#phantom!nate

Jackie scrambles to his feet first, looking at the glitching man with narrowed eyes. “…Anti.” It’s not a question. He knows for sure. This guy is the closest Anti to his that he’s seen yet. But—that grin. He’s seen smiles like that before, and he doesn’t like that this guy has one. It sends chills along his skin.

“Anti?” Schneep repeats. The static—the tone of voice—his instincts are immediately screaming danger. As he gets up, he reaches behind his back and grabs his scissors, keeping them hidden. Huh? Wait a second—these two in the room. There’s something strange about their souls. Something he can’t quite place.

JJ looks up in confusion. Where are they? Some sort of parlor? Looks like a magic place if he’s ever seen one. He looks down at himself and gasps as he sees that part of his chest is still glowing blue and translucent. It’s a bit more disturbing to him in human form, so he quickly takes off the bracelet and stuffs it in his pocket, reverting back to full human.

Alt gasps at seeing Anti’s face and glitches back, ripping his bracelet off so he appears back in his clothes, dry. He looks a bit scared at first-seeing that grin.

Bro hurries to his feet and takes off his bracelet- appearing back in his sleeveless super suit. He stands in front of the others and bares his teeth, glaring at the two men.

Anti laughs, grinning wide, “Ah so you all know me! Glad my reputation precedes me~”

“Anti- the hell is happening?” The other man says with a dry expression. “Was this your idea of a prank? Call me in for a discussion only to glitch in your other figments soaking wet and… the hell is wrong with them?”

“Nope, Smokey-“

“I really wish you wouldn’t call me that-“

“Don’t know what the fuck is going on but I wanna find out!” Anti laughs and glitches to be on front of everyone, floating in the air like someone lounging on a bed, hands tucked under his chin. “You aren’t my egos- you’re all… messed up. Different universes I guess? Figures- Jack’s fans are never fucking satisfied are they?”

“The fuck are you talking about?” Jackie mutters. “Figments? Egos? Jack’s fans?” He’s confused as all hell, but seeing the others take off their bracelets and get their clothes back, he does the same. Once his hoodie reappears on him he checks the pocket—yep, somehow his staff is still inside. He’s not going to question it. His gaze darts around, counting the exits.

"ohhh you don't know do you~?" Anti grins even bigger, "Oh... that'll make this so much more fun~"

JJ frowns. Messed up? That’s not very kind, is it? Jackie nudges him. He gets the feeling this Anti doesn’t care about kindness.

Anti laughs at JJ and shakes his head, "I'm just saying the truth! You all are all mixed up from how you're supposed to be."

Schneep pulls off his bracelet as well, even appearing back in his sweater… but not his coat- weird. “Who are you, then, if this is Anti?” He asks, turning to the stranger in the room. “Some sort of… magician?” He’s only vaguely guessing based on the power he senses in the man’s soul.

The other man scoffs and then bows to the others, "The name is Phantom, gentleman. Pleasure to meet you all~"

“Phantom…?” Jackie repeats, eyes narrowing. He’s heard that name before. His Jameson once mentioned him as an old friend who lives in America. And he doesn’t trust anyone who his Jameson would refer to that way.

Phantom then straightens and rotates his staff in-between his fingers. "Well Anti... I am quite disappointed our discussion was interrupted but I have a feeling a deal with me is uh- not the thing on your mind now."

Anti grins more and glitches around to look at everyone, invading their space and studying them. He tries to lift up Alt's arm and Alt glitches back with wide eyes. "D-Don't touch me!" Anti's eyes widen and he laughs madly, "Ohhh you're like me~?"

JJ steps in front of Alt, blocking him off from Anti. A blue shield flickers into place. He glances around the room. Time to go, I think!

“Probably for the best!” Schneep agrees. “Door?”

“This way!” Jackie grabs Schneep and heads for the room’s door.

Anti blinks in surprise at Jameson’s magic but then grins wide and laughs, “oh not so fast! You fucks ain’t going nowhere~!” He snaps and a red null sign appears in front of the door in a glitch and sends those going for it flying back. “We need to get to know each other, gentlemen~! I’m so curious about your stories!”

Alt is panicking a bit, staring at Anti with wide eyes. The way this guy is talking is freaking him the fuck out-

"What the fuck?!" Jackie shouts, getting back to his feet quickly. He pulls out the staff, quickly snapping it to its full length. "Let us go you bitch!"

Schneep gets up and walks towards the door, feeling out what's blocked it.

“Anti, please don’t destroy my shop.” Phantom sighs. Behind the two of them seems to be a curtained off area, presumably towards the back of the shop.

Bro tries to stand in front of the others and gets into a fighting stance, eyes glowing blue silver. “Fuck off, bitch! We don’t want to be around a fucker like you!”

JJ's head also snaps to the door. Shit! There has to be some other way out of here! He rushes for the curtained area, gesturing for the others to follow him.

Alt grabs Bro and quickly glitches after JJ. Bro shouts as he's pulled but starts to run with them. Jackie pulls Schneep after the others.

"Hey! That area is off limits!" Phantom shouts.

The area behind the curtain is definitely a backroom area- not nearly as decorated and full of cleaning supplies and a private room of sorts. Tons of doors line the hallway and a fire exit is near the back.

JJ’s head turns on a swivel. There! He points to the fire exit. The group runs towards it.

"Don't just yell at them, demon bitch!" Anti laughs, "Help me out! Don't tell me you're not curious too~”

Phantom is silent for a moment before he sighs and then whips out his cane. Red smoke starts to dart after the boys, filling up the hallway as they run.

As the smoke curls around them, a sultry song-like voice whispers in their ears that they should stay. What are you afraid of, gentleman? Let's stay and chat~ you're jumping to conclusions a bit fast aren't you?

JJ coughs in surprise, trying to cover his mouth with his shirt. But as he hears the voice, he slows a bit. Maybe… maybe they’re wrong? This is a different world. They shouldn’t make assumptions.

Jackie also slows. He glances back towards Anti and Phantom. Is this a mistake? After all, his own Anti acts scary a lot. He shouldn’t judge this one on being a little creepy. And did he really hear Jameson mention Phantom, or is he making that up?

“What the fuck are you all doing?!” Schneep shouts as he feels everyone slow and stop. “The man sending weird smoke everywhere is not someone to listen to!” He can feel that smoke against his skin. It reminds him of that SCLERA place. He pushes Jackie, trying to get him to move again.

Alt and Bro slow and Bro blinks sleepily against the smoke, a red glint appearing in his eyes as he stops. "..m-maybe we're assuming too much..."

Alt grip at his head, trying to blink back the smoke. "..s-something's not right here..."

“Are you all fucking insane?!” Schneep shouts as he hears Alt and Bro say that shit. “Yes something is not right—he’s probably fucking drugging us again!” He surges to the front of the group, grabbing Bro and Alt and trying to pull them towards the exit.

Anti glitches over and floats about the others, giggling. "C'mon gents! Don't be lil bitches- I Just wanna chat~! Like- learn where you're frommm and why you're the way you areee? That wont be so bad, right?"

JJ looks back at Anti, tilting his head, frowning vaguely. He doesn’t like the way he’s saying it, but… maybe he’s right, maybe talking wouldn’t be so bad?

“Don’t call me a bitch,” Jackie mumbles, shaking his head dazedly. Why does he feel so odd?

Phantom walks out to block the others from leaving, watching them curiously.

Schneep glares in Phantom’s direction. He pulls out his scissors. “Get the fuck out of the way or I swear I will cut you out of the way!”

Phantom giggles and pushes the scissors back with his cane. "Is that so? You don't scare me, Henrik... don't know where this surge of courage came from, but I'm sure it's short-lived."

"Nah Nah Phan- they look like ours but they're not at all! I feel it- outside creators’ spheres here. Completely different creators actually-" He flips on his stomach in the air and grins hungrily. "Which makes them even more fascinating. If you don't mind actually Phantom. I think I'll keep them all~ or... maybe just the weird Henrik and- bizzaro me. Coward me-"

"Hey! Lay off of him!" Bro growls, snapping a bit out of the smoke.

"The fuck are you talking about?" Jackie mutters, a sort of dreadful curiosity filling his chest. "Creators? Like—what, God? Is God real in this universe?"

Phantom chuckles, "I am interested in the magic I feel here... maybe I could take the Jameson?" The smoke seems to wrap around JJ, like a gentle tendril caressing him around the shoulders. "Don't that sound fun, Jameson~?"

JJ shivers slightly, waving a hand through the smoke. Anxiety shoots through his heart, briefly shaking him out of this, and he conjures up a faint shield, like brittle ice.

Schneep is starting to panic. He's not sure what's happening but he can tell that this is a bad situation they're caught in. And so, he acts desperately—throwing his scissors right at this Phantom.

Phantom yells and grips at his shoulder as the scissors sink in. He staggers back against the door.

"Alright! That settles it! I like your spunk~!" Anti giggles and goes to grab Schneep by the wrist. "Yer coming with me~"

Glitches start to build up around him and Alt notices this and yells out, "NO!" And glitches over to try to catch them- then the 3 of them disappear in a flurry of glitches.

“ALT!” Bro yells, trying to reach them, but he’s not fast enough. Phantom giggles and Bro glares over at him. Fuck… they took Schneep and his brother!

JJ staggers back, shocked at everything that just happened, staring at the spot where they all disappeared.

Jackie cries out. He lunges for Anti and Schneep as well, but he's too slow. He staggers to a stop. Panic has broken through the soft haze of the smoke and he spins to Phantom, eyes alight. "You—you're working with this Anti, aren't you?" His grip tightens on his staff and he lunges forward, grabbing Phantom by the shirt. "Where did they go? Where did he take them?!"

Phantom holds up his hands and grins, "Oh me? No. We were supposed to have a civil discussion about a possible alliance- but then you all showed up. So... I have no idea where they went or what he wants to do with them. He's far more... chaotic then I am." His expression falls to something more neutral and cold as he cocks his head at Jackie, his eyes glowing red. "So, Jackieboy. I suggest you let me go unless you want me to erase that tiny brain of yours."

Jackie growls, but lets go. He doesn't know if Phantom is telling the truth, but he believes the threat, and isn't too keen on getting his mind fucked again.

We must find them! JJ says. There has to be a way to track them down somehow— Then he suddenly gasps and hits his forehead. I know tracking spells! I could have tracked them down in the previous world! Stupid, stupid! He shakes his head. But my best tracking spells need something of the person's.

Jackie glances back at Phantom. "I mean—Schneep did just throw his scissors at him."

“Oh- so you’re a proper magician are you, Mr. Jackson?” Phantom practically purrs, stalking closer. “If you all are so desperate to find your friends… I can be of assistance.”

"Noooononono, we're not that desperate," Jackie says, standing in front of JJ protectively. "I know your type. We are never gonna be that desperate."

“W-We still have Schneep’s coat dont we?” Bro says quietly.

JJ opens up the bag hanging from his shoulder, looking inside. He nods, pulling out a lump of wet, black fabric and then quickly putting it back. His cape is in there, too, but the coat is more important. He whispers the command under his voice, eyes glowing blue. A whispy trail of blue magic appears.

“Come now Jackie let’s be reasonable…” Phantom coos. The smoke starts to curl around their feet again. “You all are in an unfamiliar place… clearly out of your depths. You need someone who understands what you’re dealing with… and I can be that.”

Bro tries to grab onto Jackie and JJ and pull them back, towards the front parlor again.

JJ’s spell seems to work for a second… but then it glitches and disappears before it can get too far. They might not be in a place that’s detectable.

Jameson's eyes widen. Jackie notices the trail disappear. "That's not good, is it?" he mutters.

No, JJ says. The last time tracking spells didn't work, the person I was looking for was in a strange pocket dimension.

"Well... fuck. I hope that's not the case now." Jackie frowns. He looks back at Phantom, acknowledging his words. "Uh—no. Fuck off, and no." He lets Bro pull him back towards the parlor. JJ does as well. Jackie lowers his voice and whispers to Bro. "I think we should get out fast, he's probably not gonna like our reactions."

Bro nods, gripping a bit harder on JJ.

Phantom’s eyes narrow and he bares his teeth. “Fine. Then, we’ll do this the hard way.” He points his scepter at them and tries to wrap up JJ in his smoke- the red tendril becoming surprisingly solid.

JJ yelps as the smoke twists around him, feeling himself yanked forward. "JJ!" Jackie shouts, grabbing him and trying to pull him back with Bro's help. Bro grabs on too and together they try to fight against the pull of the smoke. And the hold snaps and JJ starts to fall back against his friends.

Phantom’s eyes light up with red and he blasts a big red cloud of smoke- so thick and powerful it separates the others away from each other, blasting Jackie and Bro away.

He then slinks towards JJ, going to grab his arms from behind and yank them down and he sings sweetly in his ear. “Now now Jameson… let’s talk… I’m not your enemy. I want to help you find your potential~! I can make you stronger than you’ve ever been before.” He brings his arm out and moves to touch his palm. JJ feels a surge of energy within him. The smoke sings siren songs in his ears. Phantom has the answers, the way to make him stronger. He just needs to listen…

“JJ!” Bro tries to shout through the smoke, trying to brush it away. Why is it hard to hear stuff now too? It’s like- strange music is filling his ears. “J-Jackie!”

JJ struggles against Phantom's hold--at first. But the longer the song plays, the more he starts to relax. Find his potential...? Make him stronger? Maybe... maybe if he was stronger, he'd be able to protect his friends better. Maybe... if he listened... Phantom really could help? His eyes glaze over a bit as he tilts his head, listening to what Phantom says.

"Jameson!" Jackie shouts, getting to his feet. "Jameson!" He rushes forward—this is just smoke, right?! He can get through it!

The smoke is easy to get through sure, but it keeps trying to force Jackie and Bro back, keeping them away. “Jameson!! D-Don’t listen!!” Bro cries out.

"F-fuck!" Jackie stumbles back. Is this smoke alive?! "Jameson! Jameson!"

“That’s it… good… I can help, Jameson… I can fulfill all your dreams… I can see them. You want to get home to your Marvin, don’t you? Just stick with me and we can get you home…” Phantom sings. A piece of paper unfurls in front of JJ and a feather pen appears next to it. The smoke whispers he should sign.

JJ starts to reach out... then hesitates. This--this doesn't feel right. There are faint alarm bells ringing in his mind, muffled, but there. He... shouldn't do this, should he? He... shouldn't... it's... hard to think through the fog... this fog. He doesn't like it. Yet his hand starts moving again against his will. No—no he doesn't want this! But the song is so sweet. So enticing.

But… there’s something else underneath the siren song. A… a feeling that is familiar but foreign all at once. A spark- something he can grab to help him get free. He’s not going to let himself be controlled anymore, right? This is his way to fight back. This burning hot ball of magic welling inside him- coming to his aid.

Yes--that magic. It's the only way out of this! He closes his eyes and reaches down for it, grabbing hold of that spark of magic and bringing it up to the surface—

A bolt of red magic shoots from his hands, tearing through the paper.

This momentarily wounds Phantom as he cries out in pain and lets Jameson go, falling to his knees. “W-What the hell?!”

The red bolt of magic shoots through the fog, nearly hitting Jackie and Bro and sails through the curtained area, crashing into a window in the front parlor. The smoke clears a bit- making it easier to see the shapes of JJ and Phantom in the smoke.

"Jameson!" Jackie shouts, trying to run forward again, reaching forward.

JJ looks towards the shout. Yes—they have to get out of here! And—and they have to make sure that this Phantom can't follow them. Maybe—maybe he can stop him. He has to stop him. As JJ rushes for Jackie and Bro through the smoke, he spins around and sends out a spray of red magic, sharp like shards of ice.

Phantom doesn’t even have the chance to get up before some of the ice shards shred into his arm and hand, making him crash to the floor.

Bro rushes forward to grab JJ and Jackie then rushes them towards the front parlor again- muttering to himself “gotta run run run run-!”

They burst through the now unblocked front entry and out in the street. And nearly run into two very familiar faces-

A green blue shield gets put in front of them to stop them from colliding. And the boys see a green haired man in a red jumpsuit with blue boots and gloves and a magician in a white cat mask, half his hair green and the rest of his long wavy brown hair pulled up into a ponytail.

“…what the fuck?!” The red clad hero gasps. The magician just stares with wide eyes, dumbfounded.

Jackie starts to shout in surprise, but the sound won't come out. What the—this man—he looks like him, but—this is the first version of him he'd seen who looks like—like a hero. The ground beneath him feels like it's tilting.

Bro gasps slightly at seeing them too- then looks briefly at Jackie.

JJ looks at the two of them with wide eyes. He glances back at the shop they'd come from, then back at these guys. Hi? he signs. Who are you?? He knows who they are. But still.

The hero blinks slowly- caught staring at his double and the magician coughs and then nudges him in the side. The hero straightens up, “oh uh- i'm Jackieboy Man! And this is is uh-“

“Marvin the Magnificent,” The magician smiles shyly. He drops his shield and looks at the lingering smoke coming from Phantom’s parlor. “Guessing you were about to be lured in by that bitch huh?”

JJ laughs drily and shakes his head. No, but he gave it his best shot.

“Y-Yeah we heard this crash on patrol and came to check it out! Course it was fucking Phantom again.” Jackieboy says, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. He then eyes the the others again and points between them. “…who’re you guys? Cuz… you look like… people we know.”

"R-right—of course we do," Jackie says. "Uh—yeah—w-we probably do. Uh. This is gonna sound insane. But—we probably... are you and your friends. But from another universe."

Jackieboy and Marvin’s eyes widen.

“…t-that’s insane.” Jackieboy stammers.

“…not entirely? I mean… I’ve read and heard theories but-“ Marvin tries to argue.

“Theories are different!! Theories are not standing here in front of us also looking like Jack!” Jackieboy screeches, pointing his hands at their direction. “H-How do you know that you’re not just… new egos Jack made that think you’re from another universe?”

“Jack can’t do that right now, Jackie!”

“Shush up! It makes more sense than whatever the hell is happening here!!”

“Uh… I’m very lost-“ Bro says.

"What the fuck do you mean egos?" Jackie asks. "That crazy Anti back there called us the same thing! And what does this have to do with Jack? What kind of weird fucking bullshit goes on with your world's Jack?"

Marvin stiffens a bit. “…A-Anti was here..?”

“Y-Yeah he took our friends away!” Bro says. “Dunno know why but- we need to find them!”

Would it help if we told you our names? JJ asks.

"Right, yeah." Jackie nods. "I'm Jackie. Jackie Parker. And this is Chase Brody and Jameson Jackson."

Bro waves a bit at his name.

Is your Jack okay? JJ asks, concerned.

Marvin and Jackieboy look even more freaked out at hearing their names.

Finally Marvin says, “L-Let’s get out of the open… then we can explain.”

"Explanations would be appreciated," Jackie mutters.

“Hideout?” Jackieboy asks.

Marvin shakes his head, “No we… let’s go to Chase’s office-“ he eyes Bro, “H-He’s gonna wanna see this… plus Anti won’t look there right away… hopefully.”

Let's go quickly, then, JJ says.

Marvin waves his hands in a quick motion and everyone glows green before disappearing in a wave of colored smoke.

=========

Alt and Schneep land on the dirty ground of a dingy room, floor and walls made of metal. TVs and monitors of all different sizes are stacked up in the corners, wires littering the ground in jumbled messes. Some of the TVs buzz with static but most are turned off. One monitor is actually hooked up to a computer- a computer at a desk playing videos of a YouTuber with a really loud yell and Irish accent. A green and black chair sits in front of it and a pair of headphones sits on the desk.

Anti just floats in the air, laughing, “Damn! That was a rush! Ha! Hadn’t had this much excitement in a while~!”

Alt shudders as he looks around the room- god… this reminds him of his old apartment…

Schneep gets to his feet carefully, taking note of all the wires on the ground. He hears static and the video playing—he turns towards the computer and frowns. Are those some of Jack's old videos? Is he a YouTuber in this world, too?

He quickly grabs his cane and starts feeling things out, mapping out the tripping hazards caused by the wires and the placement of the junk in the corners. This Anti probably isn't going to leave them alone for long, he has to get his bearings while he can. "Alt?" he calls. "Are you alright?"

“Y-Yeah I’m fine-“ Alt mutters, glitching to his feet.

Anti watches Schneep in amusement. “Wow Doc- you sure are taking being teleported to a pocket dimension in stride. Figured you’d be shitting your pants, considering you’re blind as a bat.”

Schneep rolls his eyes. "How crude of you," he mutters.

“Hey! leave him alone!” Alt shouts.

Anti grins and glitches to be in front of Alt, “Oh! Pussy me wants to speak up? Never thought I’d see someone with my face who’s such a fucking coward-“

“I-I’m not-“ Alt stammers, narrowing his eyes as they flash green.

“Couldn’t fool me, pipsqueak.”

"Alt, he is trying to get under your skin," Schneep says, grabbing onto Alt's arm. "Do not let him. We have to get out of here." He backs away again, searching for the door to this room. There has to be one. But—as he checks the fourth wall, he doesn't find any sign of one. No indent in the wall or difference of material. His eyes widen slightly. Is there—no door at all? Anti said this was a pocket dimension—it wouldn't need a door, or any entrance, would it? Fuck. Fuck.

Alt yelps a bit as he’s grabbed- letting Schneep lead him around. He seems to realize their problem at the same time. “…shit…”

Anti giggles and goes to sit down on the highest point of his TV pile. “You guys are so naive it’s almost adorable! If you want I could make you a place to run through. Like a couple of trapped rats~ mmmm I’ll save that as an option for if you bore me.”

“W-What do you want with us?” Alt growls.

“Well- didn’t wanna deal with you necessarily, pussy me-“

“My name is Alt!” Alt bites back. Anti repeats what he said in a mocking tone. Then- the lights in room change red and Anti appears in front of Alt and grabs him by the shirt. His eyes are pitch black with white pinpricks of light within. “I don’t get a flying fuck what you are, kid. You are nothing compared to me.”

Schneep shivers slightly. He's really not liking this Anti. He's bringing up bad memories—if he was a bit less smug and a bit more spiteful, he'd be just like the Anti he dealt with in his own world. But he can't show how much he's getting to him.

Alt trembles in Anti’s grip before there’s the sound of a snap and Alt is dropped. Then in a blink it’s like none of that happened. Except for Anti’s smug smirk. “Anyhoo- I wanted to see what managed to crack the doctor so much that he became a glitch. That takes a lot of fuckery~”

Schneep's eyes widen as he feels his stomach drop. "E-excuse me? I'm a what? I—I know that the jumping I do can be called glitching, but—I-I am not a 'glitch'. I am a human!"

Alt looks at Schneep with wide eyes too.

Anti shrugs. “So’s your buddy. Yer both glitches though. Either means you can glitch yourself or you’re a glitch from your world- something that has broken the boundaries that were set in place for you. You broke those, somehow, Schneeple. I wanna know how~”

"I—I-I—" Schneep shakes his head slowly. "Jack told me that there was—was something different with my soul since the—but—I-I don't know what... could have... caused it..." He trails off as a couple pieces fall into place. The Nightmare. The difference had appeared after he'd been rescued from the Nightmare pocket dimension. But—that still didn't explain how. Other souls had been trapped in that realm of fear before, surely if they all became glitches that would have been recorded somewhere. Why would he be different? His grip tightens on Alt's arm.

Anti grins, “I think you’re lying, Henrik. You have some inkling don’t you?” He giggles.

Alt goes to hold onto Schneep’s hand and pulls them back. “L-leave him alone…!”

"I-I—look, it would mean nothing to you," Schneep stammers out. "I don't know if I am right, a-and I don't know how it happened. All I know is that when I woke up, I could do things—though it took me time to figure out how." He squeezes Alt's hand. "Why do you even want to know? Just curiousity?" He narrows his eyes. "I do not believe that is all."

Anti laughs and shakes his head, “Curiosity, sure that’s a factor. But, you got that keen mind that my Schneep has it seems~!” He glitches in front of Schneep and Alt, grinning from ear to ear. Alt tries to push Schneep behind him. “I’ve had this… experiment I’ve tried. Didn’t really pan out that well. But- I’m wondering how’d well it will work if someone was already a glitch.”

Schneep, in turn, tries pushing Alt behind him the moment he hears the world experiment. "What have you done?" he mutters. "What are you planning to do?" He pulls out his scissors again—a new pair, unstained by blood. He has to protect Alt. This Anti seems to be underestimating him, maybe Alt can strike back when he least expects it. But he can't do that if he gets hurt. Besides—Alt has already been through so much. Especially in the last world. He doesn't want him to get hurt further.

Alt shudders and does hide behind Schneep now, feeling like he can’t breathe.

Anti laughs madly, the static behind him on the screens increasing to a fever pitch. “I found a fun new way to make some puppets! Puppets who are just as sane as me~! Know how to have as much fun as me… have as much potential as me. Especially if they’re already breaking rules like you are, Henrik~”

"You do not seem all that sane to me," Schneep mutters, trying to hide his instinctual fear at the sound of the static. "And trust me, I would know. I've met someone just as mad as you are, though in a different way. He was not able to break me. I am not scared of you." He raises his scissors defensively. "Stay away from us."

“There’s only so much sanity you can have in a world like this… connected to the mind of the person who made you. Forbidden to leave- forbidden to change. Static to their whims.” Anti giggles. “So- I make my fun where I can~!” He only gets closer, grabbing the scissors and holding them against his neck wound. “I don’t want you to be scared of me, Schneep~! I want you to join me.”

Schneeps eyes widen slightly. What is he—

He yanks the scissors from Schneep’s grip then tries to slash at his arm.

And then Anti moves, fast, impossibly fast, and Schneep shrieks as the blades of his own weapon slash across his arm. He staggers backwards, other arm extended protectively over Alt as his other one bends, pressed close to his chest. "Y-you really are insane!" he gasps out. "I will never join you!" He backs up, pushing Alt back. "Is there somewhere you can glitch to safety?" he whispers to him.

Alt trembles, knowing he’s not the target but feeling his heart pumping fast in panic. He tries to concentrate and then gasps out to Schneep, “I-I can’t… I can’t glitch out of this room- I-I’m cut off!”

Anti laughs madly and tries to grab Schneep to drag him away. “Your bond is cute and all but let’s get to the main event!”

As soon as Anti grabs onto him, Schneep spins around and whacks him in the side of the head with his cane. "Get your fucking hands off me!"

“Ow! Jesus Christ! what are you, an old man?!” Anti grumbles.

“S-Schneep see if you can get out of here!” Alt calls.

“Oh no you don’t-!” Anti bites as he tries to grab Schneep again.

Schneep's body starts to fizzle with its strange slashing glitches—but Anti moves fast, holding onto him and breaking Schneep's concentration. Schneep yelps and immediately starts to struggle, putting all his effort into the fight, kicking and headbutting wildly.

“Just calm down Henrik… it’s all gonna be okay~” Anti says- ignoring the kicking and dodging his head. But, he does make Anti wince slightly. He grabs the arm that he slashed through and digs his claws in, pushing his glitches into Schneep’s skin through the opening. It feels awful- painful and burning and invading every inch of his body. Usually Anti eases his victims into this with hypnosis but hard to do that with a blind guy. Would his power give him sight back? Hm… he’s so curious to find out.

Schneep screams—he can't help it, it hurts, agony like fire in his bloodstream.

“Henrik!” Alt screams as Schneep does, wanting to run and help but Anti shoots out a hand and sends him flying back before he can. Alt knocks into a couple monitors in an electric heap.

The glitches are swarming across Schneep’s skin, rising up his neck and gathering around his mind. Sinking in and starting to rewrite things. He wants to fight for Anti- he wants to cause pain and destruction and chaos. He’s spent so long being the victim- now he’ll make others suffer the way he has. It’s only fair- it’s what he’s hungry for.

"N-no!" Schneep gasps out. "N-nein, Ich werde nicht—" He shakes his head, trying to fight back the violent impulses. But--isn't it right? Isn't there something fun about hacking and slashing indiscriminately? Doesn't part of him want that? "No!" he shrieks. "Let me—L-let—L-lass mich gehen! Bitte!" His eyes dart around randomly as he struggles, irises going back and forth.

He's been hurt so much, wouldn't it be good to be on the other side for once? Wouldn't it be exciting? Wouldn't it be what he craves? He shakes slightly, trying to remind himself that this isn't right at all—he doesn't want to be—to be—what doesn't he want to be? He can't—remember—The bloodlust is almost overwhelming, the need for destruction and chaos. A strange, mad laugh escapes his throat, but he screams and tries to push it back down. "R-run," he gasps out. "Run, run, r—" Another laugh, the scleras of his eyes turning black and then filling in with static. The white noise—it's in his blood—and it feels good. Like lightning in his veins.

Anti laughs and let’s go of Schneep, letting him fall to the ground. “How you feeling, Hen~?” He grins, kneeling down next to him. “Ready to go a little crazy?”

Schneep twitches on the floor. He laughs again, a strange, unhinged sound that doesn't sound right coming out of his mouth. He pushes himself up, arms trembling slightly. The scleras of his eyes are all static, occasionally fuzzing into his glowing turquoise irises. Black lines and bars fizzle around him. "Y-yes," he breathes. "Y-yes, I want to—I-I want to—" Another laugh. He's not looking directly at Anti, darting eyes still unseeing. But he reaches a hand out and the air sharpens for a moment, like the second before lightning strikes, and the electricity bounces off the surroundings, giving him a perfect awareness of where everything is.

“Woah!” Anti glitches back as the electricity bounces around but then he grins. “Ain’t that handy?”

Alt staggers and pushes himself up and then gasps as he sees Schneep, “H-Hen…?” He whispers in fear, trembling so hard it’s hard to get back to his feet. “W-what did you do to him?!”

Anti just laughs, “I got him on my side! Now he’ll wanna have some fun, right, Schneep? Why don’t you show pussy me just how much you can have?”

“S-Schneep d-don’t-!” Alt voice cracks, “Y-you gotta wake up! You gotta fight this!”

Schneep gets to his feet, staggering a little, giggling. "Of c-course Anti," he says. And suddenly he leaps over to Alt, stopping right in front of him. He grabs onto Alt's upper arms, nails digging into his skin. "C-come on, Alt. L-let's have f-fun together." He grins manically and tries to shove him to the ground.

Alt yells out in surprise and doesn’t even think to glitch away before he’s shoved to the ground. He grits his teeth and glitches back up, staring Schneep down. “I-I don’t want to fight you, Schneep!

"B-but why not? That would be so great!" Schneep laughs. He grabs his scissors again and lunges forward, slashing with the blades open.

Alt yelps as he tries to dodge and gets cut across his cheek. He stumbles back and holds it, glitching in distress. “Because you’re my friend! A-And this isn’t you!”

"I think th-this is more me th-than anything!" Schneep laughs. He leaps forward again, grabbing onto one of Alt's arms. "C-cannot friends fight each other sometimes? I-it's not as f-fun if you do not f-fight back." He grins and slashes again.

Alt struggles as he’s grabbed, “H-Henrik stop!” He just manages to glitch out of the way of the next slash and growls out, “I’m not gonna fight my blind friend! I don’t wanna hurt you!”

“Mmm love the drama here~” Anti giggles, sitting back on top of his TV perch. “You gonna let him look down on you like that, Schneeple?”

"I am worthy of a fight!" Schneep says, the smile fading from his face for the first time. "Y-you said that before—both of you, wh-when you came to my home. Do you not remember? H-here, I can remind you!" He leaps closer, aiming to tackle Alt to the ground.

“No Schneep that’s not what I-!” Alt tries to stammer out before he’s tackled painfully to the floor. He growls and his eyes spark with magic as he bites out. “Fine! Y-You wanna fight so bad? I’ll knock some fucking sense into you!” He tries to grab Schneep’s arm so he can shock him.

Schneep tenses, feeling the energy gather beneath Alt's skin—and then he leaps back again, out of Alt's reach. He laughs. "Yes! Yes! Do it! T-together!" He leaps forward again, driving the point of the scissors down.

Alt quickly tries to glitch up to his feet and tries to hold out a hand to make a shield but Schneep is too fast and stabs into his hand. Alt screams out and glitches away, clutching his hand. He bares his teeth in rage and then twitches his head to the right- causing some of the CRV TVs in Anti’s pile to get caught in his magic and then sail to throw Schneep off balance in a flurry of parts.

Schneep manages—incredibly—to dodge a couple of the screens but then one hits him square in the stomach, knocking the breath out of him and pushing him to the ground. He's stunned for a moment, and then laughs, pushing the TV to the side. "Exzellent!" he shouts. He picks up one of the loose wires from the floor and leaps behind Alt, pulling the wire around his neck from behind.

Alt doesn’t expect Schneep to get back up so quickly after that- so he doesn’t even see the wire coming until it’s around his neck. Then, he panics. Grabbing at the wire as his past flashes before his eyes- those thugs- the rope- the metal bar. The feeling of his neck being sliced open as he glitched for the first time. He chokes and scrambles to try to pull the wire away, eyes blown wide in fear.

Schneep laughs... but that laugher slowly fades. He can't see Alt's face, but he can feel the desperation in his movements. Desperation beyond just the struggle. Wait. No, this... isn't how he expected this to go. His grip on the wire loosens, allowing Alt to breathe. "A-Alt...?" he whispers.

Alt gasps for breath and then shoves his way away as best he can before he falls to his knees, trembling too much to keep upright. He lost his mask to the last world- so now he holds a hand over his neck scar and heaves in fear, hardly able to breathe.

Anti is quiet, watching this with muted interest.

"...Alt?" Schneep says again. He crouches down next to him, concern breaking through the static-filled eyes. "It... a-are you not... Wh-what happened? Is... things... fine?"

For a long beat Alt can’t look at Schneep, he can’t do anything but try his best to breathe. Eventually, He chokes on a quiet sob. “…m-my neck- d-don’t… don’t do that a-again… please-“

"O...okay..." Schneep whispers. "I-I am... s-sorry." He backs away slowly. "This... this i-isn't f-fun anymore. I... n-not like... th-that..."

Anti glitches back down, expression neutral. “…you still care about this one, huh?” He asks Schneep.

Schneep turns towards Anti again and blinks in surprise. "I-I-I... it's not..." For some reason, he feels a bit wary. Why? This is out of nowhere, isn't it? "It... is not... l-like that. I... just..." His eyes instinctively flick back in Alt's direction, though he remains facing Anti.

Alt shudders and tries to scoot away from the both of them, unable to stop his shaking, even as everything in him tells him to stop. Stop and run, stop and fight. But he can’t.

“Nah nah I hear it in your voice. Interesting…” Anti muses. He lashes out and grabs Alt by the neck and the smaller glitch gasps and struggles to pry himself free. “Hm… I can probably use this… but how..?” He grins at Alt, “Should I use you to keep ol’ Schneep in line? Seems like he doesn’t want you getting too hurt.” Alt just rasps out a terrified squeak as he desperately kicks and claws at Anti’s hand.

Schneep cries out. He reaches forward--but for some reason, can't get too close to Anti. "N-no, A-Anti, you d-do not need to hurt him, I—I-I don't understand—This—this isn't f-fun--"

“Relax Schneep. I’ll make this fun again~!” Anti giggles, “I’m just making sure we can all go on our fun adventure together~!” He then brings Alt to his face and growls low, “Without you getting in m̷͉̅y̵̹̍ ̴̲̄ẃ̴͚ä̵͚y.”Alt tries to speak but Anti grabs his hand- the one with the scissor wound and plunges his fingers in there. Alt screams-

The electronics in the room start to fizzle and flicker as Anti laughs and dissolves into static and pixels. Alt falls to his knees, retching as blood falls from one of his eyes and his glitches become darker and more red. He coughs up blackish blood as the sclera on his right eye turns black. He shakily feels the scar on his neck spilt open like it’s a fresh wound. At first Alt is still panicking, not sure what to do or how to act and then-

His panic stops. His breathing evens- the electronics stop flaring. And Alt giggles. He shakily pushes himself up and trips over himself slightly before wiping the blood off his face and smirking. “Heh… now we can have some f̶̔̽ṵ̸̌n̴̫͠.”

Schneep staggers back at first, watching, his newfound joy for chaos warring with his concern for Alt. He half-reaches out, but doesn't move beyond that.

But then Alt gets up again. And—it's Anti, too. He can sense their souls, one on top of the other. He blinks... then grins. "W-we can have some fun?" He laughs, the static in his eyes eating at the edge of his irises. "W-we can go have some fun? Oh yes, yes! C-can we go now? Can we go now, A-Anti?" He laughs again. They're both going to love this, he just knows it!