Chapters: 7/7
Fandom: 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 | Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 天官赐福 | Heaven Official's Blessing (Cartoon)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Hua Cheng/Xie Lian (Tian Guan Ci Fu)
Characters: Hua Cheng (Tian Guan Ci Fu), Xie Lian (Tian Guan Ci Fu), Feng Xin (Tian Guan Ci Fu), Mu Qing (Tian Guan Ci Fu)
Additional Tags: Hua Cheng as Wu Ming (Tian Guan Ci Fu), Amnesia, Calamity Xie Lian (Tian Guan Ci Fu), Shapeshifting, Genderfuckery, Female Hua Cheng (Tian Guan Ci Fu), For a few chapters, Jun Wu Being an Asshole (Tian Guan Ci Fu), Hua Cheng and Xie Lian Invented Love, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Kind Of
Series: Part 1 of I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
Summary:
In the car, Jackie breathes a sigh of relief and slumps back at the seat. "How is everyone?" he asks, looking around. Chase is unharmed, though still dazed, but Frederick's shirt is still smoking.
"Nothing I can't take care of over here," Frederick says, gritting his teeth. "You?"
"Fine." Physically, at least. He definitely looks rattled, to say the least.
Bro is slowly starting to recover- since what Marvin did was mostly mental. But, he still feels really weak and is trying to stay awake. "... I feel like I need to be caught up... why is Mag here?"
"None of your concern, Fantastic-"
"..ooookay- and who's driving us? You seem cool-"
Frederick looks at Bro in the rear view mirror and smiles. "I'm Frederick, I'm a friend of Jackie's. Who I think you know."
"Hey." Jackie raises a hand.
Bro blinks over at Jackie and then laughs lightly, "ohhh yeah! Now I recognize you- and uh... bastard me- hello-"
"And 'Mag' is here because we found him in that place and decided he needed to get out."
"You decided that," Jackie grumbles. "But you were probably right. They were probably going to... I don't know, scoop his eyes out or something. That seems like something Schneep would do."
Mag snorts and crosses his arms but doesn't say anything more.
Bro winces, "Owch- don't make me think about that... that bitch Marvin said he almost wanted to give me to him... I'm glad he didn't now-"
"Yeah..." Jackie mutters, wincing. "I remember the last time you guys were here he wanted to 'fix' his other him's hearing. Why did I... fucking hell." He shakes his head. "Also this isn't the time to call someone a bastard. Chase is..." He trails off.
"There's some sort of mental magic there," Frederick says. "I can sense it, but I've never seen anything like that."
Chase doesn't respond to Bro's talking to him. He keeps staring out the car window, looking faintly distressed. He isn't supposed to be outside. Why did he let this happen?
"oh- sorry I... I don't really know exactly what's happenin'' Bro slurs, blinking rapidly. He does tilt his head at Jackie and studies him a bit. "...you all seem... different now. I mean- besides appearances... and- mental magic I guess? Im guessing it was that freaky JJ... god fuck him-"
"Fuck him so much," Jackie mutters in agreement. "Him and Marvin." He rubs his eyes. "The two of them... kinda went crazy after you left... dragged Schneep down with them with that... mental magick stuff..."
"It'll be fine," Frederick says quietly. "They can't find the house. We'll be safe there."
Bro looks down and grips at his Jacket, "... m'sorry that we caused all this... though i guess that still is Marvin's fault-" He chuckles flatly.
"Hey, you didn't cause anything," Jackie says firmly. "Marvin didn't have to go fucking insane because some guys from another world visited. No one else did. That was his fucking choice, and it was Jameson's choice to help him. You guys didn't do anything."
Bro nods, "... it still feels bad though... I mean... I barely got to see you all but... I dunno. You did take care of Alt... kinda." He shakes his head, "It's confusing. I wanna be mad at you all for keeping him locked in that house... but you didn't hurt him... maybe if me and Anti hadn't found him in time... you could have but... you didn't. So... part of me thinks... you guys didn't deserve all this shit to happen to you... especially after Mag fucked you guys over too." Mag makes a face but still stays quiet.
"Heh." Jackie smiles gently. "That's... very nice of you. It's probably more than we deserve."
"Don't say that about yourself, Jackie," Frederick says.
"I mean... we were fucking awful."
"Were being the key word, there."
"Yeah... I guess." Jackie nods slowly. "Anyway. Thanks, Chase. Other Chase. That's so nice."
Bro smiles and shrugs, "s'the hero in me. I try to find the good in everyone." Mag makes a gagging face. Bro kicks his seat.
Jackie grins. "Yeah. Keep at that." The hero in him, huh? He looks at Frederick. Guess there were more heroes out there than he once thought.
-----------
Anti stops glitching when he and Alt reach the edge of the city, back in the suburbs where they stopped at the bus stop. "We're pretty far by now. We can spare a moment. Are you hurt?"
Alt skids to a stop right next to him and bends over to catch his breath. He hisses and holds where he got hit with Marvin's magic but he doesn't look as drained as he did when they first got here. "I-I'm... okay- that Frederick guy somewhat healed me... j-just got hit by more of that fucking magic before we got out of there...." He looks behind them anxiously. "Y-You sure we lost him?"
"No, but I'm sure that he can't catch up if he's still looking." Anti finally replaces his eye-patch. Alt is suddenly aware of the absence of a low-level electric whine. Had that been going the whole time? "As for the magic, Frederick can probably take care of that too, he's bound to know a purifying spell."
Alt nods and shakes himself out, trying to take stock of his energy. He's actually feeling pretty solid despite the constant ache in his limbs. He's been through worse.
He looks back and thinks of the other inverteds. It didn't look like they got Henrik... or- Alt's eyes widen and he glitches in place, almost like he's ready to run back to the hotel. "W-Wait! I was- I was gonna look for Jack! I promised Chase... and Schneep is still there too-"
Anti's shoulders slump. He smiles sadly. "It's okay, Alt," he says quietly. "I-I know Jack isn't in there. And Schneep... well, I noticed the window of the car was broken. I'm guessing Jackie tried to get him out but he escaped. He could be anywhere by now. But... thank you."
Alt turns around and glitches more in distress, "It's not okay! I... I can help! I can try to fix all the shit that happened! We can't just leave them there!"
"Gods, calm down, will you? You're only human. You can't fix everything. I can't even fix everything." Anti tilts his head. "Besides. This isn't your world. You don't have to do anything. I-I'm glad you got Chase out there." He pauses. "You're right, we can't leave them there. But right now, we're not able to get them."
Alt blinks frustrated tears out of his eyes and then finds the nearest thing he can punch. "This is so fucked though! H-How are you so calm?! I just- thinking of leaving them there with Jameson and Marvin I-!" He punches the wall again. "Fuck!"
"Oh, I am not calm, Alt." The air shivers. "I've just had... a lot of practice looking like I am." Anti takes a deep breath. "I can't... afford to lose it. I-I have to be careful. If they decide to take this out on Jack... I'd never..." He trails off. "You guys need to go home. You don't belong in this world, you have friends to get back to, and frankly, I don't want another evil Marvin running around this city. I can get you guys back. I can do that, at least."
The younger glitch holds his fist, trying to keep from lashing out in anger again. His lip wavers and he can't meet Anti's eyes as he emphasizes, "... I want to help you, though-"
Anti's expression softens. "Thank you. I... appreciate that. But... right now, you need to take care of yourself. Didn't you get fucking torture-operated on not long ago? You might be partially healed, but still. Fuck, dude."
Alt is quiet at this, gripping at his arm. It seems like there's another underlying motivation to this that he doesn't want to say. He takes a slow steadying breath to try to calm himself down.
Anti glances him over. There's more going on, isn't there? "Okay, what is it? You don't just want to help to help--though I'm sure you do. There's something else, isn't there?"
Alt stiffens at this and looks back at Anti with wide eyes. But, then, he slumps and sighs, gripping his arm even tighter. "... I feel like... I... need to... to s-show those fuckers that I'm not.... not..." He closes his eyes and then chokes out, "... like other Antis... that I'm..." He falls quiet again, stuttering and having trouble getting the right words to say.
Anti raises an eyebrow. "Should I be offended?"
"You know what I mean-!" Alt snaps. He gestures wildly, "Like- all the bad ones I've seen! All the ones you know about! I... I don't want to be like them! But all the fucking shit I've been seeing just-" He grips at his head and glitches, yelling out, "I don't know anymore! Am I gonna be just like them someday? Is everything I'm doing useless because I'm gonna become a glitchy bastard that just hurts people for fun? Y-You're not like that but you're... you! You're more powerful and know things and- and all I keep doing is making mistakes and hurting people and just-! I... I don't know how else to prove to myself that I won't be like them besides just- throwing my all into- into..." He deflates and gestures around vaguely, "...all of this. Just.... trying to convince myself I'm... good. I guess..." He sighs and hugs his arms, turning away. "... not very heroic, is it? ...I'm just... trying to keep up a lie to myself..." He chuckles bitterly.
Anti is quiet for a moment. Then he sighs. He looks up at the sky. There's not many stars visible these days.
"You know Alt, being good is fucking hard," he says. "Not everyone is straight-up evil, but even good people find it easier not to care. To actively go out there and try to help people, at risk to yourself, for no reason other than you know you can't let it happen... that's hard. But you're doing that all the time. I saw you got Chase out of there. You didn't have to. Especially after how he tricked you last time, it would've been so easy to leave him behind. But you didn't. That wasn't a mistake, was it? That was a choice." He shrugs. "Also, don't think that just because there are a hundred bad versions of us out there that you're one of them. That's not how it works. You don't have some destiny woven into you that you can't escape. And believing that you do is a path to not caring. After all, if you're bad anyway, why put in the effort to be anything more? And yet, you do. I've been in your head, Alt, I've seen how hard you try. That matters. That matters so much."
Alt stays facing away from Anti, hugging himself tighter as he listens. He feels tears well up in his eyes and he quickly tries to wipe them away. But, eventually he turns and looks at Anti with a wavering smile. "...I... I think I really needed to hear that... I've just been so confused and..." He shakes his head and gives out a wet laugh, going over and lightly punching Anti on the arm. "...thank you Anti... all of that... means a lot coming from you."
Anti stumbles a bit, not expecting even a light punch. "Not a problem," he says, giving Alt a quick grin. "Life is confusing. And you've been jumping through a whole lot of lives in the past couple days."
He dips his head. "Just remember. You're not just 'an Anti.' You're also Alt Brody. You can be who you want to be."
Alt blinks and feels tears come back into his eyes and he laughs and shakes his head, feeling touched. "Yeah... Yeah you're right." He takes in a deep breath, letting the air relax him before smiling at Anti, "...okay- I guess I won't... injure myself more then... as much as I want to help... you're right. I'm...just gonna get myself hurt. So... let's get us back home."
Anti nods. "Yeah. I'm glad you... I'm glad you're not going to push yourself too hard." He points out of the city. "Save some of that energy for getting out of here." He glitches, reappearing a little way down the street.
Alt smirks and nods, “Right.” He glitches right after him.
-----------
The group arrives back at Frederick and Jackie's house. Jackie helps Chase and Bro get out of the car while Frederick walks up to unlock the front door (glancing back at Mag every so often.) "Here we are," Jackie says. "I hope those Antis get here quickly. I don't know how fast the other one can travel."
Bro can now walk a bit better now- the pain starting to dim. He’s still pretty disoriented but at least he’s not falling over himself anymore. Mag is watching the others with a calculated gaze.
"Got it," Frederick says, unlocking the door. He glances back at the others. "Come on. Everyone in. I can check you all for magical damage. Though I... can't guarantee I'll know what to do in some cases." He glances at Chase. Jackie nods and leads the way inside.
The living room is exactly as it was when Alt left it earlier. The mugs from their tea session have been washed and placed next to the sink to dry.
Bro limps over to the couch and sinks into it, sighing heavily. “I feel like I could sleep for 3 days straight right now…” He mumbles.
Magnificent slinks up to lean against the wall.
Frederick glares at Magnificent slightly as he walks past. "I'll be right back, I have to check something," he says carefully, and walks down the hall. "Jackie, make sure the others are at home."
Jackie nods. While Chase wanders over to the beanbag and sits down, Jackie looks at Bro. "Can I get you anything? Like... tea, or something?"
Bro blinks up and smiles at Jackie, "ohh tea sounds good... that'd be awesome dude, thanks!"
But, while Frederick is in the other room and before Jackie can leave the room, Mag suddenly appears behind him and yanks his arms behind his back with one arm while the other one sinks claws into his neck.
Bro startles and tries to push himself, "M-Mag! What are you doing?!"
Jackie yelps. He struggles for a moment before the claws pierce his neck, and then he goes very still. "Fr-Frederick? Frederick?!"
Instantly Frederick runs back into the room, a thin leather-bound book in one hand. His eyes, glowing, instantly lock onto Magnificent. "Let him go."
Magnificent laughs madly and digs his claws in more, dark magic bubbling in his hands. "You might want to be careful, Mr. Chiu... one false move- and I kill your boy toy before he takes his next breath."
"L-Let him go, Mag! What the fuck?!" Bro protests.
"That void and Jackson could be here any second... I need a bargaining chip to keep them from killing me." Magnificent growls. "And what chip could be better than Marvin's favorite lab rat? But if you try to stop me, magician... the other one will do just fine~" He giggles.
Frederick stiffens. The book falls from his hand but his eyes don't stop their glow. "Jackie, breathe," he says quietly.
Jackie is having trouble doing that. His eye goes distant.
"It's going to be okay," Frederick says. "Magnificent, think about this."
Behind Mag, one of the house plants moves quietly, fronds reaching forward.
"You saw how powerful he was-" Magnificent growls, "I'm not dying because of you fools! And besides~ the less universes with Jackies in them... the better." He snarls, pulling Jackie back with him- claws trying to spread his corruption under Jackie's skin.
Jackie shudders and gasps as the corruption spreads over his skin. A small noise comes from his mouth, something between a whimper and a shriek.
Frederick's eyes flash brighter and he reaches out. The house plant erupts forward, green magic--light magic--tracing its veins as its fronds wrap around Magnificent's arms.
Magnificent tries to press harder on Jackie's neck. Then, the magic lashes out and grabs his arm, the magic burning him as he yells out and tries to fight the magic but letting go of Jackie in the process. "No!"
"J-Jackie!" Bro shouts, trying to push himself up and reach out to catch him.
Frederick rushes forward, pushing Bro back down--perhaps a bit too roughly. He arrives just in time to catch Jackie, who's too panicked to keep himself up. Then he throws a hand out, and a rope of green magic shoots out, wrapping around Mag's arms. "I was going to do that but I figured it would be safe for a minute," he mutters, pulling Jackie back. He looks down at him. "Are you okay?"
Jackie nods slowly. He laughs weakly. "You can't keep saving me like this."
Bro oofs, his breath knocked out of him for a second and he blinks in confusion. But, when he sees Frederick and Jackie he smiles a bit knowingly and then glares at Mag- who's writhing and trying to claw through the ropes. "You couldn't let things be peaceful for two seconds, could you?"
Magnificent hisses at him.
The air shivers, and Anti and Alt pop in. Anti glances around, taking in the situation. "Something just happened."
"Keep an eye on him," Frederick says, gesturing at Magnificent. "I gotta take care of things." He helps Jackie stand up straight again, then goes back and picks up the book he dropped.
Jackie sits down on the sofa next to Bro, looking shaken.
Alt blinks and has to lean against the couch for a second, blinking spots out of his eyes again. But, then he takes in the scene and looks around almost comically. "...the fuck did we miss?" Bro interrupts him though by pulling him down and squeezing him into a hug, "Alt! You're okay!"
Alt laughs and tries to push Bro off him, "Hey- that's my line!" He does hug Bro back though.
"You missed that asshole trying to kidnap Jackie," Frederick says. He presses a hand to his chest and the slight burning on his shirt stops.
"I'm fine," Jackie says weakly.
"Maybe." Frederick walks over and gently presses a glowing green hand to Jackie's shoulder. The veins from Mag's corruption retreat a little.
"Now you two." He looks at Bro and Alt. The two separate as Frederick approaches. "This is a purification spell. It helps get rid of lingering black magic." He especially looks at Bro. "And yes, there will be magic lingering even if you're not hurt physically." And he gently presses a hand to each of them, with it lingering on Bro. The touch feels warm, but not really in a bad way.
Alt sighs and shakes himself off, smiling gratefully at Frederick.
Bro blinks and watches the magic work with mild fascination as he feels his mind get clearer and his body stop aching as much. "oh- black magic lingering... yeah that makes sense-"
While Fredrick does this, Anti glitches over and stands in front of Magnificent. "Tigeŕ ̕cán'̛t ͢chan͏g̢e ̀its s̨tr͡ipe̕s͏, h̢uh?" he hisses, baring his teeth as he pulls a knife out of nowhere. His unblinking eye stares into Magnificent's soul.
Magnificent glares up at Anti and then he chuckles darkly, flashing glowing eyes up at him. "Did you really expect anything different from me, Anti dear?"
"No. I didn't."
For a moment, Magnificent sees the room around Anti disappear, replaced by a blank crimson sky. And then it's gone. Anti smiles and points the tip of the knife at Mag's throat. "Which is why I'm going to keep an eye on you." His voice lowers too quiet for anyone else to hear. "And if you try anything I'll s̕li͝t̀ y͟o̢u̵r͠ t̴h́r͞ơat, damn what it'll do to your universe."
Magnificent leans away from the knife but just glares at Anti. He won't show fear to the glitch. One day.... he'll figure out how to take this annoyance down...
Meanwhile, Frederick is talking with Alt some more. "I'm going to heal up the rest of your injuries, but you'll have some lingering aches," he says. Again, he gently presses a hand against Alt, this time his chest. Magic blooms from the point of contact. This doesn't feel hot like the purification did. It feels like relief.
Alt listens to Frederick and honestly isn't expecting for him to waste more magic on him. So when the healing comes, the relief is so much that Alt almost slumps completely against the couch, sighing with fluttering eyes.
"Wow. You had some... intense problems," Frederick mutters. "How are you feeling now?"
"oh my god.... you're literally an angel to me right now-" Alt mumbles dazedly.
"Tell me about it," Jackie mutters. Then he freezes. "I-I mean--I mean, when Frederick got me out of there, he did the same thing, healing me, a-and I felt the same way."
Frederick smiles gently. "Took almost all my magic, too. But I'd do it again."
"Right. Yeah." The red is back in Jackie's face.
Alt blinks at the two of them and then smiles knowingly. He glitches so he's next to Jackie and then nudges him some, raising his eyebrow and then gesturing towards Frederick. Bro looks between all of them with a bit of confusion.
Jackie grumbles wordlessly and gently shoves Alt.
Alt giggles and glitches back onto the couch in the spot he just was.
Fredrick heads over to the beanbag and sits down next to Chase, who's been sitting there, confused and faintly distressed, the whole time. "Hey," he says to him.
Chase looks at him. "Who... are you?"
"My name's Frederick, I'm a magician. A good one." He opens up the book he's holding and flips through the pages. "There's a spell on you. I'm figuring out what it is. Okay?"
"...okay."
Frederick gives him a gentle smile. "Don't worry. It'll be fine." He reaches out and puts his hand on Chase's forehead like he's testing his temperature. Then he closes his eyes and starts mumbling some spell words.
Meanwhile, Anti has lowered the knife but--creepily--has not stopped staring at Magnificent. He is not blinking. Nor does he look away or blink as he says, "You know, I could check out Chase's mind, if you want."
Magnificent stares back at Anti, not breaking eye contact either, his gaze filled with hatred.
"No, it's fine," Frederick says. He opens his eyes, brows drawing together in concern. "I don't know what... you'd be able to do."
Jackie sits up straighter. "Is it... bad?"
"It's certainly not something I can take care of," Frederick admits. "I'm not all that good with mental stuff. He needs someone who specializes in this. I-I can... call some ABIM people, there might be someone in Reparations who can help..."
Alt and Bro look back with concern. Alt sits up straighter and wants to see if he can help but... he's still not very good with advanced magic. Especially mental things...
"Can he stay here?" Jackie asks quietly.
"Yeah. Of course." Frederick nods. "Do you want to share the spare bedroom? Or... you could... let him stay there and... stay in my room?"
"I'm not going to kick you out of your bedroom. It's fine, Chase and I can share, we're practically family anyway." Frederick lets out a sigh. "Yeah, okay, that works."
Alt makes a face at Jackie, flicking his eyes back towards Frederick and making a motion towards him.
Fredrick looks at Bro and Alt. "I don't think there's room for you guys. Unless one of you wants to sleep on the sofa and the other on the floor." The he looks at Mag. "I don't want him in my house, though."
"They need to go home," Anti says, still not blinking.
Alt shoves his hands into his lap once Frederick turns towards Bro and him and he waves him off. "Yeah don't worry, we don't need to take up your space." He glitches to his feet and stretches, "Now that you helped me out, I can probably go ahead and get us out of here!" He smiles, pulling out the TRVLR.
The TRVLR turns on immediately. There is no warning bubble. Just the usual three circles.
Anti finally stops staring at Mag and glitches over to Alt—though he makes sure he’s still facing Mag. “Can I see? I said I might be able to help.”
Alt looks up at Anti and then nods, handing him the device. "Yeah, go ahead."
Anti nods, and takes the TRVLR. He quickly navigates to the universe list. Alt watches as he scrolls down through lists and lists of universes, some starting with U, some starting with UF, most starting with UA, and a handful starting with UC.
Anti nods slowly. "Alright. The ones with just U are parallels to the universe this device came from. They have the same places, the same people, the same magic. UA is a bit different, the same sort of general environment and some things and people the same, but places are different and so is the power. UF is very different, where you start getting to the whole planet being affected, space and time being off. And these UCs seem to be inaccessible, see how they're colored red? Hmm." He keeps scrolling--and reaches a series of universes with three-letter prefixes. UAP, UAB, UAS, UFG, UAV--and then Anti stops. "There. One of these is yours." He points to a series of universes with the prefixes UAH. "This one would also be closer in location--" indicating one with a UFH prefix "--but given how your world is sort of similar to ours, it wouldn't be closer in environment."
Alt blinks at all the information and squints at the letters. "...why'd they have to make this so confusing?" He mumbles, scratching his head.
Anti shrugs. "U is universe. A is altered. F is far. I can't figure out the third letter ones, those may just be random. But I know that adding in a third letter indicates... hmm..." He pauses, thinking. "Think of it like... vertical movement instead of horizontal movement. The differences between those universes is like... like different computer operating systems. They do the same sort of thing, but in a different way."
"Huh..." Alt hums and starts to scroll through the UAH's. "Okay so... our world is- altered i think... but it can't be far cuz- we came here the first time like- kinda easily? at least... easier than we've had in other universes..." He mutters.
There. UAH-0828018SB. The moment Alt sees that, something feels right.
Alt glitches in place and stares at the address, feeling a sense of belonging looking at it. "T-That one- that's it!" He says excitedly.
Anti grins. "It feels right, doesn't it? Oh, and let me try something." He leans over and presses down on the name instead of simply tapping. A message pops up: Bookmark Location? with a Yes and No option.
"I knew it. I knew they'd do something like that. Why hide it, you assholes?" He sighs. "Well, now you won't lose track of it. And you can do the same to other worlds you visited, if you want."
Alt glitches in excitement, hopping up and down and grins at Bro. "Hey! I found home! And- and I wrote down some of the other addresses we went to! So- w-we could visit!"
Bro perks up and grins, sitting up more, "Hell yeah dude! So- we can finally go home now??"
"Hopefully." Anti nods. "If not right away, you'll at least have a lot less options to go through. Stick with the ones with H in the prefix." He grins. "And you can visit again if you want."
"So... are you going now, then?" Jackie asks, not really understanding all this universe stuff and deciding to stick with something concrete. "Just... pop out like you popped in?"
“Well to us- it feels like we’re falling and there’s all this green light but- basically yeah.” Alt says with a shrug. He then blinks and hurriedly unwraps the scarf around his neck and gives it back to Anti. “Oh yeah! Here you go- it was so comfy I almost forgot I was wearing it.” He laughs.
Anti laughs too and takes it. "I was going to ask, yeah. Thank you." He wraps it around his own neck. "You know, maybe when the IRIS here starts developing their own TRVLRs I'll swipe one and come visit."
"Why would they do that?" Jackie asks, confused. "They make cameras..."
"...Actually," Frederick says. "Well, um, I'll tell you about that later." He looks at Alt and Bro and smile. "It was nice to meet you. A bit hectic, but nice. Oh, and take your magician with you."
"Oh yeah no he's coming back with us," Bro glares down at him. "I'm gonna see if we can find another way to detain him... you've caused way too much trouble between all these worlds, Mag."
Magnificent bares his teeth at Bro and hisses, trying to fight out of Frederick's magic.
Alt ignores Mag and looks to Jackie and Frederick, smiling. "It was nice to meet you too Frederick... if I come back- we gotta link up and discuss magic shit, alright? You seem like a chill dude to learn from~" He grins. Then he looks at Jackie and his grin falls a bit, but he does keep smiling. "... and it was goo d to see you too, Jackie... I hope you continue to do better. ...I've been there and... it's hard. But, seems like you got some good company." He raises an eyebrow and smirks a bit at him, cheekily nudging his head towards Frederick before turning towards Anti. He becomes a bit more sincere and looks up at him. "... and... I hope you will. Visit... that is. I'd... i'd like that. And I think the others would too." His eyes darken a bit with determination, "And... if you need help- with all of this. ... we got your back. We owe you and... I'd love to take Jameson and Marvin down for all the shit they've caused." He then shrugs and fiddles with the TRVLR, "...you got my number."
"I got your number," Anti agrees.
"If I do see you again, I'd love to do that," Frederick says cheerfully.
Jackie smiles. "Y-yeah. Uh, thanks. I'll keep trying." He glances at Frederick and then quickly looks away.
Chase sits up slightly. He looks at Alt. "Um... thanks."
Alt looks at Chase and smiles, "...Anytime dude, I hope you... get better."
"Alright, not much time to waste, looks like Mag is going to break out at any second," Anti says. "Good luck you guys. And, Alt, remember what I said back there. Be who you want to be."
Bro nods to Anti and goes to pick up Magnificent and loads him over his shoulder. Magnificent hisses and spits curses at everyone. Alt beams at Anti and nods, "I will. Thanks, Anti." He glitches back and looks at Bro.
Bro, despite the hissing tantrum that's on his shoulder. smiles at Alt and they link their hands together. Alt grins at and gives a two finger salute before pressing the jump button.
The three of them fall through the Space In-Between and are gone.
Anti stares at the spot where they left. "I think they made it."
"I hope they did," Jackie says. He looks at Anti. "You... are you... going to stick around?"
Anti turns his stare to him. Then he looks at Frederick, then Chase. "I usually work alone," he says slowly. "But... I think... I think this could be an exception." Maybe together they'd be able to do something. "Don't expect me to move in. But I'll give you a phone number."
Frederick smiles. "That'd be great."
Jackie nods.
"Alright, then." Anti turns away. "I'll see you soon." And he pixellates and swiftly vanishes.
Jackie sighs. He looks over at Frederick and Chase.
"Is he... alright?" Chase asks.
"I think so." Jackie nods. "Come on, Chase. I'll show you where you're staying now."
They still had a lot of work to do. But there was this. And this was a lot.
warnings: this is like really heavy if you cant read it or finish it please dont force yourself to, cursing, descriptive character deaths, angst
masterlist - @thefailcollection @riffcrusader
prolouge // chap 1 // chap 2 // chap 3 // chap 4
The group looked at Dustin's moribund body in horror. Blood spewed from his neck onto the grimy floor of the Upside Down. Steve quickly rushed down to Dustin's side. "Henderson?" He whispered as Dustin choked on blood in his throat. Steve quickly sat him up, desperately hoping that would save him. He quickly took off the vest he wore and pressed it against the gaping wounds.
Eddie looked down at the quite gruesome scene, but amusing to him. "You can't save him. If I were you," He spoke plainly, holding back a laugh. "I'd worry about the ones of you that still have a chance of making it out alive." He couldn't help the smirk that spread across his face as he pointed to Vecna.
By now he was almost a foot away. El quickly tried to use her powers against Vecna but he counter-attacked her, causing her to start floating into the air. Nancy grabbed her gun and pointed it at Vecna but vines, seemingly from nowhere, roped her around a tree. "You may have won the battle, Eleven," He lifted her higher as he walked closer. "But, I.. will win the war." A low, grumbly, raspy laugh sent an eerie chill through the air.
Mike decided to take matters into his own hands, running to grab Nancy's gun. Once he gets ahold of it, he uses it to hit Vecna on the back of his head. Not shoot. Hit. Vecna's head slowly turned to look at Mike. Mike swallowed harshly and watched as Vecna returned his focus to Eleven. He turned his hand ever so slightly causing El to begin to choke.
Jonathan rushed over to Mike, snatching the gun from his shaky hands. He aimed the gun at Vecna's head. He placed his finger on the trigger but the gun was thrown out of his hands. He looked up to see Vecna's free hand outstretched toward them. "There is nothing, any of you can do." If he could smile, he would.
Eddie walked past the crowd around Dustin and took his place right beside Vecna. "Run." Eddie hissed and to his surprise, some took his advice. Argyle, Lucas, and Mike began to run towards any exit they could find. "Pussies." Eddie laughed as he watched them get snatched up by vines.
Steve and Robin were kneeled on the ground trying to find any way to keep Dustin alive. "Stay with us, Dustin." Robin looked around, swallowing with fear as no plans came to her mind. Looking around only made her lose more hope. The vines around Nancy's neck were tightening, leaving her gasping for air. Jonathan was doing everything he could to get the vines off only to have vines wrap around him too. Argyle, Lucas, and Mike were lying on the floor as bats feasted on their bodies. Eleven floating mid-air with Will yelling at her to concentrate. "He will win the war," Robin whispered as Dustin took his final breath.
"Henderson, don't do this, man. You're all I have left." Steve whimpered and shook Dustin's body. "He's gone, Steve." Robin confronted him with the truth. "Dustin, wake up." Steve began to shake Dustin's deceased body more vigilantly. "Steve. Steve. Steve!" Robin pulled Steve away with all her strength.
She dragged him away from the process, only something when her back hits something. "Hey, pretty lady," Eddie whispered in her ear from behind her before sinking his teeth into her neck. "No! Stop! Please, Eddie!" Steve pleaded as he watched the life drain from his best's friends eyes.
Steve could barely breathe, he couldn't focus. He didn't even see Robin's body drop to the floor and Eddie walk up to him. "Hi." Eddie grinned like the Cheshire Cat. The corners of his mouth practically reached each ear. He lifted his hand up to Steve's cheek, caressing it gently. "You're next."
El screamed drawing both of their attention. She fell to the floor and Will rushed over to her. "El? Can you hear me!? El!?" Will screamed but it was to no avail. "Move." Vecna demanded but Will stayed where he was protecting El's body. Vecna sighed with an eye roll and used his telekinesis to throw Will out of sight.
Eddie turned Steve's face back to face him. "Eyes on me, you don't want to watch what's gonna happen next." Eddie actually spoke sincerely, or maybe Steve couldn't tell the difference anymore. El screamed followed by squelching noises. Everything was silent.
Eddie looked into Steve's emotionless eyes. Steve could barely keep them open. He didn't know how to keep them open. "Please, just kill me. If I have to die, I want it to be by the hands of someone I love." Steve confessed. He wanted Eddie to kill him. He didn't want to live in a world where all his friends were dead. Eddie gasped. "I'm so sorry." He spoke with a pitchy voice as if he just realized what he had done.
Eddie pulled himself away from Steve and faced Vecna. He lifted his hand out and a sword flew into his palm. "Eddie..." Venca warned. "I am going to make you pay." Eddie charged at Vecna. Using the superspeed perk he gained when he was turned into a vampire, he was able to slash Vecna in his chest. "Pitiful. That's what you are." Vecna raised his arm to defeat him but Eddie raised his sword and slashed it around, hacking Vecna's arm off. "You have nothing on me," Eddie smirked as Vecna stood in shock.
"You are going to regret that." Vecna stepped forward. "I don't think I am." Eddie laughed. He swung his sword around, doing cool tricks he didn't know he knew how to do. Vecna raised his uncut arm. Eddie used his superspeed to run in circles around Vecna. "I'm right here." He appeared next to Vecna on his right. Vecna turned towards him but he was gone. "Now, I'm over here." Eddie appeared on his left. Vecna turned to his left only to be met with nothing. "Turn around," Eddie whispered from behind Vecna. He quickly spun around, thinking he finally got Eddie. "I got you." Eddie smiled wickedly as he sliced Vecna's head off.
As Vecna's lifeless body dropped to the floor, so did the bats, and the vines. Eddie dropped the sword and turned around to Steve who had dropped to the floor by now, tears flowing onto the ground. He rushed over to him, wrapping his arms gently around him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Eddie repeated as Steve cried into his chest. "I'm sorry." He whispered as he looked at the scene that lay out in front of him.
Lifeless bodies were everywhere you looked. "What have I done." Eddie swallowed harshly. "I love you," Steve whispered, clinging onto Eddie tighter. "You shouldn't." Eddie took a deep breath. Steve nodded, agreeing with Eddie, but in some weird way, he still loved Eddie. He didn't care what he had done. He knows he should, but he doesn't. He doesn't even blame himself either. He's fucked up for sure, but he's fucked up with Eddie, so, nothing matters. Not anymore and never again.
The final chapter of Ghost Town, in which there is (finally!) an identity reveal!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Tension slips away as Valerie feels the weight of her worry lift. “Good,” she says, and then, because she and Sam had just been talking about him, asks, “Have you seen Danny Fenton? I know the rest of his family has come through—”
“Yeah, Phantom,” Sam demands much more bluntly, her eyes gleaming, “You seen Danny?”
There’s a moment in which Phantom goes still, blinking at Valerie as if he has no idea who Danny Fenton is. “I… think I’ve seen him around,” he says at last.
In this chapter... among other things, they have a date.
Chapter 5. The bedroom
On the kitchen table:
Hey, how are you? I bought some chocolate frogs for you as I know you love them (although you feign you don’t for whatever reason).
Harry
Next to the last note:
Hey. Yes. I’m sorry I haven’t answered any of your notes this past week, I think I was just in shock about Michael. I’m sorry we couldn’t brew the potions as we had planned.
I don’t feign, I just don’t love them! They’re stupid!
D.
EDIT: I love them! I finally have Ineptus Nux’s card! I’ve been looking for this one since I was 6!!
