#distorter

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Return to Aspen Street

Switch AU

A JSE Fanfic

Hehehehehehe I'm so excited, guys :D We're building up to the climax of this whole entire AU. Granted, it'll take a hot minute and a lot more chapters to actually get there, but consider this the foothills at the bottom of the mountain. I'm so excited for what's to come, and I think this chapter did a good job starting the buildup. I don't even want to keep talking, let's just get to it! All of the guys get ready to rush to the house on Aspen Street before Distorter returns there with Anti. Hopefully, they can catch him by surprise. Their plan is loose, and not fully formed, but this might be their best chance. Hehehehe enjoy the chapter!! :D

More of This AU | | First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Read on AO3 under CrystalNinjaPhoenix

———————

“I’m going to be honest, I don’t know exactly when we’ll be back. We didn’t fully form this plan, but I-I don’t think we were expecting to need it so soon!” Jackie double-checked his first aid kit, making it was stocked full of supplies. Then he checked his phone, opening up the group chat and glancing through the messages one more time, like he’d been doing every couple minutes ever since Anti sent his warning.

“Do you know how long you’ll be gone, Dad?” Michelle asked, swinging her legs back and forth as she sat on the kitchen chair.

“Do you?” Rama asked, raising an eyebrow.

“...no.” Jackie looked back up at Rama, standing near the front door, then over to Michelle in the kitchen. “The house on Aspen Street is... weird. But I-I think this, hopefully, won’t take more than a day or so. If I’m not back by this time tomorrow...” He trailed off.

“If you’re not back, I’ll be coming after you,” Rama said firmly. “I’m not going to let you throw yourself into this situation with no backup.”

Jackie laughed a little. “I... really appreciate that, Ramram. A-and I really appreciate that you’re willing to stay behind with Michelle.”

“I can look after myself,” Michelle piped up. “I’m almost ten! And Ren showed me how to make instant noodles in the microwave! So I can make food.”

Jackie chuckled a little. “I remember. And I’m still impressed.” He glanced back down at his phone again, but no new messages had come in. The last one was from Marvin, reading, We’ll pick you up, Jackie. I don’t think we’re that far away. Jems says he’s okay to drive and he’ll honk when we get close. Jackie could’ve driven himself, but he wanted to leave the car for Rama in case of an emergency. So now he was just waiting for JJ and Marvin to show up.

Rama leaned over to look at the phone. “Didn’t you say that Jameson was getting a tattoo today? You know, you really should rest after that.”

“I know.” Jackie nodded. “But this is an emergency. I’m sure JJ knows what he’s doing.”

“I hope he does. Tattoos are essentially a bunch of really tiny wounds. And you’re a doctor, Jackie, you know how serious a bunch of wounds can be.”

“I know,” Jackie said again. “But...” He hesitated. “We might not get a chance like this again...”

“Uncle JJ has magic, he’ll be fine!” Michelle piped up.

Jackie smiled at her. “Good point, Michelle.” Jameson did have some form of healing magic. And these were magical tattoos he was getting. Surely he and Marvin knew what they were doing. Surely.

“Is there any word on Will?” Rama asked, concerned. Receiving a single text from Anti and no elaboration since then has really made the group worried about him. If something happened to Anti—which is extremely possible, given his text-based silence—then was Will alright?

“No, nothing ye—” Jackie started to say, but was interrupted by the swoop of a message sound. He glanced down at the phone in his hand. “Oh. Well, uh... speak of the devil...”

———————

Schneep had also leapt into action upon receiving the text, starting by asking countless questions that weren’t answered, as Anti seemingly disappeared right after sending the go message. He gave up on that once it became clear Anti wasn’t there anymore, instead directing the questions to everyone else. Do you even know what magic you need to use for this? he asked. The last I heard we still had not found anything actually helpful!

Admittedly no, Marvin said, speaking on behalf of him and JJ since JJ was driving the car. But Anti is in danger *now.* We have to try something at least, right? I have my cards on me, and Jems always has his magic, so we can improvise. You and Jackie just need to gather whatever supplies you need, too.

What supplies did they need? Jackie quickly volunteered to bring his first aid kit, but what did Schneep need to bring? He spent about ten minutes frantically searching through his superhero gadgets, testing them out and finding that most were broken from disuse and lack of maintenance. Ugh, just another thing that was IRIS’s fault! Though, the previous times he’d gone into the house on Aspen Street, he hadn’t run into any environments that would need most of these things... It was the inside of a house, there were no great heights that would require his longfall supports or climbing gear. And his shocking gloves were redundant these days. Maybe he could take his smoke bombs? But those were broken!

After a bit, he gave up on any of the gadgets. Most were useless, and the ones that seemed useful were broken. But there was one thing he did take. He rummaged around in his wardrobe, reaching to the very back, and found his hero costume. He hadn’t taken it when he’d left the city; the point was to lay low, so he thought he didn’t need it. That didn’t stop him from doing some stakeout work anyway (he just couldn’t stand by), which eventually led to him getting caught by IRIS. But he was glad he left it behind now. After all, if he’d worn it to that IRIS stakeout, they probably would’ve confiscated it once he got captured.

He barely managed to finish changing into his costume when the doorbell rang.

Schneep froze, still in the middle of adjusting the coat so it was comfortable. Who the hell could that be? People didn’t normally come up to his apartment, and he said he was going to meet the others near the house on Aspen Street, so it wasn’t any of them. Silently, he crept up to the door and peered through the peephole... but saw nobody.

Or at least, he didn’t see anybody at first. There was another knock on the door, and then a figure backed away from it, looking left and right in confusion. A redheaded boy—was that Will?

His instincts said this could be a trick. But... he could see through those illusions now. And even if he couldn’t, Distorter was probably busy with Anti. So Schneep opened the door and peered out. “Will?”

“Volt!” Will said, eyes snapping back towards him.

“Ah, no ‘Volt’ in the hallway,” Schneep said idly. “What are you doing here? Are you okay?”

“...I-I-I’m fine,” Will stammered... but Schneep could see the redness in his eyes, the sort that came from recent crying. “I—there was—Do you know the password?”

“The what?” Schneep blinked.

“Right, I-I guess Dad wouldn’t tell anyone else...” Will laughed a little, the sound wet. “Um, it’s Dad. That gray man, Distorter, h-h-he—” His voice hitched. “C-can I come inside?”

“Of course.” Schneep stepped aside, and Will hurried in. He was still wearing his school uniform and carrying his backpack. But most local schools have been out for at least two hours by now. “What happened? Oh, hang on, I have to let the others know you are here.” He took out his phone. “We were worried about you. Anti sent us a warning.”

“He did?!” Will’s eyes went wide.

“Yes, only a few minutes ago.” Schneep sent his message, then scrolled up to Anti’s. “At 5:01, apparently.”

“Th-th-that was probably right after the bus drove away...” Will said quietly.

“The bus?” Schneep prompted.

Will nodded, wringing his hands. He quickly stammered through an explanation of everything that happened, starting with how Distorter used a school staff member to make Anti think Will was in trouble, and ending with Distorter pulling a similar trick with a hypnotized bus driver, separating the father and son.

“That sounds awful, Will,” Schneep whispered. “B-but it is going to be okay. We have a plan.”

“Yeah, Dad... mentioned that a little bit...” Will said slowly. “A-are you... going to go after him?”

Schneep nodded. “Of course we are.”

Will slumped in relief at that. “Uh... your phone was beeping.”

“Oh, right.” Schneep looked at his text messages. It seems Jackie and Marvin had both responded to his message about Will.

Hes THERE?! Jackie said. How did he get there by himself?! Is he okay?

He would have told us if Will wasn’t okay, Marvin said. I think he’s safe, and thank god for that.

Schneep decided to quickly reply. He is fine, just a bit shaken. It seems Distorter found a loophole in our protection charms: controlling people other than ourselves. He gave a quick summary of Will’s story. Distorter lured Anti out of his flat by having someone else call him, and Anti pretended to be controlled. They went to the bus stop to get Will and Anti grabbed him and ran. Distorter chased, but they thought they lost him. Until Will got onto a bus and Distorter controlled the driver to take him away. It seems Anti told Will my address before then, so he found his way here eventually.

Jems says he’s very brave and clever, Marvin reported.

Im just glad hes okay, Jackie said. Rama said they could drive over to your place to pick him up, schneep. They can watch him and mich here.

Schneep glanced at Will, who was pacing back and forth during this whole exchange, trying not to appear as nervous as he was. “Are you okay with Rama picking you up and taking you to their house?”

“Yeah... I guess so,” Will said slowly. “That’s where me and Michelle usually stay while you guys do all this, huh?”

Schneep blinked. “Are you... upset that you cannot come, Will?”

“I... I’m just... worried about Dad,” Will said slowly. “He was really... freaked out. In like, that way that’s how he specifically freaks out. D’you know that?”

“I... think so...” Schneep said slowly. “But do not worry.” He put a hand on Will’s shoulder, squeezing it. “Anti is very strong, and with these magic charms, Distorter cannot influence him, or any of us. He will be okay. And so will you.”

Will nodded. He looked up at Schneep. “Promise to make sure he’s okay. And, uh, all the rest of you, too. You guys... you have to...” His eyes welled up. “Y-you guys have to c-come back soon, o-okay? I d-don’t want—I-I don’t want any of you to disappear suddenly again.”

In moments like these, Schneep was reminded that although Will was mature for his age, he was still a kid. He nodded seriously down at him. “I promise, all of us will do everything in our power to get back soon. Hopefully, we will be back before the night is over.”

“...okay.” Will let out a breath. “You promised. So I’m gonna remember that.”

“I would expect so,” Schneep chuckled. He turned back to the phone. Will is okay with Rama picking him up. Should I leave him here and hurry to meet you guys?

They debated over text for a bit, but ultimately, Will said he’d be fine waiting in Schneep’s apartment for Rama. “You have the magic protection thing here, too, right? I’ll be fine. You have to get to the house fast!” he said. And so, Schneep headed out, after quickly giving Will instructions on what he could and couldn’t touch in the apartment. Unlike the others, who had a car to get around, he was going to be stuck with walking and public transportation, so he had to hurry. He pulled a long dark coat on over his hero outfit and headed to the nearest bus stop.

———————

It was a short detour for JJ and Marvin to pick up Jackie. Part of it was probably because Jameson was driving unusually fast. He wasn’t a speeder by any means, but this was important! Once they arrived at Jackie’s house, JJ honked on the horn.

“It sounds like they’re outside,” Rama said.

“Yeah, sounds like.” Jackie took a deep breath. He walked over to Michelle and gave her a quick, tight hug. “I’ll be back by tomorrow.”

“...you promise?” Michelle asked, looking up at him with wide, nervous eyes.

Jackie smiled. “I promise. And when I’m back, we can watch anything you want. I know you’ve wanted me and Ren to watch that Supergirl show, right?”

Michelle nodded. “Yeah. Okay. W-we can do that!”

Jackie let go of her and turned around, and was immediately greeted by Rama. They looked at him, and Jackie gave them a hug, too, which they returned, squeezing him tight. “You be careful, Jackieboy,” they whispered. “Mi corazon.”

“I will,” Jackie whispered, leaning back. “I will.” He leaned in again for a brief kiss, then pulled back, double-checking his bag as an excuse to hide the worried tears in his eyes.

Rama squeezed his arm. “You got this,” they said. “Now go. Their car is probably blocking the drive, you guys have to leave first before we can go get Will.”

“Right, right.” Jackie nodded. “I... I love you.”

“I love you too,” Rama said. “But stop making this sound so final.”

Jackie laughed. “Okay, okay. I won’t say goodbye, then. Just... see you soon.”

“See you soon,” Rama repeated, smiling gently.

With that, Jackie hurried out of the house, making a beeline for the car parked in the drive. He opened up the back seat and climbed inside, looking up to see JJ and Marvin both turned in their seats, staring back at him. “Ready to go,” he said. “Hey, uh... how’d the tattoo appointment go?”

Well enough, JJ said, wincing slightly as he signed.

Jackie blinked, noting that. “It still hurts, doesn’t it?”

Yes, but this is an emergency, JJ said. Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt THAT much.

“...it doesn’t?” Jackie narrowed his eyes.

Don’t you trust me to know how my own body feels? JJ asked.

“I do, but I also know that you’d push on regardless anyway if you thought you had to.”

Marvin laughed. “He’s got you t’ere, Jems.”

Jameson made a face. Well in this case, I promise I can manage. It smarts, but I can handle it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need my hands to drive. He turned back around in his seat, putting the car in gear.

“Right, yeah, don’t let me stop you.” Jackie nodded. “We... we need to get there soon. Anti texted us like, what, forty-five minutes ago?”

“More like forty,” Marvin said, checking their messages. “But if he was over by his apartment when he wrote t’at, it’ll take him even longer t’ walk to Aspen Street. I doubt Distorter woul’ let him take th’ bus or train t’ere. So we’re still makin’ time. We wan’ to be t’ere before they arrive?”

“Ideally,” Jackie agreed. “Though I guess not necessarily? But the whole idea is to surprise Distorter, so... he might see us coming if we’re late...”

“We’ll hurry, t’en,” Marvin said.

JJ nodded decisively, stepping on the gas a little harder than he normally would have.

———————

They picked up Schneep on the way, arriving at the bus station in the suburbs just as the bus he’d come here on was pulling away. He didn’t say anything upon getting in the car other than a cursory hello. His expression was tense. Their upcoming mission must’ve been heavy on his mind. And, as the car started to wind further through the roads towards Aspen Street, it began to weigh down on the other three as well. Silence fell in the car as everyone began mentally preparing for what was to come.

Until... they saw something unusual on one street corner.

“Is that... Jack?” Marvin asked slowly. “And Stacy?”

Jackie and Schneep leaned to the side in unison. “Where?” Schneep asked.

“T’ere.” Marvin pointed. Sure enough, Jack and Stacy were standing right under the street sign for this intersection, with Stacy bouncing on her feet and Jack looking up and down the road. He spotted the approaching car quickly and began waving them down. “Uh, Jems?”

Jameson nodded, having the same curious thought Marvin was. He pulled to the side of the road and rolled down the window, looking at the two of them with a puzzled expression.

“So you guys were coming this way,” Stacy said with a sigh. “I was starting to get nervous.”

“What are ye doin’ out here?” Marvin asked.

Schneep rolled down his window in the back as well. “Are you two waiting for us? Did you know we were coming?” He took out his phone. “I am pretty sure Anti only sent the message in the chat with the five of us.”

“Anti sent you a message?” Jack asked, blinking in confusion.

“Oh, okay, you definitely didn’t get it if you’re that confused,” Jackie said.

“But t’en how and why are ye here waitin’ for us?” Marvin asked.

“Well, there’s a simple answer to that! ...sort of.” Jack held his pocket open, and Sam flew out. “We were just chilling at home when Sam jumped up and started insisting we had to meet you guys, saying you’d probably be heading to that Aspen Street house.”

JJ tilted his head to the side curiously. Really? Did they say WHY? Or did you just listen immediately?

“Of course we asked questions,” Stacy said defensively. “Me more than Jack, admittedly. I forgot about Sam’s, um... future vision powers.”

“It’s not really that,” Jack clarified. “It’s just that sometimes they get a feeling. Like, there’s a foreboding feeling, or whatever. They know when something bad will probably happen, and they know what to do to avoid that. They told me now that me and Stacy really needed to be here.” He tilted his head to the side and glanced towards Sam, who was flying in quick, tight circles in the air. “And now they’re saying that... we can... help you?”

“Help us?” Jackie repeated, blinking. “I, uh... I guess? Maybe? You guys don’t, uh, know what’s going on, though.”

“Not at all,” Stacy confirmed. “But you said something about Anti and a message?”

“Essentially, we are going to ambush Distorter,” Schneep said. “Anti is pretending to be under his control to hopefully lower his guard. When he heads into the house on Aspen Street, we will be there to... to stop him.”

“You... don’t sound too sure about that...” Stacy said slowly.

“Well, our plan is a bit shaky,” Schneep said. “I was expecting us to talk about it some more on the drive here.”

“You were?” Marvin looked back at him in surprise. “Why didn’ you say t’at?! I assumed you didn’ want to talk!”

“Yeah, me too,” Jackie said. “But I guess, uh, JJ wouldn’t have been able to participate much in that discussion anyway, since he needed to drive.”

Schneep blinked. “...ah. Well.”

JJ looked back at everyone. If we hurry, we can beat them to the house on Aspen Street. Then we can talk about what our plan is. We know time magic is the key, we can discuss from there.

“Time magic, huh?” Stacy blinked. “I’m not sure how much we can help with that, actually...” But Sam flew around behind her and began ramming into her, clearly trying to push her towards the car. “Whoa! Okay, okay!”

“Maybe ye can be lookouts,” Marvin suggested. “We’ll need t’ keep the car hidden.” He shuffled the cards in his hands. “I t’ink I have a spell t’at can help, but it’ll mean leavin’ some cards behind. If you two stay behind to keep an eye on th’ cards, and t’en maybe text us to know when Distorter and Anti are comin’... well, t’at woul’ be a real help.”

Jack nodded. “We can do that.”

Alright, get in, JJ said. Schneep, Jackie? You’re going to have to take off your seatbelts and squish together.

Jackie sighed. “Sure. It’s not safe, but at least we’re not that far away.”

Given what we’re going towards, I think the lack of seatbelts isn’t that much of a threat in comparison, JJ said grimly.

Jackie unbuckled his seatbelt and scooted over to the window. “..it’s still a threat,” he grumbled.

You’re undermining my dramatic moment, Jackie! JJ said.

“Good, I was trying to!”

Jack and Stacy piled into the car. The backseat was nowhere near big enough for four adults to sit, so everyone’s legs ended up overlapping as they all partially sat on top of each other. Sam flew into the car once everyone else was in, sitting in one of the cupholders. “Well, at leas’ we have Sam bein’ cute to emotionally support us,” Marvin commented.

JJ laughed slightly before turning his attention to the road.

...

...soon, it was upon them.

The house on Aspen Street looked the same as it always had. Always rundown, always dull, always seemingly lifeless. Nobody else knew that inside the house, space itself seemed to break as the environment turned against you. “You guys have to stick together,” Stacy said upon seeing it. “I-I don’t want to... y-you shouldn’t get split up like last time.”

“When ye came t’ rescue me, righ’?” Marvin asked quietly.

Stacy nodded. “Yeah. We all got separated.”

“Jems has told me abou’ his experiences in t’ere,” Marvin recalled. “It happens whenever ye step over a t’reshold, righ’?” He looked at JJ for confirmation, who nodded, parking the car on the street.

Schneep peered out the window, scanning the area. “I do not see Distorter or Anti,” he reported.

“Maybe they’re inside the house?” Jackie suggested. “Or... hiding in a bush?”

“Those bushes are not substantial enough to hide a person,” Schneep said. “Besides, Distorter would have no reason to hide in them, since he can disappear from everyone’s perception.” Except for Schneep’s, of course. “But yes, he could be inside with Anti. In which case... we will have to be prepared. We need to move fast.”

“And you need to stick together,” Stacy emphasized.

“We’re plannin’ on it,” Marvin said.

JJ turned back to look at everyone else. I think she means more than just... being in a huddled group. Right, Stacy?

Stacy nodded. “If you guys hold onto each other or something, it’ll probably stop the weird house magic from separating you guys.”

Schneep frowns. “That is a good idea... but we cannot hold hands all the time. I, for one, need a hand free to use my power.” His brow furrowed. “Verdammt. I should have brought some of my gear after all, I think the grapple cord could’ve come in handy here.”

You mean... a tether? JJ asked. I could try to connect us with my magic... He frowned. But that could disappear if I lose concentration, or... maybe it wouldn’t be enough. A magic rope seemed a lot more vulnerable to this strange separation than a physical rope was.

“Hmm...” Jack hummed. “Is everyone wearing pants with belt loops?”

Everyone glanced down at their pants in comical unison. “I think so?” Jackie said slowly. “Schneep, does your costume have belt loops?”

“It has loops for connecting various gadgets,” Schneep said.

“Close enough.” Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a few metal loops.

“...why do you have climbing carabiners?” Schneep asked, confused.

“I bought some at a sports supply shop a couple days ago,” Jack said. “I read online that if you have a lot of grocery bags, you can use them for easy carrying, so I thought I’d get some for me and Stacy’s grocery runs. But I just left them out on the counter for ages. I put them in my pocket earlier so I’d remember to put them away, but then Sam started freaking out, and... well, here we are.”

“That’s perfect, though!” Jackie gasped. “How many do you have?”

“Five,” Jack said, spreading them out.

Marvin counted on his fingers. “We’ll only need four, if we want t’ connect in a line. You can keep the las’ one.”

JJ nodded. Schneep and I are our best offense, so we should be on either end, with Jackie and Marvin in the middle. Any objections?

“None at all.” Marvin began searching through his cards. “Jus’ give me one moment to make t’at invisibility spell...” It would mean he’s going into the house with less than a full deck of runes, but he could work with that. A small price to pay for keeping Jack and Stacy hidden.

They moved fast once all those details were sorted. Marvin’s cards made the whole car—and its occupants—disappear from view. When the four of them said goodbye to Jack and Stacy and climbed out, they didn’t see a hint of the car they’d come from when they turned back around. Quickly, they headed to the front door, where they paused long enough to take out the carabiners. Schneep took up the front, followed by Jackie, then Marvin, then JJ in the back. The metal loops were large for what they were, but small compared to a length of rope, so they were standing awkwardly close together.

Schneep grabbed the front door’s handle. “If he is in there, we cannot waste time,” he said quietly. “I know it is hard to move like this, but we have to stay coordinated.”

The others nodded, all of them getting ready to move.

“On three, I open the door and we run in,” Schneep whispered. “One...” His grip tightened. “Two...” He turned the handle. “Three!”

Schneep flung the door open and they all rushed inside—and proceeded to trip over each other, Marvin and JJ collapsing and bringing Jackie down with them. Schneep managed to stay on his feet somehow, leaving Jackie in an awkward hands-and-feet position. “Good job, everyone,” Schneep muttered.

“Maybe t’is wasn’ the best idea after all,” Marvin groaned.

“Well, at the very least, it seems our entrance did not leave us vulnerable to attack.” Schneep scanned the empty living room. “Distorter is not here. I get the feeling he has not arrived yet.”

JJ grabbed a coat rack by the door, trying to pull himself up. Marvin helped, using his cane for leverage, and Jackie got up from there. Once they were all standing, the other three looked around as well. “No sign of him,” Jackie mumbled.

He can’t be that far, JJ said. We took long enough picking everyone up on the way. He looked out the front window, seeing nothing. We should... get ready.

Marvin shuffled nervously through his cards, fanning them out and double-checking they were all there. “I guess we’re really doin’ t’is...” He tried to mentally recall any of the time spells they’d found... but they hadn’t really found much of anything. Fear began to creep into his stomach, and his breathing started to speed up. He was going to mess this up. He had no idea what to do or how to do it, and this was all relying on his magick cards, he was going to let everyone down—

“Hey.” Jackie put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Don’t panic.”

“Huh?” Marvin looked over. “I-I’m not panicking.”

“You are,” Jackie said. “I can see it. Just... take deep breaths, okay? Remain calm.”

JJ nodded. Yes... we all seriously need to remain calm. His eyes darted around the room. This place is a magical echo chamber, remember? Anything we feel will reflect off the space in here and bounce back on us. If we get scared, we’ll soon be terrified. We have to stay confident.

Schneep nodded. “We can do this. And we should all say that we can. Everyone. We can do this.”

“W-we can d-do this,” Marvin repeated.

“We can do this,” Jackie whispered.

We can do this, JJ signed.

“That is the spirit.” Schneep nodded. “We have time to figure out the plan. Marvin, why not discuss the things you think could be helpful?”

“...right.” Marvin nodded. He looked down at his cards, separating out the jokers. “T’ese are the time cards. I t’ink... I can buy us some time...”

———————

Anti’s legs were really starting to hurt. It wasn’t every day he walked across the city without using the bus or trains, but Distorter clearly wasn’t leading him towards any of those. And if he wanted to keep up this charade, he couldn’t question anything. Maybe Distorter was making him walk on purpose, as some sort of punishment for fighting so much. Ugh. This sucked. He wasn’t that out of shape, was he?

But now, finally, they reached Aspen Street. Distorter paused to look back at him, his ever-present smile seemingly filled with excitement. “Almost there,” he said. “You can do it.”

Though he wanted to glare at Distorter and his stupid fucking passive-aggressive mockery of support, he forced himself to just nod slowly.

“You’re probably wondering what we’re going to do when we’re there,” Distorter said, turning back around. “Well, I think with your help, we can get a little party together. With all the rest of your friends there. Wouldn’t that be great?” He giggled. “Maybe that’s what they were texting you about earlier. Maybe they were planning a party.”

His heart skipped a beat when Distorter mentioned those texts. The second he’d sent his warning in the group chat, people had started responding. He had to quickly silence his phone before Distorter had turned around, curious about what all those sounds were. But luckily, Distorter had only said “It sounds like your friends really want to talk to you, huh? Don’t respond. We need to get home first.” And then he turned around and kept leading Anti through the streets. He'd dodged a bullet there; god, why was his phone unsilenced then of all times? Distorter had heard it... and he hadn’t forgotten about those texts, either.

They approached the house, and Distorter slowed to a stop, tilting his head to the side. He looked around... all around, torso twisting one way, and then another, spine cracking as it went. His smile remained present, but Anti couldn’t help but feel that was just a mask. “Do you hear anything?”

“...no,” Anti said honestly.

“Do you see anything?”

“No.”

“Look around. Listen closer. Is there anything unusual around?”

Uneasily, Anti looked around. He really couldn’t see anything weird about this area. Aspen Street was always quiet—or at least, this area was, the few times they’ve been here. Though... there was a faint, weird warping in the air. Was that... magic? Anti quickly looked away from it. His heart was pounding out of his chest. Good, the others were here. Hopefully. “No, there’s nothing unusual,” he said, keeping his tone dull.

“Good.” Distorter nodded once. “Come on.” He began walking up the path to the house’s front door.

Anti followed, eyes darting all around, looking for—there! Movement in the house’s window, for just a split second. His chest soared, filling with hope. The others were here! That meant that, even if this went wrong, at least he wasn’t going to be alone in here. And they probably also found Will and made sure he was safe. So that was good. He could face whatever was to come knowing his son was alright and his friends were going to be at his side.

———————

Jackie’s phone dinged with the noise of a text notification. He took it out and looked at the screen... reading a text from Stacy. His breath hitched. “Distorter is down the street!” he hissed. “And Anti’s with him!”

Jameson gasped. But he nodded, trying to project confidence. Then it’s time. Marvin, do you need help with anything?

“Y-yes, help me set up the time stop,” Marvin said. He’d never done this before, but he was pretty sure this one combination of cards would catch Distorter in time.

The group gathered by the front door, arranging Marvin’s cards in a large circle, with only one out of place. Then they hurried to stand by the side, ready to pounce into motion the moment the door opened. The carabiners still meant movement was awkward—Jackie fell to the side and almost collapsed the whole chain before he managed to grab onto the curtains—but they didn’t dare unclasp them, just in case. “They’re coming!” Jackie hissed. “I saw them!”

“Brace yourselves, everyone,” Schneep muttered.

———————

Distorter grabbed onto the doorknob, waiting on the doorstop, making sure Anti was with him. His smile widened. “Let’s go.”

He opened the door, and stepped inside. Anti lingered back—

A blackened hand shot out and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him through the door as well. Anti yelped, too taken off guard to fight back. Once inside, though, he regained his senses and wrenched himself free, stumbling to the side, eyes darting around

and seeing

nothing.

Just an empty room.

Nobody

Was there.

“...wh... what the...?” Anti’s eyes widened in surprised horror. Had he been mistaken? Had he not seen that movement inside after all?

And then Distorter began to laugh. Quietly, at first. But as Anti turned to stare at him, that laughter increased, growing louder to shrieking peals. All of it directed squarely at Anti. “Oh, I’m sorry!” Distorter said, tilting his head too far to the side. “It’s just so funny! The expression on your face! What, were you expecting your friends to jump me? Attack me with spells and lightning? Did you forget how this house works, Aodhán?! No space is the same! Especially when I don’t want it to be.”

———————

The floor began to shake. “What the—” Marvin glanced downwards, leaning onto his cane for support in this now-unstable environment. “What’s goin’ on?!”

Jameson summoned magic in his hands, the air around him lighting up blue as he did.

“Th-this has never happened before!” Jackie gasped. “I-is it an earthquake?!”

“With our luck? No!” Schneep glanced around. He lunged to the side, grabbing onto the archway that led into the kitchen—dragging everyone else along with him with surprisingly little effort. “Everyone hold on!”

“Hold on t’ what?!” Marvin gasped, looking around. “The furniture!”

The furniture, too, was shaking. And the shaking grew faster, and faster, loud thumps becoming even louder crashing. JJ winced, pressing his hands to his ears and dispelling the magic as he did. The furniture—the world was shaking so much that every item was leaving an afterimage. Half-formed blurred shapes of things breaking off and spinning into the air, multiplying rapidly.

SNAP!

Jameson looked down towards the sound. The carabiner connecting him to Marvin broke. One of the metal sides snapped right in two. “Jems!” Marvin gasped realizing the same thing. “Hold on!” He lunged towards Jameson—

SNAP!

The loop connecting him to Jackie broke. The sheer force of whatever shaking was going on caused it buckle and disconnect. Marvin fell to the ground... and when he looked up, Jameson was gone, only afterimages left behind in the shaking.

Jackie and Schneep saw Marvin struggle to get up, and saw as he, too, began shaking away into mere echoes. “Marvin! Wait!” Jackie cried. Marvin turned around to look at them, but the image of him disappeared before he could reach back towards them.

“Marvin!” Jackie screamed. He started to run towards the spot he’d been, but Schneep grabbed him and pulled him back. “Let me go, Henrik!”

“No!” Schneep shook his head. “Jackie, I think the house—its distortion of space is—th-the separation is in the rooms now! If you get too far from me, we will disappear from each other!”

Jackie looked back at him, tears in his wide eyes. “What are we supposed to do?!”

The floor gave a solid heave, knocking both of them to the floor. Schneep rolled over, grabbing Jackie and wrapping his arms around him, holding him tightly. “Hold onto me!” he gasped.

Jackie, stunned, could only do as he asked and wrap his arms around him, squeezing, holding onto what felt like the only solid thing. The floor—the walls—the ceiling around them seemed to break, but at the same time, the room stayed intact. It all began to shake away, and they could only make sure they had each other close.

———————

“This... this doesn’t make any sense!” Anti staggered backwards, away from Distorter, even though that just led him further into the house. “I just—we were—you couldn’t have—even if you guessed we were planning something, you’d never expect—I-I didn’t—”

“Didn’t give anything away?” Distorter asked. “You’re a very good actor, Aodhán. I’ll give you that.” He clapped sarcastically. “But you didn’t think I wouldn’t know my attempts to reach into your mind had failed? What, do you think Jameson doesn’t feel when his spells fail, too? These powers are part of us, stuff like that is as intuitive as knowing when you fail to grab something with your hand. And even if it wasn’t, your eyes didn’t start bleeding. That’s a dead giveaway.”

Anti’s mind was spinning. God, he was such an idiot. A failure. He thought he was playing along with Distorter, but he was only doing what this creature wanted him to. And now, his friends were in here... because of him. Because he sent that text. He led them here, into this trap... into his domain.

Distorter laughed. “Oh, I don’t need to see into your mind to know what you’re thinking now. Yes! This is all your fault.”

The world was spinning. No, the house was spinning, leaving streaks of itself in its wake. Anti couldn’t breathe. The very air of this place was pressing down on him. He fell to his knees—or was he pushed? Pushed by the weight of this house and everything that had ever happened in it?

“And now you’re all here!” That laughter rang out again. “With all my friends in one place...

...now the fun can r͢͞e͏a̶̶͢ll̀͡y͠͡ start.”

[huffle-dork]

Swap into the Crystalverse Chapter 1: Switch

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix

Read Swapboys | Read Switch | Read SwitchSwap | AO3 Link

Prologue

Tag list: @brokentimewatch

AN: so I haven’t written any more of switchswap yet cuz I gotta finish alt.exe first but Cry knows the plot points I’m planning so like- this takes place after switchswap where the Switch and Swap boys know each other and alludes to stuff that’ll happen in switchswap without giving away too much plot hghgg I’m sorry writing is hard but! I love this part :’) hope you enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the chaos that just happened, Bro Fantastic is met with sudden calm. It's late afternoon, and he's standing on a set of train tracks. On either side are station platforms with benches and lights that are just now turning on in preparation for evening. Everything is quiet.

Until--

"Hey!"

There's a man on one of the platforms. He has brown hair, dyed with streaks of green and black, and heterochromiac eyes: one blue, one green. One hand is reaching inside his black jacket's pocket, the other is held out, protectively shielding a redheaded boy--small for his age--who seems very curious about what just happened. "Get off the tracks!" the man says. "There's gonna be--wait a second, do I know you?"

Bro Fantastic shakes off the wave of vertigo from whatever that spell was and then dips down to his knees, clutching his burnt stomach. He blearily looks out at the man shouting at him- he looks like Jackie but… edgier- wait-!

Bro’s eyes widen and then he pushes himself off the tracks and bursts into the air then quickly lands in front of the man and boy. He laughs a bit dazedly, gripping his wound. “A-Anti!” He exclaims, blue silver power bright in his eyes. “Thank god this place has at least something familiar…”

Anti's eyes narrow in suspicion, then widen again. "Oh, fuck, yeah! You're--wait." He glances at the redheaded boy. "Uh, I mean--"

"Dad, I'm eleven, I hear you say that all the time," the boy says.

Anti laughs. "Alright, fine." He turns back to Bro. "You're from that--that other place. You're... Chase. Right. Sorry, I forgot your name." Then he notices the wound. He inhales sharply. "A-are you alright? Stupid question, you're not. Shit, we have to get to a hospital, uhhh..." He pulls out his phone.

Chase waves Anti off and tries not to let himself grimace, “no no I… I’m fine- I can heal fast just- hurts like a bitch till then…”

"I'm Will," says the boy.

Bro smiles down at the boy and waves, “Hi Will, you’re Anti’s son, huh? He def mentioned you pretty sure…”

"Yeah, this is Will," Anti repeats. "What're you doing here, anyway? How are you here?"

Chase’s eyes then widen as he straightens up and looks around frantically, “Oh shit right-! Uh I don’t know how it happened but- Magnificent… he took Alt- and made him use this weird doorway thingy! And then- god everything happened so fast… there was this huge burst of light then… I was here.” He shakes his head, “But god damn this… this isn’t good- Mag could still have Alt or- or he might go after some of you all again-!”

He looks at Anti desperately, squeezing his aching stomach. “Anti, can you help me find them?”

"Doorway thing...?" Anti is confused by that, but decides to move on. He's seen weirder. The point is that shit's going down. "Yeah, man, of course I'll help you find them. If that cat c--bitch is here, it could mean trouble..." He shivers just remembering things in that other world. "I gotta get Will home first, though. Or, maybe to Rama's house, it'll be safer that way. Yeah, I can call them to come here and pick him up."

"Daaaad," Will whines.

"No, don't be like that, bud, this is dangerous. Rama will keep you safe." Anti looks down at his phone again and starts tapping. "If you're sure that you can heal, we'll forget the hospital. I'm texting the others to let them know. Maybe they've seen Alt or Magnificent. In the meantime... I dunno. I need to stay here and wait for Rama to come get Will. You can stay too, or maybe I can give you the others' addresses and you can start looking around? Do you have your phone with you?"

Chase pats down his outfit in mid panic before relaxing, pulling out his phone. He’s not even in his super suit- but he does keep his utility belt tucked under his shirt sometimes. He’s wearing a tank top that looks like his super suit but with his emblem tinier in the upper corner- new merch he was trying out… heroes gotta eat too you know? And of course- his signature jacket, but one of his knock off ones that had a hood. He might not even need to whip out his mask- “yeah yeah I got it I….” He grips at his stomach and pushes past a wave of pain but it’s getting less and less. Only problem with super healing is it took energy from other parts of his body- meaning he might be grounded for a bit. God that sucked ass… but the others were always telling him he shouldn’t be pushing through injuries anyways. But his nerves were on fire thinking about Alt…

“I… fuck I guess I should try to recover for now… I might get myself lost otherwise. Hopefully one of the others might run into Alt…” He chewed on his lip in worry. “I hope he’s okay… and that whatever magic Mag used- hopefully he’ll be out of commission for a bit…” But- things like that don’t usually go their way.

"Okay good." Anti looks at him, concerned. "Yeah, sit down, man. There are benches everywhere. Alt's pretty tough, he'll be fine for a little while." Probably. Maybe.

Bro nods and stumbles to sink into a bench, holding his wound. He could feel it closing up and hardening but god that burned like a motherfucker. Sometimes he hated his ability- but it made it so he could save people faster and that’s what matters.

"Okay so I don't think cell reception works in other universes but WiFi is probably fine, so turn on the WiFi texting option so we can reach you just in case. I'll call my friend to come get Will." Anti glances down at his own phone. "Looks like Jackie and Schneep might be here soon, too. Good."

"I like your jacket," Will says to Bro.

Anti laughs. "Yeah, his jacket is cool."

Bro blinks and then smiles at Will, “Thanks lil dude! I… designed it myself- kinda- this is, a knockoff of the one I made. Superhero Fan merch you know-“ ah his delirium is showing off his adhd wonderful but hey, maybe this kid likes superheroes…

"Oh, cool. A real superhero?" Will's eyes are wide. "Like Uncle Schneep? Wicked. Michelle would go crazy!"

Bro grins wide and nods, “Yup! I’m Bro Fantastic~!” Shit did he even have his mask? He was too tired to check- would be cool to show the kid though. “Though you little dude, can just call me Chase if ya want- or bro~!”

Will looks over at Anti. "How do you know this guy?!"

Anti smiles gently. Eleven-year-olds are probably smart enough to understand multiverses, right? But are they emotionally ready to deal with that being real? Probably not. "It's a long story." Anti sits down on the other side of the bench Bro sits on. "Uh... we have some time. I'll explain..." Bro settles in to listen to Anti’s retelling, even if all he could feel was dull panic swirling in his gut.

-----------

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, Alt pops into being in a suburb. It's fairly ordinary-looking. Houses are taken care of. Except... for one. One that has yellowing grass, grayed peeling paint, and shingles falling off the roof. But Alt doesn't see that right away. He appears with his back to it.

Alt’s body is hard to piece back together at first, pixels and shapes at first before finally snapping back together. He crashes to the ground and grips tightly at his arm, biting back a pained scream. Black magic pulses painfully in his veins and it burned, eating away at him. Purple still fought in his eyes but- he was away from Mag and his influence so it was starting to clear. He grit his teeth and ducked his head to the ground, letting out an angry scream. “that MOTHER F̵̟̂U̵̎̉C̷̡̈́Ḱ̸͊E̵͐̒R̷͂̇!”

Okay okay- he needed to try to figure out what the hell was happening… all he could piece together was Mag took him, and used him for something. Something dangerous… Chase was there but- didn’t manage to stop it. Alt finally peeks up his head to try to look around, feeling himself pale. This… this wasn’t Brighton- it didn’t feel right. God no- did Mag actually manage to- to multiverse hop?? And he used Alt to do it!

Alt glitches angrily and curses up a storm as he tries to get to his feet. Ugh he feels faint- but he has to try to get up. He has to stop Mag- he has to find Chase!

As Alt struggles to get up, the door to the house behind him slowly opens. Then he hears it. The voice, so hard to describe and yet so distinct in its indistinctness.

"Well look who's back!"

Alt’s blood runs cold and he stumbles back from the door, unable to stop his limbs from starting to tremble. His eyes widen and he tries to glitch back but the black magic flares and leaves his body only fizzing with glitches. “No- no no no- not you…!” He whispers, dread filling every inch of his body.

Distorter giggles. How did he get so close to Alt without him realizing?! He's only a few feet away. "How'd you get here, Anti?" he asks, grin widening. "All by yourself, too? None of those friends of yours with you? Aw, what a shame. But it's okay." He takes a few steps forward. "They'd only get in the way." His head tilts to the side. "Looks like you're having trouble there. Can't get those powers to work like they should? How useless."

Alt’s panicking, trying to back away as he feels gray fogging up his vision. No no no!

“I… I don’t know- Mag… Mag did something…! He… he…” Alt tries to get his magic to work- but anything he tries to summon has the dark magic reacting in kind, sapping his energy. Still, Alt tries to hold out a sparking hand, blue and green struggling to flare up in his eyes. “S-stay back-! G-get away from me!!!”

"Oh? But it sounds like you need help. I'm happy to be there." Distorter's grin widens further. He walks right up to Alt, undeterred by his threats and sparking, and reaches out with a blackened hand. Stay calm, Alt. Nothing bad is going to happen =)

Alt shudders and tries to pull away but his thoughts start to fizzle into nothing but fog. Especially as Distorter manages to grab him.

He… he does need help. He’s in pain- he’s scared. Distorter can… can help… right? He’s… he’s helped before… right? It was all so… fuzzy.

Calm washes over him so fast he nearly loses his balance. It’s like all his senses have been turned down to zero. His eyes widen and the magic around him fizzles into the air into nothing but spare electricity.

“…help…” He whimpers- whether it’s to Distorter or a cry for someone else… it’s hard to say.

"Shh. Don't worry." Distorter's smile widens again as he steadies Alt from falling, holding him up. His grip is tight, clenching his upper arms. "Do you think that Magnificent came with you? He probably did, right? We should go find him before he finds you." Maybe this time he'd get one up on that magician. He'd be a useful friend. Or at the very least, it would be good to stop him before he messed with the others.

Alt swayed in Distorter’s grip, head threatening to fall to his chest. It felt like something was trying to leak out of his eye but he could barely feel it. “Yeah… mag… mag’s here.., we… we gotta… gotta stop him…”

Distorter was powerful, he could help Alt stop magnificent. …they were friends after all…

Distorter briefly wonders if any more people from Alt's universe showed up. If they did, it would be good to have a... shield of some kind. "Come on. We'll go together. We'll help each other. You can protect me, and I'll make sure nothing bothers you."

“Mmmmkay… yeah…” Alt muttered dazedly, eyes glazing over. “We can… protect e’chther…” His mouth didn’t want to work.

His mind tried to wander, brief panic flickering in his gut. A smiling face was in his vision- a nicer smile then Distorter’s… with sun kissed cheeks that radiated warmth. But, Alt couldn’t grasp onto why he was important. It didn’t matter. Distorter would tell him what mattered.

"Exactly." Distorter lets go of Alt, letting him balance on his own two feet. Is he still swaying? Whatever happened to him before must've done a real number on him. It'll be fine, though. Nothing to worry about. Now... where to go? He thinks about it for a moment, then nods. "Magnificent will try to head to a certain place sooner or later. Let's see if we can beat him there." He disappears from Alt's vision, reappearing some way down the sidewalk. "This way."

Alt nods distantly and trembles slightly before pulling his body to walk after Distorter. He gripped at his arm, a dull ache trying to make itself known. Blood flowed slowly down his cheeks as he dazedly walked after Distorter. He had to find Magnificent… he had to. Nothing else mattered.

————

Magnificent himself has appeared in a different, unfamiliar location--just as he wanted. This looks like a neighborhood, made up of rows and rows of old-fashioned-looking townhouses. He stands near a street intersection No people or cars are in sight... but there's a weird green glow coming from around one corner.

Magnificent looks around his new surroundings, a burst of pride and erratic excitement overcoming him. He laughed madly, clawing back his hair as he took stock of himself. Kinda weak from the spell but nothing he can’t recover… he just needed another source of magic to steal. But, at least he had enough to disguise himself… he can’t draw too much attention to himself right away. In a buzz of static his eccentric clothes change into something light and casual- a dark green button up, a black blazer, black pants and purple dress shoes. His scar is disguised- his hair pulled up into a brunette bun on his head. He grinned and checked himself over. Alright- perfectly normal!

He closed his eyes to let out some energy, trying to see if he can sense any magic sources nearby. Once recovered… he could hunt down the greatest sources of magic he can find here…

He opens his eyes to notice the green light and tilted his head curiously, much like a cat would. He started to slink towards it, almost hungrily.

There is a man standing at a bus stop. He's wearing a red jacket, which calls Jackie to mind, but he's not him. His hair is dyed green like meadow grass and his eyes are framed by a pair of glasses. The green glow is coming from something... floating... near the man. Something... green. And... spherical. It's moving up and down somewhat frantically, making it hard to notice details.

"--can't figure out what you're saying if you go so fast!" The man is talking to the floating thing. "I get it, it's important, but--really? Yeah, I know, but I can't fucking drive, do you want me to just walk away? We can keep going to their house--Okay, okay! Look, calm down, anyone could see you." The man glances around--and notices Magnificent. He freezes like a deer caught in headlights. The green thing also freezes and ducks behind him, like it's hiding.

Magnificent smiles charmingly at the two as he approaches. “Well… don’t you keep the most peculiar company?” He muses silkily, walking up but stopping just a bit short of the pair.

“You seem distressed, young man. Might I ask what’s troubling you and your… pet?” His eyes locked into the glow from the spherical thing- he couldn’t understand the power that came from it but it had something. And that was enough…

"Uhhh..." Jack takes a single step backwards, immediately wary. This stranger... he looks like Marvin, but he obviously can't be him. Unless he figured out some new spell with those cards, but even if he did, Marvin would never call Sam a pet. "W-well, I... I'm actually on my way to visit some friends, but they... want to leave..."

Sam wants to leave because Sam was suddenly struck by the feeling that something terrible is going to happen. And as they hide behind him, they say that this might be it.

No kidding. But Jack's not sure how to proceed. He didn't expect to be ambushed by...whoever this is. Maybe this is one of Distorter's tricks that he heard so much about? "And, uh... I-I don't want to upset them, so I'll just... hurry and go..." Sam really doesn't want him to go to Marvin and JJ's house. They say the bad feeling just gets worse when they think about that.

Magnificent tilts his head like a predator looking down at its prey. Jack can see his image stutter slightly, one of his eyes glowing green, the other devoid of life, surrounded by ugly raised scars like cris cross over each other like lightning. But, the image quickly fades as the stranger smiles.

“I see- well. Don’t let me keep you! Sounds like this is an urgent matter… so sorry to disturb.”

It was taking everything in him not to pounce right now- but he needs to be patient. In control.

"Uh... yeah." Jack starts walking backwards... slowly... and then abruptly turns and hurries away, walking as fast as possible without actually running--who knows what would happen if he ran?! Sam perches on his shoulder as he fumbles with his pocket and starts pulling out the phone. He has to tell the others! This feels like some weird shit that'll involve them!

Ah perfect- these idiotic humans never thought about how bad it was to turn their back on a threat. Mag grins and then lashes out a hand to try to grab Sam in a flash of purple and green magic.

Sam's pupil widens as the magic grabs them and yanks them back. Jack immediately stops and spins around. "Sam!" he cries. "No no no, let them go!" Sam squirms, nerve-tail lashing, and Magnificent now has a clear view of them in all their eyeball-ness for the first time.

Magnificent’s eyes widen at the sight then he laughs, holding the eye up closer to his face with his magic. “Well aren’t you a curious little thing?” He purrs. He then cups his hands around the eyeball and starts to crush his magic around them. “I hope you’re not too attached to your human, little eye, because I need whatever magic or power is running through those nerves of yours!”

He’s not sure if he can- but he tries to see if he can siphon some magic from this strange glowing creature.

Sam squirms, tail lashing. Their glow dims slightly and Magnificent feels... something. It feels sour, in some way. And sharp. But it's only a small trickle, and their glow is still going pretty strong.

Magnificent squirms slightly at the feeling of the magic he siphoned. Unpleasant… but something…

"Hey! Asshole!" Jack looks around, desperately. He doesn't want to get too close but he can't just let Sam be hurt. In desperation--acting on instinct and not really thinking--he throws his phone at Magnificent. Immediately regretting it the moment it leaves his hand but oh well its too late now he's committed!

Before Mag could push for more he hears the shout and then lifts up a hand to catch the phone in a wave of magic.

Unnatural cat-like eyes meet Jack’s glowing in the night as the man grins. “ooooh? Is the human thinking himself brave? How adorable~!”

He flicks his hand and his magic darts back to make Jack’s phone hit in the stomach. Magnificent’s voice darkens to something dangerous, “I have no use for useless things like you- get out of my sight and I might spare you~” He chuckles, crushing a hand around Sam.

Jack staggers back and barely manages to grab his phone before it falls to the ground. What should he do? What can he do?! He looks at Sam. Their nerve-tail flails wildly, but they tell Jack to get out of here, that they don't think anything too bad will happen. But Jack can't just leave them!

Then he has an idea. He makes a show of fumbling with his phone as he puts it back in his jacket pocket, using the motion to hide him dialing the first number on his recent contacts. "I-I'm not useless," he says, further distracting this--this evil doppleganger. "I--I know about you. Or--or your kind. You're a magician, aren't you?! What are you going to do with Sam? They can't--they can't help people like you!"

Magnificent chuckles more and tosses Sam up and down in his magic, like someone throwing a ball. “I guess you could lump me up in that title- though I am something far greater~!” He purrs with pride. “As for your little creature- I don’t need much… just a bit of whatever power they have to claim for my own. Then- I can hunt for… bigger fish~” Mag’s eyes glow brighter as he grins. “You know of magicians- that means some are around… I guess you were more useful to me than I thought!”

He shakes his head and then looks down at Sam. “Though- you are rather unusual, little eye… maybe I should keep you to study closer, hm?”

Nope nope nope nope--Jack can feel Sam's distress at that statement. They say something about deja vu and other Sams that he doesn't quite understand, but it's not the time to ask about that. "No!" Jack blurts out. "No, you can't--you can't get anything from them!" That sounds desperate (which it is) but he's pretty sure it's true. "I can--i-if you're so curious I can tell you anything you want about them, just leave them alone!"

There's a faint voice on the other end of the phone conversation. He can barely hear it but it's recognizable. He wonders how fast they can get here. Even if they run it'll take a while--maybe there's some magic that can help.

Magnificent studies Jack with a critical eye. He could see a faint magic aura from this boy- but it’s faint. Not even flowing in his blood, just there. How disappointing.

Mag pulls his lip back in a snarl. “I have no time to waste on hardly magic mortals, boy. I doubt any information you know will even be of use to me.”

Mag squeezes at Sam trying to see if he can get another inkling of magic- he can’t teleport right now, and he isn’t stooping down to running away from something that’s not even a threat.

Jack's heart pounds in his chest. Sam is begging him to leave, to run, reassuring him they'll be alright. He doesn't believe them. But he'd be no help if he gets himself killed. He stands there, frozen, watching Magnificent squeeze his friend--

And then there's a puff of blue smoke behind Magnificent. Before it even disperses there are three wheels of blue light spinning out, heading straight for Magnificent.

The dark magician barely has a chance to suck anything from the eye before he’s struck by bolts of blue light. One hits his arm- then the others manage to throw him off his feet, He flies back, the magic holding back Sam crackling into static. He yells in anger, his disguise also melting away to show the masked villain in all his dramatic glory.

He turns to snarl at the source of magic that dared to strike him-!

Jameson stands there, hands raised, a shield crystalizing into place even as the smoke from the teleportation spell still lingers. His eyes widen. He thought he recognized the voice over the phone but he hoped he was wrong.

Sam flies to Jack as soon as they're able, smacking into his chest. He catches them and holds them close to his chest.

Go! Jameson signs.

Jack hesitates.

Go! He repeats, more insistently. Tell the others!

After another second, Jack nods, and turns and runs.

Jameson lets out a breath of relief. He just needs to distract Magnificent for long enough. He's sure that the dark magician would prefer him as a target instead of Jack.

And he's right- Magnificent's eyes light up hungrily as he pulls himself and sways slightly, looking off kilted as he grins wildly. "Well well well! Hello there, kitten~!" He laughs. "Oh I was hoping the universe would be kind to me... and they deliver you here to me on a sliver platter!"

The mad magician then lunges at Jameson with his hand outstretched- trying to grab him with his claws.

Luckily, Jameson's shield is solid. He spins it around to block Magnificent's attack. How are you here?! he asks, unsure if Mag would know what he's saying. Then he puts his hands together, cupping them like he's holding a ball. A sphere of blue light forms in his hands and he drops it on the ground, letting it splash. The magic spreads across the sidewalk, turning it blue and slick like ice.

Magnificent bangs across the shield and then jumps back, landing in a crouched position on the sidewalk. His eyes reflect the light like a cats as he giggles, pulling himself up to full height.

A voice slithers into Jameson's head, purring, "Now Jameson... so hostile~! Is this anyway to treat your master?" His eyes are swirling as he tries to advance. "It'd be so much easier if you didn't fight, little bird... I won't harm you, I only need to borrow something from you."

The magic spreads across the sidewalk and Magnificent stumbles then hurries to hold himself up, trying not to fall flat on his face. He growls. Being drained is a real inconvenience... but all he had to do was make Jameson fall back under his thrall.

Jameson flinches back, keeping the shield up. He smiles a bit as he sees Magnificent stumble--there's something vindicating about that--but it distracts him for just enough to make eye contact. The swirls are familiar... comforting... His shield is flickering... No--no! He shakes his head and tries to resist but... why would you resist something so beautiful? The shield dies quickly.

Magnificent grins even wider and strides forward more, humming. "Very very good, birdie~! Fall nice and deep for me... and this won't hurt a bit~"

He approaches and then grabs Jameson's arm, digging his nail into the skin, branches of black veins spreading across the surface. Then, he tries to siphon magic from the magician, greedy trying to pull as much as he can.

Jameson shivers. There's a dead feeling creeping into him from his arm, from the spot where Magnificent grabbed him. He looks down and sees the black veins spreading. Faint alarm bells go off in his head but he can't bring himself to do anything about it, even as weakness makes his arms and legs tremble. He falls to his knees, breathing heavily.

The air seems to shimmer...

Magnificent laughs as blue light floods into his veins, pulsing with energy then fading to blazing purple. He feels his magic and strength returning. He doesn't drain Jameson completely though, not yet- He may be of use to him... he needs to find another way to hop to the next multiverse before he finishes up here. Oh and find his cub... just in case. But, this will suffice for now~

He lets Jameson drop to the ice below and sighs dreamily, "Mmmm just what I needed! Thank you very much, Jameson~!" He then bends down to pick him up by his hair and hums in thought, "You should stick by me though, little lark~ I may have further use of you."

The mad magician is too distracted by his prize to notice anything shimmering in the air-

Jameson's eyes are glazed over. He doesn't react at all to anything Magnificent is saying or doing. The combined hypnotism and draining has left him weak. He looks up at Mag and mumbles in a raspy voice, "Yes... yes, Magnif—"

And then, for a split second, there's a flicker of orange and blue and yellow, a spiral much different than the ones Magnificent uses—

And Jameson is gone.

The stolen magic remains in Magnificent's veins, but the blue ice coating the sidewalk is also gone.

As if it—and Jameson—were never here in the first place.

Magnificent blinks in mild surprise at the new colors- then springs to his feet as Jameson disappears, wildly looking around for any lingering hints of magic. He then curses in Gaelic and throws a tinted punch into the bus stop sign, making it dent in on itself in a burst of purple and green sparks.

He then hums and tries to breathe, studying the lingering blue in his veins. ... he had enough, enough to at least look for his cub and find out more about what this dimension uses to explore other universes. In a wave of static, he dons his disguise again and then walks further into the night, looking for any other lingering of magic around.

[fuzzkaizer]

Dharma Sound - Distorter, Sustainer

“Possibly a Big Muff, op amp version. Late 70’s. ... Very little is known about Dharma Sound, active in the UK during the 70's. This pedal is said to have a circuit close to the Colorsound Supa Sustain and the Roland Sustainer. I have both those pedals and they do sound similar. ... (from @effectsdatabase - "Probably made by Doug MacDonald (MD on the circuit boards?) and Alan Harding who also designed pedals for Colorsound in the 70's). At the core of the circuit is a vactrol/light sensitive resistor combined with an led - wrapped/isolated in yellow at the centre of the board. The resistance varies according to the brightness of the led, which determines the level of compression. ”

cred: facebook.com/Humphrey Barclay

[kokiri-at-the-pack]

[smileyrichie]

Happy birthday to @distorter2nd ! Here’s a Buster for you!

[outofcontextmarvel]

for a couple seconds i thought his right leg was his arm and i started losing my fucking mind

[Marvel Super-Heroes Vol 2 #3, 1990]

[pedaloftheday]

NEW DEMO VIDEO MidValleyFX Distorter High Gain Fuzz Distortion