of the shop- his eyes locking onto Jameson. He quickly glitches over behind him and tries to grab him, locking an arm around his throat.

Jameson gasps in surprise, choking a little.

"No!" Chase shouts. He lunges for Alt, and Henrik does the same beside him.

Meanwhile, back in the shop, Marvin and Jackie are fighting. Marvin throws a couple blasts of purple magic at Jackie, who quickly dodges, smacking him a couple more times with the sheathed sword. But Lynx doesn't seem to feel the pain and only gets angrier. Jackie gradually backs up, leading him out of the bakery and towards the street with the others. But they’re still pretty close to the shops as they trade blows.

Alt immediately gets punched in the face by Chase- loosening his grip right as Henrik tackles him down. If his illusion hadn't broken before- it is now, and the others can see Alt's earlier injuries and blasts of magic on his clothes.

Henrik reels back, aghast at Alt's injuries. "Alt?! What happened?!"

Alt laughs, wiping at the blood coming out of his mouth as he grins. "You all want to play, hm? Alright- Glitches... gimme a hand."

Glitches pops out from Alt's hood completely and bares her fangs and then her and Alt's eyes fill with purple magic. In a glitch- Glitches poofs into a large panther form and tries to tackle Chase and Henrik to the ground.

Chase immediately recognizes an animal attack and dodges out of the way, rolling across the ground. Henrik is not so fast, and gets pushed to the ground.

Glitches pins Henrik down and growls in his face, digging her claws into his arms.

Henrik cries out in pain and starts to squirm. Maybe he can kick her off!

Glitches seems to flinch a bit at Henrik’s cry of pain and sheathes her claws. She still keeps him pinned but looks conflicted.

Bro is trying not to panic- but so much is happening! He sees the two fighting close to the shops with Jackie trying to lead Marvin away "Jackie get in the open!" He calls.

"Yeah I will! But first you get somewhere safe!" Jackie shouts back.

Bro quickly flies over and tries to grab Marvin and toss him further away from the shops. There’s civilians around!

Jackie ducks out of the way and lets Bro get access to Marvin--who just gasps in surprise as Bro throws him out into the street. He rolls across the sidewalk, then uses that momentum to stand up again. "You want to play rough?! Fine, then!" Lynx laughs. He throws some magic forwards--a dark purple bolt that spins in midair, stretching into a long rope-like shape. It's heading straight for Bro and Jackie!

Jackie gets hit by the magic spell, which wraps around him, pinning his arms to his sides and knocking him down. But, Bro leaps into the air to dodge the magic then yells and goes to tackle Marvin to the ground. “I don’t want to play any game with you! I want you guys to wake up!”

Marvin shouts in surprise as Bro pushes him down. Then, he laughs. "Wake up? But you're the one stuck in a dream!" Magic starts to gather in his hand, forming a thin blade. He drives it upwards, towards Bro.

Bro isn’t expecting such a direct attack from Marvin- much less a weapon! He gets sliced across the side by the blade and falls back onto the street. “F-Fucking hell!” He glares at Marvin and calls out, “What do you two want?! What is Mag making you do??”

Lynx gets to his feet and bares his teeth. "We're going to go home. And only some of you are coming with us." He conjures up a handful of fiery purple magic and throws it.

Bro’s eyes widen, “What?!” He tries to push himself back up but pulling at his side has him crying out- so he gets hit full blast by the fire. He screams out in pain.

"No!" Jackie shouts. He manages to struggle out of the magic rope restraining him and picks up his sword again, rejoining the flight with Marvin.

Meanwhile, Jameson scrambles backwards. He's not sure how to snap Alt out of Magnificent's control--all he can think of is taking the necklace from Marvin and hoping that helps him.

"Jameson, get out of here!" Chase shouts. "They want you!" He starts shoving Jameson away. His eyes dart around the street, looking for anything that can be used as a weapon or shield.

Get that necklace off Marvin! Jameson shouts.

Alt uses this to his advantage and quickly glitches to try to grab Jameson again.

Jameson gasps in surprise as Alt grabs him from behind.

Chase whirls around. "No!" he shouts. There's nothing that can be used as a weapon--not even a tree branch or anything! So he defaults to his only option: he tries to punch Alt again and wrestle Jameson free.

Alt glitches further back with Jameson, avoiding Chase’s attempt to attack. Then he throws out his hand, making a shield that cuts Chase off from them as he pulls Jameson further into an alley. “This doesn’t concern you, Chase mak Brody.” He laughs.

Chase stumbles backwards--and his eyes land on something further into the alley, just barely tucked away. There’s a very old looking fence that seems to be falling apart. It’s metal… with spikes on top of long poles.

"H-hang on, Jameson!" he shouts, and hurries over there, grabbing the spike. With a bit of wiggling, Chase manages to pull out a spoke out of the ground. He now has a small spear basically, the spiked end pretty sharp.

Jameson nods at Chase. He then takes a deep breath and then starts struggling wildly. He's not going to just sit back and let this happen! Never again!

Alt yells out in frustration as Jameson slips through his fingers. “Stop fighting me, Jairsolas!” He shouts. He swipes out a hand and a swirl of magic blooms behind him. He giggles and approaches Jameson with swirling eyes. “We’re gonna take you all home! Don’t you want that? Aren’t you home sick?” Alt purrs.

Jameson's eyes widen as he looks at Alt's swirling eyes. He feels the magic starting to pull him downwards--no! No, he can't! Alt can see the struggle in him for a moment... but then Jameson has an idea. Alt seems pretty cocky right now. If he plays into this... maybe he'll drop his guard. Jameson appears to relax, but mentally he's concentrating, thinking about things that require a lot of mental energy to protect himself from this magic.

Chase runs back over, and only sees Jameson getting drawn in, unaware of what's going on in his head. "No!" he gasps. "Alt! Let him go!" He tries to stab the shield with the spear but it glances off.

Alt grins ferally as he sees Jameson ‘fall’ and laughs. “Yes, good job Jameson… you wanna help me and Marvin, right?” He glares back at Chase trying to bash through the barrier. He then snaps his fingers and a purple knife appears in Jameson’s grip as the shield goes down. “Why don’t you go convince Chase to stay out of our way?”

Chase's eyes widen. "Jameson?! No!" He cries out as he sees Jameson take the knife and turn towards him, gripping the makeshift spear tightly. "I-I don't want to hurt you!" Jameson takes a step forward--then pivots and spins around, plunging the knife into Alt's shoulder.

Alt grins- then gasps in pain as the knife sinks into his shoulder. He staggers back and grips at his shoulder, looking at Jameson with confusion. Then, rage, purple electricity sparking around him. “You fucking brat-! You tricked me!” He throws out a hand and tries to shock Jameson back.

Jameson's eyes widen and he ducks to the side, barely missing Alt's hands. Chase lunges forward, slamming the spike between Alt and Jameson. "Go go go go!" he shouts.

Jameson nods and turns to run.

Meanwhile, "Gl-Glitches, please!" Henrik shouts, trying to wriggle out from under her now that the claws aren't holding him in place. He finally manages to push himself out of Glitches grip. She hisses at him and crouches down but- doesn’t really attack. She looks kinda lost without Alt telling her what to do.

Henrik pants heavily, looking at the big panther that Glitches has become. "G-good kitty, you're a good kitty, Glitches," he says, taking great care to keep his voice soft and gentle.

Glitches’s ears go back and she makes a confused mrowl at Henrik, stepping back.

"Yes, y-you are a good kitty," Henrik continues, slowly inching backwards across the ground. One hand is reaching out. "You do not want to hurt anyone. This is not you. You are not a mean kitty."

Glitches seems to agree and backs up more, creating more distance between her and Henrik.

"Yes, yes... calm down, Glitches," Henrik says, slowly getting to his feet. His eyes dart around, taking in the situation. None of the others have time to deal with a giant panther. If he can just keep her calm... He looks back at Glitches. "Calm down, kitty." He tries to mimic a reassuring purring sound that he's heard Draco make in the past.

Glitches makes another confused sound- but unfortunately- that’s when she hears Alt roar in anger. “Glitches!” He shouts, “Don’t let Jameson escape!” Glitches eyes flare purple and she snarls, demeanor doing a 180 as she suddenly turns and then tries to tackle Jameson.

Jameson tries to run, but no human is faster than a panther. Glitches lands on him and he lets out a gasp that would've been a shout if he had a voice. Henrik gasps and rushes over, trying to pull Jameson out from under the giant cat.

Back on the street, the two of them hear, "Marvin you bastard!" Jackie shouts, swinging his sword towards him.

Lynx whips his head over and sends out a wave of magic, sending Jackie skidding across the ground.

Bro struggles to pull himself back up, the magic Marvin just threw burning him painfully. He sees Jackie skid by him and growls. He holds out his finger and tries to shoot a beam of lightning at Marvin.

Marvin dodges the lightning bolt, laughing. "Come on, you can do better than that!" Lynx taunts. He flips the conjured knife in his hand, drawing it back to throw it at Bro--

Bro scoots back with wide eyes, fear catching in his throat. Marvin was crazy powerful like this! It’s not often he gets this badly injured so soon in a fight!

And then Jackie lets out a loud shout of a battle cry. Suddenly he's up and running at Lynx, swinging the sword. Its scabbard flies off and the sharp edge digs into Lynx's side, causing him to scream in pain.

Bro sees the scabbard fly off and yells out, “Jackie NO!” Only to panic and push himself up to try to run towards the two of them.

Jackie is briefly horrified to see the sword digging into Marvin's side. But there's no time to freeze up! His hand darts out and grabs onto the jewel of the choker around Marvin's neck.

"Hey!" Lynx shouts, choking slightly as Jackie pulls. He grabs onto Jackie's wrist--and some smoke comes from the point of contact, followed by a hissing sound.

Jackie winces and grits his teeth.

Bro panics, momentarily forgetting that necklace is probably bad news. He just grabs Jackie and tries to pull him back, “Are you trying to kill him?!” He shouts.

Jackie yelps and lets go of the collar. "Bro! You dumb bastard! I was going to get it off!" Lynx gasps and scrambles backwards. The second he's free, he points at the two of them and a blast of liquid magic bursts forth.

Bro’s eyes widen, “You looked like you are gonna-!” He tries to defend himself before getting blasted back by the magic. He sputters, trying to get his bearings back. Jackie also gets blasted backwards by the magic, shrieking in surprise.

Back in the alley, Alt pants and holds his injured arm then laughs, eyeing down Chase. “You’re pretty useless without that bow of yours. I’m sure this won’t take long-!” He then glitches away and reappears behind Chase, trying to stab him in the back with another magic knife.

Chase, unfortunately, whirls around and deflects the knife with the staff. "Do you think that I only know how to use a bow?" he says. "Come on, Alt! I know this isn't you! Don't you remember everything that Magnificent and Aneirin did to you last time you were in Glasúil? Do you think it will be better this time just because you're only dealing with one of them?" He blocks a few more blows from Alt as he talks. "Do you remember what Magnificent has done to your friends? Jackie and JJ and Henny? Do you remember who you really are? Do you remember wanting to help people through this very thing you're going through now? People like Jameson and Jack? This isn't you! This is the opposite of you!"

Alt screeches out in anger as Chase deflects his attacks, trying to slash again and again at him. But- it seems that Chase’s words are somewhat reaching him. Blue flickers in his eyes and he staggers back, gripping at his head. “…s-shut up- shut up! That- that doesn’t matter…!”

"Alright, why are you doing this, then? For Magnificent?" Chase persists. "What has Magnificent ever given you? You're going to say power, right? But do you really think someone like Magnificent would share power? He's only given it to you so he can control you! And I think you know that. Are you going to let him do that? Do you really want that? Please, Alt! Think about it. You've never liked being controlled."

Alt cries out and ends up hitting the alley wall as he curls his fingers into his skull. The blue flickers more as he pants. “S-Stop- Stop it-!” His head is killing him and his vision is swimming.

"Stop what? Stop trying to help my friend?" Chase asks. "Because that's what you are, Alt! You're my friend! We're all your friends!”

“It hurts-!” Alt breathes through pained gasps. He squeezes his eyes shut and slips down, falling to his knees. “F-Friends… friends- I-I- ngh…!”

Speaking of friends, just outside the alley, Glitches hisses and crouches down over Jameson, kicking Henrik away from them.

Henrik yelps as he falls backwards. He gets back up as quickly as he can, mind scrambling. Glitches doesn't seem to be hurting Jameson or dragging him away--though Jameson's eyes are wide as he struggles against the large cat. What can he do?! That's when he notices the blood soaking through his sleeve. Glitches's overlarge claws hadn't broken the cloth, but they still must have broken the skin beneath. Henrik rolls his sleeve up and dips a finger in the blood. He crouches close to the ground and draws a series of small pictographs and letters. It takes him a couple tries to replenish it, and it comes out shakier than he wanted, but it's the best he can do.

"Glitches!" He calls. "Look over here!" The symbols are used in talismans to calm animals--usually to keep horses from getting spooked while being ridden. Normally they would be placed on an amulet or collar and put around the animal's neck, but he thinks he adjusted it enough so that they'd have the same effect when Glitches looks at them.

Glitches looks back at Henrik hesitantly- and then her pupils dilate. She stands up straighter then plops down- right on top of Jameson’s legs. She starts to purr.

"...ah." Henrik blinks. "S-sorry, Jameson."

Jameson looks over at him. It's fine, this is better than it was, he says. He tries to pull himself out now that Glitches is more docile.

Glitches lets him wiggle out and then lays down on the ground- eventually rolling over to show them her belly.

Jameson scrambles up, eyes wide. He and Henrik look at each other, unsure. Then Jameson carefully reaches out and gently pets her back.

Glitches moves back to give him better access to her back and purrs loudly. Then she blinks and in a flicker of glitches she shrinks back to her normal size, catching herself on her paws. She shakes herself out then meows up at Jameson and Henrik. Something must be cracking in Alt’s control-!

“We're here for you, ready to be there whenever you go through something terrible” Chase continues, back over by Alt, “Magnificent won't be that for you. He'll give you this power, but nothing else. He'll just keep taking more than he gives. You're a good person, Alt! You're a bit prickly, but beneath that, you care, even if you won't admit it. I'm just asking you to think about what you're doing, to wonder if it's really what you want.”

Alt finally shoots his head up, blue stronger in his eyes as he pants out, “I-I don’t- Magnificent…! H-He’s trying to take us all back to Glasúil- to find Aneirin…! I-I can’t- I…I-I won’t go-!” He cries out in pain and grips at his head, falling completely to the ground and curling up.

"H-he wants to--" Chase's eyes widen. "Well--Aneirin is gone. And you know why? Because I helped Jack push him out of his own body. Just like I'm willing to help you, Alt." He crouches down, reaching out. "You're strong on your own, Alt, but there's no shame in reaching out. I know you can overcome this. And I'll do whatever I can to help you."

Alt bites back a pained cry. He tries to look back at Chase, eyes teary and pulsing with magic. He looks at Chase’s hand and tries to reach out, then hesitates as another flare of pain goes through his head. “…Marv… w-you gotta… h-help Marvin- I couldn’t… couldn’t stop Mag- I-i can handle this but he’s…!” He withdraws his hand and backs up, “G-Go help him- he needs h-his friends… M-Mag’s probably just gonna d-drag me back under-“

Chase looks over at the others. Then back at Alt. He hesitates. "I don't want to leave you."

Alt gives Chase a tight smile. “I-I’ll be fine… he needs all of you. Try to reach him l-like you got to me…” he winces, “M-Mag is gonna notice his strings are snapping s-soon, hurry-!”

Chase doesn't look happy about it, but he nods. "Alright. Keep fighting, Alt! I know you can do it!" He stands up again and rushes over, running past Jameson and Henrik towards Jackie, Bro and Marvin.

Lynx gets to his feet, breathing heavily, and lunges at Bro and Jackie, hands growing purple claws.

Bro cries out and tries to get in front of Jackie and take majority of the blow- Marvin’s claws dragging down his chest. He grits his teeth to not cry out but then falls down to one knee. “…M-Marv… please- this isn’t… you!”

“But it can be me," Lynx hisses. He teleports around to the other side of them, suddenly grabbing Jackie from behind. His hands glow with bright darkness, and Jackie cries out. It--it's burning! He struggles against Lynx's grip, but the glow spreads to his arms, giving him unnatural strength.

Bro whips around and yells, aiming to punch Marvin in the face. “Get off him!!”

Lynx's head snaps to the side and his grip loosens.

Jackie manages to wriggle out, and turns around to grab the jewel of the collar as well. "Help me with this!" Jackie shouts at Bro.

Bro hesitates then goes to grab at Marvin’s collar as well as starts to pull. “I got you!”

Jameson and Henrik look at each other, looking down at Glitches back to normal. Henrik crouches down and picks Glitches up carefully, and Jameson continues to pet her. Glitches makes a surprised sound but lets herself be held.

"Now... we get out of here," Henrik says.

Jameson shakes his head. He points to the side—where Jackie and Bro are wrestling with Marvin. We need to help him!

Henrik glances over that way and nods. "Stay behind me," he says, and they hurry over with Glitches still in Henrik's arms. Though she looks around, trying to see where Alt is.

Henrik slows to a stop. He looks down at the cat. Hmm, if she was anything like Draco, she would be concerned, wouldn't she? He turns around to look over towards Alt and Chase, Glitches turning with him.

Glitches wiggles a bit in Henrik’s arms then mewls in distress at seeing Alt. She kicks herself out of Henrik’s grip then races towards him. Alt is still curled up on the floor, trying to fight off the strings as they burn and tug at his mind. Glitches goes up to him and nudges his head. Alt blinks and then melts, “Glitches…” She meows at him then curls up by his face, trying to give him comfort.

Lynx cries out as Jackie and Bro wrestle him down and try to grab the necklace. "No! Don't! I need that!" He tries to pull away, but Jackie grabs onto him, trying to hold him still while Bro gets the collar off. Sparks of purple magic are flying off at random.

Bro tries to rip at the fabric to get it off but it’s tough! Did Mag magically enhance it?! He tries to pull at both the ribbon and the gem at the same time- one of them has to give!

Lynx screeches in protest, wriggling against Jackie's grip. More of the purple magic flies out, but its effects are minor, a slight sting. "No! No! Stop it!" he shouts. But he's not able to stop them as Bro's super strength finally wins the struggle.

Bro hisses as the magic stings but once he has the necklace he hurries back and holds it up high- then goes to smash the gem against the floor.

"Ní!" Marvin shouts as the gem shatters. He screams, and manages to throw off Jackie as he lunges for the remains of the collar.

"Marvin!" Henrik rushes forward.

"Marvin, stop! Y-you are free now!" Chase runs over, grabbing Marvin from behind and pulling him back.

Marvin stuggles against him. "Ní! Bhí sen agta stáil uem!" His distress must be affecting the translation.

"No, you didn't!" Chase snaps. "You didn't need it at all! You have your own focus, Marvin!"

Bro backs up, face a bit fearful as he hears Marvin devolve into Glasish. “M-Marv he was using that to trick you! To force you to use his magic! That’s how he controls you!”

Marvin stops struggling for a moment, breathing heavily. "M-my magic is going to go away!" he blurts out. "I need it! I-it's power from this world!" The light in his eyes flares, a spiral that's trying to keep him under. He notices Jameson nearby and tries to lunge for him, but Chase holds him back.

"Your magic is... what?" Jackie says, confused.

"It's going to disappear!" Marvin shouts. "The world has less magic so it's taking mine!"

Henrik and Jameson look equally confused. "You... do not really have magic..." Henrik says slowly. "Wizards channel it, yes? It is not inside you like sorcerers or enchanters--”

“And besides, who told you that?" Chase says. "Was it Magnificent?"

He probably lied to you, Jameson says. Like how the King lied to me when he said oracles couldn't use witchcraft. He lied so he could control you more.

Bro looks concerned, “…Alt once told me it kinda felt like his magic was weaker when we visited a world with no magic. But h-he’s different I think- like the others are saying. His magic is in his blood. T-that must be why Mag had to give you this-“ He kicks the broken remains of the gem. “He knew he couldn’t corrupt your inner magic like he’s used to- or even steal your magic like he wants to. So he resorted to this. Because he knows he can’t actually do anything to your magic, Marvin. He’s a fucking liar- he always fucking lies!”

"But my magic really was weaker!" Marvin insists. "There has to be some truth to it!”

“The truth is that there's less magic for you to use here, but that your ability to use magic isn't itself going away!" Jackie says. "Come on, Marvin! You're smarter than this! You're the most knowledgable wizard in Glasúil!”

“If you are so worried about not using magic, you will probably find everything fine when we return home!" Henrik shouts. "You will have more magic to use there, and everything will be back to normal."

Marvin's eyes flick back and forth. The spiral in them is flickering, but it's still trying to hold on.

"Come on, Marvin!" Chase says. "Even if it was true that this world was somehow draining your magic, this isn't the way to go about getting more! Magnificent's magic only hurts people! And Bro is right, he uses it to control you! Is that what you want? Is being controlled really better than having no magic?”

“...no," Marvin breathes, the spirals flickering wildly. "But... are you... sure...?"

Bro’s face softens, “…you’re you, even if you don’t have your magic, Marvin. Your magic doesn’t make you who you are… I know it’s a scary thought but- we are more than just the things we can do. Magnificent doesn’t see that- he only sees people for their ‘uses’. No matter what happens we’re all here for you.”

There’s the sharp sound of glitching as Alt appears by them, holding Glitches in his arms and quickly falling back and crashing against the ground. But he pulls himself upright and pants, trying to find Marvin’s eyes. “D-Don’t listen Marvin… please- he just wants to use us…!” He flinched as the spirals in his eyes flickers too and Bro hurries down to try to support Alt and keep him up.

Marvin jumps in surprise as Alt appears. But something in his desperation... something in Bro's earnest plea... something in the way his friends all stare down at him with tears in their eyes... "I d-don't want--" he gasps out. "I don't want--to be--" His body shudders. "I don't want to be used. I-I'm not--not something to be--u-used."

Then fight him! Jameson says.

"We know you can do it!" Chase says. He slowly reaches out and gently takes Marvin's hand, moving it up to where his focus still hangs around his neck. "Even weakened, you're stronger than you think!”

“You are the most stubborn person I know, Marvin!" Jackie says. "You can do anything you put your mind to!”

“Perhaps not the best way of phrasing it, but he is right," Henrik agrees. "Your will is enough to overcome this!"

Marvin takes a deep breath. And another. He squeezes his focus tight in his fist. White light flickers, and then pours out through his fingers. He lets out a loud yell— And then the spirals are gone.

The snap is immediate like a heavy weight has been lifted from his mind and body.

Alt and Bro smile at Marvin proudly.

Then, there’s an echoed yell of anger before a figure made of static appears between the group and a wave of magic pushes them away from each other.

A clawed hand reaches out and grabs Marvin by the neck and holds him into the air- Magnificent appearing through the static to snarl. “Miserable fucking whelp! I should have just killed you when I had the chance!”

Marvin chokes, clawing weakly at Magnificent's hand. Now that there was no more black magic in his system, the pain from Jackie swinging a fucking sword into him is really dragging him down.

Alt sees Marvin get captured and his eyes flicker- then narrow in determination. In a quick flash of glitches he shifts into his wolf form and goes to bite Mag’s arm to get him to let go.

"Let him go!" Chase shouts, whirling on Magnificent with the makeshift spear. Jackie also picks his sword up again, and the two of them lunge forward.

Meanwhile, Henrik pulls Jameson to the side. He uses the same trick from earlier, dipping his finger in the clotting blood from his wound and drawing a series of symbols on the back of Jameson's hand. A white barrier flickers around Jameson for a second--a bubble encompassing him--and then it fades, but is still there. "He wants you? Well he will have a harder time getting you," Henrik mutters. This ritual should deflect most spells--though he's not sure how it will work against this world's magic.

Alt’s teeth manage to sink into Mag’s elbow and he yells in pain. He growls and tries to shake Alt off- and manages to dodge Chase’s spear. But that leaves him wide open for Jackie’s sword to cut into his side. He screams and lets Marvin go then whips Alt off him.

Alt lets out a pained yelp as he bounces on the pavement then rolls into a furry heap.

Magnificent whirls on Jackie, madness stark in his eyes as he laughs and shoots black magic fire straight at him. “You wanna play with me, Jackie?! Fine! I’ll make a corpse of you first!”

"Try it! I'll kill you!" Jackie shouts, baring his teeth--and then he gets yanked out of the way by Bro. Bro manages to roll away with him away from the fire then hisses in pain. Ugh- all that black magic is messing with his regeneration…!

"We have to get out of here!" Chase yells.

Marvin scrambles to his feet, swaying slightly. "I-I can... get us out of here..." he mumbles.

"If you're talking about a doorway, we are not going to risk you leaving last!" Chase shouts, again running at Mag with the spear.

“Chase is right, Marvin!” Bro shouts, “We gotta find a way to leave together! O-Or to knock this fucker out so he’ll leave you all alone!”

Magnificent roars in anger, “None of you are going anywhere!” He gets blind-sided by Chase spearing him in the leg. He snarls and tries to send a shock of magic back at Chase.

Chase dodges the attack, feeling the magic pass by.

Jackie takes advantage of Mag's distraction to attack from behind with his sword.

Magnificent yells out as he’s slashed across the back and then swiped out to try to find Jackie. “Miserable fucking insects! I’ll destroy all of you!”

In the meantime, Henrik runs over to Alt, trying to lift him up. Alt is limp in Hen’s arms for a second, whining in pain. Then he blearily opens his eyes and shifts back to his human form, then nearly crashes into Henrik as the black magic veins on his face light up, weakening him again.

Henrik lifts Alt up, staggering a bit under his surprising weight. He looks around—they're in the middle of a street! Full of magicians! Surely someone will hear them and come help! But just in case the commotion hasn't been enough, he starts shouting. "Help! Help! Someone is attacking us!"

The baker from the shop behind them peeks out and looks at Henrik, “W-We’re contacting the Circle! They should be here-“ Then she sees who’s in the street and pales. “T-The dark magician-!” She squeaks then ducks back in- clearly terrified.

Other magicians hear the cries for help and look out too. There’s the sound of panic as they recognize Magnificent.

“Did anyone call the Circle?!”

“They’re coming- we should help!”

“Who has a good containment spell?”

“I think those people are injured! Someone get a healer!”

Magnificent seems to freeze as more magicians pile out- and hearing them mention the circle. He curses in Gaelic and backs up from the others, trying to calculate what his next move should be. He can’t fight off the Circle on his own though… he yells and sends out a ring of black flame to surround their group and cut them off from the others. There’s screams of even more panic and fear as the surrounding magicians shrink away from the flames.

Mag then glares back at Henrik and snarls, “This is only between us, doctor.” But now… there was a ticking clock. This wouldn’t hold back the circle.

Henrik gives Magnificent a crooked smile. "You are the one who caused chaos on a public street. You cannot keep it private out here."

Jackie backs away, breathing heavily, gripping his sword tightly. Reinforcements--good.

Marvin looks slightly less happy about hearing the Circle is coming; even after breaking out from Mag's control, he still doesn't like what little he's heard about them. Still, it's better than facing Magnificent alone.

Alt’s eyelids flutter as he tries to push up from Schneep, muttering, “n-no th’circle- can’t be here…w-when…”

“Huh?” Henrik looks down at Alt. “What do you mean?”

Alt shakes his head, “dun’like me…”

Jameson runs over to join them. I think this Circle is not as good as it appears. We need to leave quickly. Henrik do you know any runes to calm the fire?

“I-I can try,” Henrik stammers. He passes Alt to Jameson and tries to write something on the pavement that might help.

Alt groans as he’s passed to Jameson and tries to push himself up. The magic in his eyes weakly pulses as he tries to conjure up some light magic to battle the flames. But that just makes the black magic veins on him stronger and he cries out.

Jameson holds Alt close to him and shakes his head, trying to silently tell him to not push himself.

Meanwhile, Henrik finishes the symbols, but the flames only slightly dim. He looks back at Jameson. "Any other ideas?!"

Jameson presses his lips together. He shakes his head.

Marvin clutches his focus and concentrates. The ground beneath Magnificent starts to crack and pitch.

Magnificent growls, building up magic to try to blast at Marvin- only to shout in surprise as the ground beneath him starts to crack- then he falls on his face.

Bro can’t help but let out a laugh at this. “Ha! Fucker!”

Magnificent snarls as he pushes himself up- and then in a flash of static and lightning he changes into his tiger form and rushes at Bro and Marvin.

Marvin yelps in surprise as Magnificent transform and charges at him. He tries to dodge but is too slow, the best he can do is conjure up a weak shield to hopefully block the claws and teeth.

Magnificent crashes into Marvin to push him over and catches Bro with his claws, slashing across his stomach. Bro yells and crashes to his knees.

Alt cries out at hearing Bro get hurt, “C-Chase!”

“Leave them alone!” Jackie charges towards the tiger.

At Jackie’s yell, Mag looks back and gets a sharp tooth grin as he roars and tackles Jackie to the ground, digging claws into his arms.

Marvin cries out, followed shortly by a similar sound from Jackie. Chase darts over, roughly dragging Marvin away, then charges at the tiger with his makeshift spear.

Chase manages to stab the spear into Magnificent’s side and he roars in pain. He crouches then tries to slash at Chase.

Bro wheezes in pain and sees Mag’s paw within reaching range. He weakly reaches out and tries to channel his energy into his hand. That’s how Alt does it right…? He attempts to shock Magnificent, blue flaring bright in his eyes.

Right before Mag can reach Chase he suddenly roars loudly in pain as he’s lit up with bright blue electricity. His body jitters and spasms before he falls to the side, sparse electricity zipping around him as he shifts back to his human form.

Bro looks at the damage with wide eyes. “…I-I… didn’t think that would work…!”

Jackie gets to his feet, pulling Marvin up as well. "It's a good thing it did," he pants heavily. "Now--we have to get out of here!"

Bro tries to push himself up and sways on his feet. The claw marks on his chest and the slash on his side aren’t healing… black magic. He looks back at the passed out Mag and nods. “Y-Yeah let’s hurry…!”

Marvin nods. He looks over at the spot where Henrik's witchcraft has weakened the flames slightly and stumbles over. He pulls some magic free from his amulet and flicks it towards the fire. It splashes against the flames, hissing as the two magics clash.

The light magic from the amulet meets the black magic fire and it hisses like a feral animal and bends away from the light- there’s a clear way out now!

Jameson immediately runs out, taking Alt with him. Henrik also hurries, knowing that Alt will need medical treatment. The rest all follow. Chase grabs onto Bro and helps support him along.

As they stagger out, a couple light magicians are trying to put out the fire surrounding Mag. Alt is anxiously looking around, trying to see if the circle is here. They manage to run out- right into the baker. She yelps in surprise then quickly shoves two boxes of those healing macarons into Henrik’s arms.

"Oof!" Henrik staggers back.

“Um hi! Sounds like you all got p-pretty hurt so h-here! Please take these!” She says.

Henrik looks down at the boxes, then up at the baker again, and nods. "Th-thank you!”

Bro balks at this and staggers to try to find his wallet. “No no we can pay- s-sorry for the trouble!”

“Don’t worry about it please-“ The baker says hurriedly. “…you wanna get away before the Circle gets here right? Then- hurry! You’ll get c-caught in questioning for a while and you all need help…! So go!”

“Sorry about--about all the trouble," Marvin mumbles.

The woman shakes her head and smiles, “It’s okay… we all get how tough it is to deal with the black magician…”

“Well remember this- we promise,” Bro says, “W-what’s your name?”

“Elise,” She says quickly. “Now hurry and go!”

"Come on, you guys! Hurry!" Jackie breaks into a run.

There’s the some of some commotion back by the fire and what looks like robed figures approaching. Bro and Alt run as best as they can with the others' support.

“Alt can you-?!” Bro starts to say.

“No-“ Alt interrupts shakily, “I-I can’t glitch-”

“Fuck right- M-Marv? Now might be a good time for the doorway…?” Bro asks sheepishly. “I-If you can!”

Marvin nods. "I-it might not take us directly to where we're supposed to go." He pulls some magic from his focus and draws an arched doorway on the nearest wall. It's a bit narrower than his usual ones, but he wants to do this fast. A person can still walk through easily enough. The inside of the doorway fades. "I-I was aiming for outside the hotel. Let's see if we get there."

Jackie runs to the nearest person--who turns out to be Dr. J--and gives him a big hug from behind. The he quickly stops and pulls back. "Sorry, sorry, you're probably busy right now.”

Dr. J startles a bit and then laughs, patting Jackie’s arm, “No no it’s quite alright!”

Alt then sways, the green white light of his magic fading. Once gone, he lets out an exhausted pained breath then crashes to the floor, eyes rolling up into his head.

“What happened to Br--" Henrik starts to ask, and then Alt collapses and his head snaps towards him. "Alt!"

Marvin also falls to his knees, clutching his focus. Draco is normal-size again, and he flops down on his side, also looking tired.

The other swaps all jump as Alt collapses, then Marvin.

"What is with you magic-wielders and using all your magic?!" Jackie gasps. Henrik glances back and forth between Alt, Marvin, and Jameson, then decides to hurry over to Alt. "I-is there a bed somewhere?!"

Henny hurries to help up Marvin, “Yes uh- we can show you to Alt’s room and… Juwel we can put down Marvin and Jamie in Chase’s, yes?”

“Yes he does have the bigger bed…” Dr. J says, getting to his feet.

A black furry shadow darts out and cautiously goes to sniff at Draco. Glitches mewls at the other cat in distress, trying to nudge him up with her nose.

Draco lifts his head and sniffs Glitches in turn. His tail waves in greeting.

Jackie goes over and scoops him up. "He'll be fine, Glitches, don't worry," he says. "He's magic."

Glitches mewls and trails after Jackie for a second- before realizing they’re taking Alt the opposite direction and heading that way.

Dr. J goes to open the door by the TV- revealing the master bedroom and Bro’s messy but comfy looking queen sized bed. There’s clothes on the floor and a punching bag tucked in the corner, and boxes of what looks like fan merch around it.

“…good god Chase-“ Dr. J sighs, shaking his head.

Chase follows the others to Chase's room, taking Jameson with him, who was leaning his head heavily against his shoulder.

Henny hurries in to help Marvin onto the bed. “Here Marvin… rest please?” He says quietly.

"Mm-hmm," Marvin mumbles. "I'll rest." Normally he might have protested, but it had been a long, long day. He stumbles towards the bed and collapses without any more words.

"Make sure he has his focus!" Henrik calls as he helps Alt to the other room. "That will help him!”

“He has it, Hen, don't worry," Chase reassures him, helping Jameson onto the bed as well. "How do you feel, Jamie?"

Jameson blinks. A bit better... he says slowly.

"You should still rest," Chase insists. "Who knows what that magic does to a body?"

Jameson lets out a breath that might've been a little laugh. He lays down and looks up at the ceiling.

Jackie walks into the room, carrying Draco with him. He sets the cat down next to Marvin, and he curls up next to his chest. Marvin puts a hand on him, fingers digging into his fluffy fur as Draco starts to purr. "I think that'll help them both," Jackie explains.

Dr. J gives them a tight worried smile. “T-There’s research that says a cat’s purring can actually assist in healing the body so…”

Jackie nods. "That, and Draco is made of magic, sooo..." He shrugs. "Feel better soon, you two," he says.

“…how did Draco get here?!” Henny asks, scratching his head. “A-and what happened to you all? Jackie and me heard that SCLERA was coming but… then we heard nothing!”

Dr. J sighs, “Yes… after that all we got was a location from Alt telling us to come over… and then finding Bro on the couch…”

Chase shakes his head. "I don't know how Draco got here. It was like... like the air opened up, and out came a bunch of light and Draco. He fell onto that horrible doctor, though, so I won't complain.”

“As for what happened..." Jackie sighs. "There was... a strange woman and a bunch of colored smoke in the clinic. The smoke put us to sleep, and we woke up somewhere else. It must have been a lair for Sclera."

Chase shudders. "They were... really interested... in our memories. And in... Jameson.”

Dr. J looks a bit pale and Henny gasps and holds a hand over his mouth. “Overdose..! T-Those bastards-!” He snaps at the end.

Dr. J looks at the two of them with worry before sighing, “They look… physically okay… but if they’re magically hurt… we may need to see if we call someone to come help…”

"Will that be difficult?" Chase asks. "Um... since magic isn't a known thing here?”

“Oh I meant you could contact Alt’s mentor… they would be the most knowledgeable about all of this.” Dr. J says.

“I wish we hadn't left those magic cookies-with-cream in the clinic," Jackie mutters. "But that would've been difficult with the whole... sleeping smoke thing."

“Oh! Maybe Oli can see if they’re still there! He will want to know that Alt is safe now…” Henny says, pulling out his phone to tap on the screen rapidly.

"Alt's mentor? That'd be helpful!" Jackie says. "And yes--we'll want to let Oliver know."

“Let me see if I can contact them,” Dr. J chuckles and pulls out his own phone.

Henny beams and then turns to the others, “Oli is gonna come meet us!”

“Oh dear- it might get crowded in here then,” Dr. J says.

"Thank you, JJ," Chase says. "Great!" Jackie says. "We'll make room. Ohhh he's gonna be so worried about Alt, isn't he?”

Henny sighs, “Very… he and his brothers managed to hunker down away from Overdose when she came to the hospital… but that means he was very worried when he just suddenly wasn’t there.”

“Yes… I do hope Alt or Bro can help us fill in the gaps on what happened…” Dr. J says.

Meanwhile, on the bed, Marvin and Jameson have fallen asleep. Draco might be asleep, or he might just have his eyes closed, it's hard to tell with cats.

On the other side of the house, Jackieboy goes to help Henrik. “c’mon hen- Alt’s room is this way.” He leads them down the hallway to the right and towards one of the farthest doors. Inside is a twin sized bed pushed against the wall, green binary print on the blankets and pillows. Posters for bands and podcasts line his walls and a desk is hidden amongst a triangular dip in the ceiling. The desk is piled up high with magic books and objects and a box of jumbled up tech pieces sits next to the chair. A TV on a small dresser sits across from the bed. And on the bed… there’s two books open. One filled with ‘power runes’ the other filled with a passage about blood magic… next to Alt’s pocket knife that is stained with old blood.

Jackieboy’s eyes widen as he sees this and then he curses, “…goddamnit Alt-“ He pushes those books and the knife off his bed then helps Henrik to lay him down.

Henrik's eyes glance to the books and knife. "Sisters damn it, Alt," he mutters. "I think we are all grateful for you help, but... Sisters."

Alt wheezes a bit and clutches at his chest with his bleeding hand. He dazedly tries to look at Jackieboy and Henrik and smiles shakily at them.

Jackieboy scowls. “…I wanna be so mad at you right now…! But… Christ- let’s at least get that hand bandaged…” He sighs, hurrying across the hall to the bathroom and pulling out a med kit. “Does anyone else need patching up, Hen?”

“Physically?" Henrik asks, following Jackieboy. "No, I think we were all taken care of at the hospital before being captured. But they did something strange to us while we were captured... They... h-had these magical devices that looked at our memories, and..." He trails off.

“M-Memories?” Jackieboy asks, “that’s… new. I think…”

"I think it drained our energy as well. But Jameson... I think they used some dark magic on him."

Jackieboy looks a bit pale, “Ah shit… ‘course they did… that’s what SCLERA prides themselves in… their ‘black magic core’… god that’s… that’s not good though…”

Henrik nods. "Yes, I can tell..." He glances back towards where Jameson and Marvin are resting.

Jackieboy walks back into Alt’s room and sits down on the bed next to him, going to wrap up his hand.

Alt sleepily blinks up at Jackieboy before letting his eyes drift back shut.

Henrik follows Jackieboy back into Alt's room. "Do you need something to stave off infection? Hm, well... I suppose if it was not an open wound for too long, and Alt's knife was clean..."

“Oh uh- yeah I should clean it…” Jackieboy says, pulling out some hydrogen peroxide and pulling out some gauze then carefully putting it on top of Alt’s hand.

Alt hisses and almost jerks his hand away but Jackieboy holds it still, “jeez Alt! This is kinda what you get for cutting into your own hand!”

Alt tiredly glares at Jackieboy.

"You put that directly on the cuts?" Henrik asks, intrigued. "Back home we put cleaning salves on the bandage and then wrap it around the cut."

“Hm? Oh yeah it uh- bubbles up and cleans out all the… germs and stuff,” Jackieboy says as he pats the wound dry then starts to wrap up Alt’s hand.

“...germs?" Henrik repeats, confused.

Glitches bounds into the room and leaps up on Alt’s bed, going to rub her face against his cheek.

“Oh! That’s uh- what causes infections… right?” Jackieboy says as he knits his eyebrows in confusion. “…at least that’s what I know.”

"...ah! So, ah... are these 'jermz'," Henrik gives it an exaggerated pronunciation, to be sure that he's getting it right. "They are... in dirt and dust?"

Jackieboy hums and thinks, “Uh… I think?… but germs are like… also associated with humans and animals and… things you can like catch from other things?” He sighs and shakes his dead, “I dunno! I’m not the doctor, Jay is!”

Henrik blinks. "Very well. I suppose I can ask him about these invisible infectors called germs." He looks down at Alt and smiles. "Get some rest, yes?" Then he heads out of the room to go ask Dr. J about germs.

Alt blinks open his eyes and tries to smile back, “mhm…”

Jackieboy finishes wrapping up Alt’s hand and goes to put away the supplies, sighing heavily. “…never a dull day.” He mumbles to himself. He passes Alt and ruffles his hair slightly before following after Henrik to find the others.

Meanwhile, back in Bro’s room Someone stumbles to the door, rubbing at his head as he blinks at the people in there. “…why is everyone in my room…?” Bro asks groggily.

"Bro!" Jackie gasps, whirling to look at him. "Um--we needed a place for Marvin and Jameson to rest. Anyway. What happened to you? Why are you beat down the road?”

“You weren't this injured before, were you?" Chase adds.

Bro blinks blearily out at everyone and looks confused. “Um… I don’t… remember… coming here-“ He says slowly, his eyebrows knitting together. Then he blinks more in surprise and touches his face, recoiling back as it hurts. “Ow,..! …uh??? I don’t- know???” He looks at Jackie and Chase with wide eyes. “…what the hell happened?!”

"What is the last thing you remember?" Chase asks. "Do you remember that woman with the colorful smoke? Or you and Alt freaking out about Sclera?”

“I think that woman said something about not needing you or Alt...?" Jackie recalls. "And... told you to... keep him out of the way...?" He rubs his head. "I was falling asleep at the time, from the smoke, so I don't remember much."

“I…. I remember…” Bro looks more confused. “The… the hospital- yeah w-we were trying to get away! I remember rolling out the window with Alt…! But then… I… I don’t remember anything else…”

Henny and Dr. J exchange worried glances.

Jameson raises his head. That sounds like enchantment, he signs weakly.

"She enchanted Bro?" Jackie repeats. "I guess that makes sense."

Bro’s eyes widen and he seems to pale. “Oh… oh fuck-“ He holds out his arm then grips at his wrist, gritting his teeth. “…they used this fucking thing again! Those motherfuckers!” He looks at the others with desperation, “so they… they got you guys…? S-SCLERA…?”

Chase and Jackie nod in unison. "Yeah..." Chase whispers. "I-it could have been worse... Alt and Draco came to get us, probably just before things went really, really bad.”

“…Draco?” Bro asks then notices the fluffy mound in between Marvin and Jameson. “…huh- we can… come back to that, I guess.”

“They used some strange spells and talismans to look into our memories," Jackie says, rubbing his head as he recalled the feeling of the circlet digging into his skull. "It was... exhausting. B-but Jameson had it worse."

Jameson raises a hand into the air, then drops it and continues staring at the ceiling.

The hero leans against the door heavily and crosses his arms. He looks extremely guilty. “…I-I’m so sorry you guys I… we all promised to keep you safe and…” He blinks frustrated tears out of his eyes.

Jackie put a hand on Bro's shoulder. "I know," he says softly. "I want to protect the others too. And I take it seriously when I don't. We have to remember that we can't see everything coming. Hard as it is to move past that."

“I feel like I… I should have seen this coming but…” Bro sighs, “You’re right…”

"Does that enchantment happen to you... often... Bro?" Chase asks, concerned.

Bro looks back at his other self and shakes his head, “…not often thankfully but… w-when they want something it…” He shuts his eyes in regret. “… I was an idiot… and now they can just… use me. B-But we’re gonna find a way to stop it just… n-not sure how yet…” He looks over to Marvin and Jameson with concern. “…what did they do to Jameson…?”

Chase glances back at Jameson. "They were trying to make him have a vision. I think it... worked? Maybe? But the method they used it..." He swallows a lump in his throat. "Th-they said something about increasing the magic in his body, and I think they did that with dark magic...”

Henny gasps, “They tried to force him to have a vision! That is not how that works!!”

"I know! It is not at all how it works!" Jackie shakes his head. "But something happened. I don't know if they were visions or just things not there, though..."

Bro looks pale again, “B-black magic..!” He hurries over to lean down by Jameson and waves a hand at him. “Uh hi? Jamie? You’re not feeling uh… chaotic orr murderous right now, are you?”

Jameson blinks up at Bro sleepily. He shakes his head. Why? he asked slowly. Does dark magic... make you evil?

Bro sits on the edge of the bed and sighs, “…I dunno to be honest… I… think so? Alt knows better… I think it uh… twists how you normally would act. So if you’re a good person… it’d make you act bad. But… maybe… it all got burned out of you from the visions…?” He shudders- remembering seeing the JJ from the switch world and how he acted when exposed to black magic… and then Marvin and Alt today.

Jameson blinks. Well I... didn't feel... murderous at any point, he says. I think... the magic wasn't... intended to do that.

“Hm… that’s good then I guess… I mean not good they used it on you but… glad it didn’t change you.” Bro sighs.

I did see some strange things, though...

Chase nods. "Yeah... they showed what you saw on those, uh, TVs. Those things were strange and disturbing... until those 'visions' happened."

Bro leans back and looks between Jameson and Chase, “…so what kind of visions did he get?”

Jameson blinks. His eyes go a bit distant, and he gestures at Jackie and Chase to explain, then closes his eyes and tries to sleep some more.

"Very bizarre things at first," Jackie mutters. "His surroundings were shifting and became... completely unrecognizable. There were all these shapes and colors and then... hmm... Chase, how do we explain this?”

“I think he had a vision about Jack first?" Chase says hesitantly. "Just a single image, really, of him with some foreign-looking people. Then there was something else with some younger kids, the older one handing the younger one a necklace of some kind... uh, there was a man who looked like Jameson and a woman who resembled him a bit, holding hands, I think they were in an environment that was a bit closer to your world than ours. Uh... there was a different man who looked like Jameson, and some others--”

“Other men who looked like us," Jackie adds.

"Oh!" Chase's eyes widen. "They did sort of look like us. Anyway, that group was facing down some sort of electric storm, with this glowing figure with strange... what is that word you used? S-static? Static in his eyes.”

Bro listens to all of this with wide eyes. All of those… sound vaguely familiar…! Like… the didn't little Jay have a necklace? A watch right? And a sister with another Jamie in a big city… that could be hero Jay! “…he saw into multiple worlds…!” Bro breathes.

Henny blinks in surprise. “That is possible? To see the futures of other worlds?”

“I-I guess so…?” Bro whispers.

Jackie and Chase's eyes widen. "He did?!" Jackie shouts.

Jameson opens his eyes again, interested in this.

"I--maybe all the magic--caused something...?" Chase wonders. "Something sort of similar happened in the Wyldwood... And there was so much magic there, too. Jameson didn't see the future of other worlds, though, I think... unless he didn't tell us." He glances back at Jameson, who shakes his head. Then Chase sighs. “But these were just, uh... flashes. Flashes of visions. The real vision was..." He trails off.

"Alt was fighting Magnificent," Jackie says. "But they both looked different. Alt was older, and he had these markings on his hands and arms, and his magic was so strong... Magnificent's magic was darker, almost black, and he looked even less stable than he does now. They were fighting, and I think... I think Alt had the upper hand? The vision ended before the fight did.”

Bro gapes a bit at the mention of the vision of Alt and Mag. “R-Really…? An… an older Alt…? Fighting mag? A-And winning?” He ends up laughing dazedly at this, holding a hand over his mouth. If Jameson sees the most likely future then… they’re not heading towards that awful one they all saw before! Tears are brimming in his eyes.

"Can all'a ye shush up?" Marvin suddenly mumbles.

"Oh! Sorry, Marvin, we didn't mean to wake you," Jackie says, embarrassed.

Bro blinks back at Marvin and quickly wipes at his eyes with the heel of his hand, “Oh- s-sorry Marv… I-it’s a bit more crowded but we can talk in the living room-”

“Yeah, let’s let them rest,” Jackie says. He gives Marvin and Jameson a little wave before leaving again. Chase does the same.

Jameson returns the wave, and Marvin just closes his eyes and pulls Draco a bit closer to himself.

Bro smiles at Jameson and Marvin then gets up to leave too, “Hope my bed is comfy enough, you two.”

Henny follows quickly after, also waving. He gently shuts the door.

Meanwhile, while the others talk about visions and dark magic, Henrik walks up to Dr. J, who was very quickly overwhelmed by the crowded room and left early. "JJ, are you busy? Because I have a question that is completely unrelated to any of the things that just happened with Sclera and such. Jackieboy said I could ask you."

Dr. J blinks at Henrik and then hides a small laugh and smiles at him. “Well I’m assuming it’s some kind of medical thing then? Jackie doesn’t really know those types of things-”

“I know enough to get by, know-it-all!” Jackieboy calls out.

Dr. J rolls his eyes, “What would you like to know, Henrik?”

“What are 'germs'?" Henrik asks bluntly. The absurdity of a doctor asking that question is lost on him, even though it sounds really, really strange to the guys from this world.

Dr. J blinks rapidly and can’t stop himself from laughing. “Is that a serious question?” He snickers.

Henrik bristles defensively.

Then Dr. J slowly blinks and covers his mouth. “Oh…! Right you- wouldn’t know the principle of it yet! Okay yes I can explain. Germs are microscopic organisms that are all around us- and they can invade the body and cause illness. They’re in the air, soil, water- pretty much every surface and also on and within us and animals.”

Henrik just looks confused. "'My-crow-stop-ick' living things...? That are everywhere? Are they invisible? Why do they want to cause illnesses?"

Dr. J chuckles. “Mircoscopic. It means so small we cannot see them with our eyes. You need very special tools to see them. So not quite invisible but they are to us. And um- I guess it is just in their nature. They are not living creatures that behave like animals… they just- cause fevers or infections and the like.”

Henrik gave a little laugh. "That is... ah... very strange." He looks down at his hand, like he's expecting to see tiny animals on them now. This is a little hard for him to buy right away. "Though if they are everywhere, why are you all not getting sick all the time?"

Dr. J smiles, “There’s many different way to uh- defeat them I guess.” He laughs, “Washing your hands, medicine, vaccines… going to see the doctor regularly. Making sure wounds are clean to stave off infections is a good example of that. If the wound is clean, it kills off all the germs that mean to invade and cause us harm.”

“Oh! So, ah, normal doctor procedures, then," Henrik says, nodding.

Dr. J nods and laughs, “The very same.”

"We wash and clean things all the time back home. Not to mention our medicines... they are probably qualified to kill these germs.” Henrik frowns in thought, “ What is a... vakseen, though?"

“Oh! A vaccine is…” Dr. J hums, trying to think. “It's a way to train the body to protect and fight against future illnesses. It’s a fascinating process but- also very much outside of my expertise.”

"Hmm?" Henrik tilts his head to the side. "Wait. Is it... is it like how when people catch an illness once, they are less likely to get it again? Even if they catch a less powerful sickness?"

“Yes it’s the same principle I believe!” Dr. J smiles, “the process takes some of the sickness and safely injects itself into our bodies so they’ll know how to fight against the sickness if it comes back. They’re very effective!”

“Oh! I see!” Henrik nods. “Yes, yes… that seems very smart! But difficult to do. At least, back home. At least, on purpose.”

By now, Chase and Jackie walk back into the living room.

“How’s Alt?” Chase asks.

“I think he will be okay,” Henrik says. “But those cuts on his hand may take a while to heal.”

Bro walks over to everyone and blinks, “…what’s wrong with Alt?? Cuts on his hand??”

“Oh yes Chase you were still knocked out…” Dr. J says, shaking his head. “Alt was the one who managed to get the others out of SCLERA…”

“Yeah- and he used blood magic to do it…” Jackieboy mumbles. “Which I dunno much about but my mam used to tell me that blood is powerful but extremely dangerous to use in magic if you ain’t careful…”

"...was Alt careful?" Chase asks, in the tone of someone who already knows the answer and doesn't like it.

"Well, I-I think he really rushed to rescue us," Henrik says. "It is a good thing he did, I think, but he has to be more careful. Something like this should be an exception, not a rule.”

“How do we know it isn't already an exception, not a rule?" Jackie points out. "We've spent, what, ten days total with Alt? We don't know him as well as these guys do."

Henrik looks at the others--Bro, Jackieboy, Dr. J, and Henny. "Well? Is this something Alt would normally do?"

The swaps all exchange looks then either sigh heavily or shake their heads. “Yes- this is completely something Alt would do…” Jackieboy grumbles, “for someone who lived on the streets as long as he did- he’s got so little self preservation skills….”

“O-Only when it comes to his friends!” Henny tries to defend, “He would do anything for someone he cares about!”

“yes… but at the expense of his own body and well-being…” Dr. J sighs. “

I mean… he was desperate it sounds like-“ Bro says sheepishly but Jackieboy hits him with the back of his hand. “Shush up Chase you’re no better!”

“W-What does that mean?! At least I heal fast when I put myself in danger! And that’s part of being a hero!”

Henrik shakes his head. “It is great that you two care so much about your friends, but seriously. You need to slow down for a bit and think about yourself. This time was—was a situation where it was necessary. But sometimes you need to think about things before rushing in.” His eyes flick towards Jackie.

“What?” Jackie says.

“Nothing.” Henrik shakes his head.

Bro looks away, rubbing at his arm. “Yeah uh… I-I’m trying to… work on that…”

“But please- give that lecture to Alt when he wakes up.” Jackieboy says bluntly.

“Oh, I will,” Henrik says.

“Well uh… what do the rest of us do while they rest?” Chase asks. “I put in my voice for also resting. We might not have used up magic but… I’m still pretty tired.”

“That’s understandable… SCLERA isn’t necessary… kind to their ‘subjects’.” Dr. J says.

Bro looks around then flushes and scratches at his face. “Uhhh our… apartment is kinda small… we’ve been trying to make the spare room into a guest room- but we don’t… have a bed yet-”

“Truly the house of two unmarried men,” Jackieboy snorts.

Bro elbows him.

“It’s not that small,” Chase says.

“We’ve spent the last five years or so living in tents,” Jackie says. “Anything is better than that.”

“If need be, can we always drive you all back to your hotel?” Dr. J suggests. “We have both our cars.”

“I do not want to leave Marvin or Jameson here alone…” Henrik says slowly.

“We do need to get our things from the hotel, though,” Jackie says. “My other sword, Chase’s bow and stuff, our clothes from home… maybe Chase and I could go while you stay here, Henrik? We’ll be able to call you on the phone.”

“Oh yes… this was supposed to be your last day here…” Henny says sadly. “I suppose after all of this… you would want to be home.”

"We had a great time!" Jackie reassures Henny. "It's just that--well, it's probably safer if we leave before things get bad.”

Bro sighs heavily, “It’s not usually this bad! I dunno why both mag and SCLERA decided to just… gang up on you all… I mean probably just cuz they’re dicks-“

“We can come back in the future when we're more prepared," Chase says, smiling.

“Well I can help you all get your things. I need to be there to check you all out, anyways.” Dr. J says, adjusting his glasses.

“We won’t let them be alone, Hen,” Jackieboy says softly.

“Yes I will stay here to watch over all our friends!” Henny exclaims. “But other me is welcome to stay too!”

Henrik smiles at Jackieboy. "Thank you... but I think I would feel best if I stayed as well.”

“Don't worry, Schneep, we'll be right back!" Jackie says, patting his shoulder.

Dr. J chuckles, “Then I suppose we can just take my car if it’s just you two. Come along now-“

“We’ll see you later!” Jackie says.

“Have a nice rest,” Chase says. Dr. J gestures for the two of them to follow and they head out the door to his car.

Bro watches them go then sighs and goes to flop down onto the couch. “…todays been exhausting…” Henny looks at the sun outside- starting to set. “Indeed…”

“I cannot believe that it was all day,” Henrik mutters.

Henny looks around then looks to see there’s an armchair next to the couch… covered by a box of merch. He frowns then takes the box off and gestures towards his other self. “Here other me! Comfy chair to rest in-“

Henrik nods at Henny. “Thank you.” He walks over to the chair and falls back into the cushions. He looks at the box with idle interest. “You have a lot of things, Bro. You and Alt both do.”

“Hm?” Bro asks, lifting up his head. Then he laughs and shakes his head, “Oh I know… too many things and not enough room. Though to be honest- this place felt too big before Alt moved in.” He massages some of the bruises on his face thoughtfully. “Uh- those are um… stuff for my fans though. Being a big super hero means… people like to have stuff with your name on it, I guess?” He laughs shaking his head, “…I never really would have thought I’d get to that kinda place. Before I started being a hero… I used to just deliver food.”

“Oh! That is for you?” Henrik takes another look at the box, now noticing the letters that spell out Bro’s hero name. “That is fascinating. I cannot imagine someone selling things with their name on it back home. Well… I suppose there is a market for things related to legendary figures in Glasúil. King Samuel is quite popular. But those are almost always tapestries and books and such, I have never seen someone wearing something meant to pay respects to a person.”

“I think the King’s crest sorta counts as that though. That would mean his guards were his biggesttt fans!” Bro laughs.

Henrik chuckles. “A royal crest or nation’s flag feels different, though.”

“It might also seem like a lot of things because these two do not clean as often as they should,” Henny points out teasingly.

“Heyyy-!” Bro pouts, “I’m a hero! I’m busy! At least I remember to do the washing up and laundry!”

“Except for the clothes on the floor in your room-”

“…it’s not laundry day yet-“

Henrik chuckles. “I can imagine the laundry gets overwhelming when you have many clothes. This is why nobility often employ people to do the laundry for them. And all the other folk may only have three or four changes of clothes, plus an outfit for nice occasions. You all have so many clothes, every day I see you, you have had something new.”

Bro blinks in confusion at Henrik. “…you guys only have 3 or 4 outfits?!”

Henny chuckles, “I had more growing up but I was also an actor! During the war though- that seems about right for what we had. And our school uniforms.”

“That’s so crazy- honestly I feel like I wear the same thing all the time-“ Bro mumbles, rubbing the back of his head. “But yeah- around here… being seen in the same thing might have people thinking you’re lazy- or poor… huh- never realized how strange that was…”

“Well, yes, clothing is difficult to make,” Henrik says. “Clearly you have ways to make them fast here, but back home you have to weave the cloth, dye the cloth, cut it, stitch it together, add decoration if you want—it takes time.” He glances towards the closed door of Bro’s room. “Though I have no doubt that Marvin and Jameson had more clothes growing up than the rest of us. Or perhaps just fancier clothing… though Marvin was often not a fan of the popular fashions. He has such issues with certain cloths’ textures.”

“Hmm that makes sense. Nobles and stuff.” Bro says, crossing his arms. “…I think Alt is like that with clothes too. S’why he’s always wearing his jacket and mask. Said they’re textures he can trust and stuff.”

“So many fabrics can be stiff and itchy!” Henny agrees, “Especially fancier things! I swear so many of my costumes are too itchy!!”

Henrik nods. “Marvin says that it is a feytouched quality, but many people have texture problems even if they are not feytouched.” He chuckles and looks at Henny. “Fancier things especially. Sometimes I wonder if nobility wear uncomfortable clothes to show off how much they can endure.”

“Surely it must be some kind of test!” Henny giggles.

There’s then a knock on the door. Bro looks up and then starts to push himself up only for Henny to spring up, “Oh I’ll get it!” He hurries over to the door and opens it. “Oliver! Hello!”

Oliver smiles, holding the boxes from the bakery. Man- that felt like it was ages ago now. “hi Henrik, I brought those cookies you all left? Is… is everyone okay?”

“Most of them are resting- come in come in!” Henny ushers Oliver inside, even if the nurse looks a bit wary. He sees Henrik and waves, “Hi again! Good to see you’re okay…” Then he looks over to Bro and blinks, “…what happened to you?”

“No ides actually but the bruises are healing already!” Bro grins and gives him a thumbs up.

“Ah, hello Oliver!” Henrik sits up straight and smiles. “Thank you, thank you, good to see you! Glad to see you are okay, too. Alt will be so relieved.”

“Yeah… luckily Rhett, uh another one of my older brothers, noticed something was happening and managed to grab me and the rest of our family and we hid in a supply closet… then we stuck around to help everyone who got hurt.” Oliver sighs.

He stands up and goes over to take the boxes. Opening up the top one, he takes a deep breath. “They still smell delicious. Perhaps I should wake the others to ask if they want one…”

Oliver smiles, “I’m glad they’re still okay. Jayden said they’re… magic right?”

“Yes, indeed.” Henrik nods. “They should help give them some energy and healing.”

Meanwhile, the door to Bro’s room slowly inched open… and a tiny furry face poked through the gap.

Oliver blinks and looks towards the door. Then absolutely melts at the sight, “awww! Hello pretty kitty!” He bends down and makes a Pspspsps noise and offers his fingers towards Draco.

Draco squeezes out through the gap in the door and walks over to Ollie and Henrik. He sniffs Ollie’s hand and then arches his back, ready for pets.

“This is Draco, he is Marvin’s familiar,” Henrik explains. “We are not sure how he got here, since Marvin left him behind in our world.”

Oliver’s eye sparkle as he pets Draco , “oh! Hello Draco- you are so very pretty! And softttt~” He giggles. Then he blinks up at Henrik and his eyes widen, “…he came on his own??? That’s- woah…”

“He’s magic though so- could be weirder- if just a normal cat crossed dimensions.” Bro chuckles.

After a bit, Draco walks over to Henrik. He sets the boxes of macarons down on a chair so he can bend down and pet him— And Draco immediately leaps onto the chair and starts sniffing the macarons.

Bro full blown laughs now.

“Hey! Draco!” Henrik picks him up around the middle and moves him to the floor again.

“Awww no Draco! That was so mean!” Henny giggles, “He must smell the magics!”

Henriklooks at Henny. “Do you think so? He is made of magic. But he could also just want to eat them. Are these safe for animals?”

Draco jumps onto the chair again, and Henrik fully scoops him up.

“Uhhh- probably not… they have lots of sugar.” Bro says, leaning on his legs.

“Yes- and Alt tells us cream is not good for kitty bellies!” Henny adds.

Henrik looks down at Draco. “Do you hear that? Even if you are magic, you still have a kitty body, so you cannot have any.” Draco looks up at him with round, pleading eyes. But Henrik just sighs and looks away. Marvin would kill him if he got Draco sick.

Bro gets to his feet, “We should probably go check on the others… these have purification so they should help Jameson feel much better.”

Oliver gets to his feet as well, “Oh yeah I meant to ask- is anyone seriously hurt? I-I can try to help-“

“I do not think so?” Henrik says slowly. “I think all our serious injuries were taken care of at the clinic. But, ah, Alt’s hand has been… cut. It is not serious, though.”

“Alt’s hand is cut??” Oliver asks in worry, “What happened?”

“Not sure really- he said something about… blood magic?” Bro shrugs while rubbing his head. “He’s resting in his room if you wanna see him.”

Oliver nods then hurries down the hallway. Then, a little black streak hurries down the hall and tries to get to the other box but- Henny quickly scoops her up, “Nonono glitches! Not for kitties!”

Glitches lets out a long meow and baps at Henny’s nose.

Henrik chuckles and walks towards Bro’s room, carefully pulling open the door. He walks in and drops Draco on the bed between Marvin and Jameson, causing Jameson to open his eyes.

What is it? he asks.

Henrik doesn’t say anything right away, instead leaving and coming back with one of the macaron boxes. “Here. Remember these? They should help.”

Jameson’s expression brightens and he sits up, immediately taking one of the cookies and eating it.

The cookie alleviates any lingering aches and pain from the black magic in Jameson’s systems, like a bruise being healed. He feels his energy coming back with a flourish.

Jameson’s eyes widen. He immediately leans over to shake Marvin.

“Hrrrm, what?” Marvin groans, opening his eyes a crack.

Magic cookies! Make you fee better! Jameson says.

Henrik helpfully holds out the box.

Marvin glares at the two of them for a moment. He’s not in the mood to eat, only to sleep. But one cookie couldn’t hurt, could it? He grabs one from the box—Henrik quickly pulls it back before Draco can succeed in putting his paw in—and eats it. His grumpy expression clears as he experiences the same energy boost that Jameson did. “Oh.”

“How do you two feel?” Henrik asks.

Much better, Jameson says.

“Still a bit off,” Marvin says. “But that might be because of there being less magic in this world.”

Henny peeks in then grins at the others, “Hallo!” He softly whispers in case they’re still tired. “Did the cookies help? I had no idea macarons could be magic!”

“Hello Henny,” Marvin says with a faint smile. “Yea, they helped.”

Jameson stands up. How is everyone else? “Chase and Jackie went back to the hotel to get our things,” Henrik reports. “And Oli is here now.”

“Alt is also resting,” Henny says, “But he will probably be up now that Oli is here!” He smiles. Then he blinks, “Oh! Oli should give some cookies to Alt too!”

"Oh! He should." Henrik nods. He goes back into the living room. "Oli! You can take the other cookie box to give to Alt!"

Meanwhile, Marvin stretches, wincing slightly as the motion causes his stitches to dig at his skin. Next to him, Draco also stretches, yawning.

Jameson sees the two of them stretch in unison and grins. You know they say pets and owners grow more alike over time, he says.

Marvin rolls his eyes. "Ha ha." He scoops up Draco, then stands and walks back into the living room. Jameson follows him.

Oliver is helping Alt out to the living room- he still looks pretty tired and he’s holding a blanket over his shoulders- but he smiles as he sees Marvin and Jameson. “H-Hey guys-”

“Here Alt, Henrik said these will help,” Oliver says as he helps sit Alt down on the couch and hands him the box Henrik just gave him.

Alt takes a cookie and pops it in his mouth. Immedately the exhaustion under his eyes seems to lift and he breathes a bit easier. “Phew… t-thanks Oli…” he smiles at him.

Bro smiles up at Marvin and Jameson, “I take it you two are feeling better?”

Fit as fresh fruit! Jameson says.

"Yep." Marvin nods. "I'm not feeling fully well again, but much better. I really do think this world's, uh... this world having less magic does affect me. Just... not as much as I was worried about."

Henrik smiles at him. "We told you."

Draco probably helps as well, Jameson says, then reaches out to pet him.

Glitches bounds out of Henny’s arms and goes to dig under Alt’s blanket- popping out her head next to him with a meow. She looks like she’s wearing a blanket around her shoulders like he is.

Draco dodges the attempted pets and wriggles out of Marvin's arms. He lands on the ground and trots over to Glitches, crouching and staring at her.

Glitches’s eyes dilate and she crouches down to stare back at Draco. She reaches out and tries to bap at his head.

Draco shakes his head and baps Glitches back.

Glitches excitedly wiggles her butt in the air, the blanket following her motion. Then she tries to pounce on Draco.

Draco mrowls as Glitches pounces and the two of them go wriggling across the floor.

Marvin looks at the cats and grins. "Cuuute.”

Alt meanwhile grabs another cookie, then unwraps his hand to look at it, staring with fascination as he watches how the magic closes up the cuts.

Jackieboy, who’s been looking for snacks and drinks and stuff and placing them on the counter, sees this then points at Alt accusingly. “Hey bitch what the fuck! I worked hard on those bandages!”

Alt just looks back at him, a bit of macaron still sticking out of his mouth, blinking innocently.

“Alt! Even if they are magical, you should not undo bandages, just in case!" Henrik scolds.

Thank you, Jackieboy, Jameson says and walks over. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I ate that cookie.

Jackieboy blinks then smiles, “No problem! Hope you two don’t mind,” He calls to Bro.

The hero waves his hand flippantly. “yeah go ahead- we’ll go shopping tomorrow.”

There’s crisps, a couple protein bars, bags of cookies, strange fish shaped crackers and rice cakes. And a couple cans of soda, coffees, energy drinks and bottles of water.

Jameson picks up one of the crisps in an open bowl, turns it over in curiosity, and then starts to eat.

"Oh! Look at how cute that is!" Marvin picks up one of the fish-shaped crackers and starts to eat.

Alt finishes up his cookie and grins sheepishly up at Henrik, who still looms nearby, “Oops uh… sorry- but look! It’s pretty much healed!” He shows off the barest hints of the cuts on his hand.

"Hmm." Henrik narrows his eyes a bit. "Also, that was quite dangerous of you to do in the first place. Thank you, of course. I understand why you did it, and this was a situation where something like that was necessary. But I think that in general... you should take care of yourself some more." His voice is soft.

Alt shrinks back a bit and goes to hold his hand against his chest. “…i-I know… I’m sorry- I just… I had to do something…! I… I know just how awful SCLERA can be…” He curls up his legs to his chest.

Oliver pats his shoulder and sits on the arm of the couch next to him. “I think he just wants you to remember… you have a lot of people who care about you… so you gotta take care of yourself for them too, just as much as you try to protect them.”

"Yes, exactly." Henrik nods. "I am not mad at you, Alt. You did do the right thing this time." He smiles softly.

Alt looks up sheepishly at Schneep at the mention of him not being mad, “…honestly I expected a lecture-“ He laughs.

"Well, I think you have been lectured enough on this," Henrik says. "Sometimes, a person needs something else." He smiles, "Besides, Sisters know there are times when I should have taken a risk but was too cautious." The smile falls. "But sometimes caution is a good thing. You want to keep yourself safe for the ones who care about you, yes?"

Alt nods and gives Henrik more of a smile, “Yeah… I do. I-I’ll try to be more careful.” He looks over his hand and rubs the mostly healed cuts. “…I can’t deny though… that was scarily strong…”

“At the point of giving you blood loss symptoms-“ Oliver points out, giving his partner a look. “Way more than you should have for cuts like that…”

Henrik glances down at the cuts. "It was, hmm? Perhaps if you could find some way to make it more controllable--though if the hurting yourself is necessary, you should stay away from that. We don't want that blood loss.”

“Mmm… yeah… maybe.., like a tattoo or something?” Alt muses, “I’ve always wanted one. Maybe I can ask Blaise… I dunno if these symbols are good though… felt kinda hard to control.”

"Tattoo...? Oh, putting ink on your skin! Yes, of course." Henrik nods. "Well, perhaps you should do some more research, then?"

Jameson glances over at Henrik and Alt, overhearing them talking. He smiles. I think the ink is a great idea, Alt, he says. That strange vision he'd had... Alt had tattoos. Perhaps that future will become more certain.

Alt blinks at the two of them then grins and nods, “Yeah! I’ll do some research! I bet… it’s the same kinda principle right? Oh I wonder if anyone in the magic district does magic tattoos!” He’s rambling to himself excitedly.

Oliver chuckles and watches him fondly.

That's the spirit! Jameson says, grinning. Now, do you want any of the snacks? He picks up a bag of cookies.

Alt blinks then smiles, “Uh sure- cookies would be nice… and maybe some goldfish?”

Goldfish? Oh, the fish crackers?

“You should get some juice too- for the blood loss.” Oliver comments lightly as he gets to his feet. “I’ll grab that for you. There’s some in the fridge right?”

“Oh yeah- thanks Ols.”

Then, as Jameson and Oli get up, there’s a polite knock on the door before Dr. J enters, “Hello all, we’ve returned~”

"Heyyy!" Jackie enters after JJ, grinning. "We have all our stuff! I can't believe we almost forgot about our prizes from the arcade! Jameson, Henrik, Marvin?”

“Oh right!" Marvin hurries over, taking his deck of cards from Jackie. He also grabs Jameson's and Henrik's plushies and passes them out.

Chase comes in after Jackie. "I have all our clothes, too."

“Oh yeah!” Bro perks up and grins. “It would’ve been a bummer if you all left those!”

Henrik glances at Marvin as he walks over. "Yes, thank you," he says, taking the dragon plushie he'd won at the arcade.

Jackieboy laughs, “Feel free to grab some snacks, lads!”

"Oh thank you, Jackieboy!" Chase says, hurrying over. He picks up a soda and drinks it.

Meanwhile, it seems the play fighting between the cats has calmed down. Glitches won. Glitches is sat on top of Draco, licking her paw and basking in her win.

Marvin laughs. "Come on, Draco, you're bigger than her! You can do it! Try again!" Draco just stares at him, almost visibly giving him an 'are you kidding? No way' look.

Glitches makes biscuits briefly on Draco’s back then flops on top of him, purring and flicking her tail. Bro smiles at everyone being back together again.

Jackie goes and grabs one of the energy drinks, looking it over. After a moment, he assumes it's soda and takes two and some rice cakes.

Jackieboy yelps and grabs one of the energy drinks from his double and grins nervously, “Ohhh you don’t want two of those mate- trust me! That’ll make you sick-“

“Huh?" Jackie looks down at the can in his hand. "Uh... alright?" Now curious, he opens it up--taking a moment to figure out how the tab works--then takes a sip. His lips pucker. "That is... so sour. But not in a bad way..."

Jackieboy laughs. “Yeah it’s kinda fun huh? But those are for energy- but if you drink too many it’ll make your heart go all crazy and make you sick. I once drank 3 in one day with little food…” He shudders. “Do not recommend.”

"Oh." Jackie looks at the can with some more consideration. And also some curiosity. He turns to Chase. "Do you dare me to drink all of this?"

Chase almost chokes on his soda. "What? Didn't you hear what Jackieboy just said?”

“But one is probably fine, right?" Jackie doesn't wait for a dare and just walks away, drinking.

Jackieboy looks at Chase then bursts into giggles, “That’s not how a dare works!”

Chase laughs. "I know--and Jackie knows, too. I think he was going to do it anyway.”

“Do what?" Marvin asks, coming back for more fish-shaped crackers.

"Drink all of one of these." Chase picks up the energy drink. "Apparently they give you energy, but too much will make you sick."

Marvin looks at the drink curiously, then takes the can from Chase's hand. "I could use some energy.”

“They’re a bit weird tasting so be cautious Marv,” Jackieboy laughs. “And I- wouldn’t recommend drinking it all at once. It’s like.. a sipping wine- or you know- drinking all at once makes my stomach hurt.”

Jameson now wanders over and looks down at the snack platter, searching for the goldfish. Then he notices Marvin has some. Marvin? How are the goldfish?

Marvin is too busy drinking the energy drink to answer right away, following Jackieboy's advice to sip it slowly. He glances back at Jameson. "They taste like crunchy, salty cheese. And I mean that in the best way."

Jameson nods, scooping up some goldfish for Alt.

Alt takes the goldfish thankfully from Jameson. Oliver comes back over to sit by him and gives him a cup of red juice and a bag of cookies. Alt hungrily digs into both the snacks.

"Oooo, snacks!" Henrik picks up some more cookies as well as a bottle of water. "Have I mentioned yet how even your water tastes so different? It is very strange."

“Does it?” Bro asks, looking at a water bottle. “…it just tastes like water to me!”

“Ours is filtered, Chase,” Dr. J chuckles.

“Ohhh-”

"Filtered..." Henrik repeats, taking a drink from the water bottle. "Hmm. Perhaps that would explain why it is a bit flat. Though this one, from the bottle has an interesting aftertaste. Was something added in?”

“A bit flat?” Jackieboy asks with a laugh. “I don’t remember your water being carbonated!”

“Why are your questions so boring, Schneep?" Jackie groans. He takes a swig of the energy drink--apparently not following Jackieboy's 'drink it slowly' advice.

Bro giggles at Jackie then starts to chant, “chug, chug, chug, chug!!”

Jackie gives Bro a thumbs up and tilts his head farther back. Marvin scoots over and pushes his head back upright from behind, and Jackie sticks his tongue out at him.

"No no no, I mean... ugh, I do not know how to describe it." Henrik shakes his head, then gets distracted by what Jackie is doing. "Ah..."

Alt watches Jackie then laughs, “He’s gonna give himself a headache-“

“He's surprisingly resilient," Marvin comments.

Jackie grins. "Thank you, Marvin! Also, I feel fine so far!”

“We'll ask you again in an hour to see if the energy effect is delayed," Marvin says.

Dr. J rolls his eyes at their antics then addresses Henrik, “yes, sometimes they add something in the water to give it a fresher taste.”

"Fresher? I do not think that is a good word for it," Henrik says.

"Well, clearly our standards are different," Chase says. "Now I have to agree with Jackie. The water talk is boring.”

“Don't you like learning more about these little differences between worlds?”

“Yes... but water is boring. Water is water is water."

Henny giggles, “I think I have to agree other me, surely there are more interesting questions on your mind!”

Dr. J shakes his head and shrugs with a smile. “I suppose the small differences could seem dull- I think Henrik is perfectly fine in wanting to know the intricacies-”

“Booo! Boring!!” Bro shouts.

Dr. J gives him a withering look.

Henrik rolls his eyes. "Well, I could ask what these are, is this less boring to all of you?" He grabs one of the chips.

Oh! They're potatoes, Jameson says. Salty potatoes.

"You all love your salt here," Chase says. "Though, uh... can't say I blame you. Maybe you just have more salt here.”

“Most likely,” Dr. J chuckles, “Salt is hardly a luxury here.”

“Is true!! One of my favorite things about the future!! So much flavor!!” Henny beams.

Alt and Jackieboy laugh.

Bro starts to laugh too then falls quiet, “…it’s… probably time we get you all ready to go home though…”

Chase sighs. "Yeah... you're probably right.”

“Aw... we can't even watch one last movie?" Jackie says.

"Those are long," Marvin says. "Are we comfortable staying here for at least another two hours?"

Silence.

Henrik sighs. "That would just be delaying things, and we know it."

The other swaps all exchange sad looks. “I wish we could,” Bro says, hiding how much he doesn’t want eveyone to leave, “but… n-now it’s dangerous… we have no idea if mag is out o-or if sclera-“

Chase sighs. "Yeah... that's fair.”

Do you all have your traveling device here? Jameson asks. You will probably have to drop us off.

Alt nods. He looks down at the floor then sighs heavily, “Next time… you all come- I’m gonna get even stronger. So none of us will have to worry about those fucks again, okay?!” He looks up at his friends, eyes burning with determination. The other swaps smile at Alt with a bit of pride.

“'Hell' yeah, Alt!" Jackie says. "Beat them up!"

Marvin grins. "Teach them a lesson they'll never forget." Draco manages to climb out from under Glitches and runs over to Marvin. He scoops him up quickly.

“I am so sorry your last day had to end this way…” Henny whines.

“But! That just means next time- we’ll need to make it even more awesome, huh?” Jackieboy grins, trying to stay positive.

“Just- give me a bit of advance so I can ask off work,” Dr. J chuckles.

We'll look everywhere for a way to speak between worlds, Jameson says. If we find one, we'll definitely let you all know we're coming ahead of time.

“It was so cool to meet you all!” Oliver grins, “N-Next time- I’ll try to be around more too!”

"It was lovely to meet you, Oliver!" Henrik says, beaming. He makes sure that he has everything he needs, including the box of macarons.

Alt smiles and ruffles Oliver’s hair as he stands up and then glitches to his room. Once he’s back he holds up the TRVLR. “…okay- I’m ready when you guys are.”

The visitors look at each other. It's clear that they don't want to leave. But they have to return home eventually, don't they? Their friends and family are there. Not to mention everything they have to do, still, to get the kingdom back in working order.

"We're ready," Jackie says.

Alright, everyone, maybe if we link up we won't spread out when we land this time, Jameson says.

"Oh! Good point." Chase links his elbow through Jameson's and Jameson laughs silently.

"It was so good to visit you all." Henrik links up with Chase. "And it was so fascinating to visit your world!”

“Thank you for everything," Marvin says, linking with Henrik.

“Please be careful, and give Jack our good wishes!” Dr. J smiles.

“Come back soon!!” Henny calls, waving wildly.

“Or we’ll come back to you!! To see the kingdom the way it’s supposed to be!” Jackieboy grins.

"We'll see you again! In some way!" Jackie beams. He links up to Marvin and reaches out for Alt.

Bro smiles warmly and waves, “Bye all… see you again.”

Alt grabs Jackie’s hand and then closes his eyes and channel his magic into the TRVLR. Hey- first time using it since it got fixed! He desperately hopes it works like new again. He looks through the names and smiles as he sees the familiar screen and favorites of the worlds they’ve visited. He finds the right address and nods to everyone. “Alright everyone, hang on!”

The guys all hold tight, gathering closer around Alt.

Alt presses the jump button, channeling his magic into the TRVLR. And then- they all begin to fall- falling out of sight as the Swaps wave goodbye.

ᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅ

They land on the ground hard. For once, they haven't been flung across space when traveling--though the jump did make them let go of each other.

They're immediately greeted by shouts of surprise. It seems they've landed in the middle of a camp, scattered around a clear area with some cooking fires dotted around, surrounded by large tents.

Alt has never been here before, but the others know where they are immediately. This is the camp on the Cliffs of Feall. This is home.

"Elders!" Chase says, getting to his feet first. "That was a fall, alright!"

Jackie gets up next. He looks around and laughs. "We look so out of place now!"

Alt shakes himself off then groans. Ugh… he forgot that takes a lot of magic. He staggers to his feet then laughs. “Oh yeah your clothes- now you know how me and Bro felt when we first fell here!”

There are several people gathered around, many of them wearing the white animal masks characteristic of the Phantoms. Some of them reach for weapons at the group's sudden appearance but they all relax when they recognize who it is.

Alt shrinks back at all the eyes- even if he’s very curious about this place. He pulls his mask over his face and hides his hand in his pocket. “…what is this place? This… must be your other camp right? Near the Wyldwoods?”

"Hello, everyone!" Henrik waves. "We are back!"

Someone shouts in Glasish and rushes forward--a woman with dark skin and darker curly hair. She runs up to Henrik, helping him up, and that causes the other Phantoms to all gather around as well.

The flap of a nearby tent opens from the inside, someone looking out. Not much can be seen of them aside from their blue eyes.

As he sees the others approaching Alt casts a translation spell on himself so he can understand, even if he probably won’t stick around long. Though he holds off on saying hi… he’s pretty self conscious right now- considering he still looks like he was in a massive fight- though it’s healing decently from the cookie’s magic.

Once Alt casts the translation spell, it becomes clear that the other Phantoms are asking how everyone is and what they saw in the new world.

"You have been gone for seven days!" says that dark-skinned woman to Henrik.

"Seven?! It was only three in that world!" Henrik gasps. "I am so sorry Nemet, but I did tell you time would not pass the same there.”

“That is fair." Nemet nods. "Anyway--Vsevna is out on his ship, we should let him know you came back.”

“We should!" Henrik nods excitedly. "I brought things back! He would love to see them!"

How has everything been here? Jameson asks.

A redheaded woman responds--Alt vaguely recognizes her from the very first trip to this world. "It has been uneventful. Mostly busy sending messages to the other camps. Marvin's cat disappeared--but it looks like you found him."

Marvin grins. "Clever boy found his own way across worlds! I wish he could speak to tell us about it."

Alt chuckles at hearing about Draco, “He’s a pretty special cat-“

Then, The figure in the open tent leans out. "Um..." He's... looking at Alt. And though his face looks familiar, the eyes are different--no longer green. Now blue. "You are... Alt, right?"

Alt blinks at the figure in the tent. And for a second, he panics, glitching back with wide eyes. Then- he registers the stranger’s blue eyes- not green. Not that horrid, horrid green. “U-Uh yeah-“ He lowers his mask, to properly address the figure. “that’s me.”

"Y-yes, I thought so." The figure smiles gently. "Do you remember me? I'm Jack. You... talked to me once."

Jack isn't wearing the golden circlet that designates him the King. He isn't wearing the fine green clothes that the spirit dressed him in. His clothes are dull-colored, with the most interesting piece being the brown poncho-like garment.

Alt looks at the figure with a bit of confusion. Then his eyes widen- and he breaks into a big smile. “Jack! Y-Yes of course I remember you!”

"I, um... You probably have to return to your own world soon. I just wanted to say thank you again. You wanted to help me so much, and that meant a lot." Jack says.

Alt flushes a bit then fidgets with his mask and looks away, “I-It was nothing… I’m just… glad you’re- you again. That spirit didn’t deserve to be king…” He finally looks back and gives him a gentle smile. “I hope- things get easier for you from now on.”

"It's... it's required some... adjustment," Jack says slowly. "But it's a lot fucking better than what it was before.”

Alt chuckles, “Anything is probably better than being stuck in your own… body-“ he shudders.

“Jack!" Chase separates himself from the rest of the Phantoms and rushes over to him. "Has everything been okay? Are you alright?"

Jack laughs. "I'm fine, Chase. I stayed in the tent most of the time while you were gone, honestly."

Alt glitches back as Chase rushes over. He smiles then shakes himself off. “alright all- I should probably head back…”

Jackie separates himself from the rest of the Phantoms and comes over to join Alt, Chase and Jack. The other three soon follow.

Alt turns to the others and grins sheepishly. “it’s been… it was fun until… you know- but it was… a great time.”

"It was amazing!" Jackie says excitedly. "I hope we'll be able to visit again sometime!"

Or that you can visit us, now that it's safe here, whichever you would like, Jameson says.

"We'll see you!" Chase says.

Jack frowns. "You all are talking very strangely now..."

The guys laugh. "I guess you absorb some of the language while being there," Jackie says.

"The same is true for any language," Henrik says.

Alt laughs and nods to Jack, “Yeah sorry- infected them with our modernism~” He grins.

"Get some rest once you get home, yes?" Henrik says.

"Yeah, using the traveler burns a lot of energy, doesn't it?" Marvin adds.

Alt snorts to Henrik and Marvin, “Yeah it’s a big energy drain but don’t worry. Everyone will bully me back into bed.” He laughs.

"Again, it was a great time," Marvin adds, beaming. "We'll see you again, I'm sure."

Alt looks at the others and does a two finger salute, “Next time! We’ll come here! I have a lot to make up for from last time! So make it nice for us, yeah?”

"We'll take care of it!" Jackie says cheerfully. "We're already making plans!”

“There's still some things to do, but it'll be easy compared to defeating that spirit," Marvin says.

I think our future is looking bright, Jameson says.

"Goodbye, Alt!" Chase waves.

"Take care of yourself!" Henrik adds.

Alt gives a cheeky grin and waves before powering up the TRVLR again and clicking jump- falling back towards his own world.

"Well..." Jackie looks around. "It feels so strange to be back here now." He takes a deep breath. "Even the air feels different.”

“Everyone is asking us a thousand questions, we need to arrange some sort of meeting where we can tell everyone who's interested what happened," Chase says.

“Not... everything, though," Marvin adds.

"We will keep some things to ourselves," Henrik agrees. "For now... I need to get out to the Wake to say hello to Vsevna. I promised him I would see him soon once I was back."

We should probably change clothes, first, Jameson says, looking down at himself.

"I don't know, I think Vsevna might think Henrik looks quite handsome," Jackie says, grinning.

Henrik blushes a bit. "Oh, shut up.”

“We should take good care of these things," Marvin says, messing with his shawl. "Even though we can travel to another world, there's no promise that we will find the same things."

Jameson nods, squeezing his plushie tight.

Jack looks back and forth between them all, a bit befuddled but still glad to have them back. "So... you all should probably rest. Sounds like a lot happened.”

“Oh, so much," Chase says. "We'll tell you about it later. For now... let's go around camp again. I missed this place."

The group smiles at each other, and then break off from each other. It felt like so long since they'd seen home.

Though Alt and Bro's world was a wonder, there was comfort in being back to the familiar.

Soon, they would have to return to business. Stabilizing a kingdom isn't easy, after all.

Bro reaches over to grab one and hurriedly eats it. He blinks in surprise as sudden white light glows over his side and chest wounds. The purple on them fades away and Bro feels some of his strength come back. “…w-woah! I think these have purification in them too!!” He snatches another one and hands it to Alt, “Quick, Alt! This should help!”

Marvin reaches over and quickly grabs one of the macarons. He throws the whole thing in his mouth, and the white light glows, crossing his sword injury and the cuts from the tiger's claws. Henrik and Jameson also take some for their wounds from Glitches' claws, and Jackie takes one for the slight injuries he sustained. The cuts on Marvin aren’t healed all the way- but they do start to stop bleeding. The others wounds start to heal over, since they were only minor.

Henrik even gives one to Chase, despite him being uninjured. "Eat, Alt!" he says.

Alt takes the macaron from Bro and chews slowly. He winces a bit at the white glow- but it takes away the corruption on his face and heals the cut on his face and part of the one on his arm. He slumps a bit more against Jameson- healed but still very exhausted.

Bro seems to relax- seeing his friends better. He looks up at the building. “S-Should we try to go inside…? Or maybe we can try to go e-elsewhere…? We should- try to rest…”

"I should have brought some medical supplies," Henrik mutters. "I could bandage you all up.”

“I think... I could take us somewhere else, if we need another doorway," Marvin says slowly.

Don't waste your magic, Marvin, Jameson says, gesturing around Alt.

"Bro, you know this city, do you know if there's a doctor anywhere near here?" Chase asks.

“Near the hotel… by the beach-“ Bro mumbles in thought. “I think the Dooms are a couple blocks down…? Ugh that’s kinda far to walk injured though…”

"How far is a couple blocks? If it's closer rather than farther I can use a doorway without much effort," Marvin says.

"Marvin, please, you are injured and your magic is weaker," Henrik says. "Preserve your strength.”

“Yeah, why are you like this?" Jackie asks.

"Because I care about you guys, 'bitch'!"

Bro bursts into laughter and covers his mouth, “A-a couple blocks is like… a 15-20 minute walk? Being uh… optimistic- we might be slower since… injured.”

“I-I can try t’glitch-“ Alt slurs, “I can try t’help-”

“Alt please, you can hardly stand straight right now-“

Henrik throws his hands in the air. "Why do our best options rely on people who are injured and insist on not resting?!"

Marvin is already making another doorway on the same wall they came from. "Doom Clinic, Doom Clinic," he mutters, concentrating. Another doorway forms, and Marvin blinks tiredly. "Alright, hurry through."

“Marvin! We were just saying-!” Bro shouts then pinches the bridge of his nose. “Okay okay- let’s just go!” He goes to take Alt from Jameson, even as the Glitch protests and hurries in through the door. The others hurry after him, with Henrik grabbing onto Marvin and quickly yanking him through once everyone is on the other side.

ᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅ

The boys arrive in a brightly colored lobby. There’s chairs collected around a small waiting area with chairs donned in red, yellow, green and blue fabric.

"Hm. This place looks nice," Chase comments, looking around.

There’s a man sitting at a desk tucked in the corner. He startles as the others come in then sees who’s here and sighs a bit, clutching at his chest. “Oh your boys’ magic is very hard to get used to…” the man looks up and then stands up quickly with a gasp. “Oh dear! You all are hurt!”

“Hi Dr. Iplier,” Bro waves sheepishly. “W-We just need some help patching up, please?”

Dr. Iplier nods and gets around the desk, “Alright- let’s get you all to a room…” Then he looks at the others and tilts his head. “…am I going crazy… or do all your friends look… different?”

"Hello there!" Henrik waves. "We look different because we are not the friends you are used to. You are family with Oli, yes? I can see the resemblance.”

“Uh- Adopted father yeah,” Dr. Iplier smiles even though he looks very confused.

“We can explain everything once we're in that room," Jackie says quickly. "We don't want to bleed out on your floor."

“Right right of course- follow me.” Dr. Iplier opens up the door to the back and starts to lead them towards a room. “So… what was it this time?”

“Magnificent,” Bro sighs heavily.

“Ah… right- that would explain the- claws… well- hopefully we can get you all patched up quickly.”

Dr. Iplier opens up a door and leads the boys into a spacious room with green lines across the top. Several beds line the walls on each side- this must be a room to treat lots of patients in. “Sorry Alt- you know I can’t let Oli treat you… but I’m sure he’ll be by to check in… but I’m gonna get Jayden for you all, okay?”

"Thank you so much, doctor," Henrik says, bowing his head slightly.

Alt makes a tired sound that sounds close to acknowledgement as Bro goes to set him on one of the beds.

“The rest of you get comfortable on one of the beds- they’ll be by in just a second.” Dr. Iplier says as he closes the door and rushes down the hall.

Marvin sits down on the bed. "Ugh.”

“Sorry about that, by the way," Jackie mutters. "I didn't... mean to give you a gash like that. The scabbard flew off. Damn, I should have picked that up."

Marvin didn't say anything in response. He traced a pattern on the bed--god damn it, he's making another doorway, a much smaller one this time.

"Hey!" Chase shouts at Marvin.

Too late, Marvin reaches into the small doorway and pulls Jackie's sheathe out, handing it over to him with a trembling hand.

Jackie takes it, but sighs. "You can't do this to yourself, Marvin. You're too tired."

We want you to take care of yourself, Jameson says.

"...thanks," Marvin whispers.

Bro goes to sit down next to Marvin and lightly puts a hand on his shoulder. “…I know what you’re doing… you feel like you gotta make up for the fact that Mag got you. But you don’t need to, Marvin… none of us are expecting you to make anything up. Mag made a victim out of you and Alt- and we just want you both to rest and get better… okay?”

Marvin doesn't say anything right away. It's not just that, he finally says, gesturing in handspeak. You're right, but it's also that... I have to know that my magic is alright.

Bro frowns in sympathy.

"Of course your magic is alright," Chase reassures him. "You'll see. Once we get home you'll be good as new.”

“And even if you were not, we wouldn't abandon you or anything," Jackie adds.

Marvin gives everyone a weak smile. I'll try to rest... he says.

Alt weakly speaks up, looking at Marvin. “Y-your magic is fine b-by the way… being in the magic district probably gave you much more to draw from… we could always try to v-visit my mentor if you’re worried… but Mag knew he couldn’t take it from you… you’ll be okay.”

“Yeah dude- and no matter what… we’re here for you.” Bro says. Then he sighs, “…I’m sorry we let Mag get to you… that should have never happened…”

Marvin shakes his head. It's not any of your fault. We didn't expect it to happen. He reached out to me in a dream. We didn't know he was capable of that.

"He what?! Chase repeats.

He also looked like Jack, Marvin adds. So I thought it WAS Jack and he was an enchanter here, too.

I think this has taught us to never trust dreams, Jameson says.

"Clearly, my draislings were a fluke," Chase mutters.

Alt and Bro look equally shocked. Then, Bro bristles in anger, “That fucker…! Using Jack’s image to trick you-!”

Alt curls up and holds his knees to his chest, “… his dreams can influence you in the waking world too. He can plant commands without you even knowing… because you just wake up and forget. Like any other dream…”

“…is that why Marvin was missing this morning? Cuz Mag gave Marv the idea to come to him- like in fucking inception?!” Bro says.

Alt snorts, “not exactly but… close I think. Inception has a lot of layers- Mag has… mind control fuckery.”

"And none of us were prepared for that," Henrik says. "So it is not your fault, Marvin."

Marvin nods. I know, I know. I just... I'm sorry.

"Hey, I'm the one who hit you with the sharp part of a sword," Jackie says. "If anyone should be sorry, it's me."

You were just defending yourself.

"And you were mind controlled."

Alright, alright, everyone is sorry and it's all Magnificent's fault, Jameson says. Can we agree on that?

Jackie and Marvin both laugh a little.

"Yeah," Marvin whispers. "I guess."

Bro and Alt laugh too, though Alt’s is kinda flat and quiet.

“I think that’s fair. Let’s not sit around feeling sorry for ourselves alright?” Bro says, then notices Alt looking away and curling up more, gripping at his sleeves. “Even you, Alt.” He says, nudging Alt slightly.

Alt glitches a bit in surprise then huffs, curling up more. “…mhm…”

"Alt, if Marvin can't blame himself, you can't blame yourself, either," Jackie says firmly. "Nobody was prepared for this. And we're not going to constantly stay on guard all the time. That's not good for your mind.”

“And none of us blame you, either," Henrik says softly. "Magnificent is a bastard who is way too obsessed with you and other Marvins. If only he had an actual life to live, this wouldn't happen."

Bro snorts at Henrik’s comment, “He really does have no life. It’s kinda sad.”

Alt is quiet and grips harder onto his arms. “…I’m not blaming myself … I-I’m just… s-sick of this happening… I-I shouldn’t be… f-falling for this so easily..! M-Maybe if I hadn’t… this wouldn’t have happened to Marvin…” He rests his head on his knees, sighing heavily, “I know this doesn’t help t-thinking like this I’m just… tired…”

Jameson's expression softens. I understand, Alt, he says. It's frustrating, to have it happen over and over again. You always think you should know better by then, and yet, it always seems to happen. He sits down next to Alt on the bed. Alt glances at Jameson with exhausted eyes to listen. It's okay to be tired. It's okay to be frustrated. But it's just not possible to be on the guard all the time. We'd break down if we lived in that state of mind.

Alt slowly nods, even if he doesn’t stop hugging his knees.

Then, there’s a knock on the door before a man in green scrubs hurries in, looking a bit disheveled. He looks like an older Oliver, with a beard and shorter hair. “S-Sorry for the wait! Had a minor emergency-!” The man blinks in surprise, “oh- Alt and Chase! Hello again- and-“ He points at the others in confusion. “…look-a-likes….? Um- what’s the damage here? Who do I need to look at…?”

"Ah, hello, doctor!" Henrik says, a bit forcefully cheerful. "As you can see, our friend Alt is hurt, and so is this friend of ours, Marvin. I believe there are some other minor injuries but those should be mostly healed by magic by now."

Chase blinks. "Uh... hi." He raises a hand in greeting. "Who are you? Alt's brother-in-law?"

Jayden chokes slightly and waves a hand. “Ah no no! Alt and Oliver aren’t even engaged…! I’m just- O-Oliver’s older brother!” He puts a hand on his chest, “I-I’m Jayden Doom- I’m a nurse practitioner here…”

"Oh. Right." Chase's face turns red with embarrassment. "I know they're not married, I just... didn't know what word to use...”

Alt is red in the face as he looks away, “I-I’m okay Jayden- I just have a scratch on my arm from hours ago… C-Chase or uh… Bro is scratched and Marvin has a gash on his side…”

“Oh uh- Chase? Is your healing…?” Jayden asks.

Bro looks down at his scratches and hums, “…I think it’s starting… but uh- I think I lost more blood than I’m used to…”

“Hmm… we can try to get you some juice to help- I’ll check your levels… um- Marvin was it? Can I check that cut on you?” Jayden asks.

“It's um... not exactly a cut..." Jackie says slowly. "Or, maybe it's healed enough to be a cut, but, uh..." He's still holding his sword. There is definitely blood on its blade.

Marvin silently lifts up the edge of his shirt. "Gotta sew up the gash in this," he mutters. "Fix... blood and stuff. Don't want stains."

Henrik chuckles. "It is a good sign that you are worried about stains instead of injuries."

“I-I have some spells I’ve been learning that can fix that Marv…” Alt says quietly.

Marvin looks away, and turns to Alt. "Don't you dare," he says. "Save your 'fucking' magic."

Alt chuckles and shakes his head, “After we rest, dude… I won’t hurt myself, promise.”

"Oh." Marvin blinks. "Well... if you can do it after the rest, then that'll be good."

Jayden looks confused for a second then looks between the wound and the sword. His eyes widen, “wait-…were you cut with a SWORD?!” He rushes down to Marvin’s side and draws in a ragged breath. “Oh this needs stitches-!” He grabs a table full of supplies and wheels it over then pulls over a stool to sit down next to him. “Let me numb this… at least the bleeding seems to have stopped….” He rubs on some cooling gel on Marvin’s skin and it starts to elevate the pain. He then grabs some string and some metal instruments to prepare.

Marvin inhales sharply at the cooling gel. He looks over at the string and instruments and his eyes widen slightly. That looks just as foreboding as surgery does back home. He makes sure to look away.

Jayden goes to hold a hand against Marvin’s side and quickly starts to stitch him up. He seems very skilled at this- quickly closing up the skin and tying up the strings with ease. And the numbing gel makes it so Marvin doesn’t feel a thing.

Marvin sits patiently while Jayden works. He glances down once and is surprised to see that he's almost done. "Oh! Wow, I didn't feel anything. That's what that salve did, isn't it?”

“You have a numbing salve?" Henrik asks, interested. "That must be so helpful!"

Jayden chuckles, “Yes it was a numbing gel. You’re probably already in a lot of pain so I don’t want to add to that,” Then he looks to Henrik and smiles, “Heh- you don’t hear a lot of people use the word salve a lot these days! I can probably give you a sample if you’d like?”

"Oh yes, that would be amazing!" Henrik says eagerly. "We can take it home!"

Chase laughs. "Only you would be so enthusiastic about this.”

“You ask any other doctor in our world and they will tell you that everything would be so much easier--AND better morally--if the patients could not feel the pain."

Jayden blinks then smiles as he finishes up Marvin’s stitches and goes to throw away his dirty gloves, rolling across the floor on his chair and grabbing new ones. “Oh? You’re a doctor too? Ha! That would explain the fascination. I’m sure Google will be more than happy to give you an even bigger supply then. We like to help smaller clinics around. Are you local?” He asks as he starts to grab gauze and starts to tape it over Marvin’s wound. Then he blinks and laughs, “Wait no uh- I think Oli told us about this… you all are from… some other world right?” He shakes his head, “A bit over my head but- that would explain why you look like their friends.”

"Oh good! We don't have to come up with an explanation!" Jackie says. "Yes, we're from another world. I think Bro and Alt and the others have said that it's... fantasy, compared to here? Or... middle veil?”

“Med-ee-vil," Chase corrects. "Right, that.”

Jayden pauses in his work to look back at them with wide eyes, “Medieval?! …t-that would explain why you don’t know about this stuff…” He makes a thinking face, “…I don’t think there would be harm giving you some supplies though… anything to help.”

"Thank you so much." Henrik smiles. "Maybe we will be able to figure something out if we examine them.”

“Hey maybe!” Jayden smiles warmly.

“You have so many gloves," Henrik says, looking at the box of blue gloves. "That must be helpful, to not have to clean them." He watches Jayden work with the gauze as well. "And that sticks to the skin? Marvin, how does it feel?"

Marvin shrugs. "Alright... I guess. Sticky things aren't my... thing."

Jayden looks over to Marvin and looks apologetic, “Oh is it uncomfortable? I could get you some cloth bandages instead. I'd just have to wrap it around you instead. This is just… usually easier.”

“No, it's not too bad," Marvin says. "It's alright. But, um... can we get some cloth ones too? As a... second option for just in case?"

Jayden nods to Marvin. “yeah of course- I’ll include some in your checkout supplies. Oh uh who else needed treatment?” He asks the others.

"We did have some magic healing, but maybe you can look at these two, anyway," Chase says, gesturing at Jameson, Henrik, and Jackie. "They all got attacked by a big cat."

I'm sure that magic closed up the claw wounds, Jameson says.

Jayden blinks comically at them, “..a big cat?! Uh- well… if you all feel uh… woozy or any pain… I can help with that?”

"I think we're fine." Henrik pats his arms down. There's a bit of a bloodstain on his coat, but he doesn't feel any pain from the injury.

Thank you! Jameson says cheerfully.

Jayden sighs in relief and nods, “oh good… you’re all better off then I thought then. Uh-Chase? Do you need bandages or anything?”

Chase starts to respond to Jayden's question before he realizes that he's talking to the other Chase and shuts his mouth, embarrassed.

Bro blinks at Jayden then pats himself down. Now that the black magic is gone he’s starting to heal at his normal rate. He gives Jayden a thumbs up. “All good bro!”

Jayden laughs then gets up, “alright lemme get those bandages for Marvin then. And the rest of your checkout supplies approved.” He waves then heads back out the door into the hallway.

“Jayden is taking this so much better than Rhett did,” Bro mumbles to Alt.

Alt giggles, “Yeah- and that was just from meeting Anti. “

Jackie glances at Bro and Alt. "Oh, you guys brought another Anti here?"

Alt and Bro blink. “Oh well- there’s been a couple here,” Alt laughs. “Besides me- but the one we’re talking about is… well- like if I glitched constantly… and didn’t have a physical body.”

"Oh? So... like a glitch... spirit?" Jackie asks. "I guess it makes sense that there are lots of you, from lots of different worlds." He laughs. "I guess I just thought we were special, being the first to come to your world instead of the other way around."

“Huh- guess that’s a good way to describe him,” Alt laughs.

Bro chuckles, “You’re definitely the first to stay this long- and actually have a good time here. The last couple times have been… rough. This has actually been the most fun we’ve had with our other selves here! …well before all this of course…”

Alt’s smile fades and he nods, digging fingers into his sleeves, “…hopefully the circle will keep Mag away… but I… I-I dunno how safe it’ll be now… b-but there was so much more you all wanted to do…!” He blinks a bit of frustrated tears out of his eyes. “…fuck Mag… he ruins everything…”

Jackie sighs. "Well... we were planning to leave this evening, anyway. If you guys are okay with taking us back with the TRVLR."

Marvin looks over at Alt. "We'll be fine," he says quietly. "They'll take care of that bastard. Delay him, at least.”

“And if you ever want to visit us, you can stop by!" Chase says cheerfully. "You can come, uh, pick us up and take us here, too!"

Alt looks back at the others and tries to smile, “Yeah… now that the TRVLR is fixed and things are okay in your world- we can visit way more often.” He grins, “Which is good- I wanna learn so much more about how the magic works there! You gotta teach me how to make potions, Hen.”

"I would love to teach you!" Henrik says to Alt. "We could find a proper apothecary to do it in! With many ingredients and a big cauldron!”

Alt’s eyes sparkle slightly as he nods, “Yes! That sounds amazing!”

“And if you all wanna visit here… I’m sure we could find some way to communicate…” Bro says.

“I'm sure there's something," Marvin mutters. "We'll have to do some research. It will probably take a lot of magic, though..."

Bro nods and lightly taps Marvin’s shoulder, “We’ll do our own research too. It’d be nice to find a good way to keep in contact with you guys. Like… inter dimensional pen pals!”

“…hm- I wonder if it would take a lot of magic to just… send a letter-“ Alt muses.

"I guess we can find out," Marvin says, shrugging. "In the case of magic doorways, it takes more power the farther you go. It makes sense that crossing worlds would take a lot, even for something small.”

“Why don't you ask Draco?" Jackie asks. "Wasn't he able to teleport you a couple times?”

“He was... but he still can't speak Glasish--or any other language. So that's going to be difficult."

“Hm- that makes sense-“ Alt hums.

There’s suddenly an upbeat song ringing through the room and the fantasy guys can recognize it’s a song from spiderverse. Bro blinks then pulls out his phone. “Oh hey! It’s Jackie!” He grins. Then his smile slowly fades- “oh shit it’s Jackie-!” He suddenly looks very nervous.

"Ah--right." Jackie winces. "He'd probably be worried if we tell him.”

“So what? Don't tell him?" Henrik asks. "This seems like a pretty big thing to hide! Not to mention difficult to do, since some of us have bloodstains on our clothes.”

“If you give me a moment to get my power back, I can get rid of the bloodstains," Marvin says.

Tell him what's happened, it's not fair to keep this from him! Jameson says.

Bro looks between everyone in confusion before finally holding out his phone and pressing speaker. “…heyyyy Jackie?” He says, obviously nervous.

“Bro where the hell are you all?? We haven’t heard from any of you all day!” Jackie stays sternly on the other line, “I mean- Jay isn’t off work just yet but he will be soon!”

“Yeah uh… a-about that…” Bro laughs nervously, “we’re uh… kindaatthedoomsrightnow?”

“…you’re AT THE DOOM CLINIC?!”

The fantasy guys could hear that shout from here, instinctively leaning back from the sound of dadly panic and anger.

Chase is the first to overcome this, inching closer. "We didn't want to be here!" he says. "But, uh--stuff happened!”

“We're fine now!" Jackie hurriedly adds. "But it was--uh, it was--”

“Oh just say it," Marvin says. "Magnificent. H-he... got to us. For a bit.”

“Magnificent?!” Jackieboy repeats in fear.

There’s the sound of a muffled shout behind them and then rustling as it seems someone took the phone from Jackieboy- or at least away from his face. “You were hurt by Magnificent?!” Henny’s voice says, “Oh are you all okay?!”

“We're fine now!" Jackie repeats.

“Oh uh- hi Hen??” Bro replies with surprise.

“Hen back up you can’t hear them that well!” Jackieboy’s voice says, a bit more muffled. “I’ll keep you updated just-“ more wrestling- then “uh sorry- Hen came over when he hadn’t heard anything either.”

“Sorry…” Bro says quietly.

“It’s okay, dude- it sounds like you guys couldn’t help it… so everyone is fine?”

“For the most part… we’re all a bit you know- exhausted from it and… I dunno how much longer the guys should stay if Mag is on their scent.”

“Yeah…” Jackieboy sighs. “Can we… maybe meet up for… I dunno- a meal or something? A movie? This just- is so sudden… we can’t let their trip end on such a bad note.”

"Yeah, we're not going to let him ruin this!" Jackie says fiercely. "We can—can find something else to do!”

“One last meal and movie sounds great," Henrik says.

"We were planning on going soon anyway," Chase sighs.

"I don't want to leave JJ out of this this time," Marvin says.

"Maybe we could, um... 'hang out' until he gets off work? Then do something? If that's possible?"

“That’s a good idea,” Jackieboy says, “We could just- hang at my place again. Try to find a good place for lunch…”

“If our apartment wasn’t so small I’d suggest taking them there,” Bro laughs.

"Anything would be great, don't worry too much," Chase reassures Bro and Jackieboy.

Alt has been quiet during all of this, looking around the room. Then, his eyes trail over to the upper corner of the wall. Where… a camera is sitting. A camera with a very familiar green light.

Alt? Jameson asks. Is everything okay?

Alt suddenly uncurls with a glitch and a gasp, “w-wait no…! That’s-!”

Then, a large crash is heard from outside their room followed by a chorus of screams.

Bro jumps in surprise and looks back, “W-What the hell?!”

Alt yells and tries to glitch towards the door but ends up falling onto the floor halfway through.

Bro drops his phone and hurries to pick up Alt, “Alt what are you doing?!”

“Oli-! Oliver is out there!” Alt cries in distress, trying to push out of Bro’s grip.

Jackie immediately lifts up his sword and runs towards the door. "Don't worry, Alt, I'll check on him!" he shouts.

“No, Jackie don’t-!” Bro shouts, “You shouldn’t go out there alone!”

Henrik reaches down and picks up Bro's phone. "Ah--to let you know, Jakcieboy and Henny, w-we just heard a loud noise and screaming outside the room. It seems things are not over yet.”

“What?! What’s happening out there??” Jackieboy asks quickly.

“We're getting out of here!" Marvin shouts, loud enough for the phone to pick him up. He grabs onto his focus and draws forth magic--but hesitates. Should he use so much so quickly? What if he can't regain that power in this world?

“I-It’s SCLERA!” Alt sobs in fear, “There’s a WITNES camera! T-They must have…!”

Bro looks pale as he tries to pull Alt back more, “no- no they can’t- they can’t be here!”

Jackie can now see through the door- there’s people running and… clouds of colorful smoke rolling down the hall. Sinister laughter echoes off the walls.

Jackie quickly closes the door again. He whirls back to the others. "Sclera? Witness? Wh-what are you talking about? M-more enemies?"

Marvin's eyes widen slightly. Could it be that... Magnificent wasn't lying? Or at least, not lying about there being other groups coming after them? "What did you see, Jackie?”

“Colorful smoke. A-and laughing. Evil laughing."

Jameson's eyes dart around. He rushes for the window in the room and tries to open it up.

Chase goes to help Alt and Bro. "What do we do?" he asks them in a hushed voice.

Bro’s stomach drops and he gets even more pale. This might be one of the first times the others have seen the hero look so scared. “W-We need to leave- we need to get out of here right now!”

Alt sobs and tries to butt out of Bro’s arms, “No! Oliver!”

“Anti!” Bro snaps at Alt, “If there’s a camera in here- t-they’re not gonna go after the Dooms- they’re here for-!”

Alt is clearly past thinking rationally, panicking out of his mind as he tries to struggle, “No no!! They can’t take my friends again!! They can’t!!”

“Alt, please! Calm down!” Chase says, putting a hand on his shoulder that tightens into a grip as Alt continues to struggle. “We can leave the room and circle back around or something! Charging right into the strange smoke isn’t going to help anyone!”

"A-Alt says that it's something called 'sclera,'" Henrik says to Jackieboy on the phone.

“SCLERA??” Jackieboy’s voice is panicked, “You all need to get out of there! S-See if Alt can glitch you through my phone or something!!”

“Through the phone?” Henrik repeats. “O-okay. Alt!” He spins around and sees Alt freaking out and panicking. Marvin is slowly approaching him with a handful of magic. “Marvin! No! What are you doing?!”

Marvin looks back in surprise. “I-I was thinking I could… help him rest?”

“No! Not now, he needs to glitch us out!” Henrik rushes over.

Jameson gives up on trying to open the window—clearly it’s not designed to. What do you mean?

“Something about going through the phone? Alt, please, I know it is scary but you have to slow down. We cannot panic now!”

Alt is breathing heavily, trying to listen but he starts to shake his head, “I-I-I- I haven’t taken t-that many people with me that way!! And I-I’m too drained to glitch that far!”

The laughter is getting louder, smoke pressing up and slithering under the door. “Oh where are those new subjects of mine~?” A female voice sings, “I’m just dying to get started!”

“Guys?! Guys-!” Jackieboy tries to shout before the call is suddenly cut off and Alt yells out in pain and doubles over, clutching at his stomach.

“No no fuck!” Bro whimpers in fear. He hurries to the window Jameson tried to open and tries to punch it open. “Quick we gotta try to get through here-!”

Jackie hurries over and helps as well, slamming the pommel of the sword against the glass.

Henrik scowls as the call drops—he doesn’t have time to try and figure out how to get Jackieboy back on the other end! Instead he grabs Alt, shoving the phone into his hand, and drags him over to the windows. Jameson hurries over to help.

“Everyone out!” Jackie commands. “Injured ones first! Bro, make sure there’s nobody outside to ambush us!”

“Wh-who is that?” Chase stammers. That voice—what do they mean ‘subjects?’

“T-that’s Overdose-!” Bro whispers.

"Over...dose?" Chase repeats. The word isn't familiar to him, but the translation spell is covering it directly, so it's not an English word, just one he doesn't know.

Bro doesn’t explain, he just rushes to help Jackie. Combined together they manage to smash through the glass. He nods to the others and grabs Alt in his arms and hops out of the window. Luckily it’s only a short fall since the clinic is only one story.

Bro quickly looks around and shouts, “I-It looks good out here! Hurry!”

But then- the door to their room bursts open and colorful smoke flies in. A woman with tan skin and curly purple hair grins at them with madness in her eyes. “Ah ha~! There’s the new guys! Sorry loves- but I’m afraid you’re not going anywhere~!” She quickly blows smoke from a small device she has and sickly sweet smoke starts to fill of their senses, dragging them down, making them feel heavy.

It happens so fast-

Henrik and Chase, nearest to the door, don't even stand a chance. They barely have time to start running away before Chase collapses, grabbing onto Henrik and pulling him down too.

"D-don't breathe--!" Henrik wheezes out.

Jackie's eyes widen. "No!" He grabs the nearest person, who turns out to be Marvin, and tries to push him towards the window. But the smoke is affecting both of them quickly.

Jameson's eyes widen and he tries to cover his mouth and run as well, but doesn't make it much farther.

Jackie keeps trying to reach the window. If he could just get one of them out of here...! But... his body feels so heavy...

The woman walks casually into the room, still blowing more of the smoke as she watches all of them start to drop. She laughs cruelly, clearly enjoying this. She strides past the boys struggling to get to the window and blows more smoke at them. “Don’t worry all, you’re just gonna take a nice nap for me~!”

She then leans over the window and grins down at Bro and Alt. “Well hello again you two!”

“Overdose!” Bro spits, “Leave our friends alone! Why are you doing this?!”

“Hm- why indeed?” She grins, “but today’s your lucky day! We don’t need the two of you- especially not in that state.”

“W-What?” Bro breathes.

Alt yells and tries to struggle more against Bro, but he’s still so weak. “Y-you fucking bitch! Get away from them!”

Overdose grips at something in her pocket and her eyes light up slightly. “Hero? Go home. And make sure your brother stays out of our way.”

Bro suddenly stiffens, a ring of purple overtaking the edges of his irises as the emotion is wiped off his face. “Yes, Dr. Sun.” He says dully and swiftly turns around and starts to walk away.

“What?! Chase!! No!!” Alt screams, kicking and trying to get out or glitch- something! But Bro is holding onto him too tightly and he doesn’t have enough magic. “NO!!”

Overdose giggles and turns to watch the others fall under the smoke’s influence, casually taking puffs of her vape. “Oh… I so do love dramatics~”

Then… all their visions fade to black.

ᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅ

When they next wake up- the heaviness lingers but slowly starts to clear. They're in someplace a bit similar to where they just were- just devoid of color. It’s a large white rectangular room with beds pushed up against the back 3 walls and monitors filling in the empty space on the left and right walls. There’s a big window on the farthest wall, looking out into what looks like a lab space. But it’s like nothing the fantasy boys have ever seen before. People in white coats are milling by, some levitating things with purple magic- others holding clipboards and notebooks, plotting down observations. Luckily- all the boys have woken up together… but they’re all separated across the room on the different beds. And if they try to leave or walk too far- they find themselves tethered to the wall by a strange off white cuff on their legs.

Henrik is the first to wake up. He groans, sitting up straight, and looks around. This place is so white that it almost hurts his eyes. He takes stock of things, noting the layout of the room, the glass wall into the lab, the others sleeping--and the cuff around his ankle. "Wes?!" He gasps. Then he looks around at the others. "Gasha dyoenh! Dhúsigh!"

The others wake up one at a time, also taking note of everything. The direness of the situation quickly sinks in.

"Ni!" Jackie shouts. He gets to his feet and gets as far as the cuff will let him. It doesn't look that strong! Maybe he can grab the rope and pull? But no, it's clear he can't do anything.

"Aan bhfuil ghash dyoenh keart o leore?" Chase asks, looking around at everyone.

Jameson gestures in handspeak, confirming that everyone is okay. He then points out the glass window and asks something.

Chase shakes his head. "Níl a fheyos agam. Brea níonns iad draíochta. Maerfin?"

Marvin looks at the poeple in the lab space. "Tá. Kinnta draíochta." His hand instinctively reaches up to his neck... but finds nothing there. His eyes go wide and he looks down in panic. "Mu--mu draíseola! Tase imithi!”

“Thógh siadyo draíseola?!" Jackie gasps. He turns to look at the people through the glass window. "Bairdeí!"

“Hmmm computer? Can you run a translation spell through cell 146?” A male voice suddenly says.

Starting Translation spell A computerized voice echoes in their cell- and then the seams that connect the walls, ceilings and floors glow with an off white blue power.

A man walks up to their window, smiling. He has wild tossed black hair with some white strands messily pulled into a braid. His eyes are hidden behind thick green glasses. “Good morning, gentlemen. Did you all have a nice nap?”

"Who the 'fuck' are you?!" Jackie demands. "What do you want?!”

“Jackie, Jackie, I don't think it's a good idea to shout at the guy who can make the room glow," Chase says.

Jackie growls. He stays where he is but says nothing more, just folding his arms and glaring.

"He's not actually interested in how we slept, is he?" Marvin asks.

Clearly not, Jameson says.

"I thought so. Just wanted to be sure." Marvin's hand is pressed against the spot where his focus would usually hang.

"Y-you are... sclera?" Henrik asks. "Or... part of sclera?"

“Ah good it is working! I was worried it wouldn’t considering… your signatures seem to originate from somewhere we have never seen before… somewhere called.. Talaw?” He chuckles. “I’m so very interested to learn more.”

Marvin tenses. "How do you know what we call our world?"

Chase inhales sharply. "Alt said something about a witness--th-they were watching!"

Marvin has a similar reaction. Of course they were watching, of course they were. Even Magnificent knew they would be.

“Oh yes, you know one of our other subjects!” The man grins, “Or as we know him here: VARIBL 11220.”

"You're... calling Alt by a number?" Chase whispers, horrified.

Jameson shivers. The King's spirit was cruel, but at least he never did something like that.

”And based on these readings… I can see you also had a run-in with VARIBL 1317~!” The man laughs then shakes his head. “Oh but I’m getting ahead of myself. To answer questions: yes, I’m one of the head doctors at this branch of SCLERA. I’m Dr. Israh Cornelius, and I will be handling your observation today~”

"Sclera is a group of doctors?" Henrik says, doubt clear in his voice.

Dr. Cornelius looks to Henrik and smirks, “Not doctors in the way you must be thinking. We are arcane scientists, studying the workings of magic and merging it with logic and reasonings. Not the way the primitive and archaic Circle polices magic… we aim to make magic understandable and accessible to all! And what a thing to study now… beings from a parallel world just brimming with magic~!” He grins, looking a bit unhinged.

Marvin scoots backwards at Cornelius's mad smile. Jameson shivers once more.

"...scholars," Henrik mutters. "You are magical scholars. But that feels a bit too generous for a group who would put people to sleep and then kidnap them.”

Dr. Cornelius chuckles and moves on like he didn’t hear Henrik at all, “Well! You all are very clever- or at least have good memory retention after the knock out smoke from Dr. Sun.” He writes something down on his clipboard. ”But yes, we’ve been observing you since you all first arrived here.” He raps the glass near the corner, indicating the others to look up in the corner of the room. There’s some boxy machine that’s whirling and watching their movement, a glowing green light on its side. “Half the city is buying into our WITNES cameras~! So they’ve been very helpful in keeping an eye on you… though- we didn’t see much to take note of- until your encounter with 1317 this morning.”

"R-right... a camera," Marvin says slowly. "They... preserve images. And some of them... can preserve moving images.”

“Witness cameras..." Jackie repeats, glaring at it. He makes a promise to himself to try and attack that later. “What do you want?" Jackie demands.

Dr. Cornelius laughs a bit madly, “I thought I made myself quite clear! I want to observe you- get to know you… the world you hail from and how the magic works!” He looks down at his clipboard and whistles, “We’re already getting such interesting readings from the sword and necklace we obtained from you all…! Was the necklace really made from dragon bone? And the sword… never before have I seen such interesting properties on an enchanted weapon…!”

The rest of the guys all inch backwards as well. Except for Jackie, who looks pissed. "What are you doing to my sword?! That's special, you know! There's only two! If you somehow ruin it, I can't get another!”

“Oh, but it's not the same for my focus, is it?" Marvin mutters.

"You know you can make another! We just need to find the skeleton again, I don't think we'll survive another trip into the Wyldwood!”

“Do you know how difficult it was to get the bone into a perfect circle?”

“Do you remember everything that happened in there?”

“Is this really the time to argue, you two?!" Henrik snaps, and Jackie and Marvin go silent.

“No please by all means, go on!” Cornelius laughs, “this is already very enlightening… so the necklace was made out of magic material but needs to be a perfect shape… a circle-“ He’s writing this down and talking at the same time. “And the sword is a set… obtained from a dangerous place called the ‘Wildwoods’.”

Marvin and Jackie both look immediately regretful at their outbursts.

Dr. Cornelius then looks back up and adjusts his glasses, “No need to worry, sir. Our methods will not harm your sword or your uh- focus was it?” He smiles, “Though- heh. I’m not quite sure when you’ll get the opportunity to use them again… hm- maybe for a future test…”

"W-wait, no, I--I need that!" Marvin gets up and rushes towards the glass wall, wincing as the movement makes his wound spike in pain. "I--I can't cast anything without it!”

“Marvin? I think that is the point of it," Henrik mutters.

Marvin knows that, but he doesn't look any less saddened or desperate.

Dr. Cornelius lets out a sinister laugh. “Is that so? Well- even more of a reason to keep it away then. Usually our tethers are enough to keep magic at bay but… hm… these might not be very interesting tests if you’re not magic without it. How does that work?” He muses.

Marvin looks down at the tether. So... this can muffle magic?

Jameson also looks at it, curious. Will it block his visions? What... test? He asks, eyes narrowed. What could you possibly have to test?

The doctor smiles at Jameson and tilts his head, “Oh I think there’s several tests we can do! It all depends… so many possibilities~”He sighs wistfully for a second, “But for now- why don’t we start with the basics? It would be so nice to know everyone’s names so I can address you properly!”

The guys all glance at each other, then look at Cornelius warily.

Jackie makes a gesture, and everyone gathers up as close as they can manage with the tethers.

"Are we telling him?" Jackie asks as quietly as possible.

He could make things very bad for us if we don't do as he says, Jameson points out.

"We have to be careful, but... well, what can they do with that knowledge?" Marvin points out. "Everyone we know is back home.”

“You know they can probably hear us." Henrik glances at the camera.

"They probably find this very interesting," Marvin says drily.

"I'll do it," Chase says. He walks a bit closer to the glass wall. "I am called Chase, son of Brody. As for the rest of us, you can call us Jackie, son of Fiona, Henrik von Schneeplestein, Marvin Tinechroi, and Jameson Jairsolas."

Dr. Cornelius looks very intrigued as he hears their names, “oh… only some direct parallels to here. Interesting interesting…” He looks out at the others, “Based on your looks I can tell who is who at least… hmm… and Marvin is definitely a magician of some sort… even if his core doesn’t show any magic that we can find. So… what if the rest of you? There’s traces of magic on you all but… that’s as much as I can glean.“

Marvin again instinctively reaches for where his focus usually hangs.

"Magic on all of us?" Jackie can't help but say, surprised. He pats himself down, as if expecting to have physically changed while he was asleep.

"I'm the least magical person I know," Chase mutters.

"Chase, you are the one who got the dreams from the--" Henrik glances at Cornelius and shuts up.

"That wasn't because of me, though!" Chase protests. "That was because of them! And why do you have magic?"

Henrik looks down at himself like how Jackie did. "...ahhhh..."

Maybe it's just because we live somewhere with more magic, Jameson says. Maybe it's soaked into us.

“Oh I see… Talaw must be a more magical place then our world and it’s just tinged you all.” Dr. Cornelius writes this down, “Interesting- though our readings are detecting a bit more magic built up in Mr. Jairsolas… what is your story, Jameson?” He smiles at him.

All the color immediately drains from Jameson's face. They could sense that?! Why did he think they couldn't sense that?! Even back home there were wizards who could sense other magic-wielders!

The four other guy all stiffen. Marvin and Chase shift position to stand in front of Jameson, blocking him from view.

"Nothing," Chase lies. "You must be making a mistake."

Dr. Cornelius lifts his chin, his expression dropping to something more serious. “Is that so?” He then laughs humorlessly and shakes his head. “I’d choose your words carefully, gentlemen. We can find out the easy way… or the hard way.”

Chase and Jameson look nervous at the threat, but the other three hold firm.

"Oh, how scary," Jackie drawls sarcastically.

"We've gone through a lot, doctor man, you can't threaten us!" Marvin says.

"Yes, we will not tell you anything about Jamie," Henrik says, folding his arms.

Jameson looks horrified. He shakes his head and pushes Chase and Marvin out of the way. No no no, don't say that! We can just tell him!

"Are you sure, Jameson?" Chase asks quietly. "What if they... like the King..."

I don't want you all to get hurt for my sake, Jameson insists. I couldn't stand that.

Dr. Cornelius watches their conversation with amusement.

The other three glance at each other. Then Henrik sighs. "It is your choice, Jameson."

Jameson nods. He looks at Cornelius, raises his hands to speak... but can't quite manage it for a few seconds and has to take a deep breath to prepare himself. I'm an oracle. I get visions of the future. Not all of them come true.

At that reveal, Dr. Cornelius’s eyes widen, his glasses on top of his head. “An oracle?” He breathes in shock. “Those are… a very lost art here. It is so rare to hear of them.” His brown eyes sparkle with fascination. “Were you born with such a power? Or it happened upon later in life? How does it work?!”

Jackie bristles, Henrik glares, and Marvin hisses like a cat in response to Cornelius's curiosity. Something in his tone tells them that he doesn't mean this innocently.

Jameson gives them all a pleading look and they back away from the glass wall, but continue to glare. Chase puts a supportive hand on Jameson's shoulder, and Jameson answers: I was born with it, though it didn't manifest until I was around ten. Every so often, without any input from me, I get a vision that shows the future most likely to happen. But the future can change. Not all of them come true.

“How interesting!!” Dr. Cornelius grins and eagerly writes that down. “Oh there’s so much to uncover there…! Oh I wonder… hmmm-“ He puts his pen to his chin and taps it rapidly. “I must get Dr. Sun’s input right away…! Hm… but I can’t leave you all unoccupied for so long-“ he looks to the others and smirks. “Hm… maybe a black magic reaction test?”

"A what." Jackie backs up, standing in front of the others protectively.

"I--uh--you're a bit late, w-we already had one of those," Marvin says, trying to appear braver than he actually was. "Nothing--nothing unexpected happened, I'm sure our reactions would be--be the same as you expect."

“Hmmm true… you did have that encounter with 1317,” Cornelius sighs heavily. “Though… only one of you really went through that. But… if only Jameson has a magic core… hm.”

"Magical core?" Marvin repeats, interested despite himself.

The others all give him a look, similar to the look you would give a cat who was staring at a cup on the edge of a table for a little too long.

“That might end up damaging you all more than we want…”Cornelius shakes his head. “So much magical energy from you all and so little to show for it! All our usual tests might not do much…”

"Th-that's right! Most of us aren't magic-wielders!" Jackie says. "So we won't be of much use to you, right?”

“Ah--maybe phrase that a different way," Henrik says quickly. "We are not useless enough to get rid of." He says those last three words significantly.

"O-oh, um--" Jackie's eyes widen as he realizes that he didn't know if SCLERA was the sort to let people who were useless to them go free... or kill them.

Based on the look on Cornelius’s face- it might be closer to the latter. He chuckles and shakes his head. “For now… I think it might be best to… get more information from you all about your world and I want every. detail.” He grins sinisterly and then goes up to the side of the window and seems to type something in. Their tethers suddenly all yank them back to their individual beds and a robotic hand keeps them stuck to the wall.

"H-hey!" Jackie shouts, struggling against the hand.

"What is this?!" Henrik yelps in surprise, too stunned to react strongly like Jackie does.

"Damn it!" Chase tries to push forward again, but the metal grip of the hand is too tight, too strong to push against. "What do you mean?! What do you mean?!"

“This takes a bit more power than we like,” Cornelius comments, “But I feel Iike you have so much for us to know that we couldn’t get through a truth serum session.”

Jameson goes pale. He kicks his legs wildly, trying to find any traction or leverage.

"What are you going to do to us?!" Marvin demands. Despite not having his focus, he still mentally runs down his list of spells out of habit.

“We’re just gonna pick your brains a bit, gents!” Dr. Cornelius laughs, “Nothing to be scared about~ it’ll be just like falling asleep. I’m sure you all could use the extra rest!”

Things start to lower from the ceiling- some kind of contraption that flashes like metal… and sort of looks like a high tech circlet.

"What the fuck?!" Chase gasps, looking at the contraption. "What in the world is that?!”

The weird devices get lowered onto their heads as the metal arms hold them still- more of those cuffs locking around their wrists.

“No! Nonononono, get away!" Marvin shouts, trying to dodge the device by moving his head around wildly. The other three don't stay anything, but the same panic is evident in how they struggle.

Their efforts are in vain, though, as one by one the strange circlet things lock onto their heads. They all click nicely into place, right over each of their temples.

The tiles below them start to glow- the ground lighting up with purple light in a grid like pattern.

Initiating Mind Reading Spell Circle. Preparing Recording. That computerized voice says again.

"M-mind reading?!" Henrik gasps.

A circle with runes on their circlets starts to glow with purple light as the same circle starts to bloom on the floor, replacing the glowing tiles. The monitors on the wall start to switch on- one right next to each of the boys.

“Now- I want you all to think about your home. About your past. About how the magic works there. The more that’s on your mind, the easier this all will be~” Dr. Cornelius grins.

"H-home?" Chase stammers.

Then, the spell starts. But it doesn’t go all at once- no it takes them one by one- forcing the others to watch as the spell takes form.

It starts with Chase- his eyes filling with purple light. He shouts in surprise as the spell takes hold, like a vice around his head. It’s- it’s painful in an invasive way. Like a migraine that starts small then swells into full blown pain. Not enough to make him scream- but his body finds that it can’t react. The magic is forcing every thought that comes through their heads out into the open- and starts to display in rapid succession on the monitor behind Chase.

The reaction is instant. The monitor displays a series of images, of locations and people. Three faces pop up repeatedly: a woman with her long black hair pulled back in a braid, and two children: a girl with brown hair, and a boy with darker, curlier hair. There's a village surrounded by trees, the ground constantly sloping, a little cottage with a vegetable garden out front--an image that is quickly overtaken by fire, as this village burns. Then it flashes to images of people throwing fire and water, bending the elements like nothing, and then the images are replaced by images of animals. A deer with golden antlers features prominently, but there are more, as well. A salamander on fire, a small bird with blue feathers that trail lightning, a sheep, a crab, a squirrel, a butterfly and a moth--

"Chase!" Jackie gasps. "Chase, stop thinking!”

“Easy for you to say!" Chase snaps back. "I'm doing my best! I-I'm not thinking of much!”

“Then why are your thoughts showing up?!" Henrik asks.

"I-I don't know!"

Dr. Cornelius chuckles, “It’s a mind reading spell for a reason! Though I am impressed, Chase~ usually the process is a lot for some people. But you can talk and display stuff! That is so nice. Either it means you’re very strong… or these thoughts aren’t buried too deep. Usually we just watch the subjects just- slumpppp over~!” He laughs madly, “And well- for the rest of you- if you try to resist this… then it’ll pull out everything in that brain of yours. We’ve really perfected the art too! It used to leave our subjects either mindless or they couldn’t remember a thing! How lucky for you all, hm?”

"Mindless?!" Chase gasps in horror. An image of helmeted warriors flashes across the monitor.

"You bastards!" Jackie tries to struggle harder.

The spell next draws in Henrik- pulling at his brain and digging in for anything that floats to the surface.

Henrik yelps as he feels it take hold. "No! No no!... No... no..." He tries to think of anything else. It works for a moment, as the images are of mundane things. A place with tall stone buildings decorated with mosaics, a crowded ship full of people, a woman with dark skin wearing a bird mask, a man who lifts a reptilian mask to wink with his one visible eye. But he can't fight this forever. Slowly, he does what Cornelius described: slumps over, going limp as he keeps trying to mumble protests. These everyday images are overtaken by repeated lists of plants, some of them seen in person, some illustrations in books. Cauldrons boil and bubble, materials are ground down into powders, letters are carved and painted onto wood and stone.

"Sch-Schneep!" Marvin gasps.

Jameson can't say anything, since his hands are pinned, but he looks horrified. Jackie keeps trying to struggle.

“Ah there we go!” Dr. Cornelius snickers, “That’s more what I expected. Hmmm how fascinating already!” He starts to take notes again. “Hmmm I might stay for Marvin and Jameson’s to start… but the computer will also record anything I miss-“ he mumbles to himself.

Next the spell takes Jackie, his eyes filling with magic as it invades and tries to scrape out his thoughts for all to see. Jackie gasps, tensing up in surprise. "Y-you sick damn monster!”

“You can fight it, Jackie!" Marvin says.

"I-I don't know if you should..." Chase mumbles. He seems somehow weaker than before.

Jackie screws his eyes closed like that would do anything. It doesn't. The monitor starts on an endless field of planted crops, with a red wooden house in the middle and half a dozen people coming and going, but it quickly switches to a foreboding fortress made of thick stone brick, repeated first-person images of Jackie swinging a sword at a dummy, at a child his age, at a teenager older than him, at an instructor, and then at enemies, many of them wearing a black tunic with a distinct coat of arms on it. The tension begins to leave Jackie's body as he also slowly goes limp. There's not much magic to be found in these images, though Marvin appears several times, walking out of doorways of light or conjuring items from nothing. In the middle of all this, there's a man in a green cloak, his hands outstretched, two silver swords resting on them. The man is slightly see-through.

Jameson and Marvin glance at each other, fear evident on their faces.

Jameson mouths something, trying to speak with his friend.

"N-no, I'm not going to just give them what they know!" Marvin gasps out. "W-who knows what they'll do with that?! Besides, you know that you aren't going to give up easily, either."

But… as they’re talking- the spell seems to start up in Jameson’s eyes, slowing filling them with that awful purple light. The magic is invasive and brash, digging and clawing for all it can find.

"No..." Marvin breathes. "J-Jair, just--just h-hold on."

Jameson struggles against the spell as best he can. He knows how to keep people out of his mind, surely this will work! The screen's images are fuzzy and vague at first. When they clear up, they're of absolutely unrelated things. Math equations in a strange language, passages from what must be poetry or something... But slowly that fades. Other images keep butting in. None of them appear magical at first--they're of dramatic, but otherwise unmagical things. Until one shows a man in a deer mask fighting a man in a golden circlet.

Marvin stiffens in surprise as he realizes what these are--visions.

Jameson continues to try pushing them back, but his energy fades, and he slowly starts to list to the side. Something else begins to leak through in turn. That man with the golden circlet. That man with the bright green eyes. He throws lightning from his hands, opens up one of those magical doorways seen in Marvin and Jackie's memories, commands a room of helmeted soldiers who obey without question. Jameson goes fully limp... except for a slight tremble in his body.

Dr. Cornelius watches this with wild, fascinated eyes. “Yes- yes! This is very very good!” He grins.

Then finally, after seeing all his friends go limp and silent, their lives laid bare on the screens, the spell takes Marvin too. Clawing, clawing, clawing at the deepest reaches of his mind, looking for anything it can latch onto and pull.

"No! No no NO!" Marvin tries to shake his head, tries to knock off the circlet, but its grip is tight on his head, and it's soon joined by the tight feeling of the spell, too. He slumps quicker than he would have liked. Memories flash across the monitor. A small girl with blonde hair and bright blue eyes, holding onto a small blue ring that glows with light. She pulls the light from the ring and throws it into the air, where it bursts. A small child--Marvin as a younger kid than this blonde girl--does the same with a green ring. The two of them grow older, casting more powerful, more elaborate spells. Passages from a book in strange languages flash across the screen, so many of them that they have to overlap each other. A cat then walks across the screen, mostly white but with some stripes. Its eyes glow blue, and it grows in size. The environment shifts to a strange, otherworldly forest, where the trees move unnaturally and strange creatures beckon to them from the shadows. Jackpot.

Dr. Cornelius grins wide and starts to write all this down, watching all the monitors with increasing fascination. Especially as he sees all the magic in Marvin’s and Jameson’s memories. He can’t wait to see what the computer pulls from this… But until then- might as well let the spell run its course. He smiles at all the slumped over subjects before him before turning heel and walking further into the lab.

“You!” Marvin gasps. He grabs his focus and looks back over his shoulder—but of course, he knows that the doorway disappears as soon as he steps through. His mind whirls, and he quickly reaches a conclusion that he probably should have considered in that dream. “This was a trick, wasn’t it?! Damn it!”

If he was alone here, he would have immediately started to run. But—he’s not alone. “A-Alt? Alt! A-are you—?”

Alt is passed out, limp against the floor with magic pressed over his mouth. He doesn’t so much as stir.

Magnificent chuckles and teleports to be at the foot of the stairs and swishes his cape out dramatically. “Pay no mind to my cub… he’s just here so he doesn’t get in my way.” He grins, baring his sharp teeth in a feral smile. “The contents of that dream are coming back to you by now, aren’t they?” He snaps and then assumes the guise of Jack- but with the same mad smile. But he quickly lets that disguise fade. “Even if my identity was a lie… the rest was not, Marvin.” His voice drops to something serious, eyeing the wizard before him. “This world- it is taking your magic away. Bit by bit… and I want to find a way to preserve it.”

“You—y-you—” Marvin’s fists curl with anger. He grits his teeth and forces out the words. “So you lied to me and kidnapped my friend, and you think that will make me trust you?!” He barks out a laugh. “I don’t trust easily, Mag!” He pulls some of his magic free and hurls it at Magnificent.

Magnificent holds up a hand cockily and blocks the attack, then flicks it away like it’s nothing. He laughs. “Come now, Marvin… surely you feel it. Every spell you try to use… the more and more you’re losing.” He tilts his head like a curious cat. “You don’t want to come back magic-less to your home, do you? How will you protect yourself and your friends?”

“I-I—” Marvin’s face is usually hard to read, but at the mention of him losing his magic, obvious distress flickers over his expression. “You don’t—know how my magic works. I-it will be fine once I get home. And we’re not—not staying here long, anyway, I won’t—won’t lose all my magic in a couple more days.”

But what if? That blast of light he threw at Magnificent came out much weaker than he intended. He knows he’s not as good a physical fighter as most others. What if he can’t do enough? Oh Elders—what if he loses so much magic that something happens to Draco? These thoughts fill him with fear, but he forces himself to shake them off. It’s not worth working with Magnificent!

“Are you so sure?” Magnificent asks, tilting his head more. There’s not his usual condescendence in his voice- he sounds a bit more sincere. “Listen… it would pain me to see my other self lose his potential- his spark and purpose. You’ve seen the others connect to their other selves… it took a while but- I feel that now. Let me help you.” He offers out his hand.

"S-stop trying to manipulate me!" Marvin's voice cracks, but he seems more afraid than angry. It's really sinking in that he might lose his magic. "I-I can't--you kidnapped someone just now! You and that spirit--I c-can't just--" He presses a hand to his chest. Oh elders, oh elders. He's breathing so fast.

Magnificent’s gentle gaze shifts to one of anger and he sighs dramatically. “Oh… why must other Marvins be so stubborn? So empathetic…?” He tuts to himself and then snaps, a magic spiral blooming behind him and radiating with power. “I guess we’ll do this the hard way…”

The spiraling magic tries to draw in Marvin’s gaze, trying to pull him in to listen to Magnificent’s coos- bringing with it an increase of… hunger.

Marvin is panicking so much that he doesn't think to stop and worry about the obvious warning signs. His thoughts are consumed with aimless fear, and the spiral is unfamiliar to him; he's not prepared for what it can do. The moment he looks at it, that panic seems to fade a little, overtaken by that new... feeling. "K-kade aan...?" Marvin mutters.

“Oh… that’s a good sign I suppose… reverting to your native tongue.” Magnificent purrs, slinking around Marvin while the spiral stays still- pulling in his gaze even more.

Drawing away all unnecessary thoughts. He… should listen to Magnificent. He’s his other self after all… he knows everything he needs to know. He… needs to find more magic. A way to save himself. Magnificent has all the answers. Magnificent is who he needs.

Magnificent slinks up behind Marvin and whispers. “You’re limiting your own potential here, Marvin Tinechroi… allowing yourself to become weak. And for what? Your friends? You think your friends can protect you? Look where that got Alt….” He chuckles sinisterly. “I have all the power you need.

There’s other threats in this city besides me. In fact.. they could be closing in on your friends right now. They can sense visitors from other universes… What makes you so sure you all would be safe? Only I can give you that guarantee…”

Marvin nods slowly, eyes fixed on the spiral. Yes... he can already feel his magic weakening here... If Magnificent knows a way to fix that... His friends are capable, but if they're faced with threats in this new world... Can they really do anything? All the incredible things here, if they were turned against them... they wouldn't be able to fight back. But he could. He's sure he could. Or at least, he could protect himself. He just... needs to listen...

“Very very good kitten~” Magnificent coos, going to grab onto Marvin’s shoulders and whisper into his ear. “Let’s let this settle in nice and deep, hm? Can’t have you fighting me… we might have a long journey ahead. I need you loyal to me, wizard. You will follow my commands, you will listen to my words and follow my bidding. Like a knight to his king, that should be familiar to you, hm?” He laughs. “Fighting will be harder than simply obeying. Let it become like second nature to you. Become mine, and your hunger will be satisfied. Your power will be great… and no one will stand in your way. Doesn’t that sound nice, Marvin~?”

"Yes..." The word is a breath that leaves his lips with no effort, like it was more in his nature to agree than to disagree. Magnificent's words leave an imprint in his mind that he can't get rid of. Why would he want to do that, anyway? Magnificent can help him. All he needs to do is listen and obey, which is such an easy thing to do.

Magnificent’s grin gets even wider. He leans back in, “Good. I can give you the magic you need to be strong here. But I need to hear you tell me you want it.” He laughs and sweeps out his cape dramatically, looking towards the dark rainy sky. “Black magic is tricky~! If taken willingly, it will empower your own magic and enhance it. But if given unwillingly, it will eat up the rest of your magic and corrupt you. And we don’t want that now, do we~?” He giggles.

Marvin's eyes widen slightly. Eat up his magic? He doesn't want that! He wants... he wants the power. He wants to know more, to be able to do more.

“So… do you want my power, Marvin Tinechroi~?” Magnificent asks, looking down at Marvin with bright glowing eyes.

"Yes, Magnificent," Marvin whispers. "I want... I want your power..."

“Perfect~!” Magnificent praises. “Now… I know you wizards use magic differently from us here. So… why don’t I give you a gift? A gift to remind you who you belong to now~” he snaps and then a necklace falls into his hand.

It has a large dark purple jewel and Magnificent squeezes his hands over it, pumping it full of his magic. The gem shines with corrupted purple light. He goes to wrap the necklace around Marvin’s neck. It’s a choker… but Mag believes the word ‘collar’ is more appropriate for his pet.

“That collar will give you all the magic you need, pet.” Magnificent coos. “The more you draw from it, the more it will provide. And it will be hidden from greedy eyes… because you don’t want to lose something so precious, do you, kitten?”

As the necklace settles around Marvin’s neck- the trance like state he’s in starts to loosen. Not completely but… something about him is shifting. His mind is being rewired. And… it feels really good. Not harmful and scary like he thought it would be. It’s a rush of adrenaline and power that leaves him breathless but energized.

Marvin is still until he feels that power shoot through his dazed mind. He inhales sharply and reaches up to press a finger to the new accessory. The jewel flares with dark purple light--and so do his eyes. He pulls some magic away and shoots it up into the air, where it bursts like a firework. An almost sinister grin spreads across his face. "Thank you, Magnificent," he says. "I'll take good care of it."

Magnificent matches Marvin’s grin and laughs sinisterly, especially as he watches Marvin’s new explosive burst of magic. He backs up and holds his arms out, back in front of the spiral. “I think you’re ready now, Marvin! You can now awaken as one of my loyal puppets~ and we can make the rest of this little adventure … quite a thriller for your friends, hm?” He snaps and the spiral dissipates. But the control on Marvin’s mind solidifies and becomes strong.

Marvin blinks. He's aware again, but something is different. And yet, it's not different in an upsetting way. He shakes his head to get rid of the last of the daze, and then his eyes land on Magnificent. He hovers awkwardly for a moment, unsure how to respond, and then his script of interacting with other nobility kicks in. "Magnificent," he says, and gives a half-bow. "At your service."

Magnificent blinks a bit in surprise but soon grins wide. “A pleasure to have you in my service, Tinechroi.” He waves his hand, “I’m not gonna bother with that awful first name of ours anymore. If you know what’s good for you- you’d forget it.” He hums playfully.

Marvin nods. "Very well... But I'd appreciate you calling me something other than that, at least." His brows lower in disgust. "My family has practically disowned me in any case, and the feeling is mutual."

Magnificent blinks then smiles, “Ah yes, I can understand that… let’s see… how bout I call you… Lynx, instead?”

Marvin blinks, and nods. "Lynx it is, then.”

Then, there’s a stirring behind them. Alt blearily opens his eyes, trying to focus through the darkness. Once his eyes adjust, he sees Marvin and Magnificent and screams against his gag. He tries to wiggle out of his binds- glitches collecting around him but… there’s branches of dark veins on his neck going up his chin. He can’t use his magic. “MRVN-! Nnn-!” He tries to shout against the magic silencing him.

Mag blinks then rolls his eyes, “Oh good- the cub is awake… still wondering what I should do with him…” He laughs with a shrug, “Honestly I wasn’t expecting to grab him until after I had you eliminate the useless ones in your group, kitten.”

Alt freezes, dread sinking into his bones. He tries to catch Marvin’s eyes, slowly shaking his head as he sees corruption polluting his irises. “Nnn- nnn-!!”

Marvin walks over to where Alt is lying on the floor. His expression is blank and oddly apathetic, for seeing a friend magically tied up on the floor and an enemy nearby. "The others are going to be expecting him back," he says. "What should we do? Keep him here to prevent word from getting out? Or can you somehow modify his memory?"

Alt makes a choked noise at hearing Marvin talk about him like that, tears brimming in his eyes.

Magnificent hums in thought. “Well… honestly I’m torn between just storming to your friends now… or watching them scamper about when finding you two missing.” He giggles. “It would be entertaining to watch~ and honestly some of your lot is too perceptive to send you back to. They’d ruin our game right away.”

“The others aren't familiar with your world," Marvin says. "And I doubt they'll figure out how to contact the others easily. They won't find us. But... his friends..." He glances at Alt. "They'll know if something's wrong. But that will probably be a while away, will it?"

Mag goes to kneel down by Alt and grabs him by his chin, twisting it back and forth. Alt glares up at him with hatred. “Honestly… I’m in no rush. My goal is to grab Jairsolas and this one then return to your homeland… perhaps Bro Fantastic too if we’re lucky. But he is slippery… so… maybe I can have you two play some here?” He giggles and Alt’s expression morphs from anger to fear. “It might be good to give your magic a test run before we go after the others~”

Lynx grins. He reaches up and touches the jewel on the collar. "I am curious to try it. It feels so different than the magic I know. Like... a raging blaze instead of an even flame."

Alt shrinks back as Marvin glances at him. He hates how much Marvin’s gaze terrifies him right now. Magnificent chuckles then snaps, releasing Alt from his bonds. Alt is still weak from his magic being messed with, but tries to get up to run. But, Magnificent grabs him by the scruff of his jacket then throws him down at Lynx’s feet. “Have at it then, Lynx~! Just don’t kill him. He’s still useful to us.”

Alt weakly tries to push himself up and looks at Marvin with pleading eyes, “M-Marvin…!” He croaks, “D-Don’t…! Please…! You… you gotta fight this!”

Lynx grins. "Fight what?" He pulls some of the purple magic free from his jewel and hurls it down at Alt, a point-blank blast of light.

Alt’s eyes widen as dread makes his blood run cold. He just barely manages to roll out of the way and tries to hop to his feet. “I-I don’t want to fight you…!” Alt pleads but then tries to hold up a hand to channel some magic. He bites back a grunt of pain as the corruption on his neck flashes brighter, draining his magic even more. He starts to look panicked.

"Hey, I'm not going to kill you," Marvin says, gathering some magic in a sphere in his hands. "It's not the end of the world." He hurtles the black magic sphere at Alt, and it splashes on the ground, sending a wave of rippling magic outward.

Alt flinches back at the sight and then closes his eyes and glitches out of the way before the ripple reaches him. But then he gasps once he lands, gripping over his chest as the corruption blooms even more across his cheek, sending him down to his knees. “F-Fuck-!”

The ripple of the magic freezes in place, then rushes towards Alt, four or five vine-like tendrils reaching out for him.

Alt barely has a chance to look before he’s grabbed and then lifted up into the air by the tendrils. He cries out then tries to wriggle himself out. “N-No! Let me go, damnit!”

Marvin just grins. The tendrils tighten, and then reel back and fling Alt across the room.

Alt cries out as he’s squeezed and then skids across the floor, scraping his face slightly against the floor. He staggers to push himself up, wheezing. “…t-this is hardly f-fair…!” He glares at Mag.

Magnificent just grins. “Who said it was gonna be fair? Though… it would be so much easier if you just gave up~”

Alt looks crestfallen for a second. He’s at a massive disadvantage… but he can’t- he can’t give in to this! Mag was probably planning something awful for all of them… He pushes himself up and tries to catch his breath. There’s gotta be some way to get to Marvin… right?

Lynx doesn't look easy to "get to," unfortunately, as he raises his hand and throws another ball of magic at Alt--which shoots towards him like a cannon ball, becoming nearly solid as it launches itself at him.

Alt gets hit in the chest and gets blown back. He wheezes painfully then coughs hard, his brain scrambled. Fuck! He’s really really strong…! “M-Marvin…!” He tries to call, struggling now to push himself up. He holds out a hand, magic trying to bubble to the surface as his eyes glow. “I… d-don’t want to hurt you, d-dude…. Please…!”

"I don't think you can, Alt." Marvin grins a bit. "Not in this state, at least."

Alt bares his teeth in a snarl, eyes flashing angrily.

While he's down, Marvin drops some magic onto the ground. It stains the concrete purple, and the purple stain quickly shoots across the floor towards Alt, quickly getting under him. The floor--it's getting hot! And--shaking!

Suddenly, spikes shoot out of the ground!

Alt blinks in confusion at the floor, then yells in surprise as the spikes burst out. He gets cut across his cheek and arm and then flies back. He touches the blood on his face and falls back, trying to think of something he can do… anything..!

Magnificent chuckles as he watches. “Let me know if you get bored, Lynx~!”

"I can go for a while, I think!" Marvin says, holding some glowing spheres of magic in one hand. He twirls them around for a moment, considering what to do, and then shrugs and throws the spheres at Alt, which become three magical bolts.

Alt yelps in surprise and glitches away- just barely getting out of the way. But, once again as he reappears he shouts out in pain and falls back against the nearby wall. He grips a hand over his eye- the sclera starting to turn black and iris glowing with purple.

Magnificent's laugh echoes across the space, "Careful Alt~! Once your magic is gone... well- that'll just make my job easier, won't it?”

“Shut up!" Alt bites out at Magnificent, trying to push himself up. His legs are shaking...

"Hmm." Lynx tilts his head, considering something... Then, in a sudden flash of light, he disappears and reappears right by Alt--actually teleporting! Something that he wouldn't be able to do before all this. Marvin grins, already delighted at this, and then raises a hand and throws some powdery, sparkly magic in Alt's face. As he breathes it in, the ground seems to tilt beneath his feet...

Alt yelps in surprise and barely gets a chance to register what is happening before he breathes in the magic. The world tilts before him and his eyes roll up slightly as he crashes to his knees, just barely being able to catch himself on his hands. "w..what... what was...?" He slurs.

Lynx nudges Alt with his foot, pushing him a little. "What was that? That's something usually meant to disorient people. Looks like it has a stronger effect than usual." He grins. This power is making his spells so much better!

Alt's head is swimming, like that feeling one gets when sitting upright again after hanging upside down for a long time. Maybe after some spinning, as well.

Alt sways and struggles to catch himself again. He can't get his eyes to focus and he feels sick as things tilt and swim in front of him. "...r..room... spin-" He breathes.

"Yes, that's what happens, usually," Marvin says casually. He's thinking over more spells to try... but with Alt disoriented like this, it feels a bit unfair to just pile the magic onto him. Not to mention potentially deadly, and they don't want to kill Alt. Lynx takes a step back and looks over at Magnificent. "On second thought, this is probably a good place to stop."

Magnificent hums and then kicks off where he was lounging, watching the battle. He teleports over to Alt and grabs his chin, eyes swirling and magic spiraling behind him.

Alt startles back and tries to pull away, panic clear on his face. “F-Fuck…! No-!”

Magnificent giggles and pulls Alt is closer. “Now, now Alt… you know better than to fight this by now, don’t you?”

“F-Fuck you-!” Alt spits, “Fuck you- f-fuck…” The venom in his voice dies down as the magic starts to swirl in his eyes now as well. He starts to slump and Mag holds him up with a chuckle.

“Good kitten… let’s get that conditioning back up and running, hm?”

“…y..yes… Magnificent…” Alt breathes.

Magnificent goes to press a finger to Alt’s temple and lights it up with purple and green magic. Alt’s back arches and he gasps, his eyes flaring to green with rings of purple and his sclera turning black. The corruption on his face glows brighter and then he lets out a breathless giggle, madness shining in his eyes. Magnificent lets him go and Alt slumps to the floor completely, giggling dazedly as the magic works into his brain.

In the meantime, Magnificent turns to Lynx and smiles, “You did excellent, pet. Your friends will not stand a chance against you~”

"Thank you, Magnificent." Lynx smiles back. "Now what will we do? Do you think I should go back to them?"

“Hmmm…” Magnificent goes to check his phone, “it’s nearing early morning… I wonder if the others have noticed your absence yet.” He smirks. Then he whistles a short tune and calls out, “Cygnus! Carina!”

Two shadowy cats appear on his shoulders- though they look even more transparent than usual- like they’re hardly even there. “How fares the vistors?” He asks.

“Still asleep, Magnificent.” One of them says, it’s voice deeper like a man’s.

“Ah- pity… perhaps then-“

Then, the other one perks up, eyes flashing. “Movement. One of them is stirring. I smell… magic.”

Magnificent raises an eyebrow. “Well… maybe we might get more entertainment soon…”

ᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅ

Back in the hotel, Jameson is startled awake, disoriented and groggy. But he knows this feeling, a vision is starting.

The vision takes form and… something immediately is wrong. He sees the bright shining buildings of this world. He’s in a street of some sort. But the sky is dark with smoke. Something is on fire. Magic is zipping and singing through the air, its color a toxic purple. In front of him is… it’s Marvin. But, he looks wrong. There’s an unhinged smile on his face and purple magic glows brightly around him. Is it coming from.. that necklace around his neck? That isn’t his focus…! Glancing around he can see his friends… fallen on the ground… all of them injured in some way. None of them are stirring.

No no- are they… dead?!

Marvin draws magic from the purple necklace on his neck almost like how you would draw a sword and collects the magic blade in his hand. He then brings it towards Jameson’s face- under his chin. He smiles almost sweetly at him- but there’s a hint of malice beneath it.

“C’mon Jair-“ Marvin sings, “Let’s head home.”

Behind Marvin now, he sees… Alt…? Lugging a passed out and injured Bro on his shoulder. Alt also smirks at him cruelly, that purple color in his eyes.

“All of us~” Marvin says, grinning wide.

And then, the vision ends.

Jameson gasps for air, eyes wide as he stares up at the ceiling. He's cold. The blanket is partially off. There's... no way. What was that? There's no way their future could be heading that way!

"Jameson...?"

Beside him, Chase sits up. He looks down at him in concern. "Is... everything okay? You, uh... punched me a couple times in your sleep."

He punched him? Oh, right. The compulsion to speak visions out loud translates to handspeak too. And it's more and more often that he'll deliver his visions in that language, as it becomes more familiar to him than speech. His gesturing must have hit Chase.

"Are you okay?" Chase repeats, now looking worried at Jameson's pale expression.

Jameson sits up. He reaches over and fumbles with the nearest lamp, disoriented and forgetting how to turn it on for a moment. Right, you press this switch here. He turns the lamp on and then gets out of bed, running over to where Jackie and Henrik are sleeping and starting to shake them awake.

"Hmmwha...?" Jackie mutters. "Whassit?”

“Jamie, what are you doing?" Henrik blinks at him, squinting a bit.

We need to check on Marvin! Jameson says.

"We need to what?" Chase says, one leg out of bed.

Vision! Jameson signs, and rushes for the adjoining door.

"What?! Those can happen while you're asleep?!" Chase gasps.

Jackie is immediately awake. "Was it bad?"

Jameson nods. He fumbles with the door--it didn't lock, did it? No, he's figured it out. He pulls it open--

The room is empty- the bed unmade. Marvin isn’t here.

The fantasy guys all gather around the door, staring in surprise. "Wh-what?" Jackie breathes. "How... Wh-where did he go?”

“Did he leave?!" Chase gasps. "Without telling us?!”

“No no, Marvin can be an ass sometimes, but he would not do that," Henrik says.

Jameson shakes his head slowly. I think something bad has happened.

Just as the reality sets in- suddenly the phone on the nightstand starts to ring.

Henrik immediately lunges for the phone, scooping it up and answering. "Hello? Hello?"

“Henrik!” Bro’s panicked voice comes from the other end, “I-is Alt with you?! I-I passed out early and just woke up and I… I don’t think him or Glitches came home last night! Please please tell me he’s with you all…!”

"What?!" Henrik looks at the others. "Alt is missing?!”

“Alt is missing?!" Chase repeats.

Henrik returns his attention to the phone call. "N-no, he is not with us! And Marvin is gone, too! A-and Jameson just had a vision, he has not told us about it yet but he says it was bad--"

Bro’s breath hitches, “Marvin is missing too?! Oh fuck t-that’s bad- and a vision too… y-you all stay there! I’m gonna fly to your hotel and then w-we can try to search and come up with a plan okay?!”

"O-okay!" Henrik nods. He looks over to the others. "Bro is coming over here to help us search for Marvin and Alt!”

“Forget that! We have to go find them now!" Jackie shouts. He runs for the dresser, opening it up and grabbing the swords he left inside, as well as Chase's bow and arrow. "No, wait!" Chase says. "We should at least hear about Jameson's vision, right?" Jameson nods. If Bro is coming over here, I'm going to wait to explain it until he arrives. It... involved Alt and him. He looks a bit pale. "Alright, we wait, then," Henrik says decisively. "In the meantime, everyone get prepared."

ᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅ

“… the visitors are all awake now. The Jackson copy alerted them in some sort of panic. The female vestige relays to Magnificent.

“…Bro Fantastic called them. He knows Aster is missing.” The male vestige adds.

Magnificent chuckles and sweeps out his cape. “Thank you, Carina, Cygnus. Alert me of any changes.”

“Yes, Magnificent.” The vestiges say before they fade from off of Mag’s shoulders.

“A panic…?” Marvin repeats. “He must have had a vision of some sort. I wonder what it was…” He watches the shadows fade away with some curiosity. Are those spirits of some kind…? They look like something that would appear in the Wyldwood.

Magnificent hums, “Yes… that’s why Aneirin kept the rabbit around… hm. I hope it does not get in the way of our plans.”

Magnificent then grins towards Marvin. “Well in any case… I think we need to reassure your friends you all are just fine, hm?” He teleports to kneel down by Alt again and lifts up his head. “Let me get Alt prepared then… Cub- are you all settled?”

Alt looks up to Mag with a dazed but slightly crazed expression. He grins. “Yes, Magnificent.”

Mag purrs, “Good. I’m sure you’d like some power now, wouldn’t you? Can’t have our fun without your magic~!”

Alt’s eyes close for a second before opening up with a desperate expression.“Yes- please, Magnificent….! I want… power- for our fun…!”

Magnificent nods then grabs Alt’s wrist, digging his claws in to pump him full of his magic.

Alt gasps, eyes completely overtaken by purple as his body goes rigid. Then he slumps, eyes rolling up just slightly before they pop back open, green and purple pulsing brightly but sclera cleared of black. Glitches start up around him again, stark and powerful as he glitches to his feet. He looks down at his hands and then grips them right, grinning even more wildly. “…thank you Magnificent. I’m ready.” He giggles.

Lynx grins in excitement. He can’t wait!… but it seems like he has to, at least a little. “We have to get back quickly.”

Magnificent laughs at their excitement. “Yes yes, of course. We don’t want them to worry. So- Alt, my Aster~ hide evidence of my power on both of you.”

Alt stands a bit more at attention then grins, glitching over to wave a hand of magic over Lynx, then himself. A sheen of green magic falls over them and settles like stardust, hiding away their different colored eyes and Marvin’s collar.

Marvin blinks as Alt's magic hides the change in his eyes. He laughs. "Very helpful."

“They will not suspect a thing, Magnificent.” Alt grins.

Magnificent shares his grin- then snaps, drawing their attention. “Good… Now, Heed my commands. You are to lure Jameson Jairsolas away from the others and draw him under my power as well. And if you can get that bumbling hero too, good. But not completely necessary… Once done, return to me… and then we’ll go see a very close friend of ours~!” He giggles madly. “Have fun with it, my pets… do not let them suspect you. And if need be… destroy any of the others that get in your way.”

Alt stiffens as the commands take hold, the ring around his irises and pupils flashing purple. “Yes, Magnificent.” He drones.

Lynx nods slowly. "Yes, Magnificent... Jameson Jairsolas and the hero." Then he turns to Alt. "Time to go." He draws some magic from the now-hidden collar and uses it to trace a doorway in midair--unsupported by a wall, as it usually has to be. The inside of the doorway clears up to show an alleyway across from the hotel.

Alt blinks in surprise at the doorway but slowly grins.

Magnificent looks impressed. But then he seems to remember something and snaps, Alt’s backpack appearing in his hand. He reaches in and pulls out a clearly hypnotized Glitches, who dangles in his claws by her scruff. Mag chuckles then tosses Alt his bag and the cat.

Alt glitches in surprise then catches both. Mag smirks and gestures to Glitches, “Use her to your advantage, Alt. She will not give you away.” Alt looks down at the cat in his arms, a bit of horror flashing across his face. But- it disappears soon enough as he grins and pets Glitches. She seems to snap out of her trance and sees Alt, jumping up on his shoulder and purring loudly as she pushes her cheek against his. Her eyes flash with purple too.

Marvin looks over at Glitches, and similarly looks horrified. But once she snaps out of it, the expression fades.

“I will make good use of her, Magnificent.” Alt giggles.

Mag nods then waves at them with his fingers. “Good luck, my pets~! …Don’t fail me.”

Alt nods, shrugging on his backpack then heading through the doorway.

Marvin nods at Magnificent as well and follows Alt through the doorway.

ᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅᚅ

Bro arrives at the hotel room in record time- …record time being him pounding on their door about 10 minutes later, clearly panting from the other side. “G-Guys! I’m here!” He calls.

"Bro!" Jackie answers the door immediately. His eyes are wide. "Th-thank you! Come in." His swords are strapped to his back and waist. Inside, the rest of the guys are dressed and ready to go, standing around anxiously.

Bro hurries into the room, wiping off his sweat and looking around anxiously. “G-Good you guys are all... o-okay good-“

"Now, Jameson." Chase looks at him. "We're all here. So please--" His voice cracks. "What happened? What did you see?"

Jameson takes a deep breath. I saw Marvin, smiling and wearing some strange necklace that glowed with purple magic. All of you--the rest of you--were lying on the floor, dead. Marvin formed a sword from that strange magic and held it to my neck, saying we were going home. And behind him, was Alt, his eyes glowing purple, carrying Bro who was unconscious. I think... I think they were going to take me and him somewhere. Back to Glasúil, maybe.

The horrified silence that follows weighs heavy in the room.

"...what?" Henrik breathes, the single word coming out strangled.

"That--that can't be real," Chase says. "I-it can't be. Marvin and Alt wouldn't--they wouldn't--"

Bro watches Jameson sign- and quickly goes pale. Then, his eyes flash with anger. “Purple… huh? I only know one bastard with magic like that! Fucking Magnificent!”

"Magnificent, of course!" Jackie growls, clenching his fists. "Purple is his color! That bastard!"

Bro looks like he’s ready to punch a wall but he tries to take a steadying breath. “…that vision won’t happen, Jameson.” He tries to say gently, even though his voice shakes with emotion. “I-If Mag is the reason they’re missing… n-now we know! We… We have an advantage. We can go find them now and stop that from happening!”

Jameson nods slowly. If there's anything I've learned, it's that the future isn't certain. Not all visions come to pass... but... they DO show the most likely one... as of the moment I have them...

"Well we know that we can change that, don't we?" Chase says.

Henrik nods. "Yes, we simply have to go find them now! Before anything happens!”

“Right!" Jackie heads back towards the door. "Let's go let's go!”

“Whoa, hey, wait a moment!" Chase grabs Jackie by the back of his jacket. "We need to know where we're going, first! Bro, do you know where Magnificent would be?"

Bro makes a thinking face, “hm… usually he’s in the warehouse district… but he goes in between different lairs so I won’t memorize which one he’s at…”

"Warehouse? What is that?" Henrik asks.

Sounds like it's somewhere people store their wares, Jameson says.

"Ah, that would make sense... so Magnificent uses empty ones?”

Bro nods and sighs heavily and messes with his disheveled hair. “…Alt’s usually the one who’s good at finding him. Think he can sense his magic and shit…”

“We can head there and look around," Jackie says. "It's better than just standing here!"

Then, there’s suddenly a beeping at the door to their room. ….is someone trying to come in?

The fantasy guys all stiffen at the sound. Jackie makes a shushing gesture and creeps towards the door. Silently, Henrik and Jameson move to the side while Chase quickly nocks an arrow on his bow. Jackie puts on hand on his sword hilt then grabs the door handle and pulls it open--

They’re greeted by a very confused looking Alt and Marvin, Alt reaching forward to open the door. He glitches back slightly and puts up his hands, his eyes wide. “Woah woah woah! J-Jesus! What’s got you all on such high alert?!” Glitches on his shoulder hisses at the sight of the weapons.

Bro’s breath hitches, “W-What..?! Alt- Marvin?!”

"Who else would it be?" Marvin says.

The fantasy guys relax a little--but only a little. Henrik and Jameson inch back over while Chase lowers the bow. "Where in the--where the 'hell' have you two been?!" Jackie asks.

Marvin walks into the room. "I can take a walk if I want. I'm a grown person.”

“We know you are, Marvin," Henrik says. "But--but without telling any of us? We were worried!”

“Where did you go?!" Chase asks.

"On a walk, I told you!" Marvin insists. "I got really excited about finding new magic in this world so I thought I'd get an early start. It's a good thing I ran into Alt, though, because I got very lost."

The guys all glance at each other. Getting lost does seem like something Marvin would do. But...

Are you... okay? Jameson asks.

Marvin sighs. "Yes, of course."

Bro makes a face, still skeptical about all of this. He looks to Alt and crosses his arms, putting that older brother authority into his voice. “…and where did you go, Alt? You didn’t come home last night!”

Alt blinks up at Bro then looks away with a bit of a blush. “…I uh… I-I went to see Oliver… I wanted to catch him up on stuff and… I ended up staying too late and fell asleep. I totally forgot to text you… M’sorry-“

Bro’s expression softens a bit, but he still looks wary. “…how did you find Marvin then? I doubt he wandered all the way over to Oli’s… and you’re … you’re never up this early.”

Alt glares a bit at Bro then huffs. “…not that it’s any of your business, Chase… but I… I-I had a really bad nightmare.” He holds his arms and shudders. “…I dunno i-if it’s from trying to seer some lately but… I-it was so real. It really freaked me out…” the others can see there does seem to be bags under his eyes from a seemingly rough night of sleep, “so I went on a walk to cool my nerves and start heading over here… then I ran into Marvin. We thought we’d come back here to see if you all were awake for breakfast.” He stares back up at Bro with a hard expression. “Is that good enough for you?” He snaps.

Bro’s face falls and any retort he had dies on his lips. He slowly nods. “O-Okay Alt I… I believe you. ‘Course I do… I’m sorry you had such a bad nightmare…”

The fantasy guys also seem to relax a bit more at how sincere Alt is… except for Jameson, who continues to glance around nervously. If their present is heading towards that bleak future, is it really possible that its course could have changed in the past fifteen minutes?

“Still… You shouldn’t have left without us, Marvin,” Henrik says. “You could have left a note of some sort, at the very least.”

“…oh.” Marvin blinks, then looks a bit embarrassed. “It, uh… didn’t occur to me. Normally I’d be able to send Draco after you all if I needed to. I suppose I forgot he was here until I was already gone.”

“You… just forgot?” Jackie says doubtfully.

“Yes, I forget things sometimes when I’m sleepy like anyone else,” Marvin drawls.

“Well if you were sleepy maybe you shouldn’t have gone out—!”

“Jackie, please,” Henrik sighs.

Chase fully puts away his bow. “I’m sorry about the nightmare, Alt.

Alt shakes his head with a shrug. “It’s okay… nightmares are… just normal for me lately.”

“And sorry you got lost, Marvin. We’re just a bit on edge because Jameson—”

It’s fine, it must not be important anymore, Jameson says.

Chase looks at him, confused. “But—”

I don’t want to talk about it anymore, Jameson says. Let’s just… focus on our last day here. He gives Marvin and Alt a once-over. He can’t see anything off with them, but… well he’s going to keep an eye on them.

Alt tilts his head at Jameson. “…did you get a vision or something Jameson…?” He asks. “…only reason I can think of you guys being all up and arms this morning…”

Jameson takes a step back. Yes… but clearly it was wrong, so we can move on. Hopefully.

The other guys glance at Jameson, confused. “You don’t even want to tell us?” Marvin asks. “It must’ve been a lot to prompt this response.”

It’s alright, we can forget it, Jameson says.

“Come on, not even a little? Did it involve us?”

I don’t want to talk about it. “Hey, if he doesn’t want to talk, we can’t make him,” Chase says, stepping in front of Jameson. “You know this, Marvin.”

Marvin pauses. “Right. Sorry.”

Alt narrows his eyes at Jameson quietly from behind Marvin. Clearly… he was hiding something. “If we were in it then we should-“

Bro quickly cuts him off with a clap of his hands and a nervous smile, “Hey! S-since we’re all up…! We could go d-downstairs for some breakfast? Maybe food can calm down everyone’s nerves…!” He glances pointedly at Alt who makes a face back at him.

Breakfast sounds great, Jameson says. You said they had some… in the hotel?

“Like an inn over a tavern,” Jackie says.

Bro nods, “Yeah down in the lobby, they have a whole area to serve breakfast. Buffet style! I’m sure Dr. J made sure to find you a hotel with a good one.” He tries to smile.

“Yea, we can have breakfast, then.” Jackie takes off the sword on his back… but after a moment’s hesitation, leaves the one around his waist on. Instead, he takes off his jacket and ties it around his waist, partially hiding the blade.

“Do you really need that, Jackie?” Chase asks, taking off his bow and quiver.

“Probably not. But it makes me feel safe.”

Marvin raises an eyebrow. “How is that going to protect you in a world where they shoot fast-moving projectiles out of small cannons?”

“Oh shush.” Jackie laughs.

“I mean really.”

“It’s just for me, Marvin,” Jackie says, more serious. “Just drop it. No one will notice.”

Marvin still looks doubtful. But it’s… probably not worth fighting over. Jackie could be disarmed easily.

Alt huffs a bit at Jackie’s insistence to bring a weapon. That could bring them trouble…. But he then turns his heel and starts walking towards the elevator. “Alright then… c’mon. I really need some coffee.”

Jackie, Henrik, and Chase all look at each other uneasily.

Marvin smiles, a small one. “Yea, let’s go.”

“Alright, we’re coming,” Henrik says, and the guys follow Marvin out.

Bro lingers in the room after the others file out then lightly grabs Jameson by the elbow. “… you good? I…” he narrows his eyes, power flashing in them. “…I don’t trust this. Not one bit…” he whispers.

Oh no, I absolutely do not trust this either, Jameson says, looking mildly surprised. I thought YOU did, though.

Bro smirks, “I’ve gotten pretty good at acting.” But his smile quickly falls, “…I know my brother though… and though he can be an asshole first thing in the morning… he’s not usually like this. And usually… if he’s not himself… then Mag is the most likely culprit.”

Jameson nods back. I’m sure the others are thinking the same thing about Marvin… he’s not usually this uppity. His eyes dart after the others. For now, let’s play along. We need a moment when we have the advantage.

Bro nods quickly to Jameson, “Alright. The second you think something is wrong- signal to me.” He then pats Jameson on the shoulder and hurries to follow the others, before they get suspicious.

Alt lingers for a second in the hallway, watching the door. When the two of them come out he gives them a tight smile before glitching after the others.

The others are waiting at the elevator. The moment Alt, Bro, and Jameson arrive, Jackie and Chase lunge for the button. Jackie gets there first, slamming a hand against it. “Aha!”

“Fine, but I’m pressing the one inside!” Chase says.

Bro laughs at their antics, “Ha! Nice-“

Alt rolls his eyes a bit with a smirk. He glitches in, leaning up against the wall. Bro quickly follows.

“Ah, I forgot how small this room is,” Henrik mutters.

Bro chuckles. “Yeah it’s kinda cramped huh?”

“Much bigger with less of us here to crowd it!” Chase says. He stares at the buttons, hesitating, then presses the one for the ground floor.

The fantasy guys all jostle around a little. Then pour out of the doors once it stops.

Once the doors open, Alt glitches back out- which surprises Bro. …there’s bound to be people around- usually Alt tries to hide that.

Alt turns back around and grins at the others, “this way guys-“

The fantasy guys aren’t as bothered by Alt’s in-the-open glitching as Bro is. They all follow him easily enough.

Alt leads them into a decent sized room with windows around the edges, showing the slowly rising sun. It’s very very early- like around 6-7 am. So the only people really in here are the people setting up breakfast and the odd business man getting ready for the day. There’s a collection of food on a long table pressed up against the wall. There’s a large serving of scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage in metal tins. Then several different kinds of breads, a waffle maker, muffins, and cereals. Plus, fruits, jams, butter and syrup.

“Oh, that’s a lot of food!” Chase says. “Do we… just take what we want?”

“Well why put it out if it’s not set up like that?” Marvin says. “Obviously it’s different than a restaurant.”

Chase deflates a bit, and Jackie says, “Hey, lay off him, Marvin. We’ve never been somewhere like this before! We don’t know how things work.”

“I think we can figure it out, though,” Marvin says, raising an eyebrow.

Jackie bristles. “Who spat on your rug this morning?”

“E-everyone stay calm,” Henrik says. “Maybe we are just hungry. Marvin, stop with the attitude. Please.”

“Sorry,” Marvin says casually, and heads over to the food. The other guys follow more slowly.

Bro glances between everyone and laughs nervously. “Yeah you guys can just grab a plate and grab what you want! They replenish this throughout the morning so take whatever.”

Alt goes to grab a mug for coffee and starts to fill it as he looks over at the others. “We all had a long night and an early morning. Let’s try not to tear at each other’s throats.” He raises an eyebrow at Jackie and narrows his eyes. “And that means all of us.”

Bro makes a slight face at this and tries to hide it. He pats Jackie on the shoulder as he follows them to start getting food.

Jackie is still tense, but he does his best to calm down. He grabs a plate and piles it high with bacon and some scones. Henrik grabs some sausage and eggs, Chase gets some fruit then stands by the waffle maker and tries to figure it out, and Jameson pours some cereal into a bowl (but not any milk.) Bro goes over to help Chase and show him how to use the waffle maker. Mostly cuz he wants some too- his plate already piled high with bacon and eggs.

Marvin just grabs a couple muffins and a cup of tea and then sits down. Alt grabs a muffin to go with coffee then sits down with his mug. He holds it in his hands- but doesn’t drink it. Glitches, a known breakfast thief, just peeks out from his hood and… watches.

The rest of the guys soon sit down as well. They start to eat, but Marvin just sits there, hand on the cup.

“Are you two… not hungry?” Chase asks. “Come on, you must have had a long night.”

Marvin blinks, like he was surprised to hear that. The others are looking at him and Alt with concern. Oh shit, they’re drawing attention. He finally starts to eat and drink his tea.

“Ah… this is very good,” Henrik says. Jameson nods in agreement.

Alt also looks surprised and stares down at his cup. what a waste of time… He goes to take a long drink of his coffee.

Bro eyes Alt . “You feeling alright, Alt? …that’s surprisingly little food for you.”

Alt puts down his cup and shrugs. “I’m not very hungry.”

“Don’t you need energy to power your glitching?” Chase asks.

“To be fair, that doesn’t mean he needs a lot of food all the time,” Jackie says.

Alt shrugs more. “Yeah but, haven’t really needed it much the past few days.”

Bro knits his eyebrows together. “…if you say so.”

Jameson shoots a concerned glance at Bro, then turns back to the rest of the group and smiles. So does anyone have any ideas of what to do for the day? He asks casually.

Alt straightens up slightly. “…I was gonna show you all the magic district, wasn’t I?” He smiles, “The offer still stands. I know you and Marvin and Henrik were excited about it, J.”

Marvin nods. “Yes, so excited! I can’t wait to see it with you all! The little I saw already has been so interesting. You’d love it, Jameson.”

“What am I, weeds in a garden?” Henrik mutters.

“Well you’ll like it too, of course,” Marvin says. “But you know. Jameson has abilities.”

Henrik glares but holds himself back from making a comment. Jackie nearly says a comment for him, but Henrik elbows him.

Bro narrows his eyes and tries to hold back a snarl, “You of all people should know that Henrik knows a lot about magic too, Marvin. Witchcraft is pretty common over there. Alt’s mentor is a witch.”

“Hm? Oh yeah, right,” Alt says flippantly.

"Hmm? True, but magic's not the same here, is it? I figured it's not a thing where someone can just pick it up," Marvin explains. "I'm sorry if I was wrong." That sounds surprisingly genuine.

Henrik sighs. "It is okay, Marvin. Just think more next time."

“I, uh… I sort of want to come too,” Chase says.

“And if all of you are going, we might as well stick together,” Jackie adds.

Alt looks to Chase and Jackie, “You all are uh… welcome to come. I’m sure we can find things for you too.”

Bro throws back some of his coffee then says, “I’m coming too.”

Alt looks surprised. “…you are? …thought you didn’t care about magic.”

“Maybe I’m willing to give it another shot. Sure there’s plenty to learn. Hen taught us a lot back in Glasúil.” Bro replies shortly.

Jameson smiles. So we can all go! Great! Let's make sure to eat a good breakfast.

Bro looks skeptical still, but goes to stuff his mouth so he won’t comment.

Chase leans over to Jackie and mutters, "So something is up with Marvin, right?"

Jackie whispers back, "Yea, not sure what, though. He could just be grumpy because of lack of sleep.”

“I hope it's just that."

Jackie nods.

As Jackie and Chase whisper… they can notice that Alt is staring directly at them, just holding his cup close to his face. It’s… unnerving. It even seems like Glitches is staring at them too.

"Uhhhhh heyyyy Alt," Jackie says. "Can we help you?" Chase waves at Glitches.

Alt shakes his head and then blinks and tries to smile. “Ah sorry… I was spacing out… d-didn’t mean to look straight at you guys.” Glitches makes biscuits on Alt’s hood, but makes a slight angry noise at Chase.

Chase blinks in surprise and leans back. Glitches was calmer than this yesterday...

“You should probably uh- focus on eating, right little bro? If you’re gonna be our tour guide?” Bro suggests lightly.

Alt for a moment glares at Bro- then looks down at his muffin and half-heartedly takes a bite. “Mm. Right.”

Marvin is also eating slowly. He stares across the table at Jameson. Normally, Jameson would have understood this; Marvin often stared at people for long periods of time. But today, it's making him uneasy. Still, he hides it with a smile and friendly face.

Breakfast mostly passes in silence.

Bro almost wants to text the others about what’s happening… but honestly the only person who might actually be awake by now is Dr. J. He’s not involving Jay with anything that deals with Magnificent. Besides- based on Jameson’s vision… the more he can keep away from this… the better. Probably…

Once it seems like everyone is done, Alt glitches to his feet. “Are we done? We should get going!” He tries to smile.

“I don’t even know what shops will be open right at 8,” Bro grumbles, finishing his coffee.

"Surely it's not too early," Marvin says, also standing up.

"I... actually have to agree with that," Jackie says. "People are awake at all times of day."

Bakers are always up early to make the bread, Jameson recalls. You have breads here, you must have bakers.

"We're not exactly looking for a bakery, Jamie," Henrik chuckles.

You know what I mean! It's the principle! Jameson shakes his head, then looks at Alt. So... where do you think we should go, then? He should probably try to get as much information as possible.

Alt tilts his head as he thinks. “Hm… there actually is like … a bakery over there. A pastry shop. Spells are baked into them so they can give different properties… there’s uh… an apothecary… a magical greenhouse for plants… I think there’s a magic pet shop…? Oh- a magic candy shop. And like… places like Blaise’s. To buy crystals and tarot cards and witchy things.” He shrugs and then smiles at Jameson, “Whatever piques your interest I suppose.”

"Oh, you have apothecaries here, too?" Henrik says excitedly. "I suppose yours are all magical, though. Not just medicinal.”

“Magical pastries and candy?" Jackie repeats, eyes wide.

"Magical pets?" Chase says. "Like familiars?"

Marvin's eyes are alight--not literally, but his enthusiasm is breaking through whatever attitude he's had this morning. "That all sounds amazing!"

Jameson tilts his head to the side. The magic candy shop and pastries sound most different from back home. We can start there. So... they don't have a specific place in mind. Either that, or there's really nothing up with Alt and Marvin, but he doesn't believe that.

“Alright sure why not?” Alt laughs. “Candy and pastries to start off the day.” He holds out his hands for the others. “You all can link up then and-“

Bro coughs and eyes the slowly filling dining room. “Uh Alt? Shouldn’t we… d-do that somewhere else?”

Alt’s eyes flash with annoyance before he rolls his eyes and starts towards the entrance. “Alright alright- fine.”

Bro watches for a second and sighs heavily. “…if this doesn’t turn into anything… I still might punch him for being a little prick…” he grumbles- slowly going to follow after him.

"That's understandable," Jackie mutters. He's already considering punching Marvin. Or at the very least shoving him unusually hard.

The group follows Alt.

"So how does the magic get into the food?" Henrik wonders. "From magical ingredients? Hmm... do you all think that if you use a potion instead of water or milk in a recipe, the dish will have the effects? That is worth experimenting with back home. Though it may end up as poison instead, so... perhaps not." He's basically rambling to himself.

Alt would usually be fascinated with such a train of thought. But he just dully shrugs and says, “I dunno. Maybe we can ask a baker.”

Once they pass the entrance, Alt walks over to an alley at the side and offers his hands again. Bro hesitates- then takes his hand.

Alt grabs onto it unusually hard- hard enough that Bro actually shouts out, “Ow! What the hell, Alt?! That hurts!”

For a second longer, Alt just squeezes harder- then shakes out his head and loosens his grip. “Ah uh.. sorry.”

Jackie narrows his eyes and takes Bro's other hand—he feels like he might have to pull him away at any moment. If Alt isn't going through some magic control, then he's really being a dick right now.

Marvin quickly grabs onto Jameson's hand, only for him to yank his hand free. "Hmm? Jameson, we need to link up."

I know, but don't grab my hand, Jameson says. I couldn't talk, then.

"It's only for a couple seconds."

I know. Doesn't change my mind.

Marvin frowns, and reaches out and grabs Jameson's wrist instead. This isn't much better.

Chase grabs onto Marvin's wrist in turn--of the same hand he's grabbing Jameson with. "Careful, Marvin. Elders.”

“It will be fine," Marvin says, putting a hand on Alt's shoulder. Henrik links up with Jackie in the meantime.

The other three guys all look up at the sky at the sound of thunder as well. "We should probably go inside, at least," Chase says.

I'm sure everyone would appreciate it, Jameson says. As long as we don't order without them. We can look at the menu and practice our reading!

“Oh yeah! Good idea!” Alt grins. He makes sure Glitches is secure before opening up the doors.

One of the hostesses greets them all in a foreign language and then smiles brightly at them all. “Hello! Table for?”

“Um- 9!” Alt says, “everyone else is on their way.”

“Oh alright- follow me this way then!” The hostess leads them to a large table in the back near the tree. “Here you go, sirs! And menus- and we’ll come by to get your drinks soon!” Alt nods shyly to the hostess, taking a seat.

"Oh! We're right by the tree!" Marvin looks up at it, delighted. "It's like eating outside without any of the inconvenient parts!"

Jameson laughs silently.

Alt laughs too, “yeah! That’s a special tree too- it’s called a cherry blossom tree. They’re real neat.”

"Oooo... that explains why the leaves look like flowers," Marvin says. "Because... blossom. Do they actually grow cherries?”

“Uhhh- that’s a good question actually..” Alt says, pulling out his phone,

“It sort of reminds me of the Wyldwood," Chase says. "With the strange coloring."

“hmmm oh!” Alt looks up from his phone, “Yeah they do but they’re usually bred just for the flowers. And the cherries that do grow are pretty sour.”

Marvin blinks. "It's so helpful that you have so much knowledge in your phones. It's like a whole library that fits in your hand.”

“Yeah it’s pretty great,” Alt laughs, waving his phone. “Sometimes I’m kinda lost without it.”

Chase picks up one of the menus. "So... this place serves food from another nation," he says slowly. "So we'll probably have trouble with the names." He squints at the section headings. "...This must be how you spell sushi. And this is... ramen? That seems pretty, uh, in line with what you've taught us..."

Alt then blinks at Chase then smiles and nods, “Yeah! I can help you all. It’s gonna probably take a bit of explaining. But I like this place cuz it actually lists out all the ingredients- some places don’t do that. Drives me insane.”

Jameson leans to the side, squinting at the ingredient lists beneath each entry. The noodle soups do sound delicious, he says.

"And look at these pictures!" Chase adds. "This one has an egg on top!"

“Ramen is really good!” Alt grins, “and yeah they usually have like semi-cooked jammy eggs on ramen. They’re really good!”

“I think the three of us are all going to get different kinds of ramen, right?" Chase says, looking around.

Unless there is something else on the menu that sounds just as good, Jameson says.

"Jammy eggs, jammy eggs," Marvin repeats. He grins; apparently he thinks the phrase is fun.

“Cool! There’s lots of good stuff here- I’m biased about sushi though. But there’s good stuff like tonkonstu which is breaded pork and rice.” Alt says.

"Mmm... pork sounds good," Chase says. "What's... r-eye-s?" He draws the word out slowly. "You all have mentioned that a couple times before."

Look, there's a picture of the dish. Jameson points.

"Oh yea. Hmm... is the ryes the white stuff then? It looks a bit like grain."

“Oh you all don’t have rice?” Alt asks, “Huh… guess that makes sense. ..is rice a grain?” He checks his phone again. “Oh yup! Rice is a grain! It’s nice- it’s fluffy and sometimes sticky but like in a good way.”

"Sticky, fluffy grain?" Marvin repeats. "Now that's interesting! Chase, if you get the, uh... to-kon-stoo, then you have to share the rice with the rest of us.”

“Hmm... mayyyybe," Chase says. "What if I get really hungry?"

We'd only take a bite of it! Jameson grins.

"Do you use a fork or spoon for that, do you think?" Marvin asks

It's probably whichever you want to use.

Chase rolls his eyes. "Alright, alright... What else is on here?" He looks at the menu, squinting. "Sa-shee-mee... that sounds like sushi, maybe they're similar. Ta-ko-ya-kee--oh, that's octopus! Strange! On-ee-gir-ee... that looks like more rice... So-buh and oo-don look to be more noodles..."

“You’re doing really good at reading those Chase. Sashimi is sushi without rice. And onigiri is like rice wrapped around a filling. Soba is cold noodles without broth and udon is really thick noodles in a soup!” Alt smiles. “But if you all want to try rice it’s easy enough to get a side of it at places like this! I hear in cultures like this they eat rice at like every meal.”

"I am?" Chase blinks. Then grins. "Oh thank you! I just... I thought that with these words the Is would make the ee sound and such. Um, a side dish of it sounds great.”

Then Alt grabs a package off the table and opens it up- taking out a couple of small sticks and breaking them apart. Then he holds them in between his fingers and clicks them together. “They also eat a lot of stuff with these things! Called chopsticks. But don’t feel pressured to eat with them, they’re really tricky to learn.”

“Oh what?! That's so 'cool!'" Marvin picks up one of the chopstick pairs and tries to copy what Alt is doing--only to fumble and drop them. "Ah, damn." He tries again, managing to hold onto them, but drops them when he tries to click them together. "Ah damn."

Maybe stick with the other utensils, Marvin, Jameson says.

"Yea. I'm not the most coordinated."

Alt giggles, “It takes a long time to get used to them. Especially if you learned with forks and stuff. I only got a lot of practice once I started getting lunch with Jackie more often.”

Soon enough, another figure goes to greet them. And it’s Dr. J. He smiles at everyone and goes to grab a seat. “Hello all- good to finally meet back up with you all.”

Alt blinks then grins, “Yo Doc!”

"JJ!" Chase says cheerfully. "It feels like it's been weeks since we've seen you!"

I have missed having my own copy, Jameson says jokingly.

Marvin laughs. "So, how was your work?”

“Oh, and here's a menu." Chase hands one to Dr. J, then picks up the chopsticks that Marvin abandoned to try and practice with them.

Dr. J chuckles, taking a seat and accepting the menu from Chase with a nod “I missed you all too. It was unfortunate I couldn’t get the day off. But, I have convinced my office to let me have a half day tomorrow.” He beams. “So I can join you all after lunch!”

“Hey! Nice!” Alt grins.

Glad to hear you can show up for more tomorrow! Jameson says.

Then Alt laughs, “You didn’t miss too much. We just watched some movies and played some games.”

Dr. J raises an eyebrow, “you stayed in Jackie’s flat all day?”

“Yeah we just wanted to chill!”

Dr. J shrugs with a laugh. “Well alright- suppose a day or two without sun is okay with these lads.”

"We see the sun all the time, we don't see a 'flat' every day!" Chase says defensively.

“Yes I assumed you all get more sun than the rest of us.” Dr. J laughs. He then smiles at the others, “oh but Marvin you asked how was work. It was good- a normal day. How are you all enjoying your time here?”

"It has been so strange and interesting!" Marvin says, grinning. "We watched animation and it was beautiful!”

“Two very different stories, too," Chase laughs.

Dr. J listens to them politely, nodding along. He smiles. “Oh what movies did you watch?” Dr. J asks.

“Murder on the Orient Express, Robin Hood and into the Spiderverse,” Alt says.

“Oh! Those are very different genres indeed!” The good doctor chuckles.

"We wanted to experience a good variety of stories!" Marvin says cheerfully.

And your friends taught us to play a card game. Jameson smiles smugly.

"Uno," Chase explains. "Apparently Jameson is an expert at cards, and he never told us.”

“I could have told you if I wasn't taking a nap," Marvin laughs.

Dr. J groans, “Oh no… did Jackie and Chase get super competitive? I swear that game gets them so heated-“

"Uh--you mean the other Chase, right?" Chase says, laughing. "If so--then yes. They got really competitive. And so did our Jackie and Henrik. Not me, though. I was just on the ride. Jameson looked like he was too, but I think it was just that he was so confident."

And it paid off, didn't it? Jameson says cheerfully.

“We should teach you to play poker, Jameson,” Alt laughs. “You’d give everyone a run for their money!”

Jameson raises an eyebrow and grins. I do have a very good stone face. When needed.

“Do not encourage them to gamble here, Alt.” Dr. J sighs. "The ultimate evil of Talaw: gambling!" Chase says jokingly, in the tone of someone quoting something. The other two chuckle.

“Well then I apologize for my friends…. But it sounds like you all had a very fun day.” Dr. J smiles.

"It was very nice." Marvin says, grinning. "Good to get away from the stress of home for a while. And to explore this new magical land. I know it's not really magic, but it might as well be to us."

“Oh! I wonder if I should show you some more magical parts, Marvin!” Alt grins. “I dunno if anyone else would want to come… or how different it’ll be to you guys but hey! Could be fun! Maybe I could show you after dinner-“

Marvin suddenly gets an urge- a sense that he can’t quite explain. He doesn’t want to see the magic part of town- not tonight. There’s something more important… he just can’t remember what.

Marvin's eyes light up. He's about to say something like "yes yes yes!" but... then he gets that sense. Huh? Did they have plans? Maybe he and the rest of the visiting guys made plans last night that he can't fully remember? "Uh... not tonight, Alt," Marvin says. "I think we'll want, uh, more time for that. But! Tomorrow, that would be so much fun!" He smiles.

Alt blinks a bit in confusion but then nods with a smile, “that’s fair… oh wait yeah! It’s gonna rain tonight! Duh-“ he shakes his head with a laugh. “It’ll be nicer to experience if we’re not all soaking wet anyways.

"Right, the rain, too." Marvin nods. "This shawl doesn't come with a hood, we'd be getting rained on."

Chase looks down at his clothes. "Mine seem pretty sturdy. More than you two's, at least."

“We can ask the others if they wanna come when they get here.” Alt adds.

I'd like to come, as well, Jameson says. Chase? What about you?

Chase shrugs. "Magic isn't really, uh... something that comes naturally to me. But I did manage to defeat a spirit, so uh... Ask me again when it's time. Maybe I'll want to tag along."

Dr. J looks back out the window and whistles, “oh yes- it’s already starting to come down quite hard.” Then he stifles a small laugh as he sees a group walk in and towards the table. It’s the rest of their, now soaked, friends.

Jackieboy is grumbling and trying to ring out his jacket. “That storm came out of fucking nowhere!” He grumbles as they walk up to the table.

“Ohhh bad luck-“ Alt grins. “If only you glitched~!” Jackieboy glares at him.

Bro shakes off his hair like a dog- and Sahne copies him, shaking herself off.

Henny goes to give Dr. J a hug from behind, grinning wide. “Juwel!! Hallo!!”

“Hello Henrik- come and get a seat and get warm you all.” Dr. J chuckles.

Jackie's red jacket has a hood, which he has up. He pulled on the drawstrings to tighten it around his face. Henrik's main outfit was protected by the long coat, but that long coat was absolutely soaked, and so was his hair. "Really coming down out there," Jackie says, sitting down. "Reminds me of the fire night.”

“But then we had the comfort of trees to block the rain," Henrik grumbles, brushing off his hair.

“What is the fire night?” Henny asks curiously, taking his seat.

“Oh, that is the night we defeated the King!” Henrik says. “There was a terrible rainstorm and also a big fire.”

“Ohh!” Henny grins, “Must have been an exciting night then!”

“To say the least,” Henrik laughs. "Hello, JJ.” he says as him and the others start to take their seats.

“Good to see you!" Jackie grins at Dr. J.

Dr. J smiles, “hello all! The others were just catching me up on what you did today.”

"Here, you two." Chase hands the two of them a menu.

"Thank you, Chase," Jackie says, taking it. He squints at the words and starts trying to sound out the main dishes. "That must be soo-shee... suh-shih-mee... that must be ramen... taka-dyakee... ow-nih-gih-ree... sah-bah, uh-don..." Clearly, his pronunciation is not as good.

Dr. J’s eyes widen a bit as he sees Jackie attempt to read. “Oh!! You all had some English lessons today then?”

“Yeah! They’ve been picking it up really well,” Jackieboy grins.

“That’s wonderful,” Dr. J beams. “Though- Jackie I think your pronunciation could use some work-”

“Eh cut him some slack, doc,” Alt chuckles, “these aren’t exactly English words.”

“Aw, thanks, Jackieboy,” Jackie says, grinning. Then he looks at Dr. J. “It could?”

“Right, this place has food from another culture, it’s probably named with their language in mind,” Marvin says.

“Ohhh.” Jackie looks down at the menu again. “So I guess your alphabet is doing the best it can. Hey, what’s… ry-kee?”

“Rice,” Chase and Marvin say simultaneously. Chase then quickly explains all the dishes that Alt explained to him earlier.

Alt chuckles, “There’s lots of things to try here- I haven’t even gotten into the types of sushi.” He looks at the menu, “mmmm… I want a crunch roll- and a dragon roll.”

“Oh those are the spicy ones,” Jackieboy comments then laughs, “I dunno how you can only eat those, dude. If I get spicy stuff I gotta get some non spicy ones to balance it out.”

“Spicy fish?!” Jackie repeats, eyes wide. The other visitors seem similarly shocked. “I’m brave, but not brave enough to try that!”

Alt laughs, “You’d be surprised! It’s really good! They usually have stuff to balance out the spice- like the rice or like avocado or cucumber or cream cheese-“

Bro sticks his tongue out, “I like spicy food but that all sounds wrong-”

“You gotta try it sometime, Chase!”

“Nooo I refuse!!”

Dr. J sighs, “no sibling bickering at the table please, we have guests.”

“Okay, dad,” Jackieboy snickers.

The fantasy guys seem very amused by Alt and Bro's bickering.

They did that all the time while they were in our world the first time, don't worry about it, Jameson says.

“What?? No we didn’t!” Alt argues, his cheeks turning a bit red.

“Impossible, you two bicker constantly,” Jackieboy laughs.

Both Bro and Alt look a bit embarrassed.

Now, as for the food...

"Right, yes, we must decide," Henrik says. "Jackie, are you okay if you split one of the, ah, sushi dishes with me?"

Jackie nods. "Sounds like a good idea. We'll get something to share just in case we don't like it.”

“I do want to try a ramen," Marvin says. "Ooo... is that chicken? They have a chicken one?"

“You all really want to try the sushi?” Henny asks, “if you are put off by the raw fish I do know there are some cooked ones… like this one! It is tempura or fried shrimp. Or the California rolls have false crab in it which does not taste like the raw fish.”

“Oh fuck yeah, I want tempura shrimp- I’m gonna get the roll that has that with crab on top!” Jackieboy says excitedly.

"No, I'm too stubborn to back down now," Jackie says.

Chase bursts into laughter. "You just said it out loud?!”

“I might as well be honest about it! But, uh, Alt, you'll probably have to give us a recommendation... Back home we usually get sea bass, salmon, and cod when fishing. Oh, but we do have those eels near the Cliffs of Feall."

Henrik makes a face. "No eel. Too slimy.”

“Oh! I like salmon but my favorite is tuna. Eel is good too though.” Alt grins. “Spicy tuna is my favorite of all.”

Bro sticks his tongue out and Alt elbows him.

"I don't know if we have tuna," Jackie says slowly. "I'll be willing to try that. Without the spice, though. Henrik?"

Henrik nods. "Might as well."

Alt grins wide, looking excited. “Alright! Let’s get a tuna roll then!”

“Usually if you’re eating sushi at a place like this- you order a bunch of rolls and share with others,” Jackieboy explains. He then looks down and grins wide as he finds a sheet a paper. “Oh fuck yeah! I forgot this place does all you can eat sushi!” He quickly looks for a pencil- and Alt glitches to give him one and they start to mark down the rolls they wanna get.

"Oh good! I was hoping we could do that!" Jackie says. He and Henrik lean over to look at what the other two are getting.

“I'm more open to the cooked seafood," Chase says. "I think... there's a ramen with that... What did you say? Shhrimp?"

“Oh yes! Shrimp is very good,” Henny smiles. “I quite like the shrimp ramen.”

Jameson shakes his head. There are so many options, and they're all so different than what we're used to!

Dr. J leans next to his other self, “Are you wanting to try something new or something closer to what you usually eat?”

Jameson shrugs. New, I suppose. But not as new as 'raw fish'.

Dr. J chuckles, “then maybe you could try… hm… the udon here is very good if you’d like soup. Or the pork cutlet is also good.”

Jameson nods. Yes, Alt explained the noodles to us... How is it different from the other noodle soup?

"You mean, how is oo-don different from ramen?" Chase says. "Uh... well I think these are pictures of each." He points out images on the menu. "It looks like ramen has smaller noodles and more meat and other ingredients." Jameson looks at that, head tilting.

Perhaps... but the pork also sounds very good.

"Maybe we can get a pork cutlet and we can split it between us," Marvin suggests.

“Oh yes, udon is a thicker noodle. Very filling and savory.” Dr. J explains. “I am very fond of the pork cutlet as well- though I worry you two might not get enough if you share…”

"Oh, so it's a small dish?" Marvin says.

“It’s a decent size if you’re eating alone, smaller of course if you share,” Dr. J chuckles.

Marvin hums, "But the udon is filling... Well, how hungry are you, then, Jair?"

Jameson thinks about it. Not very. I'll just get the pork, then.

"You can have some of my ramen if it turns out you're still hungry," Chase suggests. "Or if you're brave, you can try the sushi they're all ordering."

I think I'll wait for their reactions first.

Dr. J laughs, “Alright that sounds good.”

“Anyone else want any sushi?” Jackieboy asks.

“I’m getting some shoyo ramen-“ Bro says as he stretches.

“Pussy-“ Alt coughs.

“Alright alright,” Jackieboy laughs. “Henny what are you gonna get?”

“The yakisoba!” Henny smiles.

“Hmm…” Dr. J hums as he looks over the menu, “I see there is a pork cutlet roll… maybe I’ll try that tonight.”

“Woah! Dr. J trying something new!” Bro grins, “That’s a surprise!”

“You’re one to talk Chase,” Dr. J laughs, “I figured our friends are being adventurous so I should try too. Though… hardly call a roll with pork and rice adventurous.”

Alt marks that down on the sushi list. “Alright! Want me to flag down our server then?”

"Yes, I think we are ready!" Henrik says.

"So many noodles in these dishes," Jackie mutters.

"I think that's because noodles are made from grain," Marvin says. "And they have that rice, too, which is also a grain. Back home, we have bread and oats instead of noodles and rice.”

“Every culture has a grain," Henrik agrees.

“I can’t imagine living in a world without noodles,” Jackieboy laughs. “It’s my kids favorite thing to eat! Plus- they’re just fun.”

Alt flags over the waitress and hands their sushi list and points out who’s eating the sushi. She then smiles at the others and asks. “What can I get the rest of you?” Henny and Bro relay their orders to her. She then looks to the fantasy mask boys.

"I'll get the shrimp ramen, and my friend here will get the pork cutlet," Chase says, gesturing to Jameson. Jameson smiles and nods.

"Um... and I'll get the chicken ramen, please," Marvin says.

"We are getting sushi with these guys," Jackie says, gesturing to him and Henrik, and then at Alt and Jackieboy.

The server nods and smiles, “Okay! That’ll all be out soon.”

“Thanks!” Jackieboy says then leans on the table towards the others. “And now we wait… we should try to figure out what you all wanna do for your last day here!”

“Oh yes that is right-“ Henny nods, “you all said you only wanted to stay about 3 days…” he then frowns sadly, “That is so soon though!!”

Dr. J smiles and pats Henny on the back, “Don’t borrow grief from the future, Henrik. We still have a whole day to spend.”

The fantasy guys look at each other. "We can add on a couple more days if we really have to, but I think that will be pushing it," Jackie says.

"Three days is a good sign," Chase says.

Marvin nods. "And so are five days, seven, ten... most people who plan trips stay for at least seven days, because it often takes so long to travel there." He shakes his head. "But, uh, we do have business to take care of back home."

Jameson nods. We're sure that the rest of the Phantoms can handle it, but who knows if time will pass differently back home? Shorter is better.

"I do worry about Jack," Chase says slowly.

Dr. J nods, “That’s understandable… Jack hasn’t been himself for a very long time. I’m sure there’s a lot in the kingdom that needs to be fixed.”

Chase smiles sadly. "A long time, yea... He had difficulty walking after that spirit left. But, uh, we helped him with that. His body is adjusted, but he'll need to work on his mind some more...”

“Yeah- all that stress… no wonder you all wanted a vacation.” Bro chuckles.

Jackieboy smiles, “We’ll make it fun, promise.”

“Oh before you all got here- JJ and Marvin said they’d like to explore the magic part of town with me.” Alt says, “I dunno how many of you want to join us though.”

“Hmmm… oh! Maybe while you do that- I could take some of the other guys to spar at your old place!” Bro grins.

Jackieboy raise an eyebrow, “You really think they want to fight while they’re taking a break here?”

“…I dunno! I like doing it!”

“Hmm?" Henrik blinks. "I think I would be more interested in the magic than the fighting."

You could get inspiration for more potions! Jameson says.

"Yes, exactly!" Jackie grins. "I would love to spar! That's what I do in my free time anyway!"

“See!” Bro gestures towards Jackieboy who rolls his eyes.

“Then- guess you all could do that…” he says. “But- that won’t take all day… what’s another thing you all wanna do?”

And you all mentioned something about... pride, I think? Jameson says. Though I don't think we really understood what that meant.

“Oh! Uh-well there’s Kemptown…? It’s a part of town that has a bunch of stuff for uh- people like us. Like those terms I told you all about before.” Alt says.

Ohhhh! Jameson nods, understanding.

"So would I not be allowed to go?" Chase asks.

Marvin nudges him. "I'm sure they wouldn't keep you out. Besides, are you really sure you only prefer women?”

“I'm married to one!”

“There's a first time for everything," Jackie says jokingly.

Chase rolls his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure.”

“You’re still welcome, Chase,” Dr. J laughs. “They allow me and Jackie just fine.”

“Yeah but I’m bi-“ Jackieboy adds.

“You still have a wife, outwardly you don’t look it.” “...Are you saying I look gay??” “No, I’m saying the opposite! Are you even listening to me??” Bro and Alt burst into laughter.

"I am very curious about the ghost pier," Henrik says.

Chase points at Henrik. "Yes, I agree. Ghost pier." He chuckles. "I guess I'm interested in spirits now."

“I mean considering all you have endured that makes sense!” Henny says.

Jackieboy laughs, “I dunno if there’s much to see at that ghost pier… it’s just an old burned down pier.”

“Maybe that’s just cuz you don’t believe in ghosts-“ Alt says with a smirk.

Jackieboy makes a face at him. “I-it’s not that I don’t believe! It’s just like… the ghost Hunter guys on the Telly are really fake about it-“

“You have ghost... hunters?" Jackie asks.

Henrik leans over. "Hmm... on the east continent, where Alterde is, we do have monster hunters.”

“You do?!" Jackie looks at him in shock. "How come you never told me?! All these years!”

“I am pretty sure I have told you, you just have not remembered it."

“What?! Monster hunters?! That sounds sick as hell!” Bro exclaims excitedly. “I’d fucking love to wrangle some monsters!”

Henrik chuckles. "To be honest, they always scared me as a child. Always looking so tough, and many of them had scars and carried around giant weapons.”

“That sounds 'sick as hell'!" Jackie gasps.

"I think I do remember you saying something like this before..." Marvin mues. "It's because there are more creatures out in the wild over there, while on Glasúil the magical beings tended to stay in isolated areas far from people."

Henrik nods. "Though I hear that even over there, many of the creatures are disappearing."

Probably because of the monster hunters, Jameson says.

Alt laughs, “Well… I dunno if we’ll actually see any ghost hunters but… I bet you could find out more about spirits if you come with us to look at magic stuff tomorrow.” He grins.

“Ooo!" Marvin grins. "We'll look forward to it, then! Chase? Does that make you want to come, too?"

Chase hums. "I'll think about it."

Alt chuckles and shrugs, “Up to you, dude! Anyone is welcome~ cuz you’ll have me!”

“Aw, thank you, Alt!" Chase says, grinning.

“Dudeee!! Henrik, Think we could ever go visit there?!” Bro asks with sparkling eyes. “I want to be a monster hunter!!”

Dr. J frowns, “That would be awfully dangerous, Chase…”

“Yeah but we’ve never really fought monsters before! It’d be so cool!!”

Henrik chuckles. "It is probably not as exciting as you expect. From what I remember, you almost always have to go out to find something exciting." His expression becomes serious. "And JJ is right, it is pretty dangerous.”

“Oh come on, Schneep, you can't just casually mention you have monster hunters back home and then expect us not to react!" Jackie says.

"Well, it is also a three-week sailing journey to get to the continent from Glasúil," Henrik points out.

“Oh- right… that’s a long ass time,” Bro deflates.

Jackieboy pats him on the shoulder sympathetically.

"Yes, a long time," Henrik agrees. "And that is one of the smaller travel times across the sea. It is also three and a half weeks to Leylodka in the north, five weeks to the south continent, six and a half weeks to the west continent, and so long to the far east--that is on the other side of the world, to the point it could also be called the far west.”

“Oh my god- that’s so insane,” Bro says, “I can’t imagine not being able to fly anywhere!! Like the boat was fun but we only had to be on it for two days… imagine months!!”

Jackie laughs. "Yea, I'd be pacing the deck all the time!”

“I still very much remember the journey I took to Glasúil," Henrik recalls. "I spent three weeks in a tiny cabin. I do not understand why people would do that for fun--though Vsevna and his crew seem to enjoy the sea, so clearly it is for a certain type of person.”

“I mean… I did like climbing the rigging and seeing the sea from up high but I’m not sure I could do that for weeks,” Jackieboy chuckles. “Then again- I think we’re all used to you know… our phones and internet and stuff so we get bored really easily.”

Bro blinks from where he’s been looking at his phone and then sheepishly puts the screen against the table.

The fantasy guys all laugh.

"That is why sailors often entertain themselves!" Henrik says. "You saw them all sparring and such while they were not working. They also share stories and play games and have small hobbies like woodcarving and sewing. The ship I came to Glasúil on even had some other passengers put on plays!"

“Ohh! That sounds delightful!” Henny beams.

“Just think about how much reading you could get done,” Dr. J muses with a smile.

“Huh… maybe I need a better hobby-“ Bro hums, rubbing the back of his neck.

Alt chuckles.

"If you're ever actually stuck on a boat for weeks at a time, I'm sure you'll find some way to entertain yourself," Chase laughs.

“Yeah,” Bro laughs, “I bet something like… wood carving could be fun. I dunno-“

Then, finally- their food arrives! The servers set a large stone tablet with colorful rolls of rice in front of the sushi eaters- then big bowls of soup for Chase and Marvin. There seems to be long strips of something fried sticking out of Chase’s soup with pink tails at the ends. Then a plate of noodles for Henny and a plate of a breaded pork cutlet and rice for Jameson.

"Ohhh, it all looks so good!" Marvin gasps. He glances at the sushi. "Even that.”

“Does that mean you want to try some?" Jackie asks.

"No way in the world."

Jackie laughs.

"Hmm... so this is shrimp," Chase says, picking up a fork and poking one of them. "They look so strange." He hesitates, then shrugs. "Well. Start with the strange." He stabs the shrimp and takes a bite. "Oh! That's a lot--richer than I was expecting! Maybe it's the soup?"

Next to him, Marvin is already digging into his ramen. He pulls his hair back to keep it from getting in the broth, conjuring up a small bit of magic to tie it off--and wincing at how even that seems to take effort when it wouldn't have before.

Jameson is scooping up the rice in fascination. He seems delighted by both it and the cutlet.

Bro eagerly starts to slurp up his ramen, definitely splashing some of it. Henny eagerly digs into his noodles.

Henrik looks at Jackie. "Well, do we try it together?”

“Sounds good," Jackie agrees. "Alt, do we use a fork or just our hands?"

“Oh well- usually you use chopsticks… but those are hard to use.” Alt says. “So uh- it’s best to eat it all at once, using your hands is fine.” Alt grabs his chopsticks and demonstrates, scooping up a piece with orange and brown sauce on it and bits of crumbled bits. He stuffs it into his mouth- then stims a bit. “Mmm fuck yessss”

Jackieboy and Dr. J laugh.

"Alright, here we go, then." Jackie picks up one of the sushi rolls. Henrik picks up another, and the two of them tap them against each other in a sort of toast.

"On three," Henrik says.

"One..." Jackie says. "Two... Three!"

Both of them eat their sushi at the same time.

All of the guys watch in anticipation as their expressions shift rapidly as they each consider the taste.

"Well?" Marvin asks.

"This is... so strange," Jackie says. "Hold on, I need another to figure this out." He grabs another.

"I do think I like it." Henrik's expression gradually brightens.

Alt grins and puts up his hands in celebration. “yeah!!”

Dr. J smiles and goes to grab one of his rolls, chewing and then smiling even wider. “That is not bad… It's fresh tasting with the greens.”

Jackieboy and Alt grin at each other in victory before grabbing their own sushi and delighting in the taste.

Jackie chews slowly. "Yea... I think I like it, too. But I think I liked the pizza better."

The other guys all laugh.

Henrik takes another roll. "You are right, JJ, the green helps it taste fresh," he says.

"Are you three sure you don't want to try it?" Jackie asks.

"I'm good with this," Chase says, slurping up some of the ramen. You shouldn't slurp like that, Chase, Jameson says. It's not a pleasant sound.

There's another slurp next to him, and Marvin freezes in embarrassment. He quickly sucks up a noodle hanging from his lips. More laughing.

“Actually! In Japan, slurping is a sign of respect to the chef!” Jackieboy grins. “So slurp away!”

"Oh really?" Marvin blinks. "That's interesting!"

Bro grabs his bowl and makes an even bigger slurping sound.

Alt snorts.

Jameson makes a face. Not something I'll do, regardless.

“I agree- it still doesn’t feel polite.” Dr. J says, nodding with his other self.

Bro makes an even bigger slurping sound, holding his bowl close to JJ’s face. He grumbles.

Chase laughs at Bro's antics, while Henrik and Jameson roll their eyes.

"Preference is preference," Chase shrugs, and happily slurps along.

"What is this plant, anyway?" Jackie asks, holding up a sushi roll. "It's not familiar."

“Oh? You mean the green stuff in the middle? That’s seaweed!” Alt says.

"Oh! Seaweed!" Jackie turns the sushi roll over in his hand. "I didn't know you could eat that.”

“Me either," Henrik agrees. "I only know it as something that gets caught on the hull of boats." He takes another bite of sushi. "Very good, though!"

“Mhm!” Alt beams, “they dry it out and salt it! It’s really good!”

“Zara’s family even has like- snack packs of seaweed to eat,” Jackieboy laughs, “got the kids hooked on them!”

"Hmm. I don't know if I would go that far," Jackie says. He picks at the seaweed, pulling it off the main roll and eating it. "Yea, it's sort of bland without the rice and fish.”

“Hey, do either of you want to try some of the ramen?" Chase asks, holding up his bowl. "Look, the bowl has these nice handles on either side for transport. I can hand it right over to you.”

“Yes, thank you," Henrik and Jackie say at the same time.

This initiates a swapping spree where all the guys sample each other's foods (except for the sushi), just like what happened at Shelter Hall. They're all pretty satisfied with what they ordered, but like the other dishes too.

Henny chuckles, “It is so fun to see you all swap around and share. Why don’t we do that?”

“Don’t touch my food-“ Bro says with a full mouth.

“…that’s why,” Dr. J snickers.

“Chase will bite off someone’s finger if they try to take his food,” Jackieboy laughs.

Bro doesn’t even look sorry.

Jackie laughs. "Marvin and I are usually the same! I guess we're feeling extra generous!”

“It's because these dishes are all so new," Marvin says. "It's only fair that everyone get a chance to try. We might not get another opportunity!" He pauses. "But now that you've all tried, the rest is mine."

Chase laughs. "That reminds me of Amabel. She won't share her food with anyone, not even her brother."

“Chase was like this growing up too,” Alt laughs. He pushes some sushi to Henny. “You wanna try, Hen?”

“Oh! Yes please! Thank you, Boltzen!” the gentleman beams, taking the piece offered. Then he blinks rapidly and sticks out his tongue. “Ah ah! Hot!!”

“Oh- forgot that was a spicy one..!” Alt says sheepishly.

Most of the other guys chuckle at Henny's misfortune.

Oh come on, you four, Jameson says. That's not funny.

"I-it's just the face he made," Marvin says, grinning. "I promise I wouldn't usually laugh at something like that.”

“Yes, it is the same for me." Henrik absentmindedly reaches for another roll of sushi. "By the way, what type of tree is this? I have never seen one with pink feathers--leaves! I mean leaves!"

Henny waves after chugging a glass of water. “No no is okay!! I know Alt did not mean it. And I am sure I looked quite funny.” He laughs.

While Henrik is distracted talking, Jackie subtly switches out the roll he's reaching for for one with the spicy sauce, grinning in an obvious way.

“Oh yeah! I told the others earlier but that’s a cherry blossom tree,” Alt smiles. Then blinks as he watches Jackie. …he hates to admit he kinda wants to see Henrik’s face… the others seem too distracted by their own food to notice.

"Ohhh, interesting!" Henrik says. "Does it actually make cherries?" He puts the sushi in his mouth--and immediately starts coughing, eyes going wide.

“Uh yeah but they’re really sou-“ Alt starts to say but then starts slightly at Henrik’s reaction.

Jackie bursts into laughter. "I thought you would notice that, Schneep!”

“Jackie! You--you [gobukye]!" Henrik continues to cough.

Marvin raises an eyebrow. "That's a new word. What language is that?"

Henrik is not able to answer right away, as he's still recovering from the surprise spice.

Jackieboy goes to pat Henrik on the back, almost worried he’s choking. “Jesus-! A-Are you okay?!”

"Gah! I am fine." Henrik clears his throat. "I am usually better at the spicy foods than these other four! I suppose it caught me off guard. A-anyway. Sour cherries? Interesting."

Jackie's smile fades a bit. "Uh, sorry, Henrik.”

“Is fine, I will forgive you... if." Henrik grins. "If you eat one of your own.”

“What?!"

Jameson laughs silently. It's only fair, after all!

Alt blinks then grins, pushing one of his spicier ones forward. “Yeah, Jackie. You’re brave, aren’t ya?”

“Ohhh those are fighting words!” Bro whispers with a grin.

Jackie's eyes dart back and forth. "Uhhh...”

“Come on, Jackie, you can handle it!" Marvin eggs him on.

"This is a threat!" Jackie says.

"We're not making you do anything," Chase says, grinning. "We're just saying. It would be fair, then."

Jackie hesitates, then takes a deep breath and squares his shoulders. "Fine." He picks up the offered spicy sushi. After a moment of hesitation, he shoves it in his mouth. His face immediately turns red and he reaches for a glass of water.

Alt, Bro and Jackieboy burst into laughter. Henny winces a bit in sympathy but hides a laugh behind his hand.

“Man, I get it spicy- but this is just good eats for me~!” Alt says, taking one of the last pieces eating it easily.

“I swear- you got a crazy spice tolerance, Alt.” Jackieboy laughs.

Jackie, clearly, does not. His face remains red even after he's downed the glass of water. "Not so bad," he lies, voice strangled.

Bro hides another laugh at the way Jackie’s voice cracks.

"Weee don't have many spicy foods back home," Marvin says. "Though I remember one time, when I was a child, my family hosted an ambassador from, uh... Ta... Tab... Tabkunawa..." He says the name slowly. "She brought a chef with her who made spicy dishes.”

“Where is that place?" Chase asks, interested.

"South continent. West of Kha'Nyphthis where Nemet is from. Has some really big lakes, practically inland seas."

“Ohhh that place sounds fancy,” Jackieboy says. “I wonder what’s the equivalent to that here…”

"Oh, it was very fancy--though in a different way than Glasúil," Marvin says. "The south continent is rich. It's full of gold and spices and other things to trade. “

“Vsevna and Nemet have both told me that the architecture there is a marvel," Henrik says. "Though it is quite hot. There are many deserts and jungles."

“Ohhh!” Henny says with shining eyes, “That sounds so unique! Very different from here in England for sure.” He then sticks out his tongue. “Oh… my tongue is still stinging… how do you eat this all the time, Alt?” Alt shrugs with a grin.

“I remember Alt started liking spicy foods a lot when our aunt tried to get him to stop cursing as a kid and tried to put hot sauce on his tongue,” Bro chuckles, “It didn’t work cuz Alt ended up liking it too much.”

“And I still cursed like a sailor~!” Alt grins mischievously.

Chase winces just thinking about the spice on his tongue. "That would be effective on me."

“Oh Aunt Isla felt really bad about it at first- apparently it’s something her mom used to do to her and our dad. Think it’s an older generation thing.” Bro shrugs. “But- Alt was a bit of a gremlin as a kid.”

Alt sticks his tongue out at him.

"Oh, I can see that." Chase laughs. "I was a wild child, too. Always running around. But stories could always get me to calm down. That's probably why I remember so many.”

“Oh! Stories worked for me too!” Bro grins. “Our Emmy used to sit us down and tell us all sorts of Irish folktales and mythical stories! But- they didn’t work all the time- so then they’d need to take me somewhere to run all my energy off.” He laughs.

“Hey, me too!" Jackie grins. "Though nothing could get me to calm down. My parents always had to send me out to do manual labor until I didn't feel the urge to climb all over things."

Jameson laughs silently. You all remind me of my sister Orla. She was like that. Though for her, she loved to go riding. My parents let her do that whenever she wanted, but she had to take care of the horses. To teach her responsibility.

“Ugh- horses…” Alt grumbles. “Horses are too tall… dun like em-“

Dr. J snorts, “Think you missed the point of his story, Alt-“

Jameson laughs some more. They aren't TOO common in Glasúil. Especially near the mountains, where things get rocky.

"You would like mountain ponies more than horses if your main issue is the height," Henrik says. "They are meant for treading the Northavens--and the base of the Dragon's Teeth. The actual peaks of the Dragon's Teeth are too steep for them."

Alt hums in thought at this then shrugs, “Guess I wouldn’t be opposed to trying that.” He then spears one of the leftover pieces of sushi with a slight far off expression. “…the King made me ride a horse a lot on the way to the Wyldwoods… it wasn’t… too bad after a while… I guess.”

Bro looks a bit concerned at Alt. He remembers how freaked out Alt used to get at camp as kids around the horses… everytime he hears something the King made Alt do- it just makes him angrier.

The fantasy guys all look at Alt with sympathy.

"Well... I guess horses are faster," Chase says slowly. "But walking is fine too if you're more comfortable with that. Maybe next time we could teach you a bit... only if you're sure about it, Alt. You know?" The others nod.

No one would make you ride a horse if you didn't want, Jameson says.

"And h-hey, if you don't know, maybe you can get pulled along in a carriage!" Jackie grins. "It's more comfortable than a saddle!"

“Hm?” Alt snaps out his semi-daze and blinks up at the others. He flushes a bit and waves his hand, “Oh uh- I-it’s okay! You all don’t need to make that kinda accommodations for me! I’m sure next time we visit I’ll be fine…!” He smiles even if it seems a bit uneasy.

“It would be no problem,” Henrik says. “But if you are sure…” He pops another of the sushi—thankfully not spicy this time—in his mouth. Looks like they are rapidly running out of rolls.

“Uh, anyway—cherry blossom tree,” Jackie says. “Very pretty. Why didn’t we see something like this in the Wyldwood?”

“The blue leaves weren’t impressive enough for you?” Marvin asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Blue was too close to green. Also those trees weren’t as friendly.”

“Blue leaves sound magical!” Henny says excitedly, “Blue plants are actually very hard to find in nature!”

“Yea, they are back home, too,” Chase agrees. “It was definitely bizarre to see!”

Seems like most everyone is close to finishing their food now. Jackieboy looks out through the window and frowns at the still pouring rain. “Hmm… it’s still early in the night but this rain might make it hard for us to do other things tonight…”

“We can go back to the inn, it’s not a problem,” Marvin says. “We didn’t get much sleep, so we can go to bed early.” He frowns for a moment. Why does it feel like an important thing, for his friends to be asleep? He must want to look out for them.

“Hey, maybe you guys will find more movies to watch,” Jackieboy laughs.

“Oh yes!” Jackie nods eagerly. “We can find more animation!”

“Or we can see if there are more types of movies,” Henrik says. Jameson nods in agreement.

“…that’s probably good though. I haven’t seen my family all day…” Jackieboy sighs.

Henny pats his back, “It seems Zara understands how much you want to be with our visiting friends!”

“Yeahhh I’m real lucky she’s in town for a bit,” Jackieboy chuckles, “If she was back on the ship we’d have a bunch of little gremlins stuck to our hips.”

Alt pushes his plate back then stretches, “If you want to turn in early I can glitch you all back!”

Chase slurps up the last of his ramen broth. “We are keeping an eye on the time tonight. Uh… what are times that are late? What numbers should we keep an eye out for?”

“Well- that depends…” Alt chuckles, “Some people consider 10 pm late.” He looks at Dr. J, who shrugs, “It’s late if you get up before noon everyday-”

“It’s about 8’ o clock right now… but you all probably tell by the moon, right?” Jackieboy hums, bringing out his phone. “Mmm midnight is pretty late, that’s when the moon is highest in the sky. And you know it’s real late when it’s halfway to theeee west. That’s about 3 am for us.”

“Not sure the moon analogy will help on a rainy night,” Dr. J chuckles.

“Well… now they know the times! There’s a clock in the room isn’t there?!” Jackieboy says defensively.

“Oh, your moon appears at the same spot every night?” Chase asks. “That must be helpful!”

Bro blinks in bewilderment, “Your moon doesn’t??”

“No, it rises and falls at different times depending on the day and time of the year,” Chase says. “Full moons rise especially late in the night, when it’s closer to morning than midnight!”

“Oooh! …you know it probably does that here too-“ Bro says sheepishly. Dr. J sighs heavily, “It does, Chase.”

“Well I-!! Don’t look at the sky enough to notice!! That’s why we have clocks!!” Bro whines, his face red.

Chase laughs. “I guess if you have magic time-telling devices where you made time into numbers, then you wouldn’t need to worry about knowing the moon cycle.”

“That’s so bizarre,” Marvin marvels. “Even young kids learn the year and day cycle back home.”

Bro looks even more embarrassed but just purses his lips.

Jackieboy laughs, “Yeah there’s no need really for us to know. Guess that’s just a perk of the modern age~!”

Jameson frowns. But JJ is right about the rain.

“I have the times.” Henrik taps the side of his head. “It is eight now. We are four hours from the middle of the night.” He traces the English numbers with his finger, drawing them out on the table surface.

“I can write the time down for you too… or oh! Set a time on the phone you all have!” Alt grins.

“The time on the phone would probably be more helpful,” Jackie says. “Who had the phone last?”

“I have it.” Henrik takes it out of one of his coat pockets.

“Oh! Good planning Henrik,” Alt laughs. He takes it and sets up an alarm. “There- it’ll alert you guys at midnight so you’ll remember to sleep.” He hands it back to them.

“Thank you, Alt,” Henrik says. “Now, if the rest of us are done, I think we can go back to the hotel.”

It does look like the rest of the fantasy guys have finished their meals.

Luckily the server comes over to give their bill and Jackieboy starts to pay- but Dr. J swoops in to put his own card down.

Alt chuckles, “Alright, I can glitch you all over then.” He looks at the others and smiles, “We’ll text about plans for tomorrow right?”

“Definitely,” Jackieboy grins.

“I’ll meet you at home, little bro!” Bro grins. Jackieboy gives him a look,

“…you’re not planning to fly in the rain are you?” Bro blinks then messes with his hair, “…I dunno maybe? It’s kinda- uh- refreshing?”

“That is a very good way to get struck by lightning…” Henny muses.

“…fineee I’ll drive with one of youu-“ Bro says in defeat.

Alt laughs and gets up, grabbing his backpack and scooping up some leftover fish to stick in the opening, which eager paws come to swipe. “Alright then you lot- let’s find a good place for me to glitch ya!”

“Let’s go!” Jackie laughs, and the fantasy guys all follow Alt out of the restaurant.

The other swaps wave goodbye after them.

The rain pelts them as soon as they exit the restaurant- but Alt quickly steers them to the alley and grabs them all before glitching them away, directly into their hotel room. He shakes off his hair with a grimace. “Jesus- thank god we decided to stay in.”

Jackie shakes off his hair, getting rid of the little rain that fell on it. “Yea, thank the Elders,” he says.

Henrik takes off his coat and hangs it up in the closet to dry. “Well even if we did stay in, it was still quite fun!” He says cheerfully.

Jameson nods. I had a great time.

“We’ll see you all tomorrow, then?” Marvin says, grinning. “We’ll try not to stay up too late this time. The alarmer should help.”

Alt grins and salutes. “Yup! You guys have a good night!”

He glitches out of the room and lingers a bit further down the hallway, thinking. “Hmm… should we visit Oli before it gets too late, Glits?” He asks his backpack. Glitches head bursts up and mewls and Alt laughs.

Then, Glitches suddenly freezes and then loudly hisses at something lingering in the shadows at the end of the hall. Alt startles and looks- only to see a figure with bright green eyes and parts of his body flickering with shadowy mist.

His eyes widen- a vestige! Shit! He hadn’t had a chance to work on wards to protect the others! He got too distracted! He tries to shout out- to glitch to stop it-!

But it appears behind him in a burst of smoke and covers his mouth quickly.

Then- in a burst of black smoke… they’re gone.

The fantasy guys are unaware of this, of course.

After they say goodbye to Alt, they settle into the hotel room. "Are we actually going to just watch a bunch of movies?" Jackie asks.

Chase picks up the controller. "Well, I don't see what else there is to do in here. I think we need a special box and those controllers to play video games. And none of us brought anything else to do.”

“I could spar?" Jackie suggests. He'd left his swords in the room all day, since the others said he wouldn't need them, but he does miss them.

"Yes, please do that, and then the innkeeper will charge JJ more money for the giant gash you leave in the wall," Henrik says.

"Hey!...that's fair." Jackie sighs. "It's too cramped in here."

Surely we can find a lot of things on the television, Jameson says.

"Oh, that's the word for the TV in handspeak?" Chase asks, noticing the last gesture.

It's what Henny taught me! Jameson smiles.

Marvin plops down on the sofa. "Let's just see what we can find."

They manage to watch one movie, but then Chase and Jameson end off dozing off near the end. And Jackie joins them halfway through the next one. Marvin and Henrik spend the next while talking quietly with each other under the volume of the movie, and then the alarm Alt set on the phone starts ringing, waking up the other three.

"Gah!" Henrik shouts. "How do we stop the sound?!"

Luckily, the button he taps seems to silence it. And then about ten minutes later it starts going again. And then ten minutes later, when most people are settled into bed, it goes off again.

"Schneep, clearly the button you're pressing isn't working," Jackie groans. "Press something else.”

“Alright, alright!" Henrik says, tapping wildly.

This time, he's able to silence it permanently.

In the other room, Marvin lays awake, wondering why he can't sleep. He hears Henrik silence the alarm for the final time. The other four must go to sleep soon after, but he stays there, laying in bed.

As silence falls across the rooms and the moon rises high in the dark cloudy sky… sleep is hard to come by. Just when it feels like Marvin can finally shut his eyes and drift off, a sharp compulsion flares in his head. He was needed somewhere… Jack. He needs to find Jack. Green magic flares up bright in his eyes and… a location is branded in his mind. That’s where he can find Jack.

He needs to go there- now.

Marvin jolts back up, surprised. Yes. Of course, he needs to--needs to go there. Jack will help him. He gets up and grabs his shawl and the small card that would let him get back into his room, then leaves out the other door into the hallway, not bothering with the adjoining door.