Aug 9, 2024
I made something really cool!! It’s my fics!! Bound by me!! Dudes bookbinding is so fun there’s already so many other things I wanna try to bind! And I’m so so proud of how this turned out!!
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I made something really cool!! It’s my fics!! Bound by me!! Dudes bookbinding is so fun there’s already so many other things I wanna try to bind! And I’m so so proud of how this turned out!!
Curiosity Killed the Cat
Request: “Google and Dark angst? They’re both vv cold-hearted. I’d like to see what happens. I love your writing btw! 💙”
Requestee: @californiakxng
Here you go. Not exactly what you asked for (even though your request was the most vague), but it was the first thing to come to mind and it was fun to write. Hope you like it!
———
Dark looked around the room one last time, making sure that everything he would need was there.
It was. He was ready. Finally, after all this time.
He straightens his suit and brushes off imaginary dust before he gives his sleeve a sharp tug as he transports to the walkway of a house.
He walks up to the door, as calm and suave as ever. He gives three sharp raps before waiting for it to be opened.
It took but a moment, the person curious as to who would be at his house- he wasn’t expecting any guests.
Oh, he should have looked before he opened it. Perhaps (mayhaps) it would have saved him the pain that was about to come. No, it wouldn’t, it would just have delayed it a little while.
And Dark was patient. He could wait. He has waited. It took… forever to gather everything, to gain the knowledge needed to do what he was about to.
Anyways, Dark stands politely at the door, hands clasped behind his back, as a sleepy, curious professor opened the door.
“Excuse me,” Dark says, an almost apologetic tone to his voice. “Are you Mark Fischbach, the professor?” He asks.
“Yes, I am,” the man replies, straightening his back and examining this stranger more closely. Was he someone from the board?
“I’m afraid I have something important to discuss with you, may I come in?”
“Yeah, sure,” the man mumbles, still blatantly staring at this strangers face and wondering why it seems so familiar.
Then he realizes. It’s his face.
This stranger has his face. And he thinks- no, he knows -that this isn’t some weird, doppelgänger situation. This is no accident.
If only he had realized sooner.
But the ringing and the strange look to him- the man was gray with a red silhouette (with a few features highlighted in blue). How could he recognize him beyond that right away?
Why did he let him in his house?
Because he was curious, of course.
“Professor,” Dark began smoothly, expertly masking the disdain in his voice, “it’s nice to meet you.”
“I- yes, of course. Are you from the board?” Mark inquires, wanting to know just why this man was in his home.
“Not exactly,” Dark replies, looking around the professor’s house.
“Who are you? I never caught your name,” the man said, just wanting his curiousity to be sated.
“That is because I never gave it to you,” Dark says as he turns to meet Mark’s eyes. “But you’ll know it soon enough. You’ll know a lot more soon enough.”
Mark took a step back, sensing something off in his words.
Dark, however, took two quick ones and grabbed the professor’s elbow in a gentle (yet firm) hold.
In the next moment, they weren’t in the professor’s house.
Mark looks around, utterly confused, but too scared to sate his curioustiy now.
“Are you going to kill me?” He asked, trying to rip his arm out of Dark’s grasp, but alas, it was as tight as iron.
“Of course not,” Dark replies, sounding offended (and he is).
“Why would I kill you when I could do something much worse?”
Mark’s blood chills in his veins, and he thinks that he won’t make it to class Monday morning. He wonders who will fill in for him.
“Now,” Dark says, pushing Mark towards a steel, surgical table. “It will hurt less if you don’t move.”
He hopes it’s not Mrs. Sumner, she always left his students confused.
“I- what are you going to do?” Mark asked, being too afraid to fight back and resist.
A part of him knew it would be hopeless anyways.
“I’m going to make you better,” Dark replies, pushing the man down onto a table.
“Better? Better how?” Mark asks, the professor in him unable to resist the chance to learn more, and the habit being one he could never break.
He’s too damn curious for his own good.
“You’ll see,” Dark replies, strapping Mark’s wrists and ankles to the table. When had he laid down?
“W-why would you do this to me? I’ve never met you before,” Mark pleads, a desperate last-ditch attempt to save himself.
“But you have,” Dark says, tightening the last strap. “We used to be the best of friends, but you don’t remember that. You won’t remember any of this.”
“Don’t do this,” Mark begs, his eyes filling with tears.
“No can do, I’m afraid. William has just…” He trails off, his jaw clenched. “He’s changed his name to Wilford and he won’t stop killing. And it’s all the fault of Mark Fischbach,” he hisses out Mark’s name, seeing no point in hiding his hatred from this man any longer.
His aura is still dominantly red, the blue all but gone as Dark feels anger course through him. He’s never been this mad before. Ever.
The professor shudders in fear, a part of him thinking that this man (if that’s what he even was) wasn’t talking about him, but he was the only person named Mark Fischbach.
Wasn’t he?
Dark shrugs off his coat and hangs it neatly over a nearby chair. He rolls up his sleeves and picks up a scalpel from a tray that’s on a table adjacent to the one the poor, curious professor is on.
That table holds many things. Various scalpels, knives and other tools for cutting into things, copper wires, processors, a few gears, various lenses, different types of chips, and a strange silver glowing sphere, among other things.
Dark was going to build himself a new ego. He was going to build an army, eventually.
He’d start by making a man into an Android.
After all, it was only fitting, right?
Soon, the curious professor would have the ability to access any information he needed at a moments notice.
Curiosity killed the cat, Mark’s brain whispers (slightly mocking), before Mark starts screaming as the operation begins.
—————————
Masterlist
@pleaseletthisjimbetaken
Technically, this doesn’t include Google like you asked, so I think I’m going to do a second part after the ‘surgery’, if you’d be interested.
Doodling some stuff from the last CKTC chapter cuz I had so many vivid ideas of how stuff looked hghbb
PLUS THIS BASTARD WHO IVE HAD DESIGNED FOR MONTHS
Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 12: Curiousity Killed the Cat
Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read CKTC | Read The Magnificent Series | Read Glitched Mind
Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost
The 5 of them fall into a well decorated dark parlor- shelves of the wall lined with trinkets and crystal balls and big heavy tomes. There’s a sitting area made of plush chairs and ornate tables. It almost looks like the place you get your fortune read. But they aren’t alone.
Before them stands a tan skinned man in a pinkish shirt and vest, black hair slicked back and red eyes. He’s holding an ornate crystal ball scepter in his hand, the end held by what looks like dragon’s claws. He’s dressed like a magician almost.
And next to him… floating and glitching ever so slightly, is a brown haired man in all black. His neck is slit, dripping blood. He has black sclera with green and blue glowing irises. Both him and the red clad man blink at them in confusion. Then, the glitch that shares Alt’s face gives them a wide fanged grin.
“Well- isn’t this i̵n̵t̴e̴r̶e̴s̷t̸i̷n̴g̵?”
The other man makes a face, “…you all are dripping water on my carpet…”
Jackie scrambles to his feet first, looking at the glitching man with narrowed eyes. “…Anti.” It’s not a question. He knows for sure. This guy is the closest Anti to his that he’s seen yet. But—that grin. He’s seen smiles like that before, and he doesn’t like that this guy has one. It sends chills along his skin.
“Anti?” Schneep repeats. The static—the tone of voice—his instincts are immediately screaming danger. As he gets up, he reaches behind his back and grabs his scissors, keeping them hidden. Huh? Wait a second—these two in the room. There’s something strange about their souls. Something he can’t quite place.
JJ looks up in confusion. Where are they? Some sort of parlor? Looks like a magic place if he’s ever seen one. He looks down at himself and gasps as he sees that part of his chest is still glowing blue and translucent. It’s a bit more disturbing to him in human form, so he quickly takes off the bracelet and stuffs it in his pocket, reverting back to full human.
Alt gasps at seeing Anti’s face and glitches back, ripping his bracelet off so he appears back in his clothes, dry. He looks a bit scared at first-seeing that grin.
Bro hurries to his feet and takes off his bracelet- appearing back in his sleeveless super suit. He stands in front of the others and bares his teeth, glaring at the two men.
Anti laughs, grinning wide, “Ah so you all know me! Glad my reputation precedes me~”
“Anti- the hell is happening?” The other man says with a dry expression. “Was this your idea of a prank? Call me in for a discussion only to glitch in your other figments soaking wet and… the hell is wrong with them?”
“Nope, Smokey-“
“I really wish you wouldn’t call me that-“
“Don’t know what the fuck is going on but I wanna find out!” Anti laughs and glitches to be on front of everyone, floating in the air like someone lounging on a bed, hands tucked under his chin. “You aren’t my egos- you’re all… messed up. Different universes I guess? Figures- Jack’s fans are never fucking satisfied are they?”
“The fuck are you talking about?” Jackie mutters. “Figments? Egos? Jack’s fans?” He’s confused as all hell, but seeing the others take off their bracelets and get their clothes back, he does the same. Once his hoodie reappears on him he checks the pocket—yep, somehow his staff is still inside. He’s not going to question it. His gaze darts around, counting the exits.
"ohhh you don't know do you~?" Anti grins even bigger, "Oh... that'll make this so much more fun~"
JJ frowns. Messed up? That’s not very kind, is it? Jackie nudges him. He gets the feeling this Anti doesn’t care about kindness.
Anti laughs at JJ and shakes his head, "I'm just saying the truth! You all are all mixed up from how you're supposed to be."
Schneep pulls off his bracelet as well, even appearing back in his sweater… but not his coat- weird. “Who are you, then, if this is Anti?” He asks, turning to the stranger in the room. “Some sort of… magician?” He’s only vaguely guessing based on the power he senses in the man’s soul.
The other man scoffs and then bows to the others, "The name is Phantom, gentleman. Pleasure to meet you all~"
“Phantom…?” Jackie repeats, eyes narrowing. He’s heard that name before. His Jameson once mentioned him as an old friend who lives in America. And he doesn’t trust anyone who his Jameson would refer to that way.
Phantom then straightens and rotates his staff in-between his fingers. "Well Anti... I am quite disappointed our discussion was interrupted but I have a feeling a deal with me is uh- not the thing on your mind now."
Anti grins more and glitches around to look at everyone, invading their space and studying them. He tries to lift up Alt's arm and Alt glitches back with wide eyes. "D-Don't touch me!" Anti's eyes widen and he laughs madly, "Ohhh you're like me~?"
JJ steps in front of Alt, blocking him off from Anti. A blue shield flickers into place. He glances around the room. Time to go, I think!
“Probably for the best!” Schneep agrees. “Door?”
“This way!” Jackie grabs Schneep and heads for the room’s door.
Anti blinks in surprise at Jameson’s magic but then grins wide and laughs, “oh not so fast! You fucks ain’t going nowhere~!” He snaps and a red null sign appears in front of the door in a glitch and sends those going for it flying back. “We need to get to know each other, gentlemen~! I’m so curious about your stories!”
Alt is panicking a bit, staring at Anti with wide eyes. The way this guy is talking is freaking him the fuck out-
"What the fuck?!" Jackie shouts, getting back to his feet quickly. He pulls out the staff, quickly snapping it to its full length. "Let us go you bitch!"
Schneep gets up and walks towards the door, feeling out what's blocked it.
“Anti, please don’t destroy my shop.” Phantom sighs. Behind the two of them seems to be a curtained off area, presumably towards the back of the shop.
Bro tries to stand in front of the others and gets into a fighting stance, eyes glowing blue silver. “Fuck off, bitch! We don’t want to be around a fucker like you!”
JJ's head also snaps to the door. Shit! There has to be some other way out of here! He rushes for the curtained area, gesturing for the others to follow him.
Alt grabs Bro and quickly glitches after JJ. Bro shouts as he's pulled but starts to run with them. Jackie pulls Schneep after the others.
"Hey! That area is off limits!" Phantom shouts.
The area behind the curtain is definitely a backroom area- not nearly as decorated and full of cleaning supplies and a private room of sorts. Tons of doors line the hallway and a fire exit is near the back.
JJ’s head turns on a swivel. There! He points to the fire exit. The group runs towards it.
"Don't just yell at them, demon bitch!" Anti laughs, "Help me out! Don't tell me you're not curious too~”
Phantom is silent for a moment before he sighs and then whips out his cane. Red smoke starts to dart after the boys, filling up the hallway as they run.
As the smoke curls around them, a sultry song-like voice whispers in their ears that they should stay. What are you afraid of, gentleman? Let's stay and chat~ you're jumping to conclusions a bit fast aren't you?
JJ coughs in surprise, trying to cover his mouth with his shirt. But as he hears the voice, he slows a bit. Maybe… maybe they’re wrong? This is a different world. They shouldn’t make assumptions.
Jackie also slows. He glances back towards Anti and Phantom. Is this a mistake? After all, his own Anti acts scary a lot. He shouldn’t judge this one on being a little creepy. And did he really hear Jameson mention Phantom, or is he making that up?
“What the fuck are you all doing?!” Schneep shouts as he feels everyone slow and stop. “The man sending weird smoke everywhere is not someone to listen to!” He can feel that smoke against his skin. It reminds him of that SCLERA place. He pushes Jackie, trying to get him to move again.
Alt and Bro slow and Bro blinks sleepily against the smoke, a red glint appearing in his eyes as he stops. "..m-maybe we're assuming too much..."
Alt grip at his head, trying to blink back the smoke. "..s-something's not right here..."
“Are you all fucking insane?!” Schneep shouts as he hears Alt and Bro say that shit. “Yes something is not right—he’s probably fucking drugging us again!” He surges to the front of the group, grabbing Bro and Alt and trying to pull them towards the exit.
Anti glitches over and floats about the others, giggling. "C'mon gents! Don't be lil bitches- I Just wanna chat~! Like- learn where you're frommm and why you're the way you areee? That wont be so bad, right?"
JJ looks back at Anti, tilting his head, frowning vaguely. He doesn’t like the way he’s saying it, but… maybe he’s right, maybe talking wouldn’t be so bad?
“Don’t call me a bitch,” Jackie mumbles, shaking his head dazedly. Why does he feel so odd?
Phantom walks out to block the others from leaving, watching them curiously.
Schneep glares in Phantom’s direction. He pulls out his scissors. “Get the fuck out of the way or I swear I will cut you out of the way!”
Phantom giggles and pushes the scissors back with his cane. "Is that so? You don't scare me, Henrik... don't know where this surge of courage came from, but I'm sure it's short-lived."
"Nah Nah Phan- they look like ours but they're not at all! I feel it- outside creators’ spheres here. Completely different creators actually-" He flips on his stomach in the air and grins hungrily. "Which makes them even more fascinating. If you don't mind actually Phantom. I think I'll keep them all~ or... maybe just the weird Henrik and- bizzaro me. Coward me-"
"Hey! Lay off of him!" Bro growls, snapping a bit out of the smoke.
"The fuck are you talking about?" Jackie mutters, a sort of dreadful curiosity filling his chest. "Creators? Like—what, God? Is God real in this universe?"
Phantom chuckles, "I am interested in the magic I feel here... maybe I could take the Jameson?" The smoke seems to wrap around JJ, like a gentle tendril caressing him around the shoulders. "Don't that sound fun, Jameson~?"
JJ shivers slightly, waving a hand through the smoke. Anxiety shoots through his heart, briefly shaking him out of this, and he conjures up a faint shield, like brittle ice.
Schneep is starting to panic. He's not sure what's happening but he can tell that this is a bad situation they're caught in. And so, he acts desperately—throwing his scissors right at this Phantom.
Phantom yells and grips at his shoulder as the scissors sink in. He staggers back against the door.
"Alright! That settles it! I like your spunk~!" Anti giggles and goes to grab Schneep by the wrist. "Yer coming with me~"
Glitches start to build up around him and Alt notices this and yells out, "NO!" And glitches over to try to catch them- then the 3 of them disappear in a flurry of glitches.
“ALT!” Bro yells, trying to reach them, but he’s not fast enough. Phantom giggles and Bro glares over at him. Fuck… they took Schneep and his brother!
JJ staggers back, shocked at everything that just happened, staring at the spot where they all disappeared.
Jackie cries out. He lunges for Anti and Schneep as well, but he's too slow. He staggers to a stop. Panic has broken through the soft haze of the smoke and he spins to Phantom, eyes alight. "You—you're working with this Anti, aren't you?" His grip tightens on his staff and he lunges forward, grabbing Phantom by the shirt. "Where did they go? Where did he take them?!"
Phantom holds up his hands and grins, "Oh me? No. We were supposed to have a civil discussion about a possible alliance- but then you all showed up. So... I have no idea where they went or what he wants to do with them. He's far more... chaotic then I am." His expression falls to something more neutral and cold as he cocks his head at Jackie, his eyes glowing red. "So, Jackieboy. I suggest you let me go unless you want me to erase that tiny brain of yours."
Jackie growls, but lets go. He doesn't know if Phantom is telling the truth, but he believes the threat, and isn't too keen on getting his mind fucked again.
We must find them! JJ says. There has to be a way to track them down somehow— Then he suddenly gasps and hits his forehead. I know tracking spells! I could have tracked them down in the previous world! Stupid, stupid! He shakes his head. But my best tracking spells need something of the person's.
Jackie glances back at Phantom. "I mean—Schneep did just throw his scissors at him."
“Oh- so you’re a proper magician are you, Mr. Jackson?” Phantom practically purrs, stalking closer. “If you all are so desperate to find your friends… I can be of assistance.”
"Noooononono, we're not that desperate," Jackie says, standing in front of JJ protectively. "I know your type. We are never gonna be that desperate."
“W-We still have Schneep’s coat dont we?” Bro says quietly.
JJ opens up the bag hanging from his shoulder, looking inside. He nods, pulling out a lump of wet, black fabric and then quickly putting it back. His cape is in there, too, but the coat is more important. He whispers the command under his voice, eyes glowing blue. A whispy trail of blue magic appears.
“Come now Jackie let’s be reasonable…” Phantom coos. The smoke starts to curl around their feet again. “You all are in an unfamiliar place… clearly out of your depths. You need someone who understands what you’re dealing with… and I can be that.”
Bro tries to grab onto Jackie and JJ and pull them back, towards the front parlor again.
JJ’s spell seems to work for a second… but then it glitches and disappears before it can get too far. They might not be in a place that’s detectable.
Jameson's eyes widen. Jackie notices the trail disappear. "That's not good, is it?" he mutters.
No, JJ says. The last time tracking spells didn't work, the person I was looking for was in a strange pocket dimension.
"Well... fuck. I hope that's not the case now." Jackie frowns. He looks back at Phantom, acknowledging his words. "Uh—no. Fuck off, and no." He lets Bro pull him back towards the parlor. JJ does as well. Jackie lowers his voice and whispers to Bro. "I think we should get out fast, he's probably not gonna like our reactions."
Bro nods, gripping a bit harder on JJ.
Phantom’s eyes narrow and he bares his teeth. “Fine. Then, we’ll do this the hard way.” He points his scepter at them and tries to wrap up JJ in his smoke- the red tendril becoming surprisingly solid.
JJ yelps as the smoke twists around him, feeling himself yanked forward. "JJ!" Jackie shouts, grabbing him and trying to pull him back with Bro's help. Bro grabs on too and together they try to fight against the pull of the smoke. And the hold snaps and JJ starts to fall back against his friends.
Phantom’s eyes light up with red and he blasts a big red cloud of smoke- so thick and powerful it separates the others away from each other, blasting Jackie and Bro away.
He then slinks towards JJ, going to grab his arms from behind and yank them down and he sings sweetly in his ear. “Now now Jameson… let’s talk… I’m not your enemy. I want to help you find your potential~! I can make you stronger than you’ve ever been before.” He brings his arm out and moves to touch his palm. JJ feels a surge of energy within him. The smoke sings siren songs in his ears. Phantom has the answers, the way to make him stronger. He just needs to listen…
“JJ!” Bro tries to shout through the smoke, trying to brush it away. Why is it hard to hear stuff now too? It’s like- strange music is filling his ears. “J-Jackie!”
JJ struggles against Phantom's hold--at first. But the longer the song plays, the more he starts to relax. Find his potential...? Make him stronger? Maybe... maybe if he was stronger, he'd be able to protect his friends better. Maybe... if he listened... Phantom really could help? His eyes glaze over a bit as he tilts his head, listening to what Phantom says.
"Jameson!" Jackie shouts, getting to his feet. "Jameson!" He rushes forward—this is just smoke, right?! He can get through it!
The smoke is easy to get through sure, but it keeps trying to force Jackie and Bro back, keeping them away. “Jameson!! D-Don’t listen!!” Bro cries out.
"F-fuck!" Jackie stumbles back. Is this smoke alive?! "Jameson! Jameson!"
“That’s it… good… I can help, Jameson… I can fulfill all your dreams… I can see them. You want to get home to your Marvin, don’t you? Just stick with me and we can get you home…” Phantom sings. A piece of paper unfurls in front of JJ and a feather pen appears next to it. The smoke whispers he should sign.
JJ starts to reach out... then hesitates. This--this doesn't feel right. There are faint alarm bells ringing in his mind, muffled, but there. He... shouldn't do this, should he? He... shouldn't... it's... hard to think through the fog... this fog. He doesn't like it. Yet his hand starts moving again against his will. No—no he doesn't want this! But the song is so sweet. So enticing.
But… there’s something else underneath the siren song. A… a feeling that is familiar but foreign all at once. A spark- something he can grab to help him get free. He’s not going to let himself be controlled anymore, right? This is his way to fight back. This burning hot ball of magic welling inside him- coming to his aid.
Yes--that magic. It's the only way out of this! He closes his eyes and reaches down for it, grabbing hold of that spark of magic and bringing it up to the surface—
A bolt of red magic shoots from his hands, tearing through the paper.
This momentarily wounds Phantom as he cries out in pain and lets Jameson go, falling to his knees. “W-What the hell?!”
The red bolt of magic shoots through the fog, nearly hitting Jackie and Bro and sails through the curtained area, crashing into a window in the front parlor. The smoke clears a bit- making it easier to see the shapes of JJ and Phantom in the smoke.
"Jameson!" Jackie shouts, trying to run forward again, reaching forward.
JJ looks towards the shout. Yes—they have to get out of here! And—and they have to make sure that this Phantom can't follow them. Maybe—maybe he can stop him. He has to stop him. As JJ rushes for Jackie and Bro through the smoke, he spins around and sends out a spray of red magic, sharp like shards of ice.
Phantom doesn’t even have the chance to get up before some of the ice shards shred into his arm and hand, making him crash to the floor.
Bro rushes forward to grab JJ and Jackie then rushes them towards the front parlor again- muttering to himself “gotta run run run run-!”
They burst through the now unblocked front entry and out in the street. And nearly run into two very familiar faces-
A green blue shield gets put in front of them to stop them from colliding. And the boys see a green haired man in a red jumpsuit with blue boots and gloves and a magician in a white cat mask, half his hair green and the rest of his long wavy brown hair pulled up into a ponytail.
“…what the fuck?!” The red clad hero gasps. The magician just stares with wide eyes, dumbfounded.
Jackie starts to shout in surprise, but the sound won't come out. What the—this man—he looks like him, but—this is the first version of him he'd seen who looks like—like a hero. The ground beneath him feels like it's tilting.
Bro gasps slightly at seeing them too- then looks briefly at Jackie.
JJ looks at the two of them with wide eyes. He glances back at the shop they'd come from, then back at these guys. Hi? he signs. Who are you?? He knows who they are. But still.
The hero blinks slowly- caught staring at his double and the magician coughs and then nudges him in the side. The hero straightens up, “oh uh- i'm Jackieboy Man! And this is is uh-“
“Marvin the Magnificent,” The magician smiles shyly. He drops his shield and looks at the lingering smoke coming from Phantom’s parlor. “Guessing you were about to be lured in by that bitch huh?”
JJ laughs drily and shakes his head. No, but he gave it his best shot.
“Y-Yeah we heard this crash on patrol and came to check it out! Course it was fucking Phantom again.” Jackieboy says, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. He then eyes the the others again and points between them. “…who’re you guys? Cuz… you look like… people we know.”
"R-right—of course we do," Jackie says. "Uh—yeah—w-we probably do. Uh. This is gonna sound insane. But—we probably... are you and your friends. But from another universe."
Jackieboy and Marvin’s eyes widen.
“…t-that’s insane.” Jackieboy stammers.
“…not entirely? I mean… I’ve read and heard theories but-“ Marvin tries to argue.
“Theories are different!! Theories are not standing here in front of us also looking like Jack!” Jackieboy screeches, pointing his hands at their direction. “H-How do you know that you’re not just… new egos Jack made that think you’re from another universe?”
“Jack can’t do that right now, Jackie!”
“Shush up! It makes more sense than whatever the hell is happening here!!”
“Uh… I’m very lost-“ Bro says.
"What the fuck do you mean egos?" Jackie asks. "That crazy Anti back there called us the same thing! And what does this have to do with Jack? What kind of weird fucking bullshit goes on with your world's Jack?"
Marvin stiffens a bit. “…A-Anti was here..?”
“Y-Yeah he took our friends away!” Bro says. “Dunno know why but- we need to find them!”
Would it help if we told you our names? JJ asks.
"Right, yeah." Jackie nods. "I'm Jackie. Jackie Parker. And this is Chase Brody and Jameson Jackson."
Bro waves a bit at his name.
Is your Jack okay? JJ asks, concerned.
Marvin and Jackieboy look even more freaked out at hearing their names.
Finally Marvin says, “L-Let’s get out of the open… then we can explain.”
"Explanations would be appreciated," Jackie mutters.
“Hideout?” Jackieboy asks.
Marvin shakes his head, “No we… let’s go to Chase’s office-“ he eyes Bro, “H-He’s gonna wanna see this… plus Anti won’t look there right away… hopefully.”
Let's go quickly, then, JJ says.
Marvin waves his hands in a quick motion and everyone glows green before disappearing in a wave of colored smoke.
=========
Alt and Schneep land on the dirty ground of a dingy room, floor and walls made of metal. TVs and monitors of all different sizes are stacked up in the corners, wires littering the ground in jumbled messes. Some of the TVs buzz with static but most are turned off. One monitor is actually hooked up to a computer- a computer at a desk playing videos of a YouTuber with a really loud yell and Irish accent. A green and black chair sits in front of it and a pair of headphones sits on the desk.
Anti just floats in the air, laughing, “Damn! That was a rush! Ha! Hadn’t had this much excitement in a while~!”
Alt shudders as he looks around the room- god… this reminds him of his old apartment…
Schneep gets to his feet carefully, taking note of all the wires on the ground. He hears static and the video playing—he turns towards the computer and frowns. Are those some of Jack's old videos? Is he a YouTuber in this world, too?
He quickly grabs his cane and starts feeling things out, mapping out the tripping hazards caused by the wires and the placement of the junk in the corners. This Anti probably isn't going to leave them alone for long, he has to get his bearings while he can. "Alt?" he calls. "Are you alright?"
“Y-Yeah I’m fine-“ Alt mutters, glitching to his feet.
Anti watches Schneep in amusement. “Wow Doc- you sure are taking being teleported to a pocket dimension in stride. Figured you’d be shitting your pants, considering you’re blind as a bat.”
Schneep rolls his eyes. "How crude of you," he mutters.
“Hey! leave him alone!” Alt shouts.
Anti grins and glitches to be in front of Alt, “Oh! Pussy me wants to speak up? Never thought I’d see someone with my face who’s such a fucking coward-“
“I-I’m not-“ Alt stammers, narrowing his eyes as they flash green.
“Couldn’t fool me, pipsqueak.”
"Alt, he is trying to get under your skin," Schneep says, grabbing onto Alt's arm. "Do not let him. We have to get out of here." He backs away again, searching for the door to this room. There has to be one. But—as he checks the fourth wall, he doesn't find any sign of one. No indent in the wall or difference of material. His eyes widen slightly. Is there—no door at all? Anti said this was a pocket dimension—it wouldn't need a door, or any entrance, would it? Fuck. Fuck.
Alt yelps a bit as he’s grabbed- letting Schneep lead him around. He seems to realize their problem at the same time. “…shit…”
Anti giggles and goes to sit down on the highest point of his TV pile. “You guys are so naive it’s almost adorable! If you want I could make you a place to run through. Like a couple of trapped rats~ mmmm I’ll save that as an option for if you bore me.”
“W-What do you want with us?” Alt growls.
“Well- didn’t wanna deal with you necessarily, pussy me-“
“My name is Alt!” Alt bites back. Anti repeats what he said in a mocking tone. Then- the lights in room change red and Anti appears in front of Alt and grabs him by the shirt. His eyes are pitch black with white pinpricks of light within. “I don’t get a flying fuck what you are, kid. You are nothing compared to me.”
Schneep shivers slightly. He's really not liking this Anti. He's bringing up bad memories—if he was a bit less smug and a bit more spiteful, he'd be just like the Anti he dealt with in his own world. But he can't show how much he's getting to him.
Alt trembles in Anti’s grip before there’s the sound of a snap and Alt is dropped. Then in a blink it’s like none of that happened. Except for Anti’s smug smirk. “Anyhoo- I wanted to see what managed to crack the doctor so much that he became a glitch. That takes a lot of fuckery~”
Schneep's eyes widen as he feels his stomach drop. "E-excuse me? I'm a what? I—I know that the jumping I do can be called glitching, but—I-I am not a 'glitch'. I am a human!"
Alt looks at Schneep with wide eyes too.
Anti shrugs. “So’s your buddy. Yer both glitches though. Either means you can glitch yourself or you’re a glitch from your world- something that has broken the boundaries that were set in place for you. You broke those, somehow, Schneeple. I wanna know how~”
"I—I-I—" Schneep shakes his head slowly. "Jack told me that there was—was something different with my soul since the—but—I-I don't know what... could have... caused it..." He trails off as a couple pieces fall into place. The Nightmare. The difference had appeared after he'd been rescued from the Nightmare pocket dimension. But—that still didn't explain how. Other souls had been trapped in that realm of fear before, surely if they all became glitches that would have been recorded somewhere. Why would he be different? His grip tightens on Alt's arm.
Anti grins, “I think you’re lying, Henrik. You have some inkling don’t you?” He giggles.
Alt goes to hold onto Schneep’s hand and pulls them back. “L-leave him alone…!”
"I-I—look, it would mean nothing to you," Schneep stammers out. "I don't know if I am right, a-and I don't know how it happened. All I know is that when I woke up, I could do things—though it took me time to figure out how." He squeezes Alt's hand. "Why do you even want to know? Just curiousity?" He narrows his eyes. "I do not believe that is all."
Anti laughs and shakes his head, “Curiosity, sure that’s a factor. But, you got that keen mind that my Schneep has it seems~!” He glitches in front of Schneep and Alt, grinning from ear to ear. Alt tries to push Schneep behind him. “I’ve had this… experiment I’ve tried. Didn’t really pan out that well. But- I’m wondering how’d well it will work if someone was already a glitch.”
Schneep, in turn, tries pushing Alt behind him the moment he hears the world experiment. "What have you done?" he mutters. "What are you planning to do?" He pulls out his scissors again—a new pair, unstained by blood. He has to protect Alt. This Anti seems to be underestimating him, maybe Alt can strike back when he least expects it. But he can't do that if he gets hurt. Besides—Alt has already been through so much. Especially in the last world. He doesn't want him to get hurt further.
Alt shudders and does hide behind Schneep now, feeling like he can’t breathe.
Anti laughs madly, the static behind him on the screens increasing to a fever pitch. “I found a fun new way to make some puppets! Puppets who are just as sane as me~! Know how to have as much fun as me… have as much potential as me. Especially if they’re already breaking rules like you are, Henrik~”
"You do not seem all that sane to me," Schneep mutters, trying to hide his instinctual fear at the sound of the static. "And trust me, I would know. I've met someone just as mad as you are, though in a different way. He was not able to break me. I am not scared of you." He raises his scissors defensively. "Stay away from us."
“There’s only so much sanity you can have in a world like this… connected to the mind of the person who made you. Forbidden to leave- forbidden to change. Static to their whims.” Anti giggles. “So- I make my fun where I can~!” He only gets closer, grabbing the scissors and holding them against his neck wound. “I don’t want you to be scared of me, Schneep~! I want you to join me.”
Schneeps eyes widen slightly. What is he—
He yanks the scissors from Schneep’s grip then tries to slash at his arm.
And then Anti moves, fast, impossibly fast, and Schneep shrieks as the blades of his own weapon slash across his arm. He staggers backwards, other arm extended protectively over Alt as his other one bends, pressed close to his chest. "Y-you really are insane!" he gasps out. "I will never join you!" He backs up, pushing Alt back. "Is there somewhere you can glitch to safety?" he whispers to him.
Alt trembles, knowing he’s not the target but feeling his heart pumping fast in panic. He tries to concentrate and then gasps out to Schneep, “I-I can’t… I can’t glitch out of this room- I-I’m cut off!”
Anti laughs madly and tries to grab Schneep to drag him away. “Your bond is cute and all but let’s get to the main event!”
As soon as Anti grabs onto him, Schneep spins around and whacks him in the side of the head with his cane. "Get your fucking hands off me!"
“Ow! Jesus Christ! what are you, an old man?!” Anti grumbles.
“S-Schneep see if you can get out of here!” Alt calls.
“Oh no you don’t-!” Anti bites as he tries to grab Schneep again.
Schneep's body starts to fizzle with its strange slashing glitches—but Anti moves fast, holding onto him and breaking Schneep's concentration. Schneep yelps and immediately starts to struggle, putting all his effort into the fight, kicking and headbutting wildly.
“Just calm down Henrik… it’s all gonna be okay~” Anti says- ignoring the kicking and dodging his head. But, he does make Anti wince slightly. He grabs the arm that he slashed through and digs his claws in, pushing his glitches into Schneep’s skin through the opening. It feels awful- painful and burning and invading every inch of his body. Usually Anti eases his victims into this with hypnosis but hard to do that with a blind guy. Would his power give him sight back? Hm… he’s so curious to find out.
Schneep screams—he can't help it, it hurts, agony like fire in his bloodstream.
“Henrik!” Alt screams as Schneep does, wanting to run and help but Anti shoots out a hand and sends him flying back before he can. Alt knocks into a couple monitors in an electric heap.
The glitches are swarming across Schneep’s skin, rising up his neck and gathering around his mind. Sinking in and starting to rewrite things. He wants to fight for Anti- he wants to cause pain and destruction and chaos. He’s spent so long being the victim- now he’ll make others suffer the way he has. It’s only fair- it’s what he’s hungry for.
"N-no!" Schneep gasps out. "N-nein, Ich werde nicht—" He shakes his head, trying to fight back the violent impulses. But--isn't it right? Isn't there something fun about hacking and slashing indiscriminately? Doesn't part of him want that? "No!" he shrieks. "Let me—L-let—L-lass mich gehen! Bitte!" His eyes dart around randomly as he struggles, irises going back and forth.
He's been hurt so much, wouldn't it be good to be on the other side for once? Wouldn't it be exciting? Wouldn't it be what he craves? He shakes slightly, trying to remind himself that this isn't right at all—he doesn't want to be—to be—what doesn't he want to be? He can't—remember—The bloodlust is almost overwhelming, the need for destruction and chaos. A strange, mad laugh escapes his throat, but he screams and tries to push it back down. "R-run," he gasps out. "Run, run, r—" Another laugh, the scleras of his eyes turning black and then filling in with static. The white noise—it's in his blood—and it feels good. Like lightning in his veins.
Anti laughs and let’s go of Schneep, letting him fall to the ground. “How you feeling, Hen~?” He grins, kneeling down next to him. “Ready to go a little crazy?”
Schneep twitches on the floor. He laughs again, a strange, unhinged sound that doesn't sound right coming out of his mouth. He pushes himself up, arms trembling slightly. The scleras of his eyes are all static, occasionally fuzzing into his glowing turquoise irises. Black lines and bars fizzle around him. "Y-yes," he breathes. "Y-yes, I want to—I-I want to—" Another laugh. He's not looking directly at Anti, darting eyes still unseeing. But he reaches a hand out and the air sharpens for a moment, like the second before lightning strikes, and the electricity bounces off the surroundings, giving him a perfect awareness of where everything is.
“Woah!” Anti glitches back as the electricity bounces around but then he grins. “Ain’t that handy?”
Alt staggers and pushes himself up and then gasps as he sees Schneep, “H-Hen…?” He whispers in fear, trembling so hard it’s hard to get back to his feet. “W-what did you do to him?!”
Anti just laughs, “I got him on my side! Now he’ll wanna have some fun, right, Schneep? Why don’t you show pussy me just how much you can have?”
“S-Schneep d-don’t-!” Alt voice cracks, “Y-you gotta wake up! You gotta fight this!”
Schneep gets to his feet, staggering a little, giggling. "Of c-course Anti," he says. And suddenly he leaps over to Alt, stopping right in front of him. He grabs onto Alt's upper arms, nails digging into his skin. "C-come on, Alt. L-let's have f-fun together." He grins manically and tries to shove him to the ground.
Alt yells out in surprise and doesn’t even think to glitch away before he’s shoved to the ground. He grits his teeth and glitches back up, staring Schneep down. “I-I don’t want to fight you, Schneep!
"B-but why not? That would be so great!" Schneep laughs. He grabs his scissors again and lunges forward, slashing with the blades open.
Alt yelps as he tries to dodge and gets cut across his cheek. He stumbles back and holds it, glitching in distress. “Because you’re my friend! A-And this isn’t you!”
"I think th-this is more me th-than anything!" Schneep laughs. He leaps forward again, grabbing onto one of Alt's arms. "C-cannot friends fight each other sometimes? I-it's not as f-fun if you do not f-fight back." He grins and slashes again.
Alt struggles as he’s grabbed, “H-Henrik stop!” He just manages to glitch out of the way of the next slash and growls out, “I’m not gonna fight my blind friend! I don’t wanna hurt you!”
“Mmm love the drama here~” Anti giggles, sitting back on top of his TV perch. “You gonna let him look down on you like that, Schneeple?”
"I am worthy of a fight!" Schneep says, the smile fading from his face for the first time. "Y-you said that before—both of you, wh-when you came to my home. Do you not remember? H-here, I can remind you!" He leaps closer, aiming to tackle Alt to the ground.
“No Schneep that’s not what I-!” Alt tries to stammer out before he’s tackled painfully to the floor. He growls and his eyes spark with magic as he bites out. “Fine! Y-You wanna fight so bad? I’ll knock some fucking sense into you!” He tries to grab Schneep’s arm so he can shock him.
Schneep tenses, feeling the energy gather beneath Alt's skin—and then he leaps back again, out of Alt's reach. He laughs. "Yes! Yes! Do it! T-together!" He leaps forward again, driving the point of the scissors down.
Alt quickly tries to glitch up to his feet and tries to hold out a hand to make a shield but Schneep is too fast and stabs into his hand. Alt screams out and glitches away, clutching his hand. He bares his teeth in rage and then twitches his head to the right- causing some of the CRV TVs in Anti’s pile to get caught in his magic and then sail to throw Schneep off balance in a flurry of parts.
Schneep manages—incredibly—to dodge a couple of the screens but then one hits him square in the stomach, knocking the breath out of him and pushing him to the ground. He's stunned for a moment, and then laughs, pushing the TV to the side. "Exzellent!" he shouts. He picks up one of the loose wires from the floor and leaps behind Alt, pulling the wire around his neck from behind.
Alt doesn’t expect Schneep to get back up so quickly after that- so he doesn’t even see the wire coming until it’s around his neck. Then, he panics. Grabbing at the wire as his past flashes before his eyes- those thugs- the rope- the metal bar. The feeling of his neck being sliced open as he glitched for the first time. He chokes and scrambles to try to pull the wire away, eyes blown wide in fear.
Schneep laughs... but that laugher slowly fades. He can't see Alt's face, but he can feel the desperation in his movements. Desperation beyond just the struggle. Wait. No, this... isn't how he expected this to go. His grip on the wire loosens, allowing Alt to breathe. "A-Alt...?" he whispers.
Alt gasps for breath and then shoves his way away as best he can before he falls to his knees, trembling too much to keep upright. He lost his mask to the last world- so now he holds a hand over his neck scar and heaves in fear, hardly able to breathe.
Anti is quiet, watching this with muted interest.
"...Alt?" Schneep says again. He crouches down next to him, concern breaking through the static-filled eyes. "It... a-are you not... Wh-what happened? Is... things... fine?"
For a long beat Alt can’t look at Schneep, he can’t do anything but try his best to breathe. Eventually, He chokes on a quiet sob. “…m-my neck- d-don’t… don’t do that a-again… please-“
"O...okay..." Schneep whispers. "I-I am... s-sorry." He backs away slowly. "This... this i-isn't f-fun anymore. I... n-not like... th-that..."
Anti glitches back down, expression neutral. “…you still care about this one, huh?” He asks Schneep.
Schneep turns towards Anti again and blinks in surprise. "I-I-I... it's not..." For some reason, he feels a bit wary. Why? This is out of nowhere, isn't it? "It... is not... l-like that. I... just..." His eyes instinctively flick back in Alt's direction, though he remains facing Anti.
Alt shudders and tries to scoot away from the both of them, unable to stop his shaking, even as everything in him tells him to stop. Stop and run, stop and fight. But he can’t.
“Nah nah I hear it in your voice. Interesting…” Anti muses. He lashes out and grabs Alt by the neck and the smaller glitch gasps and struggles to pry himself free. “Hm… I can probably use this… but how..?” He grins at Alt, “Should I use you to keep ol’ Schneep in line? Seems like he doesn’t want you getting too hurt.” Alt just rasps out a terrified squeak as he desperately kicks and claws at Anti’s hand.
Schneep cries out. He reaches forward--but for some reason, can't get too close to Anti. "N-no, A-Anti, you d-do not need to hurt him, I—I-I don't understand—This—this isn't f-fun--"
“Relax Schneep. I’ll make this fun again~!” Anti giggles, “I’m just making sure we can all go on our fun adventure together~!” He then brings Alt to his face and growls low, “Without you getting in m̷͉̅y̵̹̍ ̴̲̄ẃ̴͚ä̵͚y.”Alt tries to speak but Anti grabs his hand- the one with the scissor wound and plunges his fingers in there. Alt screams-
The electronics in the room start to fizzle and flicker as Anti laughs and dissolves into static and pixels. Alt falls to his knees, retching as blood falls from one of his eyes and his glitches become darker and more red. He coughs up blackish blood as the sclera on his right eye turns black. He shakily feels the scar on his neck spilt open like it’s a fresh wound. At first Alt is still panicking, not sure what to do or how to act and then-
His panic stops. His breathing evens- the electronics stop flaring. And Alt giggles. He shakily pushes himself up and trips over himself slightly before wiping the blood off his face and smirking. “Heh… now we can have some f̶̔̽ṵ̸̌n̴̫͠.”
Schneep staggers back at first, watching, his newfound joy for chaos warring with his concern for Alt. He half-reaches out, but doesn't move beyond that.
But then Alt gets up again. And—it's Anti, too. He can sense their souls, one on top of the other. He blinks... then grins. "W-we can have some fun?" He laughs, the static in his eyes eating at the edge of his irises. "W-we can go have some fun? Oh yes, yes! C-can we go now? Can we go now, A-Anti?" He laughs again. They're both going to love this, he just knows it!
Alt laughs a bit more and looks down at his hands. He seems a bit unstable, "Oof- gotta get used to being more physical... jesus he really is human, huh?" Then he grins at Schneep and giggles, "Yes, Schneeple~ Let's go find your other friends and have some more fun, hm?" He goes to grab Schneep and with a snap of his fingers- the two of them disappear in a flurry of glitches.
Drew a scene from my latest chapter of Curiosity Killed the Cat! I’ve had this scene imagined for YEARS so it feels so good to finally have it realized!!
Curiosity Killed the Cat with return later this week!!
Brand new chapter releasing soon!! Chapter 12: The Grand Finale!
Catch up on previous chapters here!
Curiosity Killed the Cat: Chapter 13
A Magnificent Encore Chapter 12 | Masterpost | AO3 Link
(AN: I can't believe I'm finally finishing this after 5 years- and one such a momentous fandom day! Did not expect that happen GVJBH but!! It feels so freaking surreal! i hope you guys have enjoyed this journey as much as I have! Look forward to one last chapter! Also parts of this that i wrote literally yesterday have been confirmed for marvin's backstory in the comics so?? I WINNNN!!!)
Marvin was trapped in a dream. Or… more like a memory. Guess this was like dying for real…. His life flashing before his eyes. That thought always scared him but… not now.
He searched through the haze- finding something to latch onto. A memory that reminded him over and over of what he was fighting for. Maybe… it could bring him comfort… one last time.
Even if this now felt like it was a different life…
Marvin was running, glancing behind him as a group of hooded figures gave chase. Blasts of magic tried to grab at him, pulling his tattered cape and clothes. To dodge the blasts he would shift and change into a small white cat, its back mimicking the look of his cape in black blotches of fur. The transitions looked as easy to him as breathing as he skidded and dodged the magic. But his chest burned, he couldn’t keep this up for long.
“Marvin the Magnificent! Stop this instant! You’re under arrest for stolen AIMC goods and using magic against AIMC guidelines!” One of the figures shouted with authority.
Marvin grit his teeth, “You got the wrong guy! I ain’t that asshole! Leave me alone!” ….Guess the splashes of paint he threw on his signature mask weren’t enough to throw them off…
“C’mon Marvin don’t do this!” Another figure pleaded, “We can help you! You don’t have to keep doing this! Running away isn’t gonna fix any of this!”
Marvin’s chest ached. That voice was familiar… a friend. Someone who tried to help him get on his feet after killing Phantom. But, even after joining the circle… he never felt like he could belong. Even though he was magic like them- he was far too different. They could never understand the pain of being a figment.
Of being human, but not at all. Of being solid, being able to live on his own. But constantly feeling like that could be taken away from him at any minute. Of trying to find out who he was, but never fully being able to know. Not unless he fell to the whims of a creator that had done nothing but abandon him in this dark and confusing world.
He could never go back… he’s heard nothing from his so-called creator since his hastily given name. Why go back to someone who doesn’t even care?
And besides… creators, family, friends… they all meant nothing, in the end. His last friend tried to steal his soul, after all.
The books he stole were weighing him down. But he was determined to not get caught. It had been a hard time trying to get out of their sights… he was exhausted, tired, filthy. He hardly even looked like he did when he was first made anymore. His beard was ragged, the green in his hair overgrown and faded.
But still, he was stubborn and determined. He had to get away…
To do… what exactly? He wasn’t sure. He just knew that he couldn’t stay with others. They’d only hurt him in the end… or he’d wind up hurting them.
He allowed himself to screech to a stop, then skid to face the charging magicians. He yelled out and held out both his hands, charging magic and then firing out a wall of blue-green flames to cut them off. The hooded figures all scrambled to stop before hitting the flames. Marvin caught the eye of his former friend, their face pleading under the shadow of their hood.
Marvin bared his teeth ferally, “Marvin the Magnificent doesn’t exist anymore! And if you continue to chase me, I’ll make you disappear too.”
Then, Marvin’s speech gets cut off as he’s suddenly grabbed from behind by his hood, dangling in the air like a kitten caught by its scruff.
“Okay hey now- enough of that!” A light voice seemed to joke, but he also had a type of power behind his charismatic tone.
One of the magicians gasped as they looked at the new figure. “J-Jackieboy Man!”
Marvin’s blood went cold and he paled. He… knew that name. It was one of the other figments Jack made. That- that hero guy. The first one.
Fucking shit! His heart was racing with panic- he didn’t want to be brought back to Jack! He was sure he’d gone way off the path of whatever joke Jack made him for. Going back… what if Jack decided he was too wild to keep around? Too dangerous?
He wouldn’t let himself fade- he wouldn’t become like Phantom!
Acting quickly, Marvin shifted into cat form and wriggled out of the hero’s grip. Jackieboy yelped and tried to grab the cat, only for Marvin to hiss and swat at his face, claws catching flesh. Jackieboy hissed through his teeth and stumbled back.
Marvin trembled back on shaky legs then ran as fast as those little legs could take him. He was bound to outrun the hero being this small!
Jackieboy shouted after him. “Hey wait!”
The shopping center they were running through was almost empty where he left the hero and magicians. But now the disguised figment could hear the roar of the crowd ahead. He surged forward as fast as he could, determined if he could reach them he could lose the hero for good.
But, he knew nothing of what Jack blessed the other figments with. With a burst of speed, Jackie had leaped into the air, then landed in front of Marvin, eyes glowing silver-blue.
The hero wiped at the blood on his face. “…that wasn’t very nice, you know.”
Marvin hissed, the card symbols on his forward glowing with magic. At this sight, Jackie’s eyes widened.
“Wait…! I… I know you- I’ve seen you! You’re… you’re one of us! …Marvin! Marvin, right?” The hero breathed, smiling brightly.
The cat trembled back and then shifted in a bit of light back into his human form. He glared at the hero and bared slightly fanged teeth. “…what of it? You here to turn me in?”
Jackieboy looked confused, “What? No! I mean- unless those magic guys were like… actually trying to arrest you for a crime…”
Marvin looked away, a distant flicker of guilt crossing his face.
The hero’s face fell. “…oh-“ He said quietly. But then he shook his head and tried to step forward, spreading out his hands. “But I mean… hey! We can… we can figure that out! It’s just… no one has heard hide or tail of you! You were all over the telly with your shows and then… you were just gone…”
Marvin looks at Jackieboy with a surprised expression, though he tried to keep himself guarded. … they… noticed that?
Jackie’s face creased in sympathy, “I don’t see Jack much… but I know he’s been worried. And- that means you haven’t even met the others yet! God dude… we’d all would love to meet you… we’ve heard so much about you! I used to watch your shows all the time!”
The magician-turned-thief’s guard lowered as he stared at Jackie in shock. Was… all of that true?
Though… new figments huh? His eyes darkened as he spat. “I see… Jack realized I was a failure and is already setting up replacements, Huh?”
The hero looked even more bewildered. “What?! No way that’s- that isn’t it at all! Dude, you needa take a massive chill pill!”
This made Marvin’s anger even stronger. Magic sparked around him as he growled out. “I can’t afford to ‘take a chill pill’! My life hasn’t been easy like yours, Hero! You have no idea what I’ve fucking been through, what darkness I’ve had to run from. Don’t you dare try to brush it off with your fucking jokes!”
There’s a beat of silence as Jackie just stares at Marvin.
“….damn- you’re like a massive edge lord-“ Jackie deadpans.
Marvin’s magic flickers for a second before coming back stronger. “What?! Did you- did you even listen to what I-?”
“Yeah- and it was like- straight out of the edge lord handbook, dude. Super cringe-“
The magician yells in rage and tries to throw a punch at Jackie. But, the hero just catches it and looks down at Marvin with a raised eyebrow. Marvin huffs and glares at Jackie, but he can easily see how exhausted this guy looks… and how scared.
Jackie laughs nervously and then lets Marvin go, anxiously messing with his hair. “Okay you’re right- not the time for jokes… just thought they’d- I dunno… help to make you a little less intense.”
Marvin’s lip rose in a tiny snarl, glaring daggers at the hero.
The red clad man sighs and rubs his neck. “Look- you’re right. I don’t know what you’ve been through. But… I do know- Jack wouldn’t want you out here… running and struggling to survive. And- I don’t want to see that either- I mean… in my head… all of us are pretty much… brothers, you know? I couldn’t let my lil bro suffer out here.”
Marvin felt his heart flutter, a warm feeling spreading. He tries to hide his surprise at Jackie’s gentleness.
But, the hero continues, attempting to step forward. “Listen man- whatever you’re going through… you don’t have to do it alone. It’s confusing and lonely out there- and… if you come with me- I can take you to see that you aren’t alone… all of us are dealing with being figments too.”
He slowly offered his hand to Marvin.
"Us figments gotta stick together, don't you think?" Jackie grinned down at him, his smile so kind it threatened to blind Marvin.
The magician looked at Jackie’s hand with hesitation. He’d been running for so long… could he actually have a second chance? A chance to try again…?
Eventually with a shaky hand, Marvin took Jackie’s. “…alright… I… I guess I can give it a shot.”
Jackie beamed so brightly he could rival the sun.
He quickly took the magician to meet the others. Their brothers, he told Marvin excitedly. Marvin frowned at the thought. He… never thought he could ever really have a family.
Though he wasn’t holding his breath- knowing Jack these guys could all be complete fucking weirdos.
And that was his first impression as he took in the ragtag group of Jack look-a likes, mingling around a cabin at the edge of the city’s limits.
Marvin’s eyes wandered to the sight of a yellow-green haired dude in a jinx hat, whooping and hollering as he managed to shoot a nerf dart into an open box of Lyons tea. He winced as he saw the man dab. …okay-
On the couch was a teal-haired man who looked like he stepped straight out of a silent movie, preened mustache and all. Oh- of course he was also looking at a pocket watch, checking the time. He looked up at Marvin’s arrival and cocked his head silently but waved exaggeratedly at the sight of Jackie behind him.
And in the corner at a desk was a man in a white doctor’s coat and mint green scrubs. His light green hair hung over his glasses as he studied a book, mumbling to himself in German.
…yup- bunch of fucking weirdos.
“Hey nerds!” Jackie called out, shocking Marvin out of his thoughts as the hero pressed the shorter ego tight to his side. “Look who I found! Marvin!!”
Jackie turned to Marvin and then gestured out, “Marvin! These are the Septic egos! That’s what Jack calls us instead of figments- cuz we’re like, alter-egos in a way! Cool, huh?”
Three pairs of identical colored eyes all look up at him and Marvin feels his insides squirming. He must look so rough- so different to how they pictured him. How Jack pictured him…
He waved nervously, attempting a smile. But, it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
The figment in the ball cap bounded up to Marvin with sparkling eyes and explosive energy right away. “Oh no way! Suh dude!! Super awesome to meet ya!” He pointed to himself with his thumb, “I’m Chase! Chase Brody! Though~ you might know me better from my YouTube channel, Bro Average!”
Marvin staggered back, overwhelmed by the energy. He blinked at Chase, “uh… n-no sorry… I uh…. haven’t had much of a chance to… browse the web lately.”
For a second, the bright ego’s expression seemed to fall. But it just as quickly lit back up as he laughed. “Not a problem, bro! Maybe sometime I can catch ya up! Over a good cup of Lyons~!”
The magician pondered this and then felt a reaction to the thought of tea. Something he hadn’t really thought of. “…mint.” He looked back at Chase and smiled shyly. “…I like uh… mint tea… so maybe over a cup of that…?”
Chase made a face close to a grimace. “Mint??” Marvin wanted to shrink back in shame. But then the youtuber chuckled and shrugged. “Hey, not my cuppa! But like- we can hang over whoever type of tea you want, my dude!” He grinned mischievously, “Hell, I can show you allll the pics I got of my kids!”
Marvin’s eyebrows rose. “…you’re a dad?”
“That’s- complicated,” Jackie coughed close to Marvin. He patted Chase on the shoulder quickly and tried to distract the younger ego. “Yo Chase, bet you can’t make a trickshot into that trash can!”
The father’s eyes lit up at the challenge. “Oh fuck yeah dude! you’re on!”
He quickly busies himself grabbing supplies and a camera to film his attempt.
Jackie gathers Marvin up lightly and whispers. “I’ll uh… catch you up on that. Sensitive subject.”
He leads Marvin over to the doctor. The light hit his glasses just right as he turned to set the book down and studied the new ego quietly. He then nods, “Ah yes- you are the uh… magic one. Do not expect me to believe any of that shit, okay?”
Marvin bristled like an angry cat. “What?”
The doctor smirked and pushed up his glasses, sitting taller and more refined. “I am a man of science, Mr. Kätzchen. So, your little voodoo shite will not work on zhe good doctor, Dr. Henrik von Schneeplestien, ja?”
The magician growled and looked ready to jump the doctor. Jackie quickly grabbed Marvin underneath his arms and scooped him up like he weighed nothing. He laughed nervously and carted Marvin away, “Okay! No more of that! Bye Schneep, love you!”
The doctor rolled his eyes and went back to his book and mumbled, chewing on his pen cap.
Marvin is plopped down in front of the last ego, the mustached gentleman. The small magician glared at Jackie, then turned to face the teal-haired ego.
He smiled brightly at Marvin and tipped his hat. Then a screen flickered into view in front of him, showing words like an old-timey silent film still. Marvin blinked in surprise. This one had magic too?
The screen read. “Hello, good chap! I’m Jameson Jackson! Ever so glad to make your acquaintance!”
Marvin found himself smiling, “Hey… that’s a pretty cool spell…” He then sits down on the couch next to Jameson and took off his hood. ”… think you can show me how you did it?” He smiled shyly at the other ego. But, Jameson’s smile could light up the whole room as he eagerly nodded.
And soon… Marvin became one of them. He found his brothers- and finally had people who could truly understand him.
Marvin felt himself relax as the memory faded. He let the darkness take him… he knew his brothers were safe now. They could figure out the rest without him…
---------------
The boys all watch in stunned disbelief as Marvin falls.
Jameson acts quick and throws out a hand, desperately mouthing, “NO!”
A wash of teal races across the room, freezing everything as if it was paused. The heart monitor stops, the zipping electricity of the broken computer stops mid arc, the doll that tumbled out of Marvin’s hand stops mid motion, core still lit with his magic.
The boys all rush in- not frozen by Jamie’s spell. Jackie crashes to Marvin’s side and picks him up. “No! No nono no! Marvin! C’mon Marvin t-this isn’t funny! Fuck! what did you do?!”
Marvin lays limp in Jackie’s arms, eyes milky and unseeing. His open mouth leaks black smoke like a dying campfire. His limbs are caught halfway in the act of disappearing, looking see through.
“H-He’s…!” Schneep whispers in fear.
“Fading.” Anti answers gravelly, trying to push himself up using the wall.
“What does that mean?! D-Does that mean he’s dying- he’s dead?!” Chase cries out in panic, “ A-Are we next? Is it too late?”
“I-I do not know…!” Henrik whimpers.
Jackie curls up over his baby brother and watches his tears fall on his slack face. He holds him tight, his body trembling. “I’m so sorry Marvin… I-I should’ve been there for you sooner…!” He hangs his head over him and breaks down.
Then, there’s a cough that interrupts their sorrows.
Anti had managed to glitch across the room and leans against Jack’s bed. He tiredly glares at the others. “...w-whatever Jameson just cast… it paused what Kit kat did… so he’s not gone yet.”
They all look to Jameson in slight disbelief and JJ looks confused as he nods to Anti.
Anti rolls his eyes and gestures at the gentleman. “... you still have that watch, don’t ya? … I think you know what to do.”
Jameson’s eyes widen and he fumbles into his pocket to fish out his pocket watch. He touches it lightly and then clicks it open. He feels the pulse of magic within its gears- and a power he hardly remembered he had comes flooding back to him. He looks at the others excitedly and hops a bit before starting to turn the pin back. As he does, his eyes flood with teal power.
And- the room starts to move in reverse.
The heart monitor beeps backwards, the doll rolls back into Marvin’s hands- the magician himself slumps back up- out of Jackie’s arms. The hero backs away in confusion and the others move to as to not impede the magician.
They see the life force spell work in reverse, hear him seemingly talking to himself, though they can’t understand what he’s saying. They watch as he rises from the ground and crawls backwards, away from Jack’s bed after reaching for it desperately.
It seems like Jamie is trying to reverse as much as he can- but he can’t reverse far enough to undo the livestream spell- or even stop Marvin’s corruption. The teal light flickers and then dies down right as Marvin hangs his head hopelessly, mumbling something to himself. Jameson suddenly looks white as a sheet as he pitches backwards, eyes rolling up in the back of his head.
The stopwatch’s pin clicks back into place on its own, restarting the flow of time.
The others can understand Marvin again- hear him whispering. “...i-i’m so sorry… Jackie… j-Jamie… Hen… C-chase… i… I never wanted to hurt you… I… I just wanted to keep us safe…”
He’s startled out of his thoughts by the sound of Jamie falling and his head snaps up, flicking a glowing hand out to stop Jameson before he falls completely to the ground.
“J-Jamie?!” Marvin whispers in disbelief. He then takes in the others and his jaw drops. “Y-You guys?! How did you…? How did you get here?!”
The quiet sound of glitches sounds off behind them- Anti disappearing back into Jack’s head before Marvin notices him.
Chase smiles with tears in his eyes, laughing quietly. “I don’t think you’d believe us bro…!”
Jackie looks ready to tackle Marvin, looking relieved. “We’re just so glad you’re okay-!” The hero says, opening up his arms.
Marvin startles back and seems to trip over himself, lightly dropping Jamie to the floor and out of his magic as he holds out a hand towards Jackie. “N-No! D-don’t come near me..!”
He’s met with confused faces and Marvin swallows shakily as he tries to explain. “S-Something bad is happening…! I-Inside me- something is trying to t-take my body and I… I don’t want it to hurt you…!”
“The black magic inside you… right?” Henrik asks quietly.
Marvin looks surprised and almost dumbfounded. “Uh… y-yeah… I think so? H-How did you…?”
A hand grabs onto his pant leg and Marvin panics for a second before realizing its… it’s Jameson.
The gentleman pushes himself up but it looks like he’s hardly holding on. Still, he shakily pulls something out of his vest and hands it to Marvin. It’s an ornate blue hand mirror… so delicate it looks like it’s made of ice.
Marvin takes it with knit eyebrows, studying the surface. “Jays… what is this?”
Jameson smiles and shakily signs to Marvin, “Dark, trap.” He then gently touches over his heart.
Marvin looks more confused but looks back to study the mirror. Did… Jamie find a way to trap all this dark magic…? It… it was worth a shot, wasn’t it?
The magician breathes in and then tries to touch the mirror's surface. But- then his other hand lashes out and grabs his wrist, dropping the mirror.
Marvin’s eyes flare purple as a darker version of his voice snarls through his lips. “ℕ𝕠! 𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕝𝕖𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕟 𝕦𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤! 𝕎𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞!” Blue flickers back in his irises and Marvin panics, trying to fight back for control. “N-No stop it! I…I don’t want this power anymore…! I-I want to be good…!”
He looks back at the others desperately- but Jamie redirects his attention and smiles warmly, signing, “Your light is strong Marvin, you are good! Just believe in it, like we all believe in you!” The other boys cheer and smile, agreeing with Jamie.
Magic still flickers in Marvin’s eyes, tears threatening to cloud his vision. But, he tries to hold onto Jamie’s advice… imagining the light within him.
The voice seems to shriek as Marvin pushes back some of its control- just enough to grab the mirror again and touch the surface, finding the runes of the spell. He acts quickly, reciting it as fast as he can.
Each word he stumbles over makes him wince, white light cracking in the purple veins on his skin. Still he keeps going- even though it hurts. The purple magic seems fo be bubbling up to the surface, pushed out by the light. As Marvin recites the last word of power, he suddenly screams, his arms falling back as something seems to burst from his chest. No actually- it’s like the dark magic is peeling off of him- and slowly… it seems to make a perfect copy of the magician, one made of pulsing black and purple shadow with piercing purple eyes.
Marvin almost collapses into the ground, gasping. He looks more like himself again- though his hair is still long and brown, matching the dark copy. As he looks down at himself he realizes… he’s not in the clothes he was just wearing- no the copy has those. He’s in… the outfit he was born in. His canon outfit. It’s been so long since he’s seen it but… it brings him a sense of comfort, even if it's just for a moment. His eyes shine with that familiar bright blue, an echo of Jack. Though the corruption still marks his skin like scars, they look far more faint now. He threatens to sway but Jameson catches him and keeps him steady. The pale magician looks up at the shadowy figure and feels his stomach drop. “T-That was inside me??”
The shadow bares its teeth at Marvin. “ℕ𝕠, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕠𝕟! 𝕀 𝕒𝕞 𝕪𝕠𝕦.”
“Bullshit!” Jackie spits at the copy, eyes flaring with blue silver magic.
The copy chuckles and addresses the red clad man, cocking its head with a smooth motion. “𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕥𝕙 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕒𝕜, 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕠. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕞𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕗𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕥𝕪 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕗𝕦𝕝, 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕙𝕠𝕥 𝕒𝕚𝕣~!”
Chase has to hold back Jackie from lunging at the shadow.
It laughs and shakes his head, spreading out its hands. “𝔸𝕤 𝕀 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘- 𝕀 𝕒𝕞 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕟. 𝕀 𝕒𝕞 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕤, 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕣𝕒𝕘𝕖, 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕖, 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨𝕝𝕖𝕕𝕘𝕖.” It hums and snaps, bringing something out of Marvin’s pocket that shoots into his hand. A book with a cover blacker than black with purple trim.
“…𝕀 𝕘𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕒𝕪… 𝕀’𝕞 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕪~!”
“Well… curiosity killed the cat-“ Henrik mutters.
“ℕ𝕠𝕥 𝕪𝕖𝕥 𝕀 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟’𝕥~!” The shadow laughs, turning back to Marvin. It lifts up its hand and Marvin is brought up in a bubble of purple magic, clawing at his neck like he can’t breathe.
The others all jump to their feet- trying to figure out how to help. But as Jackie tries to charge at the shadow, he’s suddenly blown back by a giant arc of purple electricity. He slides across the floor, dazed, things in his backpack flying across the floor. He groggily sees the white of Marvin’s old mask in front of him.
Phantom’s words echo in his head: “You know… there’s one thing I know about light magic… why you heroes and goody-two-shoes always best us in the end.” “...it’s your ability to be positive. To believe in each other. To have things and memories that… keep the darkness away. ...perhaps that can help you.”
Jackie looks to make sure the shadow isn’t looking before taking the mask and studying it. He narrows his eyes and then turns it over, finding a message written in blue ink.
It’s… some kind of spell. A couple runes follow after the message of “For the grey days.”
Grey days… Jackie remembers Marvin would often have days where his confidence was shot, the days he needed kind words and encouragement. He called them grey days. He used to rub the inside of his mask when he was anxious, saying it had its own kind of magic in it.
Jackie knows he’s no magician… he barely understands how his powers work, let alone Marvin’s. But, this mask was from when he was first born… maybe-
He copies the gesture he’s seen Marvin do a thousand times- and the runes on the mask glow a light blue.
Jackie’s eyes snap back to his brother squirming in the shadow’s grip.
The shadow laughs cruelly, increasing the pressure. The book it stole back hovers next to it in a purple glow, staying close to its side. “𝕀’𝕞 𝕘𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕣𝕚𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕟- 𝕓𝕪 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕣𝕚𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟’𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤- 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕚𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙! 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕟𝕠 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕒 𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕜 𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕟 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕨𝕒𝕪𝕤! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖!”
Marvin chokes on a sob, his eyes threatening to get taken over by purple again. The shadow pushes into his face, grinning wolfishly as it whispers. “𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕠𝕞 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦… 𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦…! 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥-!”
“You’re wrong!” Jackie shouts, using his power to send out a blast with his voice, monetarily throwing off the shadow as it loosens some of its grip on Marvin. Marvin looks back at Jackie with tears running down his face, looking lost.
“You say he doesn’t know who he is? Well I know!” Jackie says proudly, “He’s a big cry baby! He cries at Disney movies! He’s spent so much of his life afraid and scared but… he has come out better- despite everything he’s been through!” Jackie looks and meets Marvin’s eyes, pride beaming up within him as he smiles softly.``…he’s my baby brother… and I love him.”
Marvin sniffles, his eyes filling with more tears as his lip quivers. The shadow seems to roll its eyes at Jackie,“…𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕠 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕠𝕣?”
The hero does seem to hesitate for a second- just enough to look back down at the mask he’s holding. His eyes widen slightly as he sees red energy blooming on the white surface. He then grins and looks smugly back at the shadow.
“You know, for a copy of Marvin- you are forgetting a very powerful magic we all have!”
The shadow looks confused, raising an eyebrow as its eyes display a quiet bit of hunger.
The hero beams, bright as a sun as he shouts, “The power of PMA! Nothing can keep us all down- because we have each other! And I believe in Marvin’s ability to kick your sorry shadow-y ass!”
The mask glows more, and Jackie looks to the other egos, sharing a look that says ‘follow my lead and trust me.’ He holds up the mask, making sure to flash the energy growing on it. Slowly, they all smile and nod.
The copy bares its teeth in anger and shoots out magic towards the hero, a tendril of dark magic lashing out… and then spearing Jackie straight through the stomach.
“NO!” Marvin screams, trying to get out of the shadow’s grasp better, clawing at its magic.
“𝕐𝕠𝕦’𝕧𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕞𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙, 𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕓𝕠𝕪. 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕪 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕤𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕙𝕚𝕞- 𝕠𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗~!” It laughs cruelly, squeezing Marvin’s throat tighter.
Jackie halts his momentum using his feet to skid against the floor. He wheezes in pain and coughs up some blood, but he smiles. Even as dark veins start to crawl up where the magic hit. He looks up with blue glowing eyes as he smirks. “You won’t kill us- you need M-Marvin alive…!”
“𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕖- 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕀 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕥𝕠 𝕜𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕞𝕪 𝕨𝕒𝕪-!” The shadow smirks knowingly, “I𝕀 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕗𝕚𝕘𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜. 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕟 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 ℙ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕠𝕞! 𝔸𝕤 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 ‘𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕖’ 𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟, 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕝𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜. 𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝… 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤- 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜~”
The copy looks over to Chase and seems to smirk, making the father shiver, the scar on his temple aching.
“W-What?!” Henrik gasps out, looking at the shadow with wide eyes. “What do you mean we can just… die? Die and… and reform??”
“Yeah what are we, Crystal gems?” Chase mutters.
The shadow looks confused and throws back its head and laughs. “𝕆𝕙𝕙𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥’𝕤 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟’𝕥 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕤𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕒 𝕗𝕚𝕘𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕗𝕒𝕕𝕖! ℍ𝕒 𝕙𝕒! 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕒 𝕕𝕠𝕔𝕥𝕠𝕣, 𝕊𝕔𝕙𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕡! 𝔸𝕝𝕨𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕠 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕜𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖… 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘!”
Henrik pales, a look of confusion and uncertainty crashing against his mind.
“𝔽𝕦𝕟𝕟𝕪…” The shadow continues, “𝕀 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕟 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕜𝕖𝕪 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘!”
Marvin clenches his eyes shut, “I… I didn’t like t-thinking about it…! I just- I did everything to make sure they never would!” The magician admits through tears.
“𝕄𝕙𝕞… 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕡! ℕ𝕠𝕨 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝!” The shadow explains with a showman-like flare, much like how Marvin would address his crowds.
It then clenches its fist and the tendril still in Jackie rips upwards, making the hero scream in pain and get lifted off his feet.
“𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕪 𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕔 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕚𝕖 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕡𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕪~! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕓𝕒𝕓𝕪 𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣!” The dark copy giggles, eyes bright with madness.
Jackie’s body ripples and for a second seems to flicker, like he could fade out of existence. But Jackie grits his teeth with determination. He shakes as he grips onto the tendril and Marvin’s old mask. His vision blurs. He needs to act fast…
He pushes down the dread pooling in his stomach, his fear. He believes in Marvin… He throws the mask towards Chase, “Chase! Catch!”
Chase startles and fumbles to catch it but just manages to. He looks at it with wide eyes.
Jackie smiles and then slumps in the tendrils hold, breathing heavily and raggedly as branches of corruption eat up his skin. Then, the hero falls very very still.
The shadow whips to look at the mask flying in confusion. “𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕦𝕔𝕜 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥?!” Its eyes land on Chase then it thrusts out a hand to hover a tendril just against his neck. Ready to pierce it. It narrows its eyes as it growls. “ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕦𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕝𝕝 𝕕𝕚𝕖 𝕒𝕤 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝, 𝔹𝕣𝕠𝕕𝕪.”
Chase looks terrified- but then he sees the brave body of Jackie… and similar determination flares in his eyes. He stands tall, gripping the mask as he shouts out. “I-I’m not afraid to die!” He then hesitates and adds on.
“…no actually I… I am afraid of dying now…” He laughs quietly with a distant look in his eyes. Funny…. He never thought he could think something like that.
“because I…. I have something to live for again! Because… because of… of my brothers.”
He looks to meet Marvin’s eyes as the older brother looks at him with fear and concern. He tries to shake his head at him, encouraging him to stop this. But Chase just smiles.
“…and especially cuz of Marv. He… he helps me to be a better dad… he cares for my kids, he helped me to find my confidence again. He… he makes me want to keep trying, to keep living.”
A tear falls down the father’s face but he laughs at the shadow as the mask starts to branch more with light, orange joining red. “And now… I know I can come back! So… do your fucking worse, ya cheap knockoff! I’m not letting you take my big bro away from us!”
Marvin chokes on a sob, trying to reach out for Chase. Just as the shadow growls and whips the tendril to spear itself higher, through the side of Chase’s head. Chase doesn’t even get a chance to scream- his body immediately falling limp and hanging grotesquely in the tendril’s hold, dangling like Jackie’s. His head lolls lifelessly back, staring wide eyed and blankly at the ceiling. The magic eats away at him like rot.
The mask slips from Chase’s fingers and falls to the ground dully. Schneep hesitates, looking beyond terrified. But he sees a flick of black magic and he quickly crashes to the ground to swipe it before the shadow can grab it. The copy screams in frustration, acting already in anger and spearing into Henrik like the others, straight into his chest.
“NO NO STOP IT!!” Marvin screams, thrashing in the shadow’s grip. “I-I’m not worth this! STOP!”
Then, Henrik seems to laugh as he coughs up what looks like black sludge. He stubbornly has managed to hold onto the mask, even as his hand shakes. He claws to grip at the magic better, trying to stay awake. The magic burns, making it hard to think. He looks scared as he gazes back at Marvin but he also smiles warmly, despite the dark veins crawling scarily fast across his skin.
“Shut up, Marvin… e-even if you and I have not gotten along before… even if I do not get your magic and you do not get my science…! You are… so passionate and determined and…”
He shuts his eyes as the words struggle to come, a wave of pain rushing over him. But he then opens tearful eyes to meet Marvin’s as he chuckles quietly. “I… I want to share that… I want to study and learn with you…! I want to understand my big brother better!” His eyes flare with determination as he grips tighter onto the mask, greenish white light joining the red and orange. “So… y-you must live, Marvin…! You have to win!”
For some reason, whenever the Septics start to talk to Marvin, the shadow also seems to freeze, held in whatever power this is. Much to its anger. The second Henrik stops, it rips another tendril messily through his neck and throws him down, growling darkly. “𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕡 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕚𝕕𝕚𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕤! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘!” But it almost sounded… afraid, under all that anger.
The mask flies out of Henrik’s limp hand as he crumbles to the ground, blood pooling around him as he struggles to take in any full breaths, faint gurgling bubbling from his throat. Then… his gaze turns cloudy and unseeing, his chest no longer rising.
The mask spins and then manages to hit Jameson’s foot, the youngest septic looking at his defeated brothers in horror.
The shadow sees this and then throws its head back to laugh. “𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕒𝕥 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖! 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕗𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕦𝕥𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟’𝕥 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕙𝕖?”
A tendril comes out and wraps around Marvin’s teary eyes, blocking off his view. Marvin whimpers and shakes, muttering out apologizes… to Jamie, to the others.
Jameson’s eyes glow teal with anger at the shadow’s taunts. He picks up the mask and stands tall, despite his fatigue. If this was to be his last stand, he’d give it everything he’s got.
There’s an almost painful spear of foreign magic in Marvin’s head- that gets echoed in the shadow’s as it shouts out in pain. Jameson’s voice is clear in their heads- just like when he broke through to Marvin during the livestream.
“Marvin, you are brave and you are strong… even though you have felt so lost for so long- you never stopped trying. Despite our lack of direction from Jack… you haven’t stopped trying to write your own story.
No one else knows how sad our stories will be. I don’t want this to become another tragedy! So, let’s rewrite this dark tale, and become more than we were forced to be, Marvin! We are by your side… and always will be.
You have not, and will never be, alone.”
Marvin sobs loudly, a mix of being overwhelmingly touched and heart-broken. Because he knows now what’ll happen next. “No… p-please…!”
Teal light joins the other colors, creating an intricate beautiful pattern across the white mask, imitating celtic knots. Jameson’s eyes widened and he smiled wide, ready to try to throw it to Marvin.
As soon as he lifted up his hand, the tendril came and speared through Jameson’s heart. He choked and the mask fell, clattering to the floor. The black magic made quick work of the tiny ego, the darkness rushing to consume him before he could even take another ragged breath. Then, the gentleman fell, limp like a puppet without its strings. The shadow made sure Marvin could see it all happen, dropping the tendril that blinded him.
Marvin felt frozen, his breath stolen as he takes in the destroyed bodies of his brothers, some of them looking like they were starting to disappear. But, instead of hopelessness… righteous fury burned hot in his chest, spreading throughout his whole body. He could hardly hear the shadow as it tried to taunt him, break him down even more. His brothers’ voices rang louder and truer in his head now, strong and solid against the whispered corruption.
Summoning any magic he could possibly have left, Marvin shot out a hand and in a quick burst of telekinesis, grabbed the glowing mask. It flew by too fast for the copy to stop and Marvin caught it expertly in his outstretched hand.
A burst of light rocketed out of him as he caught it, blasting the shadow apart. But only for a moment as it reformed a few meters back. Any tendrils still stuck in the boys burst into shards, dropping their bodies into still heaps. It growled angrily and glared at the forming sun spot that was his host. “𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕝?!”
Marvin slowly looked at his body as it glowed brightly and then at the mask. He followed his usual gesture against the back and smiled, feeling that positive energy fueling him even more. When he looked up at the shadow, he looked confident, as the light that danced on the mask's surface marbled in his eyes alongside his strong green-blue magic.
Then, two fiery wings of light unfurled from his back, power radiating from him like…
Like a Phoenix.
But his wings, shimmering brightly with light, aren’t the color you’d normally associate with the mythical bird. No, they burn with flickers of green and blue fire.
The shadow for a second actually seems scared, scrambling back. He tried to redirect his magic to find the book- maybe he can get another boost to combat this-! But, his magic doesn’t respond.
Because the book is stuck floating in a teal bubble of magic. Jameson’s last stand.
The dark copy screams in rage, purple electricity radiating off him in dangerous arcs.
But, Marvin steps forward, anger burning in his eyes. Light branches from his footsteps as he walks, covering up parts of the room that was charred by corruption. And white glowing tears are falling down his face, despite his furious expression.
The tears seem to float in the air after him, some lingering like stardust, some hovering then darting to sink into the bodies of the fallen septics. Their wounds fill with light, then start to close. They start to become solid again. They start to breathe.
“All this time… you tried to make me feel like I was alone.” Marvin spoke quietly, but his voice echoed almost ethereally. “That no one cared for me, that my creator had abandoned me, that I was doomed to keep running forever…
You made me think I was forging my own path! That I was rewriting my story… but no- I just fell into more fucking puppet strings! From one puppet master to another…”
He grips the mask at his side and grits his teeth. “You made me forget that I had my family! That I had people who could help me! Because you know deep down… that’s a magic that you can’t possibly control.”
The shadow trembles back, “𝕋-𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤! 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥- 𝕙𝕦𝕞𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤- 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤! 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘-!”
“They mean everything!” Marvin yells, wings flaring out. “I would still be lost and scared, convinced I was a killer until Jackie found me! Convinced I could never be enough… for Jack, for myself… for… anyone. Until they all took me in… and showed me what love actually feels like.
Though I guess… you can’t feel that can you?” He sneers down at the trembling mass of darkness.
The shadow glares at Marvin and then chuckles darkly. “𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟’𝕥 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕖, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨. 𝕀’𝕞 𝕒 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦- 𝕀’𝕞 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕝. 𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕒𝕕𝕞𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕠𝕣 𝕟𝕠𝕥.”
Marvin’s expression softens slightly, almost turning empathetic. “…you said you were my darkness, right? …as much as I want to deny you- to forget you exist… I can’t. You’re right, you’re a part of me.”
He glances down at the floor, catching a glimpse of the mirror. An idea sparked in his head.
The Phoenix ego glared at the shadow as he adjusted the glowing mask to sit on his face. The flames on his wings glowed with his brothers’ colors.
“But that part of me… isn’t who I want to be anymore. I… I don’t want to rely on anger and despair anymore! And I’m sick of things like you trying to tell me who I am!”
Without even flicking his hand, the mirror flew up into his palm where he gripped it right.
He stepped forward again and the shadow trembled back.
“I’m sick of Jack, sick of the fandom, sick of fucking puppet masters trying to make me something I’m not! I’m going to figure that out on my own… from the ashes of all the shit you’ve put me through!”
“𝕄-𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕟 𝕔’𝕞𝕠𝕟!” The shadow tries to plead, nervously smiling. “𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕀 𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕕! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕𝕟’𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕥-“
“I never needed you! I never wanted you! All this time! No one has given a fucking damn about what I want! How I wanted to do things! Who I want to be!”
His eyes filled completely with rainbow light as he stood proud and tall, the mirror vibrating with power at his side.
“I’m fucking Marvin the Magnificent! I’m my own fucking person- and you-!”
He holds out the mirror, showing the dark copy his own terrified reflection.
“You are nothing more than a reflection of something I will never be!”
He channeled magic into the mirror and it shot off a beam of hot burning light. The shadow shouted out and turned into a wisp to dodge before reforming shakily.
Marvin shouts in rage and blasts out bright magic fire at the creature. It hisses and screeches in pain as the magic singes it, carving holes in its form like acid burning through wood.
The shadow seems weaker, focusing on the searing pain in its body. It doesn’t see the flaming form barrel into it and slam it into the floor. Marvin growls as he pushes the mirror against the shadow. They struggle- parts of the shadow’s body being pulled towards the mirror.
Then, with a feral scream and a burst of magic, a ring of white overtaking a weak purple ring- the two figures are blasted apart.
The mirror drops with a tinny ring as it hits the ground. A black shadowy figure pounds against the glass inside- but no one can hear its screams.
The septics all start to rise, blinking out in confusion to the lingering magic in the air, floating and falling like ethereal fireflies.
Chase panics and touches where his wounds were then sighs in relief, slumping to the floor in an almost comical way.
Jameson pushes himself up, expecting to still feel weak but- he feels… fine? Great, even! He looks to see if that damned book was still trapped- and then gasps at seeing it on the ground as bright magic fire lapped at its contents.
Henrik is looking down at his body in marveled awe, shakily touching a hand to the faint scars around his neck.
Jackie recovers and shakes out his confusion, gripping over his chest as he confirms he’s okay. Only to pale as he sees the other side of the room.
“Marvin!”
The final blast had shot Marvin back. His body left skid marks on the floor- the path of his wings marked on the ground. The only evidence they were ever there. The light on his white mask pulses softly then fades altogether.
But the passed out magician looks… peaceful. Despite his still beaten and black-magic-scarred body. Next to his limp hand- by some miracle… is Jack’s doll.
———
Marvin opens his eyes to see he’s… not in the waking world. That’s really the only way to describe this feeling. It felt like… something in the mind, like when you’re concentrating on a thought and trying to visualize it. He seemed to be floating in a void of constantly shifting colors. But one color was more consistent than the others- veining, pulsing cracks of purple. Marvin winced at the sight.
“…alright- love how things just keep getting weirder-“ The magician mumbles to himself.
Then, Marvin’s ears twitched a bit as he sensed another presence near him. He blinked, then turned to look behind him.
And saw… Jack. Smiling warmly at him. The creator waved.
“… Hi, Marvin.”
Marvin didn’t know why tears were almost immediately in his eyes. Why he surged forward, why he wrapped his arms around the other brunette, why he dug his face in his shoulder, clutched at the back of his shirt and started crying like a baby.
“J-Jack…! Jack I- I-I…!” He choked on a sob and gasped desperate breaths before breaking down, howling. “I’m so sorry! I’m sorry- I’m so fucking sorry!!!”
“Hey…” The creator’s voice is gentle. “It’s okay… it’s all gonna be okay….”
Marvin shifts to hide his face more, biting out, “But I…! I helped to put you in a fucking coma….! I hurt you- I tried to hurt the others…! I…!”
He then pushes himself away from the youtuber and goes to hold his arms against him, trembling. He looks down at his scarred hands and then clenches them with a choked whimper. He meets Jack’s eyes and shakes his head slowly.
“Jack I… I’m dangerous…”
Jack tilts his head. “So is Anti. And Jackie- and hell any of the others could be too. Have you seen Jameson with a knife? Kid could be fucking brutal.”
Marvin shakes his head more, insisting. “Jack, I almost killed you! I… I’m too unstable I- I’m not sure if…” He looks down and then clenches his arm, biting back more tears.
“… I’m not getting rid of you, Marvin.” Jack quietly reassured. “ ‘fraid you’re stuck with all of us.” He tries to laugh, desperately trying to lighten the mood.
It doesn’t work on Marvin. He can’t look back at Jack as he mutters. “…you never meant to make me… all I’ve done is caused problems…”
“That’s not true,” Jack presses, trying to bridge the gap between them. “To be honest… a lot of you I didn’t mean to make! It just… happened.” He then smiles brightly, looking like the sun. Guess that’s where Jackie gets it from. “But…. Believe me, I wouldn’t change any of that. I’m glad I made you all. And I love you, just as much as I love the others.”
Marvin hesitates then looks back up to catch Jack’s smile. It’s… infectious, and Marvin can’t help but try to smile weakly back.
But it very quickly falls as Marvin mutters.
“…I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”
“I know you didn’t, Marvin.”
“I didn’t want to drag the others into this…! I just… I wanted them to be safe-“
“…I know.” For a second, Jack seemed to look… almost guilty. Like that was his fault.
Marvin shuts his eyes then cries out, “then why!? If you know this about me- why did any of this happen? Shouldn’t you have been able to stop it? Rewrite things?? Why did Anti target me? Why did this magic consume me? Why am I so easily changeable?”
For once, Jack is quiet. He seems to be thinking of how to respond as Marvin pants to catch his breath.
Finally, Jack speaks up.
“…because I’m not like Anti. Or the people who hurt you. I don’t want to control you… I want you to still figure out who you are, without needing me.”
Marvin’s eyes widened. Jack met his with steely determination.
“… me and Anti. We are connected- but we are not the same. Two sides of the same coin… but that means- I’m not a puppet master, like he is.
And this isn’t all me… sometimes the fans are just- curious. But… that doesn’t mean you can’t make your own choices. Before all this… you kept letting others decide for you. And even if it’s true that I didn’t put much thought in you at first… you have so much potential, Marvin. And I can’t wait to see where your story takes you. Eventually, I might have a hand in it again… but until then, it seems like you have a lot you gotta learn about yourself, Phoenix guy.” Jack smirked.
“But- when the story does continue- believe me, it’s gonna be one hell of a collab!”
Marvin slowly started to smile, finally feeling warmth bloom back in his chest.
He sighs and then looks at the purple magic around them. He looks down in his hand- and seems to find that doll again. He looks back up to Jack with glowing eyes, smiling with determination.
“You know what? … I think I actually like the sound of that. Let’s get you the hell out of here!”
Marvin then closed his eyes and curled both his hands around the doll. His body started to glow with blue-green magic, white stardust shimmering inside it as well. That same light started to bloom on the purple veins, eating up the magic and making it disappear.
Jack laughed in disbelief as he watched. The egos would always amaze him in ways he never even expected…
For a second- everything seems alright- it seems like Jack could actually wake up as all the purple fades completely.
But then, Marvin shouts out and curls up in pain, gripping at either side of his head.
Jack lashed out, trying to reach him. “Marvin! What’s wrong?”
Marvin looked back up to Jack with glowing green eyes, his sclera black, just as the void around them turned dark and started to glitch.
Familiar terrifying laughter echoed around the space as the veins Marvin just destroyed bloomed back, but this time pulsing with sickly green light.
“F-Fucking ANTI!!” Marvin screamed, digging fingers into his scalp. He meets Jack’s eyes with desperation, “I… I undid my spell! But it seems like he- he took it over…!”
But, Jack doesn’t seem surprised by this. He smiles sadly.
“Yeah… I guess that figures.”
Marvin shouts as his body starts to glitch and then flickers in and out like he could disappear.
He reaches a hand back out towards Jack, sobbing out. Something is pulling him back from reaching him, even as he fights desperately to get back to him. “Jack! I… I promise! We’ll find a way to save you…!”
Jack smiles a bit more and nods.
“…I know you will.” His voice echoed, a slight finality in it that left Marvin’s chest aching.
Then, the space floods with darkness, growing like ink overtaking water as glitching laughter continues to echo in their ears. Swallowing the light completely.
——
Marvin’s eyelids fluttered. He groaned lightly and then blearily looked out. He saw four very concerned faces leaning over him. But the sight of them filled his whole body with relief.
The magician sunk more against Jackie, who had him propped up on his knee. “Y…you guys are s..safe…” he quietly slurred.
Jackie smiled. “Yeah… all thanks to you, baby bro.”
“Dude! That must have been one hell of a fight!” Chase exclaimed excitedly, his eyes practically sparkling. “The marks on the floor made it look like you had like- fucking wings or something!”
Marvin chuckled weakly. “I uh… I did, actually.”
“No fucking way??!!”
The others laughed at Chase’s reaction.
“…you must be very tired, Bruderherz,” Schneep commented gently. “We should probably get you checked at the hospital…”
Jameson nodded and added in sign, “yes! Magic exhaustion is no joke!”
Marvin nodded absentmindedly, turning his head to look towards the other side of the room. Where Jack lay sleeping.
The room fell quiet for a couple painful beats.
“…do you think Jack will wake up…? Now that all of this is over?” Chase asked quietly.
Marvin closed his eyes with a grimace and then slowly shook his head. “No… I… I had a vision. Anti found a way to keep him asleep…”
The sadness that bloomed in the air was thick enough to feel as it weighed down on the 5 boys.
But, Marvin shuffled to weakly sit up better and then held out a hand. His eyes glowed with passion and a bit of magic. “But… I know we can all find some way to wake him… together.”
Jackie’s eyes shined as he grinned and clasped Marvin’s hand with his own. “Hell yeah!”
Chase was quick to join his hand with theirs. Henrik rolled his eyes with a smile but soon joined as well. Jameson bounced slightly before placing his hand on top.
Marvin smiled. As long as they stuck together… they could take on anything.
The clasping of hands soon turned itself into a dog pile on top of Marvin, multiple pairs of arms hugging him softly where they could reach. Marvin tried to hold back tears but then slowly and quietly broke down, letting himself be weak. He didn’t feel scared anymore, he felt nothing but bone aching relief. He was with his family again… that was all that mattered.
Hufftober Day 11-14: I do what I want
I haven’t been marking it as Hufftober but I have been drawing every day even if I haven’t been doing the prompts so here’s an art dump cuz I’ve actually been doing a lot HGHBJ
We had dnd last night so- that’s been on my mind HGGGHB