#nrunfic

The next days went by in a flash. At first glance, everything had gone back to how they were before the whole ordeal with Anti. The house had been cleaned up and fixed, badly if you asked Chase whose body was full of scratches from all the chair he broke. Jack was still locked up in his room, Henrik kept telling the others not to disturb him as he was still recovering from his coma. Jackie and Henrik went back to leaving the house at ungodly hours once again, one saving the city and the other saving the people. As for Jamie and Marvin, they both went back to their hobbies, destroying the house a little bit more with every magic stunt they could think of even through all the lingering injuries they had. But if you looked deeper, things weren’t as bright as they were.

Three days after Anti had disappeared in thin air and everyone had thought that everything was only a bad dream, that the harsh reality fell on them. They were each in their room, Chase mindlessly scrolling through Jack’s channel to jog his memory on who he was exactly when a blood-curling scream made him drop his phone on the floor. Was Andy back? He jumped on his feet and ran toward the source of the scream, now mixed with sobs. He threw open the door to find Marvin kneeling on the floor, looking intently at his hands. The magician turned slowly his head to look at the newcomer, tears rolling down his cheeks. He dragged himself further from Chase, squeezing his hands against his chest.

“Don’t...don’t get near me! I might hurt you again!”, cried Marvin, still trying to get as far away from Chase as possible.

“It’s OK Marvin, you won’t hurt me... Just take deep breath, whatever it was, it was only a bad dream.”

He could still see Marvin’s hand trembling and fear in his eyes when he took a step closer the magician. He crouched not far from him but also not too close that he could jump to his throat. Trust was a scarce thing recently.

“What did you see?”

“I...I saw Anti again. He... He alone in a room and there was... there was you you. I’m not too sure why you were together. It didn’t seem like you guys were fighting. I tried getting closer but... I was paralyzed.”

Marvin took a shaky breath.

“I couldn’t do anything, Chase. I swear, I tried! I just wanted to reach out and get you out of here but I... just... couldn’t...”

Knowing that there was more to this story than what Marvin had say so far, Chase decided to sit on the floor in front of Marvin and placed a cautious hand on Marvin’s knee.

“What happened Marvin?”

“I’m not sure... You took a step forward and the moment your foot touched the floor, you crumbled to the floor. It was like your soul had left your body, Chase.”

Chase scooted closer to Marvin and removed his hand from Marvin’s knee to his shoulder, side hugging him.

“Like I said, it was only a dream, Marvin. Anti’s control on you, and me, is gone and Henrik is alright now. You don’t have to worry anymore. Try thinking of something else.”

“I’m trying, I promise. I just... I think with all that happened and all the hallucinations I got of you being controlled by Anti is really messing with my head.”

“You see? Your brain took the recent events and mixed them all together to mess with you!”

Chase squeezed Marvin’s shoulder a little when Marvin placed his head on his shoulder. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, never talking, just listening to the other breathing. Everyone was on edge, so it was a blessing to have a moment to relax close to Chase, even if Marvin could feel how tense Chase was. He could only hope that things would get better.

But it was only the beginning.

After that night, half of Chase’s night were spent on the floor of Marvin’s room with a weight on his shoulder and the other half were only a fuzzy memory for him. He could hardly remember what he did each night he woke up in his room. The few times he saw Henrik, he’d ask him about his memory loss, but Henrik would always answer the same thing.

“It’s a side effect of all the time Anti wiped your memory”, he said.

But it only happened at night.

“Your drinking problem doesn’t help. You should stop.”

But he did stop. Since Anti had left, Chase never drank a single drop of alcohol. Moreover, the very mention of tea made him feel sick and whenever he saw a bottle of whiskey he’d start hyperventilating and screaming for help. But he couldn’t bring himself to tell that to Henrik. Maybe he was right, and he was so drunk that he couldn’t even remember drinking it. But it never helped the feeling that was growing inside of him.

He still felt like a stranger in the house, like someone else should be here instead of him. He didn’t belong here. Chase knew he had lost all memory of his past. Nothing the others could do or show him made him remember. It had happened once that Marvin had show him a picture of his ex-wife and kids. But he felt nothing. Not even sadness at seeing a part of his life he lost. He just wanted to break something. These kinds of things meant nothing to him anymore, he wasn’t that person anymore! It only took him a few days to find the box filled with photos of him and his “family”. It only took him 15 minutes to get rid of them all. Jackie had tried to stop the fire, but it had already burned most of them.

The others didn’t know but Chase would sometimes catch them glancing at him with a look in their eyes, like they were tired of trying to help him to no avail. Chase understood, if he was in their situation, he’d have stop caring long ago. They still tried to spend time with him though. There was a kind of sadness behind their eyes, but they still laughed and smiled while being with Chase, like in the past. But sometimes, the truth would appear behind the cracks in their masks.

Jamie seemed to be the one the least affected by the last weeks, but it was only on the surface. He stopped making sounds all together, stopped tapping on the walls wherever he went, stopped walking with shoes indoor. He’d appear in rooms without warning, which didn’t please anyone. He didn’t mean to scare the others, but if he stopped making sound, maybe they would forget about him, about his betrayal. Marvin and Jackie had told Jamie again and again that they weren’t mad at him, since both him and Jackie had made deal with Anti, but he still felt responsible for harming the others. Nonetheless, he was the one who spent the most time with Chase, never stopping to try a hundred different things to jog his memory. He was restless and Chase both loved it and hated it. He acted like nothing had happened which made Chase feel like things would go back to normal. But one time, Jamie came into his room. He had knocked on the door, which meant that something was bothering him. Chase looked up from his phone and gestured for him to get closer. They both sat next to each other on the bed for a while, none of them making the first move. Finally, Chase had enough of the silence. He needed some answers.

“How...How did you guys get rid of Anti’s corruption?”

Chase’s knowledge on sign language had disappeared with his memory so the only way the two of them could communicate was by writing. Jamie had started walking around with a small notepad in case he had something to say. By what the others had told him, Jamie’s handwriting was normally neater but the fact he had a broken arm for a long time without treatment made his arm more sensible. So, Chase tried to communicate with him not often so that his arm could heal better.

“Henrik used the entirety of an antidote he spent months working on. He’s still angry at himself for not making more, well, that’s what Jackie told me.”

Chase nodded at Jackie, a ghost of a smile on his face before he went back to look at his hands. It didn’t make sense. The whole bottle on him? But he remembered the bottle rolling next to him when he woke up. It couldn’t be this one...right? He swore he saw it full. He was lost in a spiral of thoughts and doubts until Jamie placed a folded piece of paper in his hand before leaving. It took Chase a few minutes after Jamie had left the room to unfold the paper and read the messy handwriting of Jamie.

“I think Jack has never been in the upstairs room.”

He tore apart the message before letting it slip between his fingers. He never felt compelled to tell the others about his discovery. He didn’t feel the need to, they would find out one way or another.

As for the others, Jackie still tried to be the hero, the one who would help everyone at any moment. But Chase had caught him one time doing circle in his room which had turned from a bedroom to a hideout. The walls were filled with newspaper cut-out, pictures of people and maps of the nearby cities. There was even yarn from various color connecting one thing to another from wall to wall. Even if it was dark in there, Chase was able to decipher a few of the newspaper title and photos. They were almost all about crimes or suspicious thing. And on most of them, written with a big red marker was Anti’s name. Over and over. So, it wasn’t hard for Chase to realize that the reason Jackie was nearly never home was because of his search for Anti.

The same went for Henrik. He became a ghost, almost never talking or looking at the others. They could only catch glances of Henrik since he spent half his time in Jack’s room and the other half out of the house. They understood, he was trying to help as much as he could, and he had to make a new cure for Anti’s corruption since he used all of it on Chase, they said.

But even with knowing about how they all felt right now, Chase didn’t feel anything. He just felt numb, like a piece of himself had disappear after Anti. Nothing his friends could do or say made him feel human. He felt like an empty shell, being dragged left and right to act a certain way. He started being good at pretending emotions. Joy when Jamie played board game with him. Somewhat anger when Marvin would break something. Sadness when Henrik would talk about all the sick kids at the hospital. Shock when Jackie would say all the crazy stuff going around in town. But the thing was that it wasn’t like Chase to feel nothing. He was known as the caring type! The father! The silly happy guy... He could feel nothing but frustration in those moments. He was a shadow of who he used to be. He stopped watching the videos about himself. It only made him feel worst looking at that man and knowing that he could never truly be the person the others wanted.

Finally, one night, Chase have had enough. He had stay indoor for way too long and he felt restless. He had to do something, go out, leave this place for a few hours to clear out his head. He needed some distance from the others. He needed to see faces different from his. It was his lucky night though. Jackie had left an hour ago, an emergency happening in a nearby city and Henrik was, like usual, missing from the house. As for Marvin and Jamie, they were both curled up on the couch, half-asleep, half watching the romcom playing on the TV. It didn’t take a good reason for leaving with the two men, way too dazed and sleepy to stop him. He shrugged on a jacket and left the house without a second glance. The moment he stepped foot outside, the cold breeze blew into his face and he sighed. There was nothing better than this to feel refreshed and relaxed. The streets were practically empty at this hour, Chase didn’t mind. He thought he needed to see other faces, but he realized he just needed some truly alone time.

He walked for a good hour, passing a few people here and there but the streets stayed silent. He had to stop at one point to tie up his shoelaces when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look at his reflection in the windows of the closed electronic shop. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, but he felt a weight settle in his stomach. He squeezed the left side of his head, a headache slowly making him see spots in his vision. He decided that maybe it was time for him to go back home and call it a night. His walk did help him a lot, clearing up his head and taking deep breaths to relax. He started his way back home, his headache losing intensity but still irritating. Those things weren’t new to him, but it still bothered him a lot. Henrik had given him some pills to take to help with that, but it always slipped his mind to take these.

About twenty minutes later, Chase still hadn’t got home. He didn’t know how, but he was pretty sure he got lost on his way out. He didn’t feel lost, but he had no clue where he was heading now. It was like his feet had a mind on their own. He wouldn’t have minded if it wasn’t for how much his head was hurting him right now. A few minutes later, he finally stopped in front of an apartment building. It looked normal but Chase felt like something big was hiding in there. The thing was, he didn’t know what. He felt torn inside. He wanted to go back home, curl up next to Marvin and Jamie and sleep the night away but at the same time, he wanted to go inside the building and maybe find the answers or even, dare he say, get some of his memories back? Curiosity got the better of him and before he even realized, he was already going up the stairs, his feet echoing around him. One second, he was putting his feet on a step and the second after he was standing in front of a door. He didn’t waste any second wondering how it happened before he placed his hand carefully on the door handle. When he twisted it, he heard familiar voices behind the door. It only pushed him to open the door faster.

When Chase stepped into the apartment, the voices stopped talking. He took some tentative steps forward, looking left and right in case someone would jump at his throat. He was trespassing. His search for the voices came short when he entered the living room. Anti was sitting on the table, his legs dangling off the side of it, facing toward Chase. He smiled at him which Chase didn’t even acknowledge. He was more interested on the man sitting in one of the chairs, facing the other way. But he didn’t need to see his face to know who he was. He took another step and the other man looked at him, raising his cup of coffee toward Chase. What were Henrik and Anti doing here, together? Why were they here? It didn’t make sense. It didn’t add up. Jackie’s clues all led to Anti being in another town. Henrik was supposed to take care of people at the hospital. Did Henrik lie to them to see Anti? Did Henrik always lie to them?  In a useless attempt at stopping his throbbing headache, Chase doubled over in pain, squeezing his ears between his hands. He just wanted this to stop.

But it didn’t. He heard a chair screeching near him, way too close to his ears for comfort. He could hear Henrik and Anti talking about a way for him to stop hurting. Soon enough, voices started saying stuff in his head, voices resembling a lot like Marvin’s or Jackie’s. He could feel the headache coming back in force, the voices growing louder and louder. Why wasn’t the pain going away? A few tears rolled down his cheeks, he couldn’t deal with this pain anymore. After Chase had come to term with the fact he was dying on the floor of Anti’s apartment, his headache disappeared, and those annoying voices were drowned out by static. The static he remembered hearing when he woke up, surrounded by the others. The static he so much missed. He didn’t feel pain when he was hearing the static. He could faintly hear Henrik and Anti talking in the distance again, but he didn’t mind their voices. They weren’t loud. They weren’t painful.

Maybe if he stayed here, he’d no longer feel pain.

He stood up slowly, looking at Henrik and Anti in front of him, both smiling at him.

He sighed in relief.

Maybe if he stayed here, he’d finally feel at home.

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There it is guys, the end you (might have) waited for. I know i keep saying this but i’m truly sorry for the long wait between the last few parts.  I’m very happy to be done with this! I really liked writing this but I got stuck at one point in writing (i don’t know if you guys realized)  With this fic done, I can focus 100% on my next work! It’s going to be a big thing for me, so it might take a while before you guys hear about it. The last few parts made me feel sad when i posted them. Like yeah, they don’t have as much notes as the first one and I get it: people forgot the story or didn’t feel like reading all of it again (reminder, this thing is 28000 words long) But i came to term with it. Like yeah, notes are fun, but the thing I made and wrote for this fic changed me? Obviously, i’m not the best at writing in english, but i still think it’s understandable? It still made me more confident in my english! It also made me realize that with a little effort, I could finish a story I begin. So I don’t care about notes. I care about the small victories I won with this fic.

I hope you guys liked it and i’ll forever be grateful for everyone of you who took time to read my fic.

Thank you.

See you in another story

Chase turned back to Andy when he saw Jackie rush to the new stranger’s arm, looking relieved to see him. Andy was looking past Chase, staring at the two man who were laughing and hugging each other not too far away. Chase couldn’t decipher any emotion in his friend’s eyes, but his mouth was pulled into a tight line and his eyebrows were slightly furrowed. Chase wanted to go see the other two, a feeling deep in his gut telling him that he belonged with the joyful men but a small voice in his head kept telling himself that Andy needed someone more than them right now. He got closer to Andy, still in trance, and slowly took his forearm in his hand. The small gesture snapped Andy out of his mind and Chase dragged him toward Jackie and his friend, still smiling at Andy. They soon reached Jackie who turned to look at them, his happy expression rapidly turning into a closed one. Chase removed his hand and stood in front of the new man, a doctor probably by how he was dressed, and extended his hand to greet him. He was trying to keep his shaking under control, his fear of doctor still rooted in his brain.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Chase. I’m a friend of Andy here.”

Jackie choked on his own breath and not a second later, someone gripped Chase’s forearm and made him spin around and push behind someone else.

“Yeah, not gonna happen. We’re done here. It was really nice to see you guys again, but Chase and I are going to leave you alone,” said Andy, still gripping Chase’s arm firmly in his hand.

Chase was still confused by Andy’s actions. He seemed uncomfortable, like he was ready to run away at every opportunity. He started tugging Chase away, the confused man following him more by instinct than anything else.

“What are you running away from, Anti?”

Chase’s head whipped around to look at the doctor at the same time as Andy did, both surprised. While Chase was still trying to process why the doctor had called his friend Anti, Andy released his arm and stalked toward the doctor, only stopping when they were face to face,growling in the doctor's face.

“I’m running away from NO ONE. I’m just SICK of your little mushy-family feeling. It’s disgusting. Even after I’ve tear up your entire family, you still cling to one another, like your fucking life depends on them. But you’re all better than that. You don’t need those useless ties between yourselves. The other can only bring you down, that’s what I’ve been trying to make you realize. You all act like Jack is your savior, like he’s the one who’s going to make everything go back to normal. But it’s not.”

By now, Chase had joined the others, trying to piece together the missing pieces of his mind. Jackie, trying to stop Andy from getting closer to the doctor and maybe injure him, stepped forward and placed a hand on his chest. It only angered Andy more.

“How do you think I was able to mess with you guys in such a short period of time? How is it possible for one person to destroy a so-called ‘family’? It’s easy, Henrik. The ties between you all were weak. It can only hurt you in the future. As of me, I have no one but myself. I have no one to bring myself down. I have no one but myself to trust. There’s nothing people can use against me. Opening up to people only makes you weaker.”

The doctor, which name Chase just learned was Henrik, stepped forward, closing the space Jackie tried desperately to put between the two man.

“Exactly Anti. You have no one. You’re alone. When you learned that Jackie was feeling frustrated, you used that moment to have someone in your life. Even if it was only to play the bad role, you craved the friendship we share between us. When we sent Chase after you, you saw an opportunity to, yes break us apart, but feel like you belong somewhere, even if you forced it on him.”

Static soon filled the room, an even angrier Andy glitching sporadically on place. A second, he was standing in front of Henrik and the second after the two men were pressed against each other, the doctor pinned on the wall by the neck. A yelp escaped Jackie and Chase, both shocked of the force Andy was putting on Henrik’s neck. But weirdly enough, the doctor didn’t seems bothered by the hold on his neck, but by the closeness between them. When Chase saw Jackie take a step toward Andy, he held Jackie back by grabbing his shoulder. It confused Jackie even more, but he didn’t move afterward. The static in the room only got louder, making the discussion between Henrik and Andy muffled, but not enough that the two other men couldn’t hear them.

“I’m sick of playing pretend, Henrik. Sick of it. You think you understand what’s going on in my head. But you don’t because you don’t have to deal with as many shit as me. A lot of things are running around in my head. It looks like I’m the only one here stuck with the fan’s voices in here”, said Andy while pointing to his head.

”It’s really bothersome, you know. Hearing so many voices that you don’t even know which is yours. But now, I found a way to get rid of some of ‘em. It feel like a weight has been lifted. Now, what about Jackie and Chase, the poor souls that I supposedly used to feel loved?”

Andy’s attention turned back to Chase and Jackie standing awkwardly a few feet away from the conversation. His eyes landed on Jackie, a smile creeping on his face, before he beckoned him closer. When Chase looked at Jackie, his breath got stuck in his throat. Jackie’s eyes were black, his face devoid of any emotion. His arms were slack against his side, his head slightly lolling left and right. He slowly approaches Andy and Henrik, who started trashing and yelling to Jackie to stay put, but he kept coming closer. When he got near enough, Andy leaned and whispered something in his ear. There was a small twitch going across Jackie’s body before he got closer to Henrik and slammed his hand on the doctor’s throat, right above where Andy was holding him. A choke erupted for the doctor before Jackie squeezed harder.

“STOP PLEASE!”

All eyes fell on Chase. Henrik had difficulty keeping his eyes open, but Chase could see the pain and desperation in them. He was asking for help. He needed to help him. Jackie twitched a few times before he slowly turned his head to look toward Chase, making him shudder. He was under someone’s control, he knew who, but he didn’t want to admit it. Finally, Chase’s friend turned around, his arms crossed over his chest, looking almost bored and annoyed by him.

“What are you doing, Andy?”

A small huff of air left his mouth before he uncrossed his arms and stalked toward Chase. He started speaking, his voice low and tauting.

“I’m doing what every good friend would do to protect theirs, Chase. They abandoned you like you were useless to them except for being a bait. They got what they deserved. I’m helping you here.”

“Then I don’t want your help.”

Shock appeared on Andy’s face. He didn’t expect this answer.

“You’re better than this Andy. Pain won’t resolve pain. I never wanted people to get hurt. When you told me you were going to show me something about my past, I was ecstatic. I really thought it was going to be a happy reunion, people laughing and hugging each other. Telling anecdotes of things that happened since the last time I saw these people. But I don’t remember them. And you knew it. You used me to make people suffer, Andy. Why?

“That’s what I do best, Chase. Making people suffer”, answered Andy through gritted teeth.

“But you don’t have to! Nothing forces you to be like that! I just don’t understand! I really thought you were my friend, Andy! You seemed so happy to bring me here.”

“Things aren’t always exactly how they seems.”

Andy closed the distance between them and leaned in to whisper something so that Henrik and Jackie couldn’t hear.

“I brought you here because I thought that’ll be the thing that would make Jackie snap. I did all of that, so I could make you all suffer as much as I am. You don’t remember our role in this world, Chase. I always was the bad guy. You always were the depressed one. But you were strong enough to fight against your role. I’m not.”

Andy turned around at the same time as Jackie landed a strong punch to his face. He screamed something to Andy before continuing to punch him, but Chase was too stunned to react or hear anything while he was backing away. He had flashes of images of people, some of them being the men living in this house, going through his head but each of them made his head hurt more and more, like his brain was refusing to acknowledge them as more than illusions. He backed away from the fighting men to go assist the doctor. He looked at the doctor’s neck, trying to the best of his ability to check for big injuries and ignore the throbbing in his head. Chase looked around the room, trying to find a way to get him and the doctor away from the fight happening not far enough from them. But the only way out was the door who was blocked by broken furniture and a very glitchy Andy.

“We should find a way to stop Jackie and Andy from fighting.”

“His name is Anti, Chase. He lied to you. And we should let them fight, maybe then Anti will be stopped. Chase, you have to understand that Anti is our enemy. He makes deal with people then stab them in the back afterward. He’s the last person you should trust.”

“I don’t care what his name is. What I care about is them not hurting each other. Fighting won’t do anything except hurt even more people. Even if he’s the so-called bad guy and enemy, he took care of me and was my friend when I was alone. Even if he forced me into this situation, I might never forgive him, but I believe that people can change and amend for their mistakes. No one is truly a bad person!”

“Then you don’t really know Anti”, snapped Henrik back.

“And I don’t really know you either anymore”, answered Chase back before standing up and going toward the fight after looking the doctor for injuries. He didn’t know who he should trust or believe anymore. Proof were pointing in different direction and when he thought he knew who to trust, something else contradicted it. Anti and Jackie were standing face to face, both in a fighting stance.

“I never should’ve asked for your help! You’re a manipulative fuck, Anti!”

“Don’t beat yourself up Jackie. Jamie also asked for my help to have a voice. You know, if you guys wouldn’t talk nonstop over each other, maybe Jamie wouldn’t have felt like he needed to ask for my help”, said Anti, mockingly.

This comment only angered Jackie even more. The man jumped on Anti and started punching blindly toward his face before Anti glitched out of the way. It was a constant run after the other, one attacking and the other dodging. There was no way their fight would end soon, and Chase didn’t know what to do to stop them. He couldn’t run between them and ask them nicely to stop. He could scream as hard as he wanted, they wouldn’t listen to him. So, he took the only idea that might work. The sound of a glass bottle shattering on the ground snapped them out of their fight.

“Can’t you two STOP FIGHTING FOR ONCE? It looks like the only thing you two know how to do is fight! Why can’t you talk it out?”

“Chase, you don’t understand,” weakly said Jackie.” Anti only cares about messing with people.”

“No. I believe there’s good in him! I won’t change my mind about it! There’s good in everyone!”

Pain was the only thing Chase’s brain could register anymore. He didn’t know how this happened. His entire body started shaking, his vision going away and back repeatedly. His hand went to his stomach, blindly finding the source of this excruciating pain. His fingers lightly came in contact with a cold sharp object. He brought his fingers back toward his fuzzy vision, his brain trying to shut down in pain. He had blood on his hand, deep red blood. He looked up, everything happening in slow motion. In front of him stood Anti, his eyes black and his neck bleeding profusely. He leaned in, a sinister grin spread on his face.

“ 'm sick of hearing you talk. You should learn to keep your mouth shut for once.”

Chase felt the object twist in his stomach before a yell and a crashing sound made him fell backward. He felt a pair of hands pressing on his stomach, trying desperately to keep his blood in. He had difficulties to focus on anything but the pain. His half-closed eyes were fixated on Anti and Jackie fighting and destroying everything around them. Soon enough, the two were face to face, Jackie glaring at Anti furiously while the other was looking at him, an arrogant smile on his face. Through the white noise filling his ears, Chase was able to hear them talk and fight.

“You know Jackie...the thing about your bedroom’s door is...”

A punch landing on Anti’s cheeks made him fall to the floor. He started laughing, harder and harder and more messed-up and glitched out by the second. He looked up at Jackie, his head cocking to the right and smiling at him.

“...it unlocks when there’s no electricity.”

Black out. A single click. A distant laugh echoing through the house.

“Let's finally have some f̫̥u͔̰͚͢n̵͕. “

_________________________________

Really sorry for the long wait. I really thought I could finish it before going back to school but I guess I was lazy?? I’m sorry. Next part is (supposedly) going to be the last one! After that, I have two ideas for fic (One is a JSE one) so I might come back to you guys with something new. Thank you so much for waiting for this part and I hope you won’t be disappointed!

“Please! Don’t hurt my friend!”

Chase had acted on the spur of the moment, scared of what was happening to his friend. He had a firm grip on the other man’s arm, which didn’t seem to bother him as much as the pleading voice Chase used to talk to him. The stranger turned his head toward Chase, a mixture of sadness and anger in his eyes. His grip seemed to lessen on Andy’s shirt before he pushed him away from him. Chase scrambled to catch Andy to stop his fall.

“What are you doing here A̷͢n͏̵̷̨t̶̷͞͏͏í̷̴̡̛?”

Chase shook his head from left to right, rubbing his left ear. It was playing tricks on him. Sometimes, his ears would go deaf out of nowhere and it really bothered him. Andy had asked him a few times if he wanted to see a doctor for it, but Chase always refused. He feared them. He could remember clearly an appointment where his doctor had done some stupid things, trying to diagnose him with all the possible diseases or mental illnesses he could think of. The doctor had gone crazy by the end of it, even trying to strangle him. He wasn’t planning on going back soon.

“Chase? Come on, follow us buddy”, said Andy while nudging Chase’s side.

Snapping out of his mind, Chase followed the two other man, trailing behind them. They were talking in hushed voice between them and Chase felt very alone in this house. He felt like someone was looming over his shoulder, but no one was there. He didn’t know the other one, he did look similar but at this point, Chase never questioned this kind of thing. A damn cat reminded him of someone, but he couldn’t pinpoint who and it became more frustrating by the second. He stopped caring. He rubbed his arm together and looked around the house to keep his focus on something. The house seemed weird so far. Things were littering the floor in some room, like people were living here but had stop going in those room long ago. He only caught a glimpse of the kitchen, but it looked like some kind of fight happened there. A chill went up his spine at the thought. Maybe it was a drug dealer house. Why would Andy bring him to his dealer’s house? He tried to guess if the stranger was the drug dealer but even if he didn’t know him, he knew it wasn’t the kind of person he was. So, what was going on here? More importantly, why did Andy bring him here?

“Stop whining Jackie... I get Chase out of the picture like you asked me, you’re angry. I give you a villain to fight, you’re not happy. I make you look like the hero that’s going to save everyone and you decide to cry and get depressed. I bring Chase back and you’re still unhappy. Make up your damn mind for once!”

The man, named Jackie it seemed, stopped in his track and slammed Andy’s back to the wall, hissing in his face. Shocked, Chase was only able to look at what was happening, eyes wide. What was Andy talking about?

“I never, NEVER, wanted all of this to happen, do you hear me? You USED me when I was at my lowest, I felt like everything that was wrong in my life was because of OTHERS! And you USED MY WEAKNESS AGAINST MY FRIEND!”

“Boohoo, I’m weak. Boohoo, I’m a puppet.”, giggled Andy which prompted Jackie to punch him in the chin.

Andy went tumbling on the floor by the force of the punch and it scared Chase how strong Jackie had punched him. He shakily placed himself between Andy on the floor and the moving man in front of him, reaching a hand to stop Jackie from getting closer. He didn’t like how Andy had talked to Jackie, but he was his friend and he’d do anything for his friendś̷̡.

“Don’t...don’t you dare get closer to him”, whispered Chase, still shaking by fear.

Stunned, Jackie stopped walking and stared at him, frustration now the only emotion on his face. He gripped his hand by his side, like he was trying to stop himself for doing something he might regret.

“This man isn’t your friend, Chase! He’s a manipulator! The only thing he cares about is to mess with people. He’ll never have a friend and he’ll never be your friend. The only thing he knows how to do is to betray and use others. He’s alone and he’ll always be alone! He hurt people like he doesn’t care about...”

Chase had heard enough by now. The fear he felt before was soon replaced by anger. No one should talk like this to his friend. He stomped toward Jackie to close the distance between them and poked Jackie’s chest with his index finger.

“You don’t know anything about him! He’s not always the best at dealing with others, you’re right. Do you know why? He was abandoned and hated by his own family because of who he is. Can you imagine? He might have done something bad, by what I’ve tried to understand, something really bad, but have you ever thought about the fact that maybe, just maybe, acting this way is the only way he knows how to act?”

Jackie took a step back after hearing what Chase had to say about the whole situation. He looked shocked, more so than ever before, but Chase didn’t care. He turned his back to the other man and knelt down on the floor next to Andy.

“You OK, man?”

Chase placed a careful hand on Andy’s shoulder who jumped at the touch. He looked at Chase and nodded before looking away. Chase was concerned for his friend. He never acted like that. Andy was always full of energy and had a sarcastic comment about everything. Why did Andy look so...guilty? Did he do or say something he shouldn’t have? The only answer he got was a pat on the back and a helping hand to straighten up after Andy had stood up. Andy and Jackie looked at each other for a few seconds, which looked more like minutes to the fidgeting Chase next to them.

“Let me see the others.”

Without another word shared, the three man continued their way down the hallway. It was eerily quiet now that the other two stopped whispering. But it didn’t stay quiet for long. Two faint voices could be heard down the hallway, two similar voices arguing with each other. The three man stopped before reaching the source of the voices. Jackie looked at Andy, then at Chase before opening the door. There, on the bed, was a man with a bloody nose laying on it, looking like he was asleep. Andy only took one step into the room, looked at the laying man and hummed. Jackie stiffed next to him but decided to let the two visitors in. Chase rushed to the man and brushed the stranger’s hair out of his closed eyes. He didn’t know him, as far as his memory goes, but he felt concerned and sad for him. Was he OK? He brushed his hand over the makeshift bandage, hoping that he was alright. He turned to look at Jackie and Andy, both already staring at him, surprised by his actions.

“What’s his name?”

Jackie’s eyes went wide by Chase’s question. He turned his head to glare at Andy, who only shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

“...his name’s Jamie... he...uh...had a friend he really liked to spend time with...but uh... he left.”

“Why did he leave?” asked Chase who lightly brushed his finger on the bowler hat on the nightstand. A small part of Chase felt calm around this man. He felt like he could spend hours with him, just playing silly card games. A sharp pain in his heart at the thought made him look up at Jackie who looked guilty.

“We had a fight. We uh...kind of kicked him out of the house because we’re stupid, I guess. I wish he would come back...like it was one big nightmare. His name was Ch-”

A loud noise stopped Jackie in his sentence. He turned to Andy, like he was expecting him to cut him off, but the other man was already looking back at him, still shrugging his shoulder. Jackie’s eyes went even wider than before and rushed out of the room, closely followed by Andy. It took Chase a couple more seconds to stand up and follow them, but not before holding Jamie’s hand in his and squeezing it.

“I promise we’ll find a way to help you... Jamie.”

He looked down at their hands, his shaking slightly. He felt like he should say something more. He couldn’t tell what, but he felt like he knew this man. Words were stuck in his throat. What did he wanted to say? He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and let them roll off his tongue.

“I swear we’ll go see this action movie you were so excited to see. We’ll drag everyone with us. We’ll make Hen...We’ll make all of them call sick, so we can go see it together...”

He didn’t know which movie he was talking about. He didn’t know who “everyone” was, but those words felt natural and easy to him, something he didn’t feel quite often lately. He removed his hand from Jamie’s and ran out the room to join the other two who were still standing before a door, talking to each other. The previous voices who were arguing were louder now that he was standing in front of it.

“Wow Jackie, I never thought you’d be smart enough to lock him up in your room.”

Jackie took a step toward Andy, fuming with anger but was stopped on his way by Chase who shot him a warning glance. No fighting. He sighs, mumbling something about Chase not taking the good side and pressed his hand against the door were the voice were speaking gibberish.

“I’m not letting you two see him.”

“Why? What do you mean ‘him’ ?”

“Marvin isn’t in his normal state. He’s kind of ...”

“Jackie Boy ~ Am I hearing...friends? Did you finally brought me some toys? ”

Banging on the door. Louder and louder after each hit.

“Come on! Come on! I wanna play with ‘em! Make ‘em float upside down until all the blood in their body goes to their tiny useless brain! Cut their limbs one by one with a dull blade! Bash their head open with a table leg! Oh! Oh I know! An idea no one thought of before!”

Nails scratching the door. High-pitched laughter. Marvin’s body slamming into the door.

“Cut their neck and make them choke on their own blood!”

Chase ran to the opposite wall and looked at the door, mortified. What was wrong with this person? What happened to the other one? He swears he heard two voices in there before. No way he’d go in this room, even if Jackie asked them. Andy walked toward the door and leaned his back against the door, looking at Jackie, smugly.

“Wow... I really surpassed myself.”

“Shut up for once.”

“No, seriously. I expected to make him feel paranoid and have nightmare. I didn’t want him to turn up crazy like...”

The banging on the door slowly lost intensity. When before it sounded like angry fist, now it sounded more like open palm sliding on the wooden door in desperation. Sobs soon replaced the laughs and Andy took a step sideway, looking at Jackie in confusion. The crying got stronger and the three man could faintly hear Marvin mumbling between each sob.

“I’m...i’m so sorry... I... I didn’t mean...it. I just want things to go back to normal... Why can’t we just live...live all together in peace...Forget everything that...went wrong and just...start over...”

Andy’s breath hitched in his throat. He looked away, his brow furrowed and shifted his weight from one leg to the other, looking very uncomfortable. Chase didn’t understand why he looked like that. Didn’t Andy want this man, Marvin, to be happy? Nothing in what he said should have make Andy react like that. He turned his attention to Jackie who was looking at his feet, squeezing and releasing his fist. He seemed deep in thought. The sobs had quieted down by now, only sniffed and ragged breath could be heard. He understood. This man was in war with himself. And he was hyperventilating. Chase got closer to the door and laid his palm on the door. He took a deep breath.

“Hey, listen to me, OK? I want you to calm down. We’re going to breathe in and out together.”

“I can’t... Chase I can’t...breathe...please...”

He was surprised for a split second. How...did he know his name? But the moment the question popped into his head, a whimper brought him back to what was happening. He clenched his fist on the door, his body screaming at him to open the damn door and hold the other man in his arm. He didn’t care about the way Jackie and Andy were looking at him. The crying man was his priority. He wouldn’t let himself live knowing that he didn’t help him.

“Just...listen. Close your eyes and focus on my voice. I need you to take the deep breath, the best you can right now. For now, they won’t be very deep. But you have to start somewhere. I don’t want you to be frustrated with yourself because you can’t breathe properly, because I know you’ll be. After each breath, it’ll be easier for you. Just trust me. Do you trust me?”

Saying these things were like a second nature for Chase. He didn’t know where this speech came from, but he was glad that Marvin followed his advice and tried breathing with him. It wasn’t hard to hear him breathe at the start, his breathing was mixed with tears and hiccups until it was back to normal. Chase sighed and rested his forehead on the door, the presence over his shoulder leaving. He turned back to Andy and Jackie who stayed behind and smiled at them. He opened his mouth but a body slamming against the door made him, and the other two, jump backward.

“Chase! Oh my god! Chase! Chase... Chase... oh my god... is it you? Chase, is it you? Is it really you? Are you back? Are you really back? I can’t believe it. Chase! Chase, I missed you so much.”

The crying was back, but now a kind of desperation was laced in his voice. Chase was stunned. He “came back”? He knew Marvin? He turned back to Jackie who was already looking back at him. When they met eyes, Jackie turned his glance to the wall, his lips tightly shut. Chase then turned to Andy who had his back turned to him. No one was helping him? He got closer to the door and laid his hand once again on the door.

“I...I’m sorry Marvin? I’m...not the Chase you’re looking for... I wish I could help you but... I’m not...that Chase. I hope he...comes back soon.”

The crying soon mixed with a bitter laugh, which broke Chase’s heart in half. He wished he could help Marvin find this “Chase”.

“Why Chase... You wanted me to trust you. I TRUSTED you! When I have no one left to trust, why did you betray me too! I believed you were back...why...”

Soon enough, the banging was back on the door and each hit on the door was like a hit on Chase’s heart. He tried hard not to cry in front of the other two. He stood up, feeling more defeated than ever. He tried to help him, but it only made him go deeper into his crazy mind. Jackie shook his head and sighed, a part of him had hope it would have worked. He signed them to follow him away from Marvin’s door and they all followed suit, no one daring to talk about what happened. They were in line, Chase walking behind Jackie who had his shoulder slumped and in front of Andy who, when Chase looked back at him, still looked uncomfortable. Jackie stopped in front of another door and turned back to Andy and Chase.

“You might be able to tell me what’s wrong with Henrik. I don’t expect you to help me. I just...want to know what happened.”

Andy shrugged his shoulder and hummed, kind of agreeing with Jackie. He placed his hand on the door handle, took a deep breath and opened the door. He took a step in the room, followed closely by Chase and Andy who slammed into his back when he stopped in his track. Chase looked past Jackie and saw a man standing up in the messy room, his back turned to them and wiping black ink on his scrubs. He picked up a broken mug on the floor and turned his attention to the three new people in the room. He seemed surprised before smiling at them

“The good doctor is back.”

_______________________________________

Jackie’s side were hurting him so much this morning yet again, he had difficulties to put himself in a sitting position without wincing. His back was hurting him too, since he had to sleep his back to the wall if he didn’t want to bleed out on the floor. Everything hurt by this point. He was lucky the bullet didn’t make too much damage. He had push himself out of the way of the bullet, but it lodged itself into his left side anyway. Whose idea was it to jump out of the way of a bullet, instead of duck?  In his panic, he had grabbed Henrik’s desk and thrown it in Jamie’s direction, knocking out the poor, supposed to be, mute man. He still didn’t understand how Jamie was able to speak out of nowhere. After he heard Jamie’s body hit the floor in a thud, he rushed to his side and check for his pulse, in an even more panic state. He didn’t mean to do it. He didn’t want to hurt Jamie. He never meant for any of this to happen to them. It wasn’t supposed to go like that! He was used to fight people as strong, or more, than him. Jamie wasn’t himself when he attacked him, so Jackie’s brain went straight to Hero mode. Jamie’s nose was bleeding slightly still and the arm he used to block the projectile was broken and bend, but other than that, Jamie was as fine as someone could be after getting a wood desk thrown at them. The blood on his clothes wasn’t his so he didn’t have to worry about another injury.

Even now, five days later, Jamie was still unconscious. The house was eerily silent. Jamie never spoke, but the others could always hear his footsteps going around the house or tapping on the walls wherever he went. With him unconscious, Henrik in a brain-dead state, Marvin panicking all day long and Chase missing, the house was quieter than ever. He stood up on his foot after taking support on Henrik’s office wall. He tried to straighten up but the pain in his side only made him bend over and fall sideway on the wall. This bullet was really a pain in his ass. Usually, the bullet would have been removed by Henrik, but it was only him now. He looked up in front of him and looked at the slouched man leaning on the opposite wall. Jackie had decided to move Henrik to a wall so that he wasn’t sprawled on the ground after the hero dropped him on the floor like a bag when he was attacked. He positioned Henrik on the opposite wall from where he was so that the first and last thing he saw before dozing off to sleep was the doctor. In theory, it was a good idea but in reality, it was a nightmare. Henrik’s eyes were illuminating the floor room in a dim light, locked on Jackie when he was sitting in front of him. His blue eyes were still replaced by static and no matter how many time Jackie had wiped the black liquid oozing off Henrik’s mouth, it still leaked out. The liquid was even now running down the man’s cheek from time to time, like he was crying. Jackie was scared for his friend. Was he asleep? Or was he stuck in his body, incapable of calling for help? There was no way for the hero to know what was going on in his friend’s head.

Jackie lowered himself in front of Henrik and slowly combed the doctor’s hair back from his forehead, worried sick for his friends. Far from him, the only thing Jackie can really hear is distant static mixed with growl. But up close, Jackie can clearly distinguish the slurred words escaping Henrik’s mouth.

“It’s your fault...He’s unstoppable... it’s your fault... He’s unstable... it’s your fault...He’ll kill us... it’s your fault...”

“It sure is, buddy...I’m sorry.”

He left the room not long after making sure that Henrik wouldn’t fall over on his side without him there. He closed the door behind him and looked around himself. He didn’t clean up the mess lithering the floor all around the house. There were holes in the walls and bits and pieces of wood and glasses scattered everywhere. Jackie went straight to Jamie’s door, a new part of his routine now, left open for the hero to hear if there were commotion here. The mute man was lying on his bed, dried blood under his nose and a makeshift bandage around his broken arm. He couldn’t bring any of them to the hospital, not even himself. He was too scared of the doctor saying that Henrik couldn’t be save. He was too scared of them trying to patch up Jamie for him to wake up and attack someone. He was scared of leaving Marvin alone in the house. He approached the unconscious man’s bed and knelt to be to eye level with his friend, even if Jamie was laying on his back. He looked at the side of Jamie’s head and sigh before grabbing his hand in his. He slowly rubbed his thumb over Jamie’s knuckles, trying to keep his tears from falling. It was his fault that everything happened to them. If he hadn’t been so mean to Chase before, he wouldn’t have left them. Marvin wouldn’t have been so devastated. Henrik wouldn’t have been so quiet. Jamie wouldn’t have been so sad. He squeezed Jamie’s hand and stifle a whimper before standing up and looking at the bowler hat on the nightstand. He reached for it, but before he could, Jamie squeezed his hand back. Jackie whipped his head toward the laying man, but he hadn’t move. He was in the same position as before. He got closer to Jamie, looking over and over his friend’s face, praying to see his eyes flutter open or a shy smile forming itself on his cheeks. But nothing happened. Jackie slowly let go of Jamie’s hand and left the room before closing the door behind him. He rested his back against the door and slapped a hand over his mouth before a sob could escape his mouth. He closed his eyes tightly, hoping in vain that tears wouldn’t roll down his cheeks. He was hoping for one of them to go back to normal, to their easy-going self. But things weren’t that easy. He was pretty sure they never would. He took a shaky breath, opened the door again and left for the kitchen. He shuffled between the broken pieces of the kitchen table and ripped cupboard door to reach the fridge, mostly intact except for the dent his back made when he was thrown against it. He forced the door open to be met with the chill air confined there. He let out a sign of relief, at least they still have electricity today again. He dreaded the moment where everything in the house would shut down. He grabbed an apple and hesitated before taking the last bottle of water. Today, it’ll work. It had to. He rushed out of the room to get to his last friend. He was always doing the same thing each day, with very few changes. He reached “Marvin’s room”, more like Jackie’s room, in a matter of second, not by eagerness but instead by fear of what could happen if he lingered too much. He listened attentively to any sound in the room, going as far as to put his ear against the door. Jackie could slightly hear ragged breaths and mumbling worlds. So, he was awake. He closed his eyes, thinking of what he could do when a loud noise against the door made him fall backward on the floor. Soon enough, there were banging on the door.

“Jackie ~ Let me out will ya...? I just wanna play, you know how much I LOVE to play with ya!”

Jackie’s eyes grew bigger and he shook he head, too stunned to realize that the other couldn’t see him. It never went like that. A second later, all sounds coming from the room stopped. Jackie’s heartbeat thumped into his ears. He was so scared. A sob snapped him out of his mind.

“I’m so sorry Jackie... so sorry... please forgive me... I’m so tired... I just want everything to stop...”

More sobs.

“I’m so done... I can’t even control my own body...”

Banging and laughter.

“It’s not funny if I’m the only one here Jackie! Come in and play with me! I’m bored! You won’t be able to keep me locked forever! Come have some fun time with good ole me!”

Jackie backed away until his back was flush with the wall opposite Marvin’s room. He just had to wait. Right. It’ll stop soon. He knew Marvin in this state couldn’t stay like that for long. It was short outbursts, nothing too bad. He just had to wait patiently for the magician to calm down and sleep. Yes. Waiting. He slid down on the floor and looked up at the ceiling, sighing, it was hard on him. Seeing his friends so broken only made his heart clench harder day after day. The mumbling behind the door came back

“It’s...it’s OK Marvin... Like Henrik said, you just need to take deep breath until you feel OK... Yeah sure like it works. Come on Marvin, this dumb doctor doesn’t know half of the thing that are going on in your head! Let’s play instead! Jackie is just at the other side of the door. You just have to use your dear magic to break down the door! No... no I don’t... I don’t want to hurt Jackie! I do want to hurt Jackie! Stop!”

Jackie flinched when something hard, probably a desk or Marvin’s nightstand, broke on the door. He was lucky that his room was made so that if Jackie sleepwalked, he couldn’t leave his room. The perfect cell for Marvin. He heard his bed creaking, signalling him that Marvin had lost all fight, for now, and more than likely will fall asleep in a hour or two. Waiting was Jackie’s favorite part of his new routine.

Four hours after, and a few naps here and there cut short by fist on the door and screaming, Jackie stood up, grabbing his side and wincing at the pain. He really needed those damn painkillers. He approached the door, once again hearing through the door, and when he only heard the slow breathing of Marvin, he opened the door slowly and peer at the bed. Marvin was covered in red marks and bruises, all self-inflicted. He was in a constant fight with himself and it tore Jackie’s heart more and more each time he saw how badly Marvin needed help. Jackie opened a locked drawer, filled with bandages, painkillers and a bottle of antiseptic. He swallowed two of the pills before placing two more on the nightstand next to the bottle of water. He hoped Marvin would drink it, since it was unopened. He finally placed the apple next to the bottle and started wrapping the worst wounds the best he could with the bandages. He wasn’t the doctor here. He knew how to care for small bruises, but his knowledge stopped at bleeding wounds. After a couple of minutes of carefully moving Marvin around and trying not to wake him up, Jackie took a step back and looked at the dark bags under Marvin’s eyes. The poor magician only had a couple of hours of sleep each day, which Jackie used to tend to Marvin’s wounds and leave him something to eat. It was always a small amount, but the magician only ate a bite or two each time, so it didn’t matter how much food the hero gave him. He also used the fact that Marvin was sleeping to clean up the room. He bent down, still wincing, and started grabbing everything that Marvin could use to hurt himself in his state and threw them away. When Jackie heard movement behind him, he ran out of the room, locking the door at the last second before he heard a loud bang shake his body.

“You’re no fun, Jackie!”, screamed the magician before laughing and going further into the room, leaving Jackie terrified and shaking.

He leant on the door further and slid down until he was sitting on the floor, his knees tucked under his chin. He let his forehead rest against his knees and started crying. He couldn’t do this anymore. Him, the hero, the one that was supposed to save people, couldn’t even save his friends, the people he cherished the most in the world. He couldn’t stop Chase from leaving them. He couldn’t keep Marvin from losing his mind, he couldn’t protect Henrik nor Jamie from Anti. Seeing his friends so helpless broke his heart more day after day. How could he save anyone if he couldn’t even save himself? It was too much for him. His whole body was shaking, his throat heaving every time he tried to take a deep breath. The laugh behind him didn’t help for calming him down. He hated that laugh. So much. It was his friend. But it wasn’t his laugh. He remembered every nightmare he had in the past days. Schneeplestein looking him dead in the eye, telling him that nothing could save them, and that Jackie should have been the one to suffer, not them. Jamie cutting his throat again and again, stuck in a loop and smiling so hard that deep wounds in his cheeks were bleeding. Marvin squeezing Jackie’s throat, but Jackie didn’t feel anything. It was like Marvin was suffocating instead of Jackie.

He was pulled out of his toxic mind when he heard the front door open. He stopped breathing. Who...? How...? He stood up, ignoring the pain and ran toward the door, his mind racing faster than his legs. He turned a corner and stopped dead in his track. In front of him stood Anti, smirking at him and letting someone else enter the house with him. Jackie’s heart stopped beating, his breath got stuck in his throat. There, next to Anti, stood Chase, looking around himself like he was wondering where he was. The hero took a step forward, then another and another until he was almost right in front of the other two man. Chase looked at Jackie, confusion in his eyes, like he couldn’t tell who was in front of him. Dark bags were lying under his eyes, making him look sick, almost dead. The white of his eyes had a greenish look to them like if they were infected. Jackie was about to take another step toward his friend when Chase raised his arm to rub his left eyes and the hero had to take a step backward. Black veins were snaking all over his friend’s arm and some very faint one were almost reaching his cheeks. Jackie turned his attention to Anti, who had step back, and took a hold of Anti’s shirt and tugged him to be face to face with him. He growled at Anti while the other was only smiling at him.

“It wasn’t part of the plan, Anti.”

_______________________

Sorry for the long wait. I had a massive writer block and personal things happened and I should stop apologizing! 

TagList: @chase-brody-protection-squad, @rand0m-stufff, @enakane, @huffle-dork, @splish-splash-im-trash, @cryptvokeeper, @dragonfliesarecool, @thisrandomperson102, @katie-g-septic, @1esor2, @egopocalypse, @narutofoxlover

For once, it was quiet around the septic ego. They were all too scared to talk about the situation. To break the heavy silence. But they had to do it. They had to choose one of them to go face their nightmare. But who in their right mind would willingly go. It was rare for them to all sit together around this table. It always seemed so formal. Like they must do a council between them if they all sat together. Well, all except for one. The silence was filled of unanswered questions, scared words and angry accusations. Chase was about to lose it. He couldn’t take it anymore. He could hear Marvin counting his playing cards. Over and over again. 52. 52. Fifty-two. How many weeks in a year. How many white keys on a piano. How. Many. Cards.

He could hear Henrik’s fingers squeezing and un-squeezing his coffee mug. The cold liquid slushing every time the doctor’s finger started shaking was unnerving. Maybe the shakiness was because of the force he was putting on it. Or maybe because of his fear. He could clearly hear Jamie’s breaths. Each of them. For someone who spends most of his time in quiet places, he sure did look like he wanted to fill in the silence with useless banter. But he couldn’t. And everyone knew it.

As for Jackie, he didn’t seem bothered by the situation at first glance. He was scrolling on his phone, probably looking up crimes that happened recently. But Chase could see him glancing up from time to time to watch the others. He was keeping an eye on them.

“Let’s get this over with”, finally said Henrik while releasing his grip on the mug for the hundredth time. They all nodded, understanding that this agreement will be the last of this day. But no one talked. No one wanted to send someone else into hell. So, the silence came back. It always comes back to this silence. They all knew what must be done. After a minute, there was a light knock on the table, signaling the other that Jamie had something to say, something they might not like.

“We should start by who can’t go.”

“Oh, so there’s people here who can’t? Why?” Chase asked, already at edge. He can feel it. Something is going to go wrong.

“For instance, Jamie can’t possibly go against him. He didn’t appear in enough video yet. He is too weak. He would be an easy target.” Henrik said, matter of fact. The pit in Chase’s stomach just grew bigger.

“Then you can’t go either Schneep! It took you 9 months to come back from your last encounter with him! Even the fan’s attention wasn’t enough. It would be suicide!” In his panic, Marvin’s cards scattered on the table. It was chaos in the room. People screamed over the other, but Chase could only hear Jamie’s silent cries and could only see the black Joker in front of him. Taunting him. He knew what was going to happen. But he couldn’t push himself to do it.

“It only leaves Chase and Marvin then.” Jackie says over the scared voice of the magician and the doctor. Chase came back from his wandering thoughts to look at the others, confused.

“...but Jackie would be the strongest against him, no?”

“Sadly, no Chase. Jackie needs to stay here to protect the other in case of him surprising us here.” Henrik said, while shaking his head. Because you can’t even do that.

“...then...Then! Why can’t Jamie or Henrik go? I know they already met him and stuff but...but... they know what to expect right? So, they...”

He couldn’t even finish his sentence before he heard Jamie’s cries growing in intensity. Before he heard Jackieboyman screaming.

“NO CHASE! You don’t understand! We can’t put them in this situation again! Why don’t you understand?” Henrik scrambled to stop Jackie from jumping on the table. Because you’re selfish.

“It’s YOU who can’t understand! What are we supposed to do against him! If Marvin or I go, we might not come back and...”

“Chase... please stop.”

All eyes turned to Marvin, hugging himself and slowly backing into the corner of the room. He looked so scared. Chase could see Marvin’s fear in his eyes. Even the mask couldn’t hide it. Chase couldn’t look at him, couldn’t look at the poor magician shaking violently. Henrik slowly went to Marvin and hugged him in his arms while saying kind words to him. They all went to him, putting gentle hand on his shoulder or giving him a sympathetic smile. Except Chase. Because he did that to him. Because you are a monster. No one wants you here.

“I... I’m sorry Marv’... I didn’t...”

Once again, his words were cut short when he felt a powerful slap on his back. When he looked back, he saw Jackie smiling at him.

“You’re stronger than you let yourself think, Chase. You’re the one that is most likely to succeed between us all. You’re a father. You know how to talk to people!” You wouldn’t want to disappoint us too, right?

But Chase knew better. The soft smile Jackie had on his face was devoid of sympathy. None of them knows how to hide their emotions. Not even mask can help them. While he saw fears in Marvin’s eyes, he sees anger in Jackie’s. He doesn’t want him here anymore. Chase’s the most suitable to go, he said. Right? Because no one waits for you at home.

With a heavy heart, Chase looked up at the others. He knew it was going to happen. Instead of using the heroic route, he chose the selfish one. Because being a hero isn’t for you. When his eyes landed on the others, he felt sick. None of them dared to look at him. They all sealed his fate. They felt guilty. Probably.

“...I’ll go then. Stay safe, guys.”

He couldn’t take it anymore. He shrugged on his jacket and left the house in a hurry. Like he couldn’t wait for his life to be destroyed. Not like it wasn’t right now anyway. He just had to find him to really end it all. He wandered into town, like the others told him to do, until late at night. He couldn’t even stay mad at the other ego. They had a point. If someone had to be a bait, Chase was the one. Nothing to lose, right. Maybe if he succeeded in his task, maybe they would take him back. Right. He soon got sick of doing circles in town. Why wouldn’t this asshole show up. He decided to take a break in front of an electronic shop, maybe he would find a clue of where he is. But what Chase saw wasn’t the report on the TV screen. He saw his reflection. Slowly changing.

Instead of his breaths, he heard Henrik’s silent sigh. Tiredness. Instead of his tight lips, he saw Jackie’s smile. Understanding. Instead of his speckled cheeks, he saw Jamie’s tears, rolling down unto his collar. Afraid. Instead of his dull eyes, he saw Marvin’s, gleaming in the fluorescent light. Guilty.

But what he clearly saw was a deep gash in his neck. Slowly bleeding unto his collar. Henrik’s few sighs turned into static. A constant noise. Jackie’s soft smile turned into a smirk. A high-pitched laughter. Jamie’s scared tears turned into flame on his cheeks. It burned. It hurt so much. Marvin’s eyes turned black. Devoid of anything, but smugness.

He finally found him.

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I want to first off apologize if there’s mistakes in it. English isn’t my first language but i really wanted to post it right now with all the things happening with Chase. I don’t know if people will read it, but... it’s my first fic ever so... be kind?

Tag list????: @huffle-dork, @jurassicfannibal (because you asked me to) and  @enakane( because i want you to see how shitty it is)

Laughter and joyful voices could be heard all around the house, replacing all the anger and guilt that were seeping from the worn-out walls before. People were crowding around Chase who smiled sweetly at everyone. He was hugging Henrik, ruffling his kids’ hairs and talking happily with Jackie. Marvin hadn’t move from his spot since he saw Chase, he was too stunned, too sad to go meet him. He didn’t understand. Why wasn’t he happy to see Chase, why was he feeling like this “Chase” wasn’t his friend. He was acting like the real one, but Marvin was certain that man wasn’t his friend. He adjusted his mask on his face, an habit he had while he was stressed. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around, still a little dazed by his thoughts. Jamie laughed at him and waved his hands before Marvin’s face, his way to tell the others to read his hands.

“Why are you looking at him like that?”

“I... How am I looking at him?”, asked Marvin, stunned.

“You’re looking at him like you don’t want him here.”

“No Jamie! It’s not that...I’m just... surprised to see him. I didn’t mean to look at him like that.”

“Well you almost have the same nasty look that his ex has right now on her face.”

Marvin’s face turned red. Jamie compared his expression to Stacy’s and Marvin didn’t want to look at Chase wrong, he was supposed to be happy to see him. He might be worrying for nothing. His nightmares might have take a toll on him. He thanked Jamie and walked toward Chase. Henrik stepped away when he saw Marvin and waved him over. Jackie left to go see Jamie and Chase’s kids sent some nasty look at Marvin, which he understood as them not liking him. The feeling was returned. Chase’s eyes lit up seeing Marvin approach and drag him into his arms, squeezing him hard against his chest. Marvin’s mask dug into Marvin’s cheeks which was fairly uncomfortable but Marvin didn’t feel like adjusting it.

“Marvin, I’m so happy to see you! How have you been lately? Did you go to the magic show you were excited to see last Thursday? I hope so because you were bouncing on the walls just thinking about it.”

The magician squeezed Chase’s shirt in his hand, trying to ignore the cold feeling of Chase’s skin on his arms. It was cold outside, and Chase had somehow lost his jacket, so it was normal for him to be cold. Marvin shook his head against his friend chest and whispered a no. Chase, taking a step backward, looked Marvin in the eyes.

“What do you mean no? You were talking about this show for weeks! It was almost annoying hearing you say the same thing everyday.”, chuckled Chase.

“I...I couldn’t with you gone. I was scared of stumbling on your... I was scared of finding you in bad shape.”

Chase ruffled Marvin’s hair lightly, gave an apologetic smile at him and went to Stacy and his kids’ side. Marvin stood there, awkwardly looking at them when he saw Jackie get near him. Marvin simply nodded to Jackie before turning his attention back to Chase. Even after this heartfelt moment, Marvin still felt like something was wrong. He could feel it in his guts. Chase seemed...unreal.

“Jackie... do... do you feel like there’s something unusual with Chase? He seems...weird. I think we should keep an eye on him.”

“What are you saying Marvin? You're the one that wanted him to come back! You should be happy! Stop worrying about it. You feel like that because you can’t wrap your head around the fact he’s back.”

Marvin didn’t push further. Jackie was right in a way. He was probably still in denial that this whole thing ended like that. He never dared say this to the other, but he rarely believed Henrik when he kept repeating that Chase would come back. In his mind, there was no way Anti would let Chase walk out of his place, even less with Chase unharmed. But it seems it happened, so Marvin should be glad that Chase is back instead of ruining the mood around him.

Two hours after Stacy and the kids had left the house, the egos decided to go back to the dreaded table to talk in more depth of what happened and what will happen. They were all in their respective seat, Jamie twiddling his thumbs, Jackie reading news on his phone, Henrik still holding his cherished cup of coffee while Chase tried desperately to throw a sugar cube into the said cup. The only one who didn’t look relax was Marvin who was still frantically glancing at Chase from time to time, biting his lips. He had tried again and again to tell himself he was worrying for nothing, but the feeling wouldn’t leave him. He stopped his train of thought when he heard a clink and Jamie clapping his hand to Chase who finally managed to shoot his cube.

“Why didn't we heard of you for a whole week?”, asked Jackie who finally put down his phone.

“I didn't want to disappoint you guys. After what happened, I thought the best thing to do was to find him and solve this problem before going back to you.”

“But a whole week?”, signed Jamie.

“It took me a while to find Anti. He's a sneaky snake.”

They all laughed at Chase’s poor attempt for a joke, they really missed him and his stupid dad jokes. It was like without him, there was near to no joy in the house. Henrik took a sip of his coffee and shot a glare toward Chase. He really like his coffee black and Chase kind of ruined his drink. He drank it anyway because there was no way he would throw away coffee.

“He let you go away without hurting you?”, quietly asked Marvin because it didn’t seem right.

“He threatened me, that’s for sure. He also attacked me with his knife once or twice. He left me with some scars so I’m not really...unharmed. He really was mad that we would think he would comply just because I would have asked him to. He called me stupid and you guys even stupider. He said I was no threat for him and that I wasn’t of much use for him, so he just let me leave his place. He told me to come back to him when I’m more useful as an ego and less of a useless use of space.”

Jamie and Henrik went to Chase’s side, patting him on the back and making sure Anti’s words wouldn’t hurt him anymore while Jackie was in his seat mumbling colourful insult toward a certain glitch. But Marvin didn’t understand. The tone of Chase’s voice seemed so sad and hurt but his eyes were completely empty. There were no emotions in them. It. Wasn’t. Right. He then leaned on toward Jackie, while Chase was busy talking to Jamie.

“Jackie...don’t you find Chase...pale? And his face looks weird.”

“Marvin... Why are you always on edge today? He's been face to face with Anti, I would be pale too if I was him. Didn’t you hear what that piece of shit told him? You should be more kind with him. You really worry a lot today. Take it easy, man. “

“Yeah...I’m sorry, I’m just really on edge today.”

Jackie pushed Marvin gently toward Chase, mouthing out the words ‘go see him’ before turning his attention back to his phone. Marvin did exactly that, putting a hand on Jamie’s shoulder who was frantically signing something to Chase, who had difficulty following Jamie’s train of thought. The silent man slightly lowered his speed until he stopped completely and grinned at Marvin. Chase looked confused, to say the least. Marvin quietly laughed at him and told himself Chase might have forgot some words while he was away.

“All of that waving was to tell you he was happy to see you back and that he took care of your house plant.”

Chase got up and put Jamie’s head in a headlock and ruffled the silent man’s hair. He really liked to do this, thought Marvin. He almost never did this kind of things before, but he was probably ruffling their hair because he missed them. Henrik yawning brought Marvin out of his thoughts again and the doctor mumbled a small apology about the fact he was suddenly very tired and would take a nap. They all told him to rest and go sleep. Marvin’s gut feeling got worst. He kept glancing down at Henrik’s empty cup, trying hard to tell himself that Henrik tiredness was cause by the relief of seeing his friend again and not by whatever Chase threw in his coffee. Maybe coffee didn’t have much effect anymore on the doctor. Marvin should really stop worrying.

The rest of the day went slowly. Marvin kept his distance with Chase, just to be sure, which didn’t really bother the father since he was busy doing food for his bunch of brother-kid to apologize to them. Jamie and Jackie were busy doing their own thing, which Marvin was wary of because he was left alone with Chase in the kitchen since the magician was the only one Chase was able to find and ask for help to cook. Marvin was on edge, he kept glancing down at the knife in Chase’s hand cutting down vegetables.

“Is something wrong Marvin?”, asked Chase who placed the knife down and turned around to face Marvin completely.

“Uh... no Chase. I’m just... I have a bad feeling. I’m scared.”

“A bad feeling? Scared? Of what?”

Chase stepped forward, reaching a hand to touch Marvin’s shoulder.

“...Of you.”

The room turned black suddenly. Marvin couldn’t understand why the lights had flickered off at that exact moment. He was so scared. So scared of Chase. He recoiled with a shudder, reaching around him to find something, anything, to protect himself from the man before him. There was no one here but them. Chase could do anything to him and no one would know it. He took a step back and felt the counter dig into his back. He thought he could see a small green glint in Chase’s eyes. The lights around them flickered on after a few seconds and they heard Jackie screaming downstairs.

“I’m sorry, guys! I ran head first into the breaker box!”

Chase laughs softly at Jackie’s action before looking back at Marvin and giving an understanding smile at him.

“It’s OK, Marvin. I understand. It might seem weird for me to come back alive, but I swear Marvin, nothing happened. I’m OK. You’re OK. We’ll find a way to bring Jack back. If you feel unwell, you can always go lay down in your room, I won’t be angry.”

Chase turned his back from Marvin and continued cutting the food. Cautiously, Marvin looked at Chase’s arm that were covered in scars and bruises. How did he never notice them? Was he so focused on how Chase was different and might hurt him that he never saw that his friend was the one that was being hurt. He ran off into his room, feeling guilty. He couldn’t explain the glint he saw in Chase’s eyes. Was he so keen on telling himself that Anti was manipulating Chase that he’d imagine things like that? His mind was playing trick on him. He slammed his door close and leant on the wood, out of breath. His eyes trailed down on his bed and fell on Chase’s hat. Why was he so obsessed with the idea that Chase wasn’t who he said he was? Marvin slid down on the floor and cried himself to sleep, preferring nightmares than dealing with what he was feeling now.

He was startled awake by the door hitting him in the back. He scrambled away from the way of whoever entered his room and hit his back on his bed in his hurry. Chase looked down at him, worrying for the poor magician that looked scared out of his mind. He bent down and slid a bowl toward Marvin. He then took a small step back.

“It’s OK Marvin. I won’t hurt you. No one’s going to hurt you. I just wanted to bring you soup, but you don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to. I can always ask Jamie or Jackie to bring you food later.”

But Marvin was tired of making Chase feel like he was the one that was doing this wrong. Marvin was the one that made everything difficult. He should just stop worrying and accept that Chase was really back. He shook his head and extended his hand to Chase. The other took Marvin hand in his lightly, puzzled.

“I’m sorry Chase. I’m just confused today. I didn’t expect to see you so soon. Not that I mind. I just can’t wrap my head around it.”

He stood up and helped Chase back on his feet. He nudged him toward his bed and gave back Chase’s hat who put it back on his head, grinning.

“I’m not that hungry but... can you stay with me a little longer? I sometimes have nightmares so maybe your presence will help me calm down.”

“Anything for you, my small magic boy”, beamed Chase who jumped on Marvin’s bed after the magician had lay down under his sheet.

“...Uh...It might sound weird but...can you like... talk until I fall asleep? I just missed hearing you talk. You can also sing if you feel confident enough in your signing skill.”, said Marvin with a slight giggle in his voice.

“Are you saying I’m not a good singer?”, sassily said Chase back.

“Well you’re the second-best singer here...far behind myself.”

Marvin really missed their silly banter. Chase was just so easy to talk to. They never had to think hard for a subject to talk to, everything was fun with Chase. Marvin’s guilt for wasting his day being afraid of Chase was replaced by fatigue.

“Will me singing really help you?”

“I've done nothing but worry since you came back. I think you being there for me will make me stop feeling like that.”

“I can always do this to you Marvin. Just relax.”

Marvin didn’t need to be told twice. His eyes felt heavy and his body just wanted to shut down. He felt like for once, he’d have a good night sleep. Chase began humming a lullaby softly while stroking the magician’s hair. He slowly removed Marvin’s mask from his face before putting it on the nightstand. Marvin’s thoughts finally calmed down and he felt himself doze off when he heard Chase’s words.

“ 1̛.̶.͟.̨2̨..͠.̛ .Anti’s coming for you .”

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Why is Marvin freaking out about Chase? He should be happy to see his friend, right? I’d be happy to see Chase back. Wouldn’t you? :))))))))