#sbtcv

What is Swap Beyond the Crystalverse/SBTCV?

This is a crossover rp between @huffle-dork and @crystalninjaphoenix and the next continuation of our multiverse series! Alt and Bro team up with Inverted!Anti to find the missing pieces of the TRVLR while looking for a way to stop Rift!Anti from destroying other universes! See glimpses into both familiar and completely new worlds!!

Read on AO3

Swap/Bad End Revisited

Stitched Revisited

Paranormal Teens

Shift AU

Banished Fae

Zombie Apocalypse

SepticPirates

Outer Space AU

Resurgence

“I-I need to be studying more magic-“ Alt mutters and then glitches out of the way of another blow. 

“You also need to get out and move, Alt, magic or not.” Oliver gently reminds him, “Sitting in a dark room everyday hunched over books isn’t good for you!” 

“Yeah, listen to Ol! He knows what’s he’s talking about!” Bro grins. 

Alt rolls his eyes. “I don’t really see how trying to get me to fight like you is helping…” 

“You never know, dude! You could face something that like- takes your glitches or magic away! You can’t rely on it forever- “ 

“Says you…” Alt smirks, “I’m a Glitch, remember? I’ll just bend the rules around~!” 

Bro can’t help but shiver a bit at this but he tries to shake it off, “It’s still good practice! Glitch or no- you gotta get your blood pumping, bookworm!” He goes to strike again and Alt blocks his punch with both of his arms then throws him back with a little zap. Alt grins as he watches Bro stumble, his blue green eyes sparking a bit. 

And then--there's another zapping sound. A bit of green electricity appears out of nowhere at the edge of the room. It zips through the air, leaving behind a black line, hanging unsupported by anything. The line opens up, becoming a wide rip--a wide rift. And out of the darkness steps a man wearing mostly black, with a green scarf and an eye-patch hiding his right eye. He looks around the room, taking in all the details. "Impressive set-up," Anti says.

Alt glitches back in surprise. Oliver nearly falls off the ledge, “what that hell?? Hello??” 

Bro turns around then grins brightly, “Anti! Wassup??” 

Alt’s eyes widen as he straightens up, “…i-is it time?”

Anti looks back at the Brodys and nods. "If you want it to be time, it's time. I don't want to rush you. But sooner would be better. You'll probably want to call your friends and such."

Alt’s eyes narrow in determination towards Anti, magic sparking around him. “Y-Yes! We’re ready!” 

“Uh- I’m not??” Bro raises his hand, “I mean I’m okay if we go now but if it’s not an immediate rush then like… I wanna change out of these sweaty clothes at least.” Bro also points a thumb back at Alt, “I’m also not like Alt’s who’s had a bag ready for months, just in case.” 

Alt flushes bright red, “Chase! C-C’mon man!”

"Heh." Anti grins. "Really? A bag ready? That's... fun." He glitches over to the wall, leaning against it. 

Alt blushes even more, “L-Look last time I didn’t have my spell books or-or our bracelets and I-I need fuel especially if we’re gonna be glitching at all so that needs to be stocked and Oli, Jackie and Dr. J would throw a fit if I didn’t bring first aid and-“ 

Bro laughs and claps Alt on that back. “Relax bro! I was just teasing- lemme just get changed okay?” 

"Well, like I said, you'll probably want to take care of things. Go on. I can wait." Anti says. The edges of the rift crackle with green electricity and it shrinks until it's barely big enough to stick your arm through. 

Bro grabs the bag he brought with his spare clothes then hurries down stairs, “I won’t be long!” 

Anti looks up at Oliver. He blinks. "...Oliver, right? Or is it just Google here?" 

Oliver blinks in confusion, “Um- what? T-That’s a nickname for my brother but uh-“ He looks to Alt for context but Alt just shrugs, shaking his head. He’s only met one other Ollie. 

"Where I'm from, there are four... brothers... all called Google. They're friends of a friend. You look like them."

Oliver blinks back at Anti, “O-Oh! Huh… n-never thought me and my brothers would be in… these things. But I guess if it’s a multiverse- that makes sense.” He laughs, “Imagine calling all of us the googles- Griffin would be so mad about that.” Then the nurse tilts his head at Anti and kicks his feet slightly. “So, uh… Anti. What is it exactly that you’re taking Alt and Bro away for again? They’ve tried to tell me but… I dunno- it’d be nice to hear from the person they’re going with.” 

Anti nods. "We're going to find the pieces of a device called a TRVLR. When it broke they got scattered across different worlds. I think that all of us working together will be faster than just me." He glances back at Alt. "Though... we'll have to stop by Sam's world first, to get the rest of the parts I've already collected. Don't worry--a lot's happened since they were last there. They won't have to worry about that Anti attacking them." Then back to Oliver. "Once we get the TRVLR together, we'll have to track down the person who broke it. Another version of me. But we don't have to do that right away... probably." 

“Oh… right- that… doesn’t sound so bad…” Oliver says, biting his lip a bit in worry.” 

Alt had headed over to the corner and has been changing into his other clothes while they talk. Mostly just changing his shirt and putting on an oversized short sleeved hoodie with different patterned long sleeves. He ruffles his hair as he walks over, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He tried to smile at Oliver. “Don’t worry Ols, we’re used to this kinda stuff. I’m sure this will be a breeze.” 

Oliver huffs out of his nose and crosses his arms, “Yeah- but every time you go on these things… you come back hurt…”

Anti stares at Oliver silently for a moment. Then, a bit after the moment starts to get uncomfortable, he says, "I'm coming with them too. I can help protect them. Not that they'll need it, of course." 

Alt looks at Oliver with worry and opens his mouth to say something but Anti says something instead. So he just grins nervously. “S-See Ol? We’ll be fine.” Oliver frowns, not looking any less worried. 

Anti looks over at Alt. "Did you hear what I told your Oliver here? We'll have to go back to Sam's world first. There's no more corrupted, though. And we won't be there long."

Alt can’t help but freeze a bit as he hears this but he nods, “No more corrupted huh? That’s… that’s good.” He holds onto his arm, rubbing at the back of his hand… as if he can still feel the burning of the corruption there. 

After a few more minutes, Bro hurries back up the stairs. “Sorry! I’m good!” As usual- he’s wearing some off-brand bootleg stuff of his own hero merch, a big cozy hoodie version, ripped jeans and sneakers, with a slick half collar tank top with the eye logo on it. He fiddles with his utility belt- his mask pushed up into his hair, making it shimmer halfway between green and brown. “I texted the lads but uh- how long do you think we’ll be gone this time?”

"Hard to tell," Anti says. "One of the universes is a bit lacking in technology. But hopefully Sam will be able to drop us close to where the TRVLR parts are." He pauses, thinking it out. "Four days, maybe. But time is inconsistent, of course."

“Okay… four days… could be worse! I’ll let them know.” Bro says, pulling out his phone to text them. 

Oliver fidgets a bit at this and then finally jumps off the windowsill and grabs Alt’s hand, “Alt, let’s talk over here real quick!”

“Oli what are you- agh!” Alt gets tugged to one of the corners. Alt frowns at him. “Oliver… What's wrong? It’s… better this time right? We’re not just… disappearing without a trace.” 

“I know I know I just…” Oliver bites his lip, “I can’t help but worry! Especially after last time when you got a concussion and didn’t even tell anyone and-“ he stops in his ramblings and sighs, holding both of Alt’s hands in his own. “…I know I can’t stop you… I know you need to do this… I just… you all went through so much last time.” He hesitates then runs a hand against Alt’s jaw, tracing the very faint scar there. Alt leans slightly into it and closes his eyes before looking back. “…I want you to try to stay safe and… look I… I know you’ll be okay but j-just in case I have something I’ve been wanting to give you and just- now feels like a good time!” 

He lets go of Alt’s hands, leaving Alt to blink in confusion as Oliver digs around in his duffel bag of supplies. He pulls out a box and then opens it and takes out what’s inside- handing it to Alt. “…I asked Blaise what good charms she had in her shop for you… for l-luck and protection even if I don’t.. f-fully understand. She said this was… indicative of your magic.” He holds out a necklace on a thick black leather chain with a sliver chaos star charm. 

Alt’s eyes widen as he gently takes the necklace. “O-Oli…” 

“J-Just- use this to… to promise me you won’t do anything d-dumb… and you can use it to think of m- u-us! Us… if you need to. Everyone who’s waiting for you to come back… s-since all those worlds… gotta make this place feel k-kinda boring, huh?” Oliver says timidly, looking away. 

Alt’s face drops and then he looks nervous, cheeks flushing as he pulls in Oliver for a quick kiss. His face is super red but he just whispers. “Never… We’ll come home… I promise.” He slips the necklace on and gives Oliver a weak smile. 

Oliver smiles back, cheeks flushing as he squeezes Alt’s hand. “…Good. Y-you better.” 

Bro blinks at the two of them exchanging stuff- then can’t help but smile dopily at them. He chuckles and walks over to Anti. “Guess they need another minute… wonder if I should pop by to say bye to Stacy…”

Anti also watches, more fascinated than anything. So this is what a version of him who was into romance would act like. He'd only ever met ones who didn't care for it. That didn't mean they were all heartless of course... even though many were. He shakes himself out of it and looks over at Bro. "That depends. If she tried to text you or call you during this absence, would she shrug it off and wait or get worried? If she would get worried, you should probably at least send her a message explaining it."

“Mmm… she knows about my hero stuff now… but m-maybe I should pop by…” Bro says nervously, “But I uh… haven’t really explained like.. magic and the rifts…. And I don’t want to delay us more… I’ll just explain to her I’m out on a mission…” he says hurriedly and sends her a text, his own cheeks kinda red. 

Alt and Oliver kinda just stare at each other for a second before Alt coughs and looks away and Oliver does too. “T-Thank you… for the gift. I-I’m sure it’ll help and well… I-It’s nice to have a… a piece of you.” 

Oliver giggles, “Sap-“ 

“Hey! you were first-!” Alt laughs. 

Oliver pulls him in by his shirt and kisses his cheek. Then, he pushes him towards Anti and Bro. “…go on- you got multiverses to try to go save, right?” He smiles. 

Alt touches his cheek and flushes more but he nods. “Y-Yeah…” 

“Hurry up before I decide to keep you~“ Oliver says with a cheeky smirk. 

“R-Right!” Alt glitches over to the others, hiding his face somewhat in his mask and now fiddling with his new necklace. “S-Sorry! Ready-“

Anti tilts his head, looking faintly amused at all this. But he doesn't say anything. "Alright, we can head on out then." He turns towards the small rift. That green lightning appears around its edges and it grows larger once more until it's big enough to step through.

Oliver watches with awe as it opens back up but keeps his distance. 

Alt hoists his bag onto his back and straightens up. “Alright- let’s do this.” Then he blinks and looks to Oliver, “Oh Ols! Y-You’ll take care of Glitches right??” 

“Of course, you doof!” Oliver laughs. Alt laughs too. 

Bro finishes typing up his message and puts his phone away. “Alright! Let’s do this! Bye Oliver!” 

Alt smiles and waves, “Bye. Be back soon… promise.” 

Oliver smiles and waves them off as the Brody bros step through the rift.

Anti nods back at him as he steps through right after. And then, with that, the rift disappears, leaving no sign it was ever there.

—————

Walking through a rift isn't the same as being pulled into one. Bro feels a jolt, like he stepped down a curb when he wasn't expecting it, and everything grows dark with the hint of the green light usually found in the space in-between. Then, sensation returns. 

He is standing in what looks like a cafeteria of some kind. There are rectangular tables lined up, and up against one wall are counters with food. And not only that. There are appliances like mini-fridges and camping stoves. White lights in the ceiling light up the area, but... they don't look like traditional fluorescent lights. There's something off about them. Honestly, this whole place looks weirdly temporary.

Bro stumbles a bit and catches himself as he steps into the new area. He looks around a bit in confusion- especially since Alt and Anti aren’t there. Man- it’s been a while since they were immediately separated. But, he’s not too worried about it.

"Chase? When did you get here?" an accented voice asks. The question comes from one of the tables--the only one currently occupied. 

There are three men sitting there, each with a mug, and a teapot and coffee pot in the space between them. One man is wearing glasses and a pale blue sweater, some yarn bracelets on his arms. Strange branching scars crawl up the left side of his face. Another is wearing a yellow button-up with overlong sleeves. He has a mustache. The last is wearing a maroon sweater with the words Stay Strong printed on it in white. His hair is short around the edges but a bit longer on top, slightly covering the raised scars lining the upper half of his face. 

Bro jolts a bit as he hears his name and then he grins awkwardly and raises a hand in a wave, “Oh uh hi! Not… not the Chase you know uh sorry- um… I- didn’t meet any of you guys last time-“

The man with the yarn bracelets blinks. "Last time...?" 

The man with the mustache gasps slightly. He nodded, and looks at Bro in recognition. Of course! You're that Chase from another world! 

"Huh?" The man with the scarred face looks at him. "You remember him?" 

I do, but it sounds like he doesn't remember me. Which... makes sense. I wasn't really there. The mustached man waves. I'm Jameson. This is Henrik and Marvin. But... I assume you know that? I think we're all your friends in your world, yes? 

Bro’s eyes widen a bit as he takes in Jameson’s face. “Oh- Oh you were… you were the one that… that Anti used to-“ 

JJ nods. Don't worry about it. I know what you mean. 

Bro swallows nervously then tries to smile. “Well, N-Nice to officially meet all of you. I wondered if that’s who you guys were but uh- s-sometimes it’s hard to tell.” 

Henrik pulls on his bracelets. "Ah, right. Of course you are not our Chase. You look... um... more... fit?" 

Marvin laughs into his mug. "Be glad Chase didn't hear you say that." 

"Well it is true." 

Bro laughs a bit more at the comment, “Yeah I get that a lot… but I think he even realized that when we met.”

Marvin laughs some more and put his tea down. "Alright. So... you're the Chase from another world. Nice to officially meet you, too." His smile falls into something more serious. "What are you doing here?" 

"Do not be rude, Marvin," Schneep says. 

"Oh. Sorry, didn't mean to be." Marvin looks a bit embarrassed. "But—last time you came—with that other Anti and that other Jackie and that fucking..." He goes a bit pale, and doesn't mention Magnificent by name. "Last time you all came here, you were lost or something, right? Are you... still lost?" 

"And those others, are they with you, too?" Schneep adds.

“Mag isn’t here,” Bro says hurriedly, “Just me and my brother and our friend, Anti. I think he said we’re just here to see Sam and pick up supplies!”

"There are two Antis where you come from?!" Marvin blurts out. 

I'm sure that's not it, Jameson says

Bro laughs, “No just the one! Other Anti is from another world- he’s like- pretty powerful though so he’s helping us find our device that got broken that we used to travel between worlds. We gotta… find another anti and… try to stop him from doing something… bad.” 

Oh, you want to see Sam? I don't know where They are right now... 

"If They are in camp, They will be at Jack's tent," Schneep says. "Ooooh, should we tell our Chase that this Chase is here?" 

He and Stacy might be with the kids, though, JJ says.

Bro tilts his head, “Same camp as last time? …I wanna say I know where that is but then I’d probably just get myself lost-“

"Oh right!" Henrik nods. "Last time you appeared, the resistance was still in the caverns. Well, that has changed since then." 

"God, the time loop was still in effect, too," Marvin mutters. "That's also been fixed since then. In fact... a lot's been fixed. Though we, uh, still have problems." 

“Oh fuck I forgot you guys were in one of those! We didn’t stay long enough to really… feel that though-“ Bro says sheepishly.

Henrik stands up, smiling a little. "Do you want to see the camp?" He points at a set of double doors. 

JJ sighs. I suppose we're cutting tea time short, then. I'll clean up. 

Bro waves his hands a bit, “Oh I didn’t mean to interrupt! You guys can finish, I'm chill!”

JJ blinks. Are you sure? 

Schneep sits down. "We could finish our drinks, then. I'm sure there is no risk. The camp is very safe, ever since we drove Iris out." 

JJ nods slowly. Would you like a drink then, Chase? We have mint tea and coffee.

“Oh I’d love a coffee-“ Bro smiles and goes to sit down, even if he feels a bit awkward. “…did you guys say IRIS?”

Schneep gets up to grab an extra mug. "Yes--Iris Hopkins, the fucking.... worst." 

Marvin swirls his mug of tea like it's a glass of wine or brandy. "Fucking worst. She's a magician. Used to be on the Réalta Council which is... apparently? The magician government?" He shakes his head. "Anyway, she did some shitty things, so they kicked her out of camp. Now she's on the run somewhere in the city." 

“Oh.. they’re a person- okay,” Bro says, looking a bit relieved. “I’ve heard that name with like a pretty fucked up company so… got worried there for a second. Glad you all drove her out! She sounds like bad news.” 

Schneep returns and pours the coffee pot into the mug. "Here you are." 

Bro looks up at Schneep and gratefully takes the coffee, “Thanks!”

JJ nods. Very bad news. Sam says she likes to push the borders of magic. 

"I got locked in a room overnight once," Marvin mutters into his tea. "Jack had to uncorrupt me before she agreed to let me out, even though Cat was no threat to anyone."

“What?? Jesus that’s… that’s awful-“ Bro gasps. “That’s… Jesus-“ He shakes his head. “You’d think she’d have some kind of empathy if you weren’t a threat…”

"Yeah, you'd think that, wouldn't you?" Marvin says. 

She's who we're dealing with now that Anti is... no longer the center of corruption, JJ says. 

"But we have not seen her in some time, so it is all fine!" Schneep says.

“Yeah our Anti told us the corruption is gone… so… Anti is… what’s his deal now, then?” Bro tries to say casually, but his fingers dig into his mug, a bit of anger bubbling deep in his gut. 

"Anyway--you probably have to find your friends, yes? Your Antis?" Schneep says hurriedly. 

Bro blinks then smiles a bit at Schneep and nods, “Yeah uh- we have a lot of places to visit I think… but you know- …coffee.” He says with a small chuckle as he takes a big sip.

"Coffee." Schneep nods understandingly. "I have forgotten much, but I never forgot the sweet taste of coffee." 

Sweet? It's rather bitter, I'd say, JJ says jokingly. 

Neither of them had addressed Bro's question about Anti. After taking a big drink of his tea, Marvin mutters, "Anti got more than he deserved. By which I mean... more mercy than he deserved. But apparently it was necessary, because of how he and Jack are linked."

Bro’s expression darkens, gripping his mug tighter, threatening to crush it. “…is that so?” Dangerous light flickers in his eyes. Like the first sight of lightning before a storm starts.

JJ puts a hand on his arm. Breathe, he says. And don't break the mug—it's communal. 

Bro blinks as if he wasn’t aware of what he was doing and looks down at the mug, carefully letting go. “Oh- r-right, sorry…” 

"Trust me, I know how you feel," Marvin says. "But... this is how it is." 

"Anti is... actually... trying to be... not bad," Schneep says slowly. "Though clearly, he is not going to win back hearts."

Bro nods to the others, his expression still somewhat stormy. “I guess… he’s only still around because of Jack. Still… doesn’t seem fair to all of you- to have to see him.”

"Oh, I'm not seeing him if I can help it," Marvin says. "I don't know how these two are okay with... being there." 

JJ shrugs. It's not worth ruining the peace to me. 

Schneep is thoughtfully silent. He finishes off his coffee.

Bro follows Schneep’s lead, downing the last of his like a shot. “Well uh- thanks for filling me in. This is all good to know… I should really go find Alt…”

We'll go with you, JJ signs. 

"Yeah, I'd... like to see Alt... again," Marvin says awkwardly. 

Bro smiles, “I’m sure Alt will be happy to see you all alright… I remember him uh… talking about what… happened to you. It really affected him…” 

Marvin nods slowly. He subconsciously rubs his neck. JJ puts a hand on his shoulder. 

"I will put the cups away, then we will go," Schneep says, standing up. 

Bro gets up to help. Hopefully Alt hasn’t run into any trouble… 

----------- 

After a jolt, Alt appears in a grassy field. Surrounding him are some temporary-looking buildings and round, colorful tents—a campground, of some kind. The sun hangs in the sky in its afternoon position, a few wispy clouds drifting across the blue expanse but not enough to dull the sunlight. There are some people wandering about. They all give him a second look, surprised to see him... but no one approaches him.

Alt blinks at the appearance of the field. So much different than what he dealt with last time. He looks around, wandering towards some of the tents. Guess… it was time to try to find Sam, right? He plays with his necklace as he goes- already finding it comfortable to fidget with.

As he walks past a green tent, the flap unzips and someone starts walking out—almost running right into Alt. "Oh, sorry!" The man backs away. "I didn't see you. Are you here to see..." He trails off. "You're not Chase." The man is wearing a blue t-shirt with a cloud pattern on it, a red hoodie tied around his waist. Many scars marr his arms, all of them unnaturally straight lines.

Alt glitches back in surprise, “No, I-I wasn’t watching where I was…” He trails off as he takes in the sight of the other man and his eyes widen as he scrambles back a bit more. “Y-You’re - you were E-Error…!”

Jackie's eyes widen. "A-Alt?!" He also backs up. "I—you—what're you—I-I um—" He looks nearly as panicked as Alt is. 

Alt tries to keep his breathing under control- because clearly Jackie isn’t Error anymore! But he sees- he sees him leaving with Anti- abandoning him as the corruption ate him alive.

There's a slight green glow in the tent behind them. A small golfball-sized green eye slips past Jackie, where it then grows bigger, to soccer-ball size. {ALT!} Sam says cheerfully.

Alt swallows shakily and then glitches again in surprise but relaxes at seeing Sam. “S-Sam! Hi…!” He grins nervously.

Sam tilts to the side, like an animal cocking their head. {ALT... I UNDERSTAND YOUR FEELINGS.} Their mental voice is soft, gentle. {BUT JACKIE IS NOT THE SAME. HE HAS GONE THROUGH A LOT AS WELL. YOU DO NOT NEED TO FORGIVE HIM, BUT REMEMBER THAT.} 

"I... I can... leave," Jackie says slowly. "I just... th-thought I would... get Jack something from the cafeteria..." He can't look away from Alt.

Alt winces a bit at Sam reading his feelings. But soon enough he shakes his head, “n-No it’s… it’s fine. Y-You were… you weren’t you… then.” He tries to laugh but it comes out forced. “and you had it w-way worse than I… I did.”

Jackie nods slowly. "O...kay. Yeah. I... I really am... so sorry. I'm... so sorry." 

“It’s okay… really.” Alt says sincerely. 

"Jackie?" A voice comes from inside the tent. "Who are you talking to?" 

"Uh..." Jackie glances back over his shoulder. "Do you... remember Alt? Did you see him?" 

"Do I remember—oh, I'll never forget Alt—wait, is he here?!" There's a shuffling noise. 

"Jack no, be careful!" Jackie hurries back into the tent.

Alt perks up and then smiles brightly at the sound of Jack’s voice. “J-Jack?!” He blinks in confusion at Jackie’s reaction then glitches inside after him.

There's some furniture inside the tent. The central area has a circular table with two chairs, then there are two alcoves to either side--one with a twin-sized bed with a metal frame, the other with a series of cubbyholes that have various things inside--a couple card sets, puzzles, and folded clothes. Jack is sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing a white hoodie and gray pants. He looks a bit thinner and paler than the form Alt saw last time... but he's solid. He has a physical body. Jackie is standing nearby, holding a pair of arm crutches out to Jack. 

"Alt! Hey!" Jack waves at him cheerfully. "Oh my god, it's good to see you!"

Alt’s expression brightens as he sees Jack. “Y-You’re awake…!” He gasps and glitches over. “God- it’s good to see you too, dude!”

Jack laughs. "It's good to see you too! Hey, is it okay if I hug you?" 

"Be careful, Jack," Jackie says. 

"C'mon, I'm not gonna shatter if he hugs me."

Alt laughs and nods, “Y-Yeah of course!” He glitches a bit closer, hesitates for just a second then goes to hug Jack.

Jack hugs him back as tightly as possible. "God--I missed hugs," he says, and laughs a little. 

Alt laughs and smiles warmly. “I’m… really happy to see you’re okay…”

As they pull away, Jack asks, "What are you doing back here?" 

{THE THREE OF THEM ARE HERE FOR THIS.} Sam flies over to the cubbyholes, landing in one near the top.

Alt blinks and looks to where Sam is going. “Oh yeah! Sam has parts of the TRVLR… it got destroyed so we’re going to go look for all the missing pieces.”

"Right, your device." Jack nods. "Sam said something about keeping an eye out for things a lot recently..." 

Jackie walks over to the cubbyhole and grabs the things in the cubby where Sam landed, bringing it back to the table. There's a plastic bag full of computer-y parts, a small clutch of some kind made of slick black fabric, and three small items. Meanwhile, Jack straps on the arm crutches Jackie left by the bed and walks over to the table. 

{THE TRVLR IS NEARLY COMPLETE,} Sam says. {THERE ARE ONLY EIGHT PARTS LEFT, BUT THEY ARE THE MOST ESSENTIAL PARTS.}

Alt’s eyes widen as he glitches over to the table. “Woah! You found so much- honesty I thought we’d have to find a lot more!”

{THE GOOD GLITCH HAS BEEN A GREAT HELP,} Sam says. 

"What're those?" Jack indicates the three small items. They're orbs made of glass, designed to look like eyes with green scleras and blue irises. The pupil is the size of a fingerprint, slightly indented. 

{THEY ARE TO HELP FIND THE PIECES,} Sam says. {TRACKERS, OF SORTS.}

“Ohh! Neat!” Alt grins, picking up one to look at. Then he looks at the fabric clutch. “And what’s this?”

{WATERPROOF BAG,} Sam explains. {TO PROTECT THE TRVLR PARTS.} 

Jack raises an eyebrow. "Going somewhere with lots of water, then?" 

{OH, I AM NOT GOING. BUT YES, ALT, BRO, AND ANTI WILL FIND A WORLD WITH A GREAT OCEAN.}

“…one we’ve been to before or- somewhere else?” Alt asks, blinking back at Sam. He starts to take the TRVLR parts and puts the plastic bag inside the fabric one.

{YOU WILL ONLY BE VISITING TWO WORLDS WHICH YOU'VE BEEN TO BEFORE,} Sam says. {THE FIRST OF WHICH, YOU WILL MEET UP WITH THE HENRIK WHO GOT CAUGHT IN YOUR LAST JOURNEY. THE SECOND OF WHICH... WELL, YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO TRANSFORM INTO MERPEOPLE.} 

“So somewhere new,” Alt laughs. “That was a really round about way of answering that.” 

"You went to a world where you turned into merpeople?!" Jack gasps. 

"They what?!" Jackie's eyes widen.

Alt blinks then grins, “We’ve been to two worlds where we got to do that! One was in the far off future on an alien planet with really weird fish but they had like- mermen alien fish hybrids so we got to be some of those. Then- once we landed in a world where actual mermen existed too! Honestly it was really cool,” Alt laughs. “I got to practice some cool spells to make it happen!”

"Whoa..." Jackie whistles, impressed. "I don't think Marvin could do that. Don't tell him I said that, though." 

"Alien planet with weird fish? That sounds cool!" Jack says. "So... you need to meet up with your brother and this other Anti, right? Sam, do you know where they are?" 

{ALL THREE LANDED IN THIS CAMP,} Sam says. {I BELIEVE THEY WILL MAKE THEIR WAY HERE. YOU DO NOT NEED TO MOVE.} 

Jack sighs. "Yeah... probably for the best." He looks at Alt. "Turns out, having your body in a coma for years has some side effects. But we'll take what we can get. Better than being ghosts."

Alt looks relived the others aren’t far. “Well if they’re on their way here then- I don’t mind keeping you company.” He says with a shy smile. “Maybe you guys can… catch me up? Seems like a lot has happened since we were here last!”

"Oh you have no idea." Jack sits down at the table. Jackie hovers nearby. 

"Uh... short version. Surgeon left the Place where Anti was keeping him. But unfortunately the tradeoff was the cave where the resistance was hiding was found. But in the escape I managed to uncorrupt JJ. Then, turns out, this camp was here the whole time--this place is run by magicians, turns out there's more of them than just Marvin and Raven, hah. So we all came here. I uncorrupted Schneep. Then this group of other magicians led by a woman named Iris arrived--turns out she was secretly doing shady magical shit. We got Cat out of the Place by tricking Anti into thinking we were somewhere else. I uncorrupted him, he's Marvin again. Anti then freaked out, and..." He glances at Jackie. 

"He... really held onto Error tightly," Jackie says slowly. "Ended up... fucking with my head enough that I wanted to leave, even in that state." 

"So I uncorrupted him, then," Jack says. 

Alt listens carefully to the story, nodding along. He seems relieved to hear that Marvin is no longer Cat. Then, He looks sympathetic towards Jackie when they explain about Error. 

"Then uh... the Place kind of... became part of the world? And the corruption... became its own thing? And started controlling Anti?" Jack continues. 

"That part will probably take a little more explaining," Jackie mutters. 

"That whole thing made Anti start to reconsider shit," Jack says. "That, and some of the voices--holy shit, you don't even know about the voices, uh... that's a long story too. But to sum it up, I went into Anti's mind and got rid of the corruption, but as a result... we both... returned to this body." Jack pauses. "Anti is... in here." He taps the side of his head. "He's... asleep right now, though."

Alt’s eyes widen as he hears about the corruption. Then, at Jack’s last statement, he inhales sharply and glitches back. “H-He’s what?!” He squeaks, turning a bit pale.

Jack winces. “Yeah no I expected that reaction. Don’t worry, he’s not gonna pop out or anything. He only wakes up once I fall asleep, and I’m not planning on doing that anytime soon. A-and even if something happened, he’s not… going to… H-he doesn’t hurt people anymore. Or, he’s trying not to. And the corruption is gone anyway…”

Alt slowly relaxes- even if he still looks wary. “Oh uh… o-okay. If you say it’s nothing to worry about… I-I trust you.”

Jack lets out a breath. “Yeah… it’s uh… really awkward, given… everything that happened.” 

“Understatement,” Jackie comments. 

“Everyone’s keeping an eye on him, but he’s really not gonna try anything,” Jack continues. “Besides, we both lost a lot of our powers once we got our body back, so he couldn’t if he wanted to.” 

Alt nods, giving Jack a weary smile. 

“Oh, I can do some party tricks, though. Jackie, hand me the tablet.” 

Jackie picks up a small tablet—like an iPad, but slightly different—from the bed, and walks over to hand it to Jack. He props it up so Alt can see the screen. A bit of static flickers across it as Jack opens and closes some apps just by concentrating. YouTube, some idle matching game, an art program that’s currently on some drawing with a lot of red splatters—which Jack closes quicker than the rest. “See? This is the most we can do now.”

Alt blinks a bit- impressed. “hey- that’s pretty neat!“ he laughs.

“Really?” Jack brightens. “I mean—I know you can probably do a lot more with your like electric magic but I’m really proud that I’ve managed to do this, it’s taken some practice—” 

“Ha I can’t do anything like that! So I think it’s pretty cool!” Alt laughs. 

Then suddenly, there’s the sound of static. Anti—the green scarf wearing, eye-patch’d Anti—appears inside the tent near the entrance. 

“Jesus fucking christ!” Jackie jumps in surprise.

Alt glitches a bit in surprise but quickly recovers, “Oh hey Anti! You gotta give these poor guys a warning or something-“

“Sorry,” Anti says to Jackie. “And sorry I’m a bit late, Sam. I showed up right next to this world’s Chase and Stacy, had to convince them I wasn’t this Anti who’d suddenly escaped his body. I think they’re coming here to check.” 

“Oh yeah- that’d probably freak them out,” Alt laughs nervously.

“Oh. Cooooool.” Jackie nods slowly, still looking a bit rattled. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a box of BandAids, applying one to a cut that’s suddenly on his arm. 

{ALT’S BROTHER IS HEADING THIS WAY AS WELL,} Sam says.

Alt blinks at Jackie a bit in confusion. Then brightens as he hears Bro is on his way. “oh good!”

Anti glitches over to the table--surprising Jack in the process--and picks up one of the glass eye trackers. "Did you explain to him how this works?" 

{I FIGURED IT WOULD BE EASIER TO EXPLAIN WHILE THEY'RE BOTH HERE,} Sam says. 

"Fair enough." Anti pockets the glass eye. He then looks at Jack. And seems to freeze. "...Hi... Jack." 

"H-hi?" Jack gives a little wave and laughs. "This is so weird."

Jackie notices Alt's confusion from the bandaid and looks away, seeming somehow ashamed. 

Alt looks even more confused- and now concerned. He glitches over and he hesitates before asking, “…you okay?”

Jackie jumps slightly. His eyes dart around a little. "I... don't want to freak you out." 

“You won’t, it’s okay-“ Alt tries to say gently.

Jackie hesitates... then nods slowly. "The... the glitches. You probably remember Error's glitches. They're... still around. Meaning... there's still a bit of corruption in me." He whispers that, eyes wide with panic. "I-I don't think it's affecting my brain. But... the glitches are still there."

Alt doesn’t look too freaked out- he looks more worried than anything. “O-oh… I’m so sorry Jackie… t-that must be really hard…” he glances over at Jack and Anti, “…I’m guessing Jack can’t help anymore, huh?”

Jackie shakes his head. "He tried. We uh... did this spell to go into my mind to check on things. It's... If there's some way to get it out, we can't figure it out." He gives a small smile. "But on the bright side... no one else has any left in them. Just me."

Alt’s eyebrows furrow, “…that’s still not something you should have to deal with… that really sucks. I… I wish I knew how to help…”

Jackie smiles. "Thanks. It's okay, we'll figure it out eventually. It'll just take a while. Besides... sounds like you guys have something else to work on, right?" He glances towards the tent entrance. 

Alt chuckles, “Yeah… we got a pretty big mission from the sounds of it.” 

Jackie hums, "Wonder how far your Chase is. The camp isn't that big, he'll probably be here soon." 

----------- 

"--and over in that direction is the meeting building, the magicians set it up very quickly," Schneep says. He's been giving Bro a verbal tour of the camp as they walk. "It is amazing, actually." 

"Yep, magic's amazing," Marvin says a bit smugly. 

Jameson chuckles. 

There are a few people up and about camp. They occasionally glance at the group, but apparently this isn't an odd enough sight to stare at.

 “Yeah dude this is really impressive! This was a magician’s camp?” Bro says. He smiles at people as they walk by, trying to appear friendly.

Jameson nods. Turns out, the Council that's in charge of all magicians in the area knew about the time loop and set up this camp to keep an eye on things. Once the time loop broke, we all came here and let them know about the corruption. They've been a great help since then. 

"Can't believe I never knew about them," Marvin mutters.

“Damn! That’s really great- well besides that Iris woman but… good you guys got help right away!” Bro smiles.

"Yes, very good," Henrik agrees. "Oh, perhaps if you stick around a bit I can introduce you to Fern, she is a magician doctor! I think she is at the clinic now." 

"Fern's great," Marvin says. "A real miracle worker." 

“Oh! That’s cool! Don’t meet too many magician doctors! You’d think that’d be more prevalent…” Bro laughs. 

"Hey!" A voice shouts. "Guys!" 

To the left, a pair of familiar faces are running towards the small group. 

"Hello Chase!" Henrik waves. "And Stacy!"

Bro blinks then grins, “other me! Stacy! Hi!”

"Oh! Hey." Chase skids to a halt next to Bro. He's wearing a brown aviator jacket, his hair a bit longer and shaggier than last time they were in this world. 

Stacy's hair has also grown out, now only the lower half of her shoulder-length hair is dyed blonde, everything else is its natural brown. She's wearing a yellow long-sleeved shirt with little pink dots around the cuffs. 

"You are here, then. Uh, good to see you!" Chase says. 

Stacy nods. "So... weird question, did you really come here with your brother and some other, glitchy version of Anti? Or should we be worried?"

Bro laughs, “I really came here with Alt and another Anti! We’re picking up some stuff to try to fix the thing we use to visit other multiverses- Sam collected a bunch of it!”

"Ohhhh, that would explain that plastic bag in Jack's tent," Chase says. 

"We are heading to that tent now, actually," Henrik says. "Do you two want to come?" 

Stacy nods. "Sure, why not? The kids are being tutored so we might as well keep an eye on things." 

As the group continues, Chase explains, "We were in the hangout tent together when this Anti guy suddenly appeared. Gave me nine consecutive heart attacks seeing him. He, uh... really looks like our Anti. Except with an eye-patch. And a scarf. I don't think Anti would like scarves." 

“Oh yeah he’s kinda freaky when you first meet him,” Bro chuckles, shaking his head. “I never got to see what your Anti looked like but I can imagine. You can trust him though- Sam does. And he’s also like… saved me and Alt multiple times. He’s moody and acts aloof but he’s- he’s a good guy.”

So like Marvin? Jameson says. 

"Wh--hey!" Marvin sputters. 

Chase laughs. "Alright. If Sam trusts him, we'll trust him." 

"I'm not moody," Marvin grumbles. Henrik pats his shoulder.

Bro hides a laugh, “it’s okay dude- some of the best people I know are like that! Alt is like that too.”

Marvin smiles a bit. "Heh... that helps." 

"Honestly, it's good to see you be a little moody," Chase says, smiling back at him too. 

"Really? O-oh." Marvin blinks. "Hah... I'll try not to be too moody, but, uh... thanks." 

Bro smiles warmly at Marvin. 

They're approaching a green tent. Jameson points at it. That's Jack's tent. He's not staying with the rest of us because of the... Anti situation.

Bro blinks at Jameson before looking back at the tent. “Oh yeah uh… he was in a coma right?”

"Yeah..." Chase nods slowly. "I remember you and Jackie could hear him. But, uh, now he's back in his body!" He smiles... then the smile slowly fades. "Unfortunately... the side effect of that is that Anti is also back in the body. He, uh... They kind of take turns. When one falls asleep, the other takes over." 

But Jack should be awake right now, you won't have to deal with Anti, JJ reassures him.

Bro’s smiles hearing Jack is awake- but it quickly falls as he hears Anti is with him too. “…that’s- gotta be hard to deal with… t-the way you all were talking about him… thought he’d be separate from Jack at least-“

Marvin winces. "Well... it meant that the corruption went away, and everyone was uncorrupted again. So I think it's... worth the trade-off." 

Chase sighs, rubbing the back of his head. "At least they don't just randomly turn into each other. That'd be weird. And at least Anti's not trying to hurt anyone any more. He's, uh... trying to... redeem himself?" 

Marvin looks away. Jameson purses his lips and doesn't say anything.

Bro’s expression darkens again, “Hm… hard to redeem turning people into corrupted monsters against their wills. …I believe in second chances but that… I dunno if I would… I dunno if I could with him. Not after what he did to Alt.”

Stacy nods. "Well... you're not alone in that. All of the uncorrupted people are staying in camp too. And a lot of them..." 

"They are not happy," Henrik states. "To put it lightly." 

"The fact that he's stuck with Jack does make things difficult," Stacy says. "We don't want to punish Jack for what Anti did. But the magicians are at least keeping track of him." 

Bro at least feels a bit better knowing he’s not the only one upset. “Yeah… poor Jack… having to deal with all this…” 

As the whole group approaches the tent, Anti--the one who came with Alt and Bro--glitches outside the entrance. 

"Holy shit!" Marvin jumps. 

"Yeah, freaky, isn't it?" Chase mutters. 

"Sorry," Anti states. "Hi, Chase. Bro Fantastic, I mean. Alt's inside."

Bro blinks then grins, “Yo Anti! Heard you gave other me a heart attack-“ 

There's the sharp sound of more glitching and Alt appears by Anti at the entrance. He grins at Bro and the others, “There you are!”

"Ah, hello!" Schneep waves. "So you are Alt. I didn't meet you the last time you were here, nice to see you now." 

"Hey!" Chase waves, and Stacy nods. 

Good to see you--though you are a bit strange, Jameson says, looking at Anti. 

"I can imagine," Anti says, shrugging. "We won't be here long, though." 

Marvin stares at Alt. He raises a hand. "Hey. You look... good."

Alt blinks at eveyone then smiles sheepishly and waves, “Hi…! Good to officially meet you all…” His eyes meet Marvin’s though and they widen. He glitches over, then smiles a bit. “H-Hey…! It’s… god… good to see you out of that… y-you know. You… look good too.” He laughs a bit.

"Whoa!" Marvin takes a step back, then laughs. "Thanks! I'm sure even the scars are an improvement to how you last saw me." He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. "I, uh... yeah. It's good to be uncorrupted." 

Alt smiles and nods, “I’m sure it’s a relief…” 

The tent flap opens again, and Jackie peeks out. "Oh, uh... hi everyone. H-hang on." He disappears for a moment, and then he and Jack come out, with Jack using his crutches to support himself. Sam flies out after them. 

"You, uh, forgot these, Alt." Jackie holds up the two glass eye trackers. 

{YOU'LL NEED THEM,} Sam says. {HELLO, CHASE.}

Alt jumps a bit as everyone else comes out and then laughs, going to grab the trackers. “oh I- didn’t mean to lead everyone outside! T-Thanks though.” 

“Yo Sam!” Bro grins, “Good to see ya!” He blinks at seeing Jack and Jackie but then smiles more, “And Jackie and Jack! Good to properly meet ya both!” 

Jackie waves a bit, smiling shyly. "Nice to properly meet you, too." 

"Hey!" Jack grins. "Yeah, last time I was still a coma ghost. So glad that's over with." 

"Ah yes, because it was so easy for you to become not a coma ghost," Schneep says, deadpan. 

"It only took the whole Place being dragged out to the city," Chase says jokingly. 

Anti blinks. He looks over at Sam. "Was that what you were dealing with that time those five got stuck in-between? Is that why you were late?" 

{YEP.} Sam swishes Their optic nerve. 

"Well... shit. No wonder."

Alt and Bro blink in surprise. “T-The whole Place?” Alt asks in awe, “wasn’t that place like… infinite???” 

"Oh--no, not infinite," Jackie says. "I mean, it definitely seemed like that when you were wandering around and its hallways were shifting, but at most it was as big as the city." 

"If you look over thaaaat way..." Chase points to the side. Part of the sky seems... red? "That's where the city is. You can see the effect the Place had from here." 

Bro looks at Anti and Sam and tilts his head, “Damn… then it’s only been like… what? 2 months? Since all that happened? That’s crazy…”

It's been longer for us! Jameson says. It seems time in your world runs slower than ours. I think it's been about... four months or so. Twice as long. 

"Even so, yes, that is a lot that happened," Henrik agrees.

“Still… four months isn’t long at all… you guys seem to be adjusting well,” Bro says with a gentle smile. 

Alt looks towards the city with furrowed brows, “…what happened to the city? I-Is that why you all are out here?” 

"Yyyeah..." Jack says slowly. "It's uh... it has a red sky now, and there are weird hallways everywhere and the sewers and caves are a maze... it's a fucking mess." 

"Yeah... that's our main problem now," Marvin says. "Fixing that and finding Iris again."  

“why are you looking for Iris? I thought she got ran out of here…” Bro asks. 

"Yeah, ran out of here and into the city, where she's probably plotting something." Marvin folds his arms. 

"Besides--she's broken magician laws, so she's basically a fugitive." 

“Ah… makes sense then.” Bro nods. Alt frowns at the city in worry.

"What are those things, by the way?" Stacy says, pointing at the glass eyes. 

{ANTI, YOU EXPLAIN, MOST OF THEM CANNOT HEAR ME,} Sam says. 

"Right." Anti nods. "They're trackers so we can find what we're looking for." He takes out his own glass eye from his pocket. "You put your finger against the dent where the pupil is and the information gets beamed directly to your mind."

Alt’s attention gets drawn back from the city as Anti explains the trackers. He hands one to Bro. 

Bro whistles, “Impressive! … and a tad bit invasive but- guess that can’t be helped-“ He and Alt immediately go to try it.

Immediately, Bro knows that all the TRVLR parts in this world are in that black clutch Alt is carrying. 

Alt merely becomes aware that there are no other parts besides that in the area. 

Bro and Alt still seem impressed. “Cool!” Alt grins. He stuffs it into his pants pocket for safe keeping and Bro stores his in his utility belt. 

"Oh, it works on a world-by-world basis," Anti adds. "But Sam knows which other worlds have the remaining parts. We're actually going to that universe with the Glitch Henrik next. He probably found the part there by now.”

Both of them look delighted to hear they’ll be seeing Schneep next. “Aw fuck yeah! I bet Schneep crushed that-“ Bro grins. 

"So... are you guys just gonna leave right away, then?" Jack asks, a bit disappointed. 

The brothers exchange looks before Alt says quietly, “I guess… we can stay for a little bit longer- if you guys want.” He smiles sheepishly.

"Well I mean--this is important, isn't it?" Chase says. "I'd hate to delay you. And there's not a lot to do at camp, really." 

Marvin brightens slightly. "We could play Insane Monopoly." 

The others all groan and immediately start to protest. 

That's sure to make them want to leave! JJ says. 

"And that will literally take all day!" Jackie adds.

Alt and Bro burst into laughter. “As crazy as that sounds… we.. we probably should go.” Alt says, holding his necklace. “…we have uh.. people waiting for us at home….” His cheeks turn a bit red at this and Bro smirks.

"Ah... of course." Schneep notices the blush and nods. "W-we... we understand." 

"Hen's gonna spend the rest of the day with Trisha, oooo," Chase says teasingly. 

Schneep nudges him. "And? What about you two?" He gestures at Chase and Stacy. 

"Huh, what? I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Chase protests, face getting red. 

Stacy's eyes widen and she fidgets awkwardly with her sleeves, looking away. 

Bro smiles at Chase and Stacy though, maybe they’re getting along better! That makes him feel more secure with his own relationship. 

“Careful guys- you’ll make Alt jealous~” Bro teases, “His boyfriend threw a fit that we had to leave-“ 

“C-Chase!” Alt protests, pushing him slightly and looking away, hiding his face in his mask. Bro laughs.

Sam flies away from the tent. {LET'S GET SOMEWHERE CLEAR, THEN. THAT IS BETTER WHEN MAKING A PORTAL.}

Bro looks at the others and smiles, “Wanna help send us off then?” 

"Hmm? Help how?" Marvin asks. 

"I mean, sure, we'll wave goodbye!" Jackie laughs. 

Bro laughs, “That’s what I meant!”

"Alright, come on, everyone after Sam," Jack says, making his way after Them. Everyone else follows, matching his slower pace. Except for Anti, who immediately glitches over to where Sam is waiting in a clear spot away from most tents.

Alt glitches to walk beside Jack, playing with his necklace timidly. Bro keeps up with the others.

It's a clear day. The clouds are only wisps. 

But... suddenly... there's a feeling of ozone in the air, like the moment before a lightning strike. 

Anti's head whips to the side, eye widening in alarm. 

{NO!} Sam shouts. {THAT'S IMPOSSI--} 

And then a shockwave of red light blasts outward from midair as a rip is torn in space.

Bro holds his arms over his face and digs his feet into the ground to try to not get blown away but he ends up getting thrown back. Alt yells out in surprise and glitches to cover Jack, curling his body around him to keep him safe-Jack gasps as Alt suddenly appears in front of him, stumbling but managing to keep his feet. 

Chase and Stacy, out in front, get thrown through the air. JJ and Marvin are just behind them and both get knocked to the ground. 

Anti glitches out of sight and then returns just in time to glare at the black rip in midair. "Y͏̛ou.̶̷" 

A figure forms from the red light as a low, threatening laugh echoes through the clear day. Another Anti, glowing red and black, eyes filled with white static and a scar wrapping around his neck. He floats a few inches off the ground. "Did you think I wouldn't notice?" His voice comes from all around them. "Those three little blips I could brush off, but you. The ripples you caused getting here again... I'd be a fool to ignore it." 

Alt got knocked to the ground too trying to keep Jack up but he quickly glitches back up to his feet. He goes to hold an arm out in front of Jack and the others and his stomach drops. “N-No…!” He breathes, blood running cold. 

Bro hurries to push himself up and rushes forward. His eyes fill with blue light as he growls. “Y-You! …w-what are you talking about??”

"Oh? Do you not recognize me?" The red Anti grins, and his image shifts, until it's abundantly clear--this is the Anti from the first world with the rifts. The red light quickly returns, darkening his appearance. 

Bro bares his teeth at the red Anti. “oh, I’d be hard pressed to forget you bitch-“ He snarls. 

"And do you think I'm a fucking moron? There's always people like you in every world! People like you who will get in my way. And that's what you're doing now, isn't it? Are you trying to stop me?" 

“Of course we’re trying to stop you! We’re not gonna let you destroy innocent worlds!” Bro bites back.

"Who the f-fuck is this?!" Marvin says, climbing to his feet. 

"Someone bad, clearly," Schneep says, shuddering. 

"He's the one who broke the TRVLR," Anti says, glaring at the red image before them. He summons a knife. "Leave this world alone! It's been through enough!" 

{I WILL PUSH HIM OUT!} Sam says. {I WILL--} 

"You won't do anything," Red Anti says, snapping his attention to Sam. He grins, tearing his face in two. "Don't you think it's strange how you couldn't see me?" 

Sam backs up. Being just an eye, it's hard to read Their expression, but They seem taken aback. 

Bro’s eyes widen, “S-Sam can’t see you?!” Then he growls, “That doesn’t matter cuz we’ll find a way to stop you!”

"I'm an anomaly," Red Anti says in a soft, threatening voice. "You can't fucking stop me." 

Alt pushes Jack gently towards the others, “G-Guys…! G-Get Jack to safety- g-get out of here!” He warns them- but he doesn’t take his eyes off the other him.

Red Anti laughs, and turns his attention to Alt. "You care about him then? I'll show you what happens when you care." His image disappears, and red lightning races towards Alt and Jack.

Alt panics and yells out, holding out both hands and shutting his eyes as a green-blue electric bubble curls around him and Jack.

The red lightning bounces off the shield. Red Anti's image appears outside it, growling at Alt through the electricity. "Why can't I grab your power?!" he demands. "It's magic! It's energy! It should be--" 

Alt stares at Anti with terror clear on his face and he stumbles back. “I-I don’t…!” He tries to say. 

A bolt of green light passes through the image from the side. Marvin, having got to his feet, has his hand extended, green light coming from his eyes, his pupils now contracted to narrow cat-like slits. 

"Did you think that would work?" Anti's voice says. "I'm not there. I'm everywhere." More red lightning forms behind Marvin and shoots towards him. 

At the same time, another bolt shoots towards Bro. Bro yells and tries to rush at Anti but gets blasted back and skids a couple times across the ground.

Marvin cries out, falling to the ground as the lightning sneaks up on him. 

"Marv!" Chase gasps, scrambling to his feet and rushing over. Henrik also runs over, his doctor training kicking in as he checks Marvin over.

“Chase! Marvin!” Alt calls out and then he tightens the bubble more around him and Jack- unable to hide his shaking.

"H-he is okay!" Henrik reports in a shaky voice. 

"You bastard!" Jackie shouts, a few squares of colorful static flickering around his shoulders. He rushes for the image of Red Anti, but he disappears well before he gets there. 

"He doesn't have a physical body!" Anti snaps, his eye darting around. "I'll buy you some time. Sam, a rift!" 

Abruptly, he dissolves, turning into shadowy pixels and then disappearing. Red and green lightning flicker around the clearing, zapping through the air. 

Bro slowly pushes himself back up and then quickly nods, momentarily watching the Antis battle before he rushes over to Sam. 

{RIGHT!} Sam grows in size, now more like a beach ball. {YOU ALL MUST GET TO THE NEXT WORLD! AND I MUST EXPEL HIM BEFORE HE DOES ANYTHING ELSE! JAMESON, WE NEED TIME.} 

JJ, now kneeling by Marvin's side, looks up in surprise. Then he nods. He takes a deep breath, and his irises turn gold. The lightning... slows down. Like someone put a video in slow motion. 

"Y-you have to get out of here!" Jack says, grabbing Alt's arm. "Don't worry about me. The others can protect me."

Alt jolts a bit but then nods, holding onto Jack’s arm and squeezing it. “O-Okay- just- be safe okay?” He then lets go and glitches out of the bubble- leaving it intact just in case as he glitches over by Sam. 

“S-Sam what do we do?!” Bro pants, “We didn’t think he’d be on our trail already! We can’t even fight him!”

{FOR NOW, WE CAN ONLY STAY AHEAD OF HIM,} Sam says. {AND THERE WILL BE A WAY TO FIGHT HIM, I AM SURE OF IT. WE JUST HAVE NOT FOUND IT, YET.} A bit of green lightning appears, unzipping a rift. {HERE. GO HERE!} 

"Wait, your Anti!" Chase gasps. The green and red lightning are moving slowly, crashing against each other. 

Jameson glances around at the others. I can't hold time forever!

Alt looks at the lightning with worried eyes. But then he shuts his eyes and grabs Bro’s wrist and turns them towards the rift. “H-He can catch up to us-! I-I think…! Right, Sam?” He hesitates right before it.

{I'M SURE HE--} 

Then JJ gasps and time starts up again. The red and green lightning crack through the air, and two figures form as a red one tackles a greenish shadowy one to the ground. The shadows glitch over, reaching Alt and Bro in a second. 

{YES, HE'S WITH YOU NOW!} Sam says. {NOW GO!} They turn around towards the red figure, slowly growing in size as a second rift opens up behind it. 

Alt doesn’t hesitate now and both him and Bro rush through the rift. Alt looks back with a bit of worry towards the others then turns to hurry through.

Jack waves them off. The others also all look over, watching them leave.

"Oh you don't need to lie to me," Shattered says, chuckling. "It is a real hazard, I know. Doll complained so much while working here." He disappears and reappears in the center of the room. 

“You made Jackie work here?” Bro says with a growl, thinking of Mag using Alt.

"Where is she?!" Marvin demands. "Tell me, o-or I'll shoot!" 

"Marvin, careful!" Chase pulls him back from the edge of a hole. He looks down at it and holds out a hand. Yellow magic covers over some of the holes, creating a solid bridge into the solid room. 

"Over here." Shattered appears over by the right doorway. He hits a glowing blue button and it opens up. Marvin runs over in that direction, pulling ahead of Bro and Chase. As he goes through the doorway, Shattered's hand hesitates over the button again, but he doesn't push it. Bro yells a bit as he pulls ahead and quickly speeds after Marvin and through the door.

The room beyond looks like it was once a storage room of some kind, with metal shelves full of boxes and random things. But there have been some changes. Someone took plywood boards and nailed them over the holes in the floor, and a corner of the room has been made into a tiny kitchen with a mini-fridge, microwave, shoddily-made cabinet, and coffee maker. Up against the other corner is a metal bedframe, and on it-- 

"Dad?" 

"Skyler!" Marvin rushes over to her, immediately scooping her up into a hug. Skyler is small for her age, her brown hair held back by a purple headband. She's wearing a pink dress with white accents and a rounded collar, and she has white sneakers on her feet--the type with bungee cords and not laces. Her socks are fuzzy and purple.

Bro watches the reunion with a wet smile, but then he glares behind him at Shattered. “…what’s the point of all of this huh? To torture Marvin? To have some kind of control? …a little girl doesn’t deserve to get thrown into adult messes. You’re sick.”

Shattered blinks, uncomprehending. "...She is fine, though." 

"Are you fine, sweets?" Marvin asks, giving her a kiss on the forehead. 

"Mm-hmm." Skyler nods. "Dad? I want ice cream." 

Marvin laughs. "Is that what's on your mind?" 

"I haven't had any dessert for forever. And I'm bored. I wanna go to the park." 

"We'll go to the park as soon as we can, sweets, I promise you." Marvin stands up, holding her in her arms. 

Chase looks over at Shattered. "Well?" 

"Hmm?" Shattered stares at him. "What?" 

"Where's the way out?" 

"I got rid of it after you came in." Shattered grins. 

Bro’s eyes flash and he lashes out to try to grab Shattered by the collar and slam him into the wall, “Fucking bastard! This was a trap?!”

Shattered's head knocks against the wall, but he just laughs. "Of course! I was not expecting others, but it works out, ja?" 

Marvin's eyes widen. He takes Skyler and hurries out of the room, searching around the edges of the room. 

"You bastard!" Chase's eyes flare bright yellow. "You just wanted to--to kidnap Marvin?! Why?!" 

Shattered's smile fades. "yes... that is a good question," he whispers. "I... he is..." He trails off, suddenly looking lost.

Bro’s hold on him loosens a bit- confused. Then, sympathetic. What if… Shattered here is just like Glitch? Someone corrupted that can’t help but act on their impulses? Should he try to give him mercy? Should he try to appeal to who he was before..? …it’s worth a try isn't it? “…Henrik?” Bro asks quietly, “…are you still in there somewhere…?”

Shattered blinks. "Hen...rik?" he repeats. "Th-that is a... name. That is a... familiar... name." 

Chase blinks. "Is that your name?" he asks, matching Bro's softer tone. 

"I..." Shattered looks around, like he's taking in the details of this strange space for the first time. "This is... a broken place. For broken things. It... should not be here..."

“It was… did you forget, Schneep? …what happened- to put you here… that made this place?” Bro asks quietly. “Do you remember?”

"There was... an accident," Shattered says slowly. "I... I was... not..." He gasps, and suddenly grabs onto Bro’s shirt with both hands. "Wo sind sie? Wohin sind sie gegangen? Wie bekomme ich sieczurück? Wie bekomme ich sie zurück?!" And then, as sudden as the panic arrives, it disappears. He blinks at Bro slowly, like he's never seen him before. "...Ah. What... am I... supposed to do now?" It's like he's asking for the next line of a script. 

Bro can’t help but flinch back and look at Shattered with wide eyes. German- German-! He knows some from Henny? Where… he’s asking where someone is? Bro takes a deep breath and holds Shattered’s wrist gently in his hand, “…you’re missing someone, huh? Is that why you took Skyler? Why you want Marvin? …you’re trying to replace something that you’ve lost.” He says quietly, firmly, but also, with compassion.

"Replace...? Replace what?" Shattered blinks. "Who are... ah, you are a Hero, ja?" And he looks over at Chase. "And a Magician." He turns to look at Marvin and Skyler, still searching for some other way out of here. "Oh! Such a cute little one. She looks tired. She should probably lie down, maybe."

Bro gets frustrated at this and then shoves Shattered back, “Okay don’t play dumb, Schneep! I’m trying to help you! You took Skyler, remember?? You trapped us all in here- are you just losing your mind?! What that fuck happened to you?!”

Shattered stares at him, then laughs. "What did you say? Shneep? What a funny word. No, no, we are not trapped in here. You just have to concentrate! Or... is that just me?" 

“Schneep! Henrik! That’s who you used to be cuz I fucking know you dude! Or I know what you’re supposed to be! you-!” Bro starts to yell, frustrated tears brimming in his eyes. The way Shattered’s blue eyes glow and his black coat- it can only make Bro think of the Schneep he knows becoming like this… just like he saw Alt in Glitch. 

Chase walks over and puts a hand on Bro's shoulder. "Um... Bro? I don't think he's playing dumb. I think he's just... like this."

Bro flinches a bit as Chase touches his shoulder and glances at him briefly. He loosens his grip a bit more but looks at Shattered with sadness. “… how did this happen…?” He whispers before finally letting Shattered go, not expecting an answer. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath then addresses Shattered again, “… you’re right- the little girl does look tired, doesn’t she? I don’t think that bed is good for her back there- can you help us get her back to rest somewhere?” He asks.

"Hm? Oh, yes that would probably be a good idea." Shattered nods. "Where is that way out...?" He wanders over, pressing his metal hand to the nearest wall. He closes his eyes for a moment. "Where are we going?" 

"Um--we have some friends at a building on South Project Street," Chase says hurriedly. "The number is 223. Does that help?" 

"Oh yes, that place! They should be able to get her home from there." A cracking noise rings out and the section of the wall breaks, forming another portal. Shattered looks back at Bro and Chase and smiles. "Let's go, then."

Bro looks pretty weirded out and guarded but he nods and whistles to get Marvin’s attention, “Marvin!! Hurry over here!”

The whistle is not necessary. Marvin is already looking in that direction, a concerned expression on his face. He takes Skyler by the hand and the two of them hurry over. "We're leaving for real, then, Dad?" 

"Yes, Skyler, we're leaving for real," Marvin says. 

Shattered blinks as Marvin gets close. "You are her father? Do... do I know you?" 

"Uh--nope." Marvin turns his face away. 

"You seem familiar, though." 

"Just a coincidence." Marvin hurries over to the portal. "Chase, Chase--both Chases, um--you better be right behind us. C'mon, Sky, you go first." 

"Come with me!" Skyler clings to his hand. 

"At the same time!" Marvin glances back at Shattered, who is staring at him with a puzzled expression, brows furrowed in thought. "Okay, at the same time. C'mon you two." And he and Skyler hurry through the portal.

Bro looks back at Shattered, expression conflicted. But, then he nods and follows right after the other two.

As Chase follows as well, Shattered's eyes seem to snap into place. "Wait!" he shouts. "You cannot leave!" 

The portal starts to close, but Chase lunges forward, the edges scraping against his skin, and barely manages to make it out before it shuts altogether. The three of them and Skyler are standing in the lobby of the building, alone.

Bro breathes heavily as they make it to the other side, clenching a hand over his heart. “J-Jesus Christ… t-that was insane…!” He then shakes himself out then kneels down by Skyler, giving her a gentle smile. “Hi Skyler, you okay? Nothing bruised?”

Skyler stares at him with wide eyes. "Are you Uncle Chase's twin?" 

Chase laughs. "Uh--no, not exactly. But he's a friend. So, it's okay to answer his question." 

“Oh yeah uh sorry! You can call me Bro, okay?” Bro laughs sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I-I’m a hero so I help people like your dad, you know?”

"Oh. Yeah, I'm okay." She pats her own arms, checking herself over. 

"Were you scared?" Marvin asks quietly. 

"...sometimes," Skyler says, even quieter than him. "Because, uh... I didn' know what was going on." 

Marvin leans down and gives her a tight hug. "Well, it's all over now. I promise."

Bro smiles sadly and pats Marvin’s shoulder. “I’m glad you’re okay, Skyler… we’ll get you home real soon, okay?” He looks up at the ceiling, knitting his eyebrows in concern.

"Yeah, all your other uncles came to find you, too, but they had to stay back," Marvin says. "They're somewhere upstairs right now, with Bro's brother, too. Do you want to go find them, or do you want to stay here with me and wait for them?" 

"Um..." Skyler twists back and forth, twirling her skirt as she thinks. "I wanna go find them." 

"Alright." Marvin nods. "Let's go, then." He glances at Chase and Bro. "You two lead the way."

Bro chuckles a little, “You’re really brave, Skyler. A tough lass!” He smiles at her then heads towards the stairs. 

————- 

It’s easy enough to try to find Alt- the second he’s alone on an upper floor- he’s not even sure which one— he screams in rage and a rocket of power comes out of him, throwing anything left over around in an explosive burst. He starts to grab things and throw them, hit the walls with electric bursts, yelling until his throat starts to go raw. Then, he looks at the damage he’s done as he pants heavily, then yells out with a cracked voice before he curls up, curling his fingers in his hair. 

Why is he so angry? He doesn’t even know this kid! But… thinking about her- all alone and scared and taken from her family makes his blood boil. …Is it because no one came for him? That he wanted so badly to help save her? Is it because Shattered wears his friend’s face but has the attitude of the scientists that tortured him? The people that changed him and Chase forever? 

Maybe maybe- he’s not sure- all he knows is he’s so so angry and he can’t control it and all the others must think he’s just as bad as the other hims and-! 

He’s not even sure when the tears started to come until he felt the wet warmth on his face. 

 "...Alt, are you... okay?" Anti's voice comes from the phone. "I haven't seen this... reaction from you before. And I don't think... this is something you usually do."

Alt is quiet for a long time after hearing Anti’s voice. “…I… I don’t know…” he answers truthfully. Then he laughs bitterly, “obviously I’m not okay… I… I don’t know why I’m so angry I… s-she’s not even my kid- she’s not a kid I know- but a-all of this… I…” he lightly touches his neck and closes his eyes. “…guess it just brings up b-bad memories…” 

"Ah. So it's a trauma response," Anti says bluntly. "You don't want any other kid to go through something that reminds you of something you went through. You might have even been seeing Shattered as the people who hurt you, striking back in a way you couldn't back then." He pauses. "Well... all of that is understandable. It really is. But you have to know you were going a bit too far back there.”

Alt is quiet, gripping his arms tight as he curls up around his knees. “…yeah I… I know…” he whispers. “…I think it was more too. I saw him as… as the people in SCLERA… the Alterra people that hurt us… I-i guess it was just… not wanting to be scared. Easier to be angry than… afraid.” 

“You can't let your anger control you like that, as valid as it is. I know you're not... like that. If that makes sense." 

Alt laughs a bit bitterly at Anti’s last statement, “…you didn’t know me at my worst… there was a reason I was… targeted. I was always an angry kid… angry when Chase found me again… a-always so angry… I don’t think it… really leaves, you know?” 

Anti doesn't respond to that right away. "...maybe," he says quietly. "But—" 

And then he stops, the phone microphone detecting sounds. 

There are footsteps in the hallway outside the room Alt is in. "--just follow the loud ass noises," Dr. Anti's voice is saying. 

"D'you think he's alright?" Jackie asks, worried. "Seemed a bit rattled by the whole thing." 

"Fucking understatement." 

Alt stiffens as he hears the others’ voices and he looks at the door with wide eyes. He doesn’t think- he just glitches to hide behind something- not ready to face anyone.

The door to the room opens, and JJ walks inside, looking around. Jackie follows behind him, then Dr. Anti. 

"Well... this is definitely where he was," Dr. Anti says. 

"D'you think he left?" 

JJ shakes his head. His eyes scan the room... and then he walks directly towards Alt's hiding space behind an overturned table. He stops a few feet away, and starts typing on the brace on his wrist. "Alt?" says a robotic voice. "Do you want to talk or would you rather stay quiet?" It sounds like a computerized version of Dr. J's voice.

Alt freezes as he hears JJ start to walk towards him. He’s quiet for a few intense beats. Then, he quietly laughs, though it sounds… pained. “…forgot you said you had ESP..  c-cool communicator though.” He doesn’t move to come out of the spot though, opting to curl up more against the table.

“Thank you. My brother made it.” JJ glances back at Jackie and Dr. Anti. The two of them come over, and they all sit down on the floor. “We just wanted to check that you were okay.” 

“You, um… didn’t get hurt while throwing stuff around, did you?” Dr. Anti asks awkwardly. “I’m not that kind of doctor but I’m still a doctor. I got… bandages and stuff.” 

“I’m okay…” Alt replies quietly, “…not hurt or anything.” 

“…sorry about all that,” Jackie says quietly. “He’s… really frustrating. When he’s like that.” 

“I don’t think Alt was ‘frustrated,’ exactly,” JJ says.

Alt laughs bitterly and grips at his arms, “…not exactly no… I… I’m sorry I-it’s… complicated. …I didn’t mean to e-explode though-“

“It’s okay,” JJ says. “It’s an understandable thing to get mad at.” 

“I won’t lie, it was a tad shocking,” Jackie says. “But if I got upset with people for having a temper I’d spend half my life mad at Anti.” 

“Ha.” Dr. Anti rolls his eyes. “Look, Alt. We get it. And Shattered deserves it. And judging by your brother’s reaction, this isn’t something that happens a lot with you. So it’s fine.” 

“We just want to know what we can do to help,” JJ says.

Alt is quiet for a long time, idly touching his scar. “… just you all being here… for Skyler… that’s enough. …it’s more than I got. She’s a lucky girl… seems like she’s got a big family who loves her a lot.”

"Oh..." Jackie breathes, eyes widening. He quickly starts talking. "Oh yes, absolutely. It's a really good thing, innit? I mean, poor girl doesn't have a mom, the least we can do it give her some extra uncles. And, ah, you know what they say about kids and villages. I think. I don't know if that expression exists in your world." 

Alt laughs quietly, “Y-Yeah… I know that one.”

JJ looks in Alt's direction thoughtfully. He knows there's something bothering him. Some lingering pain. But this isn't the time to bring it up. After all, they only met about thirty minutes ago. 

"Are you, um.... going to... sit here?" Dr. Anti asks awkwardly. "Or... maybe something else will help?" 

"Absolutely," JJ says. "We can talk about something else, if you want."

Alt breathes slowly, “I’m… not sure. I-I guess I need to… go look for the TRVLR piece now but I… I t-think I just… need some… time.” He wipes at his face, “…you guys are nice for… sitting here with me…. But, you don’t have to. Kinda awkward to do that with a stranger huh?”

"Well... we're not going to just leave you," Jackie says. "You don't have to be a friend to feel for someone. Especially in JJ's case." JJ chuckles silently. "And you do remind me of Anti, in a way." 

"Well yeah, he looks like me," Dr. Anti says. "Cept for the eyes." 

"I mean in the way you get angry when you're scared." "I--I don't--!" Dr. Anti stammers. "You can't just--!" 

"My point being, you don't feel like a stranger, even if you are," JJ continues.

Alt’s eyes widen and he glitches a bit in place. Then he throws a hand over his eyes and laughs, teetering on the edge of sounding pained. “…I’m that obvious now, huh?”

"To a fucking empath, maybe," Dr. Anti mutters. "You can't hide this shit from Jackson." 

"Sorry. I can't turn it off." JJ looks apologetic as he types.

“…Oh you’re … you can actually feel that-“ Alt chuckles, “that explains a lot…” 

"You don't have to talk about it," Jackie says hurriedly. "But, uh, if you want to... I, um... went through some stuff... with Shattered. It might... be, um... Sorry, I don't know what I'm saying."

Alt glances back and then grips at his arm, looking at the purple rings on his wrist. “… I noticed… he called you Doll.” He feels that burst of anger that has him gripping nails into his skin and magic sparking in his eyes. “… does Shattered make… puppets?” He asks quietly.

"Not... how you're... thinking, probably," Jackie says slowly. "But... he does have this... hypnotizing effect, if he wants to use it. He rarely does, but when it... happens, it's like... You're just... confused all the time. In this weird daze that leaves you wanting to listen to suggestions from anyone." Dr. Anti shudders slightly. Alt shudders at the mention of hypnosis too."But I mean... I was taken from my time," Jackie continues. "I left behind a lot. I don't think Shattered meant to do it, but still."

“…I’m sorry Jackie… that must be really hard.” Alt says quietly. He waits a few more beats before he asks, “…did any of you know Shattered…? Before he became… this? Or …how it happened?”

"Not at all," JJ says. "Jackie would know the most," Dr. Anti says, glancing at him. 

"He was like this when I showed up," Jackie shrugs. "But... I know it wasn't always like this. He's not some strange creature. There are moments when... there's something else." He shakes his head. "They've never happened while he was out here, only in that pocket world." He pauses. "He didn't always call me Doll... he knew my name once. But over time, he... stopped using it. And I think it's because he forgot."

Alt sighs and then finally glitches out of his hiding space to sit in front of the others, sitting cross-legged. He doesn’t look at them at first, “…that’s another reason why this is hard… I know who’s supposed to be.” Finally he looks them in the eyes, a deep sadness behind them. “…he used to be Henrik von Schneeplestein… I know his face. And… his approach to all this… scientific and medical it- …he’s not like my Hen… but like others I know. Like a very good friend of mine…” He looks at his hands as he idly plays with them, “…recently in our travels… I… we saw what… could happen if I- became something like Shattered. And not just… another Anti… it was me. I saw Shattered and… I got so angry… seeing him like he was my friend.” He laughs bitterly, “…I think some part of me thought I could… knock some sense back into him… but he’s not my Schneep. He’s not Henny either. …it’s still tough though- to see the face of someone you care about… twisted like that.” He shudders- almost relived he can’t ever really picture Distorter’s face clearly, even if he knows the truth.

The other three jump slightly as he appears, but none of them say anything as he talks. "Oh... I'm... I'm so sorry, Alt," Jackie whispers. "I can't even imagine..." He shivers. 

So it seemed personal to you, JJ says, signing now that Alt can see him. I see. He nods slowly. I suppose that if you go through enough worlds, you'll eventually find something very disturbing. A you that went down the wrong path. Or a friend who did. But it doesn't make it easy.

Alt nods and holds his arm, looking away. “… personal for that and… o-other reasons. But yeah… seeing him and… a child being in danger. …it was a lot and… my magic reacts to my emotions. Sometimes… it’s like- the anger becomes its own uncontrollable power and… takes over, I guess? …that sounds like an excuse but.. t-that’s what it feels like. I… I couldn’t think straight I… I’m sorry.”

JJ nods slowly. I understand. 

"It can be hard to control sometimes," Dr. Anti mutters. "You ever think about anger management classes?" 

Jackie shoves him. "Not the time!" 

"Well, if it becomes a problem, you know? Personally sometimes I think it helps to remove my--yourself, but... I guess that wasn't really an option back there." 

Alt’s eyes flicker angrily towards Dr. Anti and spark a bit, bits of his hair sticking up from the electricity. “…I used to be worse.” He bites out. 

Dr. Anti blinks. "...sorry," he says quietly. "I guess I don't know your life. I just..." He shakes his head. 

Ignore him, JJ says. He's not good with emotions. It's fine, Alt. Everyone is going to be okay. I'm sure of it.

Alt’s magic dies down as JJ signs and he gives him a weak smile. “…yeah, I’m sure Chase- …Bro has everything taken care of…” 

I'm sure too. JJ smiles. But I think it will be a good idea to leave as soon as possible once he and the others get back with Skyler. Are you feeling up to moving on?

Alt nods and glitches to his feet. He looks around, “Any idea what floor this is? …I kinda just- glitched to a random place.”

"It's the fourth, we saw the number next to the door while coming up the stairs," Jackie says, also getting up. 

"So if your thing is still on the fifth floor, we just have to go up one more set of stairs," Anti adds, standing. 

Let's go then. JJ gets to his feet and leads the way out of the room, glancing back to make sure Alt is following.

Alt hesitates- then follows after them. No sense in glitching ahead now. He glances at the mess he made then quickly hurries after the others.

They go down a hallway and back to the stairwell, climbing up the steps to the next floor. The whole building is still pretty dim, since the lights aren't on and the only source of illumination comes from the windows. But none of the guys dare turn on the lights. 

Though, Alt crackles out a blue-green ball of light in his hand to help light the way. 

The fifth floor has a U-shaped hallway, with lockers at one end for the employees and a breakroom at the other end. The bend of the U has a set of glass doors leading into what looks like a chemistry lab of some kind. "Do you have any idea what we're looking for?" Jackie asks Alt.

Alt blinks at Jackie then pulls out the tracker to check. “Let’s see…” The tracker tells him that the part is in a trash can in the lab area.

Alt hums and glitches forward, “…I dunno what exactly it looks like- but according to this it’s in a trash can.” He glitches over to the first one he sees and tries to search through it.

"It's in a bin? Oh boooo." Jackie frowns. 

There's only one trash can in the hallway, and it's empty. JJ goes over to the break area to check, but quickly returns. Everything in there is empty. 

"They really abandoned this place, didn't they?" Dr. Anti mutters. "Well, at least they were courteous enough to take out the garbage." He walks up to the glass doors leading into the lab. "Another card reader. Alt? D'you want to try that thing again?"

Alt stands up once he realizes this isn’t the right place. 

He hears Dr. Anti and glitches over to the door, wordlessly zapping the card reader with his magic again.

The red light flickers, but doesn't disappear. "...huh." Dr. Anti blinks. 

JJ watches this happen. You've probably spent a lot of energy, Alt. It's okay, we can find some other way in. 

Alt looks a bit unnerved but the fact that his magic wasn’t enough. But he nods to JJ’s logic. Alt

Jackie immediately walks over and punches the glass. "Ow!" 

"Jackie!" Dr. Anti stares at him in shock. "You dumb bastard!" 

"I've punched through glass before!" 

Alt jumps a bit then hides a laugh behind his hand. “J-Jackie..!” 

"Your wrist is sprained!" Dr. Anti shoves him aside. "You probably just made it worse! Go fucking--rest. Actually take care of yourself for once." 

JJ laughs silently. Do you still have that card thing, Anti? Do you think it will work? Dr. Anti hesitates. "Mmmmaybe?"

Alt touches the door- then tries to see if he can just glitch inside.

Yep. He's on the other side easily enough. 

"Oh." Dr. Anti blinks. "That works, too." He checks his pockets, pulling out a wallet. "But now I'm curious... nope, I don't even have it with me. Nevermind." 

"You dumb bastard!" Jackie says jokingly. 

"Well I'm not going to carry around some PUPIL shit after what they did to Marvin!" 

JJ rolls his eyes. Can you open it from the other side, Alt? 

Alt tries to look for a way to open the door, chuckling at the banter between Jackie and Anti.

Looks like it just opens when pushed. The others file in as soon as Alt opens the door. 

JJ looks around. So... the trash bins, then? 

"Yippeeeee," Jackie comments. 

"There's ones all along the walls, let's all get searching," Dr. Anti says.

“Oh yay, love me a bin scavenger hunt,” Alt drones with sarcasm. He glitches around, peeking inside. Most of them are empty. “…I am glad we’re not actually shifting through trash though-“

"Yeah, lucky," Jackie says. 

There are a surprising number of trash cans in the big lab, so it takes longer than expected. But eventually, Alt sees a glint in the bottom of one. A small copper ring, with other copper rings inside it, a series of concentric circles tied by a wire that sticks out on one side. The whole thing is intricate in its smallness, only as big as a fingertip. 

Alt brightens up at the glint then carefully grabs the piece- marveling at how small it is. Something this intricate must be it! “I think I found it!” He calls, putting it in the bag quickly so he doesn’t lose it. 

Then there's a knock on the glass doors leading to the lab. On the other side--Bro, Chase, Marvin, and a little girl in Marvin's arms, blinking sleepily (she got tired of climbing stairs.)

Alt glitches up in a bit of fear at the knock then sees it’s the others… and Skyler. His expression lightens up and he relaxes. “…you found her.” 

Bro smiles, “Yup! Safe and sound~! And sounds like you have the piece! Mission accomplished gentlemen!!” He beams. 

Jackie hurries over to open up the door. "Hullo, Sky!" 

"Jackie!" Skyler smiles tiredly. "Hi!" 

JJ and Dr. Anti hurries over. 

"How are you?" Dr. Anti asks in an unusually soft voice. "You're not hurt, are you?" 

"I'm tired. But no, Uncle Anti." 

"That's good." Dr. Anti nods. "If you feel anything weird, you tell us, okay?" 

"Mm-hmm." 

JJ smiles down at Skyler. We're going to get you home, okay? 

"Mmmm-hmm." 

Alt smiles warmly as the others check over Skyler. Then, he looks away, holding his arms. 

Bro sees this and comes over, pulling Alt into a side hug. “…you okay?” Bro asks. 

Alt nods, not looking at him, but not glitching away either. 

Bro looks down at him in concern but doesn’t say anything. He’s pretty sure he gets it. He felt that all too. 

"So if you guys found it, we can just leave right away, then?" Chase asks. "This place makes me nervous. And, uh... Shattered might be coming after us soon."

Once Chase asks, the Brody Brothers look up then nod to each other. “Yeah, we can head out.” Bro says. 

“…I can glitch you all to your car- but I understand if we’d rather just walk cuz uh- Skyler.” Alt says quietly. Bro can tell Alt wants so badly to go over and meet her- but he’s holding himself back.

Marvin looks over at Alt. He blinks, and smiles. "Yeah. That's probably safer, for now. Hey sweets, this is Bro's brother, Alt." 

Skyler looks over at him--and gasps. "Sparkly eyes!" 

Marvin laughs. "Yeah, he has cool eyes, doesn't he? He helped us find this place." 

"Sparrrrklyyyy," Skyler whispers in awe.

Alt blinks over at Marvin and Skyler- then his face melts into an easy warm smile. He touches over his chest. “…she likes my eyes?” He whispers. 

“They are really cool-“ Bro laughs. 

Alt walks over and bends down a bit to be more at Skyler’s level. “Hi Skyler… it’s nice to meet you! We were all really worried, I’m glad you’re okay!”

"Hi!" Skyler smiles a little. "Yeah, I'm okay. It was just uh... I dunno." 

"Confusing, right?" Marvin says. "Don't worry, we're heading home now, things will be less confusing there." 

"Okay." 

As the group heads back to the stairwell, Skyler turns around in Marvin's arms to look at Alt. "Why're your eyes sparkly? Is it like Anti's thing?"

Alt blinks then smiles, “Kinda. They didn’t always use to be like this though.” 

“Yeah when we were younger, his eyes looked just like mine!” Bro grins, pointing at his eyes. 

Alt chuckles, “but, like how your uncle Chase does magic, I do too. But I didn’t know I had magic until I was in very big trouble one day- then boom! I glitched out of the trouble and my eyes changed colors.” He smiles at her, “Pretty cool, huh?” 

"Whoaaa." Skyler's eyes go wide. "That's a lot like what happened with Uncle Chase!" 

Chase coughs. "Uh--Sky, wh-what are you talking about?" 

"Dad said that you were in trouble one day and your magic saved you!" 

Chase looks at Marvin, slightly alarmed. 

"She was asking about it," Marvin whispers. "I didn't share any details." 

"Well... that's true, Skyler," Chase says slowly. "But, uh... I'll tell you more when you're much older, okay?"

Bro looks over to Chase with concern, then nods to him with a knowing look in his eyes. He gets it. Chase nods back to Bro, relieved to not have to explain it out loud. 

Skyler nods. "D'you think that if I get in trouble I'll get magic? Or my eyes will change color?" 

"Don't go putting yourself in danger, Sky," Marvin says firmly. "It's more likely that nothing will happen, y'know? Except for you getting hurt." 

"Okay." 

The group is heading down the stairs now. 

Alt nods seriously towards Skyler, “…your dad is right. …I got in that situation because I was always putting myself in danger… I was… not a good kid. I probably could have gotten my magic in a much safer way… had I been more careful.” He then looks at her and smiles. “But hey? Who knows… magic is all around us. Maybe you’ll come across your own kind of magic some day.”

Skyler nods, taking this seriously. "Okay. Maybe I'll get powers like Uncle JJ did." 

JJ laughs, and types on his communication device. "That was also pretty dangerous, Skyler. You have to be careful, okay?" 

"Yeah, I know." Skyler nods again, then rests her head on Marvin's shoulder. 

Bro and Alt share a glance and a small laugh, smiling at Skyler. 

The group heads down the stairwell until they eventually reach the ground floor. JJ is out in front, pushing the door open and leading the group down the hallway into the lobby. And... as soon as they reach that room... there's a strange cracking sound in the air behind them.

Once in the new room, Alt’s guard is up, a shiver running down his spine. He whips around towards the noise, green magic lighting up on his fingers.

The cracking noise suddenly breaks, and the air seems to shatter. Chase whirls around, conjuring up a shield that blocks most of the shards that fly out, but gets shredded as a result. 

Shattered suddenly lunges forward, and manages to grab onto the nearest person--Bro. "You bastards!" he snarls. "You tricked me!" A loud sound comes from behind him, a sound like tinkling glass, like wind chimes. The air around him seems to fracture, kaleidoscope patterns moving in an intriguing pattern.

"No!" Jackie gasps. "Don't look!"

Bro cries out and tries to pull himself away, “H-Hey! Let go-!” He tries to say- but then his eyes widen as the air fractures into those… beautiful intricate patterns. Seemingly getting pulled into its thrall. 

“No, Chase!” Alt cries out. 

But Bro squeezes his eyes shut and easily seems to shake off the effects, grabbing Shattered’s wrist and throwing him off him. “D-Don’t try that freaky shit on me!“ 

Shattered staggers back, breaking up the pattern. 

"Go go go!" Dr. Anti shouts, pushing Marvin and Skyler towards the doorway. He staggers and then runs, clutching her to his chest. Bro staggers back then rushes after Marvin and Skyler- ready to protect them. 

"Go where?!" Shattered suddenly grabs Anti, pulling him back into the pattern. "None of you are leaving!" 

JJ rushes forward, thwacking Shattered in the face with his staff. There's a Crak! sound and Shattered stumbles back once more, letting JJ grab Dr. Anti and pull him out. 

"Anti!" he types into the brace. "Wake up!" 

Dr. Anti leans heavily against JJ. His eyes are overcome by a strange pattern, blue and black kaleidoscope shards. "I--I--" 

Shattered regains his balance. "Doctor!" he shouts. "Bring them to me!" 

Anti blinks slowly--and then shoves JJ backwards and lunges towards Alt. He latches onto him and starts pulling him back. 

Alt hesitates, horrified by watching Shattered grab Anti and affect him. So he’s not at all prepared at all for Anti to grab him. He yells out in surprise and tries to pull himself away. “h-Hey! Other me l-let go!” 

"Let go?" Dr. Anti repeats idly, his grip loosening. 

"Don't let go!" Shattered shouts, and Anti's grip tightens again. "Bring them here!" 

Dr. Anti nods and resumes dragging Alt back.

 "No!" Chase looks back and forth between Dr. Anti and Shattered. He conjures up a shield that glows bright yellow, blocking Anti's way to Shattered. "Guys! Shake him out of it!" 

JJ recovers and runs forward again, trying to push Anti away from Alt. With his help, Alt manages to pull free of Anti's grip.

Alt glitches back away from Anti with wide eyes- shaking a bit. “F-Fucking hell- t-That’s his hypnosis??” It’s so different from anything he’s ever seen- …it’s kinda pretty though- in a dangerous sort of way. He glares then glitches around the shield and tries to tackle Shattered away.

Shattered immediately vanishes, letting Alt run pass him. "No no no, that won't work again," he says. 

"Alt!" Chase gasps, unconsciously dropping the shield. "The fuck are you doing?!" He throws out a hand and grabs Alt with his magic, trying to drag him back. "Let's go! The car is right outside!" 

JJ grabs onto Dr. Anti, pulling him back. Jackie runs up to him and shakes him slightly. "Don't listen to him don't listen to him!" Jackie says. 

"No, don't listen to HIM!" Shattered shouts. 

Dr. Anti's head rolls back and forth between them, his expression conflicted. 

"God damn it!" Chase turns his attention back to Anti, throwing out a hand. Yellow magic wraps around Anti's head, covering his ears and eyes.

Alt yelps as he’s grabbed by Chase and struggles back. “I-I can distract him while you guys get everyone outside! We’re pretty well matched! Then I can glitch into the car once you all are safe!” He looks at Chase with determined eyes.

Chase hesitates... then nods. "Okay," he breathes. And he lets go, spinning around. "Go go go go go!" 

Jackie bolts for the door, and JJ follows, dragging Dr. Anti along. Chase backs up slowly, keeping a shield in front to protect the others. 

Shattered's attention immediately turns to Alt. He laughs. "How brave of you, Magician!" 

Bro looks at the others coming his way and looks back with panic towards the end of the hall, “Alt!” 

Alt grins, his eyes flashing. “I’ll give you a run for your money, bitch!” He makes a knife out of magic and glitches around to draw his eye around before trying to stab him with it in the shoulder.

Shattered's eyes dart around to keep track of him and then yelps in surprise when Alt is suddenly right in front of him, stabbing him. It doesn't feel like stabbing a person--it feels more akin to stabbing through a thin bit of wood. "Oh! Very good!" He grins. "Do you want to see mine?" His left hand draws back, and the air around it seems to break as he suddenly stabs towards Alt's stomach with a transparent shard.

Alt yells out in surprise and winces, then blinks as it just barely hurts. He laughs in Shattered’s face, “Ha! That’s nothing!” He grins and poofs away his knife then goes to try to shock Shattered. “Try this!”

Shattered snaps backwards, falling to the ground, electricity racing along his metal arm. For a moment, he looks very disoriented indeed, blinking up at Alt like he's never seen him before. But then he takes in the threatening look on his face. He disappears and reappears back in a standing position. The wall next to Alt makes another one of those cracking sounds and more glass-like shards burst outwards from it.

Alt quickly glitches back and forth to dodge the shards- all of them just hardly missing him. He pants then glares at Shattered, building up more magic in his hands. He sends out a wave of sound to try to disorient him.

The moment the soundwave hits Shattered, he cries out and claps his hands over his ears. The cracks on him seem to widen and he backs up, then falls to his knees. "Nein! Nein, bitte, nicht mehr! Bitte hör auf!" 

Alt looks down at him in surprise, momentarily caught off guard. Especially as he shouts out in such distress. “S-Schneep-“ He whispers.

Back in the lobby, Chase is pushing JJ and Dr. Anti out of the door. He spins around. "Alt!" he shouts. "Get out of there!" 

Alt’shead turns towards the others and he spares one more glance at Shattered before he glitches down the hall. 

Chase runs over and grabs Alt by the hand, pulling him out the door. Everyone else is already in the car, and Marvin has it started and running. JJ leans out the open back door and whistles for them to get in. He, Jackie, and Anti are in the back seat, while Bro is in the passenger's side and Skyler is sitting on the floor between the two middle seats.

Alt lets himself get grabbed and runs with Chase, hurrying into the car with eveyone else. “I-I think I managed to throw him off enough! Let’s get out of here!” He tells Marvin.

The moment the door closes Marvin throws the van into gear. "Hold on, Sky!" he shouts, and Skyler holds onto Alt's leg as Marvin slams on the gas and the van goes flying down the street.

Alt doesn’t get into a seat he just holds onto Skyler as the van moves, curling up around her instinctively.

Marvin doesn't slow down until Project Street is well out of sight. Only then does he relax. The van gradually slows and eventually stops as Marvin pulls to the side of the road. He looks back at the others. "Who's hurt? What's up with Anti?" 

"Chase and JJ are still bleeding from that first attack," Jackie says. "Anti's still in it." 

Dr. Anti is squished up against the window of the van, head rolled back. 

"Anti, answer me!" Jackie shakes him slightly. 

"I--I--" Anti's voice sounds choked up.

Alt blinks up and uncurls from around Skyler. He blinks in confusion at Dr. Anti and furrows his brow in concern. “…he’s supposed to listen to suggestions from anyone right?” He glitches up into a chair and looks down at Anti, “Anti! Break out of this! Come on, you gonna let that bitch win??” 

Anti blinks at Alt for a moment, looking confused... And then something about Alt gets through to him, and abruptly the fractal designs in his eyes disappear as he snaps back to reality. "Fuck!" he gasps. "H-holy shit, I forgot what that..." He shudders. "I... f-fuck." 

Jackie puts a hand on your shoulder. "You're okay," he says softly. "He can't get to you right now." 

"Y-yeah, I know." Dr. Anti squeezes his eyes shut and shakes his head. "God."

Alt relaxes a bit and slumps into the seat. “Whew… good-“ 

Bro goes and punches Alt on the shoulder once it feels like eveyone can breathe again. 

Alt yelps out in surprise then glares at Bro as he rubs it. “What??” 

Bro glares at Alt back, “You fucking dumbass! You could have gotten yourself caught in that shit! You know how susceptible you are!” 

“I was the only one who could have gotten away fast enough without him getting anyone else!” Alt bites back, “And it worked didn't it?!” 

Marvin sighs. "He just wants you to take care of yourself, yknow," he says, turning back to look at Alt. Then he glances at Bro. "And he just wanted to make sure everyone was alright." Then he looks back and forth between the two of them. "Good intentions all around. And it's in the past now." 

"Y-yeah..." Chase nods. "We're all safe. There's no reason to fight right now. I think. A-and I was hanging back, Bro, I could've grabbed him if something happened."

Bro pouts a bit at this as the two brothers stare each other down. Then they both seem to deflate at the same time and nod. “…right - thanks for watching out for him, other me.” 

Chase nods. "Yeah." He glances at Alt. "Though your brother is, uh, very capable--as I'm sure you know." 

Alt crosses his arms, still a bit heated but trying to calm down. Or maybe that’s just the adrenaline still pumping in his veins. “…we got the piece, so… I guess we should probably be on our way… since Skyler is safe now.” Alt says quietly.

"You're gonna go?" Skyler asks, sounding a bit disappointed. 

"Yeah, sweets, they're on an important, uh, mission," Marvin says. "They were so nice to help us find you when they had something else to do." 

"Oh." Skyler looks up at Alt with big brown eyes. "Are you gonna come back? To, um, visit?"

Alt looks down at Skyler with conflicted eyes. He looks back at the rest of them and Bro does the same. “…do you all want us to come back and visit?” Alt asks quietly, kneeling down next to Skyler but glancing at the rest. “…cuz I think Anti saved the address here… so… we could.” He smiles at her. “If you want.”

"Hell yeah, bro." Chase grins. "It's so cool to meet another version of me! And you're bada--you're really cool, Alt." 

"You correct bad-A but not hell?" Marvin mutters. 

"...oops." 

Marvin laughs. "Anyway, yeah, I think you guys are really cool too. And... anyone who's willing to drop everything to help my daughter is good in my book." 

I'd love to spend more time together in a less stressful situation, JJ says. 

Jackie whoops. "I mean--how often do you meet people from other universes?! That's fu-fricking amazing! And you guys are, too!" 

Dr. Anti nods. "...I wouldn't mind," he says quietly. 

"Oooo, that's a ringing endorsement from the doc, trust me," Jackie laughs. 

Alt blinks and then grins. Bro does too, pumping his fist into the air, “Heck yeah! New friends let’s goooo!!” 

Alt laughs and then smiles at Skyler, “Then it sounds like we’ll be back someday! Maybe soon- we just gotta finish up this important thing okay?”

Anti speaks up from Alt's phone. "Time can be inconsistent between worlds, but I doubt it will vary more than a year between worlds this similar. So... make a note of that. I probably won't be here next time." 

"Honestly, I keep forgetting about you," Jackie comments. 

"I've been busy recharging." 

"You can come too, of course," JJ says, typing into his brace. "We could meet properly." 

"I have a lot of stuff to do back home, but thanks." Anti's voice softens just a bit. 

"So, within a year, maybe," Chase nods. "I'll make a note of that!"

Alt looks a bit sad about that but he smiles and nods, “Okay- that’s at least good to keep in mind.” He leans down and pokes Skyler’s nose cheekily, “Don’t get too big before we can visit again, okay? Maybe we can even bring some of our other friends who are your age!” He grins. 

“Oh god yeah, Kelsie and Alice would love you!” Bro beams.

Skyler grabs her nose, giggling. "Really?" 

"Multi-dimensional playdate." Marvin chuckles. "That would be fun." 

Skyler smiles shyly. "O-okay! That would be fun!" 

Alt smiles warmly, “Okay- then sometime in the future, we’ll see you all again.” 

"So... when you're ready to go, I suggest getting out of the car," Anti says. "Opening a rift in a place this cramped might not be good."

Alt opens the car door then glitches out right outside. He looks at JJ, Jackie and Dr. Anti. He nods to them and smiles. “…thanks guys.” 

No, thank YOU, JJ says, smiling. But... you're welcome, too. 

Bro laughs and climbs out, ruffling up Skyler’s hair as he goes. Then he waves wildly, “Thanks for helping us guys! Get Skyler home safe, okay?” 

"We will," Marvin promises. 

Alt then takes out his phone and nods to Anti, “okay… ready.”

Anti nods back. The screen becomes colorful static, and then green lightning unzips a rift in midair next to them. 

"Whoa..." Jackie leans out to look at it. 

"That's crazy," Dr. Anti mutters. 

"Bye guys!" Chase waves. "See you again!"

Alt grins and waves. Bro waves wildly with a big smile. Then they both hop into the rift- heading off to the next world.

Suddenly, a wave of light and heat and electricity surges forward, a concentrated blast of bright power. But before it reaches any of them, it suddenly disappears, and falling to the ground instead is the figure of a man, buzzing and glitching but certainly solidly there. The man lifts his head up, blinking in confusion. He can't be any more than 26 or 27, brown hair sticking up wildly, brown eyes darting around, a bit of a beard on his face and an angry red burn scar around his neck. He's wearing a gray jumpsuit of some kind, with a label on the chest. 001--Before anyone can read further than that he yelps in surprise and his appearance suddenly shifts, brown eyes being overtaken by static, the jumpsuit replaced by a green hoodie and ripped black jeans. "What did you do?!" he shouts angrily, glaring at Alt.

Alt staggers back, eyes wide. He’s- He’s his age? That jumpsuit… right. the rift world had that organization… Psyode. That means he’s… he’s like Alt that way too. Like him and Bro. Alt swallows shakily. Bro also looks a bit uneasy- coming to the same conclusion as Alt. 

Alt steps in front of the others, close to Anti as he stares down at him with bright glowing eyes. “Apparently, we evened the playing field, bitch. You can’t hide from us anymore.” 

"I wasn't fucking hiding from you, you idiots!" Rift Anti says, clumsily getting to his feet. "I wasn't there! I'm not--I haven't been--" He looks down at his hands, opening and closing his fingers. "I... h-have a body again?" His eyes go wide. "I... I, uh..." His body is shaking slightly. 

Alt blinks in surprise, “what…?” For a second, he almost looks sorry for Rift Anti. 

Inverted Anti forms nearby. "It's overwhelming to be physical after so long, isn't it?" 

"Sh-shut up!" Rift Anti snaps. "I-I-I--I have to--" He looks at Huffle and Crystal and suddenly lunges for them.

Alt shouts as he goes after Huffle and Crystal again. Huffle screams and throws out a hand in front of her- and a chaotic beam of teal-ish magic shoots out to push him back. She shakily looks out and tries to shout. “L-Leave us alone! T-trust us- getting rid of us won’t help you!”

Rift Anti staggers and falls backwards, down to the ground of the black space. "Shut up shut up shut up!" he shouts, climbing to his feet again. "It--it has to! I have to do this!" He growls, the air around him glitching and buzzing, and he tries again. 

"Whoa, there." Inverted Anti grabs him by his hood, yanking him back. Rift Anti chokes and grabs his neck in response. "It really, really won't help you. Do you really think everything will suddenly disappear if you kill them and take their creativity?" 

"Yes!" Rift Anti shouts.

Huffle looks terrified. “…I-I don’t… I don’t think that will happen- …I h-hope that doesn’t happen…” she whispers in fear. 

"It won't," Inverted Anti says, looking at Huffle. "Killing you doesn't mean he gets your creativity. And the worlds don't just disappear when you do, if you know what I mean." 

"Y-yeah." Crystal nods. "They still exist when we're not... looking at them." 

“I-I… I suppose so…” Huffle says quietly. She looks… unnerved by that fact. 

“Besides,” Alt says, glaring at Rift Anti, “Just because you were hurt in the past doesn’t mean you get to decide the fate of other universes!” He stands up tall, but his expression softens ever so slightly. “…I’m sorry you got left alone… I did too. I… I remember being so so angry at the world… at everything. I wanted to destroy my life and run back to the past where I thought things would be better… but that doesn’t do anything beside hurt yourself.” 

Bro looks proudly at Alt, feeling a little misty eyed. 

Then, Alt’s eyes slowly widen as he looks back at Rift Anti, “ …are you so desperate to destroy worlds… because you hope it’ll take you away with them…?”

Rift Anti continued to struggle against Inverted Anti as Alt talked, but the moment he says that last thing he freezes. "I--I don't--I--" He shakes his head. "You don't know anything a-about me! You don't! I-I wasn't alone. I wasn't." 

“You weren’t… alone?” Alt asks quietly. 

Rift Anti laughs. "But I am now! And if we all disappeared--if no one was hurt again--would that be so bad?! Would it?!"

“Yes it would!” Alt cries, “hurt is… j-just a fact of life! We can’t stop people from being hurt- but we can learn from it! We can grow from it! There’s some hurt that… shouldn’t happen- but that doesn’t mean not existing is better!”

"Oh don't tell me you've never thought about it, Sparky!" Rift Anti snaps. 

"Most people haven't, actually," Inverted Anti mutters. 

Rift Anti shrieks and turns around to lunge at him. The other Anti disappears before he can reach him, so he spins back around and lunges at Alt, grabbing hold of his hoodie.

Alt yelps in surprise, but he tries to stand his ground. He gives an even stare at Rift Anti before he whispers, “…of course I have…” He goes to put a hand over his. “…but if I did… if I had chosen to give up… t-there’s so much I would have missed… yes- maybe I wouldn’t have been hurt. But… I also wouldn’t have reunited with my brother- made friends… explored worlds I never would have thought of. I never would have found out I can do magic- I never would have found out that I can be… happy again.” He looks sincerely into Anti’s eyes, “…there’s a bit of human still in you, isn’t there? There has to be hope inside you somewhere, right? Maybe… things can still get better? Maybe you can make things better…!”

For a moment, the static in his eyes fade, becoming their normal brown again. Alt perks up a bit as he sees that shift. Something seems to hit... until that last statement. And then Anti starts to laugh. Slowly and quietly at first, and then louder and faster. Alt’s face drops. 

"Better? You--you think that I can just fix being a disembodied mind?! You think that's something that can be undone?! I don't know why I'm solid again here! But I don't think it will last! And I don't want to live in this black space for the rest of my life! I might as well not exist then!" His grip tightens and he pulls Alt closer, a wide grin on his face. Alt yells, trying and failing to hide the fear clear on his face. "You don't know anything about me. About what I've been through! About what my world did to us! A world like that--it doesn't deserve to exist! And I've seen the others, too! They're not much better, Anti! They're not much better!" 

Alt’s expression hardens, “D-Don’t call me that!” He tries to argue, his eyes flashing a brighter green. 

Rift Anti laughs again, the sound somehow sharper, angrier.  “if you don't get it--you'll try to stop me! And I can't let you!" His body starts to emit heat. 

Inverted Anti suddenly lunges for Huffle and Crystal, protecting them as Rift Anti suddenly turns to static and a concentric circle of electricity blasts away from him. 

There’s a flicker of fear in Alt’s eyes right before he’s blasted backwards by the electricity, skidding across the ground before slumping into a crumpled heap. 

As the electricity passes over Inverted Anti he grits his teeth and diverts the lightning to either side.

Bro manages to jump out of the way, then screams as Alt gets hit, “ALT!” He then growls and dives to try to grab Anti. Though- can he even grab him like this?! He’s too angry to be thinking clearly. 

Rift Anti yelps as Bro knocks into him, tackling him to the ground. He immediately starts squirming. His body is hot, like a man with a fever. 

"W-we have to get him back to his world," Crystal gasps out. "I-I don't know what will happen if he's missing from there for too long!" 

"As long as he has the energy from the TRVLR and Magnificent, he can leave again!" Inverted Anti protests. 

"Shit! Uh--c-can you take that out of him or something?!"

Huffle shakes, “…M-Mag could maybe do that but he’s not here! I-i dunno if that’s something Alt can do!”

Crystal's eyes dart around. "Maybe not alone?" 

Anti raises his eyebrows. "You know about Amp? You want us to try that again?" 

"Again?" 

"We did it yesterday."

Huffle looks between Inverted Anti and Alt, “t-that seems dangerous… w-what if it’s too much?”

Bro pins Rift Anti down to the ground and bares his teeth at him in feral rage, “You piece of shit! Alt was trying to give you fucking mercy- which might be more than you deserve!” He grabs him by his hoodie now, snarling in his face, “I always try to see bits and pieces of my brother in other Antis- but you-! Maybe you’re beyond fucking saving!” 

Alt shakily tries to push himself up and hears this, croaking out, “C-Chase…! No-!” He tries to glitch closer then cries out a bit- his body still aching from being hit with that blast. 

Rift Anti glares up at Bro, static filling his eyes again. The heat coming from him increases, burning to the point where it's starting to hurt. "I don't need mercy! I've never needed it!" His voice cracks a bit. "Don't you fucking lie to me about your mercy!" 

Inverted Anti glances over at Bro and Rift Anti. "It might be our only choice. No matter this guy's motivations, we can't let him do this. And we won't be able to hold him off forever." He looks over at Alt. "I'll only agree if you're okay with it, Alt."

Alt looks over at Inverted Anti with wide eyes. He hesitates, “I-I… I-“ Why is he hesitating? 

Bro winces but tries to keep holding on. “Clearly you need something! Something you’re not letting yourself admit! What do you want, Anti?!” 

"I want the people who hurt my brother to die!" Rift Anti suddenly screams. His body glitches and distorts, static hiding his face, and arcs of electricity fly from his body. 

Bro’s angry expression falls, “…y-your what? Y-you have a brother?!” He starts to let go from his shock- then jumps back as power rockets off Anti with a yelp. 

"Not anymore!" Rift Anti shrieks. "Not anymore!" He grabs Bro, holding him as the electricity continues to arc from him, shocking Bro. 

Bro screams in pain as he’s shocked, his body and arms jerking painfully in Anti’s hold. 

"I can try to do it myself, then," Inverted Anti says when Alt doesn’t answer, turning away and glitching towards Rift Anti. 

Alt panics then whips his head towards Rift Anti and Bro as he screams, “CHASE!” He clumsily glitches to try to get to Rift Anti.

Their glitches collide, and Amp reforms, grabbing onto Anti and pulling him away from Bro. "Get the fuck away from him!" he shouts, unharmed by the lightning Anti is giving off.

Anti is shaking slightly, his form still overcome with static. "You get the fuck away from me!" his voice says, crackling on every syllable.

Bro slumps to the ground, groaning in pain as his body still continues to jerk and jitter with sparse electricity. 

Amp’s eyes glow with anger, “I think not! We can’t let you have your way- you need to return to your own world and stay there-!” They shout. They go to hold out Anti by his throat while the other hand vibrates and glitches with building magic. Then they thrust their hand into Anti’s chest in a burst of multicolor glitches, trying to find the foreign energy in his veins and yank it back out.

Anti's body shudders and jolts, and he lets out a strangled noise. 

Amp feels a variety of power in Anti's newly physical body. Mostly electricity, but there's heat and energy of all kind that they have to sift through. But at the core of it--magic. Familiar, dark magic. And around it, something that's not magic at all. Red strands entangled with everything else. Gritting their teeth, they grab the dark magic and yank it out, throwing it across the dark floor of the space in between. A buzzing, swirling mess of dark purple splashes onto the ground. That's that done--but this red energy will take more. And something tells them that's more important. 

"L-l-let g-g-g-g-go!" Anti says, feet kicking. He grabs onto Amp's arm, trying to push him away.

Amp stays firm, even as his arm tries to jerk and glitch into pixels and tries to turn incorporeal without their say so. He grits his teeth and charges up the magic again, trying to shift their hands into claws to grab at those red strands of energy. They put all their power into trying to tear those to shreds, stabbing their arm back into Anti’s chest. 

Anti lets out another one of those strangled sounds, louder than before. Part of them feels bad for him. But they remind themself that this is important. The strands of power seem eager to slip away. Anti tries to hold onto them, a desperation in the way he does, but they persist. Until slowly, achingly, they withdraw their hand, the strands clinging to the claws, pulling out, longer and longer. Amp braces his foot against Anti's chest and pushes, and the strands finally let go. 

They pounce on the strands the moment they're free, glitches and electricity tearing into them, turning them into tinier and tinier pieces. Then they ball them up and throw the remains, scattering them to the winds of the space in between.

 Anti slumps to the ground, falling to his hands and knees. A wailing cry comes from his throat, and his expression can only be described as shellshocked. 

Amp shakily steps back, panting and heaving as they look down at Anti. They’re quiet for a long time- wondering if there’s anything they can even say. 

“…I’m sorry it had to be this way…” They finally say, quietly. 

Bro stares at the two of them with wide eyes, shakily trying to get up to his knees. “Is… is it… over?” 

"It should be soon," Amp mutters. "Sam?" 

One of the green lights on the horizon grows bigger. It doesn't get close enough to take up the whole sky, but it grows to the size of the sun. Maybe a bit bigger. "We need a rift." 

{OF COURSE.} A line of green lightning opens up a rift in midair. Through it, the group can see a city street. And standing on it, a man in a mirrored-eyed cat mask and another in a red and blue outfit. 

Bro stares at the rift then smiles a bit at the sight of the other two. 

Huffle gasps as she sees the rift. “That’s… h-his world? The rift world?” She asks quietly. 

"Y-yeah," Crystal says, nodding. "I recognize those two. The Magician and the Scarlet Blur. Uh, Marvin and Jackie in that world." 

Amp seems to hesitate then grabs Anti by his hoodie and holds him in front of his face. Their eyes burn with magic as they growl, “If you know what’s good for you, Y̵o̸u̵ ̸w̷o̵n̶’̷t̸ ̷t̷r̸y̸ ̶t̴h̷a̶t̷ ̵a̸g̸a̵i̴n̸.” Then they throw Rift Anti through the rift onto the street. 

The moment Rift Anti passes through the entrance the other two on the street turn and stare at him. His form shifts back to that green-hoodie-wearing version, and then the form loses its solidity, becoming just an image again. He looks over at the other two, and then disappears. In an instant, the one in red and blue is at the rift. He stares through at the others, noticing Bro and Amp. "Um--thanks!" He waves, and then the rift closes. 

Bro smiles and waves back at Jackie. 

Amp nods, waving back slightly awkwardly. His body twitches, static shivering along his limbs. 

{YOU SHOULD ALL GET HOME SOON,} Sam's voice says in their mind. {IT SEEMS THE CREATORS CAN GET BACK ON THEIR OWN. BUT LET ME GIVE YOU A WAY BACK HOME, CHASE, ALT... IF YOU'RE READY.} 

Amp suddenly cries out in pain and grips over their chest again. Their arms try to phase out completely, turning into pixels. Then their own body glitches wildly in place before snapping back painfully. 

“A-Amp?!” Huffle shouts out in worry. 

Amp doesn’t answer, breathing heavily before their eyes fill with white and electricity goes to forcibly break them apart, pushing them back from each other in a pixely bright mess. 

Alt skids across the floor, body sparking but- once he stops he… doesn’t move. …it doesn’t seem like he’s breathing. 

Inverted Anti forms again, still partially static. "A-Alt!" he gasps out. "What happened?! Oh! O-oh, he's--he used a lot of energy." Anti glitches to his side. "Maybe--too much energy." He puts his head down to his head to check his breath, putting one hand on his chest to check his heartbeat.

Bro scrambles to his feet and rushes towards his side, “ALT! No no no no!! c-c’mon…! W-Wake up!” 

Huffle gasps in horror, throwing hands over her mouth as terrified tears come to her eyes. 

Alt’s head lolls back as Anti nudges him to a better position, his eyes rolled up into his head. His heart is beating, Anti can hear it clearly, but it’s slow. At first… Anti doesn’t feel any breath… but then it comes- pained and shallow but it’s there. Now that they’re up close, Alt’s skin is very pale, even worse bags under his eyes. Glitches run across his veins but the magic that usually shows up after something like this is somewhat dull. 

Bro is panicking, “I-I don’t think I’ve seen him t-this bad before…!” He whispers.

Anti's eye widens. "We need to get him somewhere they can take care of him! Sam, open a rift to their home world! Now!" 

Sam doesn't even answer, they just cause another rift to appear. Through it is a clinic waiting room. Anti nods. He presses his hand against Alt's chest and sends a bit of electricity into his body, hoping that will give him a boost. 

Alt jerks and gasps, his body reacting to the shock, back arching. His heart starts up a bit more and his breathing picks up a bit more. But he’s still in pretty bad shape. 

"Bro, you get him through. Me and these two will follow." Anti says. 

"I-is he going to be okay?" Crystal whispers, an expression of horror on their face. Huffle is crying, watching all this with fear and panic. 

"He will if we get him somewhere safe!" Anti says. "Bro! Chase!"

Bro snaps out of his panic as Anti shouts at him. “R-Right, Yeah!” He scoops up Alt and with a burst of speed he rushes through the rift and into the waiting room. 

Crystal stares at Huffle with wide eyes, rimmed with tears as well. They won't cry. They won't cry. "I-it'll be okay," they say, grabbing Huffle's hand and squeezing it. "Let's go!" Huffle nods hurriedly and wipes at her face before following after Crystal, holding onto their hand tight.

As soon as the Brody brothers and the two creators are through, Anti glitches through the rift as well. It closes behind them, and the space between worlds is empty.

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

Bro stumbles into the waiting room, breathing heavily. He looks an absolute mess. But he recognizes this place- it’s the Doom Clinic. 

Crystal and Huffle run in. Crystal stops short, looking around. "H-huh. So... this is what it's like," they mutter. 

Dr. Iplier stands up so fast he almost knocks over his chair. “Chase?!” 

Bro almost breaks down seeing his face, his voice breaking, “H-Help- we need help- A-Alt is…!” 

Alt is slumped in Chase’s arms, too limp and gasping for breath. 

Dr. Iplier pales and then immediately fumbles for the intercom. “I need all available personnel stat!” 

The double doors to the waiting room burst open as someone with yellow scrubs hurries in. “Dad what’s-?!” Oliver breathes then his eyes widen as he sees Bro, the rift and, “A-Alt?!” Oliver cries, holding shaky hands to his face. 

Dr. Iplier tries to grab him by the elbow and lead him away, “O-Oliver you… you can’t-“ 

“No-! No I-I have to help! W-what the hell happened?!” Oliver shouts, a mix between angry and scared out of his mind. 

Anti appears shortly behind them. "He used too much magical energy," he says. "It was an emergency. Probably the only way to take care of that motherfucker." He looks down at Alt worriedly. Then back up. "Can you get him a room? Some sort of--of IV infusion, maybe?"

“Yeah c’mon-“ Oliver says quickly and disappears back through the doors, despite Dr. Iplier’s protests. Bro and the others rush after him. They go into the first available room. 

“Chase, set him down then back up,” Oliver says sternly. Bro does what he says, gently putting Alt on the table then backing up. Oliver hurries over, slipping on a stethoscope and putting it against Alt’s chest and leaning his head down to test his breathing. His eyes widen as he looks back towards the others, “d-did he get shocked?” 

“…technically yeah, w-why?” Bro asks quietly, “H-he usually can handle shocks alright…” 

“He’s showing symptoms of cardiac arrest-!” Oliver says, fumbling towards supplies. “Chase, tell the others we need the AED!” 

Bro straightens then hangs out of the door, calling down the hallway, “Oli says we need an AED!”

“Cardiac arr—he’s having a heart attack?!” Crystal gasps, immediately going white as a sheet. 

Huffle gasps and also pales, “no-!” Bro whips around, looking shell shocked. 

“No, he’s healthy, he shouldn’t be having one of those!” Anti responds, glitching to Alt’s side. “And it was Amp who got shocked, I—I-I should have protected him against that!” He looks more worried than anyone has seen him before.

“It’s not a heart attack-!” Oliver says quickly, “he’d still be conscious otherwise!” He pushes to Alt and starts to give him CPR, pressing down on his chest as he explains. “I-It’ll be okay- I-I think you guys got here quickly enough! We just need the AED and we’ll give him a-an IV with Antiarrhythmics..! He’ll be okay… h-he’ll be okay…!” He says the last part shakily, looking down at Alt’s face with clear fear. 

Soon enough, two other men rush into the room, Dr. Jayden and Rhett Doom. 

Rhett pulls Oliver away then hurries to Alt’s side, “Move Ols!” He pushes up Alt’s shirt to apply the AED pads and starts up the machine. 

Jayden goes to hold Oliver as he gently shushes him. The younger nurse is obviously shaking and trying to hold back tears, “it’s okay Oli- it’s okay… what is it? Cardiac arrest? Okay help me set up the IV, okay?” Jayden leads Oliver to the back of the room to look for supplies. 

Bro shakily goes to sit down in one of the chairs, eyes wide as he hunches over and holds trembling hands against his mouth.

Anti glitches back as the doctors approach. The worried expression stays on his face, but he puts a hand on Bro's shoulder, trying to reassure him.

Bro looks up at Anti with tearful eyes. He laughs shakily, “I-I don’t think I’ve ever s-seen you like this…” 

"I haven't felt like this for a long time," Anti says quietly. "About anyone other than Jack, I mean. Even so..." 

Huffle goes to sit by Bro too, staring out at Alt with worry. She wipes at her face then looks at the other two. “…I think… I-I get what’s happening…? Alt used up so m-much magic that… h-his protection against electricity was… cut off I guess. So when Amp… spilt- that shock h-hurt him more than it usually would…” She looks back at Alt sadly, “…. I’ve uh… seen in my own uh, scrying… that when he’s drained… his magic can’t funnel the electricity and -“ She looks guilty again, “…t-that’s one of the tests SCLERA did on him…”

Crystal can't sit down. They stand nearby, shifting from foot to foot nervously. "R-really?" they say in response to Huffle, watching the doctors work around Alt. "Th-that's uh... not 'interesting,' but uh... good to know."

Huffle shrugs, “…magic is… interesting. That’s why I… study it- you know?” She anxiously plays with her hands. 

Crystal glances at Anti. "I-I didn't know you got so... close to these guys." 

"I didn't realize it either," Anti says.

Bro chuckles quietly and goes to squeeze Anti’s hand. “…I mean to be fair- I-I think fusing with Alt probably made you… closer than you’d think, you know?” He looks back at Rhett working on him. “…he really admires you, you know. …ever since you saved us from your world the first time. To know you care… I think he’d like that.” He squeezes his hand again, “ …and I’m glad you’re here too. And that you’ve helped us so much…” He goes to smile tightly up at Anti, “…hopefully soon we can return the favor…”

Anti stares down at Bro. He blinks, unsure what to say for a while. Then he smiles hesitantly and nods. "That's... yes. Maybe you can. Buy you all don't owe me anything." 

"They don't want to return a favor just because they owe you," Crystal says. 

"No, I... know. But... I wanted to put that out there. I-I've been happy to help." He pauses. "And... I'd be happy to... have help too. From Alt and you." He gives a little laugh and shakes his head. "I'm not good with these sorts of things. But... I do care."

Bro laughs too, “It’s okay… I know you do. You wouldn’t have gone on this crazy journey with us if you didn’t.” 

Suddenly, they hear Alt gasp for breath, his eyes flying open. Then he starts to heave and breathe heavily, eyes darting around in confusion. 

Rhett slumps slightly against the table in relief. 

Bro scrambles out of his chair, “Alt?!” 

The others can see Alt’s eyes drift over to them- he looks very dazed and confused. 

"Alt!" Anti gasps, glitching over to the other side of the bed.

There’s the sound of something dropping as Oliver rushes over to Alt’s side, holding his cheek to get the glitch to look at him. “Alt? C-Can you hear us?”

A dazed smile blooms on Alt’s face, “Oli…” he reaches up to clumsily try to hold his hand, even though it’s shaking. “…told you… g-got home…” 

“You were supposed to get home safe, you idiot-!” Oliver says with tears in his eyes, trying to sound angry but his voice is breaking. 

“…m’sorry… sorry…” Alt slurs, eyelids fluttering. 

Anti looks up at Oliver. "It's my fault, I pushed too hard." Oliver looks at Anti with wide eyes. 

"I-I don't think it's your fault, Anti," Crystal says quietly. 

"I... don't know what else... there was to do there." Anti shakes his head. "Alt didn't have to join." 

Alt looks up blearily and tries to shake his head. 

"W-well, Bro was in danger, he would have joined no matter what." Crystal adds. 

Bro looks away guilty, “T-Then it’s my fault- I-if I hadn’t tried to hurt the other Anti then…” 

“Don’t say that Chase,” Huffle says gently, “You were trying to protect him- and he was trying to protect you.” 

“S’okay Anti…” Alt says quietly, “m’okay…”

“E-everyone always blames themselves for a thing,” Crystal says, voice shaking slightly. “A-and no one blames the guy who really deserves it. You know, the guy who wants to destroy the multiverse? If he hadn’t tried to do that, none of this would have happened! A-and, uh, everyone meant well except him, and that’s what counts.” 

Anti looks at them and laughs slightly. “You’re right. You’re so very right. I can see where I get it from.” He shakes his head. “Everything went as well as it could have. We have to remember that, and not regret. I don’t think any of us want the others drowning in regret.”

Bro laughs too, “Yeah… you’re right Crystal… thanks. N-Now that Alt is awake we… we should be celebrating…! cuz we did it!” He grins. “We got the TRVLR back and we saved the multiverse!” 

Huffle smiles, “You guys did…! I… I’m so proud of you guys-“ 

Anti nods, “In any case. Some of those wild rifts might still appear occasionally. But they won’t pose a threat to the structure of a world. They’ll seal up eventually on their own and this will pass.” 

Bro slumps back into a chair, “that’s good about the rifts… those things were so stressful when we dealt with them last time…” 

“Well, there still might be a couple,” Anti says. “But the likelihood of them sucking people in is very rare.”

Alt smiles dazedly and nods, going to hold Oli’s hand. 

Oliver sighs, “I wish saving the multiverse didn’t involve giving me a fucking heart attack…”

Anti nods. “Uh… sorry?” He says to Oliver, unsure if this is something he should apologize for. 

Oliver shakes his head, “It’s okay. Not your fault, remember?” He tries to smile. 

Rhett starts putting away the AED, “Don’t mind Oliver, he’s just being dramatic. S’not we don’t deal with this all the time.” 

“I-It’s different when it’s your boyfriend!” Oliver gasps defensively. 

“You’re the one who decided to date the hero wannabe-“ 

“Rhett!” Jayden gasps as he walks over, “That’s so rude!” 

“Hah?? No wait- Alt’s called himself that before when I’ve patched him up! I swear!” Rhett says, turning a bit red. 

Jayden snort laughs at his twin before feeling around for Alt’s vein and getting his IV set up. “Google should be stopping by soon to make sure you’re okay, Alt,” he says gently. 

Rhett looks back at Anti and gestures, “…by the way uh- hi? Oli told us about you but uh- different to meet in person… guess it’s lucky it’s like really late at night so there’s not too many other patients around.” 

“Hi,” Anti states, looking at Rhett and Jayden. “Yeah, that’s good.” He keeps staring. Unblinking. 

Rhett shivers a bit. “Well uh- I’m Jayden, that’s Rhett- wait no fuck-“ Anti’s staring is unnerving him. “I’m Rhett- that’s Jayden- we’re the PNTs here and Oliver’s older brothers.” 

Oliver laughs. 

“Um, s-sorry for… everything about him,” Crystal says. “He’s not good at being human.” 

“Not really,” Anti agrees. “I was just thinking how you all remind me of others in my own world.” 

Jayden blinks at Crystal with wide eyes, “wait …not human? …you mean he’s not magic like Alt is?” 

“And there’s other us-es??” Rhett says, dumbfounded. “I find that hard to believe. I’m one of a kind!” 

“Says the identical twin-“ Oliver giggles and Rhett elbows him.

“Uhhhh…” Crystal stalls. 

“Not human,” Anti confirms. “Not really magic, either. Long story. And yes, you exist in my world too. But you’re… very… different.”

Rhett and Jayden blink at Anti almost comically. “Fucking hell man- you guys can’t throw all this magic but not-magic shit at a bunch of STEM guys! My brain ain’t equipped for this.” Rhett whines. Jayden pats him on the back. 

Bro blinks and leans forward, “You have the Dooms in your world?! I don’t think I’ve heard you talk about them! What are they like?”

“Well they’re not called the Dooms there,” Anti says. “They’re the Googles. They live with a friend of mine in America and help out with his organization. Charity and shit. It was just the blue one for the longest time. But uh… I suppose you could say he found the other three recently.”

“What?? We’re all called Google there? That’s fucking weird-“ Rhett says. 

Bro blinks then smiles, “Huh- that’s neat! Glad they all found each other then.” 

Huffle gives Crystal a look, hiding a smile. Crystal smirks back. 

“Think of it as your last name,” Anti says. “I don’t know much about them in my world, to be honest. Been a while since I visited my friend. We both have a lot going on in our lives. He’s looking for a magic box, or something…”

Huffle smirks a bit more and covers her mouth. 

“Ohhh okay… still weird but okay.” Rhett nods. 

“Ohh magic box- that feels like a YouTube series I’ve watched…” Bro muses.

Anti raises an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t be surprised to hear that. They have a friend who runs a YouTube channel. Something like that might carry on between worlds.” 

“Heh, that’d be cool! I wanna figure out how to watch stuff from other world’s… I gotta watch Anti’s YouTube stuff- the anti from uh- JJ’s world… that doesn’t narrow it down.” Bro says. 

Anti glances over at Bro. “Sam might be able to help with that. The big one. I’ll talk to Them about it.”

Bro perks up with a big grin, “Dude! That’d be Pog!” 

A cheerful ringtone sings through the room. Crystal reaches into their pocket and pulls out that phone from earlier. “Oh, that means that the way back is unlocked, now,” they says. “Me and Huffle can leave when we want. I uh… might be rethinking this timer on the multiverse travel thing. I mean… what if I want to leave early in an emergency?”

Huffle blinks then laughs a little, “yeah… that might be smart… you gotta show me how you did this though!” She says with sparkling eyes. 

“I-I’m not sure how I did it myself to be honest, but yeah, we can talk about it!” Crystal smiles.

Alt tries to sit up but Oliver quickly tells him to stay lying down. Still, he blinks up at the buds, “…I… I guess you guys should probably leave… y-you went through a-a lot back there…”

Crystal looks over at Alt. “Oh… feels rude to leave while you’re in the hospital, though… are you sure that’d be okay?”

Alt shakes his head with a smile, “S’okay… don’t want you guys trapped in here all bored. Knowing these guys… imma be here for a bit.” 

“Damn right you are,” Oliver huffs, crossing his arms. 

Alt winces but tries to laugh. “It’s fine, Crystal… you guys have your own stuff to get back to, right?” 

Huffle hurries over to Alt and goes to take his hand, leaning down by him. “Y-You’ll message me, right? Lemme know when you’re out and okay?” 

Alt chuckles and squeezes her hand, “ ‘course. I’ll keep in touch more, promise…”

"Y-yeah, message Huffle," Crystal says. "And Huffle, tell me. I mean, you better." 

Huffle looks back at Crystal and smiles, “Of course- you’ll be the first to know!” 

"You guys really should get out of here," Anti agrees. "No doubt you'll be expected back home, if Huffle went looking for Crystal." 

"We, uh... we should keep in contact more," Crystal says. "You and me." 

"That might be weird." 

"Yeah. It might."

Bro laughs then puts an arm around Anti, “c’mon dude! Nothing wrong with keeping in contact with friends! “ 

Huffle gets up and laughs, giving Alt’s hand one last squeeze. “Y-Yeah Anti! Maybe you could give it a shot?”

"Hmm." Anti and Crystal glance at each other. They both shift around on their feet. 

"We've already met a couple times," Anti says. "Might be good to at least keep in contact. In case something... happens. To affect us both." 

"Y-yeah." Crystal nods slowly. "Uh... we can figure some way out. Sam can help with that, maybe? Y-you're talking about Sam from the Bad End, right?" 

"Not so much of a bad end anymore." 

"Hah. Yeah. Things are really looking up there... or, uh... I don't know what time the world is at now... they will be looking up?" Crystal shakes their head. "I dunno, man." 

"Either way. Sam can do it." Anti nods. "They're experienced with sending voices through universes." 

Crystal laughs. They take out their phone. "Um... okay. This is gonna stick around for a bit after we leave." They wave the phone. "So, uh. Put it somewhere safe. And I think it'll disappear eventually."

“Dude what? That’s so cool!” Huffle says, looking at the phone. 

Bro goes over and opens up his arms to Huffle and Crystal, “Well… if you two are gonna go, want a super hug for the road?” He grins.

Crystal laughs. "I-I'm uh, not really a hug person, but this is a special moment, so sure. Just this one."

Huffle bounces, “I’m a hug person!” 

Bro beams and then scoops both of the buds up and gives them a tight hug, lifting them off the ground a bit. 

Huffle giggles wildly, “Bro!” 

"Whoa!" Crystal's eyes widen. "Tall guy!" 

He sets them down then backs up, “Thanks for all your help guys… hope we’ll see you again sometime!!” 

“Y-You can visit anytime,”Alt says, smiling tiredly.

Crystal smiles. "That's good to hear. I, uh... I'll see if I can stop by occasionally. I want to visit other worlds, too." They take a deep breath and put the phone down on the ground. Its screen is glowing a bluish white. 

"You go first, Huffle. You just kinda... step forward and will yourself through."

“Oh! Okay- neat~” Huffle grins. She waves to everyone, “Bye guys! Feel better soon Alt!” 

Alt and Bro wave her off. She steps forward and follows Cry’s instructions, focusing on getting home.

The light from the phone flares, covering Huffle's body, and she disappears. 

Crystal looks back at the others and smiles. "It was nice meeting you! Goodbye! Get well soon!" And then they turn around and walk into the light as well, disappearing. 

Anti scoops up the phone from the ground, putting it on the table next to the hospital bed.

The others all stare at the light as the two of them disappear. 

Rhett turns to walk out the door. “I need a strong coffee-“ he mutters. Jayden snorts then follows after him. 

Bro, Alt and Oliver burst into giggles. Then, Bro straightens out and smiles at Anti. “So… guess you should probably get going too, huh?” 

Anti looks back at Bro. "You sure? I can stay if you want." He glances at Oliver and Alt. "Or not, of course."

Oliver laughs, blushing a bit. “You can do whatever you like… Alt is probably gonna be pretty out of it for a bit…”

"Heh." A hint of a smile traces Anti's mouth. "What about you, Alt? Would you be okay if I left right now?"

Alt blinks sleepily up at Anti, “Mmm? …y-yeah you gotta.. get home and try to find Jack right…? Just…. Try to contact us soon… wanna help…” he slurs a bit near the end, trying to force his eyes to stay open.

Anti laughs. "He wasn't kidding about out of it, was he? Alright, I'll leave you to get some rest." He gently grabs Alt's hand and squeezes it. "I'll reach out to you guys about Jack. I'd like your help, too. See you then?"

Alt looks up dazedly then smiles and nods, squeezing back Anti’s hand. “Definitely.” 

Bro claps his hand on Anti’s shoulder, “We got your back, dude! Whenever you need us!”

Anti jumps a bit in surprise as Bro claps his shoulder like that, and then smiles back at him. "I'm glad to hear that. See you soon." He walks across the room. "Sam?" 

Lightning appears on the opposite wall, opening up a black rift. Anti spins around and gives Bro and Alt a nod goodbye, then heads through. 

The rift seals up again, and he is gone.

Bro, Alt and Oliver wave goodbye. Once Anti is gone, Bro goes to slump into a chair and yawns. “…what time is it? I should let the lads know we’re home.” 

“It’s like 3 am… maybe wait until morning?” Oliver giggles. Then, he looks around, “Actually, let me go set up a comfier room for you too.” He hesitates then goes to kiss Alt on the cheek then hurries out of the room. 

Alt blinks after him then smiles in a love sick sorta way. 

Bro chuckles and goes to sit on the edge of Alt’s bed with him while they wait. “…crazy adventure,” He laughs, smiling down at Alt. He brushes back Alt’s sweaty bangs, feeling a bit of heat come off. Ah… course- fever usually came when he got like this. 

Alt giggles and smiles at Bro, “Yeah…” he then pulls the fixed TRVLR out of his pocket and grins, shaking it at him. “But at least it’s not our last~!” 

Bro laughs and ruffles Alt’s hair. “We’ll think about that later, dork. Get some rest… adventures can wait.”