Read the story in order here! {NOT A ROLEPLAY BLOG} A story/askblog run by Huffle-Dork (ft. early stories by JurassicRaptorCat) depicting the septic egos as subnautica mermen! Look forward to stories and art of the lore!! Take a look at Artwork, Fanwork, the Design Database.
Hello! So you wanna read our story? Well brace yourselves my friends, it’s gonna get angsty.
These are vaguely in order of how they happen, timelines might change tho!
(Plot Summary: [x])
[Baby Hybrids]
Creation: [x]
Eclipse Escape: [x]
Growing up: [x] [x] [x]
Sound of Silence: [x]
Thunderstorms: [x]
[Main Story] (Newbies! Start here than come back too the baby stories!)
Where it all began: [x] [x]
Anti Captured: [x]
Anti Reprogrammed: [x][x][x]
Tension: [x][x][x]
Jack’s Imprisonment: [x][x][x]
Chase’s Crisis: [x][x][x]
Schneep and the Mesmer: [x]
Warper Mode Marvin: [x][x][x]
Bullied Jamie: [x][x]
Telepathic Dream: [x]
Nightmare Jackie: [x]
After the Spilt: [x]
Enter the Ocean’s Arms: [x][x][x]
Mama Grim: [x]
Together in Sickness: [x][x][x]
Capture: [x][x][x][x][x][x][x]
Fixing What’s Broken: [x][x][x]
Anti’s No Good Bad Life: [x]
Marvin Trauma: [x][x][x]
Breaking Further: [x][x][x][x]
Hallucinations: [x][x][x][x][x][x]
Anti’s First Fireball: [x]
Refugees: [x][x][x][x][x][x] <- {Current Arc in Progress!}
(Pssst wanna see how old the boys are during the main story? Here’s a chart :3c)
Side Stories:
Septnautical Side Story tag: [x] (there’s a mix of stuff above in here too so just check out what’s new! Bigger threads will get added to the timeline later ;3)
Ask the boys!: [x][x]
Wounded Sentence Starter Prompts: [x][x][x][x][x]
Reverse Sentence Starters: [x]
Zarkie( Jackie x Zara) : [x]
Birthdays: [x]
Protector Consumed: [x]
Whumpy Stories: [x][x]
Echolocation: [x]
Sibling Dispute: [x]
Brothers Under the Sun: [x]
Drabbles: [x][x]
AU: Darker Seas (what if anti was the only one not controlled?) [x]
Hi guys!! I know we’re two weeks into mermay and I meant to post sooner but this last week has been sooo crazy in my personal life like omg. But I’ve been wanting to work on some Septnautical stuff!! So here’s some drawings of the boys at their introductions to each other so you can see their size differences!
And I’m working on the next creation story I promiseeee I just keep getting stuck like omg it’s so bad. But I’m trying!!
Since it’s mermay if you guys have any requests or things you wanna see, send me an ask!!
(And I know I’m missing JJ’s intro but I haven’t re-written that yet so it’s harder to visualize HFGGH)
I want to ask are going to doing more of subnautica with jacksepticeye egos? And are you going to make more of antisepticeye and Marvin?
And my name is salena✨ I hope we can being best friends!
Hi there Selena!! I’m so glad you’re a big fan of Septnautical still!
I’ve been wanting to work on it! But I lost my notes for what I was writing next and I lost motivation. However! I’m hoping to get back into it soon!! I wanna finish the creation logs and revisit some old stories- see what I can do from there! I do miss my fish boys sooo much!
seeing your septnautical mers (and also remembering my jack ego obsession…) has inspired me to design my own subnautica mers! (and actually play the game even tho im terrified)
would you mind if i maybe took some inspo for designs from your boys? any maybe drew them myself?
Feel free to do fan art! I just ask if you design your own not to make them too similar to my boys! I’ve worked very hard on them and I’m very proud of their designs!
If you wanna play the game and explore too I recommend playing on creative mode! I’m a big scared cat so I play that way to make bases and explore the world without fear of getting attacked! ^^
Notes of observation of Reaper Leviathan Human Hybrid RL-005 from Dr. Ryan Caley:
07-15-2228
I think… there might be complications with RL. At first it seemed fine! Like the other hybrids it opened its eyes and started following its more fish-like instincts. Trying to swim, eating, clawing and grasping. But now… it just… stopped.
It’s in a comatose-like state… hardly breathing. We’re doing what we can to keep it alive but… We’re not sure.
The next hybrid, a warper- might provide some answers? These two are the only ones who weren’t hatched… maybe they need a more human-like approach after birth? The warper hybrid isn’t quite finished yet… but I hope the others figure it out soon… until then the best we can do is keep this one on life support. All other reaper hybrids have failed so far… we can’t lose this one.
______________________
Notes from Observation of Warper Human Hybrid WH-006 from Dr. Nathaniel Smith:
8-11-2228
I... don’t understand how this was possible. Yet… I am staring right at it. A mix of human and warper..
How did Xander obtain the knowledge to make such a creature? He just… seemed to swoop in and provide all the answers for things that stumped us. We already were trying so hard to create our own Altera Warpers down in the Lost River but… all the architect research was so hard for us to translate. …so how did Xander…?
…maybe he’s just more knowledgeable about the Architects than us. Maybe being so high up in Alterra’s rankings gives him access to knowledge only he can know. Seems… counterproductive when we’re supposed to be a team but, regardless. After months and months of failures… Finally, we have a stable hybrid. …Mostly- and thankfully Dr. Caley’s suggestion to put WH-006 in with RL-005 seemed to breathe life into the hybrid. Though… it's not swimming or exploring like the other hybrids did at birth. It’s only latching onto RL… maybe it can sense that it's sick. Warpers do have the ability to self repair. But… I don’t know how that will help RL. I guess only time will tell. Maybe the hybrids, even at such young ages, can tell that they are similar. Hm… wouldn’t that be fascinating?
———————-
Notes of observation of Reaper Leviathan Human Hybrid RL-005 from Dr. Ryan Caley:
08-12-2228
It’s only been a day since WH-006 first opened its eyes. And it was only after we put both RL and WH in the same tank. WH was not responsive at all until it latched onto RL. And, RL responded! We haven’t seen any movement from him in over a month! Thank the stars for my wife’s suggestion… they seem to be stabilizing each other. It’s… so interesting to see. Something so alien from us behaving so much like how we react with our own kind at birth. I guess it is like Xander says… in essence, all the hybrids are brothers.
RL-005 still seems sickly but… maybe he’ll start to recover like WH did. Only time will tell…
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08-13-2228
We lost RL-005… I don’t know how it happened but… his heart stopped and he stopped breathing. WH refuses to let him go but… I don’t think there’s anything else we can do. Dr. Smith already updated WH to WH-005. I don’t know why I’m mourning the hybrid like I lost my own son but… I feel like it’s a similar pain. I’ll give WH a few more hours to grieve too… I think we both need it.
-------
08-14-2228
I don’t know how it happened but!! RL is alive!! Camera footage shows that during the night there was a moment where WH seemed to glow brighter than usual and then- RL’s chest rose again and the computers picked up signs of life- this time stronger than ever before! I didn’t know warpers were capable of something like this… it’s a miracle! It’s… almost like magic.
Dr. Smith, our warper expert, says Warpers were built with the ability to self repair. Perhaps, WH saw the similarities between himself and RL and found some way to repair him too? Regardless, I think these two must stick together… I don’t think I can bear to separate them. Not after this. Though- it will be weird to call RL, RL-006 now but… can’t fault the system- he was technically dead for a brief moment. But, now, he’s got a second chance.
__________________
Notes from Observation of Warper Human Hybrid WH-005 from Dr. Nathaniel Smith:
8-16-2228
It’s already been a few days since the miracle of RL-006’s revival. It’s truly fascinating that my hypothesis about WH seeing the similarities between him and RL became true! Even if this is still in their fish-like instinct stage… the human part of them connected. Fascinating…
Other than that though… WH is… interesting. It almost seems to be a blank state, even more so than RL. RL is swimming and hunting and exploring how his body moves like the other hybrids have. But, WH… he just- swims. Back and forth like a machine. Which I suppose part of him is… and I suppose his mother species did not need to hunt or do anything but protect against the Kharaa. But, I do know we replaced the battery part of him with a human digestive tract. Not a large one since we wanted to still fit some battery power to fuel his warps. But those should also be tied to his body’s energy… bioelectrical power fueled by what fuels us as humans. Namely, food and of course, rest. Which is another issue… WH has not slept yet. RL has but… not WH. Warpers didn’t sleep either… but from our viewpoint it’s worrying. But, all we can do now is… just observe and hope it gets better. If it comes to it we may have to give it a feeding tube… and just hope it gets better once the spark comes.
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8-28-2228
The sparks came today. Almost at the same time. But frighteningly enough when it came to WH’s eyes- shifting from that glowing purple glow to show blue eyes- he then promptly collapsed. He even spoke, but only said, “Low Power, Low Power.” It sent all of us into a frenzy, trying to get into the tank to help.
But, then, RL came in between us and WH! He growled and snapped at us and wouldn’t let us near. And, we already saw what those teeth can do to fish… so we backed off, hoping to get to WH while RL slept at least… (We need to get tougher suits made for dealing with the predators.)
We could only watch… but then something interesting happened. Once sure we were gone, RL dashed around the tank, grabbing fish left and right. He started a pile in front of WH- who just stared at them blankly. Then, once satisfied RL sat down in front of WH and… started tearing the fish into smaller pieces. He’d never done that before, only tearing into fish for himself. He would nudge the pieces towards WH who still looked confused. RL then took a piece and slowly showed WH how to chew before giving him another piece. And finally, after weeks, WH ate something. He seemed to light up, (literally! His tails went from a dull glow to slightly brighter!) and slowly started to eat bigger and bigger chunks. RL made what could only be encouraging babbles at WH as they went. Then, once he seemed satisfied, RL scooted in and laid down on the inside of WH’s stomach. WH seemed confused but slowly watched as RL yawned and went to sleep. WH copied RL exactly and… finally slept as well. They haven’t moved since, still sleeping with each other.
Neither of them have gotten lessons on how to even speak yet or begin their early development. Yet… RL is already doing what WH did for him… no one taught them this. But, maybe that human need to care for each other is baked into our DND. How curious…
I also wonder if the reason WH seemed so lost is because we can’t communicate to him like the Architects could command the Warpers. Though at this stage… the ability to understand language is limited. Perhaps… something to keep in mind.
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10-30-2228
Finally, today we saw WH warp. Perhaps, his mind wasn’t developed enough before this point? Since this is around the time mentally when human children learn to walk. But, it seemed like it was an accident? RL had scared him and WH screeched in surprise then appeared across the tank in a signature warper bubble, though he was floating upside down at first. It was… strangely adorable. Since then, him and RL have been laughing and trying to get WH to do it again. RL keeps hiding and popping out to scare WH enough to warp before they both burst into laughter.
These things need to stop being so… human. I don’t want to catch feelings.
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2-09-2228
Things with WH-005 and RL-006 have gone … relatively smoothly. While I didn’t initially agree with Dr. Caley’s insistence to keep the two together… further research has shown their bond is way too strong to be separated. RL screams when he’s taken away for testing (and his developing roar could make this a big problem) and WH… seems to shut down when pulled away. He withdraws into himself and will not engage with the other doctors.
Which is the exact opposite from how he acts in the tank with his tankmate. True, RL-006 is a predator and seems to have more aggressive instincts. But, WH-005 might be the only one so far besides SE-002 or SD-004 who can withstand RL’s harsh playing methods, given his ability to self-repair and the strength of his armored cape. He also has developed claws that are similar to the scythe-like arms of the Warpers as well as arm spikes on his elbows. A fascinating mutation… and good for RL’s development as well since he needs targets to practice with. He’s still having trouble moving his very small mandibles.
It’s fascinating really… WH is biomechanical. Yet… he is still so human. He plays and taunts… and since RL taught him to care for himself he has learned to hunt and sleep as well. And he’s getting better and better with his warping too… I’m fascinated to see what he can do with them. I’ve seen him make tiny warps in the palm of his hands, almost like he’s making a light show for himself. Perhaps having creativity and a human intellect will expand his Warper capabilities! I wish we didn’t have to wait so long to see them fully develop… these 6 months have felt so long. But, soon they’ll join the new main tank with the other hybrids. That should prove very interesting.
—————
“RL… what are you doing?” WH asked with a huff as he watched the other hybrid flounder around in the water.
“I’m trying to swim like SE-2!!” RL responded, looking through their tank to the bigger one that was being sent up in the main lab space. The scientists told them the tank was being rebuilt because soon they’d both be old enough to join the others. The bigger preteen Sea Emperor hybrid was swimming in beautiful arcs across the water, like a dance. RL tried and failed to copy the arc, landing in the sand on his face. He bit back a cry and held his nose, sniffling wildly.
WH surged over and gave him a light hug. “The white suits keep telling you can’t swim like him… you don’t have enough tails!”
“I wanna swim like him!” RL wailed, slapping his tail on the sand. “I wanna be big and cool and strong too!!”
WH giggles, “You will be! We just gotta grow as much as he has!”
RL looked at WH with big crocodile tears in his eyes. “D-Do you think they’ll all like us…?” He asks quietly, voice shaking.
WH looks sad as he glances back at the tank. Noticing all the bright fish that followed after SE and then at the lack of fish in theirs. Either because they were too scared or because him and RL got hungry… would the others be scared of them too? “I… I hope so…” WH whispers, holding RL’s hand. Then he smiles softly, “Even if they don’t though… we got each other, right?”
RL blinks and then grins at WH, tackling the hybrid in a big hug. “Yeah! Always!!”
WH giggles and hugs RL back, wrapping his tails around him. “...they’re gonna love us, RL,” He promises. “You’re gonna be friendly and fun and I’ll dazzle them with my warps!”
“Yeah!” RL says excitedly, baring his teeth at WH in a big grin. “I bet they’ll all be so much fun to play with!”
“Just one more sleep!” WH grins back as he hugs RL to his chest and looks back towards the big tank. “Then, we’ll be in the big tank!”
“Let’s go to sleep right now then!” RL says, burrowing under WH’s cape.
“Hey! No!! It’s too early!” WH laughs.
“But I want to be in the big tank already!!” RL whines.
WH tries to pull RL from under his cape, “We just gotta wait, RL!” When the little reaper still doesn’t move WH rolls his eyes then sends a small warp down towards him. RL yelps and appears a bit away, spinning to hang upside down in the water.
“Hey!” RL whines, “No fair!!”
WH-5 grins and waves his fingers. “You wouldn’t leave! You gonna do anything about it?”
“Yeah! I’m gonna kick your tails!” RL roars playfully and dives at his twin. WH and him roll into their usual wrestling, trying to pass the time until tomorrow.
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The next day came and there was excitement buzzing around the whole base. The new huge observation tank for the hybrids was done and the hybrids were adjusting to it well. There was even a vent made for SD-004 to go and laze around in. Hopefully it would help him develop his ability to spit lava rocks as well.
Jack, Chase, Henrik and Anti were all sleeping in their usual pile, in a new nest still nestled inside the creepvine stalks that grew so large and tall in their new tank. They were all getting so big. Chase was the largest right now, mentally around the age of a teenager, but Jack wasn’t too far behind him in size. Anti and Henrik were still tiny, but they had grown a lot in the past few months. Anti found it practically fun to tease and play with Henrik, much to the stalker mer’s chagrin. Chase still watched over all the little hybrids, making sure they got along and did their lessons (which was usually just watching the screens the white suits had set up for them) and took care of themselves. And Jack kept the peace, making sure everyone was happy and laughing and playing.
But even with a nice careful balance in the tank, the others couldn’t be more excited for the new hybrids coming. This time there would be two!! The second the lights in the lab turned on and the sun from outside the lab windows hit Jack’s face, he was spurring up and racing to the windows to see if it was time.
The Sea Emperor mer buzzed as he heard new tiny voices echo back to him through the halls. They were almost here!! He giggled and barreled back into the nest, practically headbutting Chase in the stomach to get him up. “Chase! Chase!! Hen, Anti! Everyone, wake up!!” He started pushing and rolling the others, “Our new brothers are almost here!”
“Mmm, how do you know that…?” Anti grumbles sleepily, hiding his face with one of his tails.
“I heard them!” Jack huffs and pushes Anti over, “Come on!! You guys don’t wanna be sleepy when they get here do you?”
Chase yawns and pushes himself up, shaking sand out of his hair. “I just wish you’d wake us up more gently, Jack…” he yawns, shaking out his wings.
Henrik fumbles for his goggles and shoves some of Anti’s tails off of his own as he pulls them on. “Are you sure it was them, Jack?”
“Positive!” Jack grins, “Felt like new minds to me! Or well- ones that haven’t been close enough for me to hear!”
“The fact you can hear thoughts is creepy as fuck,” Anti mutters, stretching out his tails.
Jack rolls his eyes and flicks his tails in a dismissive manner as he crosses his arms. “It’s not like I can help it! It’s like you needing that vent and stuff.”
“Yeah yeah yeah,” Anti waves him off. “Doesn’t make it any less creepy.”
“Just be glad I try not to read yours,” Jack huffs.
Just then, there’s a sudden splash that sounds unusual to the boys, followed by another one. Jack is jolted out of his mood and grins wide. “That has to be them!” He darts off through the creepvines. “C’mon c’mon!!”
Anti waves a hand, “I’ll catch up in a second…” He grumbles, rubbing at his eyes.
Henrik giggles, “Yes, good idea. You are quite moody when you wake up.”
Anti rolls his eyes and flops back into the sand. “Mhm. I needa make sure I can handle crazy.”
Chase chuckles and ruffles his hair, “Just don’t hang back too long, Anti. Or they might come find you.”
The Sea Dragon mer swats at Chase’s hand with a sleepy growl but that just made Henrik and Chase laugh. Then, they hurry to go follow Jack out to meet the others.
They all swim up to see a small reaper leviathan hybrid and… wow a warper hybrid? The Reaper Hybrid is excitedly swimming around the Warper, eyes wide with wonder and excitement.
“WH!! Look at how bright it is in here!! And all the fish!! Oh I wonder if there’s new ones we haven’t tasted yet!”
WH is far less energetic but still seems excited as he giggles, “Probably!” Then, he pauses as he sees the others swim up and his eyes widen. He swims up to grab onto the other hybrid’s arm. “R-RL!” he whispers. “I-it’s-!”
RL tilts his head and looks- then gasps so loudly it sounds like it must have hurt. He pushes out of WH’s grip and throws him back before darting off like a bullet towards Jack. “It’s you!! SE-002!!” RL says excitedly, getting really close to Jack’s face.
“Gah!” Jack startles back then tries to smile. “Oh hello! You… heard about me?”
“Yeah!! And I saw you swimming!! I wanna swim just like you!!” RL says super energetically.
Jack looks back at the others with a raised eyebrow.
Henrik adjusts his goggles and coughs, “I… do not believe you have… enough tails for that…” He tries to say gently.
The little reaper sags almost immediately and sighs sadly, “That’s what all the doctors say too…” He whines.
“Hey little dude…” Chase pipes up, “Don’t worry about it! I’m a faster swimmer than Jack, I can teach you all my tricks!”
“Really??” The reaper instantly switches moods and goes to swim in Chase’s face now. Then he pauses, “Wait… who’s Jack?”
Jack raises his hand. “Uh, that’s me!” Then he gestures at Henrik and Chase. “And that’s Chase, and Henrik.”
RL’s eyes sparkle. “Oh oh!! I’m RL-006!” Then he looks around in confusion before darting back and grabbing WH, who was shyly sitting in the sand. He pulls him up towards the others and smiles proudly, “and this is WH-005! My twin!”
WH waves sheepishly, “H-Hello…”
Henrik tilts his head in confusion, “...twins?” He looks at their very different tails. “...I thought twins had to be the same…?”
“Not always,” Chase chuckles, “Some of them are born looking completely different!”
“Just like us!” RL grins, showing off his sharp teeth.
Jack laughs, delighted. “Wow, that’s awesome! It’s nice to meet you guys!”
“...I heard… you all d-don’t go by your numbers…” WH says quietly, flicking his tails. “Why… is that?”
“Oh, those things suck,” Jack replies flippantly. “We like having real names, like humans! Cuz we are in a way!” He points to himself and grins. “My white suit Xander started calling me Jack, so that’s my name!”
“I wanna be Jack!” RL interjects excitedly, “I-If I can’t swim like you, I wanna have the same name!!”
The older hybrids all chuckle.
“That will get very confusing!” Henrik says.
“Yeah, we won’t know who we’re speaking to!” Chase adds.
RL deflates slowly, sticking out his lip to pout.
Jack’s heart melts a bit. He swims down and goes to place a hand on RL’s shoulder. “Hey… how about something similar, but not the same, huh? Like… oh! What about Jack-ie?”
RL’s eyes like up, “Jackie?” He looks down and thinks about it, swishing his tail. He looks back at WH, “what do you think?”
WH smiles wide, “I like it. I really like it! Jackie…”
The reaper grins and looks back at the others, “Alright!! I’m Jackie then!!”
The older hybrids beam. Chase laughs and ruffles his hair. “Good to meet ya then, Jackie!”
Jackie exclaims and tries to grab onto Chase’s hand to push him off, “What is that? Why are you attacking my head?”
“Oh- sorry I’m not!” Chase laughs. “This is something we learned from Dr. Peter… it’s like… affectionate!”
“I dunno what that word means!” Jackie says cheerfully.
“It means he likes you,” Henrik giggles.
“Ohhh!” Jackie looks at his hand then floats up and tries to copy the gesture on Chase’s head. “I like you too!”
The hybrids all burst into giggles.
“Oh I love you already, Jackie!” Jack laughs, “You’re great!”
Jackie beams and waves his tail excitedly.
Jack smiles then loops back down to WH, who still seems a bit wary of everyone but seems happy to see Jackie so happy. “Hi there,” He smiles. “Wanna figure out a name too?”
WH smiles nervously but nods, grabbing one of his tails and wringing it in his hands. “mhm… “
“Your armor is so cool!” Jack praises, going to poke at it for a second. “Good to have another armored buddy!”
WH giggles and flicks his tail. “Heh thank you…”
Henrik swims down now and loops around WH, “I do agree, the color is magnificent” He then gasps and goes to flip his tail to show off his purple stripes and dorsal fins, “And look! We match!” He says excitedly.
WH gasps too, eyes shining. “O-Oh yeah!”
Now’s Chase’s turn to swim down, looking between Henrik and WH. “Hm… I don’t think it's the same…” He mutters. “I think Schneep is cooler colored while… he’s more of a… mauve?”
Henrik furrows his eyebrows in confusion. “What is that? I have not heard of such a color!”
“Oh uh… guess it’s something I heard in my lessons,” Chase rubs the back of his head. “It’s a type of purple. But it's also like… pinky.”
“Hm… curious,” Henrik thinks, “Maybe that should be his name?”
WH and Jackie make a face at that.
“No way! Mauve doesn’t even sound like a word, much less a name!” Jackie pouts. “Pick something else!”
“Hm…I like the M,” Jack muses, “Maybe… something that starts with that?”
“Mmm Magic!” Jackie says excitedly, “That’s one of WH’s favorite words!!”
WH blushes, hiding a bit in his armor. “I-i… I heard the w-white suits use it and say that’s w-what my w-warps are like…”
“Magic isn’t really a name,” Chase laughs, “But we can think of something similar!”
“Similar to magic and mauve…” Henrik muses.
The hybrids all sit together for a beat, thinking it through.
Then, quietly, WH speaks up. “Ma… Mar…vin- Marvin?” He looks up at the others expectantly. “Is… Marvin a name…?”
The older hybrids beam.
“It sure is!” Chase grins.
“Oh I love that!” Henrik claps.
“Yeah! We can call you Marvin the Magnificent!” Jack laughs.
WH beams, “R-really?” His tails glow brighter and he smiles wide. “R- or… Jackie? What do you think?”
Jackie grins wide and tackle-hugs WH, “I love it!! My twin, Marvin!!”
Marvin smiles so bright, hugging him back and laughing. “Okay! T-Then I’m Marvin!”
The hybrids all cheer and gather up the new little hybrids into a group hug.
“Welcome to the tank, little bros!” Chase says excitedly. He then grins and nudges Jackie. “Hey, want me to teach you some of those swimming techniques?”
“How to swim fast??” Jackie gasps, “Yeah yeah!!”
“Alright, follow me!!” Chase laughs and darts off. Jackie hurries to try to catch up.
“Wait! Jack should say the tank rules!” Henrik calls.
Jack laughs and shakes his head, “It’s fine. Jackie doesn’t seem as blood-thirsty as Anti was when he first got here.”
Marvin tilts his head, “Anti?”
“Oh that is our other brother,” Henrik says, “He is a sea dragon.”
“Oooh really?” Marvin gasps, “I hear they can be really scary and big!”
“Anti’s only slightly bigger than you,” Jack laughs, “And… he can be sometimes but he’s usually pretty chill. He also needs a minute before being around people when he first wakes up.”
“I think the white suits call it… ‘introverted’,” Henrik says sagely, adjusting his goggles.
Marvin oooh’s. “I dunno what that means!”
The other two laugh.
Anti rolls over and stretches back in their nest, stretching out his claws in the sand before pushing himself up. “Alright.. Let's try to meet these new guys…” He grumbles. He pokes his head out of the creepvines and tries to look out. Okay there’s Jack and Hen and… that must be one of them. Warper guy. Alright cool… Now where was…?
His attention is snapped over to Chase darting around with a little thing struggling to keep up. The colors and shape- Anti’s instincts immediately know what that is. His pupils sharpen, a primal urge he hasn’t felt since first being brought into the tank surfacing and swallowing up all logic. His stomach gurgles… he’s hungry.
Meanwhile, Chase is chuckling watching Jackie trying to keep up. “You can’t just pump your tail, little dude! Try to swish it a bit back and forth, then use your tail fin to add speed! Like this!” He demonstrates, expertly swishing his tail back and forth then using his back fins to propel him forward.
Jackie nods, watching. Then, he tries to copy Chase, swishing and sending out a big push with his larger tail fin to go forward. He gets a burst of speed and shouts as the current rushes him forward and throws him off, floating on his back through the water.
Chase laughs and goes to help him up, “That was better! Good job!”
Jackie grin and swishes his tail back and forth excitedly. “Really? Yay! I’m gonna be a super fast swimmer like you now!”
The older mer laughs and ruffles his hair again. “That’s a good goal for now! But, we should also find something you’re good at on your own too, you know?”
Jackie blinks and then looks up to think. “... I hunt real good! I got sharp teeths and claws and I get food for me and WH- oh wait uh… Marvin! I get us food everyday!”
Chase grins. “You’re gonna get along great with Anti then.”
“Anti?” Jackie asks, trying to fix his swimming again and doing some arcs around Chase. “Who’s-”
Then, there’s a terrifying roar as something dark green comes darting out of the creepvines- Jackie yells as he’s suddenly tackled into the sand, sharp claws digging into his skin. “H-Hey!”
Another older mer is pinning him down, his eyes glowing yellow as he pants and drools over Jackie. The younger hybrid feels his blood go cold, squirming to try to get out. “L-Let me go! T-That hurts!!”
“Anti!” Chase gasps, “Dude, stop, what are you doin?!” He hurries down to try to get Anti off but Anti just elbows him as he crouches down lower over Jackie. He bares his sharp teeth, breathing almost feverously. “P..Prey…” He hisses, a sharp scary grin spreading across his face. “Fresh meat… smells good.”
Jackie is petrified, shaking and trying to kick himself free. This is supposed to be one of his brothers?!
“Hey!” comes a loud shout before bright blue and purple something hits Anti- and then he’s gone! He reappears only a few feet away, spinning around in the water, disoriented. Marvin breathes heavily, having just made it in time to throw a warp at him. “J-Jackie! Hurry!”
Jackie scrambles to get back up, tearing through the sand to get back up higher in the water, his tail working overtime. Anti is recovering quickly though. He roars in anger and barrels past Chase and Marvin, zeroing in on Jackie. The tiny reaper squeaks in terror and tears through the water, eventually finding Jack and Schneep. They both look confused, until they see Anti.
Henrik gasps and goes to try to grab Jackie- but Jack narrows his eyes and goes to swim in between the two, shielding Jackie from Anti.
“Anti, stop!” Jack tries to say with authority, cyan burning in his eyes. But, Anti just growls and only sees an enemy in the way of his prey.
Anti barrels into Jack and there’s a horrible scream as the two of them fall into the sand, a cloud of it obscuring everyone’s view for a second. Then, as the sand starts to clear, they see… a cloud of orange replacing it. Anti has his teeth clamped tight onto the one area Jack doesn’t have armored… his neck.
The younger hybrids scream, while Chase goes pale. Jack makes a choked noise and weakly tries to push Anti off. “A-An.. ti-!” he wheezes.
Henrik tries not to cry as he hurries to the window and bangs on it as loud as he can. “Help!!” He screams, “Someone please help!! Jack is bleeding!!”
This spurs Chase to fly down and try again to pull Anti off of Jack. Anti is latched on tight- but slowly… green starts to bloom back in his eyes as he eases up. He looks down at Jack as if he’s just now seeing him. “J.. Jack?” Then, Chase pulls him back as he registers the blood. “W-What?! No- i-i! Jack!” Anti screams.
Jackie quickly pulls on Marvin and tries to bring him to Jack. “Marvin! Q-Quick, you gotta heal him!”
“W-What?!” Marvin panics. “I-I don’t know how to do that!”
“Dr. Caley always talks about how you saved me! A-And your cuts heal all the time when I play with you! S-So do it with Jack!” Jackie urges desperately.
Marvin chokes on a sob and shakes his head, “I-I can’t! I-I don’t know how I-!”
Alarms start to flash as hatches appear on the windows and white suits start to fly in. A few medical personnel dart over to scoop up Jack, trying to stem the bleeding. Jack’s eyelids flutter, the right side of his neck gushing with blood, while his left set of gills works overtime to keep him breathing.
“All of you! Apprehend SD-004 and give him back to Demerci, now!” A stern voice yells, and all the hybrids recognize the voice of Xander. Marvin and Jackie cower back, going to latch onto each other.
“Wait-!” Chase tries to argue, but he’s quickly pushed aside as a couple white suits now go to grab Anti roughly, throwing a muzzle over his mouth as he thrashes and roars. But, they make quick work of getting the tiny sea dragon and Jack out of the tank. Marvin and Jackie watch in fear, trying to make themselves as small as possible.
Out of the water, the white suits with Anti gather around Xander and Demerci while the other group hurries to get Jack to safety. They inject Anti with a sleep serum to make him stop thrashing and crying, and he quickly slumps in their arms, falling still.
Demerci sighs, “I always said this would happen eventually, Xander. If only you had-”
“Shut it.” Xander growls dangerously, getting in Demerci’s face. “This is your failure, Jezebeth.”
“M-Mine?!” Demerci gasps angrily. “I didn’t make this little monster-!”
“That’s just it! You didn’t make him do anything! You didn’t impart to him the importance of SE-2 and now look at what’s happened!” Xander screams, face red. “If we lose the only stable version of our SEs it’ll be your fucking head, Jezebeth!”
Demerci shrinks, eyes wide and terrified. “i-I’m sorry, sir.”
“Sorry doesn’t fix the damage done,” Xander says coldly. “We’ve had failure after failure for new hybrids, with only one stable one! We can’t afford to lose anymore! So, If SE survives, you’re going to make sure SD understands why something like this can never happen again. Any means necessary.” He grabs Anti from the other white suits and shoves him into Jezebeth’s arms. Demerci stumbles but manages to gather Anti as well as she can.
Xander strides up and whispers in Demerci’s ear. “I heard you were developing those mesmer tests. Test them, and get them to work.” He straightens and says a little louder. “SD has so much potential, so make him useful. Make sure he understands his place with Alterra.”
Demerci nods shakily, “O-Of course, Xander, sir.” She lightly holds Anti’s head against her shoulder, almost like how a mother would hold a child. Xander nods in approval before going off. Demerci can see him appear calm, until it seems like he’s out of eyesight as he starts to sprint desperately towards where they took Jack. Then, Demerci goes to walk off back to her lab.
The other hybrids watch this happen through the tank window. They all slump into the sand once the white suits are gone. The water is heavy with the scent of Jack’s blood.
Jackie sniffles, heavy tears falling from his eyes. “W-Was this our fault? W-Was it my fault?!” He sobs and holds his hands over his face, curling his tail around him.
“Oh.. no, no…” Chase says gently and goes to scoop him up. “It wasn’t your fault, little dude…”
“B-But the dragon was c-chasing me! I-I dunno why!!” Jackie bawls.
Henrik hums and adjusts his goggles. “...m-maybe it was… instinct? I… I read once that Sea Dragons used to lure Reapers and hunt them…”
“Yeah… m-maybe…” Chase shudders at that. “Anti’s always had trouble with his instincts… but never in a way Jack couldn’t calm down…”
“I-Is Jack gonna be okay…?” Marvin whispers, tears lingering in his eyes too. “A-And Anti?”
Chase looks out sadly towards where their brothers disappeared. “I…I hope so…” He whispers.
hello hello!! I've been reading through this page a bit after discovering it within the last couple hours and wanted to say that the amount of love poured into this au over the years is astounding!! I'm not caught up on everything of course as there's lots of material but will 100% be tagging along and looking at old pieces and the new 'revamped' media as per your poll from a wee while ago :33 I love subnautica au's!!!
have a lovely day/night admin ^_^
Bruhhh!! Thank you so much!!
It’s so nice to see new people finding me!! I hope you enjoy the stories!!
Notes of observation of Sea Dragon Human Hybrid SD-004 from Dr. Jezebeth Demerci:
04/10/2228
SD-004 is a little menace. Always biting and refusing to test. We’ve had so many injuries since this little thing hatched… it’s a miracle no one had fully lost a finger… or a limb.
Even when it was first hatched- its sea dragon instincts kicked in and it almost killed one of the crew. Thankfully we got it off the crew member's neck in time… Ironic though, aiming for that stop. Because it seems SD-004’s egg had a tear in it right above its neck- so it looks like the skin didn’t develop there all the way and it’s prone to bleeding.
Still, this primal urge to harm… to kill. It is more in touch with its instincts than the other subjects so far. This could prove useful… very useful. We just need to find some way to get it to listen… listen and obey. We could turn these hybrids into weapons to protect us from alien threats.
Perhaps… I have looked into ancient terra databanks about hypnosis. A Mesmer test could be useful. But, only time will tell.
Unfortunately, it is close to the time where SD-004 will be introduced to the other hybrids. I do not think it’s ready but the others are insistent. But… maybe hearing those other little things scream will show the others that I am right. These things aren’t children, they’re abominations. Tools for us to use. They aren’t human. Hopefully the others on this project will adapt this mindset soon. Think of all the work we could get done… without empathy for these things getting in the way.
———————
Jack, Chase and Schneep woke up to a commotion going on outside the tank. Jack was the first to stick his head out of kelp surrounding their sleeping cove.
Outside the tank was… another hybrid…!
Jack smiled big, “Guys guys!! A new brother!!”
Chase peeks his head out of the kelp too, “Already?? Huh… it hasn’t been that long since Schneep came. That seems fast…”
Henrik is the last to stick his head out, adjusting his goggles. “Maybe they are getting better at the process?”
Then they all gasp as they really take in what is happening. The new hybrid is screeching, clawing at the doctors holding him as he squirms and tries to fight their grip. There’s… some of the doctors are bleeding!
Henrik gasps and shrinks into the kelp, tail shaking. “H-He’s scary…!”
“He’s… a sea dragon…!” Jack says in awe.
Eventually the doctors finally force the tiny sea dragon into the tank, even as he hisses and tries to use his tentacles to try to stay out. But, soon enough he’s pushed through the hatch and somersaults into the water. He rights himself and growls at the window, watching the doctors flee to get their wounds dressed.
As soon as he entered the tank- all the other fish started to flee. He looks at some of them then licks his lips, starting to dash after them around the tank.
“Wait no!” Jack tries to shout, “Those are our friends!” But Chase and Henrik quickly pull him into the kelp and try to hide.
“Shhh Jack j-just hang on…” Chase says quietly.
“He’s gonna hurt the other fishes!” Jack protests, struggling in his grip.
“Y-Yeah dude he’s a predator…! He’s made to hunt other creatures…”
Jack’s face creases in determination. “Yeah well-! T-They’re my friends I’m not gonna let them get hurt!”
He then spurs out of the kelp and into the open water, despite Henrik’s and Chase’s protests.
He finds the new hybrid hunched in the sand, yellow blood blooming in the water around him. He eagerly bites and tears at the skin of one of the peepers living in the tank. It’s not one Jack had named or knew for too long but… the sight made his stomach drop and his heart ache. “H-Hey…!”
The sea dragon mer looks back at Jack and narrows his eyes, “The fuck are you-?” He snarls.
“X-Xander says that’s a nasty word!” Jack cries.
The little sea dragon barks out a laugh, “yer older than me and fucking words upset you? That’s pathetic!”
“I-I’m not just upset at that!” Jack protests, “I’m also upset you ate my friend!”
“Hah?!” The other hybrid falls into the sand, laughing and flicking his tails. “F-Friend?!” He holds up the bleeding carcass towards Jack, flopping it around in front of him. The stretch of its blood makes Jack even more sick. “These things ain’t got no brains! They’re just food! Why are you being friends with food, huh?? Are you stupid too?”
“I-I’m not stupid!” Jack bristles, baring his sharp teeth. “I just know how to make friends! Unlike you, obviously!”
SD stares at Jack and then snorts, rolling his eyes. “Friends are for the weak. Dr. Demerci already told me that. She said being close to a bunch of prey will only make me weaker. So see if I care!”
Jack slowly notices the very subtle way SD’s tails are shaking. “…you do care though,” he says slowly, making the sea dragon mer flinch and look at him with bewildered confusion. “I can feel it. You’re… scared.”
“Hah?! I-I’m not scared! I’m not scared of anything!” SD protests loudly.
“You’re scared of being alone again,” Jack says knowingly, tilting his head. There’s a slight cyan glow in his eyes, floating in the middle of his pupil. “You’re scared we’ll be afraid of you too, like all the fish in your tank. And you’ll have no one left but that awful doctor…” Jack’s eyebrows furrow in concern. “She… hurts you… oh… so much more than the rest of us have been hurt… so many cruel tests. This… was your escape- yet… part of you still wants to like her… I guess since it’s all you’ve kno-“
“SHUT UP!!” The tiny sea dragon suddenly roars, tackling Jack into the sand. “Shut up shut up shut up!!!!”
Jack cries out, hissing in pain as the other hybrid’s claws find kinks beneath his armor, draining orange blood into the water. SD’s eyes are almost yellow with how bright they glow, pupils drawn into silts as he bares his fangs down at Jack. “Stop doing that f-freaky shit! How did you know all that?!”
“I-I don’t know!” Jack bites back, “it all came floating into my head!”
“Well cut it out!”
“I-I can’t!”
“Jack!” Two voices cry out as Chase and Henrik dart out of cover and swim over to help. Schneep barrels into SD to get him off of Jack, and Chase is quick to scoop him up and hide him under his wings, scooting back away from the predators.
Henrik slams SD to the sand and bares his teeth, tail thrashing in anger. “You do not get to hurt, Jack!” He growls, small shoulders shaking.
The sea dragon hybrid blinks, then throws his head back to laugh. “You think I’m gonna be scared of you?! You’re hardly bigger than me!”
“I-I am your older brother! That means you need to l-listen to me!” Henrik tries to huff out confidently.
“Yer not my nothin’! I don’t gotta listen to you for shit!” SD growls. He wraps his a couple of his tails around Henrik’s torso and then throws him away with a crazy amount of strength.
Henrik cries out and strikes his back against a rock, knocking his breath away as he hits his dorsal fins. He falls to the sand and curls up, coughing.
SD-4 laughs wildly, “You’re so fucking weak! You call yourself a predator? You deserve to die like the sad prey fish you are!” He starts to prowl closer- Henrik curls up more, watching him in fear.
Then, there’s another yell- but now it’s Chase yelling as he goes to barrel into the tiny sea dragon and holds him down. Now, SD looks afraid, staring up wide eyed at the much bigger hybrid.
Chase has never looked so angry before! Jack and Henrik usually see him as so happy and carefree. Now he stares down at the little hybrid with bubbling rage. “Y-You don’t get to just come in here and hurt and boss around my little brothers just because you’re a predator, bitch!” he seethes.
SD is quick to nod his head, now shaking underneath Chase. “I-I’m sorry- I’m sorry I-I didn’t-“
“Me and Hen and Jack m-may not have the claws or anger that you have! But that doesn’t make us weak!” Chase bites back.
SD squirms under him. He may be strong- but Chase is bigger, he can’t get his tails around him and throw him like he did the other one! “B-But that’s… that’s what Dr. Demerci always says-!”
“She’s wrong!” Jack calls out, a blue fire burning in his eyes. “S-She doesn’t know anything about us! She just knows numbers on a screen- She knows data and tests…she doesn’t know us! And neither do you!” His little shoulders shake- they ache where SD’s claws dug in. It makes Jack want to cry but he can’t. “You can make all the judgments you want after you learn our n-names and more about us! But until then, shut it! Cuz like it or not, we’re brothers! You’re stuck with us, b-bitch!”
“Oh no Jack don’t- don’t say that word,” Chase winces, face flushing in embarrassment. “I shouldn’t have said that…”
“…why? What’s it mean?” Jack asks.
“…I dunno actually… I just know Dr. Goodall says it’s mean.”
“…is Dr. Demerci the doctor with blonde hair? Cuz Dr. Goodall thinks that word a lot about her.” Jack says bluntly.
Suddenly, there’s a snrk of suppressed laughter before SD throws back his head to laugh. “T-That’s so true! She is a bitch!!”
“Hey, no! No mean words!” Chase scolds.
SD lets his head fall to the sand to regard Jack before he smirks, “…alright, Sea Emperor. You got more guts in you than I thought. …guess it couldn’t hurt givin you all a try… Might be fun to play with you. ” He bares his sharp teeth in a playful grin.
“My name is Jack,” Jack says shortly, crossing his arms. “That’s what you can call me!”
“…you all don’t get in trouble for not goin by yer numbers?” SD asks skeptically.
Henrik adjusts his goggles and shakes his head. “No, our doctors have all said they find it uh…. ‘cute’. Us giving each other names. Chase and Jack helped me find mine.”
“And Jack helped me find mine first,” Chase smiles, letting up on SD some.
The little sea dragon drags himself out and shakes out his tails and back fin. He swims back over to Jack and bares his teeth in an attempt at another grin. “Alright then! Do me! Gimme one!”
Jack blinks, “huh? You want me to… name you?”
“Or think of something, I guess,” SD shrugs. He flicks his tail and picks at the scales on his arms. “Dr. Demerci says I wasn’t made for thinkin. I was made for killin.”
The other boys all gasp a bit at that.
“What a horrible thing to say!” Henrik cries.
SD blinks in confusion. “Huh? But… It's true. I’m a predator… all they’re good at is fightin’ and killin’.”
Jack huffs, “well guess what? You’re also human! Which means you’re more than just what your fish half can do! And you’re little still! There’s so much more you can learn to do!”
SD’s eyes sparkle a bit at that. “R…Really?”
“Yeah! Chase can swim really really fast and can sing good! But he’s also really good at being an older brother and taking care of me and Hen!” Jack says, “And Hen is learning about medicine and stuff so one day when we go outside we don’t have to be scared of getting hurt!”
The little sea dragon’s jaw drops. “Y-You’ve been outside??”
“No… not yet,” Jack admits. “But a lot of scientists say one day when we’re big we’ll be able to go out there!”
SD looks super excited about this. “Oh think of all the cool fish you could fight and eat out there!” He grins.
“…there’s more to life than just… hunting and eating…” Chase says slowly.
“Really?” SD frowns, “…that seems boring… I like fighting.”
Chase, Henrik and Jack all exchange worried glances.
“Stars… this guy is like… the Anti-you, Jack,” Chase mutters.
“Hey! I heard that!” SD bites, back fin flaring in anger. “I-If anything, he’s the Anti-me!”
“…what does Anti mean?” Jack asks and Henrik looks just as confused.
Chase sighs, “oh man uh… it means like… the opposite of.”
“Oh! …then perhaps that should be his name,” Henrik suggests.
“Huh??” SD balks.
“Anti,” Schneep says. “I think that should be your name. It is… mmm funny-“
“Funny?!”
“No no! Fun, I mean! Is a fun name!” Schneep says quickly, hiding behind Jack in a flurry of bubbles. “I-it is a name like no one else’s!”
“Yeah, cuz it doesn’t even sound like a name!” SD growls back.
Henrik eeps and hides more behind Jack.
Jack thinks about this then grins. “I like it! Anti. I think that’s a great name!”
When Jack smiles like that… oh, something cooling seems to rush over the little sea dragon’s body. A sense of… calm. And belonging. Where did that come from…? Is it because Jack is a Sea Emperor? He heard Dr. Demerci say SE is destined to be powerful like all the other Sea Emperors… is this feeling part of it? That scared him but also… he can’t deny how good it feels to feel like… he belongs. He’s not being yelled at anymore, or punished. No…. He’s being given a name and a place to stay. And it’s… gentle.
There’s a swelling in his heart. Is this what it means to not feel alone? He quietly touches a clawed hand over his armor, feeling the beating inside.
“Anti…” The sea dragon mer tries out. “Huh… okay.” He breathes, feeling that anger and tension go away. “I… I guess you can call me that,” He hmphs. But then he flicks his tails and goes to hover right in front of Jack’s face again, snapping his teeth. “But I’m not just some copy of you, okay?!”
Jack just grins. “Okay! It’s nice to meet you then, Anti!”
Henrik coughs and adjusts his goggles, “t-technically we are all copies of each other-“
Chase pats his shoulder, “not the time, lil guy.” He laughs.
Jack places his hands on his hips and floats a bit higher than the sea dragon. “Alright then Anti! Since you’re our new brother, we gotta establish some ground rules!”
“Noooo!” Anti whines. “I don’t like rules!”
“It’s only one, don’t be a guppy!” Jack huffs. “It’s ’don’t eat or hurt anything that lives in the tank’! See? That’s easy isn’t it?”
Anti puffs out his cheeks and glares. “But I could hunt stuff that lived in my old tank!”
“Well the fish there weren’t my friends!” Jack says simply. “If the white suits give you fresh fish then… I guess that’s fine but… I talk to some of them, they’re my friends! Like my friend, Sam the peeper!”
“Don’t you have a lot of fish you’ve named Sam?” Chase laughs.
“…noooo,” Jack lies.
“We need to work on your naming skills, Jack,” Henrik giggles.
"But it's the perfect name! It can be used for boys and girls!"
Anti pffts out a breath, sending bubbles out of his mouth. They feel a bit hot in the water. “Alright alright… just- teach me which fish to avoid and I’ll do it…”
Chase and Henrik blink at this. Chase leans over to whisper to Hen, “why is he suddenly listening to Jack?? He didn’t listen to you and barely listened to me!”
“Yes, You only scared him,” Henrik agrees quietly. “Hm… maybe it is because Jack is a Sea Emperor?”
“Hm… maybe… that's... weird though...”
Jack beams at Anti and goes to grab his hand, spurring off into the tank. “Alright, c’mon! Let me introduce you!” Anti yelps in surprise but slowly lets himself get dragged. And… a soft smile blooms on his face. Oh, he hasn’t smiled like this in… maybe ever? It felt really nice…
But, Watching beyond the glass, a scientist bites down on her pen, bright blue eyes burning with rage. Not even in the tank for an hour… and that wretched Sea Emperor spawn was making her Sea Dragon soft!
This wouldn’t stand…
_________________
To: Grant Xander
From: Jezebeth Demerci
Subject: SD-004 Status
04/21/2228
Xander,
Something must be done about SE-002’s influence over SD-004! I will not have all my hard work ruined by a petulant child masquerading as a human!
I thought you agreed with my point that these hybrids can be useful to us as weapons and protectors for our research. You must agree we can’t let these things create bonds with each other! The more we treat them as humans, the more they’ll expect to be treated as equals to us. We need to show them their place, don’t you think?
Jezebeth
______________________
To: Jezebeth Demerci
From: Grant Xander
Subject: RE:SD-004 Status
04/21/2228
Dr.Demerci,
While your enthusiasm for the project is appreciated, your impatience is not. Need I remind you the hybrids are maturing quickly but at the same rate as human children? SD-004 seems to only be a toddler/child aged mentally. While maybe some preliminary tests could start to mold the hybrids towards a weapon mindset, SD-004 so far is the only one who shows even the slightest potential. RR-001 and SE-002 are too fragile for weapons making. And we all know what SE-002 will be reared to be.
It’s only been two weeks since SD-004’s tank introduction. It will not become your desired super soldier overnight. I suggest you try to practice more patience. And not be so blatant in your categorization of the hybrids as weapons. Or need I remind you of the weapons ban in most trans-govs? Alterra is no exception.
However, if you feel SD-004’s “bond” with SE-002 is an issue, you are free to take SD-004 for regular training and testing as you see fit. But, we have already seen that separating the hybrids for too long can lead to damage to their mental well-being. It must be returned to the main tank in between testing.
I suggest you also remember your place, Dr. Demerci. SD-004 might have been yours to observe, but it is not your personal property. It is property of Alterra and will be treated as such. Collaborate with the other doctors on the project to see how to best proceed.
Do not make me do something I regret, Jezebeth. Sector Zero is very cold all year round.
-Grant Xander
Guess what! I’m actually working on Septnautical before Mermay for once! I’m sorry for the sudden hiatus during last year’s Below Zero event. Honestly, I had a major personal issue that lasted months- it was crazy. And since it happened right during that time I lost all the motivation I had to continue the project... even though I loved the ideas and new hybrids I made!
And honestly- revisiting Septnautical… I’m really proud of all the past work we’ve done. But since I’m rewriting the first creation story… I really feel like it might be time for a revamp? Revisiting the start of the story and expanding on stuff, exploring the boys more when they’re little and actually letting myself be a little more fucked up with certain topics. I feel like I really need to lean into how young the boys were mentally during some major events. But also like work on their dynamics with each other- I dropped you all into Jack’s capture without you all knowing the hybrids at all!
Don’t worry- whatever I decide the old stories aren’t going away! I’m just gonna rework older stories, write new stuff in between and hopefully make the beginning a lot more coherent! I think after the spilt the story is pretty solid- but there’s def a lot of stuff I wanna expand on! Like Marvin’s capture, the spilt and how it affected the boys more? Lots of different stuff!
But you all let me know what you want to see!
I know- I disappear for a long time then pop up with all these changes…. It means so much to me to still have people around for my silly little Merboys. I want to work on them and Swap more consistently and I think I’m finally coming out of that rut I was in. I have a new job that gives me time to write and a new spring in my step! So, I think a revamp might make me love my story again, you know? Ive always loved it but throughout the years, I definitely see how I started this story from passion but didn’t do a lot of research or concrete world building or really anything to really nail down a plot you know? Which makes sense, back then this was just a silly project I never knew so many people would love! I want to see people passionate about the story again like I used to be- and I think starting over might help? (All the older stories would be kept- I would just make a new masterpost of the revamp btws!)
Whumptober/Egotober/Angstober Day 6: “It’s not my blood”/Bubbles/Medication
I had to use a lot of prompts today to get an idea and I’m still very late XD but I got it done! Anti probably got into a fight with some big fish and worried Schneep-
Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 11: Darker Seas
Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read Septnautical | Darker Seas AU
Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost
The swim back is easier this time- without anything chasing after them. There’s the distant sounds of the crabsquids and jelly rays but it’s smooth sailing.
Anti hurries down to the base and knocks on the door again, not wanting to freak out the people inside.
There’s a beat then the door opens quickly, Zara’s face bright with joy. “Anti! You’re oka- oh my god?!” Zara gasps seeing all the hybrids gathered in front of the door.
“…we need some help?” Anti says with a nervous smile.
“Y-yeah c’mon! I’ll take you to the medbay and… I’ll get Danan and those blankets again!” Zara says hurriedly. She starts to swim down the hallway and turns the corner, Anti right behind her.
The other hybrids pour into the base behind them. "W-well, we got them back, a-as you can see," Schneep says, trying to sound lighthearted but his voice still trembling with nerves. "Your device worked. Thank you."
“I… I can’t believe it did! That’s… that’s great news!” Zara laughs, but she also sounds nervous.
Jackie, Alt, and Bro, JJ says, pointing out the others, their friends who'd been lost.
"H-hi," Jackie says quietly.
Zara looks at the others and smiles. And Bro’s breath hitches really taking in Zara’s face. She’s so different here… and she’s swimming- kinda like she has a limp. What happened to her…?
“Nice to meet you all.” Zara says.
“Y-Yeah… y-you too…” Bro whispers.
They hurry into the med bay- a small room that’s dark and Zara hurries to grab a light to turn it on. There’s a few hospital like beds bolted to the ground and a couple flickering monitors looking like they’re for x-rays. “Sorry this one is for uh… looking at other fish and Anti so… I uh… h-hope it’s comfortable. You can lay down whoever needs to get looked at on the tables. And I’ll get Danan and blankets!!” She says hurriedly and spurs back down the hall.
Bro watches her go then sighs and goes to swim in and tries to lay Alt down on the table.
JJ looks everyone over. I can heal surface injuries, like claws and bites and stuff.
"Ah... I would appreciate if you could do that for me," Schneep says, his injured tendrils waving in the water.
Bro, Jackie, do you need to be looked over? JJ asks. On a medical bed?
"I-I-I think I'm fine," Jackie says, wrapping his arms around himself. "It's a bit... cold, but I think that's just cause of the water..."
Bro pants a bit and shakes his head. “I’m fine… just… s-shaken from all of this…”
"W-we should be careful of Alt and Marvin," Schneep says quietly. "We do not want them to be scared by the environment."
Alt seems reluctant to leave Bro’s arms but eventually curls up on the table, holding his arms and trying to breathe and not panic. But- he’s super aware of the mask and how much it hurts and how awful he feels. He shivers.
Anti nods to Schneep and goes to just sit with Marvin on the table, holding him to his chest. Marvin isn't looking at anyone, digging claws into the edge of his mask, his fingers trembling.
Schneep prowls back and forth across one wall, nervous. Jackie just sort of... floats there. He's still processing everything.
JJ swims over to Anti and Marvin. I know this is probably very confusing, but you're safe now, he says to Marvin with a soft smile. The people here can help.
Marvin startles and looks at JJ with wide eyes. He curls up against Anti. “…w-who are you…? You.. you look like Jamie but…you’re not.”
“He’s someone… similar,” Anti tries to say gently. “But you can trust him… and the one that looks like Schneep… and t-they trust the others…”
Marvin still looks a bit scared but he nods.
JJ nods slowly. Don't worry, I'll give you space if you want, he says, backing up.
“T-Thank you…” Marvin says quietly.
Bro leans on Alt’s table and then feels… heavy… it’s hot in here… his head lolls a bit as he struggles to keep his eyes open, his arms trembling.
"Um... B-Bro?" Jackie says, looking at Bro. "Are you... okay? You look... bad. Tired?"
“Y-Yeah yeah I’m…” Bro says dazedly then shakes himself out, blinking slowly. “I’m… good. I’m just… t-tired yeah…”
"Tired all of a sudden?" Schneep's eyes widen. "Th-that is probably not good." He swims over to Bro, putting a hand on his forehead, feeling out his condition.
Bro definitely has a fever and is shaking quite a bit. He has a glazed look in his eye that he keeps trying to blink back. “‘M fine Hen… ‘m okay…” he mummers tiredly.
Alt sits up and looks at Bro with concern.
"H-he has a fever," Schneep reports. "I-I think he needs medical attention, too."
What happened?! JJ asks. That came on really suddenly!
"I-I don't know. Perhaps this is all just hitting him at once?"
“N-No ‘m okay guys, really…!” Bro tries to smile at them. “We gotta focus on Marv and Alt… a fever isn’t a big deal…”
"I would say it is, actually," Schneep says. He doesn't want to worry Bro, but... a sudden fever could easily be the sign of something worse.
Finally, the door opens and Dr. Danan comes back in with a worried look. “Z-Zara filled me in are you all-?!” She gasps as she sees Marvin and Alt with their masks and hurriedly digs through her bag. “L-Let me get some scans to see what we’re dealing with!”
JJ and Schneep swim back, letting Danan do her work first.
She swims over and does Alt first who tries his best not to move as she waves the tool around the edges of Alt’s face.
Danan then hurries over to Marvin and he cringes curling up and digging fingers in more. “oh nonono! Don’t do that love let me see please-“ Danan tries to say gently to him. Anti whispers something to him and Marvin finally lets go and Danan scans him quickly. Once done Marvin curls back up.
Danan then swims over to one of the monitors and starts to click around on her tool to try to transfer the scans to the screen.
Now that Danan seems done, JJ says, Ah, doctor, our other friend here is suddenly hot. He gestures at Bro. Is that... normal?
"I do not think it is," Schneep mutters. "But—but maybe it has something to do with the sort of fish he is? Do you know anything about that?"
Danan blinks and looks at them with knitted eyebrows. “Hot?” She looks over at Bro and frowns. “He’s.. a boneshark so… not that I know of? That’s… that’s not good… are any of the others starting to feel hot at all?” She asks Schneep and JJ.
Bro is staring out ahead. Why does the room look like it’s swimming..? And why did it look like for a second he saw yellow hair…?
"I-I do not know—no one else has says anything!" Schneep stammers. "Jamie, do any of them look feverish?"
I don't think so? JJ says, head darting between Alt, Marvin, and Jackie.
Jackie keeps hugging himself, sinking down to the ground where he curls his tail up. "I'm... I'm just... t-tired," he mutters.
Alt shakes his head but then pauses, “I’m… a little warm…? I can’t really tell…”
Anti feels Marvin’s forehead and frowns. Marvin has closed his eyes and is dozing against Anti. “I… I can’t tell.” He says quietly.
“Mmm.. the fatigue is justified considering the circumstances…” Danan mutters. “Let's see about getting these masks off then I can run some more tests if that's okay?”
"Please hurry," Schneep whispers. "I-I do not think they can eat with that there—unless you have other ways to get food. Injections of some sort."
Danan looks just as worried. “No we don’t have anything like that so let me get to the bottom of this…”
Is there anything we can do to help? JJ asks. Or should we stay out of your way?
Danan smiles at JJ and shakes her head. “You all just rest…”
Jackie leans back against the wall while they talk, closing his eyes. Maybe he can fall asleep right here.
Schneep and JJ hover nearby, both looking anxious.
Danan then gets the scans up on the monitor. She looks them over and then gasps at the sight. “Stars…! This is…!” She then curses, “That damn witch Jezebeth!” Before she swims to look through the drawers in the room. “I’m so sorry boys… I had no idea this went as deep as it did I… I might need to sedate you to get these off…!”
"What?! Wh-what?!" Schneep gasps. "That—that went that far into their—?!"
“T-Their jaw bones and muscles yes I-I…” Danan stammers, looking distressed. “I-I luckily still have a medical fabricator so it can rebuild the damage it just… they have to be completely still and… I don’t want it to hurt.”
JJ stares at the masks in horror. And then in anger. They have no right to mess with people's bodies like that! At least we could get the gauges out without sedation!
"Y-you two—you two please don't worry," Schneep says, darting closer to the medical beds again. "W-we will fix this. W-we'll just need to—to—it will take more than expected."
Bro growls tiredly, digging nails into the bed. “those fucking Bastards…!”
Jackie opens his eye slightly, staring at the commotion with a slightly glazed look. The water doesn't feel as cold anymore... he must be getting used to it.
Anti looks disturbed but he looks down at Marvin who has basically passed out. “Y-You’re good for Marv doc… get it over with before he wakes back up…”
Danan nods and hurries over, gently going to inject the sedative into Marvin. He slumps a bit more and Anti gently lays him down on the table, looking worried.
Alt looks like he’s on the verge of panic, sinking claws around his mask and breathing heavily.
Alt, please, please, you'll only hurt yourself, JJ says, trying to look reassuring and not like the anxious mess he feels like. Put your hands down. We'll be right here. We won't let anything happen to you.
Alt looks at JJ with terrified eyes and then back at Danan as she approaches. “I promise this is to make it as least painful as possible, Alt…” the Dr. says gently. “I don’t want this to hurt you…”
Alt makes a couple more panicked breaths before he eventually lets go and nods. Danan smiles and carefully moves some of his hair out of the way to inject him. Alt blinks heavily, already feeling the pull then Bro shakily leads him down.
Once Alt is down, Danan hurriedly grabs her equipment and starts to set up the fabricators- seems she has enough for both of them.
As that gets set up, Schneep swims over. "Chase, y-you have to lie down, please," he says. "You look like you're about to pass out. And then you cannot stay by Alt if you're asleep, yes?" His tone is unusually gentle.
Bro floats a bit straighter and blinks blearily at Schneep. “Hm? Uh… yeah maybe I…I’ll…” He glances at the door- then sharply inhales as he sees Demerci staring right at him through the window.
He yells in surprise then tumbles back, hitting the back wall in his scramble to get away. “N-No…!”
"Chase?!" Schneep gasps, staring at Bro in confusion. "What—A-are you okay?!"
JJ follows Bro's line of sight. He's looking at the door. What are you looking at, Bro?
Schneep blinks. "A... a hallucination, maybe? Chase, do you have hallucinations normally?"
“I-I- no I…!” Bro stammers in slight fear, looking paler. “I-It’s Demerci-! S-She’s right there! D-don’t you see her?!”
Danan startles a bit at this and looks at the door in confusion.
But then, Zara opens the door even as Bro yells and covers his head with his arms, shaking like a leaf. “I got the blankets!” She says cheerily. She then blinks in confusion to Bro’s reaction. “…damn is my face that scary…?”
JJ shakes his head. It's not you, Z. He's seeing someone else.
“Oh… that’s not good.” Zara says with a worried frown.
"Bro, Bro, please." Schneep gently grabs Bro's hand. "Clearly, JJ cannot see this Demerci. A-and I cannot sense any souls besides us, Danan, and Zara. If she's as close as you say, I would definitely be able to sense her. But--if she is somehow there, we outnumber her, yes? We can take her down. Y-you are safe here."
Jackie watches Schneep and Bro, blinking slowly. This feels somehow familiar... But reversed.
Bro whimpers and looks at Schneep with a terrified expression. “I-I swear I saw her Hen I-I’m not crazy…! I-I can let her get to Alt again I… I can’t-!”
"No, I believe you, I-I'm sure you saw her, but she will not get to Alt, I promise," Schneep says in a calm voice. "We are going to protect him, okay? We are going to stay right here and protect him. Please don't go running off after her. We cannot get separated." JJ hovers anxiously behind Bro, listening to this.
Bro seems to calm down a bit at this and he slowly nods. “O-Okay I… won’t.” He laughs tiredly. “I-I don’t think I could even if I w-wanted to…” he then tiredly leans forward and lays against Schneep’s shoulder, his eyelids fluttering. “You make me miss my Hen and Dr.j…” he mumbles dazedly, laughing a bit. “Yer like a fusion of them…”
Schneep blinks in surprise. "Hah. I will take that as a compliment." He wraps an arm around him in a half-hug. "We will get back there to them, I promise."
“It is…” Bro says with a smile, settling in some more against Schneep. “Yer good like both of them… kind… even if you give us that scary stern look jays gives us… or like…” Chase’s vision dims and dips in front of him and he sees Demerci bending down next to them and… smiling…? She seems so gentle here… Chase doesn’t even feel scared. “…mum…” he whispers before his eyes flutter shut altogether.
“Mum?” Schneep repeats, confused. What does that have to do with anything? Maybe Bro is just delirious? Either way, he’s asleep before Schneep can ask about it. He chuckles. “Alright, let’s get you a blanket, then.” He drags Bro through the water towards Jackie. Bro mumbles something incoherent back to Schneep as he’s dragged over.
Zara swims over to Jackie and lays the blankets down on the floor next to him. She smiles gently. “hey… feel free to rest on these, okay?”
Jackie looks over at her and nods. "Thanks..." He smiles back, and looks down, sorting through the blankets. "You're so nice... I can see why I like you in those other worlds..." His voice gets quiet at the end. He doesn't think she can hear him.
Zara pauses in helping set them up and then looks at Jackie with wide eyes and a slight blush. “…w-what..?”
"O-oh, uh... I didn't realize you could hear that..." Jackie says, staring at her. "Um... I-I've been to... two other universes where you were uh... in a sort of relationship with a 'Jackie.' One was in its early stages and another was um... you were older an'... married." He clears his throat. "Um—y-you're really nice and pretty, b-but I actually have a boyfriend in my own world, so don't, uh... think of me that way?"
Zara blushes even more, “w-with Jackie? RL-006??” She looks flabbergasted by this and thoughtfully touches her scarred cheek. She then laughs and shakes her head. “…don’t worry. Not really in the right place right now to be d-dating anyways…”
JJ looks towards Jackie, slightly distracted by his rambling exchange. You said he was called Frederick, right?
"Yeah... he's pretty too." Jackie hums. "He has silky black hair and sparkly black eyes... pretty."
JJ laughs a little. Zara here has dark hair too, you know. And where I'm from, a version of you is married to a spouse with black hair.
"...Fuck, do I have a type?" Jackie mutters.
Zara smiles wide listening to Jackie talk about Fredrick. Then bursts into giggles at Jackie’s last statement. “Well… I’m flattered, truly. S’been a while since I thought I was pretty.” She laughs lightly.
“Well you arrrre,” Jackie says. “Jameson, isn’t she pretty?”
JJ frowns. I’ve never liked girls romantically.
“Then you’ll be, uh…” Jackie struggles with the word for a second. “…objective!”
JJ laughs a little. Okay if you insist. Yes, I agree.
“Seeee?” Jackie yawns. As Schneep brings Bro over he curls up on the blankets next to him, subconsciously scooting a bit closer until he’s pressed up against Bro. Mm… warm…
Zara giggles, “You all are too nice. But… thank you.” She smiles as she sees Jackie curl up against Bro.
Bro instinctually lays an arm over Jackie- as if wanting to protect him in his sleep.
Danan finishes setting up the machines and has actually used a laser cutter to take off the masks, exposing the open wounds for the fabricators to heal. Anti has been anxiously floating around Marvin the whole time. Danan finally sighs and gathers up the masks before addressing the group. “it will take a couple hours for the fabricators to work most likely… you all can rest here in the meantime and we can get you something to eat… whatever you need to feel comfortable.”
“Thank you, Dr. Danan,” Schneep says. “W-we really appreciate everything you’ve done to help.” He swims over to Jackie and Bro, settling down a little apart from them.
JJ nods in agreement. We do need rest and food, but I think the rest can come first. He looks at Anti. For you too. Marvin will still be here when you wake up. And I don’t think you want him to see you looking exhausted when he comes out of the sedative.
While JJ talks, Schneep has slowly scooted closer to Jackie and Bro, hoping that no one will notice.
Anti blinks over at JJ and seems confused for a second before he seems to sag. “…right right… I’m just… I’m afraid if I go to sleep… I-I might wake up and he’ll be gone again…” he whispers.
JJ smiles. I know that worry. But I promise, this is real. And we’re safe here. And he won’t leave you again. I’m sure he missed you as much as you missed him.
Anti’s lip trembles but he slowly nods. “…okay… okay…” his gaze lingers on Marvin for a bit before he goes to curl up at the edge of his bed, laying down in some of his tails.
Bro in his sleep is panting a bit, eyebrows knit together in slight pain.
JJ looks over at Bro, worried. Hopefully that dies down soon. For now, he swims over to join the rest of the group, squeezing under the pile they’ve all formed. He sighs, and tries to put his worries out of his mind as he closes his eyes.
Danan and Zara smile as all the boys settle down to rest. They quietly leave the lab, promising to check back later.
=========
Hours pass… but it’s hard to tell the passage of time here since they can’t see any light from the surface.
Everything seems to be going smoothly- the fabricators seem almost done with fixing the wounds on Alt and Marvin. Alt is trembling a bit in his sleep, the sedative slowly wearing off. He makes quiet whimpers as his eyes flit around under his eyelids, caught in a dream most likely.
Marvin on the other hand is still very still- it’s almost hard to tell if he’s breathing but he is. Anti is still curled up next to him, sleeping peacefully.
Bro’s panting and fever have only gotten worse as he presses his burning face into whoever is near, clinging to them and biting back a whimper. It’s hot… why does that feel familiar…?
Jackie is the first to wake up. He blinks his eyes open slowly and looks around. His head feels… weird. Is he sick? He raises it slightly and looks around the room. He hadn’t really taken in all the details before. All of the others are here, curled up together—Bro’s skin is hot against his. There’s also what looks like this world’s Anti and Marvin and someone else—
He freezes, staring at the figure. No. No, it's impossible. He can’t be here. But those purple eyes are unmistakable, looking over at him—
“Hello again, Jaaackie.”
Jackie screams.
Bro startles up immediately, gasping and looking around dazedly. “J-Jackie?!”
He tries to look over at him but is met face to face with Demerci again.
“Hi Chaser~ did you sleep well, love?” she whispers sweetly.
Bro screeches too and trips over himself to try to get distance, breathing heavily. “Nonono g-get away!”
JJ and Schneep immediately startle awake as the two other in their pile start screaming.
Anti jumps up at the screaming and hits his head on the underside of Marvin’s table in his scramble. He shakes this off and surges up into the water and over to the others, “Stars- what’s wrong?!”
“No! No, you’re not here!” Jackie wriggles out of the pile, scrambling back across the floor. “It’s impossible! Impossible!” His Marvin only laughs and gets closer. “No! S-stay the fuck away from me!”
“What is happening?!” Schneep asks. His brain scrambles. “A-are they seeing something, maybe?”
Anti swims back, looking at all their reactions with wide scared eyes. “Hallucinations??”
“Hallucinations,” Schneep confirms.
Everyone calm down! JJ says. There’s nothing in the room! He hurries over to Jackie’s side. Jackie—
“Get away from me, Jameson!” Jackie screams. The mandibles on his back snap, and JJ quickly jerks backwards, confused.
Bro pants, trembling like a leaf as Demerci seemingly lifts his chin up and smiles at him. “Love, you need to return to the base. You don’t belong here… and I miss you and your brother ever so much… won’t you come back to me?”
Bro bites back a whimper and shakes his head, “I-I can’t… y-you can’t hurt Alt anymore- I-I…”
“I don’t have to hurt you love… all you need to do is play along~” she hums sweetly. “Come back to the base and bring Alt too… then this can all be over~”
Bro chokes on a sob.
Alt meanwhile is blearily trying to open his eyes- his jaw is killing him and he feels really warm and shaky…
“Hello, cub~” Magnificent grins down over Alt. Alt yells hoarsely in fear and tumbles off the table in his scramble to get away.
JJ looks over at Alt as he falls. I think—I think all of them are experiencing that.
“Why would—This is not a sign of a fever, this is targeted,” Schneep mutters, his mind whirling. “A—a side effect, perhaps? An intended side effect? To—hurt them?” He shakes his head, swimming over to Bro. “Chase. Chase please, focus on me. D-don’t look at what you’re looking at. Focus on me, okay?”
Bro’s eyes flicker between Schneep and Demerci, unsure which one is real. “S-She’s gonna hurt Alt, Hen she’s-“ Bro’s head snaps to Alt as he yells and he tries to clumsily swim over to him but crashes over himself. “A-Alt!”
Alt feels like the breath has been knocked out of him as Mag bends down over to him. It feels like his head is being held down… or is his head just too heavy to lift?
“So sad to see you this way, kitten…” Magnificent purrs. “I wish I could have seen your spiral personally… how fascinating that would have been~” His voice is suddenly in Alt’s ears as he whispers. “Maybe I’ll drag you myself just to see it again~”
Alt croaks on a response but his entire face is so sore from the mask and the mouthpiece in it. “M-Mag- n-no…!” He breathes.
Jackie breathes heavily, eyes locked on the figure in front of him. “I’m coming for you, Jaaackie,” Marvin taunts. “You better run.”
And, instinctively, Jackie does, bolting for the door. JJ’s head whips around and he tries to conjure a shield to block Jackie in, but he’s just barely too fast, slipping through before the spell is complete. Damn it! JJ says. Schneep, you go after him, I don’t think he’ll react well to me.
Anti startles as Jackie bolts out. He hesitates for a second before following after him. “I-I’ll get him! Just hang on!”
JJ nods. With Anti going after Jackie, he turns his attention to Alt. He swims over, coming into view. Alt, it’s okay, you’re okay. We’re going to keep you safe. Did he say Mag? He’s not going to get you. Don’t listen to him.
Alt struggles to move his head back but looks at JJ with terrified eyes. “J…!” Magnificent is laughing so loudly in his ears and he chokes on a quiet sob.
“Chase, careful!” Schneep says, grabbing him and helping him up again. “Alt is fine! Look, he is okay. You can see that. Okay? Okay. Y-you are having difficulty swimming, it sounds like, do you want help getting to his side?”
Bro looks around wildly as Schneep grabs him. He- he feels solid through all the murky confusion. He grips Schneep’s shoulder and sobs. “I-I- I can’t let her g-get us Schneep- s-she’ll take us back there..! W-we can’t go back!” It’s unclear what back he’s talking about… hq? Or… somewhere else?
You're okay, you're okay, JJ keeps signing, making sure that Alt can both see the signs and hear the voice from the robot fish. He's not sure what to do in this situation—maybe contact will help? He drapes the wings attached to his arms over Alt like a blanket. You're going to be okay. I promise.
Alt startles at the contact at first but then sinks against JJ, biting back frightened tears. But… the laughter seems a bit harder to hear under here. Is he really safe…?
"She's not going to get you," Schneep promises Bro. "Jamie and I will not let her get to you. You are not going anywhere, yes? Here, let's go over by Alt and Jamie. Come on." He helps Bro over to Alt's medical table.
Bro whimpers but clings to Schneep as he’s brought over. He can see Demerci trying to mouth stuff to him over Schneep’s shoulder but… it’s harder to hear her.
Once Bro has been lead to Alt on the ground the older brother gasps and tumbles down to be next to him. He hurriedly wraps him up in his arms and curls up against him, holding him tight, though still letting Jamie’s wing cover him. “You’re okay…! You’re okay…”
Alt jerks in surprise and then smiles dazedly, “C-Chase?” He whispers, voice still a bit raw. He hiccups a bit and then hides against Chase’s shoulder.
"We are all okay," Schneep says reassuringly. "See? We are all okay."
JJ smiles and nods. Don't worry. If anything bad happens, we'll help protect you. He adjusts his position so the wing is over Bro as well.
"Just everyone take deep breaths," Schneep says. "Everything is fine."
Bro takes a shakily breath and his shoulders relax. He hugs Alt around his back and the cooling blue light of JJ’s wing helps to calm him down too. “W-we’re okay…” he breathes and Alt nods against him. “We’re okay…” Alt gazes up at JJ and Schneep with slightly more focused eyes. “T-Thanks guys…”
Of course, JJ says, nodding. Schneep smiles.
Jackie swims wildly through the base, crashing into walls. Behind him, he hears more laughter, and he can see the purple glow. He sobs. He can’t go back there! He can’t let him take him again!
Anti tries his best to speed after Jackie- and luckily he knows these halls and all their turns. He quickly gains on Jackie then tries to grab him. “Jackie! Breathe! You’re seeing things! You’re okay!”
Jackie yelps, instinctively squirming against the grip. He looks back--no, it's not Marvin, it's Anti. "A-Antiiii," he cries. "I don't—h-he's not supposed to be here! H-how is he here?! I'm not—I c-can't just be seeing things, I—I-I've never--"
"Trying to escape, Jackie?" Marvin looms behind Anti, grinning.
Jackie cries out. "H-he's right behind you! W-we have to get out of here!" He grabs onto Anti in turn, trying to pull him away from the glowing violet figure.
Anti swallows shakily and shakes his head, not letting Jackie pull him away. If anything he tries to pull him closer. “It’s okay Jackie- no one here is gonna hurt you! There’s no one behind me… w-we need to get you back to the lab so Danan can look at you and figure out what’s wrong!”
"Don't lie to me!" Jackie shouts. "I-I can see him right there!" He squeezes Anti tightly. "H-he might be able to hurt even you!" He shakes his head. "I-I can't go back to that place! I-I can't go back to that dark room! H-he's gonna kill me this time, I-I know he will, I'll be too much t-trouble—"
Anti laughs a bit and shakes his head. “You won’t be taken anywhere bad Jackie… you said he’s behind me right? Watch-“ he gently floats back, going to lightly wrap his tail around Jackie’s hand so he can go back a bit farther. “He won’t hurt me. You’re okay.”
Jackie cries out as Anti floats back towards Marvin. But... nothing happens. Even though Marvin is still looking at him and smiling that sick grin. Marvin... Marvin would try to attack him, wouldn't he? Wouldn't he? Maybe—maybe something's up? Even so, he doesn't want to get close. He hesitates for a moment, then suddenly swims forward at Anti, wrapping his arms around him. His whole body is trembling. "Let's go—quickly!" he whispers.
Anti oofs out in surprise and looks down at Jackie with wide eyes. He holds his arms out- unsure what to do. But… like this… oh. He reminds him of his Jackie… when he was small… scared of the thunder and the big wide ocean… Anti blinks back tears and holds an arm around Jackie and hurries them back down towards the med bay. “okay okay- I got you…”
Jackie nods fast. He's trying not to look towards the purple glow as they head back down the hallways.
JJ looks up when Anti and Jackie return. Schneep also perks up. "You are back," he says.
"Yes, I am fine," Schneep says, swimming over. As soon as he gets close Jackie latches onto him instead of Anti, holding him tight. "Whoa! A-a bit tight there, Jackie."
"Pl-please—you can't listen to them anymore," Jackie stammers. "Please."
"I won't," Schneep says quietly. "I won't."
Anti blinks in surprise then looks back down at Alt, Bro and JJ before looking back at Schneep, “…any idea what he’s talking about….?”
“His Schneep…” Alt croaks quietly, “…I think h-he misses him… b-bad people have him…”
Anti’s eyes widen, “…like they had Marvin… my brothers…”
“Y-yeah…” Alt looks back at the others and seems a lot more calm and awake but he holds the trembling Bro to his shoulder. “C-Can we get the d-doctor…? I… C-Chase doesn’t get s-sick like this…”
Where did she go? Is there any way we can call for her? JJ asks, looking around.
“I can find her,” Anti says and hurries back out.
"He does not get sick like this?" Schneep repeats. "What do you mean?"
I think he means about his powers... JJ says slowly.
Alt nods, “Mhm… h-he might be under the weather but n-not this severely… h-he doesn’t get fevers this bad… I-I’m usually the s-sickly one.” He tries to laugh but it falls short.
"I-I wish I could help, but... my knowledge of medicine does not extend to side effects after being mind controlled," Schneep says slowly. "I... I suppose we just..." Then he realizes something. Jackie, holding tight to him, is also a bit hot. He presses his hand against his forehead. "Wait a moment. Jackie, do you have a fever, too?"
"I... dunno," Jackie says slowly. "M'head feels a bit weird...?"
"Weird how?"
"H-heavy, I guess... and... watery? More than just being in water, I mean. Everything's full of water."
"Scheisse," Schneep curses.
“I-it’s okay Schneep… t-this is the future… I’m sure there’s… there’s something…” Alt mumbles, trying to keep his eyes open.
Dr. Danan quickly bursts back into the room, in a bit of panic. “A-Anti said something was wrong?” She looks down at all the boys shaking and trembling and she inhaled sharply. “stars… o-okay… uh… scans I can do more scans hold on…” she grabs her scanner from earlier and goes to scan the boys.
“Chase was having hallucinations right? Hallucinations, fever, fatigue…” she muses to herself as she waits for the scans to process.
"They were all hallucinating, I think," Schneep says. "Except for Marvin, of course, he is still asleep. If that helps at all." He pats Jackie on the back. "Come on, Jackie, let's sit you down on this table over here."
"Okay..." Jackie mumbles, still clinging to Schneep as he guides him over to a medical table.
Alt struggles to help Chase up who still refuses to let Alt go. “C’mon Chase…”
“I-If you all are experiencing the same symptoms then it must be from what happened to you…” Danan muses. She goes to scan by Jackie’s ears and gets a result. Her PDA reads out: Detecting hallucinogenic toxins in subject’s bloodstream. Symptoms include hallucinations, fatigue, fever, paranoia, vivid dreams-
“Toxins? Okay… okay,.. we can work with this… some food with charcoal can help, water to flush the system and… oh…! These toxins are man made… so… we may be able to draw them out magnetically and replace the blood?” Danan mumbles to herself, swimming back and forth as she thinks.
"Replace the blood?" Schneep gasps. "Technology has advanced that far in this world?!" He sounds excited about that.
Danan blinks at Schneep and smiles, “Oh well yes! It’s not common but there’s a process to use nanomagnets to draw out toxins in blood and then add back in the cleansed blood…”
If it's toxins, then that means the symptoms will definitely fade in time, JJ says. Is there anything we can do, doctor? Maybe we can go get supplies?
She looks back at JJ and hums, “Maybe… I think we have enough water, I have charcoal… we might need more food? Fish could help… I think we have some marblemelons left? That could help too…”
JJ nods. I guess I can go out and try grabbing something? I don't think I'm built for hunting, though.
"I can go with you in a second," Schneep says. "Just have to get Jackie to calm down."
Anti laughs, “It’s okay I don’t mind getting more… you can come if you wanna try but- yeah I don’t think ghost rays have a lot of hunting skills in their DNA.”
JJ smiles at Anti. If you're sure... I think I'll be more use here. He looks down at Bro and Alt. They need some support.
"Doooctor," Jackie repeats absentmindedly. "A real one?"
Danan blinks a bit in surprise and then laughs, “Yes I am a real doctor. Got my license is both human and Xeno biology.”
"She's a real doctor, Jackie," Schneep repeats.
"No' like you," Jackie mumbles. "With a real license?"
Schneep looks a bit surprised at that. "Ah... yes, with a real degree." He looks back at the others. "Apparently the me in his world doesn't have a real medical license?"
You don't have a license at all in my world, you're not a doctor there, JJ says.
"Interesting. But I don't think that's what he's implying."
“Schneep in Jackie’s world doesn’t have a license…? But he wanted to fix Henny…” Alt frowns sleepily.
Jackie's eyes focus over on Alt. He looks confused for a moment, then seems to realize who Alt is. "He thought he could," Jackie whispers. "But he wouldn't be able to. He'd just hurt him." He shivers a little. "I-I... I would have... let that... I'm... s-sorry..."
Alt blinks at Jackie and then smiles and shakes his head, “…it’s okay,.. you wouldn’t do that now… that’s what counts, right…?”
"I... y-yeah..." Jackie nods slowly. "Yeah."
Danan nods, “I’ll get started on what I can… but food and water will probably be the best start. Perhaps the fever is already burning through most of it….”
"...Jackie," Schneep says quietly. "What if I have to go?"
"N-no." Jackie grabs onto Schneep's arm. "Don't. H-he'll get you."
Scheep turns to Anti with an apologetic expression. "I... might not be able to go help, either."
Anti laughs and shakes his head, “Don’t worry I’ll get some.” He hurries out to go find some food.
Alt pats Bro’s hair as the older brother shivers and whimpers against him.
“I’ll go get some of the other stuff… hang tight okay?” Danan says gently before heading out too.
"We will." Schneep nods,
Silence falls for a while. JJ closes his eyes, feeling the two brothers' breathing beneath him. Poor Bro... he says. My Marvin gets fevers often, I know how much they suck.
"You two are close?" Schneep mutters idly.
He's my best friend. And my roommate.
"Hah... in my world, Jackie and Marvin are best friends and roommates." Schneep smiles idly, but then it fades. "Judging from how Jackie spoke of his Marvin, though, back when we were stuck in that SCLERA place... it is not the case, there. Not at all."
Jackie shudders.
“Mmm yeah.. Marvin in his world is… terrifying.. he.. he hurt Jackie..” Alt mumbles quietly. “Mag used to be roommates with my Jackie too… before he was mag… maybe that’s another constant..?”
You would know better than us, Alt, JJ says. It's not like that in my world, but maybe mine is an exception.
“Mmm… sometimes.. I can’t remember right now…” Alt mumbles.
Schneep nods. "You have been to more places than us. Though... I am very curious about different worlds." He chuckles. "If we had some way to control our jumping, I would love to visit other universes. See the differences. What about you, JJ? Jackie?"
JJ frowns. I think... maybe some other time. I still have business to take care of at home. Maybe once that's done, I can think about hopping to other worlds.
Jackie is quiet for a moment. "I... just want to go home," he whispers. "I-I wanna see Frederick and Chase again."
Schneep squeezes his hand. "You will. I promise."
“…’m sorry Jackie…I’m sorry to all of you…” Alt says quietly, “…the rifts are… they’re my fault. Kinda… I know I’m not supposed to feel like that but I do…” he slurs and shuts his eyes. “‘M sorry our mistakes got you taken away from your homes…”
JJ looks at Alt. How could it have been your fault?
"You... got tricked or something, right...?" Jackie mumbles. "That... doesn't count. It's the fault of the guy who tricked you. He's the one who did it."
“..it wouldn’t have happened if me and bro didn’t f-fuck around with visiting universes so much…” Alt mutters, “…we got too comfortable. I thought I’d have the TRVLR for… at least longer than I did… now I don’t even know how to get you all home…”
"You tend to blame yourself for things a lot, don't you, Alt?" Schneep mutters. "You should not do that. We do not blame you, so you should not blame yourself." He pauses. "One time, I was tricked, too. My Anti... he made me think I killed my Chase. F-for months, I... I felt terrible. I-I stewed in it. But Chase did not blame me. He wanted me to be okay. I still felt bad, though, so he forgave me." He shakes his head. "It is the same situation here. We do not blame you."
Alt looks down and doesn’t look at the others, feeling delirious tears in his eyes. “…you sure…?” He says weakly.
"One hundred percent," Schneep says. "I promise."
JJ nods. It wouldn't be fair to blame you for this.
"I blame the guy who tricked you, not you," Jackie mutters tiredly, closing his eyes.
Alt is quiet for a second before he says tiredly, “…okay…” he leans more against his friends and tries not to let his thoughts get too negative.
Danan comes back after this and goes to set down some food in front of them off. 3 bottles of blackish water and 2 regular ones. And a huge melon-like thing sliced for them to eat. Danan smiles, “Here you go boys… hopefully this will start to help…”
JJ's expression brightens. He swims over and starts passing out the water bottles—correctly assuming that the blackish ones are for the sick boys. These will help you feel better, he says after everyone has a bottle.
Alt nods and smiles and tries to shake Bro to get him to drink. Bro blearily blinks out and Alt hurriedly tips his head to help him drink. Then, he reaches to grab some melon and hands it for Bro to eat. Bro sleepily takes it and starts to eat and Alt smiles and goes to drink the blackish water.
Schneep takes the bottle, then makes his way over to where Danan is and feels around until he finds the melon. He takes a slice. "What is this? Melon?"
Not a fan? JJ asks.
"Normally I do not care, but for some reason it doesn't seem as appetizing." Schneep passes the slice to Jackie, who takes it without question.
Danan chuckles, “Anti should be back soon with something more hearty… the sick boys need some more hydration though!”
Turns out, Anti was near and it doesn’t take much longer for him to swim back into the room. He throws a bag down in front of the others, a couple Reginalds and peepers spilling out. “There you go! Most decent fish I can find around here… hope that’s okay.”
"It is perfect, I'm sure, Anti," Schneep says, grabbing one of the peepers and absolutely devouring it. JJ stares at him, surprised at the ferocity, and decides to stick with the melons.
Alt sees the fish and his eyes sparkle and he can feel his mouth watering. God he really didn’t realize how hungry he was. He hurriedly grabs 3 of the fish and starts eagerly tearing into them. As he does his eyes glow a bit and almost look like they did when he was under Alterra’s control.
Is everyone feeling a bit better with food in them? JJ asks. Jackie, drink the water.
"You can't fucking control me," Jackie mumbles, turning over away from him.
JJ tries to hide how hurt he is. But even the blind guy can see it. "Do not be offended," Schneep whispers. "He seems confused about things right now. And... remember, he said that the you in his world was terrible."
JJ softens a bit, and nods. You help him, then? I think that's better.
"Of course." Schneep swims on over. "Jackie, really, you need to drink the water." He holds out the bottle.
After a moment, Jackie takes the bottle and drinks slowly.
Bro seems to shudder looking at the fish and hugs his stomach. But… it feels like some of the fog is clearing. He hears Jackie snap at JJ and he frowns, slurring out, “J-Jackie… don’t be mean…”
"...sorry," Jackie says after a while. "I don'... mean it, Jameson. It's not... for you."
JJ nods. It's fine, Jackie. You've been through a lot.
"Remember to eat, too," Schneep says, handing Jackie a fish.
Jackie stares at the fish absentmindedly for a moment before taking it, tearing it apart with his teeth and hands.
You all must be very hungry, JJ says, taking a melon slice for himself.
"Are you not?" Schneep asks.
Yes, but I'm fine with this, JJ signs, and then begins eating the melon.
“I had that f-fucking mask on-“ Alt growls through bites. “I think Jackie and bro ate a bit during that-“
“Is that why my mouth tasted weird?” Bro says with an exhausted laugh. “…mmm… god they do look kinda good though…”
“If I had time to go to the lava zone- I’d get you guys red eyeyes.” Anti snickers. “They’re spicy, they taste awesome.”
“Sounds interesting,” Schneep says. “Perhaps some other time.” If they’re stuck in this world long enough.
Anti shrugs, “they’re my favorite!” He grins. “But eh- not worth going to the lava zone right now… especially cuz… well..” he bites his lip- thinking of his brothers all still trapped at HQ.
Bro hesitates then grabs a fish and tentatively takes a bite. Then he eagerly starts to tear into it too.
Anti hurries to grab some food for Marvin and goes to set it on his bed, checking over the warper mer. Marvin sleepily blinks up at Anti and then smiles. But, it doesn’t last that long for it to fade and it seem like Marvin is getting those hallucinations too. But- now Anti knows what to do. He offers the blackish water and the food to Marvin and scoots to hold him close as he quietly eats.
Danan smiles at the progress and nods, having done some research on her own. “okay… while you guys are eating I think… I think the scanner and Zara might be able to help me make… an anti venom basically? That way we wouldn’t have to… sit here and filter all 3 of your bloodstreams… that would take a long time. I-I just need a sample from one of you that is affected… if that’s okay?”
Jackie raises his hand. “You can take it from me, I don’t mind,” he says, looking a bit more alive now that he’s got some food in him. “I can handle it. I can handle a lot.”
“Don’t push yourself, Jackie,” Schneep mutters.
“It’s just gonna be a little needle, right?” Jackie shrugs.
“Thank you Jackie…” Danan says gently. She kneels down next to Jackie and takes his arm, going to tie off a section then carefully draw some of his blood. Once done she spurs back up and smiles, “Okay we’ll go work on this- rest and eat and hopefully we won’t be too long…” she hurries back out.
A moment passes in silence. “Um… Jameson?” Jackie finally says. “I’m sorry for… being like that… earlier. I-I thought you were the Jameson from my world.”
JJ shakes his head. It’s fine, really. I figured it was some like that. And honestly, I might also be a little cold if I met another version of someone who’d really wronged me like that.
“Still. I’m… sorry,” Jackie mumbles. “Schneep’s getting along fine with the Antis.”
“Well ‘Schneep’ is not currently hallucinating,” Schneep says.
Jackie laughs.
Alt and Bro chuckle. “Yeah don’t be so harsh on yourself dude… we’re all just- going through it right now.” Bro smiles weakly.
“It probably helps that we haven’t really met any… of the bad Antis, to be fair.” Alt says quietly.
I can’t even picture a really evil Anti, JJ says.
Schneep laughs darkly. “I’m glad for you, then. The one in my world was… terrible.” He brushes a hand over the tear scars on his face.
Alt shudders and holds his arms, thinking of the evil Antis they’ve met. Evil versions of him… even if he’s getting more used to the idea and that he is different, it still sucks to remember that his face lives in others’ nightmares.
If he was as bad as Distorter from my world, I can imagine, JJ says.
“Who the fuck is that, by the way?” Jackie asks. “You mentioned them before.”
JJ shudders slightly. He is… a being with the ability to mess with people’s minds in all sorts of ways. If he hates you, he tries to kill you—or get you to do it. If he likes you, he tries to make you his “friend.” He used to be human, but… something happened. We’re not sure what. Something to do with the house he lived in, we think. And now he’s… like that.
Bro almost chokes on his water at the mention of Distorter, coughing and having to quickly look away.
Are you alright, Chase? JJ asks, concerned. Drink slowly.
“Y-Yeah I’m good-“ Bro laughs nervously, smiling at JJ. “just- that Distorter guy… he’s just the… worst.”
J sighs. I know. We're working on taking him down back home. Our Anti has an idea... something about confronting him directly.
Bro smiles weakly, “…I believe in you guys. You’re all tough lads. You’ll get him.”
JJ nods, smiling. Thank you.
Meanwhile, Jackie notices Alt's discomfort, too. "You... okay? I mean... guess it's gotta suck to have someone with your name be so evil." He sighs. "At least you're good, you know? You're doing the best you can." Maybe that isn't fully directed at Alt...
Alt blinks up at Jackie and is quiet for a beat. Then he smiles and nudges Jackie’s tail slightly with his. “yeah… that’s what matters, right? Trying our best.”
Jackie smiles back at Alt. "Yeah. That's what matters. And there are people who can help us try." He nods in Bro's direction.
Alt glances at Bro and then chuckles , “Yeah from what I remember, your boyfriend is a pretty good influence.”
"Shhhhhut." Jackie blushes.
Alt laughs, “I meant it genuinely! …I know mine is a good influence on me… he helped me realize that… strangers can be kind again. But I’m glad he’s gotten you to find a good path.”
"I-it's a—well, yeah, I—I guess? He's... such a good guy. I-I want to help others the way he's helped me. Maybe... I-I can support my Chase, or something." Jackie pauses. "Oh yeah. Since you guys last visited my world a month ago—for us, time is apparently inconsistent—Chase has... gotten a lot better. He's not fully better, but he's um... recognizably himself again."
Bro and Alt seem delighted to hear this. “oh I’m so glad to hear that! …wild to think that was only a month ago for you though… god I’m not even sure how long it’s been for us.” Bro says.
“Long enough to consider ourselves multiverse travel experts, I guess.” Alt laughs quietly.
You know, your visit was only a couple weeks ago for me, JJ says.
"Oh, it was a longer time since you've been in my world," Schneep says. "A couple months... a whole season, really." He shakes his head. "Time really is inconsistent between worlds. How strange..."
“That’s… really crazy…” Alt says, shaking his head. “though… guess not too crazy considering… well we’re like 200 years in the future now. I wonder if the rifts have something to do with the time inconsistencies…”
“Probably, if I had to guess,” Bro says with a shrug, “We repeated like- the same couple hours in that one world the Antis saved us from.”
"Time and space are linked," Schneep muses. "If you are to travel to a different 'space' that is a different universe, it makes sense that the 'space' would have its own 'time.' And if these rifts are somehow cracks or tears in space, of course it would affect the time as well. I wonder how your TRVLR device managed to get around that. Perhaps it bases things based on the time of your own space..." He wanders off into some scifi sounding mumblings.
Jackie blinks. "You guys getting any of this?" he whispers to the others.
Bro shakes his head, “nooo fucking clue, bro.”
Alt hums and lightly hugs his tail as he thinks, “…that makes sense I guess. Time was inconsistent in some ways..? Mostly- technically we’d end up maybe a year or so in that part from our time… except once when we ended up in a world that was in 2009. Or- I dunno if I count the medieval would we ended up in either… because that just seemed like- a fantasy world, not going in our own past. Could be the same of here… we have no idea if our earth is the same as their earth. Most of the time though… the time didn’t really matter? So… guess I didn’t think about it. Not unless it was jarring, you know?”
"Hmm." Schneep nods slowly. "Perhaps you were jumping to the relative 'present.' But now there are rifts, and they are a bit less stable, sending you across the time of the space. It really is fascinating. I wonder if you can cause the rifts intentionally... But something like that must take a phenomenal amount of power."
“Hmmm I’ve been wondering about that too…” Alt says, “I’m still unsure if these were caused because the TRVLR broke… or cuz the Anti that tricked us made them. If it’s the latter than… yeah power is the thing. He nearly drained Mag of all his magic to do it. I still don’t get it…” He sighs and lays his head on his tail. “…the TRVLR made me feel like I got how all this worked… but without it I.. I just feel so powerless… I hate it.”
"God, I know how you feel," Jackie mutters. "I mean... the three of us also got sucked through to other worlds, y'know?" He shakes his head. "I think... I think my Anti mentioned something about working on stuff for you, though. He hasn't been around lately, I think cause he's doing that. So, if that helps... there's that."
Alt chuckles a bit and nods, “Yeah… he’s working with Sam to find the TRVLR pieces… they said they got scattered to many different worlds. But They’re an all seeing eyeball so… They’ll find it eventually. I thought we’d be… just stuck for a while though. No more adventures for a bit, you know?” He laughs a bit bitterly. “I guess ‘adventure’ just has a way of finding us.”
“Speaking of which though-“ Bro speaks up, “I’m surprised a rift didn’t just- yank us out of here already. I feel like this is the longest we’ve managed to stay in a world like this…” he shrugs. “Then again all this shit confuses me.”
"Well, you cannot expect something like that to work on a schedule," Schneep says. "They seem to be working at random, like all forces of nature do. Or, perhaps, they will get farther and farther apart. We do not have a way of knowing right now."
“I wish there was more notice a rift was coming beside it just popping up,” Alt grumbles.
“True that~” Bro chuckles. “…think I’m just eager to… uh- have legs back again. This was cool at first but…”
Schneep sighs. "It would be helpful to be in an environment I can use my cane."
At this moment, Dr. Danan and Zara float back in, grinning. “we got the antidote figured out you guys!” Zara says brightly.
Dr. Danan blinks down at the boys and then smiles, “Though it already seems you boys seem to be on the mend, huh?”
Jackie smiles at Danan and Zara. "Hey. I, uh... I-I guess?"
But as long as that stuff is in you, it's possible that it could happen again, JJ says. So an antidote is welcomed. Thank you. He smiles at them.
"D'you like... inject it?" Jackie asks.
Danan chuckles, “Yes- like a vaccine. It might linger for a little bit but this should guarantee it’s purged from your system.”
“Just one more shot and you guys will be right as rain!” Zara smiles.
Bro grins tiredly and holds out his arm, “Sign me the fuck up- forgot how awful feeling sick is.” Zara seems confused by this but swims on over and injects the medicine into his arm and then massages the area. “Might feel a tad bit weird…”
Jackie also holds is arm out for the shot. "I'd love to be right as rain. I don't care how weird it feels."
"I'm sure you will be good soon, Jackie," Schneep says. "You too, Bro, Alt."
Danan chuckles and swims over his Jackie, gently injecting the medicine into his arm too.
Zara helps Alt next and injects him too and Alt glitches a bit in surprise at how it feels. Then, brightens a bit seeing himself glitch a bit easier. “Oh yo??”
Zara looks very surprised though, “uh- is that normal??”
“For him? Yeah.” Bro laughs.
We are all very unusual, remember? JJ says, making another small light show with his magic.
"Except for meeeee," Jackie says, giggling.
"You are still unique, Jackie, don't get yourself down," Schneep says.
"Oh, no, I wasn't getting myself down. I just find it a bit funny." Jackie shrugs. "I mean... it's like how Batman is a seemingly normal human being while the rest of the Justice League all have powers, but he has his own strengths that let him stand with them. I'm the Batman of our group."
Schneep chuckles. "I see."
“That’s a good way to think about it, dude!” Bro laughs.
Dr. Danan swims over to check on Marvin. Seems like having contact with Anti kept most of the hallucinations away but the fever is affecting him which seems to have unnerved him. When Danan approaches Marvin flinches but Anti quietly reassures him it’s okay. Danan finally is able to inject him and Marvin sighs in relief.
“I’m not sure how long that’ll take to set in but you all are still welcome to rest here- or if you must move on, you can do so as well.” Danan says.
Zara frowns, “…they said they needed to get home though… you guys are.. stuck here right now aren’t you? H-how can we help?”
"Well... it is a bit complicated," Schneep says slowly. "We were just speaking about it, actually. The rifts that took us from our home worlds just sort of... appeared. They may just suddenly appear again."
"We tried to make one on purpose in the last world, but it might've been a coincidence that it showed up when it did," Jackie mutters. "Alt tried to control some alien arch thing... not sure if it worked, it definitely overwhelmed him."
We would like to stay here for now, until we can maybe figure something out, JJ adds.
Danan and Zara exchange wary looks. "Dang yeah... i wouldn't mess with Alien arches... most of them head straight to HQ." Zara says quietly. "Now that they don't have Marvin... they'll probably use those a lot more..."
"You're welcome to stay as long as you need," Danan smiles. "I guess if these...rifts are random- best to get as much rest as you can before they appear."
JJ nods. Thank you. We really appreciate all you've done for us. It would have been hard without your help and space.
"I hope they don't appear in our sleep," Jackie mutters.
"I am not so tired, I can stay awake and, ah... keep an eye out." Schneep chuckles. "I will be able to feel the pull if one starts up."
Danan chuckles, "We're more than happy to help... and you helped Anti so much... it's the least we can do."
"Rest well, guys." Zara says smiling, and she and Danan swim back out.
Alt yawns and flops onto the floor, "...sleep sounds good right now. Even if it feels kinda weird to sleep underwater-"
"..bro don't make me aware of it!" Bro groans, "It's like when someone mentions breathing and then you like- breathe manually- I am now too aware that we're breathing water-"
"Oh no, now I am too!" Jackie groans. "Chase, whyyyy?"
JJ and Schneep laugh.
"Don't pretend like you're not also thinking about it, you two!" Jackie says.
If you want to transition from manual breathing, but can't, think of yourself as monitoring your breathing instead, JJ says. That helps me.
"Hmm. I guess I'll try," Jackie says. He rolls off the medical table and onto the floor as well.
"At least get to the blankets, you two," Schneep says.
Jackie groans again and gets up, swimming over to the pile of blankets.
"No. Floor good." Alt says, flopping onto his face. Bro laughs and goes to help Alt up, "C'mon bro- you'll regret that later." Bro still isn't feeling entirely well enough to pick Alt up so they kinda rest on each other before flopping onto the blankets. Alt blinks and then sinks into them. "...okay nevermind this is better-" Bro just laughs.
Anti watches them from where he's curled around Marvin, curiously flicking his tails. Marvin is caught dozing against Anti's shoulder.
JJ looks over at Anti and Marvin. You two want to join? Or, if you don't, do you at least want some blankets?
Schneep silently separates some blankets from the pile in case Anti says they want some.
"w-we or... well.. I don't usually sleep on those... usually I sleep in a nest..." Anti says quietly.
"..i'm not really sure when the last time I slept is-" Marvin slurs, "Is that why I'm so tired...? I... did they even let me sleep...?" He looks a bit freaked out but Anti hugs him tighter. "You can sleep as long as you need... I'm gonna be right here..."
JJ nods. Take a nice long nap, Marvin. Even if we're gone when you wake up, Anti will still be there for you.
"You do not have to use them, but if you want them, here." Schneep pats the stack of blankets he'd separated out.
Anti is curious though and slowly swims over and grabs the blankets. He hurries over to the corner and makes a nest- piling up against the wall and making a little dip in the middle. He then carries Marvin over. Marvin melts from the softness and easily curls up. Anti smiles and curls up around him.
Good night, JJ says, swimming back over to Jackie, Bro, and Alt and squeezing beneath them.
Schneep smiles and nods, curling up nearby but not quite sleeping.
Alt blinks at JJ squeezing beneath their tails but then laughs tiredly. “Comfy, J?”
JJ nods. The pressure feels good. It must be something about his fish species' instincts. A ghost ray, they said. He doesn't know much about fish, but he knows that stingrays like to bury in the sand. Maybe that's similar.
“Whatever makes you comfortable, dude.” Alt chuckles. Bro grabs Alt and holds him to his side and Alt sighs and lays back, closing his eyes.
It’s not long before the rest of the boys starts to drift off.
=========
A few restful hours pass- then… seems like Jackie predicted the rift. Because a black crack starts to form in the center of the floor- water starting to be pulled in.
Schneep perks up. He'd started to doze off, but the sound of the rushing water snaps him awake. "E-everyone!" He gets up, shaking the others awake. "I think it is here!"
JJ immediately snaps awake.
Bro sits up quickly and gasps, holding up Alt. Alt yells in surprise and blinks in sleepy confusion. “T-the fuck is happening??”
Jackie shakes himself up and immediately gasps as he sees the crack in the ground. "A rift!"
Anti startles up and looks out at the others, “A-Are you okay?! What’s going on??”
"There's a rift! There's a rift!" Schneep shouts.
JJ gasps. He wriggles out from underneath the blankets and hurries over to grab their bag of clothing. His eyes dart around and land on the little fish robot. Though it was helpful, it probably wouldn't be as useful in a world that wasn't underwater. This was time to leave it behind, then. JJ took off the gloves and folded them on top, tucking them and the little robot to the side so they won't get sucked in. Thank you, he signs to them. Maybe this world's Jameson could find a use for them once he was free.
"Oh fuck! I guess we're going!" Jackie makes sure to link up with Schneep and JJ.
Anti surges up in the water and looks worried, “T-that’ll get you home then?? It looks… scary-“
"I know, it really does look terrifying," Jackie mutters. "But we've done this before! It's safe!" Or as safe as it can be when they'll end up getting sucked to a strange world.
“T-That’s the hope.” Bro swallows nervously as he links up with Schneep with one arm and holds onto Alt with the others. Alt grabs onto his brother and looks at the others, “I-if we land somewhere different just- take the bracelets off and you’ll go back to normal, okay?”
"Take the bracelets off, got it!" Schneep nods.
“I-I guess this is goodbye, then?” Anti says quietly, “then… t-thank you. Thank you so much for helping me save my brother- for giving me hope again..! I… I won’t forget this.”
Jackie looks at Anti. "Yes. Maybe we'll be back someday. But maybe not."
JJ smiles and nods. "Be safe," he says in his hoarse voice. "And goodbye."
"Hold onto that hope!" Schneep encourages. "I know you will find a way out of this. Goodbye."
"Goodbye!" Jackie adds.
“Thank you for helping us- good luck!” Bro shouts with a smile.
Alt smiles at his other self and nods, “You’ll save them- I know it.”
And then- the pull becomes too strong and the 5 of them are sucked in. The sound of glitching screeches and pixels fill the air as they’re drawn down down down into darkness.
Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 10: Darker Seas
Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read Septnautical | Darker Seas AU
Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost
The boys have been sleeping for a few hours when Anti suddenly crashes into the lab with a bit of pained cry and quickly scrambles over to try to wake up Schneep and JJ.
Schneep cries out and immediately lashes out. Luckily, JJ awakens first, and has enough wit to reach out and push Schneep's arm out of the way before he can punch Anti. "What?! Who?!" Schneep shouts. Then his soul sensing kicks in and he remembers who everyone is. "A-Anti? What is it?"
Are you okay?! JJ asks.
Blood is clouding the water around the jagged cut in one of Anti’s tails. He shoves his bag towards them that has a few peepers in it and says in a panic. “E-eat these and then we- you all need to go! I… I dunno how much time we have-“
JJ sits up straight. You're bleeding! I can help, if you want. Like I did earlier with Schneep.
Schneep feels out the peepers. Normally he's not the biggest fan of fish, but he's really hungry. "What happened? Did they—did they—" He sniffs. Is that... blood? "Did they find you? Did they hurt you?!"
Anti scrambles back a bit in fear with wide eyes, his tails shaking. “Y-Yeah I was h-hunting in the reefs and they just- s-showed up out of nowhere! The weird armored guy cut my tail I-I’m fine but stars… I-I might have led them straight here! I…I can’t let them find the others… I…!” He heaves in panic.
If we get out of here quickly, we can lure them away from the base, JJ says. We need to stop by and ask Zara about stuff but then we GO.
Schneep nods and immediately begins tearing into the peepers. Wow—that tastes good? Must be something based on this form. "We go now!" he says after a couple bites. "Eat on the way!"
JJ nods hurriedly.
“R-Right yeah let’s go-!” Anti says, speeding over to the hatch to the hallway to try to find Zara. The other two quickly follow after him.
Anti zips through the hallway and then finds Zara sitting in a cramped small lab space and bangs on the window. Zara startles and then looks up and hurries to open the hatch to her space. “Anti?! What’s wrong you- you’re bleeding!” She gasps.
"He says that the hybrids found him!" Schneep says. "And--at least one of them was our friend!"
Anti, really, I can help with that blood, JJ says.
Anti acknowledges JJ and nods, waving his hand. “uh yeah yeah sure!”
JJ nods, swimming over and gently placing a hand on Anti's tail just above his wound. A blue film covers the wound, cool and healing.
Anti stares at JJ’s magic with wide eyes before looking up at him and stammering out. “..t-thanks…”
JJ smiles back. Not a problem.
Schneep continues on. "W-we have to get out of here quickly before they follow to the base."
Zara gasps and scrambles through the hatch, pulling out the thing she was working on. “Okay uh- yeah you guys need to try to get out! W-we don’t have the defenses… but m-maybe this can help?” She hands the device to Schneep. It’s… like a small taser- “If you can get close to their ears- this might be enough to cancel the signal? I-If only for a moment… but that might be what you need.”
Schneep turns the device over in his hands. "Like a stun gun, I see. Or a taser, I suppose. Okay. I will be able to make much use of this. Thank you, Zara."
“O-Of course…” Zara says with a nervous smile. “I… I wish I could help more but I’d… I’d just slow you down so- go quickly.”
Anti then hesitates before going to hug Zara tightly. Zara is surprised but hugs him back. “In case I don’t… I don’t-“ he whispers in a bit of broken voice. Zara shakes her head. “you’ll come back… I know it. Now g-get out of here!”
Anti lets go and nods, hurrying back down the hall to open up the door to outside and rocketing out into the dark ocean around them.
Schneep hesitates before he follows JJ and Anti out of the base. He looks back at Zara. "We'll keep him safe," he says quietly. "I promise." Then he turns and chases after the other two.
Zara smiles and nods. “Thank you… good luck.”
Once outside, Anti hurries as fast as his tails will take him. He constantly looks back behind him to check for a sight of the others. He starts to pale as he remembers. “S-Shit! Most of those guys don’t glow! M-Marvin is with him though so… l-look out for any sign of something blue!”
"Ah, Anti, i-if you are worried about them sneaking up on us, I can keep a look out," Schneep says. "My eyes are blind, but... I have the ability to know when people are nearby."
How close do they have to be for that? JJ asks.
Schneep frowns. "I... am not sure, actually."
Well, keep your senses sharp, anyway, JJ says. I'll look out for the blue glow. I think the ends of Alt's spike things also glow a bit.
“Right… o-okay good. That’s good… keep your… senses peeled or whatever.” Anti says to Schneep. “Y-Yeah… the ampeel guy…” He mumbles, shuddering. “…he… he looked like me. You guys said y-you’re like my brothers if they were from a different world… i-is he…?”
JJ nods. Yes. He prefers being called Alt, but his name is Anti. He spells out the names, the fish robot picking up on it and saying the names as they should be said.
“I… I see. Alt…” he tries out the name.
"He and the boneshark, Bro—Chase—are the only real brothers between us," Schneep says. "The rest of us are from somewhere else. They are... quite close."
“Heh… weird to think of all of us… not being brothers…” Anti says quietly. “Though we uh… haven’t been for… for a bit. I… I miss Chase. They don’t let him leave HQ with the others much… precious collateral and all… he was the first hybrid they ever made…” He laughs bitterly.
JJ's expression darkens. Collateral, he repeats bitterly. I don't have experience with Alterra, but I know a different company that would do something like that.
"I am truly so sorry, Anti," Schneep says. "I... know what it is like... to miss Chase—though, my Chase is different than yours, of course. There was a period of time in my home when... he was pulled away from the rest of us. Made into something different." He shakes his head. "B-but... we... we freed him after time. Or, the rest of my friends did, I was also out of commission at that point." He laughs drily.
“…thanks…” Anti says shortly. He then laughs a bit. “… it’s been a bit since I was around someone who felt like they… get this. I know Google feels it cuz of…” He swallows and his head, “…I don’t think Zara and Danan really understand though… this ache. I miss them so much it hurts.”
He starts to swim up, not looking back as much as the cavern gets a bit lighter. “…sometimes on bad nights… I’d think of just going to find them…joining them just so it wouldn’t hurt as much….” He laughs bitterly again. “…they’d kill me for that though. A-Actual them… who they were.”
JJ shakes his head. You’re right, they wouldn’t want that for you. Not to mention what would all these humans do? You’re clearly a great help to them.
Schneep nods. “It’s okay to miss them. But don’t throw your life away for that. They would want you to live free—” He suddenly stops. “Do you hear that?”
Below them- something flickers in the darkness- sparks of blue and the sound of a distant roar.
JJ looks down into the darkness with wide eyes. That must be them! Anti—which ones were they? How many?!
Anti freezes, looking back with wide eyes too. “Shit! U-uh- I think all 3 of your friends and m-Marvin-! I-I dunno for how long that’ll be though… m-Marvin could have warped the others here-! O-or maybe he’s waiting until-“ He swallows shakily and looks around then darts towards another tunnel. “C-C’mon! Let’s make it to open water at least!”
“All of them?!” Schneep repeats. “Well—at least we won’t have to go into the headquarters to find them.” He swims hurriedly after Anti but JJ hesitates for a moment, wanting to be sure that the hybrids are following them and not going towards the base.
“Y-Yeah you two wouldn’t be able to survive down there…” Anti stops when he sees JJ stop and is about to ask what he’s doing when his eyes widen. His blood trail ended at the base! He scrambles back out past JJ and takes in a huge breath before letting a fireball sail through the open water and hit a stalagmite with a big crash. “HEY FUCKERS!!” He yells afterwards, “CANT CATCH MEEEE!!” His voice echoes through the cavern and then they hear a familiar roar of anger… it sounds like Bro. though it sounds more animalistic and feral than anything Schneep and JJ have heard before.
“Okay now we swim!” Anti says hurriedly and starts swimming back through the tunnel.
“Swimming!” Schneep says, hurrying into the tunnel, tendrils tracing the sides. JJ darts after him, some instinctual part of his brain telling him that the sound meant danger.
“W-was that really—them?” Schneep says, shaken. “That sound—”
There’s another sound just as he says that, a different one. A horrible screech that sounds almost human but mostly animalistic and aggressive. JJ stops for a moment, disoriented, and one of Schneep’s tendrils reaches back and grabs him, pulling him along.
“Don’t stop! I-I know you’ll wanna but I-it’ll be easier to fight out in the open!” Anti pants.
Early morning light shines through the exit and they just about make it to the surface- then AE-10 glitches right in front of them. He regards them coldly, blocking off their path as his tail crackles with electricity. Also leaving them vulnerable for CE-9 and BS-8 to attack them from behind.
“You will not escape this time SD-4.” AE’s static laced voice drones through his radio. “Make this easier on yourself and give in.” His eyes flicker to JJ and Schneep- but there’s no recognition in his alien looking eyes. “You two as well. Alterra has you slated for assimilation.”
JJ swims back, a look of horror on his face. Alt? What have they done to you? That horrible mask!
AE-10's eyes flicker a bit at hearing that name... and he tilts his head in confusion.
“I do not think we can reason with him in this state,” Schneep says. His eyes narrow, sclera turning black. “The only thing we can do is—” And without warning he leaps forward, suddenly right in front of Alt as he attempts to tackle him to the ground or out of the tunnel.
AE doesn't expect Schneep to suddenly appear before him and his eyes widen before he's tackled to the ground. His radio makes a static screech that sounds like AE yelling in surprise but more corrupted. He narrows his eyes at Schneep and then tries to hide his tail against him to shock him.
Schneep shrieks as the electricity courses through him, instinctively letting go and backing up. But with Alt out of the way there's enough room for Anti and JJ to get out.
Anti meanwhile grabs JJ and tries to swim past them out of the tunnel- hearing aggressive roars closing in.
JJ glances back over his shoulder and throws magic back down the tunnel, blocking it off with a crystalline wall. It won't stop them forever but it might get them time to deal with Alt before the others show up.
There’s a loud roar- and then a crash as BS-8 crashes headfirst into the crystalline wall, a small crack forming in it- but not enough to break it. He blinks in mild confusion and pats the surface to see what the hell it is.
JJ glances over his shoulder, worried, as Bro cracks the wall.
"Verdammt!" Schneep curses, shaking himself off. "Guess who can do that too," he says through gritted teeth, and lunges forward again, pointing Zara's device at Alt.
AE-10 rolls over to push himself back up in the water. His eyes widen as he sees the device but he quickly glitches away. “What is that thing?!” he growls.
"Get closer and you'll see," Schneep says, lunging forward again.
AE-10 jerks back and then catches Schneep’s hand before he can get any closer- but AE stopped his hand just before it reached his neck/ear. The crackling of the tool seems to cause a reaction as AE’s grip loosens slightly and his eyes shift for a second back to normal.
“S-Schneep?” Alt breathes, sounding scared.
Then, his gauges shock him and AE stiffens holding on tighter to Schneep before tossing him away. “D-Do not try that again!” AE-10 snarls.
Behind BS-8, CE-9 runs right into him, pushing him into the wall some more. He backs up, just as confused as him. Then makes a low shrieking sound in his throat as he charges at the wall again. It shatters immediately, and JJ whirls around, surprised and a bit afraid. That should have lasted at least a little longer!
Once the barrier is broken Anti scrambles back and tries to grab JJ- but BS-8 roars and heads straight for JJ- trying to tackle him into the sand.
Schneep doesn't even have time to respond to Alt before being tossed to the side, spinning through the water for a while before he regains his balance. He shakes his head, a bit disoriented—but he knows what he heard there. "Hold on, Alt," he whispers. Then he turns to the side. "JJ!"
But JJ is too busy dodging Bro's attack to respond. He manages to avoid being caught but can't slowly down enough to sign. He makes a whistling sound to let Schneep knows he's listening.
"We have to work together!" Schneep says, lunging for Alt again, tendrils flaring out.
BS-8 crashes into the sand and spits it out before giggling sinisterly and turning on JJ. “Yer slippery aren’t ya?” He laughs darkly before lashing back out at JJ with teeth and claws.
Meanwhile, CE-9 recovers from hitting the wall and charges at Anti, screeching.
Anti dodges quickly, surging up higher in the water. He growls at CE-9 and blasts a fireball at him. CE-9 dodges, ducking to the ground. "No more fire! No more burning!" he shrieks. The words grow into a screeching roar as he charges at Anti again with mandibles out.
Anti cries out in slight fear and soars past CE-9’s charge overhead and laughs out, “I won’t if y-you just leave me alone!” CE-9 just snarls and screeches again, a completely feral look in his purple and white eye. He spins around and lashes out with his mandibles.
AE-10 grows claws and tries to slash at Schneep. Surprisingly, Schneep dodges easily—and when Alt's hands reach out, one of his tendrils wrap around them. "Stay still! Please! JJ!" He tries using the device again.
JJ dodges Bro again, head whipping over to Schneep and Alt. He rushes over—if Schneep's able to use the device again, maybe there will be an opening to take those ear things off!
BS-8 growls and rushes up to try to grab JJ and pull him back. “Hey! Yer fighting me small fry!” He snaps. JJ yelps as Bro grabs his tail. He looks down, eyes wide. And he mouths the word 'sorry' as he blasts dust-like sparkling magic right into his face. BS-8 is momentarily blinded but he just charges blindly and tries to bite onto JJ’s tail.
AE-10 panics slightly at being caught by Schneep’s tendril, especially when he tries to use the device again. He moves his head out of the way then tries to shock Schneep off, even if his eyes flicker with fear again.
Schneep cries out, muscles spasming, but he holds tight. "A-Alt! You have to listen to us! You don't want to do this! Y-you are not the type of person to hurt people anymore! Try to remember!"
AE-10’s hand trembles and he tries to pull himself out of Schneep’s hold. His eyes are wide as he shakes his head. “N-No- I… I’m-” He shudders and then glares at Schneep as his head twitches to the side. “I’m not a person. I’m a weapon. And I will serve Alterra.” He lashes out a clawed hand to try to cut himself out of Schneep’s grip.
Schneep screams as Alt's new claws dig into his tendrils—he wasn't expecting that to hurt! He pulls his tendrils back quickly, orange blood drifting through the water. JJ's head snaps towards him and he struggles out of Bro's grip, shooting through the water and aiming a magic blast at Alt.
Anti ducks and weaves out of the way of the mandibles and he giggles. “Jackie fights better with those things better than you!” He taunts.
CE-9 shrieks and roars, rage pushing him into a feral state. He continues to swim after Anti, trying to grab him. The only thought in his head is that Alterra wants SD-4, he needs to get SD-4.
Anti shudders, this feral state reminding him too much of fights with his brother. But… this isn’t his brother. And if he could see Jackie again right now… he growls and suddenly turns to grab CE-9 and pushes them both down into the ground, making a cloud of sand with the impact. He growls and digs his claws into CE’s shoulders and yells, “Fucking stop it! You’re not a tool for Alterra- they don’t give a fuck about you! They’re using you!! Wake the fuck up!!”
AE pushes back and is about ready to shock Schneep again- only to get blasted back by JJ’s magic, rolling over himself in the water- disoriented.
BS-8 yells and scrambles to try to grab JJ again. “yer no fun! Give me a better fucking fight, coward!”
Schneep breathes heavily, recovering from the pain while JJ dodges Bro again. "JJ! Hold Alt!" he shouts. "Your magic!"
JJ nods. He flings out a hand, blue magic whipping through the water, ribbons wrapping around Alt's torso and pinning his arms.
AE-10 makes a confused static noise through his speakers as he’s grabbed. He looks down at the magic and something sparks in his eyes. He then glitches out of the magic easily and a sinister laughs echoes out as he builds up magic in his hands. “I almost forgot… I can do that too-” He tries to send a bolt of lightning out at JJ.
BS-8 snarls ferally and changes course to try to grab Schneep.
JJ tries conjuring a shield but isn't fast enough and the lightning hits him, sending him back, flipping through the water. Meanwhile, Schneep dodges Bro's attack. "You are not really good at this, are you?" he says. "Not if the blind one can—" And he suddenly lunges back at Bro, aiming to use the device on him.
BS-8 snarls, baring his sharp teeth, “What do you know?! You won’t even fucking fight-!” He then yells out as Schneep plants the device right next to Bro’s ear. There’s a spark as the waves from the gauges are destroyed by the ones from the device- then a pop as the gauge starts to smoke and seems looser in BS’s ear.
Bro’s eyes snap back to his normal bright blue eyes as he gasps in pain, his back arching. Then he goes limp and falls back down to the sand in a heap.
Schneep hears the pop and reaches for the gauge. Once he feels where it is he starts to pull it free. The gauge is loose but still sort of stuck even if Schneep makes it a bit more loose. Bro makes a groaning sound and blearily tries to open his eyes, but they’re so unfocused. “S…Schneep…?” He whispers. Ugh… lifting his head makes him feel dizzy.
CE-9 shrieks and struggles against Anti in the sand. He feels his claws dig into his skin and glares at him. But the glare weakens a little. Why does this—why does this feel so familiar? This face—shouting at him—about how he's... wrong? His eyes flicker, turning normal blue. "...Anti?" he whispers. "What's... happening...?"
Anti blinks in surprise, jaw dropping. “I-it can be that easy?” He whispers.
But- CE-9’s gauges try to spark up to shock him back under.
Jackie screams, head flailing. His eyes flicker again back to that purple and white. "N-no! No! I can't—" Images and memories are flashing in his mind—but no! He's—he's a weapon, meant to serve Alterra—he's not supposed to care about anything else! "I d-don't want—I h-have to be better! I'm not a wea—I—Alterra, prey, prey—"
JJ recovers, glancing back over at Anti and Jackie. His eyes widen and he starts zooming over there. Anti! The ears! he says, his little robot shouting the words.
Anti’s head snaps to JJ and he looks down at Jackie as he fights. He sees the gauges and looks at his claws before trying to see if he can pry one of them off. “K-keep fighting!” He tries to encourage.
AE-10 sees his companions falling and the radio on his neck crackles loudly with static and angry growls. He goes to tackle JJ to try ground, claws flashing and eyes wild.
Jackie's eye rolls back in his head as he thrashes. Anti has a hard time holding him still for a moment, but after some effort, he pries a gauge free. Jackie cries out as his eye turns blue again and he suddenly goes still.
Anti pants as soon as the gauge is popped out and then falls back, watching Jackie wearily. They’ve never been able to remove these before… what’s gonna happen? Is it.. over?
JJ barely manages to dodge Alt's wild attack, claws just barely scraping by but not drawing blood. Now that Alt is close JJ tries something new. He reaches out to him and the temperature of the water around them suddenly drops, ice forming around Alt. He'll be able to glitch free of bonds, so he needs to hold him in place some other way. Maybe he can freeze his arms or something?!
AE-10 screeches in rage as the ice forms around him, making it hard for him to stay up and swim. He struggles to surge upwards as he starts to sink through the water, struggling and fighting as hard as he can.
Jackie's eyelid flutters. "Wh... what happened...? Anti...?" He looks, confused, at the face before him. "What happened to you eye-patch... and neck?"
Anti blinks at Jackie in confusion, “…the fuck are you talking about?”
Jackie blinks, then frowns. "S-sorry, I... thought you were someone else."
JJ grabs onto Alt, pulling him downwards. Then he lets go and looks back at the others, signing, Schneep! The device!
Schneep looks back at him and nods. "Hold on tight, Bro," he says, and then leaps away, reappearing next to Alt, and he immediately tries to use the device again.
AE-10 makes lots of screeches that dissolve into static on his radio as he tries to fight his way out. “No! L-Let me go! I can’t fail! I can’t fail!!” As Schneep appears and tries to use the device, AE closes his eyes then shouts out, “WH-5! H-Help!”
A ball of blue and pink water hits Schneep in the shoulder and sends him off course, forming a bit of a vortex that dies down quickly.
WH-5 appears next to AE-10 and looks at all the chaos before looking down at AE. “…what a waste of resources. You all are not fit to serve Alterra.”
AE-10 thrashes desperately in the ice, trying to claw himself free. “I can still be useful! I can still do this! Just-help me!”
Anti freezes as he hears that familiar drone. His stomach drops and he shouts out. “d-don’t let him open a warp gate!” He then rushes to try to tackle WH away from AE.
Anti manages to push WH into a nearby rock but WH-5 regards him coldly and scratches at his face, hard. Anti yells out in pain and lets go, pushing himself away to hold the orange leak on his face. “M-Marvin please-! It’s me! Wake up- a-aren’t you sick of this?!”
“Don’t try to play mind games with me, SD-004.” WH-5 hisses. “I serve Alterra with all I am. And you will join us or you will die.”
JJ watches WH appear in surprise. The fight with Anti and him happens so fast that he's not able to jump in for a while. Something about seeing a Marvin act like this, be controlled like this—it breaks his heart and fills him with rage at the same time. His expression darkens and he lunges at WH at from behind, not even bothering with magic.
Schneep recovers from the warp projectile and senses JJ do this. "Jamie!" he shouts, also lunging at WH.
WH-5 is starting up a warp gate as Anti shrinks back in fear- bracing himself for whoever Marvin brings to fight.
But to both of their surprise- both JJ and Schneep manages to land blows. JJ grabbing Marvin and pulling him down and Schneep tackling him fully to the sand. WH-5’s radio screeches with static as he tries to get away. “Unidentified hybrids s-s-stand down! Do not interfere with Alterran affairs!”
“WH!” AE-10 yells and bursts through the ice, trying to rush over to help.
Jackie gets up, shaking, regaining his senses. He sees Alt break free and—without really thinking—he charges at him, sending both of them flying to the sides as he screeches.
WH's fighting sends Schneep flying, letting go of the device. but JJ grits his teeth and keeps holding him down. His hand darts out and grabs the device from where it's floating in the air and presses it against WH. "Snap out of it, Marvin!" he says in his hoarse voice.
Something seems to snap in WH-5 demeanor- his fight goes as he stares wide eyed at JJ. “J-Jamie?” he says. Right before the device is placed near his gauges and he screams, spasming wildly. The gauge closest to the device snaps- and then pops apart with a bit of smoke. Marvin’s head falls to the sand, wide eyed- staring out unfocused but his eyes are cleared of pink.
Anti sees this and then hurries to crash down next to Marvin’s side. “M-Marvin!!” He yells desperately, trying to shake him. JJ slumps in relief and backs away so Anti can get close to his brother.
Bro is also pushing himself up, trying to shake of the fog. Ugh.. he feels really sick though. He blinks and then gasps as he sees Alt.
Schneep shakes his head and rushes over to Bro. “W-we have to help him!” He says. “L-let’s go!”
Bro shakes himself out and clumsily follows after Schneep. “R-Right!”
AE-10’s radio bursts into static shrieking as he’s tackled and he desperately tries to claw his way out of Jackie’s grasp. “No! No!!”
Jackie holds tight onto Alt even as he claws at him. The mandibles close in as he grits his teeth. Don’t let go. Don’t let go!
JJ grabs the device again and hurries over to Alt and Jackie.
AE-10 cries like a wounded animal, terrified tears pricked in his eyes as he tries to get loose. “Let go! Let me go!”
Bro crashes down next to Jackie and Alt and helps to hold him down. “Alt! Come lil bro! You gotta wake up!”
“No! I-I’m AE-10! I-I serve Alterra- I need to-! Let me go!!” AE wails, his radio glitching and raked with static.
Bro can’t help but cry seeing his brother like this. “Anti- please!”
Jackie shakes Alt slightly. “Snap out of it! Don’t let those fuckers win!”
“You are not just a number! Schneep shouts. “Try to remember!”
“This is what those fuckers at SCLERA wanna make you, Alt!” Bro sobs. “Don’t let these fuckers keep changing you! You’re stronger than this!”
Something flickers in AE’s eyes and he fights a little less- mostly shaking. “I-I-I-” his radio starts to skip, glitching more and more.
JJ brings the device over. He glances at Bro and hesitates, not wanting to do this in front of him.
“JJ, do you have it?!” Schneep says. “Hurry!”
Bro looks up at JJ but just nods. “W-Whatever you have to do!”
This will look painful, JJ says, glancing apologetically at Bro, and then lunges forward, using the device.
The device hits its mark and the radio bursts into glitched screaming as the brain waves of the gauges are shattered. The gauge lets off dangerous bright sparks then completely breaks off. The screaming stops and AE-10’s eyes fade from their ampeel hue back to his normal green-blue with white scleras. His body falls completely limp, head lolling back on his neck as his wide eyes stare out into the distance, unfocused.
Jackie quickly lets go of him, but Schneep darts in, checking Alt's vitals, feeling the collar and mask in the process. His expression darkens. "This fucking thing..." he growls.
JJ puts the device down. That was a stronger reaction, he signs slowly. Is he okay?
"I-I think so," Schneep says.
Jackie rubs his own ears, pulling the other gauge free. "Wh... wh-what the fuck?" he whispers, eyes wide in horror.
Are you all okay? JJ asks.
"Well they are clearly not," Schneep mutters.
The newly freed boys still can feel lingering feelings of aggression and… they feel kinda feverish and shaky. That was a lot of strain on their bodies and minds…
Jackie leans back, staring up at the distant surface, breathing through the shaky feeling.
Bro chokes on a sob and goes to hold Alt in his arms, holding him close as he breaks down. “W-What was that?! What h-happened? I-It’s all j-jumbled but we were… w-we- that lady at Alterra-!” He suddenly shifts to anger, his eyes going back to boneshark-blue as he bares his teeth and holds Alt tighter. “I’ll kill her- I-I’m gonna fucking kill her!”
"E-everyone calm down, yes? We are not able to go after anyone right now." Schneep stares then- "Bro, please, be careful!" He says, worried at the sounds of the growls. "A-Alt probably still needs help. That mask—it felt..." He shudders.
Jackie growls too, shaking his head. He's not sure if he wants to kill that Alterra woman or run far, far away from here.
"Jackie, you too," Schneep says, turning towards him. "Just—just breathe."
Bro is breathing heavily through growls and trying not to dig claws into Alt but the anger won’t leave him. It’s eating away at him and he can’t-
JJ turns over to look at Anti and Marvin. Anti is holding Marvin like he’s made of glass. Watching him with wide eyes. Marvin twitches a bit but still stares out at nothing. It could be the mask…Jj swims over and sees if he can take the mask off Marvin's face.
Marvin’s mask seems to be stuck into his jaw through his skin- but pulling at it makes Marvin make a muffled yell of pain and then blink his eyes back into focus. He looks around in confusion, still very out of it. “W-Where am I..?” his radio says shakily.
“Marv?!” Anti say hopefully. Marvin sits up in surprise and looks at Anti with wide eyes. “Anti…?” he whispers- like he’s just seen a ghost. Anti cries out in happiness and tackles Marvin to the sandy floor, curling all his tails around him. “you’re back! You’re back!!” Anti wails. Marvin blinks in confusion but slowly brings up his arms to loop around Anti’s. Then he’s melting, curling one of his tails across Anti’s back as he starts to cry.
JJ backs up, letting the two brothers have this moment. He smiles sadly, reminded of his own Marvin. He... he wonders when he'll next see him. He shakes off the anxious thoughts and tells himself he's just happy that one Marvin has been reunited with someone who cares about him.
Anti laughs and starts to let go of Marvin but the littler brother just clings to Anti and won’t let go. Anti puffs out a small laugh and holds him with one arm and he swims over to the others.
Bro finds himself able to breathe, his eyes fading back to how they’re supposed to be and he blinks out slowly. He looks down at Alt and feels his heart break again. He touches the mask where it meets his jaw and- god it’s hard to keep back the anger. Plus he just- doesn’t feel good… he feels hot and shaky and confused. “…w-we gotta get this off him…” he breathes.
“…d-Danan might know how to get these off…” Anti says, “w-we don’t have much in the lab but they have some stuff… and you all can rest and stuff for a bit… and we can figure out how to get you home.”
"If the mask is stuck, w-we definitely need to get it off," Schneep says, going a bit pale. "They—they need to eat, after all. Or—S-surely there must be some way to get them food, even if it is stuck. W-we have something like that where I am from, surely there's something like that here."
“God yeah… Alt hasn’t eaten in… h-how fucking long has it been?” Bro breathes. “This is s-so fucking cruel…”
Calm down, Schneep, JJ says. Everyone stay calm. We're done for now. We can rest—we just need to get somewhere safe.
"Y-yeah, let's," Jackie says, getting up. "I-I—Make sure to get rid of the gauges. Leave them to fucking get lost in the sand."
Bro blinks up at Jackie and nods, going to pull the gauges off his ears and then take the last one off of Alt. Taking off his other one- ugh… why did he get another way of dizziness?
How is Alt? JJ asks.
The hero dazedly looks back at JJ then Alt. He’s breathing but still out of it and Bro sighs, “Still… s-staring weird… but m-Marvin woke up from pulling on the mask right?” Bro tries to pull at it even if it hurts to do so.
Alt gasps painfully and blinks back up to full consciousness, staring out at everyone blankly. Then, “C-Chase…?” he breathes, his radio crackling a bit.
“A-Alt thank god…!” Bro tries to smile.
Schneep sighs in relief. "Good to hear from you, Alt."
How do you feel? JJ asks. Then he looks at Bro and Jackie. How do you two feel, too?
"W-weird and... shaky," Jackie says. He clears his throat. "B-but I can swim, if we need to go soon."
Alt blinks slowly and looks around at everyone. “F-Freaked…?” he says. Bro laughs a bit, “me too bro…” he blinks up at JJ and shakes his head, “uh.. dizzy… I think but s-same.” He smacks his lips and then sticks out his tongue, “Also my mouth feels weird?? Ugh… did I eat something weird while under??”
Anti makes a face and looks away- not really ready to reveal what Bro was like during that time.
"Wait, actually, yeah, me too." Jackie copies Bro's expression, also sticking out his tongue. "That's so weird."
JJ and Schneep choose not to say anything, either.
“I… w-what is on my face-?” Alt says in confusion then shakily reaches out and tries to pull the mask off. When it doesn’t come off and he feels it tugging on his skin his eyes widen and his radio picks up on his hyperventilating. “W-What the-?! Ow- I-I-!”
Bro startles then looks to Anti. “uh- you said you had your Dr friend right? I think now's the time to see her!”
Anti nods quickly, “R-Right! Follow me.” He holds Marvin close to him, who only slightly peeks out his head to look as he speeds back towards the tunnel.
"Let's go!" Schneep says, hurrying after Anti. JJ quickly follows after him. Jackie, still a bit stunned, takes a moment to shake himself off before following after. JJ slows down a bit, holding out a hand for Jackie to take. He does so, wordlessly.
Bro hurries after the others, holding Alt close as he whispers, “Breathe Alt… we’re gonna get you out of this thing soon… just hang in there…”
Alt whimpers and curls up in Bro’s arms, holding shaky hands over the mask.
Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read Septnautical | Darker Seas AU
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Schneep, JJ and Anti have been swimming for a while. But finally, they seem to enter a new area. It’s filled with floating balls of glowing blue, caught in net like substances that keep them from floating completely off the sea floor. It’s dark down here and kinda chilly.
Wish you could see this place, Schneep, JJ says. It truly is fantastical.
Schneep sighs. "I am starting to get tired of hearing that."
Oh. Sorry.
"No, it is not your fault. Just keep to objective descriptions, yes?"
They swim through large trenches of dark stone, keeping low and towards the rocks. Then, Anti suddenly turns and starts to head down a seemingly random dark hole.
JJ blinks in surprise as Anti chooses this hole, of all of them. Watch your head, he says as he follows Anti through.
"Watching," Schneep says, swimming after the two of them, tendrils outstretched to keep track of the walls of the tunnel.
Anti hurries through and soon enough they enter a huge cavern with even more of those floating blue pods. It’s even darker here though, the glowing pods being the only real source of illumination besides the boys’ bioluminescence. There’s the sound of eerie clicking and screeches in the distance. “…stay close- lots of crabsquids here… but we’re almost there.” Anti says.
Schneep frowns. “I do not like those clicking sounds…” JJ reaches out and holds his hand.
“Yeah the clicking is the crabsquids… they’re more threats to the human subs and shit but.. still not pleasant to deal with. And they taste terrible too.” Anti grumbles.
Curious bright rays swim through the dim water- similar to JJ’s color and shape but they have longer tendril-like wings and a long flowing tail. They make high pitched song-like cries as they circle through the water.
“Oh, those sounds are better though!” Schneep perks up a little.
JJ laughs. They look a bit like me, but with tendrils for wings.
“Interesting.”
Finally, the darkness recedes a bit to show a dark blue colored base hidden amongst the rough tall stones on the sea floor.
There’s movement and then a familiar face to the other boys shows up. It’s Zara. She’s in a darker version of her suit- her hair chopped short and a very stark scar on her cheek like she’s been raked with claws. But, she grins as she sees Anti. “Anti hey! Did hunting go alright? We were wondering-“ then she stops herself as she takes in the sight of the other hybrids. “…woah w-what?”
“…long story.” Anti says quietly, gripping the bag on his shoulder. “…rather explain it all to Danan and Google all at once. …these guys say they want your help though.”
Zara looks surprised by this, “..r-really?”
JJ nods. It’s nice to see you, he signs, the robot translating his words. My name is JJ, and this is Schneep.
Zara’s eyes shine at seeing the robot, “woahhh! That’s some really cool tech…!” She whispers.
Schneep nods. “We are, ah… Anti is right, it might be best to explain everything with everyone there. But basically, we are from far away, and when we arrived here the hybrids took three of our friends.”
Zara shakes out her head and nods, gesturing to follow. “y-yeah of course… follow me.”
She dives down towards the base and Anti swoops down after her. JJ and Schneep glance at each other before also following.
Unlike the last base- this one doesn’t have a lot of attachments or tunnels. There’s a few but… not a lot. Only a few large rooms and no windows- bordered up with dark tints and very little light on the outside.
Zara swims to a bulk head door and knocks something on the metal. A pattern. There’s a pause and then a man opens the door just peeking through, his eyes glowing bright blue. He looks startled slightly then says in a rough voice. “Zara what is..?”
“Anti brought them… and you know he’s trustworthy.” Zara says shortly.
There’s a pause and then the man opens the door. He’s about average height, long messy black hair cut about shoulder length. And unusual robotic eyes shine behind glasses. “…Danan is in the lab.” He says simply then swims down the flooded hall. Zara looks at the others then follows. Anti sighs and follows.
“That’s Tillman… but he asks everyone to call him Google.” Zara says quietly. “…it’s what his brother used to call him.”
Anti is quiet at this, though his face looks a bit pained. Soon enough Google stops and opens another hatch to go inside.
The two of them trail behind the others. Schneep frowns. He leans over to JJ and mutters, “We did not see him last time, did we?”
JJ shakes his head. This whole place is giving him a bad feeling. A dreadful feeling. This place is so small… and Zara’s comment about what Tillman’s brother ‘used’ to do isn’t going unnoticed. He just knows something bad happened here.
Inside is a sparsely filled lab space with a few fabricators, though some look damaged. There’s some energy converters and a small aquarium that’s currently empty except for plants. The boys recognize the face of Dr. Danan as she concentrates on trying to fix one of the fabricators.
She blinks up at the approaching figures and smiles tightly. She looks a lot more worn down and tired then she did before. She floats over to meet Anti. “Anti! Good I was getting worried… what were you able to find?”
Anti takes off his bag and hands it to Danan. “…a few med kits… a couple bladderfishes, a couple good fish from the shallows… I think there’s a nutrient pack in there too…”
Danan busies herself with looking and nods. “Okay… w-we can work with this… S-Stacy is sick and the kids are not looking great either… but this should… should help. Thank you.”
“…sorry I wanted to get more but… I ran into complications…” Anti mutters, flicking his tails, one nudging Danan to look up. She does and then her eyes widen at seeing JJ and Schneep. “…o-oh my stars…!”
JJ waves, trying to look friendly.
"Hello there," Schneep says. "I imagine this is quite a shock for you. Let me explain quickly. My name is Schneep, and this is JJ. Us and three friends suddenly arrived here, and got attacked by those other hybrids. A-Anti has told us about them and Alterra. O-our three friends were caught by them."
JJ nods in agreement. We need to get them back. We need to get home.
Danan’s eyes widen and looks at Anti, “…j-just like…”
“Yeah.” Anti says shortly. “…looks like him too. T-thought it was a sick clone joke but… I don’t think it is. Marv tried to capture them too.”
Danan looks even more surprised. “I… I don’t understand… you have… other hybrid friends?”
“Yeah,” Zara snorts, “I thought they were culling their hybrids. Getting rid of the mindless defective ones. So their fucking pets get their enrichment-”
Anti growls and glares at Zara, “Don’t call them that!”
Zara blinks and then slinks back, gripping her arm. “…sorry Anti I… sorry..”
“What do you mean by home?” Google speaks up, narrowing his eyes. “Alterra has prohibited any unauthorized entry or exit of the planet until they’ve… perfected the hybrid project. So… either you’re from the other bases but… we haven’t had much contact with anyone else lately… and they… only HQ makes the hybrids.”
"Well... what if we were to tell you that we were not from this planet?" Schneep says slowly. "What if we were to tell you that we're from another universe?"
Four different universes, actually, between the five of us, JJ says. Places where things like THIS are possible. He holds his hands up, conjuring a little light show with his magic.
"It sounds incredible, but I promise you, it is true," Schneep says. "The reason we look like the hybrids you know is because we are them, from some other branch of the multiverse. We've been hopping through a couple universes, actually. The last one we were in... was much like this one. Only, the hybrids were not under Alterra's control. None of them."
I know it's unbelievable, but this is not a joke, JJ says, looking very serious.
Everyone’s eyes widen.
“T-That’s possible?” Zara breathes.
“I-I’ve heard of theories but…!” Danan whispers.
Anti zooms up to Schneep and JJ, his eyes wide and desperate. “…t-there’s a world where my… my brothers are safe? Where they’re free?” his voice chokes up at the end, pin pricks of tears in his eyes.
Schneep instinctively swims backwards, but JJ stays where he is and nods. Yes. In fact, I remember them saying that YOU had been caught by Alterra for a while. But they rescued you. And in that world, you're all safe... or, as safe as you can be.
Tears freely fall from Anti’s eyes now as he looks to JJ with a sad expression- but there seems to be the lingering of hope behind his eyes. “…they can be saved…?” he breathes.
"Th-this is why it's so important that we find our friends," Schneep says. "We are not supposed to be here. Th-they all have lives—friends and jobs and families—to get back to." He shakes his head. "I-I know it will be difficult, but we need to find them. And if... Alterra has done anything to them, we have to figure out how to undo it. I-I'm sure you have been working on something like that, even if you haven't been able to do anything yet. Yes? Perhaps with our more unique abilities, we can help."
Danan, Zara and Google all share glances. Zara then grips her arms and looks away, “…my brother is the reason this fucked up process exists… we found WH- …Marvin… I-in the lost river and I’m good with tech and biology and so I… I got Zeke some scans. Marvin was hurting… and I thought we were gonna help him. But… zeke had worse plans. He took my blueprints and made those awful masks and worked with Demerci to make those chips and…”
“…they all got captured… one by one…” Anti says quietly, “…they waited until they found me to test it completely… I saw it happen. I saw them shock the memories out of my brothers until they were all unrecognizable. They don’t even remember their names… or me.” Anti glances briefly at JJ and Schneep, “…they probably did that to your friends.. I.. I’m sorry.”
“Of course we’ve been trying to figure out a way to free them…” Danan says miserably, “I… I helped to raise them. I watched them grow and explore the ocean and… I-i thought Alterra would move on from them… m-maybe leave them alone,.. but I was wrong…”
“They still have Jack too..,” Anti whimpers.
“… we think interfering with their ear chips or their masks if they have them might disrupt the mind control signal the Alterans are using. The technology is based on hive minds found on other planets… but with WH-005’s ability to warp in aid and CH-007’s ability to control the wildlife and.. and the other two's ferocity and speed… we haven’t been able to try.” Google explains.
All this technical talk goes over JJ's head, but Schneep nods slowly, parsing out what he hears. JJ winces. Memories can't be gotten rid of—only suppressed. His signs are slow, and there's a slight desperate expression on his face. I'm sure that there's some way...
Anti’s eyes widen, “…really…? They… they might still remember?” He pauses. “…I can’t hurt them,” He says, digging his claws into his shoulders, “… I know they wouldn’t want to be doing this so I… I can’t. If I fight them I could… I.. I’m too dangerous to be around them…”
“And Anti’s the only one who can even get close to them…” Zara says sadly, “…O-Ollie and Lizzie tried but…”
Google shuts his eyes with a pained look, quickly looking away.
JJ winces. I'm... sorry for your losses. He can't believe that the same kind people they met in the last world did something like that.
"Ear chips and masks..." Schneep repeats absentmindedly. "JJ, did the hybrids all have something like that?"
I think so? I didn't get close enough to Henrik or Jackie to check their ears, but they must have, JJ says.
"So... we must interfere with the signal somehow..." Schneep says slowly. His tail and tendrils whip around, eyes darting randomly as he thinks. "Do you know any magic that might be able to do that?"
I try to stay away from mind magic, but... I could try? JJ suggests. There has to be something about magic against technology.
"I think if they have been caught, you will have to be the one trying to get their chips out," Schneep says. "I will not be able to find something as small as an ear chip—not quickly enough, at least. I can distract them in the meantime. I'm sure that even if they pin me down, I can jump out."
What if they catch you? JJ says, worried. What if they hurt you?
"I can probably jump out," Schneep mutters. "And if I get hurt... well, you'll have to conserve your magic, then."
JJ still looks worried.
“I’m sorry we’ve never heard of… actual magic before. Only ancient stories from our ancestors on earth…” Danan says. “but.. if you all have a power Alterra doesn’t… there could be a chance…”
JJ nods. Magic isn't even well-known where I come from. But yes, it seems like this world doesn't have any. They won't be prepared.
“In the mean time…” Google says slowly, “we are all well hidden here… they haven’t found us yet. We don’t have much for food but… we can at least give you a place to rest and prepare.”
"We would really appreciate a place to rest," Schneep says.
Zara fidgets with her hands and glances about, “…I’ve been trying to work on something… s-something that could possibly affect the chips but it’s still very experimental and I’m a good fighter but.. “ she touches her cheek and shudders, “… I had a bad run in with RL-006… I… I haven’t been able to swim as well since then… but… maybe if you all and anti and me work together-?”
“M-Me?” Anti looks up at Zara and then swims back. “N-No way. I… I’m not getting involved in this anymore than I have!”
You don't have to participate if you don't want to, Anti, JJ says. I’m sure it's difficult for you.
"But at the same time, you would be a good help," Schneep says. "Any combat experience would be helpful."
JJ nudges him.
"What? It is true. I am good, but there will be a lot of them! And I will remind you, I cannot fucking see."
Anti holds his arms and suppresses a shiver. “…Alterra wants me too. Keep telling me they n-need the complete ‘set’. I-If I expose myself to them then I… I…”
“You can’t see?!” Zara shouts in disbelief. “Oh god… that’s- this must be sooo confusing for you. …and strange because uh.. I’m guessing you’re supposed to be SH-003 based on your face and accent but he definitely can see…”
“…he used to need goggles. Like Google.” Anti mumbles.
Schneep laughs. "Oh, so confusing. But yes, I am blind. I used to be able to see, but there was an... incident. And this was the result."
Do you want to talk about that? JJ asks.
"No. Not yet." Schneep shakes his head.
Danan looks at the boys kindly and tries to smile. “Please… rest here as long as you need… I wish we could give you more to prepare but…”
“I-I’ll… I’ll get more food. I won’t leave the reef.” Anti says shortly and then swims towards the tube at the top of this room.
“…give him time… I.. I know he cares, deep down.” Danan says gently. “I can tell he’s worried about your friends… but he’s been through so much with what happened to his brothers…”
No no, we understand, JJ says. Us and our friends have been through a lot, too.
“We’ll help though…” Zara says, anger burning in her eyes, “…I c-couldn’t help to save the boys before but I… I can help now. I can make sure Alterra doesn’t keep taking away the people we care about.”
"Thank you," Schneep whispers to Zara.
There’s a beat then Google asks in a monotone, “…do you all need… beds? Or a… a nest?” He looks confused. “…I don’t know what hybrids sleep on… Anti sleeps on anything.”
“Especially if it’s warm,” Zara laughs. “Like a cat on a heating pad.”
JJ and Schneep glance at each other. Do you think we should change back? JJ asks.
"Well, this place is mostly underwater, so this is certainly more convenient." Schneep absentmindedly touches the bracelet on his wrist. "If we have to move quickly, this would be better."
That's fair. Then... where do we sleep?
Schneep shrugs. "Somewhere to curl up, I suppose? Somewhere soft."
JJ tilts his head. Yes... that feels right, somehow. I have the strangest urge to find some small space and squeeze in.
Schneep laughs.
“Hybrids usually do find themselves compelled to act on their mother species instincts,” Danan laughs lightly. “…Chase used to sing. Henrik collected scrap and made piles…” she cuts herself off, her voice getting a bit choked up. “…d-do whatever you need to make yourselves comfortable.”
“I think there’s some extra dock leaves around… let me get you a pile. Or… maybe some extra blankets.” Google says as he floats back out into the hallway.
JJ nods. Some blankets would be great.
“You said…Change… back, Schneep?” Zara asks with a tilt of her head. “What do you mean by that?”
"Ah... the changing back is complicated," Schneep says. "Let's just say that, in our worlds, we can be human."
Zara and Danan’s jaws drop.
“I.. I haven’t heard of something like that…!” Danan stammers. “I mean of course you’re half human with the DNA but…”
“You can change just like that?! To a human??” Zara gasps.
Well we have to be on land to do it, JJ says. We can't do it in the water. It's these bracelets that help us do that. He indicates his wrist. Our friend Alt made them. He's... one of the ones who got taken.
"These bracelets are surprisingly secure," Schneep mutters. Then his eyes widen. "Ah! W-we should probably talk about our friends, yes? Just—just in case."
JJ nods. Alt, Bro, and Jackie. Alt has magic like me, but more electricity based. Bro is super strong. Jackie... seems fairly normal. Normal in terms of hybrids, I mean.
“That’s… that’s insane…!” Zara laughs breathlessly. “God… Alterra would kill for tech like that…” but her face falls hearing the name Jackie and she swallows shakily.
"What are the names of their fish species...?" Schneep's brows furrow. "Alt is some sort of electric eel, Bro is a shark of some kind, heavy armor, and Jackie is something from a different crater—something called a chelicerate."
JJ raises an eyebrow. You don't remember amp-eel or bone-shark but you remember that long word?
"It comes from the scientific word for that sort of sea crab species."
Danan’s eyes widen, “A chelicerate? Outside of sector zero?? …those are all hybrids Alterra hadn’t attempted to make a stable version of yet… n-no wonder Alterra took an interest in them…”
Google swims back in with a bundle of plush comforter type blankets and sets them down in a corner. “There… I hope that is enough. It was all I could find.”
JJ smiles. Thank you, sir. I think this will be enough.
Schneep swims over, feeling out the blankets. "Oh! Oh, soft. Soooooft." He grins, settling down on the blankets, his eyes turning yellow for a brief moment.
JJ laughs. Save some for me!
"Oh, right, of course." Schneep gets up and starts separating the blankets out.
Danan laughs a bit at Schneep’s response to the blankets. “Get as much rest as you need. We will be around if you need anything.”
JJ looks at the humans in the room. Thank you all so much for your help. And tell Anti thank you too if you see him before we do. You're all so kind, and so brave.
Zara looks touched. “…thanks JJ. I.. I’m gonna try to see if I can improve my device! Maybe it can help you…” she quickly swims out.
Google gives them a slight smile, his lip just barely curling up. “It’s no problem. Give them hell if you can. … for Ollie.”
"We will," Schneep promises, facing Google. "And thank you some more."
“Anti should be back soon… try to rest until then okay?” Danan smiles and her and Google head out.
After the humans leave, JJ settles down to rest as well, pulling some of the blankets over himself. He makes a strange ghostly noise in his throat—which he doesn't mean to do, but immediately regrets as soon as it happens. He rubs his throat, frowning.
"Was that you?" Schneep asks, amused.
Yes. I didn't know I could do that. JJ pauses. Maybe... being in this form so long is affecting us. Back home, a danger of animal transformation is becoming the animal for real.
Schneep frowns. "Well, we are not fully animal. We will... probably just have some strange reactions. It will be fine."
I suppose you're right, JJ says. Well... good night?
"Good night." Schneep settles down on top of the blankets, curling his tail up. "We should sleep well. Tomorrow... I'm sure we'll need the rest."
And it's been a long day, too, JJ says. Good night, he says again, then closes his eyes.
The two of them try to sleep, and slowly, despite their worries, they drift off.
=========
Meanwhile, even as the sun sets on the surface and the ocean turns dark- the new Alteran weapons are trying to sniff out their prey.
“How are we supposed to find these guys anyways?” BS-8 growls, “we don’t know what they look like!”
AE-10’s speaker sounds off, “SD… he is a sea dragon.” he says shortly.
“Oh… well. One of them we know at least. Did they even tell us what the other hybrids looked like?”
CE-9 shakes his head. "No. They didn't. But—they won't be under Alterra control. They'll probably run when they see us." He grins. "And we'll chase them."
“Yess! That’ll be such a thrill!” BS-8 grins too, showing off his sharp teeth.
“…they are most likely hiding…” AE-10 says, “Which means running to them out in the open is unlikely…”
"Right, of course. Hiding, hiding, hiding." CE-9 starts swimming in circles for a moment. "Hiding... where would prey hide? Maybe—maybe deep down. Can we go deep down? Let's go deep down. We need to find a way." He starts diving.
BS-8’s eyes flash and he grins. “Yeah yeah!!” He quickly dives after CE-9.
AE-10 seems to regard them with a bit of annoyance but glitches to catch up. He shakes himself out as electricity courses along his tail in response. “…I suppose that is logical… they were in the… kelp forest.” His gaze becomes unfocused for a second as if processing information then he nods. “If they found a way underground… that leads to the grand reef. Northwards-”
"Northwards," CE-9 repeats, changing direction. He knows which way is north instinctively. "Grand reef? Reef..." He shakes his head. The word isn't familiar to him. This whole environment seems strange to him, actually, but it doesn't matter, does it? There is still prey here to find.
“Correct. Though it is night, now. They could be sleeping. Which will make detection harder.” AE-10 replies.
BS-8 snorts and bares his teeth. “I don’t like just lookin’ I wanna tear something’ up. I’m fucking starving.” He hears a call up above and grins as he sees a large looming creature, long floating tentacles dangling behind it. Spots of green glow underneath it in small clusters. “Ohhh! Think we could kill that??”
CE-9 also starts drifting up towards the creature. He could take that. He knows he can.
CE-9 frowns at AE-10 as well. But he's right. They have to stay focused. Even so. "We need to eat, we need to eat to swim," he says, twitching a little. He looks around. "Small things, maybe? Anything. They'll be fast, good practice for fast things."
Oooo, what about that fish with a big eye? CE-9's lock onto it. His throat rumbles with the beginning of a roar.
“…fine. Don’t stray too far.” AE-10 drones.
“Don’t you wanna join AE?” BS-8 asks.
“My mask prevents me. I will get fuel when we return successfully.” AE answers. BS shrugs then grins at CE-9, “Let’s see how many we can kill!”
Then he rockets down into the trench below them, darting out to try to catch the peepers.
They are over a large expanse of ocean that looks very sparse except these trenches and spots of glowing flora. Peepers and Reginalds float around though, good source of food.
It doesn’t look like they’re too far from the grand reef though- there’s spots of glowing blue up ahead.
…and it looks like they’re not the only large creatures attempting to hunt here. Though that is strange.. this place looks pretty barren. It’s hard to see what kind of creature it is through the dense fog- but it does seem to have multiple tails.
CE-9 lunges at one of the peepers, catching it in his arm and immediately biting into its flesh. Once he's done tearing it apart, he looks up, and catches the sight of some tails flicking through the fog. He grins. And instantly charges that way, letting out a screeching roar.
The creature stiffens and then cries out in surprise as he’s suddenly tackled to the sea bed by CE-9. This hybrid has dark green hair and black sclera- kinda like AE-10. He’s got green scales and sharp teeth and claws. He looks like he’ll make a fun fight.
The hybrid’s breath hitches, especially once he notices the gauges on CE-9’s ears. “N-No!”
He panics and then opens his mouth, trying to hit CE with a fireball.
CE-9 shrieks and jerks backwards, trying to shake off the burning fire, unintentionally freeing the hybrid in the process. He shakes his head--and then realizes what just happened. That's not normal prey. That's the target. "Sea dragon!" he gasps. "SD-4!"
Anti looks absolutely terrified and quickly tries to kick up sand with his tails to temporarily blind CE-9 to try to escape.
Meanwhile, AE-10’s head snaps down to see the target and CE. He stiffens getting a message from WH-5, who’s still watching them, in his head. ‘Thats the target. Do not let him get away. Do not fail.’ Yellow pulses in AE’s eyes as he nods and calls out. “BS! We found him!”
BS-8 looks up from where he’s caught a peeper in his mouth, yellow blood sprayed around his face, slowly chewing. He spits out the rest then grins and starts to give chase. AE-10 follows close after, charging up electricity in his hands.
CE-9 closes his eyes and charges forward, grabbing onto Anti, trying to pin him down. He glances back at the others. Have to secure the target! Don't let go, don't let go!
Anti yells out and quickly slips his tails out of CE-9’s grip and tries to scramble away. He quickly breathes out another fireball at CE in his scramble.
BS-8 soars after him but is having trouble keeping up.
AE-10 tries to throw out blasts of his magic but misses as Anti serpentines out of the way. He hurriedly swims north towards the reef, making sure he still has his bag.
CE-9 screeches, letting go and clawing at the space where the fireball hit. Not burning! Not burning! Anything but burning! He drops down to the floor of the sea and rolls in the sand for a bit until he doesn't feel the pain anymore. Then he gets up again, breathing heavily, and darts after Anti, letting out another roar.
BS-8 hears CE-9’s distress and looks back, going up to swim next to him. “You okay CE?”
"Fine!" CE-9 snaps. "Let's go!" He snarls ferally and keeps swimming, determinedly charging forward after Anti.
“Right!” BS-8 grins, his eyes flashing brighter. He hurries after them too.
AE is still trying to get closer, glitching to get further down and trying to blast SD-4 off course. But the sea dragon knows this area better than them- he’s darting behind rocks and places the others aren’t prepared for. AE finally manages to glitch close to Anti to blast an electric ball right into his side. Anti screeches and crashes into a rocky wall, momentarily disoriented.
“Don’t resist, SD-004.” AE-10 growls out, “Capturing you will prove our worth to Alterra. We will not fail.”
Anti spits out sand and glares at AE. “T-they don’t give a single shit about you! J-just leave me alone!”
CE-9 catches up, growling down at Anti. He lunges forward, trying to grab him again, screeching so loudly that it's disorienting.
Anti yells and curls up to try cover his ears, then whips out one of his tails to wrap around CE’s tail and throws him back into the rock before darting away again.
"Ah!" CE-9 wasn't expecting that. He hesitates for a moment, then shakes himself off and lauches himself forward again, mandibles outstretched.
BS-8 shrieks and tries to follow Anti hot on his tail. AE-10 tries to glitch after them.
CE-9’s mandibles catch onto Anti’s tail and pulls him back and Anti screams in fear. “No- no!!” CE-9 growls. He looks back at the others as he tries to pull Anti closer—but that moment of distraction is enough for Anti to wriggle free again, at the cost of scraping his tail on the serrated ends of CE-9's mandibles. Orange blood flies into the air. CE-9 screeches in anger.
Anti hurries away as fast as he can- but a trail of blood follows him through the water.
AE-10 manages to tackle Anti to the ground and pins him down, “WH-5! We need a warp!”
Blue and purple blooms bright behind AE and Anti and Anti sees a flash of familiar pink eyes. He panics and throws AE-10 back and WH and AE crash into each other in a heap. Sparse electricity crackles from AE’s tail and mildly shocks WH and the warp gate crackles with green before bursting into bubbles. WH makes a confused screech and- his blue eyes show through the pink, looking confused.
Anti watches this with wide eyes and hesitates- then he quickly tries to dart away while eveyone is distracted.
AE tries to glitch after him- only causing WH more distress as his body momentarily glitches too.
CE-9 stares at AE and WH in shock for a moment, a little scared of what he sees. But then he remembers the target is getting away. He screeches and swims after Anti, but he has a head start. Even CE-9's charging speed isn't enough to close the distance. BS-9 also stares at AE in confusion but tries to dart out after Anti, nipping at his tail. Then Anti manages to throw sand in their faces again before he slips down into a tunnel and disappears from sight.
WH-5 pushes AE-10 off of him and swims away, looking at him with wide eyes. “T-That was Anti- I… y-you…!” He sounds more emotional than anyone had heard him so far. He opens up his palm to try to make another wrap gate but then his hands crackles with green lightning and he makes a muffled shout, holding his hand. “I-I can’t warp?! What did you do to me?!”
AE-10 trembles back, something flickering in his eyes. Why does this feel so familiar? … this hasn’t happened before right?
"Anti?" CE-9 repeats, looking back at WH-5. Why does that name... make him feel both angry and fond at the same time? He's never heard that name. CE-9 shakes it off and swims over to the tunnel opening. Anti isn't in sight. They lost him. He growls in anger, then swims back to WH and AE. "What happened?! What do we do?!" The electricity seems dangerous, but he starts to reach out anyway. "Wh-what do we do?!" They need—they need direction. Direction of some kind.
“Why am I here?!” Marvin says with a trembling static voice. “W-What is this thing on me?!” He tries to pull at his mask- but it’s stuck on tight.
AE-10 tries to swim up and hold out hands towards WH-5, “Calm down WH!”
“My name is Marvi-!” The warper tries to screech before he suddenly stiffens as a shock goes through his gauges. He then slumps to the ground, head bent over his chest.
CE-9 backs up, suddenly strangely scared upon seeing WH-5's breakdown.
BS-8 swims back towards the group and looks at WH-5 with wide eyes. “W-What happened?!”
Then, all their gauges crackle with static as Demerci’s voice echoes in their minds. ‘Let this be an example of what happens to failures, Hybrids…’
The threat lingers in the air before WH-005 stiffly and robotically sits up, his eyes pink again. He floats up, regarding the other hybrids emotionlessly once more. “…that was a momentary setback. We can still find SD-004. He can’t have gotten far.”
“What will you do without your warps, sir?” AE-10 says quietly.
“We will make do until my powers are fully functional again.”
It's... nothing. It's nothing. CE-9 shakes his head. "Yes. Of course. Surely this is temporary." He turns back to the tunnel Anti went down. "The target went that way. Should we follow directly, or try to circle around?"
“Directly. You injured him. We can follow the scent of his blood.” WH-5 drones and starts swimming forward. “BS-8, CE-9, show me where SD-4 escaped.”
AE-10 hesitates then follows shortly after.
“I didn’t see which way for sure…” BS-8 says quietly, “I-I think CE-9 saw where he went exactly.”
"Yes, down here." CE-9 hovers at the mouth of the tunnel. Once everyone is over, he dives down into the tunnel. "Where does this lead?"
“Presumedly towards the Deep Grand Reef.” WH-5 says and starts to swim through after CE. AE-10 and BS-8 follow close behind. “Either his nest is here or.. we’re on the scent of the rebels.”
Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read Septnautical | Darker Seas AU
Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost
When they’re dumped out- they find themselves still underwater? What?
In fact… it’s not that it’s just underwater… they’re back by the Ocean’s Arms base. But… why does it look like it’s been abandoned?
There’s broken windows and crushed sides of it- looking like several kinds of creatures tried to break in.
What the hell?
Alt shakes himself out and then blinks in confusion. “…what?? We’re back- huh??!”
Bro swims upwards and gapes at the destroyed base. “H-How long were we down there…? Was that e-even a rift…?”
"H-huh?" Jackie looks around. "This--this is the same place, right? But it's... different? Why is the base all ruined?"
"The base is ruined?!" Schneep gasps.
Looks like it's been ruined for a while, too, JJ says.
After a moment, Jackie hesitantly swims closer. "It's definitely the same... what happened?"
"Perhaps... we are in a slightly different version of that world?" Schneep says. "In the same way the three of us are from slightly different versions of a city called Mirygale."
“I mean… m-maybe?” Alt says nervously. “That… did happen to us the first time we encountered the rifts…”
“…I can’t believe… there were so many people in this base… Danan and Zara and Jack- those kids… w-what happened to them…?” Bro whispers, looking at the base sadly.
Suddenly, something lashes out from the creepvines surrounding them and tackles JJ to the sea floor. A cloud of sand obscures them for a beat before the sand clears and JJ is being pinned to the ground by a familiar pair of blue claws. Marvin is pinning him to the ground but… there’s a horrible white mask strapped to the lower part of his face. …not even that- it looks like it’s been stuck into his skin by his jaw. His cat one is nowhere to be seen- and the absence of it exposes a second pair of eyes under his normal ones- all 4 glowing a bright terrifying pink.
Something crackles to life in the water- and they realize it’s a radio strapped to Marvin’s neck on some kind of collar. A robotic distorted version of his voice drones out. “Unidentified hybrid secured. State your designation number and base of origin.”
JJ gasps, horrified, frozen and feeling sick at what he sees. He shakes his head dully, trying to sign but unable to with his hands pinned. "I don't—u-understan—" He coughs as pain wracks his throat.
Schneep spins around. "Marvin?!"
"Hey! Wh-what the hell?!" Jackie immediately charges at this new, masked Marvin.
The masked Marvin’s head snaps up and then sends a projectile warp towards Jackie, throwing him off course as the water swirls him in a confusing direction.
Alt gasps, “M-Marvin what are you-?!”
“Let JJ go!” Bro growls.
Marvin floats up and keeps one of his tails pressing down on JJ’s throat. He slowly turns to eye the rest of the group before the robotic voice says. “Detecting a total of 5 unidentified hybrid life forms. Sending out call to other agents for capturing procedure.”
“C-Capturing procedure?!” Alt whispers in fear, floating back as electricity courses down his tail.
“Do not resist. All hybrids were made to serve Alterra. All hybrids will be assimilated or eliminated.” Marvin says, turning his inhuman eyes to look straight at Alt. Alt feels like he can’t breathe.
JJ chokes, grabbing at Marvin's tail and trying to push it away, his own tail flailing wildly. Not there! Not there! The pain from his outburst of words is just increasing with the pressure.
Jackie tumbles head over tail for a while before recovering. "What the fuck is this place?!" He cries out. "Did they make him a fucking robot?!"
Schneep tries to attack next, leaping out of sight and reappearing behind Marvin, trying to grab him.
Marvin tries to dodge but Schneep grabs him and pulls him off JJ. There’s no emotion on Marvin’s face but a warp gate opens up behind him, making the water swirl around them and cause a type of pull. Something big with sharp teeth lashes out of the warp gate and drives Schneep into the sand, snapping its jaws.
Alt is spiraling- it’s like Marvin got brainwashed! He can’t stop the panic that’s gripping his heart. He’s frozen in place.
JJ immediately gets up and swims away as soon as Schneep gets Marvin off him. He looks at Alt panicking, and swims over. Alt! Wake up! We have to get out of here! He shakes him a little by the shoulders.
Bro yells as the thing attacks Schneep and tackles it off him. He then is a bit surprised- this fish looks just like his tail!
Schneep cries out, pain bursting in his shoulder as the creature bites down—and then Bro appears to help. He gets up, breathing heavily. What the hell was that?! He reaches for the damage, feeling it out, wincing as he assesses it. The bite probably could have been much deeper—he got lucky.
Something else darts out of that gate though with crazy speeds and tries to tackle Jackie to the ground… another familiar face- but he looks so different he’s almost unrecognizable, except for his signature stalker tail. Henrik growls ferally with sharp teeth protruding from his mouth and blazing yellow slitted eyes. He doesn’t have his goggles on- making the scar on his nose even more pronounced.
Jackie dodges the attack, doing some strange spiral motion that keeps him completely safe but causes him to drop the bag with all their clothes inside. He looks back at who attacked him and gasps. "H-Henrik?! You too?!" He swims over to Schneep, protecting him from this other Henrik's feral gaze while he recovers.
Henrik snaps his teeth at them ferally and growls deep, no recognition in his eyes. Just deep primal animal hunger. He screeches and dives towards Jackie and Schneep.
Jackie dives forward, intercepting Henrik's course. He successfully protects Schneep but gets tackled himself, landing hard against the ground. "Snap out of it!" Jackie growls. "If you can't—I won't be responsible!" His mandibles snap at the sides as he tries to push Henrik away.
Henrik just roars and digs claws into Jackie’s arms- wait claws? He never had those before! In fact the way Henrik acted before… you’d hardly know he was a predator. It’s like his most suppressed traits have been brought forth.
Two more figures come out of the wrap gate before it fizzles into bubbles. There’s a sharp whistle and the boneshark Bro has pinned roars and headbutts him to get him off. Bro yells and tears back, blinking spots out of his eyes. It swims back over to where the portal disappeared, looping around familiar black and white tentacles. Jamie floats there- the same awful white mask that’s on Marvin’s face also stapled on his. His eyes also shine with a sickly yellow light. A corrupted robotic version of his voice sounds out as he pets the Boneshark’s head. “Support RL-006. Incapacitate the targets.”
The other form next to them then lashes out in a burst of speed and tries to barrel into JJ and Alt, mandibles striking out to try to pin them to the ground.
Alt takes a second to register JJ is there but by the time he gets his senses back it’s too late- he yells and tries to warn JJ and push him out of the way only for Mandibles to skewer him in the shoulder and part of his tail. He screams bloody murder. Reaper Jackie giggles with sharp teeth as he leans in by Alt, his pure black eyes unnerving him to his core. “You smell tasty already~!” He laughs.
“ALT!” Bro screams trying to get over to him. But Marvin grabs him by the wrist and digs claws into his skin. “Do not resist. Capture is inevitable.”
The boneshark zips after mer-Jackie and tackles JJ to the ground, trying to bite at his face.
JJ spins through the water, only to get pinned by this shark. He quickly conjures a shield in front of his head, protecting it. He tries to look at Alt, catching sight of this other version of reaper Jackie. No! He has to help! Concentrating, he tries pushing the shield outward to send the boneshark away. The shield manages to push back the boneshark as it screeches and freaks out.
Schneep snaps his head up, hearing and sensing all the commotion. What does he do?! Where does he go?! Alt—Alt screamed, he's clearly hurt. He pushes through the pain and leaps over towards reaper Jackie, attacking from behind like he did with Marvin.
Reaper Jackie snaps his head towards Schneep and lashes out his claws to scrape across his face. Alt takes the second of the reapers focus being drawn away to concentrate then send a blast of electricity into him. Reaper Jackie roars in pain- and for a second you can see a bit of blue eyes peek out. Then he rockets back and spins back to growl towards Alt and Schneep. The pain is a lot for Alt and he slumps to the sand, holding his shoulder and biting back a whimper as his vision spins.
Bro yells and tries to get out of Marvin’s grip but he’s really really strong. “L-Let me go! Alt’s hurt!” He tries to beg.
Marvin slowly turns towards Jamie and nods. Jamie pulls out a metal pair of shackles and clamps it onto one of Bro’s arms then tugs the other behind his back as Marvin drops him. As soon as they’re completely snapped on his wrists, an electric shock goes through them and Bro screams until he’s shocked into unconsciousness, his eyes rolling up into his head.
“1 out of 5 targets captured.” Jamie and Marvin say at the same time.
“CHASE!” Alt screams.
JJ gets up, breathing heavily, and looks around. Alt and Schneep are injured! He rushes over to them, grabbing Schneep as he backs up through the water, and starts to conjure a spherical shield around them. Before it fully closes he reaches out for Alt, intending to grab him and pull him into the bubble. But then he stops, distracted by Bro's screams. He looks towards him as Jamie and Marvin speak in eerie unison. Schneep shudders at the sound of it.
Reaper Jackie snarls and lunges forward, grabbing Alt by his mandibles. Alt cries out and tries to find some way out of this but then Jamie rockets down and clamps cuffs on Alt too.
“Say night night~!” Reaper Jackie giggles madly.
Alt jolts and screams, his tail lashing out and striking wildly with extra electricity but then he slumps completely into the sand too. Once he does the reaper lets him go.
“2 out of 5 targets captured.”
JJ lunges for Alt, but he's too slow. And now that they're so close to enemies—because it's clear that they are enemies—he quickly closes the shield around him and Schneep, making it smaller so he can conserve magic, forcing him and Schneep up next to each other. What are they supposed to do?! These other hybrids—he doesn't feel right hurting them.
Jackie looks down at Henrik's hands in surprise and annoyance. Then he grits his teeth. "Let—go—of—me!" He shouts. The mandibles snap out, clamping onto Henrik's sides in turn as Jackie struggles to escape the pin.
Henrik doesn’t flinch at all as Jackie’s mandible clamps onto his side and just holds him there, snarling. Marvin then warps over and tries to grab Jackie’s wrist to put a shackle on.
Jackie's eyes widen. "No! Fuck off!" He flails widly, managing to pull his wrist free and punch Marvin right in the mask. He has to get out of here! He can't let himself be caught again!
Marvin’s eyes flicker a bit as the mask is punched, showing a hint of his eyes. For a brief second- he looks scared. But, that moment fades quickly as Reaper Jackie yells out and tackles Jackie into the sand on his stomach. Allowing Marvin to slip the shackles onto both of Jackie’s wrists. He has only a brief second before the shocking starts-
Jackie's eyes widen. There's no time left! His head whips over to JJ and Schneep. "Guys! Run!" Then he cries out as the electricity courses through his body. "R-run!" It takes a bit longer than expected, but it still sends him to unconsciousness after a few seconds.
“3 out of 5 targets captured.” Jamie drones once Jackie falls unconscious.
JJ covers his mouth in horror. Schneep flinches at the sound of Jackie's cries. He grabs onto JJ. "H-he said to get out of here, so we're getting out of here!"
We can't leave them! JJ protests.
"I don't think we have a choice!" He can feel the hybrids closing in on their little bubble. If they leave anything behind he can grab it later. For now, Jackie said to run, and so they're going to. He holds tight to JJ and leaps, taking them both out of sight.
Marvin looks out at where Schneep and JJ disappeared. “…remaining targets have left scanning area. Unidentified power detected. Sending Agents RL-006 and SH-003 for collection.” He turns towards Reaper Jackie and Henrik and growls. “Find them before the rebels do.”
Henrik and Jackie snarl in response, Jackie’s eyes briefly flashing yellow before they both dash through the kelp to start looking around.
Marvin grabs Jackie and tosses him over his shoulder- then swims over to grab Bro. Jamie grabs Alt. Another warp gate is opened as Marvin drones. “HQ: 3 targets ready for assimilation.” And then they all swim into the purple blue water and disappear from sight.
=========
Schneep and JJ appear a bit farther past the kelp forest and towards the safe shallows. They can hear the familiar roars and snarls of Reaper Jackie and Henrik hot on their tails.
J shudders at the feeling of Schneep's transportation—it makes him nauseous. Why?! he asks Schneep.
Then, something grabs them from a nearby cave and drags them inside. Clawed hands grab their faces and cover their mouths as a gravelly voice whispers. “Don’t make a sound and they won’t look here…”
Schneep immediately cries out and starts struggling against the hand, but JJ doesn't. He's still thrown off by Schneep's leaping them through space. And besides, his throat hurts too much to talk even if he could. He grabs onto Schneep's arm and makes a muffled shushing sound, then looks back at who dragged them into here.
The dark green hair and blue and green eyes with black sclera give it away. It’s Anti. But, he’s… different too. He doesn’t have that big spiral of a scar on his face anymore. He doesn’t look down at JJ just pulls Schneep more into the dark with him and presses down harder on his mouth.
Right outside the opening of the cave, there’s the flicker of a blue reaper tail- and a loud roar that makes the cavern walls shake and rattle, bits of sand and rock falling on them. The two of them can feel Anti’s hands trembling.
Then, a giggle, followed by a sing-songy gravely voice. “Come out come out, little fishes~! We just wanna play!!!” The words sound friendly enough but the threat lingers behind his growled words.
Schneep immediately freezes and stops struggling. His head turns towards JJ's direction, eyes flicking wildly.
JJ takes off the robotic gloves—the robot fish didn't get pulled along when Schneep leapt, but just in case—and signs, Schneep, it's Anti.
Schneep nods as JJ's sign-voice echoes in his head. Now that he's concentrating, he can sense Anti's soul.
We're in a cave, we need to be quiet, JJ says.
And Schneep nods again, a bit irritated. He wasn't going to make noise after hearing that roar.
There’s a couple more tense beats and another frustrated roar before Jackie’s tail kicks off bubbles and rockets away- his roar echoing farther down the landscape.
Anti finally drops his hands and backs up curling in as small as he can in the cave. He eyes them suspiciously, though he seems on edge and a bit scared as his tails seem to quiver. “…who are you guys? I-I thought you might be one of t-the botched hybrids they send out to train these guys but… y-you all just appeared out of nowhere… a-and not like M-Mar… WH-5 does…”
"It is a long story..." Schneep says slowly. "Were you watching us? Did you see that--that whole fight? Or just the two of us?"
“… I was… in the area. I was coming to see then.. then they came and…” Anti looks away, holding his hands to his chest.
Schneep turns towards JJ. "Ah, do you need help speaking?"
JJ nods. The robot didn't come along.
"Right. Ah, one second, A—one second." Schneep started to call Anti by his name, but decides that'll probably freak him out too much. "I am going to do something that seems impossible." He reaches out to the side with both hands and pulls back the little fish robot JJ got in the last world. He hands it to JJ, then reaches out and grabs the bag with all of their clothes as well.
JJ puts the gloves on and starts speaking, the robot translating. My name is JJ, and this is Schneep. We're from somewhere far away... and we have strange abilities.
Alt balks as Schneep pulls stuff out of nowhere and he hits the back of the cave in his attempt to get farther away. “W-What the hell?! How- how did-“ He blinks slowly at JJ and settles back down into the sand. He narrows his eyes and hunches himself up defensively. He doesn’t seem to care too much for JJ’s name but looking over and hearing JJ call him Schneep- his eyes widen and turn he snarls and tries to tackle Schneep to the ground. “I-I knew it! You’re one of those sick clones they send out to-to try to lure me in too! Y-You sick fuck-! Im gonna send you back to fucking Alterra in pieces!”
Schneep yelps and leaps out of the way just as Anti makes contact, reappearing next to JJ, who quickly conjures up a shield. "No no no no, w-we are not! W-we don't know anything about these clones!"
JJ shakes his head. We're not with the company! I promise! We came here with three other friends by accident!
"Y-yes, and our friends were captured!" Schneep adds. "We—I-I am guessing that whatever clones you're talking about... wouldn't be taken like that?"
Anti snarls and turns to look back at the others and stops when he sees the shield. His eyes widen and he scoots back. "...c-clones wouldn't be able to do that... h-how are you doing that?!" At hearing about their friends Anti looks away and grits his teeth, but there's pain in his eyes. "... I-I dunno how you guys got here o-or how you're hybrids... but if you all have powers like that...? ...I'm sorry... I-I don't think you're getting your friends back."
"Wh-what? No—no that cannot be—w-we are not going to just—" Schneep stammers.
JJ blinks. Not all of us have magic... that's what this power of mine is called. But all of us have abilities of some kind. Well, except for one of them, one named Jackie.
"What do you mean by that?!" Schneep demands, swimming closer to the shield separating them. "A-are you saying—what are they going to do to them?!" He has a feeling, but... he doesn't want to acknowledge it. He doesn't want to.
Anti can’t look at them as he hugs himself and curls his tails close to his chest. “…if they have useful powers… they’re gonna turn them I..into weapons… a-any hybrids left that are useless are… are hunted down and destroyed.”
JJ and Schneep stare at him in horror. We... we can't let that happen! JJ says, shaking his head furiously. He looks at Schneep. We have to do something about this!
"If we do, we are going to have to be very careful about it," Schneep says. "We cannot get caught as well. A-and turned into—" He shudders. "We—we have to find where they took them. There has to be a main base of operations. Then—then we plan around that, a-around the defenses and such."
We can't waste too much time looking for it! They could be doing that right now! JJ looks at Anti. What's your name? He asks despite already knowing the answer—it's just polite. Do you know anything that could help us?
“…Anti.” He says quietly and then digs his claws into his shoulders. “…they’re probably already down in HQ… i-in the lava zone… I… I know where it is. But its defense is…” He shakes his head and whispers with a bit of choked up voice. “…I’m sorry I… t-there’s nothing that can be done… when Alterra wants something… they get it. I-I’ve only survived this long on sheer luck… and… and a group of humans but I… I don’t know if they can help you. …not with this.”
Schneep and JJ look at each other—or, JJ looks at Schneep, and Schneep turns to face him. "A group of humans...?" Schneep repeats slowly.
Anything that could help would be good, JJ says. They both have the same suspicion. Perhaps the Ocean's Arms aren't entirely wiped out in this world, or at least, not as wiped out as the abandoned base would imply.
"Exactly." Schneep nods. "We are not just going to abandon them. We must try at least."
Anti, can you take us to these humans? JJ asks.
Anti seems hesitant. “…they can’t save your friends…” he says hollowly.
Schneep nods slowly. "Well... w-we have to try," he says slowly.
But then Anti sighs and goes to push over a rock at the back of the cave, which seems to lead to a smaller tunnel. “…but… yeah I guess. …yer the first hybrids I’ve met in a long time that are… actually close to how …they used to be.” He flicks his tails and shakes his head. He then gives them a look and disappears through the tunnel.
As the two of them follow, JJ says, So... those hybrids back there... you knew them. Well, they know that. But JJ doesn't want to freak Anti out by revealing that he and Schneep know all about his brothers. And... the company did that to them? I'm... so sorry.
Anti is quiet as he swims ahead of them. He almost acts like he didn’t hear JJ for a few beats before he whispers. “…they’re my brothers… were my brothers…” He’s quiet again for a couple more meters before he speaks up again. “…i-if there was a way to save your friends I’d… I’d tell you… but we have no idea. …it’s been… a year? Two? …honestly I’ve lost track… I’m just… trying to stay alive. …that’s what I tell myself that they would want… for me to keep going.”
Schneep nods. "I... I'm sure you're right, that they would want you to stay free and alive." He pauses. "I... I cannot promise that you'll get them back. But... there could be a way. A-a way for you to continue on. Maybe even a way to find them. I-I was in a space, once, where everything felt hopeless. But we got through it. I'm sure you will, too."
JJ nods in agreement. It was the same for me. Even if something seems so hopeless, there could be a way.
“…that’s a nice thought.” Anti says bitterly. Then he just continues on. Further down into the dark water of the tunnel- the water going from green to a dark blue.
=========
When Jackie, Alt and Bro open their eyes, they’re in an underwater lab. And unfortunately they’re all very well acquainted with the white sterile walls of a lab. And worst off, they’re strapped by their arms and tails to medical tables. Scanners and monitors are setting off around them, collecting information.
Alt feels the tug of the straps and starts to freak out, easily starting to hyperventilate as he tries to pull or get out of the binds- even trying to glitch but he seems to get shocked or some kind of reaction while trying that has him cringing and biting back a cry of pain.
Bro blearily opens his eyes to the sound of his brother’s panic and gasps, trying to pull at the metal binds as much as he can.
"Oh fucking hell—!" Jackie immediately starts to struggle. "Twice?! Fucking—what the fuck?!" He sounds angry, but he's really masking his fear with annoyance. His head darts around. "Y-you two! A-are you okay?! Other than—than the obvious."
Bro grunts and lays down his head when he doesn’t feel any give. “I..I’m okay… you okay J-Jackie? W-Where are the others…?”
"I-I'm fine," Jackie says. "I don't—I don't see the other two. I-I told them to run, th-they might've gotten away."
“Good good maybe they-“ Bro jumps in surprise and calls out, “Alt c-c’mon breathe!”
Alt is on the verge of panicked tears as he yells and struggles and pulls on the restraints. “I-I can’t go through this again! I-I can’t! What the fuck?! Fuck!!”
Jackie turns to look at Alt. "D-deep breaths, Alt! D-don't panic!" His voice breaks a little as he continues to fight against the restraints. He couldn't tell Alt to not panic—this was a panic-worthy situation!
“H-How?? How can I not panic right now?!” Alt screeches with tears flowing from his eyes as his tail tries to spark with electricity. “T-They’re gonna- gonna-!!”
There’s a window just slightly above them that suddenly has movement and what looks like a shock of blonde hair. A cool female voice laughs over the intercom. “Hello Gentleman… my~ isn’t this interesting? I don’t remember making specimens like you… where are you all from?”
Bro hears the voice and feels himself freeze instantly recognizing it. “…mum…?” He breathes with wide eyes.
Jackie glances at Bro. "Mom?" he repeats, confused. Wait. Don't tell him that—
The reaction is almost immediately drowned out by Alt yelling and thrashing against his binds. “f-fuck you!! Let us go!!”
Jackie snaps his attention back to the voice. "We're not going to tell you shit! Don't even try asking, you'll get nowhere!"
Bro looks freaked out of his mind, having a silent panic attack. He looks absolutely terrified.
The voice chuckles and sounds amused. “Oh… I really do love a challenge… it’s been boring around here lately~”
She leans further into the window to show her face. She’s a tall Caucasian woman with blonde curly hair pulled into a tight ponytail. She smirks cruelly and leans on her module.
“We can do this the easy or hard way, boys~! The easy way is you just share what’s happening here… since my agents already reported you all appearing out of nowhere. Orrr we can do it the hard painful way~!”
"Painful coercion gets you nowhere, you know!" Jackie shouts. "It's been scientifically proven!" Oh, the irony of him saying that. But he's going to take that as a good sign. He struggles some more. Then he looks over at Alt and Bro. The fear and panic evident on both their faces, "Y-you guys...?" He whispers. "A-are you...?" Are you okay? Stupid question. "I-I'm not going to talk to her but—you two—I-I wouldn't be... upset..." He shakes his head. "Not like they can do anything with it, anyway."
Alt looks angry- not at all phased by the look of this woman. Even if she looks… familiar. But Bro is petrified.
“I’m not gonna t-tell you shit!” Alt growls.
Bro looks over at Jackie and just shakes his head, curling up as tight as he can while strapped down.
The woman laughs, “Is that so? Because I’ve found it’s worked so very well for me~” She does hums in thought and taps the table. “However… I do have another method we can try…”
She’s quiet for a second before she sighs, “Oh- might as well. Less fun but.. a chance for it.” She grins and then clicks on her comm. “WH-5? Can you warp RR-01 into lab 12 please?”
There’s a beat and then a warp gate opens and the others recognize Chase swimming through. Though- his eyes shine with a sickly yellow light and he has slick black discs attached to his earlobes. He looks back towards the white suit in the window and smiles. “Yes, Dr. Demerci?”
Bro inhales sharply.
Jackie stiffens. "Ch—" No, this isn't his Chase! He has to remember that! It's not—even if it looks like him, it's not his friend relapsing again. But it is a Chase. It's someone being controlled. And that's still terrible. He feels sick just looking at this.
“RR-01 can you help me relax these new hybrids and run the Mesmer program for me?”
“Of course Dr. Demerci!” Chase says as he turns towards the others. He smirks at them and then closes his eyes and starts to sing a haunting melody that starts to weave and worm their way into their brains, trying to force them to relax.
"H-huh? Mesmer?" Jackie shakes his head. "N-no, I—you can't—!" He tries to cover his ears, but of course, with his arms strapped down he has to try and press his shoulders against his ears. He struggles for a moment, but... the song... what is that? It's like... he can't put words to it. So strange... so beautiful... His movement slows gradually. He can't help it. He wants to listen to this music...
The music is gorgeous and Chase’s voice is lovely. It doesn’t feel malicious at all. It almost feels like being home.
That false sense of security is what pulls Bro under, his fear falling off his face and being replaced with peaceful bliss.
Alt doesn’t fall for it though, he growls and tries to fight more- especially as he hears Demerci mention mesmers. That’s when screens starts to lower and pulse with beautiful flowing patterns of green blue and purple, like light dancing on top of waves. Alt tries to close his eyes but with both the song and the lights… his eyes start to glaze over really fast and he slumps.
“There we go… very good.” Demerci hums happily. “Now then, I’m gonna ask you some questions and well~ you’re free to try to fight all you want but… you’ll find it feels much better just to say it~!” She giggles.
“Now then… where are you all from? Who made you?”
"Where are we... from?" Jackie repeats absentmindedly. "It's... far away from here. Hard to explain. But we weren't made. I mean... technically... Didn't the magic make us? Or at least... turn us into this? But we weren't made like your hybrids were."
“I… I made us.” Alt whispers, “with my magic… but we’re… we’re human…” He laughs dazedly, “We could s-show you if we went on l-land…”
Demerci looks fascinated by this, “Magic…? Huh… interesting….” She looks like she doesn’t believe a word of this but she continues. “What are your designations?”
Bro laughs, “…that’s a big word…” When he laughs but doesn’t answer the question, Demerci presses something on her table and Bro gets shocked. He yells out and blinks in confusion before the Mesmer lights and song drags him back under. “Are you refusing to answer or do you just not have them?”
"We don't have them," Jackie says. "Unless you mean our names? I'm Jackie. Jackie Parker." He smiles a bit dazedly. "I-I chose it myself."
“Hm… names are fine then…” Demerci says.
“Alt.. Brody…” Alt whispers.
“C-Chase Brody…” Bro pants.
“Interesting…” Demerci muses. “Alright, let’s hear your abilities then?”
“I got super strength and stuff… think this fish body has good armor and shit…” Bro breathes with a dazed smile.
Alt’s eyes twitch and try to flicker before he mutters out, “I can… glitch… and use electricity and.. and electric magic…”
"I don't really have anything special," Jackie says slowly. "I'm strong, a-and I got these pinchers now, and the armored tail. But I think I'm durable."
“Oh that’s more than enough for us to use, dear…” Demerci chuckles. “Now… I can’t help but notice you look so similar to the other hybrids and even share their chosen names… even if we don’t use them. So… hm.. maybe you’re experiments from another company we can’t detect here… the only question is how they got McLoughlin’s DNA…” she then shrugs and grins, “no matter! This is an Alterra owned planet so- anything we find here we can keep~ but before we get started on that… do you boys know SD-004? He also goes by… Anti.”
Saying that name has Chase’s song faltering ever so slightly, his eyes flickering. Then, he gets back on track.
"I... guess?" Jackie says, frowning. "W-we haven't met him here. But... we know about him." He blinks, struggling for a bit, trying to sit up, but then the song brings him back under. "He... shoots fireballs and stuff, right?"
Demerci chuckles, “In a way.” She then frowns. “SD-4 has been a pain in our sides for too long… him and those rebels he’s somehow aligned himself with.” She then smiles sweetly and increases the brightness of the Mesmer screens.
“I need all of your help to reunite him with his family… we all miss him so terribly~ so… hybrids… will you help us?”
Alt answers almost immediately, “…yes.”
"Family?" Jackie repeats. Yes, the hybrids were all a family, weren't they? Why was Anti apart? They needed to be together. "S-sure."
Bro seems to struggle a bit, something trying to fire off in his foggy brain. “Y..yeah…”
The mesmer colors start to flash brighter and faster- words and phrases hidden inside them.
“Good. Very good. We need good weapons like you all on our side. We will give you all the purpose you deserve.” Demerci smiles.
You are a hybrid. Not a human. You are a Weapon. Obey. Do not resist . No free will. Let go. Forget. Serve Alterra.
The words flash over and over drilling them into their minds, starting to take away any thoughts of fighting against this. They were right, weren’t they? They’re only weapons… a means to the end. That’s all they’ve ever been.
Jackie blinks. For a moment, he struggles, but... it's so much easier to forget. All he's ever been good at is beating stuff up. Because... he was made for that. He was made for this. Yes, of course. Of course he was. How could he have thought otherwise? Even the memory of thinking he was anything else is fading. Serve Alterra. Serve Alterra.
Alt’s eyes glaze over rapidly as the words settle in. Serve Alterra… yeah… he wants to do that. He needs to.
Bro is trying to struggle, but it’s not getting him very far as his eyes get drawn back to the screen and fall back to the words. Spiraling down down into his emptying head. He starts to slump.
“You know… I thought it was strange to see a Chelicerate hybrid on this side… but then again they can survive in warmer waters. You are going to make the most fascinating study, Jackie Parker~” Demerci giggles. “Once your tasks are done… I’m gonna enjoy studying you.”
Now their monitors zone in and move closer to their faces, showing more personalized messages through the colors.
For Jackie: Chelicerate. Predator. Aggressive. Feral. Driven by instinct. Hunter. Powerful mandibles. Crush our enemies. No thoughts. You are not human. You are a weapon. Serve Alterra.
For Bro: Boneshark. Predator. Aggressive. Feral. Driven by instinct. Hunter. Powerful jaws. Armored defense. Incredible speed. No thoughts. You are not a human. You are a weapon. Serve Alterra.
For Alt: Ampeel. Predator. Aggressive. You will be our eyes and ears. Tactical. Find their weaknesses. Electric. Incapacitate. Capture targets. No thoughts but our objectives. You are not human. You are a weapon. Serve Alterra.
And as these words start to sink in and change their thoughts- something clicks from underneath them on the tables. And soon something round and sleek seems to clamp onto their ears. Like… gauges. It sets their bodies alight- feeling foreign and right at the same time as it emits waves of energy that seems to take control of their entire systems. Starting to rewrite them completely. The more the words and waves start to set in, the more the boys eyes start to… change. Reflecting different colors- closer to the species they embody. Not completely yet- but the shift is seen brewing at the surface.
“We won’t need those human names anymore- since you never were more than our tools, hybrids.” Demerci smirks.
“Now you are BS-008.” She says to Bro. He shudders and stiffens as a slight shock from the gauges cements this in his brain.
She looks to Jackie. “You are CE-009.” She commands- and a shock from the earrings make it so. It seems silly to think it was anything different.
And finally she looks to Alt. “And you are AE-010.” Alt’s body and tail ripple with electricity as he forgets his former name.
Something tickles at the back of Jackie's mind—some last struggle, a primal fear that spikes when the gauges are attached. He gasps for a moment... but then... then it... fades away...
CE-009's mandibles snap. He struggles a little against the bonds—and then looks towards the woman. She's Alterra. Serve Alterra. He blinks slowly. A noise echoes in the back of his throat, some sort of wordless screeching sound.
Demerci blinks in mild surprise then grins wickedly. “Impressive CE-009… usually we don’t get results like that until after memory deletion… you must not have had that big of a mind~” She giggles. “That’s perfect.”
She clicks more stuff on her table. Something else starts to snap onto the boys’ faces now- two suction cups that stick to either side of their foreheads. An arm makes sure to rip Bro’s hat off so it won’t get in the way.
“You’ve done so great for me, loves.” Demerci coos. “One final push and it’ll allll be over~ and you’ll be ready to serve Alterra like you were always meant to!”
She pushes a lever up- and electricity starts to fill their minds- their bodies. Alt, Jackie and Bro scream- the electricity and pain make them forget everything they knew before. Who they were. Where they’re from. Why they’re here. Their families, their friends. That they were ever anything more than Alterra’s tool. The electricity completely molds them into perfect Alteran weapons.
As they scream- their voices turn more feral and guttural. BS-008’s voice deepens and roars. AE-010 becomes more high pitched and crackles like static. Now their eyes fully change to their species’ own, glowing with unnatural alien light.
And then- it all stops. Their minds wiped, their purpose secured, the new hybrids fall to the beds, exhausted, panting but… complete. The monitors shut off and stow themselves away. The suction cups fall off- the restraints are removed. Demerci waves her arm at RR-001. “Thank you RR. You are dismissed.”
“Yes, Dr. Demerci.” RR-001 says and a warp gate opens to let him out.
Another arm pops out and goes to force a white mask like Marvin’s and Jamie’s—WH-5 and CH-7’s—onto AE’s face. It clamps around his jaw, inserted into the skin and he doesn’t even flinch. Another arm rips off his mask and replaces it with a collar with a speaker that goes around his neck.
“You can rest for now, hybrids… settle in and let me know when you’re ready.” Demerci smirks.
CE-9 turns over, shaking himself and blinking a new purple-and-white eye. He makes more of those screeching noises—quieter than the roars they can grow to be-- and tries swimming around the room. He goes in circles around, silent for the first little while, getting used to the environment. And then he starts to get restless. "I--I w-want—" His voice shakes a little—not with nerves or fear, but with that same sort of restlessness. "I--I n-need—prey." His head darts around, looking for anything he can tear apart. He swims across the room a couple times. "Where—where is it? Where is it? Something." He needs a target of some kind. He needs one. He looks at the other two in the room—but no, they're like him. They're for Alterra. He makes another sound and continues to swim circles around the room.
BS-8 shakes his head and slowly pushes himself up, looking dazed. Then, he starts to giggle a bit, feeling an unhinged bubble in his throat that he can’t calm down. He feels the itch too. The itch to fight- to tear into flesh and rip it apart. That’s what creatures like him are made to do right? He looks over at CE-9 and growls almost playfully, whipping his tail and sinking claws into the table he’s on.
AE-10 takes a while to process. His blood feels electric, his tail sparks and flickers with electricity. It’s hard to wake up his empty head and get it firing again. Then- like a computer starting up, he feels thoughts forming. Get the directive- start your mission. He sits up robotically then floats upwards, going to look at Demerci through the window. The radio on his neck crackles to life, a static robotic imitation of his voice coming out from the speaker. “Ready for orders, Dr. Demerci.”
CE-9 follows AE-10's gaze and swims up to the window as well. Orders? Prey? Where? Now?
BS-8 frowns as he’s ignored by CE-9 and whips his tail in an annoyed manner.
Demerci grins wide, “Excellent. And while I’m eager to get you all on SD-004’s trail… WH-005 told me there were other strange hybrids around. We need to capture them too… and why don’t we see what you boys are capable of, hm? I see some of you are already showing that bloodlust.. that’s good.”
She presses the comm on her console and says, “WH-5? Warp to the training tank please.”
A warp gate opens down at the bottom of the tank- into an aquarium filled with rocky terrain and bright flora.
“I’ll get you boys some nice prey to get you warmed up with hm?” Demerci giggles.
AE-10 nods and in a flash glitches down and into the warp gate. Demerci looks surprised by this- but then she watches him hungrily. Short terming warping? …that’s valuable.
BS-8 peeks up at seeing the warp gate and bares his fangs in a wide feral grin and rockets to get to the other side.
CE-9 whirls back around and charges right through the warp gate.
The warp gate closes behind them and they find themselves in a way larger tank with plenty of strategic places to hide and swim through. There’s a few whirls of gates opening and then- a river-prowler hybrid darts out and tries to attack CE-9.
CE-9 screeches—in surprise, at first, as the river prowler grabs onto him. And then louder, the sound growing into a disturbing roar. The mandibles on his back shoot out and grab onto the hybrid and his head darts forward, biting into its skin.
The hybrid looks young- younger than CE at least. It screeches in surprise and there’s a slight look of more human-like fear in its eyes as it’s grabbed in CE-9’s mandibles. They start to crush on its tail and it’s arm and then- the bite happens and he rips into its jugular. The river prowler screeches and thrashes as the orange hybrid blood clouds around it until it finally falls silent.
BS’s eyes sparkle with sadistic joy. He licks his lips and whacks the ground with his tail. “My turn… my turn…!”
A swarm of bonesharks are released next, each one going for one of the hybrids.
CE-9 is so focused on the dying prey that he doesn't notice the bonesharks until it's too late and one barrells right into him. He goes flipping through the water, letting go of the river prowler's body and slamming into the tank wall. Then he shakes his head and looks at the boneshark again. Armor—difficult. But not impossible. He screeches and charges headfirst at the boneshark in the same way it charged at him. The boneshark and CE-9 hit each other in the middle of the water, but CE-9 turns out to be slightly stronger, pushing the boneshark down into the ground. The mandibles shoot out again, holding it in place, and CE-9 starts prying at the armor looking a weakness where he can attack.
There! Behind the head and start of its armor- a fleshy bit of muscle most fish can’t get to. The boneshark shrieks and tries to wriggle free but then the mandibles start to crack and pry at its armor and it screams in pain. CE-9 darts forward, digging and clawing into the exposed flesh, snarling as he does so. Until, finally, the boneshark's pain is ended and it goes limp.
AE-10 tries to prepare himself for the prey coming towards him but it dives at his tail and drags him down. In surprise AE shocks it and they both tumble into the sand. Once he has his bearings, AE wraps his tail around the softer underbelly of the boneshark and tries to shock it.
BS-8 is overly eager and grins manically as the boneshark approaches him. Then it plows him over and chomps on his arm where he has no armor. BS screams in rage and then lashes out to try to claw it off him.
AE-10 seems to have a bit of difficulty but after enough tries fills the boneshark with so much electricity it shrieks and then burns bloom across its belly and it falls half-charred to the ground. AE-10 shakes himself off and away from the dead boneshark and looks down at it emotionlessly.
BS-8 and the boneshark struggle in a wrestling match against each other. But, BS knows this things weakness- he knows his kind. He pushes himself up onto the top of the boneshark and sinks his into its fleshy neck, ripping and tearing at flesh until the poor thing finally expires in a heap on the sand. BS-8 giggles and licks the blood off his face, his own blood pumping.
A clap is heard over that comm and an amused Demerci calls out, “Well done boys! Do we want another round or… are you ready to find your real prey?”
CE-9 backs up, breathing heavily. "Real prey?" he repeats, eyes going wide. "This tastes real enough." A smile flickers on his face and he glances at BS-8. "Right?" Then he looks back at the comm. "But yes. Yes yes yes."
“Hehehe yeah- tastes good-!” BS agrees. But then he spurs up and grins wide at the comm. “But, if you got better fights then yes!”
AE-10 nods. “We’re ready, Chief Demerci.”
Demerci chuckles. “Good. WH-005 will follow you and be on standby with his other agents should you need them. But this will be your chance to prove yourselves to Alterra. Capture SD-004 and any other strange hybrids you see.”
A ring of yellow flashes in AE-10’s eyes as he nods. “Yes, Chief Demerci.”
BS-8 grins wide, “Fuck yeah. Let’s get these guys~!”
CE-9 flicks his tail, giggling in a strange, scratchy way. "More prey. Let's go let's go!"
Demerci laughs. “Good luck then!“
A warp gate opens to the open ocean. AE-10 goes in through with BS-8 following close behind. CE-9 hurries after them, rushing forward.
